SATURDAY AND SUNDAY:

On Saturday I woke up at like 2 and just enjoyed Shabbat. I hung out with friends and read. For dinner i went with rach to her family friends house (she has never met them, but rachel's family is friends with the mom's sister). They have 2 kids. One is 20, hes in the army and picked us up and the other one is a girl who is a year younger than us. The girl knew some of the brits on our program, because she worked at a camp with them! The mom is american and the dad is israeli, but he speaks english really well. Dinner was really nice and so good. For dessert rach and i helped the dad cut up/pick out pomegranate. it wasnt too hard! After talking and laughing, the dad drove us home. I was so tired and didnt get to bed too late. I woke up though 2 times, forcing myself out of bed to a toilet because i thought i was going to puke. Luckily i ended up not puking. When I woke up to go to volunteering i felt really sick, my throat hurt (not killing--like it was when i had strep). I forced myself out of bed though because it was my last sunday going to the school! Volunteering went pretty well, we all hung out with our friends and it was funny because we all talked about our nights and how we saw each other in town.

After volunteering I ate lunch and then went to my optional classes. In between them i took a 10 minute nap and then i went to my Holocaust Films teachers house (3 minute walk) for our last class. We had a lot of munchies and he got us pizza. yum! For our final movie (which we are doing a final review on for our final) was "The Devil's Arithmetic." I was so excited because i wanted to see that movie. It was decent. I then went back to the apartment, had an apartment meeting, and then went back to his house to watch the extra credit movie. There was only 4 of us who could make it. I freaked out after watching the first minute of the movie...it was "The Unborn." I started to walk out, but then decided that it will be good for me to see a scary movie and talk through all of the bad things about it. I had to cover my eyes for some parts and controlled my screaming pretty well. When i got home i went to bed soonish after.

FRIDAY

Yesterday I woke up at 10ish, but didnt get out of bed until much later. Rach and I went to the old city to the Davidson Center. But before we did that, we walked through mamila mall, slowly. While walking we saw a boy on the shoulders of a guy carrying a huge gun on his back. It was such a good picture, but by the time we got our cameras out, people were in the way. We then got a bagel and ate that right by the manorah with the great view. There were a lot of tours going on. I felt so cool that i am not a tourist!! finally! So, eventually we made it to where we wanted to go. Because we were students, it only cost us 16 sheks. We saw tourists go in (from america) so we sat down and listened to what the tour guide said. It was interesting. Ive been there before, but one thing i learned was that the Temple was constantly being fixed up. I learned some other things too...Rach and i didnt have time to follow with them because the buses stopped at 3:30 because of shabbat, so we walked around on our own.

We walked all around and saw some great views. We went to the entrance of the Temple...but before that a family asked if we spoke english and then asked us if we knew where the steps to the Temple were. This was before we saw the steps so i told them where i thought it was, but told them to go ask someone else. They still decided to listen to me, and i was right! yay! rach and i were cracking up that they thought we seemed israeli! We looked like we were sem girls because we wore skirts. After wandering around and getting kicked out of the building where the movie is played, we went to the kotel "just to say hi" (as rach says). We then got on a bus and i saw that the bus driver from another bus was wearing tefillan!!!!! Once again, i didnt get my camera out quick enough. We also saw kids on a donkey walking on the sidewalk. When we got home after buying wine for shabbat (we are going to her family friends house tomorrow--she hasnt met them before) we ate a little and then i watched the rest of new moon. I then took a nice nap and just chilled. Some of us played apples to apples and then boaz and a couple of his friends came over, so we all just hung out.

THURSDAY:

Yesterday I went to volunteering a little late, but it didnt matter. When we got off the bus and started to walk, i felt that my back leg was wet. I just ignored it, but then i could really feel it. I didnt pee my pants, so i was wondering what was going on! It was a little wet, but i just kept on walking where i felt it get more and more wet. wtf! I stopped ashley and it took us about 2 minutes (that is a long time) to figure out that maybe my water bottle in my bag was opened. we are so smart. Everything in my bag was soaked...including my notebooks for ulpan (ugh i hate how the pages have that feeling after they are dry after being drenched!). More importantly, my phone that doesnt shut all the way got soaked...water poured out of it. yay. I let it air dry, but my phone still didnt work. We just went for 1 class and then left early because Pamela didnt have anything for us to do. When I came home I was planning on taking a nap, but i decided to study for my ulpan test. This was after katie put my cell phone pieces (i took apart my phone) into rice. I was supposed to let it sit in rice for 4 hours to let the rice absorb the water. I was nervous for my ulpan test! I then went to lunch and learn, where we got sorbet! I then had my ulpan test...it was so easy!! I was happy because i didnt need to know certain vocab words, like specific veggies or something. After the test (which is also a placement test), we could just go!

When I came back to the apartment, me and some others started to prepare for our thanksgiving feast! I made a salad and i even cut up a mango!! I also MADE whipped cream! I then took a nap for about 10 minutes, and then went to my genesis parables class. We watched the movie "red," it's a french film. It was pretty good. After class i talked to my teacher about an idea of mine i have for my paper. The good thing, but also annoying thing is that he wont say if it is a good thing to write on...he will say if it will be too difficult or not good. i kept on changing my mind while he talked to me. So i think what i am going to write my final paper on is the 3rd interpretation of the bible (more specifically some genesis stories. This 3rd interpretation is taking into account the literal and the figurative when reading.

After class, i worked on trying to put my phone back together and tried to see if i lost all my numbers, etc. katie helped me and i borrowed julia's phone to see what was broken. My battery doesnt work and neither does my phone. I called the company, but just told them that the phone had completely fallen apart. I am getting a new one on sunday. I didnt mention any water damage, so hopefully they wont check so i get the new phone for free. Im not too concerned about the numbers because rach and i have most of the same contacts and i have facebook to ask for the others for theirs!

Around 8ish we had our thanksgiving feast (with chicken instead of turkey). There were a little more than 10 of us. maybe around 15? The food was so so so good. I was stuffed and since i didnt really help set up, i washed all of the pots and dishes (we used plastic to eat on). But this was after I was in the kitchen with katie eating all of top part of the brownies that were burnt. We both got chocolate all over each other. hahahaha. While i was washing the dishes everyone had desert...such a bummer but i was wayyy too stuffed! I then video chatted with my fam and saw the pooch (actually this was before dinner, but whatevs). I also video chatted with the freedmans, bubbe and papa, some other family and ariella lis?! i was so surprised to see her! hahaah. hopefully she survived the "dinner" :) I put dinner in quotations because they had dinner around 3:30ish. ha!

