A night out in Be'er Sheva

On a whim last night, I decided to head to Be'er Sheva with three of my WUJS friends. It was kind of a last-minute thing. There was a party planned at some club in the old city of Be'er Sheva, and about half of the group was signed up to go. We, however, wanted to see a movie.

After about 15 or 20 minutes in a traffic jam outside of the city, it was a nice surprise to find that the mall is literally across the street from the central bus station. We walked over, discovered that the next movie didn't start until very late, and ate some dinner. We figured out that to get back to Arad, we would have to join the end of the party and catch the (free and direct WUJS-provided) bus back with the group. So we hit the bookstore, where I got three books. Two are Harry Potter books in Hebrew to work on in order to improve my vocabulary. One is a novel in English just for fun.

At about 9:30 we bought tickets to the 10:00 showing of Borat. Israeli theaters assign seats, which is kind of odd, but nobody seemed to sit in their assigned rows, let alone seats. We got some popcorn to share, and sat down to watch the movie.

Borat was absolutely hilarious and disgusting! It was really a lot of fun. The most hilarious part is that when Borat and his director are supposedly speaking their crazy Khazakstani language, it's really just Hebrew (with some Polish at times too, apparently)! Amusingly enough, the Hebrew subtitles continued through the parts of the movie that were actually in Hebrew.

The weirdest thing about seeing a movie in Israel is that there's an intermission. And it's not like a normal intermission at a play, where the act ends and the curtain goes down. They simply just stop the movie somewhere, sometimes right in the middle of a sentence. It's very odd, but it gave us a chance to talk about the movie before it was over, so I guess it's not the worst thing in the world.

After the movie, we proceeded to get ourselves somewhat lost in Be'er Sheva. After asking four or five different people for directions to the club, we finally called Osnat to ask where the hell the place was. We eventually found it.

I actually danced a little bit, but I have to say that clubs really aren't for me. It was one of those places where the music is so loud that you can feel the bass pounding in your chest, and there are flashing lights everywhere. I didn't really like it. I found it way too overwhelming and crowded. So I guess it was an experience that just confirmed what I already knew: I don't like clubbing.

Anyway, we got back to Arad at about 2:00, and after a very cold shower I went to sleep. This morning, my voice teacher and I picked out three possible pieces to sing for my big audition (I don't even know when it is), and I have an orchestra rehearsal at 4:00. We have a shabbaton at WUJS this shabbat, so we get fed and everything, which is cool.

Oh, and it's slightly warmer out today, but the building is still freezing. I'm hoping to get my nice warm pajamas in the mail anytime now.

Snow in the Desert

I really didn't think I'd get to see snow until I get back to Milwaukee in April. However, I had quite a nice surprise today: snowflakes over the Negev! Actually, we had a lot of hail, rain, sleet and wind as well. And it's incredibly freaking cold here. I'm freezing my ass off with just a tiny sucky space heater.

It's times like these (cold times, that is), when I find myself asking why the hell the f***ing Jewish Agency can't get off their asses and give us heating. Really, this is a place in which it's cold for at least three to four months of the year, and all they give us are these tiny heaters. What the hell is up with that?

We went to Haifa yesterday, and to be perfectly honest, I thought it was a waste of time and gasoline. The city is very nice, but what we did there was pointless. We were supposed to learn about Arab/Jewish coexistance, and I really learned nothing. We started out at the Ba'hai Gardens, which is very nice to look at but not very interesting. Then we went to lunch, which was the only good part of the day. Then we went to some "coexistance" community center, where they made us walk around a random neighborhood and look at art that was supposedly promoting coexistance. Then we went to Haifa University to hear a panel of Jewish and Arab students. One Arab student just yelled the whole time and didn't let the others have a say. One Jewish student just yelled back, and took up the rest of the time. Then it was another 3 and 1/2 hours to get back to Arad. Oh, and it rained the whole day.

