Picture Perfect

Okay, So since it's NYE and I'm feeling a bit lazy (and I've been taking alot of pictures lately in class) I've uploaded a number of pics and I'm just gunna tell a bit about what's going on. Also, some of the pictures at the end got uploaded twice so I apologize for that, and also anyone who has already seen the pictures on facebook, hopefully will still get a kick outta this.

Oh, and they uploaded backwards from the week

This is Chef Yochanan giving a practictical cooking lesson. Here he was making potato dough.
This is multicolored pasta that Chef Yochanan made and he's filled them with chicken veg filling.
Artsy shot if Chef Yochanan putting in the filling.
Here is Chef Yochanan rolling out the dough in a dough machine... it gets it nice and thin. You could roll it out by hand, but this is (as it probably looks) much easier.
So this is a repeat of the picture above. Chef Yochanan made three types of pasta dough, one regular, one with spinach infused to give it a green color, and one infused with beet root to give it a nice red color. Although you could make them here he decided to use a bit of all three doughs to make it kinda funky.



This is Challah that we made... There's a four braid, five braid, and a six braided one. The small ones are basically dough tied into a knot.
These are pitas that we made before they were cooked. They are covered with saran so they don't dry out. They need to sit so the dough will rest after being rolled out, and they are in a proofing box (its a warm box, but it's open in this picture, for most recipes when we use it the door is closed)
Home made Hummus with Tehina and harrisa
We had a polenta day, so this was an on the spot creation because there were kashrut issues with some ingredients that came in for the first way we were going to make it. It's creamy polenta cake with roasted red pepper sauce
Marinated roasted red peppers with baked polenta
Deep Fried polenta sticks with lemon mayo dip
Funny face Foccaccia. This one wasn't mine, but it was kinda funny so I put it up anyways...
Same foccaccia before it grew a beard and was baked
Lentil salad with pomegranates and apple
Taboule salad.

So there was a taping in the baking kitchen this afternoon. It's going to be airing in Israel and France (it was done by a French cook). So when we were in school for the pasta lesson some of the kids that are also in the baking class were pulled out to help get ready. So I helped get the dough ready (it needed to sit in the freezer for two hours) so even though I'm not on the show (nor was I there when it was being taped) the dough that will be used on the show to finish the recipe will the the one I made(after he makes what I made as the first half, you know how they do it on cooking shows).

Okay, thats it for tonight.

Happy New Years 2010?!

Turducken

So people were asking me for pictures of the Turducken and I finally found the pictures my teacher took of them and here they are :)

A delay in my update

So I realized that I haven't updated in about two weeks, mainly because I've had a break from school and got carried away, but here I am...

So I wasn't feeling so well the last week before school vacation so I missed a couple mornings, and I also don't remember every singe recipe we made, so I'm not going to go listing them, but the last day before vacation (in cooking class) we made a two course meal: the first course was fish patties with creamy coriander sauce, and the second course was spicy chicken, potato salad, and sweet potato french fries. (IT WAS AMAZING!.. and both images above) In baking we were given a small test which meant we had to make cinnamon buns and babka (from scratch, obviously).

Over vacation I've been spending most of my time with the Greenbaums (family friends here in Israel), except for a couple nights. On Sunday night I went to a battle of the bands with alot of other guys from yeshiva, which was really fun and to top it off, my yeshivas band was the winner :) Actually, that night same night, before we left, there was an ask the rabbi session which I was asked to moderate. Then on Monday night I went with the Greenbaums to Yerachom to visit their new granddaughter. On Wednesday night I went to a party in Katamon (an area in Yerushalayim) which was pretty fun. And then I was back here (at the Greenbaums) for shabbat. Unfortunately, Etty wasn't feeling so well so I helped a little bit with the preparations.

I start school again on Monday, and I'll be here until then getting ready to go back to school.

