So I just got to bat yam and last night i wrote these blogs on microsoft word...it is so annoying that there are spaces in this blog that i cant get rid of. i might be posting tonight. but i am so happy that i am with miki and i will hopefully be seeing nathan!!!! haha this blog post is really long...get readyyyyyy!

THURSDAY:

Two days ago I had to wake up at 6:45 and only got about 3 hours of sleep. I couldn’t fall asleep right away because people were still up and some people were sick (throwing up) and crying. It was so difficult for me to function! Also, I lost my voice again…AH. Luckily we had some food in the fridge so I had cereal and I packed a sandwich. When Ashley and I got to volunteering, we had to organize some tapes, but we finished that quickly. Pamela was teaching a class, so we had nothing to do! I decided to take a little nap and read (luckily I decided to bring the time traveler’s wife!)

When she came in after her class, she gave us something else to do, but once again, that didn’t take long. It was then the long break (I think it’s 45 minutes), so we waited in the teacher’s lounge for a good half hour, maybe more. I listened to my ipod and read for a little. Reading makes my eyes tired, so I had to put the book down so I wouldn’t fall asleep! Pamela was really busy and towards the end of the break she gave us a little thing to do (basically just organizing papers). I decided to take a nap and Ashley decided to walk around the school. She heard Pamela’s voice in a classroom and felt bad for interrupting, but told Pamela we have been done. Pamela then said that it was okay for us to leave early. WOO HOO! We got to leave an hour and a half early! During the break, though, Pamela told us that she still does not know what classes to put us in. She wants us to work with the 12^th graders, but the problem is the schedule of when the teachers are teaching is still changing. Unlike America and most other countries, in Israel, the teachers basically pick what hours and days they want to teach. If they get something they don’t like, they argue until it gets changed. It is crazy how they can do that! Hopefully Pamela will be able to find something for us to do that involves working with students!

Right after I got home, I climbed into bed and slept for a little. I got up a couple of times, read for a bit, and video chatted with nathan. Nathan was helping me figure out how to get to tel aviv, so my papa’s friend, zeev, could pick me up and drive me back to his place (because papa was going to be with him.) Ah it was so annoying/stressful because for some reason papa wouldn’t answer his phone (I later found out that he never got my calls..weird!) I also got a message from David levy and kept trying to call him back but later I found out he was in the desert and didn’t have his phone. Ill go more into detail about this whole thing later…but just keep in mind how hard it was for me to leave a message when my voice was lost.

At 2 we had an apartment meeting. We had a lot of “bad news” to go over: noise level, food, cleaning, smoking, and other apartment issues. We all sat on the floor in a huge circle and the meeting lasted for so long…but it was really necessary. In the meeting Moran first told us how we were way too loud last night because a lot of neighbors complained. We all feel bad but everyone was making valid points (not to justify the noise level), but complaining about why year course thought it would be good to make an apartment for 16 girls. It creates so many problems, one of them being noise level. First off, the apartment isnt carpeted, so our voices echo. Second, we have so so sooo many windows that need to be open at all times. Third, because there are 16 girls living here, our apartment becomes the place for people to come hang out it because they think it is always a party here. So sometimes it is others that are yelling, not us. Yet, it was 3 in the morning and we need to be more considerate and maybe just be sleeping by that time! We only have to watch how loud we are after 11, which is late—especially during the week.

The next thing we discussed was the food situation. Although some people didn’t want to divide up into 8 and 8, we decided we might as well try it. We have 2 fridges so it will work out. Most of the groups were already naturally created. I am excited for this because now when we go food shopping it is only for 8, not 16. One can get a good amount of food for 8, but it is impossible to try and imagine how much food we need for the apartment for 16 people. We had a good amount of money left over, which means we could have bought way more food. We don’t need to worry about running out of money. We then talked about cleaning (once again), and some other things.

