Yesterday I didnt go to shul, instead i slept in until 10 because we had to be at the ulpan center by 11 for kiddish. After the kiddish we broke up to be with our madrichim where we talked about chanukah and how it is significant to be in israel during this time. I wish i was in jerusalem because i think the streets are decorated with chanukahs and im sure i would see on window sills chanukiahs lit.

When we came back to the apartment and napped while our chicken was cooking. It was really good, but the potatoes werent cooked well enough (even after we put them back in to cook more). After lunch we hung around for a little and at 4:30 we had to go back to the ulpan for some learning discussions led by the madrichim and then havadallah. There were different options, i was choosing between israel update or learning about the parsha. I chose to go to the parsha one, because i didnt know what the parsha was about this week. It was the story of Joseph, but we talked about something that people dont really talk about--it is the part where Joseph got married and had 3 sons. The eldest son found a wife, but then died, so the wife, named Tamar, got married to the next brother. That brother didnt love or want her, so his "seeds" spilled and then he died. Joseph didnt want Tamar to marry his youngest son because he thought she was cursed. At the time, joseph's youngest was young, so joseph told Tamer to go back to her village and then when his son is old enough Joseph will go to her. Somehow Tamar found out the Joseph's son was old enough to marry and ended up dressing as a prostitute and getting with joseph! and i think that Tamar had a son who was Judah--and most of us descended from judah.

After havadallah and walking back to the apartment, we had a small dinner...i had an omelet that julia made me. Not a huge omelet fan, but was not in the mood to make myself something. Then i took a warmish shower after julia and rachel. Katie had come over and hung out with us and we forced her to sleep over! She made my bed...i was going to finally sleep in my bed. It was 12ish when rach, katie, and i started to watch 27 dresses. We only watched like a half hour and were all tired. I then slept in my own bed!! it was really weird and i felt a little grossed out, but i had to stay up there, even though there is no bar to keep me from falling!