Ah salaam!

My friend Muhammad used to say, "Ah salaam!" in moments of deep distress. I've been saying it all week. My Hebrew teacher was walking around the classroom as we were doing drills with our partner and she stopped at my desk right as I got stuck on a word. I looked up and I could tell she was waiting for me to answer and I just said, "I'm really stressed right now!". She felt bad, but I felt worse. Midterms are hard everywhere. So, to ease the pain, I'm blogging.

1. Shephela! Turns out, they’re not as cool as their name (But still very cool). We spent an entire day wandering through four of the five cities of the Philistines. We went to Gath to see where Dr. Chadwick excavates and then returned and learned the “Shephela Song” sung to the tune of “My Boyfriends Back”. That song is the most memorable part of the Shephela experience.

Quote of the day: “You sound like you’re singing a hymn, SPICE IT UP!!” –James

2. Lesson 1: “Digestives” (the cookies) are amazing. Lesson 2: Don’t eat 8 in one day.

3. The Jews have more history than I thought. Like WAY more. Like, over 200 pages more than I ever could have even made up about a religion is all factual Jewish history. I love what we’ve been learning, though. Yesterday, we talked about how if you are not Jewish and you observe the Sabbath following all the same laws the Rabbis do, it’s as if you are stealing. If the laws don’t apply to you, you shouldn’t practice them. It’s all pretty fascinating. I love it here.