Now, I need to get ready to volunteer at the old folks' home. I'm playing the violin for them, but I have no idea what I'll play today. I've kind of run out of new repretoire for them.

I'm sick of application essays!

Basically, I've spent this week writing application essays. To be perfectly honest, I'm sick of it. I'd better get into cantorial school on the first try, because I never want to have to write these essays again!

First of all, they ask for a six-page personal statement on why I want to become a cantor. What am I supposed to say about myself for six whole pages? Is it really necessary to know THAT much about me? I mean, I'm obviously a fascinating person and all, but let's not get carried away here.

Then, they asked for a "reflection" on a Torah portion or a piece of sacred music. Aren't they supposed to teach me how to do that? That was probably the most nerve-wracking essay to write. Maybe. Because the next one seemed like they wanted a bit of a tight-rope walk.

The last essay asked me to write about Reform Judaism. It felt like I had to make sure I didn't say anything too bad about the movement. I wanted to say something about how half of Reform Jews are only marginally Jewish (or not Jewish at all), but I had to hold in my diatribe.

Now I get to figure out how to hook up to a printer to print this stuff out. Lots of fun.

Reporting from Ramat Gan...

It's Chanukah break right now, which I have to say still sounds a little strange to my American ears. I'm used to a "holiday" break, if not simply a Christmas break. Amazingly, there are chanukiot in the window of almost every store and building in Israel at this time of year, and the toy store I visited yesterday was selling a Dora The Explorer-themed chanukiah.

I'm staying at Janie and Moshe's house until Friday, and as usual it's very nice there. There's hot water, a shower that's actually enclosed, edible food and a television. Therefore, it's pretty different from the mirkaz klitah.

Yesterday we went swimming, and then I accompanied Moshe to the market, where we bought all sorts of fruits and vegetables. Today, Michal's dog Yehoshua is visiting, which is a lot of fun. He's a big, sweet, naughty dog that reminds me quite a bit of my Cinn. He's lots of fun to play with.

I've been spending a lot of time working on my application essays over the past two days. So far I've already written half of it, deleted it and started over again. And there's a lot more work to do. Plus, only three of the five people I asked for refrences have responded so far. It would be really nice to know that I've got everything I need!

Apparently, I need to stop obsessing about this application stuff. So I'd better go take my mind off of it!

My pre-audition-al auditionie thing

Well, it's the first night of Chanukah, and I got back from HUC (that's Hebrew Union College to all of you who don't know) this morning. And I'm seriously tired, but that's what I get for going out to a bar with the cantorial and rabbinical students instead of going to bed on time!

My audition-ish thing went well. I sang two things for the only two full-time cantorial staff at HUC's Jerusalem campus, one of whom used to be the cantor at my synagogue. Then, I sight-sang some music (not nearly as easy as sightreading music on the violin or piano), and I played the violin. After all of that, my former cantor asked me to chant some randomly chosen passages of Torah and haftarah. They recommended that I apply for this coming year. So now I'm busy filling out forms and asking people to write letters of recommendation.

HUC was nothing like I expected, although I don't know what exactly I thought it would be like. The front building looks like absolutely nothing. The campus itself is in the back, and it was very nice. There are lots of stone archways and gardens and fountains. It felt very peaceful, and almost like some kind of ancient Roman building. But I'm not sure if there are any ancient Roman rabbinical schools, so my guess is that it was just designed to feel that way.

I went to two afternoon classes with the first-year cantorial students (and, as they put it, a few talented rabbinical students). The first was "History of Jewish Music," in which they were learning about Arabic Jewish music and poetry. We listened to some recordings of Yeminite prayers and songs. Apparently, they used kerosene containers as drums. Weird.

After that, I attended cantillation class. That was actually a lot of fun for me, because I had no problem following along. One of the cantorial students shared his books with me so I could participate. They went over haftarah trope, and then translated and chanted a section of Isaiah. It was nice to find out that there's something I'll already know going into the program (if I get in)!

