Shiksa Problems

Shiksa is a Yiddish word for non jewish girl. It has become my middle name in this country. Shiksa's are out of the Jewish circle. All the Jewish Americans on the program have mutual friends with each other. Either from Hillel or Jewish camp everyone knows each other. Except of course me, the Shiksa. I enjoy being a Shiksa because everyone loves a Shiksa. 

This week has been a blur of Hebrew, Israeli's and bus rides. The weather has been rainy so this week we could not explore as much as we wanted too. My friend Jacki has lots of Israeli friends who we met on Wednesday. Finally I met Israeli girls who wanted to be our friends. Israeli girls are known for being cold because of the environment that raised them. Since women serve right alongside men in the army the women feel like they have a lot to prove. And they prove it. One of the girls I met was an officer in the army and is in charge of an entire platoon of men. She is the only girl in her unit. 

On Thursday a group of 6 of us headed for Tel Aviv! Tel Aviv is known for its nightlife and beach. You take a bus about an hour ride to get to Tel Aviv. Security is tight as always but Israelis don't believe in lines.It was one big cluster trying to get through security. In hindsight we probably should not have tried to leave during rush hour. We finally made it to Tel Aviv with no major problems. We stayed with Jacki's friend. Her apartment was absolutely beautiful! We all piled in before heading out and enjoying Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is just like any other big city. There is a large Ethiopian and Darfurian population because of the Ethiopian Jewish population. Israel let a lot of Darfurian refugees come to Israel because of the genocide. As you can imagine Israel is sensitive to genocides so they allowed Darfurians to move to Israel. 

Also this week I ate the best hummus of my life. It was in a restaurant we found walking through the alleys and back streets. We were the only Americans and we ate our weight in hummus. It was a family owned restaurant and the mother was in the back making the hummus. Absolutely delicious. 

On a more global scale Iran and Israel have had some major issues the last couple of days. If Israel does attack Iran, UNC and Hebrew University will make me come home. I just really hope they can hold off until July because I don't want to leave! As usual no Israeli's are to concerned just another day for them. 

We came back to Jerusalem for Shabbat. I love that the city shuts down and I can finally relax and sleep before another week starts. I am so thankful that I am halfway through Ulpan! 

My family has officially booked their trip to come visit so I have started a list of all the places I am going to take them! Well Shabbat Shalom! 

xoxo, 

Katy Ann 

ps. I posted more pictures on shutter fly!