Hebrew is hard and other random thoughts

This is the second weekend in a row where I've dedicated my entire Saturday to studying Hebrew. You know how, all around the world, non-English speakers will tell you that English is the hardest language to learn? Not in Israel. Here, they tell you that English is easy compared to learning Hebrew. And these are people who were born here! Ulpan two days a week should be helping, but we're going at such an accelerated rate that there's no time to review what we've already learned, which means no time for any of it to sink in. Starting now, I'm going to need to dedicate an hour a day to going over my notes if I want to avoid falling utterly behind.

Alas, staying home all weekend to spend my days studying isn't so bad. Last night Sarah, Rolan, Brian and I had an awesome Shabbat dinner in our apartment. We ate pasta with Sarah's homemade sauce (fresh eggplant, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, and wine), the rest of them had grilled chicken, and we all shared a loaf of fresh baked challah that I managed to snag right before the store closed at 3:45 for the holiday. And, in preparation for the release of Harry Potter 7 part 1 (I'm so excited I can hardly stand myself), my roommates and I have embarked on a Harry movie marathon so everyone can be up to speed. Tonight we watched Prisoner of Azkaban. Tomorrow night, Goblet of Fire (Cedric Diggory!!!). So, a weekend of sleep, learning, and Harry? I'll take it.

 
The best part of my weekend was probably video chatting with my brother and sister tonight. Jesse is visiting Ben in LA, and since California is now a full 10 hours behind Israel, getting ahold of them has been a challenge. We talked over ichat for almost an hour, and it was free! Oh, the wonders of modern technology. Check out some hilarious screen shots that I took:

In further Harry Potter news, I'd just like to brag to my friends at home (Megan and PJ, I'm looking at you), that the Israel release date for Deathly Hollows is NOVEMBER 18. Yes, that's one full day before it's released in the US. Just sayin.