News of the Jews

Hello, readers! I hope all of you are having fabulous weeks -- mine is going pretty well :)

A few highlights from the last few days:

* We finally have internet in the apartment! I think I've already said that, but I'm still so excited.
* I went to an internship orientation on Sunday. Rothberg International School has a program where you can set up an internship for eight hours every week and earn one credit. It sounds like a pretty big time commitment (especially because the internship I wanted was at a school, meaning I couldn't use weekends), and Mount Holyoke wouldn't recognize the credit. BUT, my dad helped me find the Anglican International School of Jerusalem, and I'm going to try to independently set up a weekly volunteer position with them. Yay!
* Yesterday during Hebrew we went on a campus tour that was mostly in Hebrew. It was really interesting, focusing on how the history of Jerusalem fits in with the history of the campus and the architectural styles. For example, did you know that for nineteen years, the Mount Scopus campus was not in use because it was in East Jerusalem under Jordanian control? This led to the founding of the Givat Ram campus, which now houses math and sciences. Also, there's two styles of buildings on campus; some older built before 1948, and some newer built after 1967.
* The UN vote over whether Palestine should become an official state is coming up next week. Keep the situation in your thoughts and prayers; we're all hoping that there's no violence or serious fallout, especially because anything too major might cause them to cancel the program or cause people's home universities or families to pull them from the program.
* Tonight I'm going to the Old City of Jerusalem, which is a large part of the reason I came to Israel in the first place. It is home to the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and so much other history related to the Abrahamic religions. I can't wait! I'll be posting about that soon, no doubt :)
* I also have advising coming up at the end of this week, so expect a post about how excited I am about all of my classes! They have some really awesome course offerings, and I'm really stoked to meet my advisor.

Thanks for reading, and I promise a post about the Old City soon!