After the meeting I eat lunch. I watch Rachel make us chicken in a frying pan (to learn). It was good. Because I was still hungry, I decide to cut up at cucumber and eat it with hummus. I was so proud of myself! Usually I am too lazy to cut up veggies. Check me out!!!! Haha. After lunch I decided I must wash my sheets and towels! I went down to check if any machines were available and I had to wait a couple of minutes (there are 2 washing machines and 2 dryers). I think someone tried to get in front of me, but someone said that there was line. I brought my book with me and was planning on reading while my laundry was being done. Instead, with a couple of other people, I made sukkah decorations! It was so fun! I love sukkah decorating. Maybe next year in the sukkah at home, we can do some decorations (rather than just writing on the walls). I set my alarm for a couple of minutes before a drying machine was done drying someone’s stuff. When I got there someone said that they were using that one after. Um wtf. So I was annoyed but decided to wait 10 more minutes until the other one was open. It was about 1 minute left when this girl came and she took her stuff out. I was about to put my stuff in but then all of the sudden she takes stuff out of the wash and puts stuff in that dryer. So I say, “um, sorry, I’ve been waiting to use a dryer. My stuff has been up on a drying machine for about 45 minutes.” She then says “Oh, well I have been waiting too. I’ve been waiting like all day.” UGH! So she takes that machine. I decide to once again, read and wait for that other dryer to be done. Before it is done I ask the woman if it is her stuff. She says yes and says she also has stuff in the washing machine that she will put in that dryer after. WHAT?! I then kind of complain to her (not in a mean way) just how my stuff is going to get MOLDY because it has been waiting to get dried for so long. She offers to put my stuff in the dryer when the other one is open. I say it’s fine and I run up to my room and have a minor crying breakdown to Rachel. I was so frustrated! Eventually I get my stuff in the drying machine. I set my alarm to I will know when my stuff is ready. Right after I put clothes in the dryer, yoni buckman calls me! He asks if it would be possible for me to find a place for him and eitan to crash for the night. I ask one person, but his roommates are rude/gross. I then ask someone else, and a lot of his roommates already left, so there was a lot of room for them.

I am hungry for dinner at this point and decide that I’m going to go eat out tonight with Britty. We first planned on going to burgers bar, but decided to go to aroma. While we are walking to emek refiem (we have been walking for 5 minutes), my alarm goes off---my laundry is done. Because no one is really at our apartment, I decide to sprint back to the apartment, put my laundry in my room, and sprint back to Britty. My throat was hurting—I hate running when I have a sore throat! At aroma, I got a mozzarella sandwich that was so good! I was also big and really filling. Britty belongs to a gym and was planning on going to a class so I was going to take her left over salad back to the apartment for her. While I wait for it, I ASK a person who works there if I can have a piece of chocolate (they give out chocolates with drinks—like coffee and tea). If you know me, you know I HATE asking. But I did it and they gave me 3! I was walking back for a second and then I see on the other side of the street a lot of soldiers were getting off of a bus. I needed to stare at them. I called Britty to let her know how tempted I was to cross the street and pretend to wait for someone (when really I am just staring at the soldiers). She tells me to wait for her because she had the September schedule for her workout class, not October. She wanted frozen yogurt so we cross the street but I look around and the soldiers are gone!!! Noooooooooo! I get a call from Yoni saying that Eitan is at the bus station and wants to know how to get to where I am. Since I have no clue and know that I need to get to the bus station tomorrow (so I can go to tel aviv), I said that I would go pick eitan up. So when I got back to the apartment, I made my bed and tried to figure out how to get to the central bus station. With some help from my roommates and strangers, I ended up getting there! It was harder than usual because people could not understand me because my voice was so quiet and scratchy.

