I passed

I PASSED! I passed my ptor (exemption) from Hebrew exam at University, which means, I now have the highest level of Hebrew as deemed by teh Hebrew Unviserity of Jerusalem.
Thanks to all who have followe dmy Ulpan sagas all throughout the past year...I know it has been rather boring, because I actually lived it...I promise now that it is all over and I have a bit more time I will go back to writing stories of actual interest about Israel.

Right now it is wedding season...I am on my way to a wedding tonight...had bachelorette of my ex-flatmate Lou...we went out on a yacht for a few hours, off the coast of Tel-Aviv last Friday...it was dreamy! This week another bachelorette and next week 2 weddings and then it's off the NY and San Francisco to check out what all this hype is about America...I am told there are shops there...so I should be ok.

I got my passport renewed...a saga and a half...I had to dedicate a half a day to doing it just so I got the right sized photo. I look really mad in the photo as well, because we are not allowed to smile anymore, and the hologram superimposed over it cuts across my cheeks morphing me into someone who looks like they just had their wisdom teeth out...not sure if it will be so easy to recognise me...

ok...back to work...and then some fun...
Tomorrow when I wake up in the morning I will have a new flatmate...another new adventure...she is from Texas...I hope she has cowboy boots...

What Netanyahu wants...

So this week I attended the First International Jewish Bloggers conference...
In the middle Bibi Netanyahu turned up to tell us that he too has a blog...
I guess it was a good platform for him...I mean everyone there was clearly going to go home and write about him on their blog...look here I am doing exactly that...
So here's what Bibi said...

Bibi: Thanks to Aliyah from America and Canada...and other countries...
ME: woohoo
Bibi: Which country did I forget?
ME: Australia...
Bibi: Oh ok...What about Argentina...are there any Argentinians in the Audience...??

So even though Bibi also compares Israel to America...like every other obsessed Star Spangled Israeli...At least Bibi knows the name of other countries also starting with A.

The Shuk and I

Could this be the first time I am writing about my love?

My Friday afternoon ritual of winding my way past vendors of sweet smelling herb and spices...live vertebrates flailing in the air, luscious strawberries for 5 shekels...old men drinking Turkish coffeee...The vegetable man with his cigarette ashing over the produce...his hands stained with hard labour...

I know exactly which merchants to buy the quality produce from...they nod at me...these characters are larger than life...staright out of a comic book with features exaggerated in order to capture the authenticity of a bargain in the shuk.

My senses are saturated...and sometimes you have to sit down...in a coffee shop like Mizrachi for a Limonana...or pause by oily baklava for a sample...

There's change as well...the Art Gallery with all it's bric-a-brac has closed...an Aroma cafe has commercialised the open shuk...

The people hustle and bustle and I feel like I am participating in a communal exercise. I am just like them...feeding a family...rushing before Shabbat to get Challot...

It's so attractive....It's like a heart beat....a signal that the people are alive

Procrastinating

I am meant to be studying for my Ulpan exam...the final final one...
If you have read any of my previous posts you will know exactly how deeply my ulpan experience has impacted on my life.
I really can not imagine life without Ulpan classes...what will I do?
Read a bit, write a bit, eat more (I already eat a bit)....maybe I will go outside and see the world a bit...NY counting down 1 month and 8 days...
Perhaps I will miss it? No not really.