Hello friendly readers! Melissa here! We are beyond excited to start our adventure of living in Israel for the next year, and we are happy to share our adventures with you. Hopefully, this will be the place we can share photos, stories, things we learned, and interesting facts about our stay in Jerusalem, as well as hear your comments as we inevitably start to miss our friends and families in the States.

Since we are still actually here, and not leaving until Tuesday, the 25th, I thought I would share some answers to questions we have been getting asked a lot. Im sure we will have to answer them many more times, but here it is in print in case you were wondering!

1.Do you have an apartment?
Yes! This is actually one of the first things we did when we found out Adam had been accepted into HUC. Because all HUC students spend one year in Israel, they tend to pass down apartments and items to the next class of incoming students. One of Adam's friends lived in a perfect place, and we got to take a "video tour" over Skype. Its a lofted studio apartment in the German Colony of Jerusalem, off of Emek Rafaim, a great street with lots of restaurants and stores. The apartment is furnished, and even has dishes and other necessities ready for us when we get there. We have heard the German Colony described as the Lincoln Park of Jerusalem, so it should be a great place to live!

2. Do you speak Hebrew?
Adam is a pretty advanced Hebrew speaker, and spent the last 3 years in an Ulpan (Hebrew Language Class) to prepare for this experience. His summer courses will be focused on building up his Hebrew skills in preparation for classes starting in the Fall. (All of the classes are taught in Hebrew!! Eek!)
I can speak about as much Hebrew as a three-year-old, but as long as someone is speaking slowly, I can understand a lot more. I will also be taking an Ulpan, which I am very excited about!

3. What are YOU going to do there?
This is such a weird thing for me, because I have had a job since I was 16, but strangely enough, I legally can't get a job in Israel. My Visa is for a spouse of a student, and since we are not seeking permanent residence in Israel, I can't get a work Visa. I can work for cash, so I will be babysitting as much as possible for different families in Jerusalem, and have already lined up part-time gigs with three families! I will also be going back to school online to get an ELL endorsement to my teaching certificate. ELL is the new ESL, and it stands for English Language Learners. This will hopefully make me more marketable when we move to Cincinnati next year.

4. How long will you be there?
Every student at HUC spends the first school year in Jerusalem, to learn Hebrew and spend time studying text and history. There are three campuses in the States: New York, LA, and Cincinnati, where we have chosen to go. Adam will be in the Rabbinics program, so we have four years in Cinci after our one year in Jerusalem, making 5 years total! Yep, a super long time.

5. Why does it take 5 years to become a Rabbi?
 In the Reform movement of Judaism, Rabbinical school last five whole years. Adam tells me that in his five years, he will learn Biblical history, literature, and language, as well as social work skills, pastoral skills,  and learn how to conduct life cycle events, and services. Its a lot of important stuff, and it takes a lot of practice to learn it right!

Let me know if you have any more questions, and I will try to answer them! We are going to miss you all so much, but the internet makes everyone seem much closer! I hope to update this blog frequently, both to stay in touch as well as have a record of our year. When I studied abroad in Ireland, I loved having a blog, and its nice to have a record of that floating around on the internet.

That is all for now--we are leaving on the 25th, so hopefully I will have an update for you then! For now, Shabbat Shalom!