THURSDAY:

On Thursday we didnt have anything until 3:30, so katie woke rach and me at 10, but we didnt get out of bed right away. Our plan was to wake up, go for a run to the beach, go to the market, then go get 5 shek falafel. We ended up just running part of the way to the beach and then just dancing. It was so windy and when we reached the beach Katie was joking around pretending she was holding onto a pole so she wont blow away. Then we came up with an idea of katie holding my legs in the air so it looked like i was holding on so i wouldnt fly away. Rach would take a pic on her iphone. Katie didnt hear me when i told her that she was pulling my leg too far back and when i wouldnt lift up my other leg to give to her she simply (i just giggled thinking about it) kicked my foot up. I then slid down the pole and rolled onto the dirt. We almost peed our pants from laughing so hard! After just goofing off for such a long time we took the bus back to my apartment where katie left after making us schnitzel. I havent had it in so long and it was just so good!!!

At 3:30 we had to go to the ulpan center because the tzofiem (scouts) planned games for us for chanukah. There were different stations--jeopardy, sufganyot (eat one in 5 then 4 then 3 then 2 then 1 bites, each time it was someone different) (julia did it in 3 and the powder got all over the place, katie did it in 2 bites), musical chairs (scouts thought katie's name was kadie), a balloon game i didnt do, making designs out of candle wax (i made an Israeli flag), and making sufganyot (which i also didnt participate in because i was so full). I mostly just hung out with friends and the scouts and ate sufganyot. They are just so good!! After this I walked home alone and then showered and packed up for my weekend. I said bye to julia and then went to the bus stop that would take 40 minutes to the tel aviv new central bus station. I was meeting nathan there and then we would take a bus together to jerusalem. I was going to see boaz and he was going to see family. It was nice being with him and goofing around with him.

It was raining a little in bat yam and also in jerusalem. I was happy that i wore my winter jacket because it is much colder in jerusalem.

FRIDAY:

On friday i had to catch a 7am bus from the central bus station. i was exhausted. i then had trouble finding how to get out of the new central bus station of tel aviv...if you saw me you would laugh. I finally found the bus i needed to take and when i got back to my apartment i ended up being able to lie in bed (rachel's bed) for 20 minutes. I then got ready to go to the ulpan to go on the bus. It was POURING out. I was so upset i didnt wear my rain boots or rain jacket. Luckily i took my umbrella. When we got on the bus we all took off our wet clothing and wore flip flops. The bus was supposed to leave at 10, but left like 30 minutes after that. The bus ride wasnt too bad. I just listened to my ipod and slept. It was a 3 hour drive to where we were going. We went to Keshet in the Golan. We stayed in a hostel and it was great because rach, katie, and naomi were all in a room with me...and that was it! We were all so happy. Boaz (our shevet director) forced rach, katie, and me to come up with a d'var, so we decided to go all out. We did a parody of "Stick to the Status Quo" from high school musical. The parsha was about pharaoh having dreams and joseph interpreting them and offering pharaoh advice--even though pharaoh didnt ask for advice. maybe ill post the lyrics another time? While we were there, soldiers who were thinking about converting to judaism were there along with yeshiva boys. interesting mix. We had minyan with them and dinner at the same place, but different rooms. The food was pretty good. After dinner and doing our d'var and just embarrassing ourselves, we had some activities and then tish in our meeting place which was in one of the bomb shelters. I fell asleep on katie's lap. After tish it was only 8 and i thought i would go to sleep, but we all stayed up talking and just goofing off. Oh! i forgot to mention that it was so so so foggy out and you couldnt see like 2 feet in front of yourself! It felt like i was in a dream! wait, was i??? stam!

SATURDAY:

I was too tired to go to shul, so woke up at like 10:30 and left the room at 11 for lunch. After lunch we rested for a little and then went on a tour of the place. Ami (one of our madrichs) lived there because there is a program for non-israelis who are joining the army to be there. He showed us around and we went up this hill and we were in the bunker that used to be occupied by the syrians and then the israelis. On one side of us was the kineret and on the other side was syria. In front of us there was land where the army practice grenades and train soldiers. After the tour cara, rach, and i went to watch yeshiva and army guys play basketball. We acted like little girls by giggling and stuff. it was fun. of course cara knew one of them and had mutual friends with others (she knows everyone!) We then looked for where minyan was but couldnt find it, so some of us just hung out in the bomb shelter where we munched on food and drank pop. Then we went back to our rooms where we goofed off and rested. It was then time for shachareet and then havdallah. After havdallah we had 30 minutes to pack up and go onto the bus. The bus ran late, so i called lori and we talked about israel, etc. The bus ride back wasnt too bad. We stopped somewhere for a 15 minute break. People who were late had to be at the ulpan 15 minutes before everyone had to the next day (most of the brits--they were the ones who were also freaking out). We got back at 10 and went to bed pretty early.

