Today during my break at ulpan I walked one and a half blocks to the sea. Its really beautiful. I could stare at the ocean for hours. And it made me think as my ulpan time nears its end, how thankful I am to have had this time to spend here in Israel, before I…
Read moreCoronavirus, Purim, and Elections!
Coronavirus, Purim, and Elections! I’m still in medical ulpan – my final exam is actually this coming Sunday. And for the past several weeks almost all we’ve talked about is the coronavirus. Each morning we start off by reading the latest headlines in Hebrew and learning any new words we can find. The virus hasn’t…
Read moreMath Homework
Math Homework Lately, every night I get home I’ve been doing math homework pretty much all night. The boys are doing geometry, in Hebrew. The pictures are self explanatory but the directions are difficult to understand. This is mainly because the Hebrew language doesn’t actually have as many words as many other languages. This…
Read moreAnother song with an obscure Jewish reference
Another song with an obscure Jewish reference This is a song by Ehud Banai. I saw him live once in Phoenix, he’s really great although because he’s a bit of a singer-songwriter and a story-teller, the concert would have been better if I had understood hebrew better. But the songs were amazing. He seems to…
Read moreParsha on the radio
Parsha on the radio So I just returned home from dropping the boys off at school. Its Friday here so I don’t have ulpan today (no class Friday or Saturday, class starts again Sunday). (and Valerie is visiting her parents with the girls, so I’ve been flying solo this week – so far so good)….
Read moreWinter break trips and the rainy season
Winter break trips and the rainy season Besides going to Jerusalem during our winter break we also travelled up north to a really cool monkey forest. They host a bunch of small monkeys that were brought there around 50yrs ago. They are free to leave the area if they want but they tend to stay…
Read moreFirst Chanukah
First Chanukah here in Israel I’m writing this after chanukah has ended, so by now the sufganiyot are all gone. Literally. You can’t find one anywhere. They just completely disappear from the entire country once Chanukah ends. But I thought I’d share with you some of our Chanukah experience through some photos of the various…
Read moreChanukah around the corner
Chanukah around the corner There are a bunch of small random stores here that stock a little bit of everything: school supplies, art supplies, small hardware and tools, toys, cleaning supplies, etc. And the interesting thing is how they change with the season to provide just what you need at that time. And the stuff…
Read moreFirst Day of Medical Ulpan
First Day of Medical Ulpan Another transition today as I left my ulpan in Ra’anana where I’ve been for the last three months and made the trek up to Netanya to start the medical ulpan. There are 17 of us in the class: several pharmacists, a few nurses, a massage therapist, a couple of paediatricians…
Read moreGuess that fruit
Guess that fruit I guess every country would have different native fruits and so it should be no surprise that there are fruits I’ve never heard of or seen in the supermarkets here. Here are a few examples: some kind of a pear shaped lime thing? not the same thing. the label says “red pomelo.”…
Read moreTohu VaVohu – another cool biblical reference
Tohu VaVohu – another cool biblical reference Here’s another popular Israeli song with a cool biblical reference. I also like the song because it’s about a couple of islands in Thailand – Koh Phangan and Koh Samui, and Valerie and I stayed on Koh Samui for about a week during our honeymoon. It’s an unbelievable…
Read moreFirst Thanksgiving
First Thanksgiving For me it was easier to give up Thanksgiving. For sure it used to be nice to see everyone on the holiday, but we’ve already moved far away and I feel like I’ve already said my goodbyes. But for Val I think it’s harder, especially because we used to do Thanksgiving with her…
Read moreEthiopia Day – Sigd
Ethiopia Day – Sigd Today in ulpan was Ethiopia day, its the Sigd holiday where they celebrate returning to Jerusalem. We learned about Operation Moses, the 1984 airlift of Ethiopian Jewry. They had to walk from Ethiopia to Sudan and were only airlifted from there. About 4,000 people died on the way during that long…
Read moreRemember that Medical Ulpan?
Remember that Medical Ulpan? The one I took the test for and thought it was super hard? Well last week they called me and said that I actually did OK on the test and even though I wasn’t technically finished level bet (level 2), I could still start the doctors ulpan if I wanted to….
Read moreTalmud and still in ulpan
Talmud and still in ulpan Well we’re still in ulpan. Our hebrew is improving slowly – I think I’m up to maybe 60% understanding of the Rabbi’s talk at shul on Saturday morning. This ulpan runs through mid February. When I first started I was planning to do it for a month then decide if…
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