almost time to go

so here i am. five weeks later. this is the most dense amount of blogging that i've done. kind of fun. what to tell you?

first, i finished with the program. i got a 90 in the class on the ancient near east. i got something a little higher than that in the core class (but i dont know what). the bureaucracy involved with moving out was not as bad as they made it seem. what it appeared to be was: first, fill out a transcript request form. next, go to the library and get a library clearance ( you have not stolen any books, etc.), then clean out your room and get it inspected. give the key to the inspector and get a housing clearance form. bring all three forms to the registrar. this seemed difficult because after the housing clearance, you would have to bring your luggage all the way to the registrar to be able to leave... amazingly, this was not the case. it was all true up until get your room inspected. you go to the housing office, they ask for your key, and gave a copy of the form. then you can do whatever you want. as in you do not need to go to campus with the forms. they can be faxed. very exciting. so i went to the apartment.

what apartment do you ask? my parents have a timeshare in j-lem. it is pretty much for july. they are not here. i am. i am living in that apartment.

so having time to myself to do whatever i want is really quite nice. i have met up with tom (tohm, one of my madrichim from last program) a few times. i met up with emma (a student with me on the last program) a few times. i also met up with baruch shwartz today. you may recall that he was a guest lecturer. he is one of the foremost experts on the documentary hypothesis. i met up with him to discuss how a person can be modern orthodox in a world of science and knowledge. how can one remain traditional when it is obvious that the bible was not written by god? what a wonderful discussion! i enjoyed it immensely. i think i was there for about an hour though i am not sure. in the first five minutes, he said something that had a very deep impact on me, and i was hooked. he really knows how to direct discussion. an expert in socratic dialog. wow.

ive gone to see walter zanger a final time. had shabbat dinner over there. tasty. two types of salmon and various other stuffs. in the morning i went to see eitan (he wrote that book that i was raving about...). his fiancee soon to be wife made some delicious muffins. i cant come to the wedding because its like two weeks after i leave. urggggh. we went to see the simpsons movie. very funny even for the simpsons. i liked it plenty. apparently there are movie theaters open on shabbat. actually there is a lot open...you just need to know where to look (talpiot might be a start).

so, i leave on tuesday on a 0100 flight. saddening. so really, i leave tomorrow night at 9. the cab picks me up then. i dont know what else to say. thanks for reading!