Then i started to watch some of new moon online (illegal..what?!) A couple of us then forced ourselves to get dressed to go out. None of us dressed up. I just wore clear mascara. We didnt really drink, we just went to this bar that was a dancing bar and just danced like psychos haha. It is so funny how israeli guys dance with each other. weirddddd. On the bus home i saw a couple of students from Makif Gilo! Not all of them saw me, though. I saw a couple of them on ben yehuda though. Ugh, it was so gross that night. A lot of fights that people would sprint to because "THEY ARE AWESOME. THIS IS THE REASON I CAME HERE TONIGHT." disgusting! Right before we left the bar/club there was something really bad in the air making us all smoke. When we got home we found out that it came from outside of the bar and it burned some of my roommates eyes. oy. none of us were really sure what it was. sketchy though. Oh, i also read that a terrorist tried to get into israel, but the IDF stopped him...he ran away though leaving a bomb that weighed about 30 something pounds.

WEDNESDAY:

Yesterday during volunteering, during a break, ashley and i hung out with friends and so many of them were smoking! It was so weird how so many high schoolers smoke...more importantly, ON CAMPUS! Even though I have been around if for months, it still weirds me out. After volunteering, Katie made me a really pretty lunch. Rach and i were planning on going to a park to study for ulpan, but she needed to work on a project and it looked like it was going to rain. I decided to take a "nap," which ended up being over 2 hours!! I passed out! When I forced myself out of bed, I helped Katie make dinner. Then at 6:30 we had a shevet program. It was about religious gays. First, we watched a short film, which ended up showing that a homosexual can still be religious. Then one of our art teachers came with his husband and they both spoke to us about how they deal with it, even though it says in the Torah that a man cannot lie with another man. Also, if i heard them correctly, their marriage was the first legalized homosexual marriage in Jerusalem (maybe israel?!) They talked about how some synagogues are open to them, while others are not. They also told us how some synagogues offer for them to sit separately (because there usually is a michitzah between married couples). I think everyone really enjoyed it and the funny part was that everyone was so quiet and werent whispering to themselves (even the brits!). Shocker, i know.

After z'man shevet, Katie and I ran to the grocery store and bought some things we still needed to get for our thanksgiving feast. The cashier we usually talk to wasnt there, so instead we talked with another cashier. new friend (even though he said my ENTIRE name outloud...yes, including my middle name)! haha. We then went to another grocery store because the one we go to didnt have everything we needed. While we were there we took many samples of things (dates (SO GOOD!), dried apricot, bread). Then when we were going to the meat section to ask if they sold turkey, a guy in line has his butt crack sticking out!! Katie and i couldnt control ourselves and couldnt help but look, which made it more funny. I kept on wanting to walk by him and say under my breath "butt crack." Eventually we contained ourselves and we found out that they dont sell whole turkeys. basa. When we went to pay we started to talk to our cashier and he ended up hitting on Katie. hahahaha "She is nervous when she speaks hebrew, but it is cute."

When we came back we heated ourselves up dinner. Eventually i forced myself to get moving. I showered and then helped Katie make a cake for her last day at the zoo. We wrote "zoo friends" in hebrew on the katie with chocolate chips. I studied for ulpan a little and then was probably sleeping before 1.

i havent been in the mood to blog...

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY:

We got to sleep in, and since i had a late night, I didnt get out of bed until 1. I then had to quickly get ready because the bus left to go to efrat. This is in the west bank and i was only about a 30 minute bus ride. We had a guard on the bullet proof bus. When we got there, we were at a synogoge and someone drove rach and me to our family (2 people per family). We were fortunate and ended up being with such a nice family. Their home was very nice and they had 6 children, their youngest was mine and rachel's age. Only 2 of their kids were there for shabbat. The father was born in israel, but his parents were from Iran. The mom was from England, but made aliyah when she was young. We didnt hang out with them too much, only for meals. For the majority of shabbas, we were at the shul hanging out with each other. Some people didnt get put with the best families and the families were a bit racist. I really liked the place, i thought it was going to be really religious, but most of the people were modern orthodox. On friday night, on the street was where all of the teens hung out and there was a stand handing out popcorn and candy...it was so cute!

SUNDAY:

I went to volunteering and after that Gabi and i didnt go to our optional classes to do our project for Holocaust film. We had to review two movies, but usually people just have to do one. We thought we did an okay job, until we presented. I realize now that he cares more about our opinion and review on the movie based on all of the information we found, rather than just saying the information without an opinion. After we presented, we watched the movie "God on Trial," which was pretty interesting. I then had this AJU (American Jewish University) thing that all north americans went to. It was basically telling us some things about AJU, in case we were interested in going. They gave us free pizza. yay! After that i worked on hebrew for a little, ran with katie and then hung out with boaz because he was going back to the army the next day.

MONDAY:

Yesterday I went to volunteering. I then came home and worked on our hebrew script with gabi. Hebrew class went pretty well, and after hebrew Gabi and i did our script. Our teacher thought we did really good. woo hoo! i then took a nap and woke up for genesis parables. After class i read for a little and then a couple of us went to the begin heritage center where there would be a Q and A session we could go to for free. The British ambassador was there and there were 3 israeli brits..i think? and although we werent british, it was interesting to learn and hear the british perspective. Many questions dealing with gilo and iran were asked. One thing i found very, very interesting was the reason behind newspapers' headlines being "Israel killed 2" or "2 Israelis killed" and never saying the other side who killed those israelis (palestinians). The reason is that the newspaper headline can only have 33 characters, and palestinians would use up too many of them. so crazy. After the q and a session and taking all of the left over food (hahahaha) we went back to our apartment and just hung out for the rest of the night.

TUESDAY:

Today i got to sleep in because we didnt have anything until 1:45 (the siyyur was going to the hadassah hospital). I forced myself out of bed at 11:30, i got like 10 hours of sleep, but was still exhausted. Then i met up with rach and britty in mamila and i got breakfast/lunch at aroma. We then had to wait a long time for one of our buses (we had to take 2) because we were going to meet everyone else at the hospital. We ended up being pretty late and missed some of a lecture. oops! We didnt get in trouble. The lecture was interesting because it was a doctor who was telling us all of these lies the media says. For example, one time it said that 40 Palestinians were killed and 40 more were injured and all of the media used the same picture. If that really occurred, than there would be way more than 1 picture. We then got asked how come we dont want to donate our time and money to hadassah, which just made everyone frustrated. I was just annoyed because i was tired. We then got a small tour of part of the hospital. We got to go into the emergency room (i forgot it's real name) that is also used as a shelter against nuclear (and stuff like that) power. The walls are extremely thick and below the floor we stand on is 3 feet of sand, and then the ground. This is in case there is an explosive below the building. People are brought into this room if they need reviving after a car accident, or terrorist attack.

After we left it took about an hour to get back to our apartment. I made myself a grilled cheese, than watched a Holocaust movie called "The Grey Zone." I got it from my teacher because i missed class a couple of weeks ago to be with mom and bubbe. I didnt have to watch it, but I asked him for it. It was a really powerful movie. It was weird because it was produced by Americans, but didnt come out in America until a year after it came out in israel. It was in the perspective of the Jews who had to lock people into the gas chambers and burn their bodies. It also was about the women and men who bombed 2 gas chambers in berkinau. It wasnt focused on that as much, and some of the things werent fact. It was interesting because I heard the true story when i was in the women's barrack in berkinau. After the movie I hung around the apartment and didnt go to bed too late.