This week we started with Yeast

So this week we finished up our egg section and by wednesday we started with potatoes. More specifically french fries. We made regular and steak fries as well as two dips to go with them. Now, to Tarentino my blog, we started the week by making scotch eggs and fecatchia. Scotch eggs are AWESOME! Essentially it's a boiled egg with patty meat wrapped around it, rolled in flour, egg, and bread crumbs, and then deep fried. The fecatchia was with basil and cherry tomatoes. We also made (not on the same day) crepes with two sauces, a chocolate sauce and a lemon orange sauce.

Tuesday we only did breads, so we used the same basic recipe that we used for the fecatchia and multiplied it by three. We made rosemary raisin bread, rosemary onion garlic bread, and mini cal zone type things with a grape filling (literally, halved grapes that were mixed with sugar and wine). And then, as I said before we made french fries and steak fries along with a lemon chili dipping sauce and a Spicy Cajun dipping sauce. We also made Cajun fries using a Cajun spice mix we had made at the beginning of class.

Now, in the afternoons we started working with yeast, which means that we needed to wait till next day for the dough to actually make the pastries, at least for most of them. On Sunday we made two types of Babka dough which we made on monday. We also made a Krants, which is very similar to Babka but the dough is a bit more delicate and also after you roll it up with the filling inside you cut it open and face the two sides up so you can see the filling and then braid it. Aside for the effect, this allows the filling to show after it is baked. We also made cinnamon buns. On Wednesday we made Sufganiot, which if you didn't know, are cooked in oil. Basically I felt like my arteries were clogging on Wednesday what with the French fries in the morning and like three sufganiot in the afternoon, that was the first day the whole week I didn't take anything home. Actually, with the new mixers we just got, we divide into four groups for most of the recipes... and now that we have a new student making the number of students in the class seven, someone needs to work odd man out. For a good chunk of the week I was working as odd man out which was A) so I could get the experience of doing the whole recipe by myself but also because B) doing the whole recipe by myself means I don't have to spit what I make and can take home twice as much to share with the guys in the Yeshiva.

Anywho, it is late here so I am going to cut it short so I can go to bed... Good Night

So as it turns out the internet was down last night when I went to post this, but it's good because I realized that there was actually something else I had wanted to share. On Wednesday, Chef Yochanan, the founder of the school, came into the kitchen to cook (he wasn't working with us rather just working in the kitchen at the same time for an order he had received). Anyways... he was cooking a Turducken, which for those of you who don't know means a stuffed chicken stuffed inside a duck (with more stuffing) and then stuffed inside a turkey (with more stuffing). All three birds need to be de-boned, and by the time he was ready to tie this monster up it was already in the afternoon (while I was in Pastries). So as it happens I was stepping out of my classroom right when he needed help tying it all together, so he called me over to hold the bird(s) together while he wrapped the string around and then knotted it. The end result is meant to be sliced so you can get a piece of each meat with stuffing in between, but unfortunately I didn't get a chance to taste it as this was a special order for someone else. That being said I was still really happy and excited to be able to help with this bird.

Okay... NOW I'm done with my post for now :)

Another week, and a full day of testing

So this week wasn't too bad. We started in in cooking at the beginning of the week by making a tomato soup which we had to make up the recipe for. This was mainly because there were extra vegetables that he didn't want to go bad, but also to see where we are and if we are able to create our own soups without a recipe. I think everybody did well on the test, however I do know he said his head was numb after tasting someones soup which had about half a cup of paprika in it!

The rest of the week we also worked on vinaigrettes, and eggs (scrambled, fried, and a review of poached). With the vinaigrettes we also learned how to mix a salad properly (putting the dressing on the bottom of the bowl and the salad on top, then mix with your hands so the whole salad gets dressed without weighing it down with the dressing). On Wednesday we had a quiz/test on theory because the chef got the impression that we collectively had NOT been doing the reading. After that test he gave us a practical exam which meant making one egg- scrambled, fried, and poached. Then make a balsamic honey vinaigrette and a salad to go with it-- mixing the salad in front of him to show we know how to.