SUNDAY:

We had to be at the ulpan by 9. We had our meeting and since noa wasnt feeling well, she isnt going to our apartment until thursday. Rach and i then took a nap when we got back and then went for a quick shop for food with shani. We had to be back at the ulpan by 1:15 to see what classes we are in. I have Jewish Philosophy which i really like and i also have the david project, which i also enjoy. After classes we had dinner and then at 9:30 we went to the beach for a bonfire (for the whole section). We found a wooden plank on the way and since we are bat yamers we took it. No one showed up until 11, which is when i wanted to go because i was exhausted. We met some south africans. The night was really funny--i spat out water from my mouth twice. I hung out with the scouts and got to know them a little better...i think im starting to be friends with them! woo hoo!! Then a group of us left around 12ish and on the way walking home we saw people in a cab on their way to the beach! crazy!!

MONDAY:

I had to wake up early in order to meet up with one of the girls (whose name is also jess) i am volunteering with. We had to be at the school by 8. I was exhausted. We had trouble finding a street and went in the wrong direction. I was tired, but attempted to practice my hebrew asking where the street was. No one could understand what street i was looking for because of my strong accent. great. Eventually we got help and got to the school. The teachers are really nice and although it isnt a high school i really enjoyed it. The main teacher is so nice and always just gives us students to take out (the good ones) and to either do stuff in the book with them, or just talk. No matter what we did, she was so grateful. it was so nice! Also, it was one of the teacher's birthdays so she brought in all sorts of cakes. A teacher handed me and jess one. so nice! There are 4 scouts that also work in the same school as us. It is fun to talk to them in the hall or in the teachers lounge. I found out that brittney murphy died. i couldnt believe it. I guess i can mention here that i have been reading at least 1 article on ynet everyday. It is nice to know what is going on in israel or israelis or jews. I read about the sign above the entrance to auschwitz was stolen and potential swap for gilad shalit and about the 2 israelis in new york who created an app on the iphone.

After volunteering at 1:30 i had shevet optional classes. The classes are interesting. There is one teacher and only like 6 of us. First she teaches about women in the tanach and then she teaches about shabbat. I really like the classes. I have been taking notes. Maybe when i dont have so much blogging to catch up on i can share some things i learned. Then Katie, Rach, and i went to the beach. I got a falafel and embarrassed myself a couple of times when talking to the guy who works there. I'm trying to become friends with him. It isnt the 5 shek place, but it is just so convenient that it is right on the boardwalk. Rach and i just sat on the sand for a little, just watching the water and then katie came. She brought a grapefruit and chocolate. Katie and i napped on her towel, while rach just sat. Weird things happened--2 guys were on horses?! and this religious woman stripped into her underwear and bra and went into the water for a quick rinse or for a mikvah? we arent sure. she was just coughing and so cold when she came out. That night we then decided just to go to tel aviv to go to mike's bar. I talked to daniel fastman a bit and then told meir that i would be in tel aviv. he ended up meeting me there!!! It was nice to see him...i was nervous it would be awkward, but it wasnt. I hadn't seen him in a year and a half!! He is in college and working. Ill probably see him soon, especially because i live close by.

TUESDAY:

I didnt have to be at the ulpan until 10 for a shevet program. When we got there we were split up into 2 groups and then within those groups split up again. We were given a packet about shabbat and what it means to the orthodox and the secular. One group looked at the orthodox sources and the other group read what shabbat meant to some secular Jews. I was in the orthodox sources one, which was kind of annoying because we did the same thing in my optional class. whatever. After discussing both groups talked about what they looked at. Then we were given the option to make havdallah candles! There was only like 6 of us who stayed, but it was better that way. It was really fun, but really frustrating and the same time. I am just not artistic. My candle became a disaster, maybe ill take a picture of it....the ends broke off so it isnt long, but i now have 2 small colorful candles. Rachel's and cara's came out the best. Rach also made candles out of her fingers? haha. It reminded me of the handwaxing people get at events and bar mitzvahs (guilty of having that at mine!)

