http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Middle East , Israel , South District , Be'er Sheva en-us Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:23:41 +0000 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:23:41 +0000 Thursday 917Be'er Sheva Bedouin MarketNaya was in school again today so we were off early to Be'er Sheva a city in the north Negev. Once a week there is a large market mainly for the local Bedouin people. It is like a giant flea market with the Dollar Tree as part of it. So much junk in our eyes also lots of clothes jeans traditional pants robes and dresses as well as modern clothes http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-447351.html Yesterday Tuesday June 2ndWe began the morning with a visit to the Bahai gardens in Haifa which were very beautiful. I do wish that we had had a bit more time there as it was lovely and very peaceful even in the middle of the city. We then shuffled back onto the bus and drove off. We made a quick stop at the monastery above the Cave of Elijah and made a quick jog down to a lookout back on http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-404797.html My 21st bday was during the last weekend in B7. It was great since everyone was around because we were all packing up. I was nervous that it wouldnt be a big deal since I am on a program where everyone else is 21 and they wouldnt make it like a real bday plus the past couple bdays have been pretty bad on the specific day wise. It was awesome CO came down from the north and everyone just threw m http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-373092.html I am leaving on a Jet Plane John Denveryes i am leaving on a jet plane don't know if i'll be back again say well now babe i hate to go but i want cha'really wanna say thati am leaving on a jet plane don't know if i'll be back again say well now babe i hate to go but i want cha'really wanna say thatall my bags are packed and i'm ready to go i'm standin' here outside your door i hate to wake you u http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-371622.html The Negeb is an unbelieveably harsh and desolate place. There are huge canyons immense cliffs and very little plant life. During the Exodus both Edom and Moab refused to allow Israel to cross their territory forcing the Israelites to enter the Negeb. Aaron the High Priest died on Mt. Hor.One of the few cities in the Negeb was Beersheba. The ancient city is now an archeological site. We saw http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-326023.html I've been in the Negev around 5 days now and I'm enjoying it very much. These past 2 days though have been kind of rough I started Ulpan yesterday and I'm struggling to learn Hebrew quickly though I know I will be chatting up Israelis within a week or so. Also my laptop will not charge so I'm finding myself combing the desert for the internet. Tonight our group the Overseas Student Program http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-308638.html Hey yallI just got back from the dead sea and the ein gedi desert. You should try to find it on a map. Its important to know your geography. If someone asked you where iraq was and you pointed to germany you would look like a fool.. think about it Any way the dead sea was really nice you can float without using your hands and the sea floor instead of sand is crystalized salt. Then we took a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-253014.html Hey everyoneIm here at ben gurion university in the Negev the Israeli desert. It is the most northern and biggest city in the Negev. I started studying hebrew and other israeli classes history politics and holocaust studies. Every weekend i travel to the center Tel aviv and Rishon lezyyon. Its easy to travel here because it is such a small state. You can get from my city beer sheva to tel a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-250718.html Well it's now 11am on Saturday morning December 22nd which means that I have about eight hours to pack up my life from the past five months into a few suitcases so that I can fly HOME tonight. I wish I had written more blog entries while I was here and because I started quite a few that I never ended up publishing I'll definitely be doing some reflective entries from back home in Santa Cruz http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-229491.html One of the really fun things about writing a blog is receiving comments and messages from people who read the blog. Most of the comments come from my friends but also quite a few have come from people whom Irsquove never met people who happened upon my blog and decided to read it. That to me is very cool to know that my blog is just lsquoout therersquo on the web and anyone theoretic http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-201374.html Hey Guys just a quick Update before I leave on Vacation.Ulpan ended Wednesday after 6 weeks. It was an experience but it was very tough trying to learn a year of hebrew in 6 weeks. We had our exam which went very well. That night we had an end of ulpan party at the Beer Avraham. Which in Hebrew means Abrahams well. Bascially when Abraham was in Israel people would dig wells because there was ver http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-200148.html FIRST I STILL APOLOGIZE FOR THE LONG RUSHED SUMMARY OF THE PAST FEW WEEKSSunday brought us back to classes in the mornings with afternoons spent doing homework by the pool. Monday night was our second movie night and this time we watched a film called ldquoSof Harsquoolam Ssmolardquo or ldquoTurn Left at The End of the Worldrdquo made in 2004. It is very popular film here about new im http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-196553.html Monday night the 20th was our first weekly movie night. We watched an Israeli musical from the 1970rsquos that was a cross between Grease and West Side Story and God knows what else. The movie was about a small village in the desert whose residents didnrsquot have enough money to maintain their property. The government refused to help them fund repairs and threatened to destruct their town http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-196551.html For the first 6 weeks of my study abroad program I have intensive Hebrew classes referred to as Ulpan for three hours a day five days a week. During the Ulpan sessions we have group trips every weekend to familiarize ourselves with the country and to encourage travel before the semester begins. Ulpan began Monday July 20th and the class ideally covers two semesters of Hebrew in six weeks. Ulp http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-196547.html The flightThe day before our scheduled departure from JFK the Israeli workforce announced that it would strike on the Wednesday that our flight was scheduled which put our departure in jeopardy. The program advisor from the New York office was in contact with all of the students via email constantly and we all prepared for the possibility that our plane may not take off. Fortunately that strike http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-196546.html Hello Everyone First let me apologize for taking so very long to contact everyone and update you all on my 1st month in Israel. As most of you know I will be spending my first semester of Junior year studying in Israel through the GinsburgIngerman Overseas Student Program at BenGurion University of the Negev. I will primarily be residing in Beer Sheva in the Negev desert. I have chosen this http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-196545.html hey guys this isnt a normal post. I just finished watching a movie that if you havent seen yet then you should see right away. Its called American History X. The biggest actor in it is Edward Norton. It is the story of a young kid who is a white supremacist and ends up going to jail for murdering to African Americans for breaking into his car. The story from there forcus' on Norton's younger broth http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-196227.html Hey GuysSorry I havent written in a week. I am just getting better from a nasty stomache bug that I had. I was pretty sick for a week but am much better now. Let me fill you in on what has happened in the last couple of weeks. Somthing I am very excited about is that on Thursday I met with the head of the Overseas Students Program and signed up for my classes this semester. I will be taking hebrew http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-195857.html Following the instructions from the decadesold poster I visited the West Bank. The journey was perhaps one of the most politically intriguing experience I went through. The boarder between West Bank and Israel is marked by a fenced concrete wall erecting perhaps more than 8 meters. It took us me and 2 other westerners 10 minutes to get from Jerusalem to the crossing by shared taxi. The gate w http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-165142.html Last week our class went on our first extended field trip to the Negev. The Negev is an area in the south of Israel which are the dry lands or the wilderness. This is where the Israelites wandered for forty years while waiting for the Promise Land. We left on Tuesday the 6th and came back on friday the 9th.The Negev is composed of many different regions and cities basically there is a eastern bas http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-137800.html