Yesterday I didnt have to go to volunteering! I was supposed to wake up at 9:30 so Gabi and i could finish our hebrew script and work on our analyzation of 2 Holocaust films. I didnt get up until 10:30ish, because i didnt hear my alarm. We then worked on the script and when she went out for brunch, i stayed and had chicken soup. I then hung out for a little before I had lunch and learn. I made a small sandwich and munched on pretzels, even though i wasnt hungry. I forget at the moment what we learned about...we read some of the parsha though. After lunch and learn i was late for ulpan, but when i was walking there, everyone was leaving. She hadnt showed up! I was so happy because then gabi and i could do our film project! We had everything set up and even made popcorn. Then a kid from our class comes to tell us that she is there and she told him to go get everyone. Hebrew class wasnt too bad. One thing we learned was family members. easy schmeezy! We also learned colors. I read for a little in between classes (im starting to read "eat peace love") and our teacher for genesis parables was also late. We learned about Jacob and the being he fought with. We know that it's not an angel, because when the Torah talks about angels, they are called melach (messengers). Another interesting thing we learned was that when Jacob's name is changed to Israel, unlike all the other characters in the bible, the Torah still sometimes calls him Jacob. This is symbolic that he sometimes goes back to his old ways (heel, sneak) rather than Israel (fighter).

After class, we made dinner--i didnt help. We had spaghetti and meatballs. Then Gabi and i planned on working on our project...that didnt happen! haha. We have time to do it though--our class isnt until 4:15 on sunday and so we can do it saturday night or even sunday after volunteering. Gabi then straightened my hair and i hung out with a friend... :)

Today I got to sleep in and didnt have to wake up until 8:45! Everyone at Makif Gilo is in eilat for a 3 day trip, except for the 7th graders. Pamela called me to let us know that we didnt need to get to school until 10 to 10. We got there a little after 10 and it was so weird how dead the school was. When we went into the staff room, it was so quiet, but pamela was there on the computer...she told us we were early. I guess I misunderstood her and we didnt need to be there until 10 to ELEVEN. ugh! Ashley and I got tea and she read while i closed my eyes and listened to my iPod. I played solitaire on the ipod and i won, for my second time! woo hoo! We went to 2 classes and the kids were HORRIBLE. We took 2 girls out for the first period and they were fine, but when we took them back to class early, there was a huge mob of 7th graders yelling right outside pamela's room to test her. They were banging on the door and singing really loudly. Ashley and i were shocked at how rude they were! The next period we had some of the kids we were yelling at to be quiet from the last period. They kept on singing, so eventually we just gave in and stopped doing work with them. We played a game on the whiteboard for a little.

Ashley and I were so excited to leave. It was so cold out, but the bus didnt take too long to come. When I got back to the apartment I wanted falafel, but no one was home, so i called james and asked him. He told me to go up to his apartment, but then after talking to some people for a little, he only had 20 minutes before his british class and i wanted to go to the farther place, so i just went alone. It was nice. There was a long line for the falafel, but everyone was mostly wanted shwarma, so when the guy asked (in hebrew) who wants falafel, i got to basically cut everyone. I ordered it ALL in hebrew (falafel in half a pita with only hummus and french fries)!!!! yayyyyyy :) I then found a park bench and ate there.

When i got back to the apartment i looked up israel news and found out that a big scandal is israel building more and more apartments in gilo--that's where i volunteer! It is so weird that i am volunteering at the place where the world is telling israel to stop building. I then was just on my computer for a little and at 4:15 I left to go to the seminary nishmat (that's where kendall goes!) We got there early, so after a little bit of waiting, we got a tour and then snacks. We then sat down on the floor and just hung out until the class was. The class was long and it was warm, so my eyes got so tired. Their beit midrash was big, and i liked it. We talked about why Jacob is called truth, when some of the things he does does not seem truthful. We find out that he is like the sun, and the sun always shows truth. We also analyzed how some of the hebrew is. For example, the sun didnt set and the jacob went to bed (when he then had his dream about angels going up and down a ladder), but the sunlight was distinguished--God did it. Why? When it is dark, one can have intimate conversations and God wanted to talk to Jacob. Oh, i forgot to mention that i saw kendall for a second! She was busy though.

We then walked back to our apartment...nishmat is on the opposite side of talpiyot. When we got back to the apartment we had chicken soup, which was so good. I then just chilled for a little and this kid rach and i met on march of the living who was on yc and was at the hostel (because we stayed at the yj hostel) is joining the army. He was around so he stopped by to chill. Our room became a party room and i didnt get to sleep past 12:45.

Yesterday we had to be ready by 8 to go to Tiberias. I was supposed to be doing watersports in the kinneret, but they changed it because of the weather. Instead we visited an old kibbutz on the kinneret (the famous poet rachel lived there), visited Rambam's grave, and then went to a spa that had pools with water from the hot springs. We all thought we were going to the actually hot springs...It was okay, but not so fun. I sat next to gabi on the bus and we worked on our script for a little. It was so nice to listen to my ipod and just sleep/relax.

We got back to the apartment around 7:30ish. I didnt take my phone with me and got a missed call from Pamela saying that we should come in tomorrow, but we probably wont need to come in on thursday. This is because the 11th and 12th graders took trips to eilat for 3 days. Our friends really wanted Ashley and me to go with them, but obviously we couldnt. I then had a small dinner and then Katie and rachel walked me to the movie theatre in talpiot so i could meet up with a friend and see a movie with him. We ended up seeing "Lebanon" and it was good, but me and him were a little bit confused by the ending. After the movie, rach and katie picked me up and we walked back in the rain. He had a car and offered to drive us, but then we realized that he can only take 2 people because of the law. oh well. We had a nice walk home and we hung out for a little when i got back. I then chatted it up with sarah and steph and also briefly talked to lori on facebook. Lori and i have a skype date for tomorrow at midnight my time. eeek im so excited :)

MONDAY

Luckily some teachers needed us for 5th hour, so we got to come in late, so we can stay later. I woke up so cozy in my sleeping bag and it was sooo hard to get out of bed! At volunteering we helped some teachers. In one class, the kids were really bad and I sat next to this boy. I felt bad that i wasnt controlling him, but he was so hard to control. He wouldnt listen to me! I dont think the teacher was too annoyed with me because she has a difficult time controlling him/the class herself! Ashley and I were both happy when she asked to even come to her class. For the next 2 periods, Ashley was in one class, while i was in a 9th grade class helping a teacher give a test. This class is a bad class, but they actually listened to me. I practiced my hebrew while trying to help them. woo hoo!

After volunteering, I came back and had some soup. I then took a 10 minute nap before hebrew. Hebrew class went really well. I understood what we were doing and when we read a long passage together, i understood most of it and was able to answer our teacher's questions!! For our final, we have to be in partners and have a dialogue. The script is due thursday so she can check it, and then we do it in front of her on monday. She said we can have the script with us, but we should have it pretty much memorized. I'm doing it with Gabi. After class I napped for 20 minutes until my other class. It was really hard for me to focus in that class on monday for some reason. After class I came back and rested for a little. I was exhausted. I then watched some of garden state, had dinner, and finished garden state. I was in bed by 11ish, but it took me some time to fall asleep.