After this it was a little after 12 and i was so nervous i would be late for picking up lori. I came back to the apartment, had lunch and figured out how i would get there--take the bus to arlozorov train station and then take a train to the airport. She was landing at 3:05 and so i left at 1, just to be safe. So the 42 bus is supposed to end at the train station...i took it before and that is what happened. It started to rain on the bus and the bus ride last time took me like 45 minutes...i was on the bus for much longer and was really nervous. There was some traffic and i just wanted to get to the train station, because i know that place well. I was debating if i should get off, but told myself just to stay on, but i didnt remember going through the city and then going into like a neighborhood. great. all of the sudden it was me and this other guy left on the bus and then the bus driver was telling us in hebrew to get off the bus. um what?!?! i was freaking out and i asked the bus driver in english about the arlozorov train station. he told me he stopped there, but that wasnt the last stop. shit. he told me i had to take the bus in the opposite direction. I then get off the bus in the rain and see the 42 in the opposite direction stopped for some poeple. I ran across the street, but the driver shut the doors of the bus right before i got there. He saw me but then started to drive away, even though i was right at the doors. He then felt bad for me because it was raining and i was holding in tears so he let me on. He told me that arlozorov would take about 20 minutes to go get there. I was freaking out and just so tense! I decided that as soon as i got to the train station i wouldnt take a train i would just take a cab. I got really anxious and couldnt wait, so i saw a cab at a stop the bus stopped at, so i took that cab. He told me it would take about a half hour without traffic. With traffic it could take an extra 5, 10 minutes. thanks genius! He told me it would cost 100 sheks, i told him to do it on the meter. It ended up being 100. ha. I didnt get to the airport until like an hour after lori's flight landed. I sprinted in the airport looking for her, but then when i couldnt find her i looked at her flight status. She landed late. I then waited about 10 minutes for her. THANK HASHEM. That was so great that her flight was late, i knew she wouldnt ever forgive me. She kept on telling me that she is only nervous that she will get off the plane and i wouldnt be there. few! IT WAS SO NICE TO SEE HER! She looked so lost and it was so funny. I brought a flag to dance with, but we both decided it just wasnt necessary.

At first I had planned lori and I taking a train and then a bus, but we didn’t know where the train was, so we just decided to take a cab. The cab ride was long, but it was perfect because lori and I caught up on a lot. When we got back to my apartment we dropped off her stuff and left to walk to the beach. When we got there we got falafel and I am proud to say that I am legit friends with the falafel guy. I embarrassed myself a lot (for example, when he asked what I was doing here in Hebrew I responded that I wanted falafel, thinking he wanted to know if I wanted falafel or schwarma, but he meant what I was doing in Israel..great) He also knew what I wanted in my falafel..he remembered me! So he asked the basic, usual questions and then I found out that he is 21. It took forever, he likes to take his time with me…probably realizing that im American and I don’t seem to care if it takes awhile. Lori also got. When we left we sat on a bench and ate our falafel, I decided to go a little crazy and live life by getting a coke. The falafel was just so delicious! Lori and I discussed how crazy it is how this (attractive) guy is 21—noah’s age!

After hanging out for a little, we got really chilly so we walked back. We then hung out in my room for a little and talked with rach. At 8 there was tzofim night so we went and it was a lot of fun. It was clue night (like the game clue). We divided up into teams and then went and did different activities to ask questions. There was an egg toss, memory game, human pyramid and walking, and others, but the one i thought was the craziest was the 5 shek falafel one. We had to pass a falafel through our entire group by only using our mouths. I was freaking out…im not a touchy person so im not even comfortable doing the game where you have to pass something by just using your neck. UGH! I thought we just wouldn’t do it, but we ended up doing it. I was freaking out and so embarrassed because everyone was watching…but I did it!!! I was shaking afterwards! Hahaha.

After this we went back to the apartment and hung out a bit. Lori and I then decided to go to the beach and hang out. It was really fun and nice just to goof off with lori around others. We ended up seeing the south Africans and lori and I talked to the one I met and then one of his friends. It was past 12 and I had volunteering in the morning, so we left. On the way home some guys came up and talked to us. We made up fake names and it was fun just messing with them. Lori had a good night, which is my main goal while she is here. I want her to have such a great time!!!

