First of all, I am loving the comments/feedback. Carl, thanks for the info re: Yad Vashem. I had been asking around about where the name had come from, and, as per usual, you have the answer!

Cool tidbits:
Yesterday, there was, in our textbook, a passage from 2 Kings in which we had to pick out words which are still in use today: shulhan (table), mitah (bed), kisah (chair/throne), etc. I got so excited - I have been stressing about how to go about studying for my placement test, but I recognized everything that was in this short passage. I'll definitely be studying for it this weekend and over the next week and a half, but I think I'll be just fine.

In about an hour, Joseph (to whom you were previously introduced), Jacob from Minnesota, and Debbie from Holland (and maybe Mark from Washington State, if we can drag him away from his textbook) are heading to an international arts and crafts festival outside the Old City walls near the Jaffa Gate. (Mary's going on a tour of the caves in the Jerusalem area where Jews in the past took to hiding - will get more info and fill you in. This tour wasn't open to graduate students. Don't get me started.) I was there - at the festival - on Tuesday evening with Mary and Alex, another Texan. It was so great to walk around and just get out of the confines of our rooms and the student village. The place was packed after the sun went down and the people watching was fantastic. In the lower part of the park, a stage was set up for music at 9:30, as well as vendors' booths from Uzbekhistan (sp?), Peru, China, Tibet, Nepal, Thailand (very popular), Poland, and the list continues. Up the hill there's what looks to be a fantastic food area; we're eating dinner there tonight so will give you the lowdown in the next post. Just up past the food area are all of the Israeli artisans: jewellery, stuffed animals, clothing, homewares, photography. Really lovely things that make me wish for a home in Israel to decorate, only because getting this stuff home would be a nightmare. And, as much as I would like to blow my budget on handpainted coffee mugs and handcrafted wire toilet-paper-roll holders, I have to be practical...and a week-long course in Prague in February is where I'd like those practical savings to be spent. How's that for a teaser? I'll fill you in in the next post...