Yesterday I woke up cold and tired. I forced myself out of bed and then when we got to volunteering a took a small nap. We then went to namah's class and graded some tests for her. One of the boys is so cocky and keeps on complementing Ashley and me...we arent into 11th graders!!!!! We then hang out with our friends outside during a break and we talk about how we have to leave in a couple of weeks. They all wanted us to stay and then said that we have to go out with them for a goodbye party. yay! Ashley and I want to go out/meet up with them one night. When we got on the bus some of our friends were on the bus so we talked with them. They showed us where they live and one of them told me he HAD to take me to the best place to get hummus! yummm!!!

When I got back to the apartment i hung out with james for a little and then went to my optional class, but the teacher never showed up, so i went back to my room and took a little nap. I then forced myself out of bed for my 4:15 class which is the holocaust film one. Our teacher wasnt there, but another guy was and he showed us 2 movies. One was called "Conspiracy" and it was really boring...so many people were sleeping. Some parts of the movie were interesting, but an interesting fact is that the movie had no soundtrack. We then watched a movie that was shorter than an hour long. Everyone in the class who was there today had already done a review besides gabi and me, so now we are going to do a review on both of them. ugh. I guess that it is good that im getting it over with. After class I had an apartment meeting that was a little tense because people were frustrated that only some people clean, etc. I then went online and after talking to sarah and steph, I started talking to Noah, Steph, and Soph! hahaha. I video chatted with elana for a little. I then got ready to go run, but waited until after dinner. I ran with james and i didnt wait long enough to have the food digest. I felt sickkk. I then cooled off in the hangout room with Katie and we told each other about our saturday nights.

At one point we started to crack up and we actually couldnt breathe. Our stomachs were hurting so much. I almost peed my pants and then after I peed (while laughing on the toilet) I open the door and Katie scares me, making us fall to the ground once again gasping for breath. We then hung out for a little more and then before i knew it it was 12! ah! So i showered and went to bed after talking to some poeple online for a little.

Yesterday I woke up at 12, but didnt get out of bed until 1ish. Rach and I werent sure when the shabbas lunch we were going to was going to be at, so we brought over our food and they told us when we got there that it would be at 2. When we got back to the apartment we watched some of "Pursuit of Happyness" and then we stopped it to go to lunch. Rach and I were the only americans! It was a really nice, funny lunch. After lunch and dessert some of us played the israeli version of uno...it's called taki (i think?). Then rach and i came back to our apartment and finished the movie. Shabbas was over at like 4 something--so early! I keep on forgetting that it is almost winter because im in israel. I then showered and when rach went out to dinner with her aunt I cleaned up our room (before rach left, she cleaned up her shelves). Rach and I then decide to go to ben yehuda to meet up with some people, so we do and have a fun/funny/interesting night. I didnt get to bed until 4ish....

Today I woke up at 12 and showered, ate yogurt, and went with rach to go buy stuff for the salads we were going to make for shabbas dinner. When we got there it was starting to close and they had already put away most of the fruit...we wanted to make a fruit salad! We grabbed some fruit and bought some canned pineapples..yuck! We looked for our friend, but unfortunately he wasnt there. We carried the food back and put it away. We then cleaned up the apartment a little and then we started to make our salads. Our real salads were really pretty, but the fruit salad was one similar color and just ugly! After we finally finished making all of the salad, we had cereal for lunch (a late lunch). We then took a long nap and got up at 7:15ish. We changed into shabbas clothes and went to the apartment where we were eating dinner. There was only 1 other american besides rach and me. There were about 10 or more brits. Dinner was so so so good and I was stuffed. After dinner we all just played different card games. I was exhausted and was pretty quiet (mostly because i just woke up from a long nap).

At 11:30ish rach and i came back to our apartment. I was planning on blogging and then watching a movie with rach, but then so many people were online and they were all people i needed to talk to. I talked to sarah and she updated me on her crazy college life! hahaha. I talked to michelle, rachel weinstein, noah, sophie, steph, and a couple of other people instant message me. gahh! It is so hard because it was so late, but i needed to talk to everyone. But when i was able to talk to someone, they could no longer talk to me. ahh! I talked to mom for about 2 secs about oded. I then caught up on my blog so now it is 3am, but i have finally updated my blog. woo hoo!

TUESDAY

My mom woke me up around 8:30ish asking if I wanted to go walk with her, bubbe, and her friends. Last night I was planning on it, but I was just too tired. I slept in until 10ish and watched some more of “Sex and the City.” Then my mom came back with Shlomo so I got dressed and then all 4 of us went out to the same place where we have gone every day for breakfast. We had the same waitress…so embarrassing! We took some pictures and this one group of Israeli bikers (motorcycles) were looking and laughing at us. The waitresses also laughed at us because we were probably annoying them. Oh well. Shlomo had to go, but then Bubbe’s friend came. She was really nice and told me to call her if I had any problem. It is so nice how open everyone is. She also gave me her daughter’s number and told me to call her and go out for coffee with her (because she lives in Jerusalem). I then went back to the apartment with Bubbe because my mom forgot that she left her charge card in the apartment. Ill just say that Bubbe was funny, rather than giving details because I forgot to mention that the other night my mom informed me that it isnt just a couple of people that read my blog…her friends and my rabbis read this every now and then. I don’t even proof read what I write! Oy!
When Bubbe walked back to my mom and Tzippi, I went for a walk/jog. I brought my iPod and it was pretty nice. I didn’t go for long, but ran along the water and it was so pretty. When I got back to the apartment I listened to some music and finshed watching “Sex and the City.” Tami came over after a little with her son and brought with her pita and falafel! So good. Before we ate, we watched the sunset...it was so pretty!!! Then Zev and Batya stopped by and after talking with them for a little, I began to pack up. When we all finished packing up, we watched tv in the tv room...instead of bubbe's room. We watched one of my fav movies--Becoming Jane!!! Right when it finished, David came with his girlfriend. We then said bye to the apartment and took our bags into David's car. We had dinner at the place Bubbe loves to eat at. After dinner David drove me to the train/bus station (I TOOK THE BUS, NOT THE TRAIN. THERE IS A BUS STOP AT THE TRAIN STATION! is that clear enough, Bubbe?! hahahha). It was weird saying bye to mom and bubbe. I wasnt too upset, but it was weird that I might see them in april. But, that is only my mom, not bubbe. Once I got home, I hung out with roommates and didnt get to bed too late.

