Hello readers and WELCOME! This is my first ever blog post and the first day of my year of study at Tel Aviv University (TAU). However, I should have begun this blog two months ago when I first arrived in Israel... Yes I am a little late to the party, but I wanted to backtrack and explain what I have been up to this summer.
I arrived in Israel at the end of May after my first year of study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). I have just finished my freshman/sophomore year of university and I am now taking a year to study abroad. I really enjoyed my first year at UIUC, but the truth is, I couldn't wait to get to Israel. I have been coming here for seven summers in a row with my family and before I began university, I decided to take a gap year here in Israel. That gap year was one of the best decisions I have ever made and helped me mature immensely before I went to university (but more about that later....). Since I began studying at UIUC, I wanted to find a way to come back to Israel for an extended period of time, in which I could live and study here. I am majoring in Global Studies and minoring in Jewish Studies and I realized that TAU had the perfect program for me. I could continue with my Hebrew language studies, begin learning Arabic, and take Middle Eastern studies courses throughout the year. And that is exactly what I am now setting out to do. In the past two months, I completed the beginners Arabic intensive at TAU. We learned Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) every other day of the week, and the days off were reserved for homework and traveling. I am now able to read and write in MSA and form simple sentences. The course was grueling with complicated homework and jam-packed full of information. But overall, I am happy I did it. I now have an understanding of Arabic that I didn't have before and I would like to keep going with it. I am hoping to find another class that I can take at TAU or when I return to UIUC. On my days off from Arabic class, my summer was full of exploring, visiting friends, and watching the sunsets at the beach. I loved going to the Tel Aviv port in the evening to eat dinner and watch the sunset. I have captured some beautiful pictures and time lapses that I will share below from those evenings. I hope to share more stories form my adventures over the past two months in the next few weeks along with what I am currently up to. I am so excited to continue my time and studies here in Israel. Thank you for coming along with me on this journey! Now let's begin.... Here is a link to one of my time lapse videos of a Tel Aviv sunset from this summer! www.facebook.com/meirav.malter/videos/10204851440925094/?l=3257019675045325924
1 Comment
Margit Kirstimon
8/8/2016 11:53:35 am
Thank you so much for sending this tome. I've been missing you and am happy to know what you have been doing and feeling. So glad that you are happy and feeling such joy. Look forward to hearing more. XO, Margit
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