Back home in Jerusalem

Well after all those super-long updates on my Egypt trip, I'm going to start writing less. Because when even I'm boring myself, things need to change. I got back into Jerusalem on Friday, October 15th, and on Sunday, classes started at the Rothberg International School of Hebrew University. I'm taking Historical Geography of Jerusalem (where every class is a field trip!), Modern Jewish History, English Literature: Enlightenment, Romantics and Victorians, and two classes worth of Hebrew. Since, as you can tell, it's obviously not October 17th, and I've had more than enough time to settle into classes, I may as well describe them to you a bit.

Historical Geography of Jerusalem is probably my favourite class because the prof is knowledgeable and fun...and did I mention that every class is a field trip? Basically, we go around to different sites in Jerusalem, like David's City, the four quarters in the Old City, and so on, and get to have a glorified (and free!) tour of Jerusalem from a super-knowledgeable guide (who just happens to have a PhD in the area). It actually is pretty academic, despite the impression that I'm giving, and the readings that we have to do beforehand are quite difficult. But I really love the class. Especially since the professor, Dr. Sapir, makes the most off the wall, hilarious statements. I'll write more about him later.

I also love my English Literature class. It's not at Rothberg, but at the actual Hebrew University, so with Israeli students. The professor has the most amazing memory ever. Somehow she can just recite off precise dates in the history of the British monarchy, without refering at all to her notes. We're currently in the Romantics stage, and with the exception of Alexander Pope, the writers aren't exactly thrilling me. Especially Jonathan Swift, who is in some bad need of Prozac. (I'm just harboring a grudge because the whole concept of Book III of Gulliver's Travels is that scientific research is useless). But my prof's insights are great, and I'm really enjoying the class.

Then, I have Modern Jewish History. I've never taken a history class before, and here I am, taking three! (English, under my professor, counts as history in my opinion). Modern, meaning from the 18th century and on, just for those of you who are wondering. I also really enjoy this class, although again, the reading of all these academic articles takes a bit of getting used to for a poor Bio student like me. But on Thursday, we're watching "The Jazz Singer" to illustrate Jewish assimilation in America. I'm just excited because I've always wanted to see the first talking movie.

And finally, there's Hebrew. Not much more to say about it than that. I enjoy it, and I'm happy that I'm improving the language that I've learned since grade 1, but learning grammar isn't exactly the funnest thing in the world. If only they taught us slang...

Anyway, those are basically my classes, which I've somehow described as if they're super boring, even though they're most definitely not. I really enjoy them. Even when I have to get up at 7 in the morning....