WEDNESDAY

I got to sleep in a bit and got to the school at 9ish. We got lucky and found out that the bus comes at 8:48ish, and it's fine if we are late. During the long break we hung out with some of our new senior friends. For the last 2 hours we sat on a bench, surrounded my israelis who didnt feel like going to class or got kicked out of their class. We were supposed to be out there to read passages or questions to students who were taking a practice bagrut test. I tried my hardest to read it slowly and enunciate. Pamela let us go early and when I got home I went with Katie and a few others to go grocery shopping. On the way I got an ice cream...so good. We ended up seeing the same guy that checked us out the last time we were here, so we went into his line. Of course we were behind someone who had a lot of things..we could have easily gone into another line that would have been much quicker, but we wanted to see our friend! haha. When he saw us he didnt recognize us, but then remembered that we had the weird credit card. He was really friendly and was asking us about our program, etc. When we told him we were leaving soon he told us that we would have to come back to visit him. hahaha. Then arab teens (around our age or older) that work at the grocery store started to talk to us. They were practicing their english. Because our card is weird, they make us write down our number. So while i was writing down my number the arab was reading it and then joking around with his friend and me by repeating some of my number. After I walked out he said the first couple of numbers and we all started to crack up. Dont worry-i didnt get a call from him.

When we came back and unpacked the groceries, i went back with rachel so we could buy our own yogurt and for me, ice cream. We were looking for our guy, but he wasnt there, so a different guy checked us out. While I was paying, our friend came over and spoke to us a little about why we didnt go to him! After finally getting back to our apartment I had some lunch and then i went with Katie and Rachel to the shuk and we went to ben yehuda. It was nice to go to the shuk after not being there for so long. A guy was trying to sell us his clementines and saying how beautiful it was. katie at first thought she was talking about him and got so pissed off! hahahaha. We also looked for some skirts and rachel and katie bought stretchy ones.

We rushed home and cut up veggies to have with hummus as part of our dinner. We had schnitzel, but needed to go on a bus to go to a seminary as part of shevet, so we took the schnitzel to go. I napped on the bus and listened to music. I think we were right outside of jerusalem and we learned with a rabbi who was nice and some students. For some reason Katie and i were in a weird mood and it was so hard for us to control ourselves. We were just cracking up all the time. We discussed vegetarianism and one thing i learned was the reason why God allowed us to eat animals after the flood was because it would show us that we are not animals and shouldnt act like them. Before the flood, people acted like animals and even married animals! When we got the Torah, we got restrictions on what animals we can and cannot eat. The reason for this is to start the process of us not eating meat. When the messiah comes, we will all become vegetarians because we will no longer need the reminder.

When we left the seminary, we didnt have a coach and had to go to the bus stop. It was so cold out and I was not dressed right! It is warm in the day, but gets so so so cold as soon as the sun goes down. We finally got a bus and we were right passed the central bus station. When we got home, even though we were exhausted, we decided to go to ben yehuda for a little. It was nice to finally go out and when we got back britty and i couldnt resist but watch gossip girl. It was unbelievable! I was in bed by 1ish, which isnt bad at all.

THURSDAY

Ashley and I decided to go in late, because we wanted to sleep in. Pamela ended up having no idea or she just didnt say anything. We went to Namah's classes and she was giving a test. We would walk around and try to help them because the test was really hard. In between classes, we hung out with our friends, but now more and more people talk to us. Ashley and I dont want to leave them! During the next class we graded the tests while the other class was taking it. I felt so weird grading! I feel like teachers have a certain handwriting and do checks a certain way. I think my grading looked like it could be a teachers! haha. We got to leave early and when we were leaving students outside called us over and asked if we wanted to smoke. Ashley and I are still taken aback about how here it is normal for babies to smoke. When we got back to the apartment I took a 20 minute nap and then went to lunch and learn. I made a good sandwich and we discussed the significance that Rebekah was asked if she wanted to marry Isaac and she said okay without even meeting him. I felt bad, but we were all distracted by the food (there were chips!) and katie made earrings out of pretzels that made me not able to breathe. I had to switch seats with moran because i just could not look at katie without cracking up. She is so funny!!!!

After lunch and learn we didnt have any classes! It was so nice. Instead we had this auction thing at 3ish for charity. I brought tzedukah and we tried to vote on where it would go and im not sure which one is going to. The auction was really unorganized and people wouldnt shut up or bid, so it went really slow. After about an hour and a half we all just left and it ended. I didnt bid for anything, but just gave my tzedukah to someone who was running it. Rach and I then took a nap and forced ourselves to go running. It was cold and I didnt want to get out of bed, but i did. Rach and I ran with Katie 2 times around the block. It was a good run. When we got back I showered and then had dinner. After dinner we got dressed to go to an art show of a teacher of ours (he's not my teacher though). I was a little dehydrated so i didnt have a lot of energy, but it was nice. After looking at the paintings we sat outside and listened to the typical art show music. We talked with this guy for most of the night who had a big personality, but was an interesting, funny guy. I was really cold, so walked quickly back to the apartment. We then changed clothes to go out and went to ben yehuda.

It was a fun night and I ended up bumping into my security guard from the 2005 family mission! I was saying to friends at a bar and sitting at the table next to them was him! I waved and at first we didnt remember me, but then he did. We exchanged numbers and he told me to call him if i need anything. so nice! We talked for a little (told him that mom and bubbe were just here) and then i left. I walked back down there later that night and then he called my name and followed me. After getting out of the crowd we started to talk and he asked how everyone was. I told him how im going to be rooming with ellie next year and he was saying how he needs to go back and visit michigan again. He told me that he just became friends with uncle jack on facebook. it was so funny that i saw him!!

Katie, Gabi, and i decided to not take the last bus so we could walk home. While we were walking, Gabi realized she didnt have her bus pass or her license. She was sure that the last time she saw it was at the pizza place we were at right before we left. We walked all the way back and on the way would go up to people and ask if they had seen her id. Some were sleezy, drunk guys. Looking back, although we were desperate, it probably was stupid to ask these men. When we got to the pizza place it was closed and they wouldnt open the door and listen to us. Finally they did, but they kept on saying that they dont have anymore pizza. WE DONT WANT PIZZA! we kept on saying that so many times. They quickly said that they didnt find anything and shut the door on us. We decided to look around the bar she was at. Everything was closed and it was so weird to see ben yehuda/crack square like that. Broken glass was everywhere. We then went back to the pizza place and Katie goes through the garbage, but no luck.

Someone told us to go to the police and say it was stolen, so we just decide to go. We ask people and at one point i see soldiers so i walk up to them and ask them where it is. They were standing next to a police car and said that they were the police. they thought i was an idiot. They told us where the office was, so we walked there. just an fyi- he told me the directions in hebrew and i understood. check me out!!!! We finally find it and after getting made fun of the police and i think people being prosecuted, we leave. (note to self: Katie asking "who works here?") They told us to come back in the morning and then another guy told us to go to a different police station later in the morning. They kept on telling us to go to sleep, they probably thought we were drunk. We then walk all the way back and none of us are wearing good shoes and i gave michal my jacket so i was just wearing a sweater and a scarf. We were all exhausted and cold. On the way home the sun rose and we kept on making jokes about how we need our sunglasses. Gabi also stepped on a snail! We all were cracking up out of exhaustion. The buses started to run and we were walking with people who were walking their dogs or just exercising. I dont think you realize how late/early we were out until. We could have taken a taxi but just really didnt feel like spending money. We didnt get back until 7am. Katie set her alarm for that time to get up because her and julia were going away for the weekend. Luckily i chose to stay here. first all nighter! what what! (even though i went straight to bed)

note to self: fgtf! hahahaha

I havent had a good internet connection so i have been writing my blog as a word document...now in between paragraphs there are spaces and i dont know how to not have them. so annoying.

