NYC and Jewish Life

Things are going really well so far. Immediately after the family left I felt a little lonely and tried to find things to occupy my time. Shortly, though, I began a kind of bonding with my one roommate, Katy. She's the other non-Jewish girl in my apartment. We went out for a cheap Indian meal for dinner and today we explored JTS's main building together and searched out the cheap, warehouse-like grocery that was suggested to us. Man, that place is cheap! Everything else around here is so damned expensive. I think part of the reason the two of us have bonded so well is because we're both equally poor at the moment. It was nice shopping with her and the both of us trying to figure out what was kosher and still cheap. We both kind of already unkoshered our kitchen, but neither of our other roommates seemed too upset. *phew*

I now have my ID card, know where the library is, and sort of have a little understanding of how the building is set up. I just got out of my Hebrew Oral Placement, which was very entertaining. Rabbi Roth told me he was so glad to see me so that he could finally put a face to the placement exam that had so incredibly baffled him. He told me that I showed "advanced understanding of grammar but absolutely no reading or vocabulary comrehension". Also, I didn't use Hebrew script but the Biblical block writing, which made him think I was a Bible student. Yep. This makes my course placements a whole lot easier to understand!

He had put me in Hebrew 1001 - the very bottom level of Hebrew! I'm in preschool Hebrew! BUT I was also registered for Hebrew 5009 - a pretty advanced grammar course. After I take the grammar course, I'm set for taking the Biblical gramamr course, which I really really wanted to take!

Now I still have some more things to accomplish, such as filling out a loan request for spending moneys and making sure my deferments have made it in!

I was a little nervous at first about being here and not really knowing anyone, but now it's all going so well - even the conundrum of a kitchen we have going on! I'll have pictures of the apartment up on facebook soon, but I'll share the link on here so everyone may see them!