springtime my friends

I'm in Tel Aviv right now in my cousin Gershon's apartment as I write; tonight is Tom's 21st birthday party.
Backtracking in time a little:
Back to the acupuncturist. I really like it.
Wednesday: after environmental science class we went on a field trip to a climate change conference at the Notre Dame Hotel (a hotel owned by the Vatican!). The conference was being sponsored by an Israeli-Palestinian organization that works towards peace, cooperation and resolving environmental issues within the country, and an Israeli and a Palestinian speaker each spoke about the affects of climate change in the world but specifically the Middle East-- where of course the effects are particularly harsh; desertification, food shortages, water crises, you get the idea. Actually, I'm writing an article on the environment for the j., so more on that later, I think. I'm not sure when the actual article will be published but I'll let you know.
Yesterday after Hebrew class, Riki and Alyssa (two of my friends from the program) and I went on what turned into a Christian-pilgrimage-adventure in the Old City. We walked through the Muslim and Christian quarters, stopping at Al-Jafar's for some khabbiyeh, down Via Dolorosa where we saw some of the stations of the Cross and walked to the roof of the Austrian Hospice where you can basically get the most amazing view of the Old City. The Dome of the Rock was so close that it looked small. Then we walked out the Lion's Gate to hike up the Mount of Olives. Passing by the massive Jewish cemetary we headed first to the Church of All Nations where there was a Coptic service taking place. To be honest, the church is really cool-looking from the outside, but the inside was kind of strange. We passed through the garden of Gethsemane where there were groups of pilgrims from all over the world. Alyssa is Catholic so she gave us short rundowns of the meanings of all these places.
We tried to walk up to the Russian Orthodox church but it was closed-- some other time, I guess. Our final stop was at the church shaped like a tear drop, which was very peaceful and had another amazing view. I saw so many monks, so basically I am set for life (I give myself twenty points every time I see a monk and I get ten bonus points for Armenian priests). From there we walked all the way back to Hebrew U, passing through residential east Jerusalem.
After a nice lunch at Giraffe with Gershon I think I'm ready for a nap or something like that. This weekend, alas, will be spent mostly working on/studying for midterms. My very first college midterms. Ah, Sarah Lawrence and the lack of midterms...kind of spoils you...now I've kind of forgotten how to study for tests.
Next time I update this I'll be in Greece!