SATURDAY

On Saturday I slept in until 1! My mom finally woke me up. I was planning on laying out, but once I had my bathing suit on, David Levy came over. We all sat around catching up and Lisa (my mom’s friend) was there, too. After the quick visit, I decided to lay down outside on a couch and listen to my iPod. I dozed and when I woke up, it was dark outside. My mom’s friend Tami (also Gina’s cousin) was there. She made us blintzeem, which were so good. My mom was in touch with Lisa (because Lisa’s kids were planning on going to the Yitzhak Rabin memorial) and Lisa said that her husband and kids could pick me up to go around 6:30ish. I quickly showered and got dressed. We said bye to Tami and then I left to go to the memorial. We had to park far enough away from the crazy traffic and road blockings. It was about a 20 minute walk to the square from the car. I wore my boots and a sweater, thinking it would be chilly. I was wrong. I was pretty hot, especially because of the walking.

When I got to the square I called my friends from home and I met up with Nathan and Erez. We hung out and bought water/ice cream. A girl came up to me while we were at the store and she asked me in Hebrew if I was 18. When I told her yes, she handed me 50 sheks and I think she wanted me to buy her and her friends alcohol…um no! Nathan, Erez, and I then went to a quieter street so we could sit and catch up. It was nice to hang out with friends from home. We headed back when Britty and Katie called saying they were almost there. After some searching, I found them. Katie and I then went with Erez into the crowd, while Britty stayed back. We saw Erez’s brother, who made aliyah, and he was translated for some people. We listened (haha Katie was standing behind him so closely!). I felt bad that the memorial was more of a social event, rather than being there for Rabin. I know it is not a good excuse, but I had no clue who was speaking and what they were saying. Lisa’s husband, Yuval, told me that Shimon Perez was there, but not Bibi. The reason for this was because Bibi was against and didn’t agree with Rabin’s opinions about the peace agreements. Obama had a clip. All of the American’s were quiet for that, because we could understand it! None of us were too satisfied with what he said. He talked about America always having Israel’s back, which isnt always the case. Of course at the end of his blip, he said “shalom.” Towards the end of the ceremony, some people sang. One was Hadag Nachash who sang Shirat haSticker. It is a rap song that basically talks about political stickers. All of us knew the song. Another woman sang, singing a song about peace. The lyrics to her song were found in Rabin’s suit pocket the day he got assassinated. Yuval later told me that she sings on the streets because she has had a tough life—he didn’t give much details. He told me that no one else can sing that song as well as she can.

The last song that was played was Salam. We were all walking in the streets, leaving the square when it was playing. Everyone around us was singing along. After saying bye to britty and Katie, I met back up with Yuval and the crew. We stopped for ice cream—surprisingly I turned down the ice cream. I REALLY wasn’t feeling well. I was so light headed and hot. We sat down while they ate their ice cream, and sitting down made me feel better. When we got back to her Hertzaliya, they wanted a quick tour of the apartment. When we got inside, someone accidentely shut the door (and the door handle is broken), so after giving a tour and they were going to go home, bubbe realized we were stuck! Ill try to explain the situation a little better. The first night we were here, the door handle broke—it was stripped. It was broken before we got there and they said they were going to fix it—eventually. Bubbe put some paper, so the knob could hold onto something. We would never shut the door once we were in the apartment, because the stair door was locked and we had no clue how to use the other elevator. When we left we could shut the door, because there was a code to open it, but not from the inside. We were actually stuck! Yuval finally got the door open by using paper (not plastic! Hahaha). Secretly, my mom and I were giggling because bubbe was making the whole atmosphere tense, she was nervous. She was saying “God forbid if there was a fire. Poo poo poo.” … Once they left we all felt the need to say what we would do if there was (God forbid) a fire and we were locked in. Bubbe said she would just jump. I thought things through a little more and said I would go in the little pond thing. My mom went outside and looked over the edge and said that she would slide down onto the balcony below us. We were cracking up how long we talked about this for!

By then it was already past 12 and we watched the end of a movie with Julia Roberts. The channel was the romatica channel! My mom and I lovee romantic movies, so we all waited for the next movie to start. It ended up being a stupid movie and I didn’t think the guy was cute, so I went to bed. Mom and bubbe couldn’t help themselves so they watched it for a little longer (even though they took “medicine” to help them fall asleep). I read some of a magazine and went to bed.

SUNDAY

I woke up at 10 and bubbe and mom were still fast asleep. My mom told me she would wake me up at 10 so we could get an early start. I just put on my bathing suit, snuck into bubbe’s room and grabbed her sunblock and listened to my iPod outside. I wanted to get some color! It was pretty hot out. Eventually Bubbe woke up and she put on her bikini and layed out with me. She suggested to move our chairs so we were more under the sun. While she was trying to she “broke” the wheel. I put broke in quotations, because we ended up finding out it was already broken. Because it was so hot out, we both went under the outside shower to cool off. We did this a couple of times. Finally mom woke up and by 12 we were eating brunch. We ate at a pretty good place. After conversing with a waiter, we left our food there saying we would pick it up in an hour. We then went into the mall and went shopping. I got a cute dress from castro and my mom got the new hip pants, jeggings (jeans that are really tight, but stretchy material, like leggings). We then went into a couple of other stores, but after 2 hours, bubbe got anxious because she wanted to walk and visit her friends. After searching for an ATM, we finally found one and took out some money. After going to the wrong restaurant to get our food, we find our food and then bubbe goes back to the apartment to go change so she can run/walk to her friends (Zev and Batya’s…I stayed at their house—I set off their alarm). My mom and I headed to the beach to do a quick dunk. The water was so pretty and wasn’t too cold. After we got out, we took many pictures and finally headed back to the apartment. On the way, we saw bubbe! We took a pic with her, and then took a picture of her running! Haha.

When we got back I got on my computer and made a big playlist on itunes of all of the songs I like. When I finished, bubbe came back and we all started to get ready to go out with Zev and Batya, for Zev’s birthday. I wore my new dress! Batya picked us up and took us back to her place where we talked with her son and his family for a little. We then left to go to Tel Aviv for dinner. Zev knew of a shortcut and it was where all of the prostitutes (zonnot) would wait for men. We saw where they were and there were cars lined up for them. It was so sad. Police were talking to some of them, but I guess they don’t try to stop it. On the carride there, Bubbe learned 3 new Hebrew words. Zonah, sartzur, and the name of their street, Medinot HaYehudieem. It took her some time to get the words down. Dinner was really good and nice. After dinner, Zev took us to Acky’s, mom and dad’s friend. We got there at 10:30 and didn’t leave until 1ish!!! We talked to them for so long..we felt bad we were there for so late! I got their information (along with Zev and batya’s son’s) and told me to call them if I need anything. They invited me to come any Friday for a big Shabbat dinner and then their son, who’s a year older than me, can take me out with him. They told me he wants to meet Americans, and I want to meet Israelis…perfect! When we got back, after the taxi ripping us off, Bubbe was still up and I wanted to lie in bed with her and see what was on tv. There were no good movies, but we started to watch a stupid vampire movie that wasn’t even in Hebrew! The acting was horrible and my mom would read what she could and translate. I got sick of it and went to bed, but they stayed up and watched it! IT WAS SO STUPID. We were cracking up.

