Arabic Final (Finally)

Today was an emotional day at work. I had a near disaster, as one of my wheelchair-bound students started rocking back and forth in her chair while we were bringing the kids in from the garden outside. I was walking back to get her when the chair dipped into a garden bed and tipped over. I caught it with her head literally inches from the pavement. Nearly stroked out. When we came inside, I sat down to catch my breath, when Rola and the kids surprised me with a going away party. Two of the kids were really upset and asked me questions like "why I wanted to go to America", and "who was going to play with them once I was gone?" It's going to be really tough to say goodbye on Wednesday.

My Arabic final exam is tomorrow at noon. I'll be glad to get the damn thing over and done with. If the midterm was any indication, this is not going to be a cakewalk. I do feel a little better prepared than I felt before I took the midterm, and hopefully that will pay dividends. I'll share either way. I'm gonna follow the advice of a wise person in my life, and just go in and tell Yaron what I know. Aint nothing else to do.

One random scrap of oddness before I get back to my studies: The Israel Baseball League has gone belly up. I can't say I'm surprised. The league was a financial catastrophe, to the point that they began deducting money from player's paychecks to recompense the league when they would hit foul balls into the stands. Plus, baseball just didn't have much appeal for the Sabra's. Still, it's really a shame that this league was a one hit wonder in the same mold as the XFL. Maybe someday that IBL T-shirt I have will be a collectors item. But I doubt it.

Singing The Heeby Geeby Blues

I'm ready to come home. Not that I don't love it here. It's just that I'm ready to come home. I've been here since early October and that is a really long time. It hit me Sunday afternoon while I was on a bus on my way down to the beach. I was daydreaming and slipped into my parent's Neon on North Lake Shore Drive. Suddenly, we were at the central bus station at Hof HaCarmel again. The beach was as nice as it always is - perfect weather and all that. Still, I'm ready for the comforts of Chicago again.

School certainly isn't captivating me anymore. I am no longer enjoying my classes, and am very much looking forward to finishing them. I'm not learning much anymore in Hebrew. We read newspapers in class, but go too slow for me and have to spend too much time defining words I'm already familiar with. The grammar work is tedious and focusing on minor turns of phrase that my Israeli friends don't know how to do correctly. Plus, my classmates were a lot more fun last semester. I'm sticking it out, ready to finish my last exam and put an end to my Ulpan days. I got a 99 on my quiz from last week. The class just isn't challenging me anymore.

At the very least, Ofakim is going great. I love working with the kids, even though they are not always easy to work with. I underestimated little kids going into this job. They are not simple in any sense. I've learned how to relate to each child, how to get them to do their exercises and how to get them to participate in activities. It is going to be hard to say goodbye to them.

Getting All Caught Up

Hello again everyone. I know it's been a few days since I wrote so I'll try to give you the heads up on my wheelings and dealings this week. My work at Ofakim is getting more comprehensive as I take more responsibility and require less instruction from the administrators. I worked with one of the girls independently yesterday afternoon during the physical therapy session, which was a first. Usually I have been observing or helping out when I am asked to. It wasn't a total success; the girl had a headache and was pretty intransegient, and we barely got through all the exercises. Even so, we did do the whole exercise set.

Outside of that, it's been a normal, albeit not particularly exciting week. I've been to class and had an Arabic quiz, I hung out with my roommates, got a shawarma near the Horev center and caught a movie in the moadon. I did got a haircut this week, the first such haircut since I arrived in Israel. I feel almost aerodynamic now! You'll get some photos of my new do when I post again next week. After months of waiting I am going back to try again to go to Jordan. The plan is to check out Petra and Amman, and hopefully Jerash if we find the time. I'll let you know all about it next week. Shabbat shalom.

Ofakim

I started work at the Ofakim school today. Hoping to get a jump on my first day of interning, I set my alarm for 7, with the intention of getting up to shower, dress nicely and have a nice, calm breakfast. These plans never work out for me though. I snoozed my alarm the first time it went off, which is standard behavior for me. I even build in a single snooze when setting my alarm. Unfortunately, the alarm did not ring again. I blearily glanced at my cell phone seemingly minutes after putting my head back down, before I leapt out of bed in a panic: It was 8:05 and I was due in Hebrew class in ten minutes! I rushed a shower, pulled on the first collared shirt I could find, grabbed a handful of kumquats on the way out the door and only arrived 5 minutes late to Ulpan.

Hebrew was uneventful. I grabbed a cup of Nes "cappuccino" before heading down to the bus station, and then caught a sherut to Mercaz HaCarmel. The school is on "HaYam" street, a few blocks below the Carmel Center. I arrived at about 10:40 and headed down to my classroom. I'll be working most closely with Rola Farah, the teacher of "Gan Tamar", who was trained at the Peto Institute in Budapest. She will be teaching me the "Peto method" which entails repetitive, exhaustive physical therapy that can help train a child with severe locomotion difficulties to overcome them.

The day was free and easy. I spent the mid morning and early afternoon in Gan Tamar, meeting kids, playing games and helping out with whatever the staffers needed. It was nice, except for the tiny chairs that were not designed for children over 7 years of age. My lower back hurts right now, the punishment for spending too many hours with my knees higher than my belly button. Most of the kids left around 2 o'clock and I entertained that one's who stayed behind for about a half hour. They really took to me quickly. Rola and a new group of staff members came back around 2:30 and the kids ate their boxed lunches. Then the physical therapy began. I wasn't able to participate much, and I mostly observed, but there were a few times where I was able to pitch in. The time passed pretty quickly. My biggest concern heading in was that I would be using Hebrew professionally for the first time ever. I'm thrilled to report that I kept up and even was able to crack a few jokes! This is going to work out just fine.

A Moment Of Clarity

My schedule for this upcoming semester is finally set, and since I know you have all been anticipating this for weeks, I won't make you suffer to wait any longer. I am only taking two classes this semester, Hebrew and Arabic. I have Hebrew from 8-10 AM on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and from 10 - Noon on Thursdays. I have Arabic from Noon - 2 PM on Tuesdays and from 2:30 - 4 PM on Thursdays. Arabic will be a little different this go around, as Rina is no longer teaching us. I still have Mina for Hebrew, and as you know, I adore her.

I'll be filling out the rest of my schedule by volunteering at the Ofakim school in Mercaz HaCarmel, a school for Israelis with severe developmental disorders, predominantly cerebral palsy. I'll be there 15 hours a week, filling a number of different roles. I'll know more once I get started (next Monday), but I'm really excited to be doing something new, getting out into the city and helping people.

This photo is totally unrelated to today's post. I just like it.