Now, this would have been all well and fine (and it was, I believe I did very good) but then in the afternoon we had a test in baking as well. The chef gave us a sheet with recipes we had done in class and we were told to go to work. The recipes were tart from scratch (with flangipan sp? filling --an almond based cream), a butter cake, and macaroons. Now you have to understand that the macaroons use food coloring so at the end of the class most of the students were covered in green or yellow, or red. I worked SO hard to keep myself clean of all those colors (which I think helped my overall grade) Also, some people didn't get to bake off their tarts because they were finished too late and there wasn't enough time to let them bake. We also didn't bake off our macaroons (apparently, unlike cooking, you can tell how the finished product is going to come out based on how it looks before it goes in. Or perhaps he wasn't interested in that as much as procedure as the chef always puts everything in the oven anyways). I got an A.

Tomorrow I plan to pick up my tart, which I was able to bake but was not able to bring home because it was too hot when we left for the day.

Flubbub!

So it's been a little over week since my last update and for that I should apologize as my avid readers are eagerly awaiting more and more news of my exciting life in Israel!

So last week we continued with sauces in culinary... the most interesting class so far was on wednesday (which is our last day of classes) where we were given a practical test. This meant we were given three recipes that we had not seen but included different skills we had been working on up until then. (The recipes were 1. Tomato basil Vinaigrette 2. Carrot coulis 3. mango salsa) We were graded on a number of categories some of which were uniform, cleanliness/ organization (of our stations), knife skills, and taste. After the test the teacher spoke with all the students indivudally to give them their grades and feedback based on their performances. For all those who are curious I did more than just hold my own, but in case anyone in the school is reading it may be better not to post my grades through this medium.
In pastries we were working on butter cakes, muffins, and other various recipes that don't quite spring to mind at the moment. On wednesday the pastry class made parve desserts for the dinner that was being hosted at the school the following evening (see previous blog entry for more details) which apparently went off without a hitch-- the event that is, there actually was at least ONE issue that I witnesses while making the pastries that involved a temperature problem with the oven, unfortunately. Next week there will be practical exams for the baking class.

On thursday, after Ulpan (hebrew language classes) we went to the winery to continue our wine project. This meant that we were straining out the wine, that is seperating out the now somewhat fermented juice from the shells and flesh. I do have a couple pictures but I don't think I'm going to post them today. I will, however, do my best to post them before the week is up.
I was in Yeshiva for shabbat which was AWESOME. I forgot how great an in Shabbos at yeshiva is. There were also a good number of guests there and I had the oppourtunity to get to know some of them and hang out with them.
Another accomplishment is that I finished listening to the radio series for the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (put out by the BBC) -- hence the title of this post. For those of you who don't know what that is I HIGHLY reccomend that you change that immediately...
Anywho, I'm sorry that I kind of rushed through this entry, but that pretty much sums it up. Before I go one joke by my pastry chef:
A man walks into a pastry shop and asks the chef "Do you have carrot cake?" to which the chef responds "No." The next day the same customer returns and asks the same question, receiving the same answer. After about a week of this the customer says "You know I'm going to come back and ask you for carrot cake, so why don't you just make one?" So the next day the chef makes a carrot cake, and when the customer walks in and asks "Do you have any carrot cake?" The Chef responds "Yes! Today I made a carrot cake!" To which the customer replies "Disgusting isn't it?"

Could you please push the stop button?

Okay, so this has been yet another interesting/ intense week. We are actually working more with the food; that is more than just cutting and whatnot, we have mostly been working on sauces still. We made a tomato sauce on Tuesday and I will include the recipe either in this post or the next depending on how much time I have (hopefully it will be in this one). Seriously though, we really haven't done anything else aside from sauces this week. In baking we made quiche dough and sautéed the vegetables for the quiche, however we let the girls assemble them the next day (these were for an order that the school got, so we only got to eat the least attractive one :-p). We continued working on cookies, so that included sugar cookies, checkerboard cookies (these require a little more work but look really cool and also taste quite delicious), and macaroons. The macaroons aren't what you probably think of- the ones you buy in a can around pesach time- but rather a cookie that's crunchy on the outside and chewy and soft on the inside. They are really really good ( I ate waaay too many the first day we made them) and my teacher said he judges the quality of a bakery based on their macaroons. Since they require so much more effort than other pastries if they can make a god macaroon they can make other pastries really well. He said that he had found this to be true across the board.

