I realize that my posts are a little confusing. Often I have been writing them before I go to sleep and planning to send them the next morning... so that's why the post on Thursday says that it's Tuesday night--sorry. Well, right now it is just after midnight on Thursday, I finished my first day of classes and am getting more and more settled. I have class from 9:30 until 5pm each day not including an hour and a half for lunch and some other short breaks inbetween. Nonetheless, it is a lot. The first class is "The Emergence of the Modern State of Israel" with all the students who are participating in the Summer Institute for Israel Studies. There are about 25 of us. The class is really nice and we cover a lot in a short amount of time. Also, my teacher is very good and really has made an effort to keep everyone comfortable and interested.

During the break I ate lunch with a friend from class before getting to my next class, "Israeli society as Reflected Through Music, Literature, and Film." Another good class...with only 7 people. Ruthie is in the class with me along with her cousin and our friend Stan. This class has a weird set-up though--there are three teachers who take turns teaching over the course of the month. So we started with music and the woman busted through almost 100 years of music history and the changes going on in Palestine musically before the founding of the State of Israel. She didn't hesitate to voice her frustration of having to go so quickly which made things pretty funny for the rest of us.

The last class of the day is "Jerusalem the Gold" which is through a different Summer Institute (there are three: Israel studies, middle east studies, and bible studies). Again this class was really small--only had 9 people. Prior to beginning classes, this was the one I was most excited about. The syllabus said we were going to look at the history of Jerusalem with trips to different archaeological sites to further explore... well... that's not exactly true. We are looking at the earliest mentions of Jerusalem dating back to before the First Temple Period to the destruction of the First Temple (586 BCE). In my course with Martin Jaffe at UW this year, I think we covered that section in about 15 minutes. yea. Should be interesting. Anyway, the teacher is also a bit nuts (I told her I was majoring in Anthropology and she decided that meant I am an Anthropologist and should be able to answer any and all questions regarding the processes and strategies Anthropologists use in their field work...) but I think the class will work out.

After class I took the group bus to shop for a bit before talking to Yoni Shear, another Ramah connection. Now that I think of it, in the midst of the craziness today I saw a lot of people I know--Talia from mishlachat at Ramah, Jen Adler, Michal Shear, and Stacy Raab from when I worked in New Orleans! Anyway, the night has ended well, I ate dinner with my roommates, did a lot of reading for my classes, and hung out with friends. So it really is still Thursday this time. Hope you all are doing well - maybe I'll get some pictures up sometime soon :-D

Col tuv,

AVI