Meet Shuki. And yes he really is that, er, imposing. Shuki lives in the flat here and up to now has adopted a need-to-know attitude to me. When it's feeding time he'll give me a quick miouw. Otherwise he does his own stuff. Today we had a brief human/cat bonding moment, which was encouraging, but he'll definitely take his time.

More engaging is No Name (well that's what I have called him) a stray tabby kitten who Susan, my landlady, is feeding round the back of the building (below). I take him some food and pellets each day and he is always up for a play. Plus there's a third cat that needs some water topping up and some more food and which sometimes needs some attention too. Leaving here in the morning you can feel like Dr Doolittle.




















This is the flat I am staying in. It is very comfortable and has two balconies which allow a breeze to blow through the whole place, keeping it reasonably cool (ie about 27C). I usually spend the evenings on the back balcony (left, with washing hanging from it) which has a nice view out over some trees and a little alley and a good light to read in. You can see from the pics that the area is very leafy. It's also fairly quiet - you can hear some cars in the distance and children playing but that's about it. About 10 minutes away is Emek Refaim, a stretch of upmarket cafes and restaurants interspersed with little shops, rather like Upper Street without the estate agents.



















The yeshiva (college) starts off in the mornings with shul at 7.30am. Then, or so I thought, there's some breakfast in the sunny courtyard, but that turned out to be yesterday only so I had to scoot over to the supermarket to get some buns and chocolate milk before class starts. We do Modern Hebrew from 9 to 12.30 each morning. Then, after lunch, there's another short shul service, followed by two afternoon sessions which vary. I am signed up for chant/chazan stuff and some interesting theology sessions on the image of God, plus what looks like is going to be a very good set of seminars on the Psalms. A lot of people are not doing the afternoon sessions and I will probably be taking some afternoons off anyway as the weeks go on to go to Tel Aviv or the beach. On Thursdays I am doing some gardening as part of a volunteer project here. I very much like my fellow students. We are about 100 in all, ranging in age, almost literally from 18 to 80 and about two thirds women. Most of them are from the US and it's been interesting to discover the differences and similarities of our world views. A hundred Jews means about 800 opinions of course and discussions can get lively. But everyone makes time for everyone else (or at least we do on Day Two...) and I feel privileged to be able to spend time with such an insightful and interesting group of people.

Talking of debates, the conflict with the Palestinians and the occupation of Gaza and West Bank are of course always present in people's minds. And studying at a Jewish college, with the religion's deep love of human rights and dignity, throws it into even greater relief. We are well protected and safe here and, with help from the college, if I can I am hoping to learn more about both sides of this conflict. The head of the yeshiva is a member of Rabbis for Human Rights and I'm hoping to talk to him about that soon.

I finally made it to a supermarket today so I am going to sign off now and go and make some supper. (This last pic is the view I can see now.) And then I need to get an early night. With these hot evenings and 6.30am starts it's going to be too easy to burn the candle at both ends.

D