Welcome to Ramla!

Conversations for the last week:

Them - "How long are you in Israel for?"

Me - "About six months"

Them - "Oh, WOW!  What are you doing here"

Me - "Ulpan and volunteer work"

Them - "Awesome.  Where?"

Me - "Ramla"

Them - [Look of shock and dismay]

Them  - [regain composure] "it's a rough town... mixed arab israeli"

Me - "I know"

They say that you get what you pay for.  Grants are covering this trip, and thus I am paying nothing.  Welcome to the projects.

The apartment is spacious and large, with three bedrooms (there are 5 of us, I am in the process of negotiating for the single room which happens to be the cleanest and with the most drawer space, and farthest from the road.  One bathroom, and a separate shower - so that's good.  Though, the sink is in the shower.  Washing machines are in the kitchen which is old and rickety.  Dust everywhere, I might need to get some allergy stuff.  I think the medical center is on the tour tomorrow.

I already went around and did some cleaning up.  I am going to have to email the office about this.  I asked how the rooms where compared to the photos, much nicer.  I was told.  I think they meant the opposite.

Internet is not working yet, we need a password.  I called about it, but was told I have to wait since they are handling other people.  It means I am going to write this now, but send it later.

There are two girls and three guys, myself included in the apartment.  Usually, to appease the religious, they don't mix men and women in Israel.  Apparently there are about 18 of us here starting the program at the same time.

It seems that no one else bothered to travel by train, they all opted for the taxi.  It just takes a shared taxi and a train to get here from Tel Aviv, so we will hopefully be doing that often.

I am going to focus entirely on the ulpan for now, language I feel is the entry into any civilization.  Understanding how a community speaks is understanding how it perceives the world, where emphasis lies can illustrate importance. 

All that aside, knowing Hebrew is a critical aspect of my journey here, and I would be much more comfortable if I were able to speak Ivrit.