New Year's Eve Sunset

Rosh HaNikra

This place was beautiful: http://www.rosh-hanikra.com/default.asp?lan=eng

On the funicular

Daniel and Julia!!!


There is an old railroad tunnel here that was built by the British/Australians/New Zealanders. It was suppose to go from Tripoli to Beruit.

Some wildlife.

lots of armor on this little guy


This is where we hiked.

Small hike in the north

Shalom cow!

Recebba, Jonah, and me!

Our group on the mountain! I used my camera timer, that's why it's not perfect!


My cousin Daniel and some goats!

With the Johnson's!!

We ate falafel!!!!!!! Simon loves it!! This is the first time I met Rebecca, Jonah's girlfriend, she is delightful and has a wonderful vocabulary! She's really fun.

Akko at night. Gorgeous.

We had a wonderful fish dinner and a bottle of wine! ;-)

Inside the citadel.

The Johnson's came to Israel and I was lucky enough to spend a weekend with them in the north! I love them. They are so warm, giving, accepting, smart and funny! It was a great time!

Soup/ratatouille

This is the soup/ratatouille I made last week. It's nice. Samantha and I shared this big pot and it lasted us over a week! 

Christmas 2010

Roi and me on Christmas night before we went shopping for presents at BIG! He is wearing the sweater I bought him last March (finally) and he looked sooo handsome! 

My family at the Indiana Dunes beach on Christmas! You can see Chicago in the background! They all look wonderful, especially Jack! His first Christmas at the beach!!!!! I miss my family so much, but even more on holidays! 

Hadassah Optimal

I went to Hadassah Optimal while I was in Jerusalem because I want to have laser correction surgery on my eyes. After a lot of tests (which I had already done in the US) they told me I was eligible for the surgery. Then I listened to an hour speech about the procedure in Hebrew (and no, my Hebrew is not good enough to understand must of it.)

http://www.hadassahop.org.il/?CategoryID=759

It's still expensive and I would also have Wavefront and Lasik, not PRK. I am hoping to have it done in April after football season, because God forbid I got hit in the face with a ball.

Any suggestions? or opinions?

Some things never get old.

Me and my wonderful roommate Samantha at the kotel. This was Samantha's first visit and I was honored to share the experience with her!

Brazilians in my ulpan!

No matter how many times I have gone to the Western Wall, I still love it. I love praying there, I love watching the people, I love the emotions it provokes in me, I love thinking about my family, I love breathing there.

We went on the rampart walk, unbelievably, I had never done it before. It is mostly of the Armenian Quater, but the views are still lovely.

Back to ulpan!

I had an entire week off from ulpan for the holiday. It was too much and I was too lazy. I reffed two football games, went to Akko, and relaxed with Roi in Beer Sheva. Although I got stuck there in a horrible sand storm and had to miss Sunday of ulpan! But today is back on schedule and I went to the gym and made ratatouille for dinner. Actually, I don't know if it was ratatouille, but it tasted great. I put carrot, onion, red pepper, potato, zucchini, and eggplant together in a big pot on the stove and boiled everything then added a huge can of tomatoes. I let the extra water boil off the top for a while. I added salt and pepper and paprika and dried red pepper. It's pretty awesome, I can't wait to eat leftovers tomorrow!

Roi and me in Akko!!!

Roi studied really hard so he would have an extra day to come see me up north! We went to Akko. It was a beautiful day, not hot at all. We went into a mosque, ate humus, played backgammon, drank tea and ate baklava. It was a perfect day. =)

Mediterranean Sea

On the wall surrounding Akko

Port of Akko

Very seriously picking out baklava!

Tour Guide

I am applying to be a tour guide for NFTY in Israel this summer. Part of my interview is to write a two hour tour of a site.  Most of the tour guides are Israeli though, so most likely they have been to the places. I am writing about Rosh Pina (one of the first moshavs, farming communities in Israel), which I can only visited once, with NFTY, last summer. It is quite a difficult task for me, but I am trying my best.

Devastating fire in the Carmel near Haifa

Despite aid, Israel unable to check deadly wildfire
By Janine Zacharia
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, December 4, 2010; A06 

JERUSALEM - The worst fire in Israel's history showed little sign of abating Friday, and after two days the unchecked blaze had killed 42 people, consumed more than 7,000 acres and nipped at neighborhoods in the northern city of Haifa, Israel's third largest.
The fire had also destroyed a large chunk of the Carmel Forest, one of Israel's natural crown jewels and a popular tourist and vacation destination that is known as Little Switzerland because of its beauty.
By Friday, the flames had engulfed several kibbutzim and were racing down hills toward Israel's heavily traveled coastal highway. At least 15,000 residents were evacuated.
In a country as small as Israel, where territory is at the heart of political conflict, every inch of land is especially precious. Nevertheless, Israel has neglected to invest in the equipment and personnel needed to effectively combat wildfires that have become pervasive in recent years amid unseasonably high temperatures and periods of drought. In a country of 7 million, there are only 1,500 firefighters.
This winter has been one of the hottest and driest on record. Jerusalem rabbis this week held a special prayer for rain at Judaism's holiest site, the Western Wall.
Fires this year ravaged parts of the disputed Golan Heights and charred nature preserves on Jerusalem's outskirts. Israel used its entire 200-ton stock of fire-retarding chemicals to battle those outbreaks, so it had none on hand when the latest fire erupted.
The country boasts the region's most powerful military and is often among the first to send rescue teams to disasters abroad, but it could not handle this fire alone.
"Our firefighting measures cannot provide an answer to forest fires of this magnitude, especially in the face of such winds. We do not have such equipment,'' Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Friday.
The fire has sparked a rally of international support at a time when Israel has felt isolated diplomatically. Turkey, which has had a strained relationship with Israel since Israeli troops seized a Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship in May, sent two planes. Britain, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Russia and Jordan also sent help. Turkey and Greece set aside their political differences and flew sorties together to douse the flames.
The evacuations in the north recalled the mass flight of Israelis south to escape Katyusha rocket fire from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah during a 2006 war. Acknowledgments by authorities Thursday night that they had no control of the fire raised questions about Israel's readiness to cope with another such barrage, analysts said.
After the 2006 war, a national inquiry found that Israel's fire services were underfunded and unprepared and recommended an investment in firefighting aircraft.
But even as Israel prepares to acquire hundreds of millions of dollars worth of advanced fighter jets, no budget has been allocated for the much cheaper aerial firefighters.

