Today i woke up at 7:45 but didnt get out of bed until 7:55. We then waited for the bus, but because there is no shade on the bench, we sat on the GROUND because it was in the shade. It is so gross how i am not really grossed out by that! The bus comes at 8:40ish and we get to the school around 8:47. It is perfect! We are supposed to be there at 8:45, but Pamela doesnt care. When we got there i showed ashley the progress i have made and then we worked and worked and finished organizing all of the tapes! We then found Pamela and she didnt have anything else for us to do so we got to go home early! Plus, she isnt going to get to school until 10 tomorrow and since she wants to show us what to do next we dont have to be there until 9:45!!!! This is so great. Especially because i have a little cold and my eyes will not stop watering.

When I got back to the apartment some people were eating lunch, but i packed a lunch and finished everything before 11am. I uploaded gossip girl, and it was going well, but then i wanted to skip ahead to where i was. bad idea. IT STOPPED WORKING. ahhhhh. so annoying. Rach and I waited for britty to come home and i started my homework and since people made tuna, i had some with crackers...so good!

Once britty came back from her volunteering, me, rach, and her went to the promenade. I love it there! We walked there from our apartment...it was only a 15 minute walk! We took some pictures and then sat down and started to either do readings for homework or just read. We were there for less than an hour when out of nowhere a beer bottle lands where we are sitting. Glass was all over. Glass got on us, but none of us were hurt (only britty had a little wound.) we looked around and saw people further up. They were kids. We just assume it was them. It definitely wasnt on accident that they threw it to where we were sitting (even though there was a wall and they couldnt see us from where we were sitting.) For some reason I wasnt affected by it. We all were calm, but for some reason i still want to go back there. Before this happened, we were planning on having picnics there once a week. We knew that we werent allowed there at night because there is violence, but i guess it is not safe during the day. so annoying because it is so pretty. Britty later told our madrich (named moran) and moran told us we shouldnt even go there during the day. ugh!

When we dropped our things back off at the apartment, Rach and I went to a nearby gas station to get ice cream! I hadnt bought it in such a long time. We (I) didnt want to go to the one right at the corner of our street because that ice cream is almost ALWAYS melted and not good. So, we walked further for the ice cream. I didnt get my normal kind, i decided to get one that was bigger and was like cookies n' cream for 10 sheks. It was soooo worth the extra walking. so good! Tomorrow, I am going to be taking out more money. I lasted 2 weeks on 100 sheks!! pretty good, huh?!

After the ice cream we had a shevet class. First we davined--we did special things because it is in between rosh hashanah and yom kippur. After davining, a man with a long beard spoke to us about kaparot (putting a chicken over your head, killing it, and giving it to a poor family). It was interesting when he talked about why a chicken or a hen and not something else. We use this specific animal because it can tell the difference between day and night. There is a physical day and night and a spiritual day and night. During a physical day, we can see, similarly, during a spiritual day we can also see (see God, see what is right, etc.). God placed us on earth that is in spiritual night and so it is so rewarding if we can get through this night. That was a mini side note that he brought up. Another reason why we have a chicken because it's name in hebrew is another name for a man. We raise the chicken over our head so God will kill the chicken, and keep us alive. Although this is not a necessary part of the things we have to do between the days of rosh hashanah and yom kippur (there are three things: tishuva, tzadukah, and tefillah). Some people are against it. Some people put tzadukah over their head. That was basically all we talked about but it was really annoying because so many people were talking. I still dont understand why they arent quiet!

Luckily, there was then an optional lesson (more like q and a time). Only about 10 of us stayed, but everyone was quiet! We talked about how important it is to fast on yom kippur. One does not even have to pray, if it means that they will then fast. On other fast days, one should eat if they dont feel good. If one doesnt feel good on yom kippur...take a nap! dont eat! I usually start the fast late and end early...but this time im gonna do it for the full 26 hours (or somewhere around that). It starts at 4 something and ends at 7 something. I have to eat dinner at 4 something! this is definitely not what we do at home! haha. We also talked about sukkot and stuff...i basically said things that i used from the d'var i wrote on it a year ago. I cannot believe it was a year ago! ha i spoke fast! steph, are you participating in those services?! you better be. We also talked a bit about kashrut things.

After that i tried gossip girl again and i got pretty far, but then it said i had been watching for too long. effff. we then had israeli salad, potatoes, and chicken. i then cleaned the dishes. before i swept 2 rooms. after dinner rachel started to organize my itunes. people have been giving me music...i now have 2426 songs. Before i had less than 400. I got more yael naim songs. i now have 9 songs. im so happy. so sarah, maybe you will be wanting songs from me?! haha-doubt it. I then washed the floors, showered, drank tea with katie, and got ready for bed. It is now almost 1, but luckily i can sleep in until 8:50. whatup!!!!

i am breaking out and sick and tired. i need to go to sleep so i dont take a nap after volunteering (so i can write a journal entry and study for a hebrew test..eek).

to respond to your comment (mom): yes, i am in the class i originally wanted to be in. i only need to write a one page paper, but he said i can just do it (along with others who just switched in) by monday. i did most of the reading that is due tomorrow and it is pretty interesting. ill talk about how class goes in my next blog entry.