WEDNESDAY:

On Wednesday I had volunteering at 9. I woke up pretty tired, but not too exhausted. We took some students out and helped them. Besides me and Jess, there is another brit named Jo. She’s nice. The good thing about not volunteering with my good friends is that I meet other people. We also helped staple papers together for a big test all of the grades are having on Sunday. We got to leave at 12, even though we are supposed to be there until 1. We have class at 1:30, so the school says it is fine. Also, we might get a schedule of what students to work with on Thursdays when the English teachers aren’t there. We will see if they actually do that. After the school I had lunch with lori and then we went to class together. The Jewish Philosophy class wasn’t as good as it was the first time. Lori and I decided that it isnt the teacher, but the students. Some of the people in my class are so annoying!! Also, a lot of them aren’t afraid to talk back to each other, which makes the class so tense! Lori and I were a bit freaked out!! The David Project class was interesting and although some of it is a review, there is new stuff we discuss, such as the Goldstone Report. When classes were over we napped for a bit and then after eating we got ready to go to herzaliah for a birthday party. There was a bus taking us there and back and we only needed to pay 25 shekels! Also, we got to get into the club for free!!! The club was pretty fun, but filled with creepy men with their hair up in buns. We left an hour early because we got there an hour early. Lori and I befriended the bus driver. When we got on the bus we found out we couldn’t leave because the money that they had for the busride back was stolen. They put it in a jacket under a couch cushion. The problem was that some people didn’t have any more money on them. So some people had to pay like 100 or even more, which sucks so much. The bus driver was saying that we should have just given him all of the money at first, but they wanted to make sure that he would come back, which does make sense. It was just stupid that someone didn’t hold onto the money for the entire night. When we got back we all just fell asleep. Luckily, unlike rach, I didn’t have volunteering in the morning.

THURSDAY:

Yesterday we woke up around 11ish. Before I showered I cleaned up the kitchen and the living room. Noa was coming to check our apartment, so we had to clean it. When I finished cleaning I showered and then I cleaned up my room. I felt bad because I didn’t have volunteering, so I can do more of the cleaning up. The meeting was at 1:30 and noa said that our apartment looked really good. Woo hoo!! After noa left, rach, lori, and I went to go get 5 shek falafel. We all agree that it is so much better than the more expensive one by the beach. The beach one is just convienient, even though the 5 shek place is closer to us. The fries are thicker and just so good!! We took money out from our stipend and then went back home. We divided the money up and I got 160 sheks. We then packed up to try and catch a 5:30 bus that would take us directly from bat yam to Jerusalem. It was very stressful and hectic. I thought it wouldn’t take me so long to pack…but I was wrong. Rach and I packed in my bag and we filled it up. The problem is that we might be going to eilat right from Jerusalem, so we had to pack stuff for 2 different weathers. We caught the next bus and Naomi was the first on the bus and asked if there was a discount for students—you can get a 2 way ticket for the price of a 1 way. We all got the student discount!! We all spread out in the back, but then it got filled with soldiers and this one commander name Eitan sat next to me. Katie and I talked to him for most of the ride. He has been in the army for 6 years and he has 3 more. He is in communications and during his first 3 years of being in the army he went to college where he majored in physics and minored in math. He lives in Gilo and lives right by the school I volunteered at! When we finally got to Jerusalem we walked to Katie’s apartment which was a pretty long walk, especially with all of our stuff. We were all so hungry and when we went out to go eat, we ended up going grocery shopping for some basics and met britty there. We then came back to the apartment to get ready go out. When we got to ben yehuda/crack square (it was like a 20 minut walk from Katie’s) we got pizza. I split a 2^nd one with rach. We bumped into Or (madrich from Jerusalem) and it was so nice to see him!! We were then hung out there for a while and I bumped into so many people I knew. I saw the south African from the beach, students from makif gilo, and friends that I met after seeing them weekend after weekend at crack square. I felt so cool that all of these people knew me! Haha. Nathan came and him, lori, and I all hung out. We got back to the apartment but didn’t get to sleep until after 4.

