Hey Everybody,
Last time I checked in, I made the lovely mistake of forgetting the most epic part of my post (the rain during services on Saturday) the first time I posted, so if you happened to read the post and rain rings no bell, please go to the actual blog (beccarosenthal.blogspot.com for those of you getting email updates) and read it. It'll blow your mind. This week, however, was all about college. Hopefully I won't forget anything.
After posting on Sunday, I headed off to the bus stop to take a bus to Hebrew U. I had only one class on Sunday, and it was pretty uneventful. The interesting parts of the day at Hebrew U really had nothing to do with class. As soon as I stepped off the bus and through the security gate, I was handed a flower and a piece of paper with a nice note to the students of Hebrew U welcoming me to a new school year. It was in Hebrew. Needless to say, I had no idea what it was talking about. It was a nice gesture though. As my friends and I headed out of the main bus building, we walked along the same paths leading up to the International School that we had been walking for the entire previous month, but it was by no means the same place. It was filled with students walking, talking, hanging out, listening to the live broadcast of the Hebrew U radio show, playing music. It looked like a day at a normal college. Until I heard a familiar chorus of a song: "Find me somebody to love, find me somebody to love, find me somebody to love..." over and over again. I looked in front of me, and I see a massive crowd of students standing in front of a building holding balloons and I <3 HU signs singing that part of the song "Somebody to Love" by Queen. I then looked at the door of the building and saw a guy with a camera. I was so confused until I saw this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPo-6kxgiDk&feature=player_embedded
I was there when they filmed it. Welcome to college.
My class on the Modern Middle East was very interesting in terms of subject material, but the lecturer was really bad. I ultimately decided that I was going to stick it out anyways.
On Monday, I fought my way into a class called "A Post Modern Reading of Modern Jewish Texts" which has the most incredible professor I've ever had the honor of learning from. He is the kind of guy who teaches you something that causes you to make all of these seemingly logical and brilliant connections and then explains to you why those conclusions are actually the most problematic thoughts in the world. I love it! After that, I had a holocaust class from another completely brilliant lecturer. He understands that we've all studied the holocaust before, so he doesn't spend time on things that we all have known forever. Instead, he looks at the war through all of these different lenses. It's been 2 days and I'm already obsessed. My only other class is Hebrew, and that seems to be the right level for me this time (thank god).
On Monday night, the Nativ Girls football team had its first practice. It was awesome to see about 20 girls from my program show up to play football on Monday and Thursday nights in a league in Jerusalem. After winning one of two quarterback spots, I headed back home knowing that it was going to be a really fun season.
The last few days have been very uneventful, as they have been filled with classes and homework for the most part, but I can say a few things about it in reflection.
1) Head Royce, thank you. I am VERY prepared for college. Special shout out to Paul Scott who spent about 6 months focusing on Epistemology and Epistemological shifts, and all 3 of my history classes have now spent time trying to explain this concept.
2) Being a Nativer is sort of aweful at Hebrew U. There are 166 kids in the International School, and 66 of us are on Nativ. The majority of the other kids are Junior year abroad students. This means that roughly one in three kids in the Rothberg School are on Nativ, and most classes have at least 5 Nativ kids in it. We have targets over our heads, and everyone can tell that we're Nativ. Having said that, at least there is strength in numbers.
3) I love being in a campus with a lot of outdoor natural areas. There is a very nice botanical gardens and lots of nice grassy patches in which one can sit and work or just hang out with friends. Hebrew U is a beautiful campus (I urge you to watch the video I linked above since it shows you a lot of the Campus).
Tonight, I'm going to a wedding with Art Gould, and then I'm going to stay with a friend in Herzlya for the weekend. I'm sure I'll have a lot to report when I get back. Until then, Have a great weekend!
Becca
Best View Ever: Go to the top of the Truman Building(Truman Institute). Go inside, go up the elevator (on your right when you walk in the main entrance) to the top floor. Walk out of the elevator, and turn right at the glass door to the outside. Walk out onto the outside balcony via the glass door. Turn left and spot the ladder that goes up to the roof. Climb the ladder (safely!) and get blown away. On a clear day, you can see to the Jordanian hills on the far side of the Dead Sea (to the east) and all of Jerusalem (to the south and west). Take your camera with you! you won't regret it! Search on Google Maps: 31.791526,35.246396
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