So its Spring now

Wow I haven't posted in a while and midterms are next week. Grad school is difficult for me and as always school comes before the blog. I have several posts planned in my head I just haven't had the time to write them down. Next week starts midterm exams so we are already halfway through the semester and I haven't even posted about what classes I'm taking. So first things first my schedule for this semester:
Monday 8:30-10:00 Modern Hebrew
10:30-12:00- History of Israel and Judah through the Assyrian Sources
12:30-2:00 Biblical Hebrew
4:30-7:00 Akkadian
Tuesday 8:30-12:00 Modern Hebrew
6:30-8:00 Archaeology
Wednesday No classes
Thursday 8:30-12:00 Modern Hebrew
12:30-2 Biblical Hebrew
4:30-7 Akkadian
As you can see some of the classes did not change from last semester. The Archaeology class this semester is taught by Dr. Ben-Ami however this class does not include tours. Dr. Ben-Ami did say that we would have one day of excavations in the City of David! I'm really looking forward to that. The History of Israel and Judah through the Assyrian sources is particularly enlightening. In that class we are discussing the book of Kings in the bible. We compare the information in kings about a certain ruler then check the sources we have from the Assyrian empire at the time. In some cases we are able to fill in more information that the writer of kings left out. Sometimes the sources add more information that we wouldn't otherwise know. Not all of the kings are also mentioned in the Assyrian sources but the ones that are mentioned are interesting. The text book for that class is called The Raging Torrent by Dr. Mordechai Cogan who is also my professor. I love the title if I just told you the title I bet you would never guess its a history book.

I want to mention a Jewish holiday that I had March 20th and 21st off from school. This holiday was called Purim. I had heard of Purim before coming to Israel but I didn't know it was a holiday still celebrated today. Purim celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people from the Persian Empire more specifically Haman. The book of Esther is read and people cheer when Mordechai and Esther are mentioned and boo and the name of Haman. Traditionally people dressed up as Mordechai and Queen Esther but these days Purim is more like Halloween with all the different costumes. I think candy is given out based on the candy displays that appeared in the grocery store before the holiday but there is no treat or treating that I know of. I don't have any pictures of the holiday because I used the days off to write a paper.

Earlier today I was on campus for a seminar by the Accordance Bible software company to learn how to use my new software. The campus is mostly closed down on Friday so I was rather eerie walking through the abandoned hallways and closed down cafes. After the seminar was finished I wandered around campus taking some pictures. It was easier with no one that would look at me strangely for taking pictures. I was mainly taking artsy pictures of plants. There are some very interesting looking plants on campus and I have no idea what they are called.




This was more impressive looking earlier in the semester now it's a little wilted.















This is a view of the pathway that runs through the middle of campus.



















I'm rather proud of this picture. I managed to capture a bee on the flower. I got away without being stung by the other bees in the area.














I believe this one is lavender. I love the color. This was a brief tour of the plants around campus. I haven't taken pictures of the plants in the botanical garden yet. I'm planning to do that soon.


Earlier today there was an earthquake off the coast of Greece. We felt a little tremor here too. The building shook for a few seconds. A few minutes later Claire came in to ask if I had felt the building shake too. I was tempted to look puzzled and say no, but I admitted I had felt the building shake too. :)