Baby Eytan!

Our wonderful Hungarian friends, Dina and Zoli, from ulpan, had a baby last month! They named him Eytan, and yesterday, I finally got to meet him! During the crazy June downpour Samantha and I went to their home for a visit! 

Samantha, me and baby EYTAN!! 

Mommy and Eytan

Masters of Middle East Studies from Ben Gurion University of the Negev

On Sunday I traveled to Beer Sheva to go to my graduation ceremony.  It was a beautiful night, not hot, and not too chilly.  There was a main ceremony where they had a few speeches, and then gave out the diplomas to the highest GPAs. Then we went to a smaller departmental ceremony where I received my MASTERS degree!!! 

Me in front of the sign for the humanities department.

Just got my diploma! 

Me and Yishai!!Yay!! No more BGU!! 

This is Avi, he lived in Northwest Indiana for a year as an Israeli liaison! We graduated from the same university in Israel at the same time! The world is so small =) Avi is going to The Paris School of Economics to get his Masters Degree! Good luck Avi, you'll do great! 

Relli, me and Avi, my great professors! 

Beeba!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Beeba wrote a thesis, so she'll have to wait until next year for her ceremony! 

Me and Roi, of course!! Just a few more years until we're sitting here again for his degree! 

Up close! Check it out!!! =) 

Farewell/birthday lunch

David and Samantha and Shahar took me to lunch for my birthday and a small "farewell" since I will be leaving soon. We had a great time despite the food being less than wonderful. The view and company made up for it! 

My housemates!! 

Funny.

Happy dogs...crazy kid.

Samantha, looking spectacular as always!! If anyone needs a fashion consultant, let me know! She is the best and comes highly recommended! 

Birthday happenings

Since I will be in Prague on my real birthday, I decided to have a small get together with my close friends on Thursday in the park by our apartment. It was so lovely. All my friends made everything so special for me. Graziella made an incredible birthday cake that was 3 kilos of chocolate! Flavia made a mousse cake and cookies. Nicola made a lemon cake. Samantha made cupcakes and a pasta salad. My ulpan girl friend's got me a cute shirt from Zara. My downstairs neighbor gave me a scarf. And my ulpan teacher got me a cupcake sheet because she knows I love baking! Really, it was a perfect party. 

Roi and me!! 

All the food and cakes!!

I tried to carve 26 into the watermelon for my age. My mother has been doing this in the summer for parties. But she makes it look so beautiful and so easy! Well, let me tell you, it's NOT easy! and I wish my mother was here to help me! But I tried...

Ram, Flavia and me! 

Samantha, my neighbors, and me!

Nicola, my favorite Russian girls, and me!!! 

Roi, me, and Dima!! Dima is Roi's friend from the army, but now after knowing him for a year, he's my friend too! =)

Blowing out my candles!! and special thanks to Yishai for taking so many great pictures! 

Me and Graziella and the AMAZING cake!! 

My friends!!!!!!!!!!! =) 

Thank you to everyone for coming and special thanks to Samantha for making the party possible. You are the best!! 

BBQ!

Our great friend Josh, from my Ulpan, finally had a BBQ last night! He had made a comment on the last day of class that he would like to have one at his home, and well, no one let him forget it! So finally, we all went to Kiryat Motzkin to try out his grilling skills! I think he passed the test with flying colors! The chicken was great and everyone devoured the kebabs!

Me, Diana, and Natasha!! I also look Russian, no??

Our class, minus a few!! Josh looked great in his apron!! Very professional!

I, of course, brought cookies!! 

Roi and me!

I love this guy!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Presentation

Today I had to do a presentation in Ulpan. I prepared it on my trip to Sinai. Overall, it was interesting, but I didn't feel prepared to do it. Reading from the paper I was fine, but I wasn't ready to simply talk and tell the story.

In the end, of course, everything was fine. It's just Ulpan, not an interview, but I wish I had had just one more day to prepare, it would have made a big difference. Plus, tomorrow, we have our first quiz/test. Although, it truly doesn't matter because my last day is the 6th. But, like always, I want to do well for myself. =)