I walk into the airport and I bump into a girl who I went on march of the living with! She is also here for the year and working with people our age who are scouts this year and basically doing community service before they join the army. She is in Haifa. We exchanged numbers and hopefully we will see each other! I call eitan and we find each other. We then wait for about 20 minutes for the bus to come. So annoying! When we get to where he is staying, we call Yoni and decide to meet up with him at burger’s bar on ben yehuda. So we get back on the bus and we go the wrong way, but end up finding burgers bar. We see yoni and he was wearing a JAMD shirt…how nice :) We ate with 2 of yoni’s friends from shelem. They were cool and it was nice to catch up and hear about the programs. I didn’t get anything, because I already had dinner, but stole fries from yoni and eitan. After the late dinner, we head back to where they were going to stay because we were all tired and wanted to make sure we could get a bus. When we get back to the apartment I talk to Saul (it is his apartment) for a little (haha Rachel) and then I walk back home.

At this point I am starting to become extremely anxious because I still have no clue what the plan is for tomorrow! I call my mom freaking out and we then figured out a plan (thanks mom for calming me down!) I then shower while Katie makes me tea for my throat (how nice?!) and rach, Katie, and me talkedddd and then I drank my tea and remembered that we were on kitchen duty and although it wasn’t disgusting, I had the urge to clean it (what it getting into me?!?!) I end up washing the floors (they were so gross), empty out the sink, scrub the sink, clean the stove, and clean the counter tops. After that im even more exhausted and go to sleep.

FRIDAY:

Today I woke up at 9:30, but fell back asleep and woke up freaked out that it was really late at 10. I call my papa larry (it is so funny because whenever I say that to my friends they initially think that I am talking about my dad…no, I do NOT call my dad papa! hahaha), but he still does not answer (or receive my phone call). I call David and talk to him briefly, but he cant really understand me because it is a bad combination to have a morning voice and losing your voice. I also had a stuffy nose. I eat breakfast (rice is the only thing we have) and pack up. Luckily, my papa calls me and so I give him some of the game plan me and my mom came up with. I am stressed and sick, but leave my apartment by 11 and head towards the bus stop to the central bus station. I had a little difficulty figuring out where to buy a ticket (after asking around, I wait in line and ask for a ticket and the woman just says “I am only information, you buy your ticket on the bus). I then realize that the first 2 lines are for tickets and the others are for information. Im sure the people behind me and the information woman thought I was an idiot because it says in huge letters which lines are for tickets and which are for information. The worst part was I kept on having to repeat myself because no one could hear me and it is so loud at the station! I finally get a ticket and find where the bus is. There was a bus there and it was really full when I got on, but I found a seat.

I tried calling my papa to let him know that I was on the bus (because he called me again to tell me to call him), but he didn’t pick up (/get a call from me). I tried him and zeev a couple of times. I then just assume they will call me back, so I just listen to my ipod and snooze for a little. I wake up and we are in tel aviv, amost at the train station (where I get off). When I get there I call my papa and he picks up. I tell him I just got there and he said that he will leave now to come get me—it will take about 30 minutes. I go into the train station because I had to pee so badly (I drank a lot of water because I kept on coughing…so annoying!) There are a lot of soldiers in and around the train station so I call Rachel to let her know! Haha. I tell her that im freaking out and since she cant really understand me because of my voice she just says “jess, just breathe, it will all be okay.” I start to crack up and I get outside and she finally hears me and we crack up. While waiting for my papa and zeev, I call miki and talk to her for a little (because I plan on getting to bat yam Saturday night (somehow) and staying with her and leave Sunday mid afternoon.) I cant wait to see her!

