A quick recap:
I hung out in Tel Aviv and Rishon Lezion for a few days and did a lot of administrative stuff.
- I went to the main office of the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization in Jerusalem and picked up my Israeli ID card, called a Teudat Zehut. Pictured here:
I didn't have time to explore Jerusalem, though I plan to later. I'll probably go visit the Western Wall, but I feel way more at home in Haifa or Tel Aviv. At the meeting at Nefesh B'Nefesh, we also learned a lot about what to expect as new immigrants and some of us picked up a grant check from that organization to help get us settled in Israel. Then we sat in a Question and Answer session that should have lasted no more than 15 minutes. Instead, the elder immigrants there made it a point to ask the most useless and repetitive questions that they could. Even when the rest of us started groaning, they kept at it. Jessica, a girl who immigrated with me and is on the same kibbutz as me, and I decided it was time to leave. Before we left, we both agreed to be part of a special ceremony in Tel Aviv, which happens this Thursday. Yitzhak Rabin's daughter will officially present us with our Teudat Zehut cards, even though we already have them.
I made my way to Haifa from Jerusalem, then from Haifa to the neighboring suburb of Kiryat Atta, then from there, I took a cab to the kibbutz, Ramat Yochanan.
Now comes the weird part. Before this, I had only been to one kibbutz in my life. Last time I was in Israel, over two years ago, Tim and I went to visit a newfound friend named Elad (different from my friend Elad in Rishon Lezion) in Kiryat Atta. Elad took us to a nearby kibbutz and we walked around, met some people and a nice dog, and took a hike through the fields. It was beautiful and was one of my favorite days in Israel. Here are the pictures from facebook of that day.
When I signed up for my ulpan at this kibbutz, I didn't do it based on the location of the kibbutz or anything else, I only did it because of the time that the ulpan started. It was pretty much out of my hands, it was the only kibbutz I could choose.
As soon as I set foot in the ulpan area and saw Channah the dog, I realized it was the same kibbutz that I walked on two years ago!!!
I'll add pictures of Channah later and you can see how she has barely aged in two years! She's still lazy, still sleeps all day, and still puts her paw on your arm when you scratch her belly.
I took my Hebrew Test Sunday morning, and did not do very well, so I very well might end up in the lowest level, Alef, though I think I belong in Bet, where it will be more challenging.
I still have no time to go into detail about the kibbutz, because it's time to sleep. But I will later!
Tomorrow, 8 of us will go to the plastics factory and get safety training, because that is where we will be working. The plastic company of this kibbutz is called Palram.
Thursday, Jessica and I have to travel to Tel Aviv for the ceremony!
Sunday is when classes start.
Until later, Lailah tov!
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