Ulpan continues....

Hey all,

So a week has passed since I wrote the last time, a couple of things are new. The Ulpan is really working out great and i'mm learning more and more for everyday and the language has started to make way more sense than used to. Last week we had a midterm and today we got results and I'm pretty happy about my score which was 87/100. Within the Ulpan there are also a few trips and party's arranged. The day after my last blog-post we went to Nazareth to see the city and its sites. As I had been there before and know many of the stories form there I choosed to walk with an all-hebrew guide to see if I had a snowballs chance in hell of understanding him when was talking about different things and is it turned out I did understand at least half of what he said.

Last friday we went to Safat and a hike in Nahal Amud. Safat is one of the four holy cities in Israel and it is said that this is the place that the messiah will reappear ones he/she/it does. In Safat we were guided around to see different parts of the city, like the fort on the top of the hill that has been of much historical importance for many hundred years and its been sieged by both crusaders, mamluks, arabs, british and israeli troops. We also saw a couple of synagogs and other older parts of the town. The hike in Namal Hamud was beautiful. Fo those of you who are unfamiliar with the area its basically a river valley/crossing with high hills around. On top of the hills few things grow but the further down and the closer to the streams you get the more vegetation and bugs appear. You could also see old mill-houses, terraces and buildings. The hike itself wasn't so hard but the heat made the walk a real challenge.

This weekend we also had three kids from CISV Village here in Israel staying at the house. It was fun time and I think they did enjoy themselves, Maya and Adi took them to many different places. Yesterday we drove them back to the campsite to drop them of but also to help cook the evening meal. As we were cooking I first cut my thumb while chopping onions for the pasta-sauce and the some half hour later we ran out of gas for the stove so we couldn't boil the past so in the end all they got was big salad, bread and different sauces.

Yesterday the swedish football league started again after the World Cup break. Today Elfsborg are facing off against Örebro, a team that is usually in the mid of the table but after a really good spring they are currently placed as nr.4 and Elfsborg as well all now are nr.5 so hopefully after todays games the places will be switched.

Til you all read again,
Carl