Hag Samech! Happy Purim

Happy Purim!
I am currently enjoying my 5 day weekend--its Purim Break! I don't have class on Thursdays and we are off school Sunday and Monday for Purim Break.

Week Update:
Successfully finished my first week of school. On Sunday I have Arab Israeli Conflict, 4 hour class :(, I think its going to be really interesting but its hard to sit in a classroom for that long. On Monday I have hebrew in the morning..I have a new Hebrew teacher who is super tough--we have tests every day, but I know I will learn a lot. I advanced to the highest Bet level after my Ulpan so things are moving super fast. Monday afternoon I have Archaelogy of Jerusalem...it is also a 4 hour class but we go on field trips every other week. Its going to be really cool, we learn about the sites in lecture and then actually go visit archaeological digs all over Jerusalem. Its going to be a unique way to explore. Monday evenings I have a class called Jewish and Non-Jewish Relations in the Holocaust..it is my favorite class. The teacher is awesome and we are going to be learning about the Holocaust from so many different perspectives and at the end of the class we are going to Yad V'shem..the holocaust museum in Israel. On Tuesday I only have Hebrew---and it starts in the morning so I have the whole afternoon freeeee! On Wednesday I have Hebrew in the morning and the Holocaust class in the evening..and thats it! School is so nice/stress free and really laid back. During the week my roommate Becka and I cooked salmon that we bought and basically killed at the shuk. We learned from our mistakes and need to ask for a steak slice next time because there were a lot of bones in the fish. But it was delicious nonetheless...we marinated it in tomatoes, onions, lemon juice, and garlic..YUM! We are quite the chefs!

To kick off our Purim celebrations we went out Wednesday night to a bar in Jerusalem. My friend Alex was DJing with another guy on our program and it was so much fun. The whole international school showed up to support them and we had a great time. On Thursday the monsoon/wind/rain/hail set in on Jerusalem and was here to stay for the whole weekend. It dropped 10 degrees and was absolutely miserable, could not even walk outside! Thursday night I went to Tel Aviv with some friends. We went to this all you can eat/drink/dance/sing winery type restuarant. It was so much fun...the food was unbelievable. It was like a 5-course meal and it was constantly refilled. We had cheesy bread, hummus, salads, sweet potatoes, tahina filled egglpant, pasta, schnitzel, sweet-sour fries and a delicous selection of wine...it was amazing. After dinner the tables were cleared and the whole place turned into a bar/bat mitzvah style sing-a-long dance party..it was really funny. We stayed at an Israeli friend's apartment in the center of town. Friday morning I went back to Jerusalem--soaking wet. The weather was still miserable. We decided to have a huge Shabbat dinner and we had a bunch of our friends over for a pot-luck style dinner. It was delicious..we had challah, israeli salad, greek salad, potatoes, chicken, fries, fish, wine etc--good friends/good food. Saturday night we were craving some American food..so we did it..yes..we ordered Domino's pizza. IT WAS DELICIOUS. Sunday--Day 4 of the miserable weather..we slept in and lounged around the apartment. At night we went downtown and ate at this legitimate hole-in-the-wall..can only hold 10 people..waffle place. They make you waffles and you choose what toppings you want on top. I got applesauce and sour cream...sounds kind of questionable..but it was amazing! Everyone on the streets was dressed up for Purim which was really funny.

Monday will be a catch up/homework/laundry day. no fun.

hope all is well back home!
love and miss always