That was pretty much it for the cooking part of school this week. On Thursday we had our first (of six) ulpan class. Ulpan is a hebrew language class. The course is open to those who want to participate. After the class we went over the menu for a dinner that we are catering next thursday night. We is atually a relative term in this case because they picked eight names out of a hat four who are doing the cooking and four who are waiting the tables. My name was not picked so even though I will be in school next Thursday for Ulpan I won't have to stay to help in the kitchen. Don't worry though, I will get a chance to work in the kitchen.

So one more thing before I give you the recipe for the tomato sauce: The title of this blog is in reference to something that happened to me yesterday on the bus. At one of the stops a mother had her child get on the bus by himself (she made sure he got on okay). For those of you who don't know, the buses here are like the greyhound buses in the US (they're coach buses) and the stop button is on top where the lights are. Now I was wondering if this kid would be able to push the stop button, and got my answer when he leaned forward about ten minutes later (he was sitting behind me) and said something to me in hebrew which I did not quite understand but i got the general idea that he wanted me to push the stop button for him. I thought he would have been more resourceful and stand on the seat or something, but alas, he did not.

Tomato sauce:

Mire Poix (50% onions 25 % carrots 25% celery-all chopped) 200G

Skinned Tomatoes 1000G

Tomato Puree 200G

Tyme 2 sprigs

Bay leaf 1

Garlic 2 cloves finely chopped (into a paste is better)

Parsley 1/4 Cup

Salt and pepper

Sugar 5G

Water 750 ML

Directions:

1. Sautee vegetables till clear

2. Add sugar, bay leaf and thyme stir then a couple minutes later add garlic

3. add parsley stir for a couple minutes

4. Add tomato paste and big pinch (using 4 fingers) of Salt and Pepper

5. Add tomatoes- cook for a couple minutes then add water- let cook for 1+1/2 hours then take out bay leaf and blend using hand mixer

** for those who don't know how to skin tomatoes- cut out the tops and cut an "X" into the bottom then put them in boiling water for a couple minutes. You will see the skin start to come off- this is when you take them out and put them into cool water. Keep in mind you don't want to cook the tomatoes at this point. Then take them out of the cool water and take off the skins. Also, for this recipe you want to roughly dice the tomatoes.. they will be blended anyways, but you want them to be small enough that they'll cook nice.

Enjoy! :)

Cookies and sauces and wine (oh my!)

So, I've had quite the week. As I already posted at the beginning of the week we didn't have school on sunday or monday because there wasn't electricity in the school. At the same time I wouldn't have gone because I was also sick. Luckily I only ended up missing ONE day instead of THREE. Anyways I found I didn't miss too much once I got back. In the baking class they had started on cookies (we ate like three trays durring class on wednesday so everyone was KINDA starting to get hyper... or at least I was). In cooking we had started on sauces, so we used the same basic method for all of them (thickening up soup stalks with a rue). There was added confusion in class because there wasn't enough fish stock for everyone to make a full recipe so the chef told us to half both recipes then he realized there WAS enough chicken stock for a full recipe which confused alot of people.
On thursday we went to the Katz winery (which is on the same moshav where school is). So Mr. Katz (at least I think thats his name) gave us a very very long lecture on wine explaining all about the chemistry and whatnot which alot of people found very boring (myself included) although it could have been related to the fact that you had to really pay attention to him to understand his english. Finally after several hours we washed out the bin we were going to use for our wine and then we put the grapes into a machine that seperated them from the stems. Then after a long day we were allowed to go home.
All in all a short but interesting week.

Oy Gevalt, I'm sick!

