It has been a couple of weeks since my last post and I am sure you will forgive me, when you hear that my husband has been with me for 8 of those days. Sorry, but he came first 🙂
Life has settled into routine now. We recently moved our classes into our permanent location and this has made routine become a lot easier. At the beginning of November we also started our new modules in Hebrew after our exam on the book of Jonah on the 2nd of November. We now have 15 hours of Modern Hebrew a week and four of Biblical Hebrew. We have two Modern Hebrew teachers, one for the absolute beginners and one for those who have a basic grasp of Modern Hebrew. Another student and I are currently studying Modern Hebrew on our own together from another book, because both classes are too basic for us and the staff here want us to be stretched. They are searching for a solution to this not ideal situation, because we would love to have a teacher too! I am glad that they see it as a good problem to have. My fellow student is a lot more advanced than I am – she has such an amazing capacity to remember vocabulary. Words stick to her like Velcro! We’ll see what solution the teachers come up with.
My time with my husband was also fantastic! He was only here for a week, but somehow time slowed down and we both felt like he had been here for two. Every day we managed to spend good time together, walking out and about in Jerusalem, discovering fun places to eat some days and having good conversations with fellow students on other days. He always came to classes with me and would work or read in another room, so I got to see him at every break too.

Mpdern Tel-Aviv from Jaffa
On my day off we got the bus to Tel-Aviv and spent the day exploring Jaffa and Neve-Tzedek, an old neighbourhood between Jaffa and modern Tel-Aviv, which we didn’t get to this trip.

The old port of Jaffa

Jaffa Market
Wandering around in the warm sun, soaking up the sights and sounds of Jaffa Market and the narrow streets of the old port was such fun.

Neve-Tzedek with modern Tel-Aviv in the background
You may be wondering why we went to Neve-Tzedek… My Hebrew teacher in Luxembourg and I had worked on a text about Neve-Tzedek, so it was on my bucket list of places to see when in Tel-Aviv. It is a quaint old neighbourhood, with narrow streets, filled with colourful little houses that are dwarfed by the high-risers of Tel-Aviv, which are sometimes on the other side of the street. It was such a sight to behold.
It was so refreshing to be away from Jerusalem for a day! We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our time together. Hubbie left on Sunday and I am back into my single routine, but already counting the days until I fly home for Christmas. 39 to be precise…
Back to studies for now, but more stories are sure to follow. Thanks for reading!