Note to self: alaska

FRIDAY: Today I woke up and then i just hung out with lori while everyone else was out and about. I also caught up on a lot of blogging (as you can see.) When rach and katie got back from the shuk we ate some food and then i took a little nap before we left to go to the kotel. We were going to eat at a random family's house that jeff seidel would put us in. We thought we would stay together, but that didnt happen. (note to self: mordi) Cara, lori, and i went to this one house where it didnt seem like they were expecting us. They were really religious with 6 kids and the mom was so young. The children were beautiful and so was the mom. It ended up being really nice and chill. We got out of dinner early so we were on our way to the kotel when katie called our names from behind us. She wasnt feeling well. After going to the b-room and davining we left the kotel and then we grabbed rach from where she was eating. Then rach and lori walked with cara back to where cara was staying and i was with katie and we were waiting for naomi and ale. We were meeting them at a fountain. We ended up seeing mike!!!! woo hoo!!! we talked with him and eventually we left. When we got home we had a pomagranate and then went to bed.

Today i didnt wake up until past 1! Rach and i just hung out and watched some movies and tv shows. Then i showered and at 4:30 we had a shevet thing. We went to a hospital and sang songs to children there and gave them chanukah gifts. Luckily, there werent many kids there. Once again we got sufganyot (plural for a reason!). We then came back and rach, katie and i went for a really nice run. i forgot my bus pass in the apartment (i think i lost it, but it is fine because i can just take julia's tomorrow because she is going home for break early) so we decided to run to the beach. Once we got there we ran further, but instead of running back we walked back. I was listening to music lori gave me and it was just so good!! When we got back we hung out and showered and then people came over and after talking to boaz and goofing off, at 12:30 we started to watch "She's the Man." katie loves this movie (as do i) and we always quote things from the movie. It was so nice to watch it but we couldnt finish because we were all so exhausted. I then called steph and we cracked up for a little and then i went to bed around 2:30ish.

Yesterday i didnt have to wake up until 11 because i didnt have to be at the ulpan center until 12. woo hoo!! We got there 10 minutes early, but we didnt leave on time, as always. The guard that was with us on the hike was there again and he came up to me and remembered my name! hahaha. He then sat with us while we waited for everyone to come. We then got on the bus and went to the modim moshav. The moshav is really cute and it is where a lot of hippie artistic and musicians live. The beit midrash was beautifully painted by one of the people that live there. We learned a little bit about chanukah and about why the macabians felt the need to light the menorah. I then thought of a question that he couldnt answer, do we know what day it was when they first lit the menorah?

We then went back on the bus where we went to the place where the macabians werent buried, but where people thought they were buried. We still dont know where they are buried because supposedly they are buried next to really tall pillars, but no one has found those pillars. There also was 8 pillars of different sizes to represent 8 battles the macabians fought. After people complaining (mostly brits) about not getting fed lunch (ugh they are so rude) we went to the park on the moshav where we had some snacks and hung out. We then had a little concert performed by a band that was from the moshav. They were really good and they were brothers and all so attractive!! It was fun to just dance and goof off. We then davined and lit the chanukiah. We then went into a different room where we lit the chanukiah again (this time as a group) and then the rabbi who talked to us and was with us for the day talked a little and played some songs on a weird instrument and we all meditated. It was really relaxing and nice. Oh! i forgot to mention that after we lit the chanukiah we got sufganyot. I said it in plural because i may or may not have had more than one?!

After we got back (and benji sitting on his own gum haha) we each made our own little dinners. Then rach and i met up with naomi, katie, and kai and we went to the beach to hang out. It was a funny night. but i would just like to say now how i CANNOT sleep in my bed. I hate my bed. The pillow sucks and my bed smells weird. and to make things even worse, there is an air bubble thing in my mattress. ugh!

Today i had to wake up at 6:45 to be at the ulpan by 7:30 to get on the bus for our hike. I slept on the bus for a little but not too much. The bus ride was really long because it had rained a bit so there was a lot of traffic. At first we found out we might not even be able to hike because of the rain. Luckily, we were still able to. So many of us were so excited to hike and wearing hiking clothes and wear our hiking shoes. The hike was really nice and not difficult. Some parts were steep, but it wasnt too bad. It was just really muddy, so whenever someone slipped katie and i would burst out into laughter. For our lunch stop i ended up eating right next to boar shit. yum. i was so disgusted, but found it hilarious. We took pictures of katie pretending she shat that amount of poop. hahaha. so funny. For some of the hike we were climbing and it was a little scary because it was so slippery--but no one ended up getting hurt.