Zeev and my papa eventually come and it was so nice to see my papa! The tel aviv area, and herzaleeah has such a different atmosphere than Jerusalem. First off, there are modern cars here, rather than old, weird looking cars! This was a good reminder that Israel is up-to-date on technology. On our way home, I talked to bubbe for a little and found out that my mom and her are staying in my aunt and uncle’s apartment and that they are going to rent a car!!! Zeev drove by where my aunt and uncle’s apartment is and it is in such a beautiful location. I just checked on my calender and they are coming from a Thursday to a Monday which is perfect. I am so happy they will be getting a car so they can pick me up on Thursday. I really hope that I can maybe get out of volunteering on that Sunday so I can spend an extra day with them. Mom-what time does your flight land at and what time does your flight leave? I am so excited for you guys to come! (I am sorry, but I have to admit that the idea of being in a clean place and going out to eat a lot makes me a lot more excited to see you both…you shouldn’t be upset, but happy that I love it here so much! Hehe?)

When we get to Zeev’s house, I called David. The plan was that he would pick me up from the airport (because I would get dropped off there with my papa), and I would stay with him and when I would see him figure out if I would be able to go to bat yam or not. David thought I would be able to come for dinner (a sukkah dinner!!), and didn’t really understand that my papa was here and I was going out to dinner with him. Also, I would get to the airport at 8:45, but David couldn’t pick me up then because it would in the middle of dinner. I gave the phone to my papa because David couldn’t really understand me because of my voice, and him and zeev talked to him. Zeev’s wife then heats up brisket and potatoes for me—THEY ARE SO GOOD. She also makes me tea for my throat and she put honey and lemon in it, I have never liked tea so much! She made me some more and put it in a thermos so I can constantly be drinking it. It was so nice to be mommyed! After Zeev and papa tell me the new plan (me staying with zeev for the night and having david call me at 9:30am tomorrow to talk and come pick me up), I then take a nap for a couple of hours. I wake up from coughing and hear that someone is watching Hannah Montana upstairs! I go up to see who it is and it is Zeev’s 15 year old grandson. I grab some tea and then get ready for dinner. Once again, it was really nice to take a shower in a clean bathroom! I watch tv with their grandson for a few minutes, and then Zeev’s wife takes us to dinner (because my papa was with zeev somewhere).

Dinner was really, really good. I got salmon and i am a picky person when it comes to salmon, but it was perfect and delicious! I had a little bit of wine (because I can!). After dinner I went with Zeev to go take my papa to the airport. I said bye to papa and took a picture with him…it will be uploaded soonish. I was so happy I got to see him and it seems like I haven’t seen him in way more than a month, so im starting to think that I will be excited to see my mom and bubbe! Hopefully he will be able to come back out to visit meeee. In the car ride back, on the radio, they talked about Gilad Shalit and how Hamas was celebrating that they captured him and the leader of hamas was saying that they will keep on doing this until they get everyone of their men out of jail. Disgusting. Zeev and I talked about this for a little and made good points against releasing murderers so gilad will be set free. Of course he wants gilad home, but if Israel gives in, then hamas will see that what they did did work and they will capture more and more soldiers. It is such a difficult issue and it is too difficult for me to have my own opinion.

When I got back from the airport, I grabbed tea and went downstairs (where I am sleeping). Since there is a password needed to use their internet and I was too tired to go ask them for it, I have been catching up on my blog. I cant decide if I should read or watch part of “PS I love you” I think im just going to watch the movie. I am going to set my alarm for 9 and maybe ill read then for a little. Hopefully my voice will begin to get better so David will be able to understand me. I also hope everything will work out. I am happy that I am comfortable around Zeev and his wife and they already told me that if it is too complicated to meet up with David, they can easily take me to bat yam. I just need my voice to get better so David can understand me!! Oh- papa brought up that I should get the flu shot…Ill call my madrich on Sunday.

Omg the alarm just went off right when I got off from my bed. Zeev told me what areas to stay away from and I wasn’t near them! Luckily it went off after about 5 seconds, but then there was a phone call—was it from the police? I don’t even understand! I want to leave my room to go tell them but I don’t want to move! Maybe it wasn’t me who set it off? Hopefully they will believe me. Should I go upstairs or just stay down here? I don’t want them to think I am lying, which I probably would if I knew I set it off, but I really didn’t!

Note to self: money