Lions and tigers and bears...and elephants and toucans and monkeys and hippos

(This was written on December 3)

Last Friday, after a pre-Shabbos visit to the shuk, I went to Talpiyot to spend Shabbat with Gabi Remz, Sam Forman, and Maya Lee-Parritz.  It was their last weekend in Jerusalem before they moved to Bat Yam (they’re on Year Course and live in three different places over the year), so I really wanted to see them before they left.  For dinner they had a Shabbat/Thanksgiving potluck with some of their Year Course friends, and Forman was making the turkey.  He had never made a turkey before, but the one he made was probably the best turkey I’ve ever had.  Everything else was also really good, and I was really impressed at how well the meal came together.  Though there were some initial setbacks (no tablecloths, not enough bowls, etc.) everything worked out and it was a really nice dinner.  At one point Gabi said, “Think about it, there are no parents here; we did this all on our own.  I couldn’t have imagined being able to do this in 8^th grade.”  It really was very impressive and it made me even more excited to move to Karmiel in February and be more independent. 

On Saturday morning, Gabi, Forman, and Maya went to a Kiddush at their Rabbi’s house and I walked back to Beit Nativ from the Year Course apartments.  It was nice weather outside, and it felt good to be able to find my way back to Beit Nativ without any help.  Later that day I went to a Kiddush hosted by my friend Samara’s parents.  Samara’s sister has celiac disease, so her family knows lots of gluten free recipes.  It was a refreshing change to go to a Kiddush where I could actually eat something, and all the gluten free desserts were really delicious.

Sunday was a busy day for my Silicon Wadi class.  We began the morning at 9:30 with a visit to the Intel factory in Jerusalem.   Intel is the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer. The first part of the visit consisted of a lecture/conversation with Ariel Wasserstrum, the manager of the Intel Jerusalem branch that we visited.  Ariel gave us some background about Intel as a company and the role of Intel Israel in the company as a whole and in Israel’s economy.  Intel has about 80,000 employees worldwide, and 300 facilities in 50 different countries.  The company has three main pillars on which it focuses: energy efficient performance (less power for more performance), connectivity (find a way to connect all computers one day), and security (embed security features within the chip).

After talking to Ariel, we had a tour of the factory.  Somehow, I wasn’t on my teacher’s email list, so I didn’t get the message that we had to wear closed toed shoes that day and wore sandals.  I was really upset that I wouldn’t be able to tour the factory, but Ariel called someone and they brought me a pair of boots to wear.  We were also given full white bodysuits, and had to wear plastic, sock-like covers on our shoes to get rid of any static electricity.  After putting on a pair of safety goggles, we were all ready to see how the chips are made.  We saw the process of cutting the chips larger circular “wafers.” The wafer has all the information on it and is then cut into the chips that are in our laptops, netbooks, etc.  Each chip on the wafer has different strengths and weaknesses, so they are grouped based on certain criteria, and are used in different electronics.  We saw how the chips are cut, washed, and removed from the wafer, and we were even given key chains with (defective) chips in them!  Though we didn’t understand all the details of the chip making process, it was still really interesting to learn about it and see the actual chips being made.  It was also cool to come back to base, open my computer, and see a little sticker that says  Intel Centrino (Centrino is one of the chips that Intel makes).  I had never paid any attention to the sticker before, but now that I know what it is, it’s a lot more exciting. 

When we got back to Hebrew U we had a quick lunch before hearing a lecture from Saul Singer, co-author of Start-Up Nation.  To be honest, the excitement of hearing Saul Singer was more exciting than the actual lecture.  He talked a lot about what was written in the book and what we had talked about in class, so there wasn’t much new information presented, but it was still exciting to get my book signed and take a picture with him.

Me and Saul Singer!

