Ani lomed bivrit bYerushalaim chodesh od.

(Translation, in my bad present tense verbs: I study Hebrew in Jerusalem another month.)

I'm back in the zone.

For the entirety of last week, including our first day of class, I felt listless, aimless; even once I recovered from the insanity of the move from Haifa to Jerusalem, I still had a hard time getting back into the zone of learning. I was less than present at our first day of class, and despite my declaring my intent to do homework all night, I opted to join a group going out instead. Friday, as it does, came and went in a flash, and suddenly, it was Shabbat.

As some of you know, part of observing Shabbat, halachackly (according to Jewish law), includes not writing; so, once Shabbat came in, all the homework I planned on getting done in preparation for Shabbat (including notecards I could flash through throughout the day) quickly got postponed. Then, I was so exhausted after Shabbat let out, I barely got an hour's homework completed before I was out until Sunday morning, until class started up again.

By the time class let out on Sunday, though, I was feeling the rhythm starting to creep in again; all the goals I set for myself were coming back to the surface, all the drive I had for the first week in Haifa was becoming a regular part of my life here. Despite having a new teacher that I felt is certainly a step down from my amazing teacher in Haifa, I've learned to accept the change, and to motivate myself to make up for any lack of learning during class by doing excess homework. I'm so ready to learn as much as I can, and I love it.

This all really raises the question - what motivates me? How can I internally feel the switch flip back, turning from an actual, internal interest in listlessness, I mean, really wanting to do very little, most of the day, to feeling so driven so as to do more homework than I've ever done in my life, spending five hours pounding Hebrew, mixing in an hour and a half at the gym, even studying during eating, so as to maximize my time. When I don't have active goals in my life, when I'm not focusing on those goals primarily, I think I really do fall back into a pattern of sloth; when I bring those goals to the forefront, though, not only do I avoid sloth, but I just don't have time for it. I'm so excited to have a packed day, to feel driven and motivated and ready ready ready.

On a side note, we had a meeting about the August session of ulpan, and because of the situation in Haifa, it looks like we'll be spending at least half, if not all, of August in Jerusalem. Yes, the living conditions aren't as nice, but I'm settling in a bit again, and frankly, I'd rather just not move again at all. A move disrupts my learning pattern so much, having to shift my focus so radically, I'd rather just stay here and keep cranking.

And in regards to safety, Jerusalem remains, surprisingly, one of the safest places to be in Israel. Figure that one out.