So I hope that I'm able to write more often even when I'm not sick, however today I have the opportunity to update, so here it goes:
Yesterday morning I woke up and I wasn't feeling so good. I didn't feel warm or anything, but in the evening I started to get chills and I had a temperature of 37.7 C which is about 99.9F, roughly. So I had been spending shabbos in mivaseret with family friends (and my parents, as it was their last day in Israel), and I was supposed to get a ride back to Bet Shemesh anyways, so before I went to yeshiva I went to Terem, which is like an open doctors office until midnight (and it's open later than regular hospitals are here). So I get there and I'm waiting and when they finally take me into a room and take my vitals... my bloodpressure was a bit higher than usual, and my temperature was 39 C which is about 102 F. To make a long story short (okay, it's not THAT long) they took a throat culture and ruled out strep, and then they said I should just take medications and stay home from school for a day or two until I feel better. Etty, was very kind and generous and offered for me to stay at her house (where my parents have been staying for the past three weeks) until I get better, which was very kind of her. I think that the offer made my mom feel at ease because she felt bad about returning home while I was still sick.

Anywho, I go back to yeshiva and collect my things for the next few days and Etty took me back to Mivaseret. But here's the kicker: I woke up this morning and I got a call from the principal saying that the electric in the school went out and class was canceled for the day. Here's the bigger kicker: I received an email from the principal this afternoon saying that the electric was not fixed today and they would have to return tomorrow to finish fixing the electric thus no school tomorrow as well, which means two days to get better without missing ANY school!!!

I gotta start blogging more often :)

So I don't mean to be so infrequent with my posts, and I'm trying to fit in a second time where I can sit and blog. Hopefully I'll work at updating even more that that, but for today I apoligize if there is alot to read *cough* Josh *Cough* *Cough*

Anywho, this week we were working on soup stocks, so at the beginning of the week we made a chicken stock, an asian stock, and a beef stock. We did all the prep, but we didn't have the bones we needed to actually start, so instead for the last 45 min or so of class the teacher gave us vegetable and told us to make a soup... this was a mini test. I should also mention that that day we learned about different spices and whatnot (or maybe it was the day before?) so that was also part of the test to see how we mixed spices and herbs into out soups, although it wasn't explicit in the instructions. I only put in a few spices because the teacher had mentioned several times already that the key to a good dish is simplicity.
The next day we made the stocks, and then on wednesday (our last day of classes for the week) we made fish stock... and then a fish glace (I think that what it's called, essentially it's similar to fish stock only there's wine and lemon in it as well and it uses the fish stock). Then he showed us how to fillet salmon and we each got a piece to make poached salmon along with a small salad and vinegerette to finish the dish. I must say that wednesday was the best lunch so far.

As for the pastry class, I apologize because I can't remember everything we made by name, but we made apple pies from scratch, including the filling, we made chololate short dough tarts, we made mousse and a whole bunch of other chocolatey things... I will hopefully be posting more pictures of the desserts I'm making... and when I remember to take pictures of the main courses I will post those as well. To end off the week we made keishes, which are harder to roll out because the dough dosen't have sugar in it.

That more or less sums up this week. Thankfully I've more or less figured out how to get to school on a sheirut, I just need to get up early enough. I also figured out where I need to get off on the bus home to avoid walking aimlessly for an extra 30 min or so than I need to. However, my getting lost the first week gave me somewhat of a sense for the area... along with a map that I have which is usefull if you read it correctly...

Also, thursday night some of the people from the program got together for some drinks which was a fun/ interesting night. For future record: 1. beware of girls who say they bite when they are drunk, and 2. if a girl (or I assume anyone for that matter) says that they can hold their alcohol and says they bite it usually means they can't do the former.

MAZAL TOV? Take 2

Sorry, somehow When I cut and pasted everything I wrote it turned it into a URL for the first picture and didn't even show the text, so here is what I tried to post the first time:


Okay, so actually cut myself off earlier than I wanted to yesterday, so here's a bit more for you to read...

