An Inauguration Overseas and Some Pretty Awesome Scenery

It's been pretty busy and low-key here these past few days so this entry about the inauguration is coming a bit late. We went over to the local student center which is right around the corner from the student village where I live to watch it. They had two tvs showing the CNN coverage of the inauguration. It was amazing to be surrounded by Americans...and some Canadians who had in interest in American politics... to watch what turned out to be a fantastic representation of, hopefully, the change to come. First off, Aretha Franklin singing was great, as was the quarter that played the piece composed by John Williams. Obama's speech was breathtaking, powerful, and everything that it needed to be- not to mention the shema made it into the speech somehow! There's something about the way he speaks, the way he pronounces every word, the emotion he evokes when he talks. He is not over the top, nor does he take what he says lightly. He says everything with vibrance and strength and I am greatly looking forward to what is to come for the US in the next few months. I haven't been checking up on the daily news but probably should get accustomed to browsing through NYt.com if I have any hope of really knowing what's going on. I'm also not quite up to speed with what's going on here, but the last time I heard, the soldiers in Gaza had pulled out to just surrounding the borders and there had been no fire back and forth. Hopefully this will keep up as I want to travel to the south to visit friends and because there are some pretty great places in Israel that around Gaza and further south from Gaza.

Yesterday two friends of mine and I ended up in downtown Jerusalem hoping to join the practical tour that had been filled, but we ended up doing our own thing and just wandering around Ben Yehuda street, walking all the way to where we could see the temple mount and the old city, then all the way towards Talpiot and Emek Refaim. We were probably out for about 3 hours or so but it was a great experience just wandering around, finding some of the cool hidden shops, eating amazing crepes, and getting a sense of where I am in relation to everywhere else. We stumbled upon an old Russian church by the police station that was unfortunately closed, but looked as if the architecture inside was promising. We also ended up finding a playground and a great park/sculpture park with a few basketball courts, soccer "courts", shesh besh tables (which is like backgammon), an amphitheater, and a great sculpture of a half-submerged alligator with half of its snout and head, back, and feet coming out of the ground. Definitely a place worth returning to, that is if I can find it again. After coming back last night, I made some food with a friend, throwing together what we had and producing a random assortment of foods to munch on. Tonight we're going out to celebrate a friend's 21st birthday and tomorrow to celebrate another (both are on the same day but we're celebrating one as it turns to Friday and the other one tomorrow evening). Emily, whose birthday we're celebrating tomorrow night, and I are getting together with a lot of our Israeli friends from camp, which is really exciting because I haven't seen a lot of them for a year or two. Tomorrow we're going back to the shuk for our weekly shopping trip which I desperately need. My pita molded after a few days so perhaps I'll buy less this time but I think I might buy some meat and Josh, a friend of mine, and I are going in together to buy sweet potatoes for sweet potatoe fries and the big cartons of eggs that they sell- I think about 36 for 22 shekels (equivalent to about $5.70)- because everything is cheaper on Friday at the shuk right before Shabbat starts.
Here are a few pictures that I've taken in the past couple of days. I keep forgetting to take my camera places but I assure you all there will be more pictures to come in the future. Hope everyone is well! If any of you have skype (and if you don't you should get it!) search for me and we should skype some time :-). Until next time!

P.S. Kristen I'm still alive :-)
The view from my apartment window

A few pictures from my walk around campus with my friend Josh today. Great weather, clear blue skies...