After the hike we drove to a druz village where we had 45 minutes to walk around the shuk. A couple of us sat down somewhere and got ice cream after we went into a couple of stores. I think a woman thought i worked at a store because she was telling me in broken hebrew that she wanted to buy an new wallet. ha! katie ended up making friends with some people at the place we ate at. It is so funny how she just has no shame about being a goof and making everyone laugh. Then on the bus ride home i slept on katie. When we got back we had soup and showered. I washed my lu-lu lemons that were really muddy. Then rach and i went to the mall and as at aroma for a long time using the free internet. Our internet is supposed to get fixed tomorrow. It is so nice to have fast internet! We didnt even need to buy anything!

Then we went to super douche and bought some groceries. We decided to buy something for us. After eating outside, we came back to the apartment where we got ready for bed and finished watching "Fight Club." OH MY GOSH. IT IS ONE OF THE MOST EFED UP MOVIES I HAVE EVER SEEN. dont watch it. i felt so messed up after it. ahhhhh. i was too uncomfortable sleeping in my bed, so i slept with rach.

Today we had to wake up at 8 in order to get the ulpan by 9. We decided to walk there. We broke up into our madrichim groups and basically went over the weeks schedule. That was it! We got back at like 9:45 and then we cleaned up the place and after that i took a nap on rach's bed while rach watched one tree hill. It is so weird how i always have weird dreams whenever i nap/sleep on rachel's bed. Last night when i slept in my bed was the first night i had not remembered my dreams. so weird! At 12:30 our madricha, noa, came and inspected our place. She has a sheet of paper that she is going to fill out every other time (she didnt do it this time beause it was the first time). It is so weird how she is going to inspect our place. She said it was good, we just need to have all of our windows open (even though it is chilly). The reason why we shut the window in the kitchen was because a bird flew into our kitchen TWICE. it shat all over our just cleaned floors.

After our meeting we had lunch and then i watched some of a movie, while everyone else was out and about. I went to go meet rach and leah at aroma in the mall. I forgot my phone but thought it wouldnt be an issue. I zig-zagged my way there, ugh i hate when i do that! When i finally got there i looked all over, but couldnt find them!! I just decided to give up and go back to the apartment. Rach was there and told me she came back because leah spilled coffee all over her. She tried calling me, but i didnt have my phone. obviously that would happen.

Then i talked on the phone with miki for a little and got ready to go to the beach with rach and katie. We wore our bathing suits even though it was chilly out. When we got there some f our friends were there. We took off our clothes and sprinted into the mediterranean. Unlike the atlantic ocean, this sea is so so so wavy. there are so many huge waves that just never stop coming. It was cold, but the water was warmer than the air. It was so pretty with the sun setting. When i was running in all of the sudden there was a HUGE drop. We almost drowned from laughing so hard. Rach and Katie took off their tops to be funny (obviously nothing showed) and then benji also wanted to skinny dip so he waved around his head his bathing suit bottom!! hahaha. We were all so cold when we got out of the water, but stood around to watch the sun set.

After the sunset we headed home. Rach and i turned on the hot water for the shower and while we were waiting for the water to heat up we had tea while cutting up carrots and potatoes for soup. After showering and everything, i read a magazine on my bed waiting for the soup to be done. Julia came home and then all 3 of us had dinner together. Then we just hung around our room. Boaz came later that night and we walked to the beach and he slept over.

note to self: hgtf

Yesterday I didnt go to shul, instead i slept in until 10 because we had to be at the ulpan center by 11 for kiddish. After the kiddish we broke up to be with our madrichim where we talked about chanukah and how it is significant to be in israel during this time. I wish i was in jerusalem because i think the streets are decorated with chanukahs and im sure i would see on window sills chanukiahs lit.

When we came back to the apartment and napped while our chicken was cooking. It was really good, but the potatoes werent cooked well enough (even after we put them back in to cook more). After lunch we hung around for a little and at 4:30 we had to go back to the ulpan for some learning discussions led by the madrichim and then havadallah. There were different options, i was choosing between israel update or learning about the parsha. I chose to go to the parsha one, because i didnt know what the parsha was about this week. It was the story of Joseph, but we talked about something that people dont really talk about--it is the part where Joseph got married and had 3 sons. The eldest son found a wife, but then died, so the wife, named Tamar, got married to the next brother. That brother didnt love or want her, so his "seeds" spilled and then he died. Joseph didnt want Tamar to marry his youngest son because he thought she was cursed. At the time, joseph's youngest was young, so joseph told Tamer to go back to her village and then when his son is old enough Joseph will go to her. Somehow Tamar found out the Joseph's son was old enough to marry and ended up dressing as a prostitute and getting with joseph! and i think that Tamar had a son who was Judah--and most of us descended from judah.

