Shalom again from Tel Aviv! I’ve been here a month and a half already, and time has flown so quickly. I just finished my Ulpan (my intensive Hebrew immersion course) and I’m starting to feel more and more like a local—I can get buses, trains and taxis in Hebrew; I can go grocery shopping and know what I’m purchasing; and of course I always try to talk to Israelis for practice (although when they hear my accent they switch to English pretty quickly.)
Now that Ulpan is over we have a month-long break (yes, a month!) before the semester starts in October. The Jewish High Holidays—including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah—all fall during the next four weeks and a lot of students are using the time off to travel. I will be using this break to visit Europe for the first time! I’ll be heading to Italy, Switzerland, France and the UK and I’m excited to share my experiences there with you.
Speaking of experiences, I’ve also been touring around Israel—I’ve visited Haifa, Caesarea and Jerusalem so far, and I’ll be exploring more of the country during the next month. Wish me luck!
-Miriam