Translated: I am Nashira, and I am learning Hebrew at the Ulpan on Kibbutz Na'an. I am not a new immigrant, but I am a tourist from the United States. Also, I am a student and I live on the kibbutz. I love the Ulpan here!
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And so begins my introduction to conversational Hebrew. We have finished our second class, have learned the answers to basic questions we will likely be asked by Israelis (What are you doing in Israel? Where are you from? Where do you live? Etc.), have learned a few extra words here and there as well as the singular pronouns, and we've started working on the alef-bet (alphabet). We have class every day so I have to make sure to study a little every day in order to ensure I retain the newest information as completely as possible. Thus far I think I'm doing well except I occasionally forget the smaller words or prefixes for things like "from," "at/in," "who" vs. "what," and a few others.
We started learning with transliterations in whichever phonetic system worked best for each individual depending on their country of origin and we're just starting to learn the alef-bet. It seems odd to me but instead of learning it from beginning to end in a song or other such device, we're learning it in sections. I'm not quite sure how the letters are grouped, but I think it has something to do with the shape of the letters as written in the standard handwritten form. Another oddity is that what I've always called cursive is apparently print and vice versa, but what it's called doesn't really matter as long as I know what I'm looking at.
I've already learned the alef-bet and know how to read and write (albeit slowly at times), so thankfully my teacher gave me a different worksheet to complete while everyone else was finding all the letters of a particular sort in a large grid of letters. My task was to read two passages of a few sentences each in Hebrew (without the help of vowels for most words!) then respond to questions based on information given in the aforementioned sentences. And guess what - I did it! Only had one spelling error and a grammatical error. WOO HOO!
Of course, learning isn't all that we do. As you know, I'm here to work as well, and work I shall! I have been given the task of working in the garden (which is more or less what the Title says), and I must say I'm quite happy with this assignment. I get to work outside, move around, lift things, make things prettier, and do this all alongside two kind classmates and our boss, a very conversational man who encourages us to learn not only about gardening, but about the kibbutz, Israel, and Hebrew. And, after only a few hours working in the sun I have a definite tan line on my shoulders and neck. The only significant downside to this is that work starts at 6:00. In the morning. Yeah, it's still dark then. And because I'd like to eat a little breakfast before I leave at 5:45 with the other girls I wake up at 5:00 a.m. It's not that I don't like being up that early because really, I love being awake early in the morning. I just don't like the act of getting up, and I don't trust myself to do it consistently.
We were scheduled to work until 1:00 p.m. and though we were let out a little earlier today, we still had a break for "breakfast" around 9:00. Now, breakfast for Israelis is not like breakfast in the United States. As far as I can tell, things like pancakes, waffles, and even bowls of cereal are a little out of the ordinary. Vegetables, on the other hand, are highly qualified for a fantastic breakfast. So we sat down at a table in the gardening office/lounge/kitchen and spread in front of us was an array of cottage cheese, chocolate spread (think Nutella minus the hazelnut; they love this stuff), butter, bread, and fresh uncut tomatoes, onions, cucumber, and avocado. So I took some vegetables and cut them myself, following the example of the other gardeners, mixed it with some salt, pepper, and the greatest olive oil I have ever tasted, and voila! Israeli salad for breakfast!
Other than work and class today, I also went for a 30 minute jog. Well, sort of. It was a mostly jog/part walk, and I managed to get lost in the process. This kibbutz keeps getting bigger every day! I really don't like jogging but it would definitely be worth getting into since I won't have a steady exercise regime otherwise. Let's just hope I get better with practice.
Pardon the extremely non-chronological nature of this post. I hope I didn't confuse anyone too much. Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day (which has, thankfully, gone completely unnoticed here).
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