First off, sincere apologies for not blogging sooner. The last week was super super busy and what free time I had I was either sleeping or exploring Tel Aviv. On top of that, the place where I am living had a little problem with the internet and for the last few days I've been without a connection. In order to make up for my lack of post's I am going to try (and hopefully succeed) at re-caping the major events of this past week.
Dead sea scrolls: Last Friday, we had the opportunity to have a tour with Professor Larry Schiffman, who is an NYU Professor and the leading expert in the world on the Dead Sea Scrolls. For those of you who don't know what these are please google them. Any way, the trip/tour was two part. First, we went to the actual site where all of the Scrolls were found. This is in Qumron, which is near the dead sea. Its pretty incredible what they have done at this archaeological site. An entire village has been discovered and the surrounding hills create an incredible setting. The whole history of this place is too long to explain here but if any reader is interested to hear more, just contact me. The second part of the trip was to the Shrine of the Museum in Jerusalem where the scrolls are now kept. Outside the museum there is an awesome and I mean really awesome model of the old city of Jerusalem. Within the museum the scrolls are kept for viewing pleasure. An overall great day and something I suggest for any visitor to Israel.
Running: I have really been enjoying my running life here in Tel Aviv. Luckily enough, I had the opportunity to join up with a elite running group that meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Unfortunately, because of my schedule I can only run with them on Mondays. My first run with them was really, really great. This really nice guy named Aviv immediately took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. We ran a 15km fartlek workout and then did some form work. Aviv was then nice enough to run with me on Tuesday. We met up outside my dorm and he took me on a really sweet running tour of Tel Aviv. It was great to get to see parts of the city that I had never seen before. One thing that really struck me was when he took me by a a monument for people who were murdered at a cafe when a suicide bomber blew him self up. It was both shocking because it was erie to just run by a place where people had been murdered but also because my new running friend was so nonchalant about slipping it in to conversation. He basically just pointed it out and then moved on. I guess thats what Israeli life is like, you just become numb to certain things. I am looking forward to working out with Aviv and his group in the future as well as running a few races with them. I will keep everyone update on my training as well as running experiences.
Class: I have really been enjoying my classes here in Tel Aviv. All of my professors are extremely intelligent. I am specifically loving my Israeli-Palestinian conflict class. My professor is Hillel Cohen and let me tell you the man is a genius. The class consists of lecture and discussion. However, for the first time in my life I will admit that I actually enjoy the lecture more than the discussion. Professor Cohen knows absolutely everything there is to know about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and he is able to present it in such a clear and coherent manner. I am learning a plethora of information and the best part is that it is allowing me to formulate my own opinion on the current conflict that is going on every day here in Israel.
My other classes are enjoyable as well. Hebrew is a lot of fun and I am definitely making advances in the language. My teacher makes it a lot of fun too! Today we actually went to the supermarket and had to go "grocery shopping" in hebrew.
The other two classes, Politics and the Production of everydayness in Israel and my religion class are really interesting as well. In the everydayness class we are learning about lots of different aspects of Tel Aviv society. The professor brought in a famous poet from Israel and he read us his poetry and talked to us about Israeli society. Still one of my favorite days since I've been here.
Beach volleyball: Believe it or not, not everything here is academic! NYU was nice enough to buy us a volleyball and the group here has gone down to the courts on the beach a few times to play. Its really incredible to stand on the beach, look at the Mediterranean and simultaneously spike the ball in to a friends face. Ah, the simple pleasures in life.
Social Life: Social life here is pretty wonderful. The bar and club life is a lot of fun. It actually seems like people are always partying. Not me though. Im in my room studying most of the time. ;). The only thing that has bothered me, and the rest of my classmates, is this mysterious 25+ rule that some places have. Its a little annoying but there are still plenty of places to go have fun.
As you can see, things here in Tel Aviv are wonderful. I am having a great time exploring the city and have a lot of other wonderful things ahead. I am going to try to go back to my plan to blog every two days, as long as the internet cooperates. I hope all is well with everyone and please email or comment updates on your life! I would love to hear about things going on with everyone :).
Have a wonderful day! Shalom!
p.s. lyndsie this is your shout out.
