Israel - Where even the busses wish you a Shana Tovah

This week so far has been fairly mundane, but it has been a while since I last updated so I wanted to fill in the blanks. A few days ago, there was a crafts fair on Emek Refaim, a number of us walked down there to look around; it was pretty cool. Two days ago Josh and I finally got tired of having our room be a mess. We assessed the situation and decided that if we could just clean everything up and get everything put away once, we would be able to maintain the cleanliness indefinitely. So we talked to a few of our different female friends and found two who not only were willing but were, in fact, eager, to clean our room with us. Somehow, places that had been wasted space in our clumsy concept of cleanliness became useful storage space in their hands. I think I should put up pictures of my room, because without them, most people won't believe how clean my room really is.

Yesterday, I had my Magen David Adom (MaDA) interview. A representative of MaDA came to Beit Nativ to interview those of us who were interested in volunteering. She asked me a few questions, two of which I had to answer in Hebrew. I think I did well in the interview, the Hebrew certainly wasn't a problem. Time will tell. In theory, we have the option of volunteering for MaDA in Jerusalem, not just Yerucham (a new option this year), but I'm not sure if I will. I was walking down King George St. and I spotted the JNF Jerusalem office about a five minute walk from Beit Nativ. I think it's probably time for me to email my friend Russell (CEO of JNF) and see what he can find for me.

Last night we had our first guy's night, which was an interesting male bonding experience. Our staff led a program about respect and things like that. I also had to write my first essay in over eight months last night - it went pretty well in my opinion, hopefully my professor agrees.

This morning, on the way to Hebrew U, I noticed two things that caught my interest. First, ever since 2006 there has been a light rail system being built in Jerusalem. If you look out your window on most main streets in Jerusalem, you will see digging and other construction to lay the tracks. Today, I noticed a small orange sign that said, in Hebrew, "Archeological Place." There, a segment of nearly completed track ended abruptly and, several feet below street level, the stone walls of a building from some previous century were being excavated. Maybe that's why nothing is ever built on time in Jerusalem - they need to stop every now and then to look out for history.

Also on the way to Hebrew U this morning, I spotted the electric sign on the front of a public bus (it normally says the final destination of the bus). Today, the sign switched between the destination and a greeting of "Shana Tovah." Every Egged bus (at least those I saw in Jerusalem) wish everyone who cares to take a look a happy new year. Only in Israel.

I don't know if I'll get a chance to write before Rosh HaShanna (or if I'll have anything worthwhile to share), so Shana Tovah uMetukah to everyone!

Talk to you soon,
Seffi