Yesterday I didn't wake up until after 10. We had to be at the ulpan center at 11:30 for our shevet siyyur. After talking about Judaism and the importance of being eco-friendly as Jews, we got on a bus and went to a place where 3,000 pounds of trash are taken on a daily basis 364 days a year (dont work on yom kippur) from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Bat Yam, and other cities. It used to be the place (1950-1998) where they built a trash mountain. They didnt properly bury it, so it was really not steady. There were so many birds that it became a hazard for airplanes, so they had to stop putting trash on the mountain. Now it is just the area where all the trash comes together and then trucks take it to the negev to bury it there. We then went up on the mountain and saw the view-Israel plans on building a huge park on top of this old trash mountain. There were some Israeli soldiers there, so obviously we stared at them. Then we went to the building that was built to educate people about pollution. We learned about recycling and what it is exactly. The best thing to do is reduce though. A big problem is plastic bags. The building was really cool--ill post pics soonish? They took stuff from the trash and made it into art, chairs, benches, decorations, etc.

After the siyyur we got dropped off where we walked to our siyyur- Samaritans in Holon. We were at this woman's house and she didn't speak english well, so yoni translated for her. Samaritans follow just what the Torah says. They are from the tribe of Menasha. They also haven't left Israel since the 1st exile. The Samaritans didn't help rebuild the 2nd Temple, but I don't remember the reason why. Also, instead of the Kotel being the most holiest place for them, it is a mountain of tears or something like that. Then she took us to the shul where before entering we had to take our shoes off. It is carpeted with not so many seats. One reason for this is because it commands them in the Torah to sometimes go down on your knees and bend down to pray. They also don't have a special place for women to go-just out of curtsy the women are usually in back. Also, for the parsha of the week, they don't go to shul, but read it in their own homes. Women can also read the Torah. Children go to secular school and then starting at age 7 start to learn the Torah. I think their Torah is written in ancient Hebrew. When someone reads the Torah they wear a white robe to represent that before God everyone is the same. We also found out that the woman's father was the first to not only marry a Jewish woman, but also to move to Holon. They started a neighborhood and oh since they only believe in the Torah, they believe Moshe was the only Prophet. Hmm what other facts did I learn...Oh! So many men marry Jewish women and it is completly accepted because we are all one nation. It is interesting because the children get the best of both worlds. For Jews, the mother's religion determines if the child is Jewish or not. For Samaritans, it is the father.

After the siyyur we came back home and then I had dinner before going to volunteering for Garin Tzedek with Michal. I slept on the bus and when we got there we went into a bedroom with the boy and his friend was there. We played a couple of rounds of Taki making them say the number and color they put down. We then did some homework with him and then played hangman for the rest of the time. The first time he did his name, which is Sawzi. Now I know how to spell his name! It went really well and we were joking around and I think they like us. We still have to speak mostly in hebrew. I saw that they had a copy of avatar...so typical. I remember when my hebrew teacher came into school with Defiance when it was still in theaters. He told us to just not ask him how he got it. So sketchy, but I love it. After being there for almost 2 hours we left and then went straight to the ulpan to try and get there in time before tzofiem night (soda and sing) was over. We walked there quickly and we were there for like a half hour. It was fun...we missed all of the singing, but then we just had a dance party.

When I got home after some chillzning with the scouts Rach, Maya, Shir, and I watched Coach Carter until past 2am. I have never seen the movie and ah it was so good. The next time I go to Jerusalem to see Boaz I MUST force him to take me to where he plays basketball so I can shoot around. I really miss it! Katie and I have been wanting to play for so long.