Ceramic department sign. The only word in Hebrew I understand is "Qerami" (Ceramics), which is enough to know I'm in the right place
Here’s the breakdown of what I’m taking:
Sunday (Israel’s Monday) I actually have no class. This is wonderful because it not only means a 3 day weekend for me, but it also gives me a nice full day to work on projects and take care of things at the beginning of the week when all the offices are open.
Monday I am in a wheel throwing class. Wheel throwing has never been my favorite thing, but it’s something I feel that as a ceramicist I should be better at than I am. I’m in an “intermediate” class mostly because of scheduling conflicts, but the professor is really wonderful and understanding so I think it should be fine.
Tuesdays I have my class at the Rothberg International School, which is Arab-Israeli Conflict. I chose this class so that I could be more educated about the subject. I am really enjoying the class so far. The professor usually starts with current events and gives us historical documents to read and we have open non-judgmental discussions.
A couple times a month after this class I will also be meeting one-on-one with a professor in the sculpture department to work on an independent study (which I have yet to fully flesh out what I will be creating for this yet).
Wednesdays I am in a sculpture workshop class. I was not sure what this class would entail when I signed up for it, but I took it mostly based on the professor, who is someone Karen (my wonderful professor from USC/employer from the tile mural project) has worked with professionally before.
Thursdays in the morning I have etching. I am very excited about this class because I have always wanted to do a printing course. This class I took mostly on a whim, but think it will mutually benefit both my ceramic work that I do as well as my graphic design work. In the afternoons I am taking a screen-printing on clay course. We have only had one class of this so far, but I am very excited for this process as well.
My 3 ceramic classes are all in Hebrew, though the professors have been really wonderful and either translate as they go and sort of teach the class in half English/half Hebrew, or they’ll translate things after they’ve talked to the whole class. The students are also really wonderful to help with translations. It can be a bit overwhelming to sit in a Hebrew class, but luckily I am in a friendly department, and hopefully this will hone my listening comprehension skills.
My hard-earned studio space
PURIM
Purim was last Thursday (or… apparently all week according to Israelis throwing parties all week long). In Jerusalem it is actually a day later than the rest of the country (and the world?) because it was originally a walled city, so news took longer to reach the city. As an American Jew, Purim is quite the minor holiday. It is often overlooked by most, despite it being a fun, silly day. In Israel, for secular Jews it is more or less like Halloween, and for religious Jews, it is also more or less like Halloween, plus a lot of praying too. On Thursday evening I went to Shira Hadasha again (the feminist Orthodox temple) to hear the Megillah being read. I am glad I went, though it was nothing out of the ordinary. Firstly (and obviously, I am after all in Israel) it was read completely in Hebrew with no English translations. So in order to boo for Haman you have to either be paying close attention, or simply wait for everyone around you to start booing.
My roommate Maya and I are grapes
Two of my other roommates (on either end) were the Kotel (Western Wall), which I thought was a very hilarious costume, and my friend Alex in the center went goth
After this, my friends and I went in to the city center to see what there was to see. Every bar was packed with people, and the streets were overflowing.
Leaving our apartment building, what I initially thought was a taco truck turned out to be an orthodox truck of men blasting music and dancing on the street having a wonderful time
Yaffo Street packed with people
Swarms of people as far as the eye can see
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