Today I didnt have to be outside until 9:15! Too bad my alarm didnt go off, so i woke up at 9:16. Luckily, i got ready quickly and everything was fine. We got to the school around 9:45 so it was perfect. We had nothing to do and Pamela didnt come for a little. When she finally came, she gave us a small task and we had so much extra time. We took a little nap and she told us what we should do the next time we come. It was so pointless for us to go!

When i got back to my apartment/flat (so used to the brits!), Simon, a guy in charge of jerusalem and originally started Shevet, was in our apartment. He had just talking to some brits who said they werent enjoying shevet programs. He talked to 3 americans (1 canadian, so 2 americans), about what we think. We all said we like everything. I just brought up how maybe more things should be optional because people are talking all the time and when it is optional, the people who come really want to be there. He then said that the talking is a problem and i just assumed that all brits just talk obsessively (like israelis), but he corrected me saying that it just seems to be this group. I then left to meet rach at emek refiem for...falafel!!!! I got a little lost, but it was only for 4 minutes. When i got there, rach forced me to order in hebrew (because we just practiced to order falafel in ulpan class), but the guy spoke to me in english. still, i just spoke in hebrew. rach and i split it. it was so so so yummy. On the way back we saw a little market across the street and i really wanted a peach. Rach also wanted one. We were each just gonna buy one but then we decided to buy a box. I was so happyyyyy. they werent ripe but they were still delicious. We wrote our name on the box and we know how many we have left. if someone eats one we will both have a freak out :)

When we got back to the apartment we had to go to class. I had a hebrew quiz. It wasnt too bad. I think i did well. it was great because right after we finished we could go. When i got back to the apartment i finished some reading/wrote the journal i had to do for my genesis parables class. The reading was really interesting and is all about reading the Bible figuratively, not literally. It was a little dense, but what made it more interesting was that our teacher wrote it! He is so smart. I also tried so so so hard to find some website so i can finish gossip girl. It took forever but i finally found one and i finished it! yay. I then went to class and it was an interesting class. Although it wasnt always about genesis, we discussed other stories in the Bible that should not be taken literally. it was really interesting.

After class I changed into pants and we went to the shuk for Kaparot. Oh em gee. I got pics that i will post. Mom, i am gonna post my pics tomorrow...hopefully! hehe. When we walked into the area it reeked and there were claws from the hens/roosters on the street! ahhh. We walk in and we see peope doing it and there are so many hens/roosters. There was a lot of blood. Some poeple did it. I passed. It was a cool enough experience without actually doing it. I watched people do it and then i watched the hen/rooster get killed. I was amazed. It was crazy! I couldnt help but stare! After a little rach and britty wanted to leave, so we waited for a bus and came back to our apartment. But i think i have been watching too much gossip girl because on the way to the bus stop i swear rufus humphrey walked past me!

When we got back we made dinner (pasta with broccoli) and for dessert we made pancakes with....chocolate spread!!! It was so good. and the biggest suprised...i made the pancakes (with the help of katie!). We were so focused on the size of the pancakes (we were making them huge), that we didnt realize there was smoke everywhere. All of the sudden the smoke alarm went off!!! We just opened windows and after about 20 seconds it shut off. oops! After dinner, we got ready to go to ben yehuda. I was hoping i would meet up with rachel brown, but we ended up not seeing each other at ben yehuda. The night was pretty fun and since we were out past 12, britty, katie, and i walked back to our apartment from ben yehuda. We got back at like 4 in the morning!!! I dont know why, but my nose isnt stuffy, but i have a sore throat...this order is the opposite order that colds usually happen (because usually you first get a sore throat/lose your voice, and then your nose gets stuffy). so happy it's the weekend!

to respond to your comment mom: it is at the place where we overlook jerusalem and say the shecheeanu...but it wasnt the exact place. I think where we go for that we are closer to the old city. Where we were, we were closer to the fence.

note to self: jhf