At night, there was a concert. The cantorial students sang beautifully, in Hebrew, Yiddish and Ladino. It was really a lot of fun to listen to, and made me definitely want to be part of that for next year.

Afterwards, we went to a new sushi restaurant, and then to a bar. All in all, it was a good night. And now I'm awfully tired, because I had to get up early to make it back to Arad in time for my voice lesson this morning.

Good night and happy Chanukah to all.

I'm the third smartest person in WUJS!

So the title of this entry may be a slight overstatement. It's possible that I'm the fourth smartest person here. But I came in third in tonight's "Who Wants to be a Jewish Millionaire" competition, so I'm feeling pretty smart right now. Sure, it's a step down from winning the Jewish trivia competition at camp when I was a kid, but nobody had to present a college degree and resume to get accepted to camp, right?

Anyway, things here are pretty well normal. Our Chanukkah break starts really this Friday, which is nice. I leave for my thingie in Jerusalem at HUC early Thursday morning, so I will miss the Chanukkah party. I'm not all that concerned about it. I *am* concerned about what I will sing on Thursday morning (and if I get some new medicine tomorrow that works for my asthma, the selection will change). Anyway, my new voice teacher said she thinks it's definitely good enough. Let's hope that she manages to infiltrate the HUC hierarchy before Thursday.

That's it for now. Short post, I know. But there's really not that much to report besides the fact that I'm the third-smartest person in WUJS!

Concerts and classes

I attempted to update yesterday (I swear I did), but the website for some reason thwarted my effort to inform my adoring public about my activities in Israel. So today's entry will have to suffice.

On Tuesday night, I went to an Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra concert in Tel Aviv with Janie and her friend. It was a really great experience. The orchestra first played a Schubert symphony, and after that there was a soloist who played Mozart's fourth violin concerto in D major. She was very good, but her encore (a piece by Paganini) was even better. The last piece was a Dvorak symphony.

Amazingly, there is a music store in the symphony building, allowing attendees to purchase cds and such. So I got two awesome cds. It was a lot of fun.

Yesterday, I had a piano lesson and then I started my new volunteer work. I really didn't enjoy the first place (a day care). First of all, I kind of felt like I wasn't actually helping anyone. Second, they gave me no direction whatsoever. And third, I usually get paid when I watch kids, and the kids are usually much cuter. Apparently, the other two girls who also volunteered there had similar reactions to me.

Now, I'm volunteering with the retirement home. The idea is for me to play the violin for them every so often. Yesterday, however, we met at a local pub in Arad and had coffee, soda and ice cream. None of the old people speak any English at all, and half of them only speak Russian! I talked to the ones who could speak Hebrew. It was pretty nice, and I came away feeling good that I can actually communicate in Hebrew.

Next week, I'm supposed to go to HUC to see the director of the cantorial program there. Naturally, I have received no instructions on anything related to this rather important visit. Should I have expected more? Probably not. However, I'm pretty frustrated by the lack of information. Tonight, my roommate has concented to accompany me to the mall, in order to procure items to make me look nice for the interview/audition/whatever the hell the thing is supposed to be.

That's about it for now.

Kibbutzing

So I'm officially back from the WUJS shabbaton at Kibbutz Ketura, which is somewhere in the middle of the desert about 30 minutes from Eilat. The weekend was quite the success. We're all tired and kind of wishing we were still there. That's mostly because the rooms were actually CLEAN, we had REAL MATRESSES, and the showers worked without flooding the entire bathroom or running out of hot water halfway into shampooing. And, as a plus, the food was edible! It was a huge change from the mirkaz klitah just for those reasons. As a bonus, we even had televisions in our rooms. What more can a bunch of Americans ask for?

Really, the kibbutz was beautiful. It was surrounded by really pretty mountains and lots of palm trees (their biggest industry is growing and selling dates). We had to sit through a few inane sessions about how a kibbutz is run, but other than that it was a very enjoyable weekend.

I now leave you with some pictures of Kibbutz Ketura.