Ashley gazes up in awe at a cliff on Mount Arbel.
If you’ll humor me, I’ll start this post off with a funny anecdote. The story includes a cab driver, his daughter and a marriage proposal. A bunch of us went to Tiberias (city on Sea of Galilee) for the weekend. We took a cab to hiking spot and I seized the opportunity to practice my Hebrew. We start off, the cabbie and I, with casual conversation — where are you from? how long have you been a cabbie? do all the Israeli girls look like models, etc. — and then he starts inquiring into my financial background. I tell him I have money (a white lie to spur conversation), and he tells me he has a daughter. I tell him I am interested, so he calls her and puts her on speakerphone. We chat in Hebrew. He talks to her, too. I have no idea what they are saying. End of story: I give him my phone number when he drops us off and he promises to pass it along to Vered, who, by the way, has a boyfriend! He didn’t mention that until later. Nice guy, though.
Ok. Now if you’re still reading, I’ll include some meatier information. This weekend, like I said, we went to Tiberias. About 15 of us camped out on the beach one night and shacked up in a hostel the other night. We braved a 3-hour hike through the mountains and an ancient Jewish settlement (4th century AD).
This weekend we have off for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. I am going back to my friend’s place in Modiin, which is halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. No significant plans yet other to elicit a few laughs at the holiday table with my shaky Hebrew.
Ulpan continues to progress. I study about four hours in class and then maybe two outside. On Thursday, I volunteered at an after-school hangout spot for kids, where they come to get out of their house and talk about life. The kids were great. And they even spoke English!
Thanks for reading!