Our teacher, Avner, with Saul Singer

On Monday we had yet another field trip, this one for my Holocaust class.  We went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, for about six hours.  I’ve been to Yad Vashem before, but this time was pretty different than in the past.  For one thing, after two months of learning about the Holocaust, I knew a lot more that I did on previous visits, which allowed me to get more out of the museum.  But I was also looking at it from a more educational perspective, thinking about what would be useful for my paper.  Additionally, though six hours at any museum is a long visit, I felt like I was rushing through each exhibit.  It’s obviously impossible to take in every part of the museum, but I definitely plan on going back before I leave Jerusalem, because there is so much more to learn there.  The biggest difference though, was that I was really amazed by the museum itself.  Last year, my grade made our own “museum” about Jewish life in Central Europe (specifically the Austro-Hungarian Empire) leading up to the Holocaust.  I hadn’t thought much about our museum until I was at Yad Vashem and I realized how much work that must have gone into designing it, gathering information, and putting it all together.  It really deepened my appreciation for the actual museum.

For Israeli movie night that Monday we were watching Noodle.  The movie is about an Israeli woman who helps a young Chinese boy reunite with his mother after she is deported from Israel.  It was a really touching movie, and the little boy was adorable.  While we watched to movie we had a competition to see who could write down the most Hebrew words and their translations (with help from the subtitles).  I wrote down about 40 words and I won… a piece of bazooka gum!

Tuesday was a GREAT day.  After 3 hours of Hebrew, I came back to Beit Nativ and got an early start on my Hebrew homework.  It was really nice out, so I decided to work outside, though that is a definite guarantee for distractions.  I did get most of my work done though, and I had a conversation with Aaron Sherman, one of the Yerucham madrichim, about different kinds of pens, pencils, and markers, and what size lead we like in our mechanical pencils.  As I was finishing up my homework a group of Nativers was leaving Beit Nativ to go to the zoo.  I had wanted to go to the zoo for a while, so I ran upstairs to drop off my backpack and joined them.  I wasn’t expecting the zoo to be anything special, but it was SO cool.  I think part of the reason it was so exciting for me is because I haven’t been to a zoo in a very long time, but regardless, I had a great time.  We saw an adorable red-faced panda, two leopards chasing each other (one of which only had three legs, which we didn’t notice until later), baboons cleaning each other, a whole array of beautifully colored toucans, and elephants, giraffes, an ostrich, hippos, zebras, lions, peacocks, owls, and more.  Of everything we saw though, my favorite was definitely the chimpanzees.  To start with, one of the first things one of the chimps did was pick up some dirt and throw it at the glass where we were watching from.  It was also really cool to see how acrobatic they were and how human like many of their movements were.  After a long and very fun day at the zoo we headed back to base for Erev Nativ.

Me, Zoe, Leah, and Becca

Leah, Eric, and me

We started Erev Nativ with a game of Hannukah bingo.  It was a really fun time, especially when almost everyone in the group got bingo on the same turn.  To settle this, and to determine the winner of a gigantic bag filled with shoko (chocolate milk in a bag) we first had a dance off, and then we had to dive for a pen in the middle of the circle in order to answer a bonus question to win.  After our intense game, all three groups joined together to make Hannukiot, which we’ve lit every night of Hannukah so far.  Making the Hannukiot was really fun, and the whole night was a great way to get ready for Hannukah.

My Hannukiah!

Thursday was a pretty typical day—no field trips or anything special—but before I left school, I got a dress and a scarf.  Every Thursday at Hebrew U there are clothing stands set up near the escalator.  I’ve never stopped to look at the clothes because I always want to get home, but this week I didn’t have anything to do back at base so I decided to look around with my friend Leah Pollock.  It was fun to look around and take our time going home, rather than rushing home like I usually do.  When I got back to base, I went to the shuk with my friend Aviva Pollack and relaxed for the rest of the day. 

Later that night, I went to the Science Museum with some friends.  For the month of December, there is an event called Chamshushalayim in Jerusalem, during which there are all sorts of discounts on museums, shows, and restaurants in honor of Hannukah.  Admission to the museum was free, as was entrance to an exhibit called Deep.  The exhibit, which is about sea life very VERY deep in the ocean apparently came from Paris and is only in Jerusalem for a few more weeks, so we were really happy that we got to see it.  There was also a cool section in the museum with optical illusions, and a kids’ section with a carousel that moves when someone pedals a bicycle.  It was a cool museum, but definitely doesn’t compare to the Science Museum in Boston.  It was a fun night and nice to do something different, and I can’t wait to go to other museums for free, thanks to Chamshushalayim.

Me and Elana on the carousel

Aviva, me, and Elana