It's very cold here

Jerusalem is in the midst of a cold snap, which for the most part I enjoy, except for the fact that I have to walk the twenty minute walk back and forth from school in freezing rain. I am getting used to being wet. It's not so bad actually. I'm just happy to be living in a place that has (at least) two recognizable seasons.

I am slowly but surely getting better. I finally went to the doctor to get my antibiotics, after having figured out all the insurance stuff. Luckily with my card I don't have to pay a thing--not for doctor's appointments, not for prescriptions--very nice. So now I am left with only a cough and a runny nose. I think I have forgotten what it feels like to be healthy.

This week I went to two very different birthday parties, the first for my friend Ephrat, an Israeli, and the second for Anya, from Poland. Ephrat's party was all in Hebrew, so I was pretty lost, but I understood some things and had a good time anyway. Anya's party was in her boyfriend's lovely apartment in the German Colony. His father is the Israeli ambassador to Poland, so it's apt that he's dating a Polish girl. This party was all in English with Polish subtitles, and it was a great time. I talked to one girl for quite a long time, and she explained to me some of the intricacies of keeping strict kosher (such as, if you should accidentally use meat in a dairy pot, it can be salvaged if the pot is ceramic, but not if it is Teflon.) I learn more every day.

As for classes, everything is going well, and I am in the middle of writing my final paper for my class on Ancient Mesopotamia. I'm writing about the origins of Jewish Monotheism in the Ancient Mesopotamian pantheon, and am learning some startling things. Maybe I'll post all twenty pages when I'm done.