Knowing that we would be home late from the wedding, we planned out the first day of Melton just like every over-protective mother would have liked - the school bag was already packed and next to the door, the outfit was draped over the back of a chair, and the food was bagged and in the fridge. All that was left was to actually go to school. Which I did.
The next two weeks are all about orientation, both to each other and to the program itself. The first day, all 9 hours of it, was spent getting to know the other participants in the program. The thirteen of us come from all over the world and cover a range of ages, areas of experience, and levels of education, as well as Hebrew ability. The first few hours were spent learning together with our teachers and a professor from the university (who gave an interesting lecture about the original Jewish calendar, which she believes to have been solar, not lunar, and responsible for the Jewish holidays and universal literacy). After lunch we spent five hours playing the same group-building games that everyone who has attended summer camp has played before, but everyone got into it and we had a lot of fun. Well, it was fun until we had to have the same discussions about group-building that everyone who has attended summer camp has had before; those of us who talked at the bus stop afterwards agreed that was a little tedious.
My biggest concern going into the day was that my Hebrew would not be at a high enough level to allow me to integrate into the group and understand discussions. While there were many difficulties in terms of expression, there are several others at or around my level, and the entire group was very accommodating, and made us feel comfortable. Overall, it was a great first day.* I am excited for tomorrow, when we begin our course selection, take a tour of campus, and have dinner at on the of the administrator's homes.
*It doesn't hurt that there were platters of rugelach/cheese danishes and that we went out for Maytal and Safi's "wedding" for dinner.**
**I'm sorry, but food is important to us!
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2 comments:
Just be yourself! If you want to talk about food, it's your blog, talk about food!
This is a general comment, beginning with the following question: Who am I? I was at your wedding, which I enjoyed immensely, since on the subject of marriage I can only say "better you guys than m'self." Can't figure out how to email y'all any how. The Shadow (for now).
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