Chagura means belt, seat belt, and also....
Okay okay, I know I owe everyone an email (or more) about my adventures in America, but I've been back in Israel for a few days and already have plenty of adventures to share with y'all. But I'll try to keep myself brief and just share the main one.
I returned to Israel on Friday, arriving in Jerusalem half an hour before Shabbat. I spent Shabbat at some friends' house sleeping on their couch, and visited two very close friends of mine, Rebekka and Tyson, on Saturday afternoon. Rebekka, along with being my close friend is also my roommate who I introduced to my friend Tyson. Well, while I was in America the two of them got engaged! So I visited them as soon as I could in order to see them and congratulate them. We shmoozed for a while, I heard the engagement story, saw the ring, and talked with Rebekka a bit about dresses she was looking at and halls and catering and all that.
Early Sunday morning I left Jerusalem for Haifa (a city on the northern coast of Israel) where I'll be studying in ulpan (intensive Hebrew) for the next month. I was under the impression that ulpan started Sunday morning, but it turned out that we had two days of orientation before classes actually started on Tuesday morning. So I called up Rebekka, told her what was going on, and mentioned that I was considering returning to Jerusalem until classes started. She jumped at the thought and the next thing I knew I was on bus to a train to a bus to a bus to her apartment in Jerusalem. We stayed up talking until the wee hours of the night and then went to sleep. When we woke up in the morning we headed straight for the dress maker's shop.
I never knew that although some wedding dresses come whole (you know, like regular dresses), some also come in pieces. The one we ultimately decided on is made up of separate corset/bodice, skirt, sleeves, straps, and back not to mention veil and all the undergarments. [This little adventure taught me a number of new Hebrew words like petticoat and girdle, the answer to this email's subject line.] As we left the shop, the dress maker reminded us that Rebekka had visited her for the first time a little over a year ago with her friend Helena as Helena got her wedding dress made for her. Now Helena just had a baby and Rebekka is visiting again for her own wedding dress with a friend - me. So the dress maker blessed me that I would soon be getting married as well. Quite freaked out, I ran down the stairs and out to the street.
Having decided on the dress, next came shoe shopping. Our quest was only reasonably successful; we found the perfect shoes, but only in white while her dress is in cream. Next, Rebekka rushed across town to finalize the location for the wedding and reception, at a beautiful overlook of Jerusalem called the Tayyelet/Promenade. I ran a few quick errands and met her up at the apartment a bit later when we parted ways (until the next time she has me commute down from Haifa for other assorted wedding planning like caterer's tastings). I then jumped in a cab, then a bus, then another bus, and then a shared taxi finally arriving back at the dorms in Haifa late Monday evening. Whew, what a day.
But the most exciting part came a few hours later as I spread out my sheets and pillow and fell asleep in the hot double dorm room in.... wait for it.... I fell asleep in.... A BED!!!! The first bed I had slept in in over a month since I'd left Jerusalem on June 10th. In the intervening nights I'd slept on couches, floors, futons, and airplane seats, but no beds. Last night, for the first time in a month, I slept in a bed. I've never appreciated a ridiculously hot room as much as I did last night when I was sweating in my pajamas on a bed and not a couch.
Anyway, today was the first day of classes here in Haifa. I was placed in level fourteen (out of fifteen) which seems about right to me. Class today was very slow, but I think that's because it was mostly introductions and there are a few individual students who maybe should be a bit lower. We'll see how class goes. I don't think I'm really ready to be in the top level, so hopefully today's class was slow because it was an introduction.
But now I'm off to do some quick homework before I go to sleep in my very own BED!
Hope everyone's staying cool,
sarah….
I returned to Israel on Friday, arriving in Jerusalem half an hour before Shabbat. I spent Shabbat at some friends' house sleeping on their couch, and visited two very close friends of mine, Rebekka and Tyson, on Saturday afternoon. Rebekka, along with being my close friend is also my roommate who I introduced to my friend Tyson. Well, while I was in America the two of them got engaged! So I visited them as soon as I could in order to see them and congratulate them. We shmoozed for a while, I heard the engagement story, saw the ring, and talked with Rebekka a bit about dresses she was looking at and halls and catering and all that.
Early Sunday morning I left Jerusalem for Haifa (a city on the northern coast of Israel) where I'll be studying in ulpan (intensive Hebrew) for the next month. I was under the impression that ulpan started Sunday morning, but it turned out that we had two days of orientation before classes actually started on Tuesday morning. So I called up Rebekka, told her what was going on, and mentioned that I was considering returning to Jerusalem until classes started. She jumped at the thought and the next thing I knew I was on bus to a train to a bus to a bus to her apartment in Jerusalem. We stayed up talking until the wee hours of the night and then went to sleep. When we woke up in the morning we headed straight for the dress maker's shop.
I never knew that although some wedding dresses come whole (you know, like regular dresses), some also come in pieces. The one we ultimately decided on is made up of separate corset/bodice, skirt, sleeves, straps, and back not to mention veil and all the undergarments. [This little adventure taught me a number of new Hebrew words like petticoat and girdle, the answer to this email's subject line.] As we left the shop, the dress maker reminded us that Rebekka had visited her for the first time a little over a year ago with her friend Helena as Helena got her wedding dress made for her. Now Helena just had a baby and Rebekka is visiting again for her own wedding dress with a friend - me. So the dress maker blessed me that I would soon be getting married as well. Quite freaked out, I ran down the stairs and out to the street.
Having decided on the dress, next came shoe shopping. Our quest was only reasonably successful; we found the perfect shoes, but only in white while her dress is in cream. Next, Rebekka rushed across town to finalize the location for the wedding and reception, at a beautiful overlook of Jerusalem called the Tayyelet/Promenade. I ran a few quick errands and met her up at the apartment a bit later when we parted ways (until the next time she has me commute down from Haifa for other assorted wedding planning like caterer's tastings). I then jumped in a cab, then a bus, then another bus, and then a shared taxi finally arriving back at the dorms in Haifa late Monday evening. Whew, what a day.
But the most exciting part came a few hours later as I spread out my sheets and pillow and fell asleep in the hot double dorm room in.... wait for it.... I fell asleep in.... A BED!!!! The first bed I had slept in in over a month since I'd left Jerusalem on June 10th. In the intervening nights I'd slept on couches, floors, futons, and airplane seats, but no beds. Last night, for the first time in a month, I slept in a bed. I've never appreciated a ridiculously hot room as much as I did last night when I was sweating in my pajamas on a bed and not a couch.
Anyway, today was the first day of classes here in Haifa. I was placed in level fourteen (out of fifteen) which seems about right to me. Class today was very slow, but I think that's because it was mostly introductions and there are a few individual students who maybe should be a bit lower. We'll see how class goes. I don't think I'm really ready to be in the top level, so hopefully today's class was slow because it was an introduction.
But now I'm off to do some quick homework before I go to sleep in my very own BED!
Hope everyone's staying cool,
sarah….
posted by sarah @ 7:59 PM
1 Comments:
At February 14, 2007 1:59 PM,
Anonymous said…
Enjoyed the blog - annual travel insurance uk. A new site has been launched with plenty of bargain holidays to choose from. Bookmark http://www.bargainplace.co.uk not just for bargain holidays but for flights and transport to and from airports plus travel insurance deals and holiday clothes.
Post a Comment
<< Home