MONDAY

I got woken up early and I was exhausted. I forced myself out of bed and we then went out to breakfast. We went back to the place we went the other day and the waitress recognized us. I went back to the apartment when I was done eating to pack up. I was finished soon after my mom and bubbe came back. We then called a cab and I was ready to go at 11:45…I was running a little late considering I needed to be back for ulpan by 1:30. When I got to the bus station, the bus I wanted to take was there. There ended up being 2 of them, so I got on the one that wasn’t as full. I sat next to this woman and then this man comes up to me and speaks to me. He points to where im sitting so I just assumed that he was saying it was his seat. I was saying sorry and getting up and he was so confused. He then repeated what he said slower and he actually was asking me if this was the bus to Jerusalem..oops! It didn’t take too long for me to get off the bus and get to the bus that will take me back to the bus stop close to where I live. I got a seat on the bus, but I moved because I wanted a seat facing forward. At a stop, a woman comes up to me and asks if she can sit with me. My bag was in the way so I got up, assuming she would sit by the window and I would take the aisle. All of the sudden, her friend sits down with her! They were older, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. I stood by the exit, again and got bumped around. I got to class about 20 minutes late, but it was fine.

Since I missed the beginning of the lesson I was flustered for most of the class and was frustrated because everyone in the class learned new vocab that I didn’t know. I also was just stressed because I had so much on my mind. After class I had 30 minutes in between my other class and tried calling my mom, but it would say that I could not make the call at that time and to try again later. The phone was off, but I wouldn’t go to voicemail! I then hung out with rach…I hadn’t seen her in a couple of days and we missed each other so much and HAD to catch up! I unpacked while she updated me. She then told me that tomorrow our siyyur isnt going to the Kineret, but just around Jerusalem. I started to freak out because this meant I could definitely go back to Hertzaliya on Tuesday until my mom and bubbe left. My genesis parables class was a little boring and after class I figured out plans with my mom. Because it was Kristallnacht there was a speaker at 8 that night who survived it. I wanted to go out to dinner and make it back in time, but my mom and bubbe got lost and couldn’t find where I lived (slash the driver couldn’t. slash the gps couldn’t). When they got there I quickly showed them some of the apartment (it was weird because not many people who live in the apartment were there, but their friends were and I don’t know their names) and we left to go to dinner with 5 girls in my apartment im good friends with. We ate at Kaffit, which is where I was 5 years ago. I remember getting hot chocolate there and being with noah’s friend.

Dinner was really good and we all ordered a ton so we would have left overs to bring back to the apartment. It was funny because the driver came with us. After a yummy dessert, I went to the bathroom and when I came out I saw orly (a friend I went to high school with)!! It was so nice to see her and we have plans to see each other a week from Monday. I cant wait to catch up with her and some other friends from school. Hopefully we will all be able to get together. After dinner I went back to the apartment, quickly packed some clothes in my backpack AND made sure I brought my retainers…I I think I forgot to mention that I left my retainers in my apartment so I didn’t have them for 4 days! I was shocked, but my teeth didn’t really move!!!! We took a couple of pictures and then I got in the car with my mom, bubbe, and the driver to head back to Hertzaliya. The ride back wasn’t bad, Bubbe kept on dozing and the driver kept on talking to mom. Haha. He was a nice man. We was telling my mom about all of the fruits and veggies he grows in the his garden and I had to translate one of them for my mom because he didn’t know how to say it in English. Yay!!!

When we got back to the apartment, I showered and then outside we (“the 3 generations”) had raspberry vodka with ice—bubbe’s favorite. I tried it, but I couldn’t drink it—I hated the taste. We took some self timer pictures and were just cracking up. We then watched some of a movie, were stupid and waited to see what the next movie would be, but didn’t watch it because it was late. It was about 12:15 when I went to bed, but I was in the mood to watch a movie, so I watched “Sex and the City” until 2.

Today I woke up around 9ish and had some breakfast. I would have gone back to sleep, but mom and bubbe were already up. We decided we would go for a walk, but didnt leave the house until 10ish...my mom was ready right away, but it took me and bubbe some time to get ready. We then had to go to the mall so i could buy new gym shoes! At first i felt guilty, but then bubbe made me not feel bad because i have had my other shoes for too long. After finding the store in the mall, i found cute gym shoes. they are beauties! I might take a pic, just so everyone can see them :) We then didnt have sunblock, so we found the drug store (NOT the grocery store). Eventually we just used samples for the sunblock, instead of buying expensive ahava stuff. Bubbe decided it was a good time to buy the stuff bubbe shayna likes, so then we had to walk back to the apartment to put the stuff in the room.

FINALLY we started to walk and it was hot out! It was a nice walk and on the way back we were on a really nice street (houses were beautiful) and right next to the united states embassy there was a little peace of open land that would lead to a great view. It was beautiful! We were high up and below us was the mediterranean. We walked up a little higher, after taking some pics on bubbe's phone, and there was an arab settlement! It seemed so random. We then began to head back and after walking on the beach, we finally go to cafe joe (or cup of joe, as english speakers call it). We all really liked our food (note to self: group cravings for diet coke) and my mom and bubbe were so funny. One thing they did: we were sitting, waiting for the bill to come for a long time. We finally get it, but then we are waiting a long time for someone to take it. Finally, a waiter comes up and asks if we have a problem with the bill. Mom and bubbe were annoyed because they werent annoyed with the bill, they just wanted to pay it! Then they tried to explain to him to add 18 sheks as a tip, which would make the bill be 132 sheks or something like that. The way he repeated 18 sheks made it seem like it wasnt a big tip, but that was 15%. Once he left mom and bubbe were a little offended by him. When he came back he said the bill is now 300 sheks. Mom and bubbe we silent, until i started to fake laugh, because he was joking. Then they lightened up and when he walked away said how cute and good looking he was. GEEZZZZ!!!!! This was one example of the many things that have happened. Bubbe asked me why i am always laughing at everything she and my mom says! I cannot control myself! After lunch we went to the mall's grocery store to buy some cheese and other goodies. When we got back to the apartment, my mom and i read on the balcony and had diet coke. I then switched from the main balcony to my room's balcony. It was really nice. I then was on my computer for a little...sometimes i can find a good internet connection. I then showered and got ready to go to my mom's friends house for shabbat dinner. We took a taxi there...they live in rananah (yes, i know i spelled that wrong) and live right by aunt amy's sister! Dinner was really nice and fun. I hung out with the girls (Tali is a year younger than me, Sophia is in 7th grade, and Zoe is 8). We all had a lot to talk about, which was good...no awkward silences! We left around 11ish.