On Thursday night I went back to the mikveh with all the pots and pans and other misc items I hadn't already taken the first round because I need them for class on Sunday. Since there were so many dishes I used my moms suggestion of putting them all in a rolling suitcase I have instead of possibly having to make multiple trips. When I arrived at the mikveh there was someone else there (also english speaking). When I opened up the suitcase and started the dunking he looked first at the suitcase and then at me and said "Mazal Tov?" (Congratulations?) (He thought I just got married) so I laughed and said "No, I'm just in cooking school!"

MAZAL TOV?

Okay, so actually cut myself off earlier than I wanted to yesterday, so here's a bit more for you to read...

On Thursday night I went back to the mikveh with all the pots and pans and other misc items I hadn't already taken the first round because I need them for class on Sunday. Since there were so many dishes I used my moms suggestion of putting them all in a rolling suitcase I have instead of possibly having to make multiple trips. When I arrived at the mikveh there was someone else there (also english speaking). When I opened up the suitcase and started the dunking he looked first at the suitcase and then at me and said "Mazal Tov?" (Congratulations?) (He thought I just got married) so I laughed and said "No, I'm just in cooking school!"

Okay, so I guess that was really all I wanted to add yesterday... except for some pictures which I will post now...

This is the sun setting from Beit ShemeshThis is the front of the JCI, and my dad who obviously didn't realize he was in the picture

Okay, just my looking at this picture you probably gained 20LB. These are the Tarts we were working on all week. We didn't make our own, but we all worked on all the different steps together (making and rolling the dough, making the pastry cream and chocolate soufle, and cutting the fruit)


Also, I'm sorry if the type in this post is off, I think next time I need to add the pictures first.

NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!!

Okay, so this has been quite the week, and I apologize for the delay in updating but the internet at the yeshiva is only available during certain times and even when it is available it barely works. Also I'm so busy being super cool that I'm not always around when I could use the internet.

Anywho... we started classes this week on monday (Sunday will usually be classes as well but this week it was the orientation) working on knife skills in the cooking class and then working on tarts and pastry creams in the baking class. Our first homework assignment was tovel our knives monday night so we could actually use them in the kitchen. Some of the yeshiva sudents tried telling me where in beit shemesh there was a dish mikveh, but I couldn't find it and NO ONE in the area that I asked on the street was able to help me. On Tuesday morning, hwever I asked Devarya, the woman who runs the office in the school, where there was a dish mikveh and SHE knew where there were several. She copied a map for me, highlighted the route I needed to take and then highlighted a couple other places that were farther but also mikvehs. Once armed with the proper directions I called my teacher to see if he would prefer I show up on time or be late and tovel the knives. He preferred I take care of my knives. Going to and from the mikveh took maybe thirty minutes, but then when I got to the bus stop I thought I needed to be at I waited for about 45 minutes and did NOT see the 415 bus, so I tried asking around to see where I needed to be. I found a second bus stop that has a sign saying the 415 stops there. I found out later is does not. So I was waiting for another 45 minutes or so when i realized I NEEDED to get to school and called a cab to take me.
At school they had been practicing, you guessed it, knife skills. However the teacher decided that everyone would make their own soups with the vegetables they were practicing on so there would be lunch. I showed up with roughly an hour left to the lesson so I was not able to make soup. I WAS able to make a salad that was delicious, so don't worry I DID have lunch!
In the afternoon we were working on tarts and pastry creams... I know that they taste great and look delicious, but I'm fairly certain that the calorie count is through the roof!
Wednesday I got to school on time but I had to spring for another cab seeing as though I hadn't quite figured out the bus from beit shemesh yet. We practiced juliening the vegetables and triangular cuts and cutting at an angle, but we didn'd make anything with it, so I went to the entrance to the moshav where the school is located to buy felafel from a small felafel stand there. The felafel, by the way, is soooooo good. He makes it on the spot when you show up!

