So today I didn't venture outside of the grounds of the JC. I know, i know, that sounds totally lame, and it sorta was in some respects, but on the other hand, i'm not here as a tourist, i'm here as a student, and so I have to go to classes. Today was a long class day too, if you are taking Hebrew that is. I am taking that, and the other half of the student body is taking Arabic, so they have class on different days, so that is how we are split up that way.
This morning was my OT class is which we learned more about covenants and Noah, just about getting up to Abraham, but not quite. We have a little but if a noisy class, and they ask alot of questions, so it is hard to get moving at times, but I am learning alot, that is for sure and I really enjoy my teacher, Bro. Mencell, and all of the insights that he has.
We had the very entertaining linen exchange after announcements. Yep, we get new towels and sheets just about every week. Good thing too because there is practily no ventaleation in the bathrooms here, so our towles like never get dry and they start to smell faster than we would like! Then the Arabic students went off and did stuff ebcause they didn't have class till 4, with the rest of us, and us Hebrew students got to stay behind and study till class at 2. I am all catched up on the homework though, so it was a good use of my time.
Hebrew is going to be a bomb class too! The teacher is way fun and she has a really good way of teaching the class to us. We don't learn a great amount of Hebrew while we are here, but she said that the goal at the end of the semester would be for us to be able to read out loud the 10 commandments in Hebrew, even though we might not know what all of the words mean! Another fun thing about her is that we learn and Jerish song at the end of each class period, and so today we learned the "Shabbat Shalom" song that they sing every friday at dinner. It's a fun little song with all of the lyrics in the title, but maybe i'll get to teach some of these songs to you when I get back!
Our final classes were our Modern Near Eastern Studies class, which is split into two different sections. All of us go to each class at the same time, but the two classes teach the modern history of the area, one from an Arab point of view, another from the Jewish point of view. All in all it is very interesting. Adnan is the teacher for the Arab side and he has a really thick accent, but he is alot of fun and likes to tell jokes. Ophir is the teacher for the Jewish side of things, and he is a practicing Orthodox Jew, and so you know that's legit! Both of them seem ready to help fill us in on a part of history that the western world mostly ignores and so i'm excited to learn about all that they have to teach us.
The last activity for the day was a late one considering class wasn't out till 9pm! But i traveled to India and did some yoga! Ok, so there was no traveling, but the yoga did happen. One of the girls here, Stacy, was certified as a yoga teacher a couple months ago, and so she is trying to get the hang of having a real class while she is here. She is a great teacher, but who would have thought that yoga would be so intense!! It was amazing though, i already felt like i had better posture ofter doing it once, and even now i'm supprised that i am keeping my shoulders down where they are supposed to be! Anyway, just because i'm sure you are wondering, I am not the only guy in this little class thing, and the guy/girl ratio was actually even today, but we'll see that happens in the future, if more people will join or we will lose them. Anyway, i hope to spend some time in the city tomorrow, so i'll tell you about it then! Love you all!
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