Okay, from this point on, this blog post gets pathetic, funny, but pathetic. When we got back to the apartment, my mom wanted to take some self timer pictures. At first we all thought it would take 2 seconds, but we ended up spending 30 minutes taking multiple of self timer pictures all over the house. It was so funny to take them...the different poses and different places. Bubbe wanted to send those pictures, but since it was on my mom's camera we obviously couldnt. So, we then tried to take different pictures on bubbe's blackberry...which took way longer and a lot more tries than necessary. I then got internet so we talked to steph for a little. Earlier today we talked with sophie, who was on stephs computer. I know that i can say this and steph wont find out because she probably will never read this! hahahaha.

Now it is 2 am and im in the main living room, while my mom and bubbe are talking, telling each other to go to sleep...they should follow their own advice! My mom is trying to fix the dryer (there are a lot of broken things in this apartment, ranging from doors to lights to outlets), while bubbe is telling her to call her friend saying that they cannot walk with her tomorrow morning at 8am. Shlomo is coming at 10am. I dont know what our plans are for the rest of the day but hopefully everything will work out SMOOTHLY! I really want to go to tel aviv tomorrow night so i can go to the yitzhak rabin memorial. Overall, i am happy to be with them. We are just laughing all the time and whenever they say stuff that would usually annoy me, i just giggle at what they are saying! It is weird to think about how my mom has no control over me. I have finally reached the age where she isnt telling me what to do. It is weird to be considered an adult.

note to self: hiding, waiting, boys, 3 generations

Yesterday I got to sleep in, again. When we got to school we had some periods. It was really great, though, because one of the teachers came up to us saying that the kids in her class loved it when we took them out so they could speak english to us. She wants us to come to her class next time! yay! During periods, we talked to some of the seniors. It was really nice out, so when we had another free period we just listened to music outside...we then talked to the seniors again because they were outside too. We helped pamela in her 7th grade class and another 7th grade class who had a substitute.

When I got home I made myself a grilled cheese, studied for my ulpan quiz, and then went to ulpan class. Unfortunately, we learned for most of the lesson and took the quiz at the end of class. I dont think i did too well...it was hard! There wasnt a word bank for the fruits/veggies. I forgot what plum, tomato, and pickles were. After ulpan I went through my closet and took a couple of things i can give to my mom to take home. At 4:45 I left to go to the bus stop. The bus ride to the central bus station usually only takes 20 minutes. This time it took 45. I was still on the bus when my mom called saying she just landed. ah! Also, I was standing the entire time because it was so crowded. There were some loud disagreements on the bus...When I got to the central bus station it was packed. I got lucky and a security guy told me i could just go through, without checking my bag! sweet! im glad i dont look suspicious!! When i got to the platform for the 480 bus, there was a bus there, but there was a pretty long line. I thought i wouldnt get on the bus, but i did! woo hoo! There was traffic, so the ride took longer.

The original plan was that zeev would pick my mom and bubbe up from the airport and then pick me up from the train station. Because i was running really late, it only made sense for my mom and bubbe to just go to the apartment and i would take a taxi there. The taxi ride wasnt bad but i cannot believe how independent i was! The driver and i had some trouble finding the building, but it worked out. Mom met me out there to pay the driver. After having some trouble getting into the complex and then getting into the elevator we got up to the apartment. It is unbelievable. It is huge and so pretty. The views are incredible and everything about the apartment is beautiful.

When we decided to go out, we had some trouble leaving because the door handle broke. My mom and bubbe were so funny to watch...i ended up video taping them!!! hahahha. When we finally got out of the apartment we went to a restaurant bubbe went to all the time with my aunt and cousins when they came. We had a bottle of wine and a really good dinner. So many things were just so funny! After getting a coffee, getting ice cream, and ice, we came back to the apartment (note to self: airplane=gas). It took some time for us to get in because we dont have a key and have to wait at night for someone to either be leaving or going in.

After finally getting into the apartment, we shmooze for a little (go through the apartment and try to find clean sheets for mom) and then i get ready for bed. I was exhausted, but then my mom finished packing and bubbe still hadn't unpacked because she was trying to figure out how to work the tv. We all tried for 15 minutes and then we finally figured it out. I watched some of a movie and then fell asleep. the bed is so comfy!

Today I woke up at 8. I really, really didnt want to get out of bed and was exhausted thinking about all the excuses i could use to not go to volunteering. Eventually I did get out of bed and we got to school in the middle of a period. We waited for that period to be over and then during the 20 minute break, a teacher asked us to help him cut out hall passes. Pamela saw us doing this and was not too happy with him. We then waited for Pamela while she spoke to different volunteers (israelis) and then we (ashley) spoke to her saying how we are still not doing enough. Pamela knows and even wrote on a paper that teachers read that we arent doing enough. Pamela vented to us for a little and told us how the teachers are threatened by us because our english might be a little better than theirs.

We then went to Pamela's class and since the students who went to poland were in school, Ashley and i took 2 out at a time and we spoke together as a group about their experience. It was really interesting to hear them because they are so open about their feelings. The next period Pamela wanted everyone to stay in the class and so she told us to go ask another teacher. The other teacher is nice and she let us. This time we split up. It is funny how all of the students beg to have us take them out. i feel so special! haha. Besides talking about poland (because not all of them went) we talked about the army and other things including what bars we go to, etc. When we were leaving a kid walked up to me and asked if we can go into his class tomorrow! Students are saying hi to me in the hall!

I was going to go to burger's bar (i STILL have not gone there!) but i was going to meet up with leah, but she had something at 1:30 and she would've been pushing it. Instead i had chicken soup (2 bowls) and then i showered. I hung out with katie for a bit (note to self: changing profile picture and sending friend requests! ahhahahha) and watched gossip girl. Julia ended up buying the season on itunes, so i no longer have to wait forever and skip some parts! woo hoo! go julia! I then took a ridiculously long nap. I needed it. It was so nice that i didnt have shevet today (because we did it yesterday). When I woke up (after having very weird dreams) I had shnitzel, veggies, hummus, and soup for dinner. Then after talking to mom and erez I had a great dessert with naomi. We took out sprinkles, chocolate spread, and peanut butter. On a plate we had banana, pretzels, and chocolate crackers. yummm. After dessert I talked with some family and skyped with soph the parentals and the pooch. I got a little teary eyed when i saw the pooch...

I then said bye to everyone, finished watching 27 dresses and watched some of freedom writers. I wasnt sure if rach was going to come home tonight, but she surprised me and did! yay :) It is only 12:15 and im gonna go to bed. i cannot believe my mom and bubbe are coming tomorrow! I talked to my mom like an hour before she was going to the airport! Cant wait for the trashy magazines. I had my mom stock up on them because in israel they are SO expensive!