Ulpan and other things

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Sorry for not updating you all in the past three weeks but a lot of things have been going both very good and some very sad. Last time I wrote we had just been to Shay and Danits wedding and I had finalized my application for the hebrew Ulpan at the Haifa University. A week after Shay and Danits wedding something really sad and depressing happend as Tzipora, Adi's grandma passed away after being sick of and on during this spring. her leaving left a huge hole in this family sense she was such a sweet and unselfish person that always looked after you and your well being. I only knew her for some 4 months but she was always happy to see me and to try to speak german and hebrew with me. Her passing also showed me how you grief within Judaism, which again is different from what I know from before. The burial is hold as fast as possible and then its an open house for 7 days in the passed persons house. Were friends and family can come to grief and send their condolences to the family. So for a week me and Adi spent many hours in Tziporas apartment together with family and other relatives. When the 7 days had passed we went back to the graveyard to say a prayer over the grave and when 30 days will have passed the final stone will be put on the grave to mark the end of the burial.

On a happier note I have also started the Ulpan at the University so right now all that is spinning in my head is hebrew, homework and new friends. Which is one of the reasons I havent written in the blog there has been no time. At the Ulpan there are some 180 people from 24 different countries. The 180 people are split over 12 classes depending on your prior knowledge of hebrew. I'm in class with 8 other people and our teacher Ornit. It really good class and we are learning lots every day. When its not class time the University had fixed with different sorts of entertainment such as Movie nights, trips, volunteering and barhopping. Tomorrow theres a trip to Nazareth that I'm going on hopefully its gonna be really great.

Another happy story is about the CISV Village that is taking place here. Me and Adi have been out there three different times helping them out with cooking and preparing the campsite. This weekend it was also the Open Day so we were there to help them out. What is always impressing in CISV Israel is the amount of people that show up on an Open Day, last year for the seminar some 200 people showed and for this Open Day some 450-500 people showed.....its Insanity! Anyway the show was good and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

A lot of more things have happend over the past weeks but right now I need to take a nap and then do my homework...and btw congrats to Spain for winning the World Cup even thou I thought that Webb played to much with his cards and that spanish players "fall" to easily.

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