first day of school

today was the first day of school. to count, it's been about 2.5 months after my academic semester ended. so to start school again was a little bit of a shock for me, kind of like freshman year all over again. fun times, man. i had to get up extra early so i can meet with the head of photography department to see if i can take some first year courses. i don't understand why third year students can't take first year courses. what's the stigma? i don't know why there are strict regulations for that. it's bizarre. anyways, he said he would let me take lab tutorial so i can refresh my technical skills in photography. phew. i'll really need it after i got that tour of the lab, but more on that later.

my first class was documentary workshop. basically, this class will never meet inside a classroom but near תלפיות, the industrialized part of jerusalem. the חברון road leads eventually leads to bethlehem and we will walk up and down this road doing our little projects on whatever catches our fancy. supposedly this is a really contested area and strict places for jews and arabs. honestly, why can't people just get along? i'm really excited for this class. surprisingly, i understood most of the hebrew that was spoken in class even though it was 95% in english. people in the exchange program seem so surprised that the teachers here are unwilling to teach the course in english. i mean, a prerequisite to going to a foreign country is that you have some prior knowledge of the language, which isn't to say full fluency. anyways, i'm ready to get on the road and explore this place like no other for the sake of art. it would be interesting to do this project with a holga or a view camera if i can get my hands on one. so fingers crossed. it also means i have tons of researching to do ahead of me. argh.

moving on, the second class was in the animation/video department called photography stills basic. the teacher didn't want to speak in english because it wouldn't be conducive for the class. to be honest, i can see why it is a first year class. the work was pretty sloppy and they weren't able to defend their work very well. it also didn't help that i only understood like 45% of the words spoken. goddamn academic language teaching. it is not helpful in actually using the language in real life. during break, i talked to the teacher saying that the class wasn't worth my time or his so i said thanks and left. phew.

even though it was only two classes, it was really stressful being in a new environment and seeing so many people in such a small building. anyways, the photo lab, right. that place is AMAZING. if i thought the smfa photo basement was awesome, bezalel's has it beat. it takes up an entire floor. we can do C-41 processing which should be interesting since it is very toxic.. haha. they use ilford b&w processing so that means i have to relearn all the processes again. they also process their own E-6 here at the school. awesomeeee! there are two studios if needed. a media stockroom for borrow equipment. it's just really amazing. i also need to find people to see what kind of film they use here in israel because the lighting is different so i need to find something that works best in this situation. i heard ilford hp5 isn't good here but tmax is, which i don't like using. boo. i'm anxious to do some serious art. i can't wait.

a side note: i had a chocolate craving and was at a falafel place that sold some other stuff as well. i picked up the brand elite thinking it was just regular chocolate. oh no, it wasn't. when i bit into it, there was an unexpected sensation running through my mouth. POP ROCKS IN MY CHOCOLATEEE. whattt. surreal. it was bizarre but i think i really like the novelty of it. if you're really nice, i'll send you a bar... if you'd like of course. :)