So then, finally, my last class of the week was the pasrty class wednesday afternoon. We finished all of the torts that we were working on including blind baking (making pre-made pie shells) and chocolate soufle :D I was able to bring home a few samples which I saved for my parents seeing as though they are here and are paying for the classes, and i'll be able to bring food back regularly. I have pictures of the pastries all set up before we annhialted them, but I haven't had a chance to upload them. I'll do my best to post them in a timely fashion. To end my day I had to take another cab because we needed to tovel the rest of our supples (including pots and pans and other various kitchen items) for sunday, and I didn't want to take the big box on the bus with me.
Thursday we went to the Shuk for a school trip. Thursdays will always be either trips or special classes. We went all around with chef Yochanan ( the pricipal/ founder of the JCI) where he would explain about different foods and give suggestions as to what dishes he might make with those ingredients. After a few hours we were free to go, but a number of us were very hungry from hours of food talk so we went out to eat. Then after a few of us hung around Jerusalem until the later afternoon when we got a bus back to beit shemesh.
So Shabbos is about to start and I wrote alot already (unfortunately it had to be a bit abbreviated due to time) but I will try even harder to update a couple times next week.
Shabbat Shalom!

I think my headphones are broken

So I just tried calling a couple people from my internet line on my computer and unfortunately it didn't work so well which has led me to the conclusion that my headphones are broken. I will update when I know for sure.

So I got my first glimpse of the Jerusalem Culinary Institute on Friday. Our Family friends drove me and my father by the school to make sure we knew where it was, and then today was the orientation for students and parents who may be in the area. Let me tell you, the school is very nice and apparently world renown. They served a brunch, which was exquisite, and then we were taken on a tour of the school. We were supposed to get our uniforms today as well but the supply company didn't arrive in time and we were told we'd receive them tomorrow. Both of the chefs (I'm taking a cooking and patisserie class) are very nice and they really seem like they know what they are doing. The best part is that you really need to be hands on in order to learn. The only down side is how to get to the school. The most direct, and expensive, option would be a cab which would take me right to the doors of the school (okay, really just the front gate), my other option is the bus which is cheaper but would only take me to the bus stop right outside where the moshav is located, which means I would need to walk across the highway and be extra extra careful not to get hit by a car ... passing at about 50MPH.

All in all it seems like a great program and I'm excited to see how it is. Also, apparently some guys go there because they are college or high school dropouts and have trouble stringing sentences together. I hope that means I'll have a leg up on the competition.

Till next time, remember that the only thing worse than a dog that bites is a dog that likes you and still tries biting you!

Coming to the holy land...

So today was my first day in Israel. It was pretty uneventful in the sense that all I did today was unpack and sleep (I didn't realize how tired I was from the flight!)
My trip here was fairly uneventful. I had a connecting flight from Boston to NY, and then I waited from around 12:00PM till 8:00 in the airport. once we were on the plane we were delayed an hour and a half first because of a family who was unhappy with their seating arrangements, and then because of a medical emergency (rumor has it a woman was going into labor. I knew that I was on a plane with alot of other Jewish people because is smelled like heavy perfume and brisket.

Nothing too eventful happened during the flight save for some turbulence and a second rate flight crew... at the the stewardesses.

The yeshiva, where I'll be living for the year, is mostly the same. There is a new dormitory which is very nice, and some of the rules have changed but like I said mostly everything is the same here except for the students. There is a kitten that is living in our laundry room, however. Apparently people call her screamer because when you walk up to her all she does is meow at you. Some yeshiva students found screamer by the makolet (grocery store near the yeshiva, essentially a glorified warehouse with a cash register) and brought her back. We have no idea if she has any diseases though so everyone washes their hands after dealing with her. I try not to touch her for the very same reason. Also she won't drink milk. She's been on a steady diet of deli meat and water although it's not obvious from looking at her.
Anywhoo, thats pretty much all I have to talk about at this time, but I'll try to update soon and bring many anecdotes from my life here in the Holy Land

Chef Shmush