First night of Hanukkah and chicken noodle soup!

I would make my mom, grandma, and great-grandma proud! I really did a number on this soup!

Also, Hanukkah in Israel is beatiful because there are candles in so many windows. It's really magical in a way. Although, it's still 80 degrees in the day, I feel like there should be just a little snow at least!

Chocolate cookie presentation!

Mixing

Shaping

Ready

Israeli ingredients. 

For my presentation in ulpan I taught the class how to make cookies, and I used a power point. So, here are some of the pictures from my presentation. 

Loren and Maccabi Haifa!

I went to Loren's army base, north of Karmiel to see his graduation ceremony! He graduated from his army ulpan and the first stage of his service. He will be placed into his "real" company later this week! I am really proud of him and I was happy I could attend his graduation and support him!

There is an article on Ynet if you can read Hebrew about this graduation and the army base: 

http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3988463,00.html

Then I zoomed back to Haifa to go the Maccabi Haifa vs Hapoel Haifa (a derby game). It was my second soccer game in my life, the first was when I lived in Istanbul and went to the BESIKTAS game!!!!!!!!! This was really exciting too. Although I only stayed for the first half, and I was happy I did because the end score was a tie of 0-0!!!!!!!!

From my most recent game:

IFL on CNN!!!

http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/sports/2010/11/11/flower.israel.american.football.cnn.html

This is incredible that the Israeli Football League made it on CNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am really proud to be a part of this league!

Roi comes to Haifa

Roi came to Haifa last weekend. Originally he was going to come to help me move to the new apartment, but I wanted to move so much that I did it myself with the help of a few friends, (and Rachel's car.) But he came to see me and my new apartment anyway! We had a wonderful weekend. We walked to the Baha'i Gardens and met with Dima, one of Roi's best friends from the army (who was home, near Haifa because he broke his leg) and Roi helped me organize some of the mass amounts of paperwork that I have been receiving from life in Israel. Roi really liked the gardens and Haifa. When Roi was in Haifa during his army period, it was always down by the port where is it hot and dirty, not in the center at the top of the mountain where it is cool and beautiful. =)

I liked that the kid took his bow and arrows with him. But obviously they became too heavy and his mother had to take over carrying them for him.

Some of the lovely trees of Haifa, which definitely don't exist in the south. (and the incline too.)

Portage instructor named Indiana art teacher of year

PORTAGE | Portage High School art teacher Paula Wiese has been named the Secondary Art Educator of the Year by the Art Education Association of Indiana.

Wiese, a Chesterton resident, received the recognition during the association's convention last week.

Wiese is the PHS art department chairperson. She has received several grants, including the A+ for Energy Grant, which provided her students the opportunity to create Solar Powered Ceramic Fountains.

Wiese also coordinated the Empty Bowl Project, which involves students making and selling ceramic bowls. Portage students raised about $3,200 for the local food pantry over the last three years.

Wiese was nominated by fellow art teacher Cynthia Stojic.

"The one thing that makes Paula stand out is her willingness to help other students get on track their junior and senior year. She helps students with college applications, scholarships and financial aid, meets with parents and gets the job done," Stojic said.

PHS Principal Caren Swickard said Wiese showcases her students' artwork in the community and participates in many exhibits. She also has served in many leadership roles in the school.

"Mrs. Wiese is a master teacher, a school leader and a great individual," Swickard said.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/chesterton/article_4872c299-dfa4-5fa4-81fa-658398eb4966.html

My mom is really a wonderful mother and an incredible person! She is really so deserving! Way to go mom, you're one of a kind! 

To the End of the Land

Most of my life I didn't read much, then I just read chick books, or school books. Obviously, last year during my masters, I only had time to read for the degree.

So I just finished this book To the End of the Land by David Grossman.  Summary here. It revolves around Ora, an Israeli mother of two. The story recaps her whole life which spans three wars.  The main conflict is that the younger son went on a dangerous mission in the IDF and we don't know what is going to happen to him.

The character development is quite remarkable. Like I said, I'm not an avid reader, but I was really sucked in.   But I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I feel like I almost made up my own ending to appease myself.  I would still recommend the book though.

Let me know if you read it. I would like to know your thoughts. =)

Some very nice updates.

So, I did well on my Hebrew test, 92%. I thought I had done better, but I am still happy. My goal is so have every grade in the 90s.  I think it's doable.

I am pretty much moved into the new apartment. There are still a lot of boxes for me to move, but my friend Rachel who has a car is going to help me. I am with three other wonderful people, a married couple from Brazil and a lady from Brussels, Belgium. We are an international quad! Everyone is young and excited about life and our new experiences as we're all new Israelis.

I am much happier here! =)

Oh, and I received two cards in the mail today, one from Katie and one from Jack. It really made my day!!!!!!