After havadallah and walking back to the apartment, we had a small dinner...i had an omelet that julia made me. Not a huge omelet fan, but was not in the mood to make myself something. Then i took a warmish shower after julia and rachel. Katie had come over and hung out with us and we forced her to sleep over! She made my bed...i was going to finally sleep in my bed. It was 12ish when rach, katie, and i started to watch 27 dresses. We only watched like a half hour and were all tired. I then slept in my own bed!! it was really weird and i felt a little grossed out, but i had to stay up there, even though there is no bar to keep me from falling!

Today i didnt wake up until after 1. I talked with boaz for a little and then helped make a big israeli salad for shabbat dinner. For shabbat dinner, our entire section is making food and eating together. After we made the salad, we got ready to go. We had to be there by 3:15. When we got there we got in a circle and sang some songs outside and then lit for the first night of chanukah and shabbat. Then we davined outside. After this we went inside and had dinner. I was really nervous i wouldnt get food because i hate pushing for food i usually wait until everyone gets. Luckily there was still food!! It was a good dinner. After dinner, which ended at like 7, and playing a stupid little game that didnt work because the brits wouldnt shut up, we went apartment hopping. It was nice to see other people's apartments. We eventually made it back here and chilled. I talked with boaz for a little and we might be able to see each other sunday! After everyone left we read and i finished my book (eat, pray, love). It was so good. Im upset because now i have to find another book to read. ughh i hate this process. After reading we all just were on our computers. i was trying to talk to steph, but the internet isnt good anymore. The good connecter (daria) put a lock on it today, probably because we were making their internet go slow from using it all the time. there is a "year course" one, but that is also locked. we told year course people, hopefully they will give us the password. Rach and i watched "Ghosts of a Girlfriends Past," but after the movie we werent tired but just kept on laughing. We then decided at 1:30 in the morning to prepare the chicken we would be cooking tomorrow for lunch. i crushed garlic and cut potatoes. I even touched the raw meat and stuffed it with the potatoes and stuff! Rach and i were joking about how this is the only thing i will cook for my family (because it isnt hard to make, surprisingly!)

i forgot to mention that during dinner it rained a bit and has been thundering and lightening.

Yesterday I woke up and was so tired. I ate breakfast quickly and was out the door. I was on my way to the bus stop with rach when i got a text. If you remember from my last post, i had switched with the scottish orly. So, i got a text from the person in charge of school volunteering placements saying i dont need to go until after chanukah. woo hoo! i came back to my apartment and read and watched some of a movie. I then took a nap that lasted for like 2 hours. This included rach coming back from her volunteering and us sleeping together. It wasnt until 1:30ish that we got up, had a quick lunch and went with shir to tel aviv to go read at a park. We walked around for a little to get to the park shir knew of. We got free lemonade on the way and at the park there was a dog park! We watched to dogs for a little too long, and then forced ourselves to stop watching the dogs to go read. We each took our own park bench and read for about an hour. Rach and i felt inspired to go running, so we needed to head back. On the way back to the bus stop i got an ice cream--the 10 shek one. so worth it. I realized how everyday i feel like i need to spend some money, not a lot, just a little. The majority of the money i will spend in israel is from ice cream.

All 3 of us doZed on the bus ride back. Rach and i were going to take a nap after our run with katie on the beach, but decided to take a 20 minute nap beforehand. That nap lasted a little longer than 2o minutes and even after we were awake neither of us wanted to get out of bed. We were doing everything possible...singing songs and on rach's iphone. Finally we got out of bed and got dressed to go meet katie at the bus stop. When we got to the beach we ran about a mile. It was nice. We then decided to walk back, rather than take the bus. We stopped at the mall (hahahahaha).

When rach and i got back we showered and people made dinner. We had chicken/meat stirfry with pasta. It was really good. We then hung around and then got ready to go out. People in our section were having a bday party at a club. We only had to pay 40 sheks, rather than 50 because it was a party. We got there at like 12ish, maybe later. I bumped into ari kurzmann! hahaha. It was okay music (thank hashem it wasnt techno) but it was just really hot and smelly and filled with creepers. When we finally left to get the late bus, it was a long walk, but luckily we got it. When we got back i forced rach to shower and i showered too because we smelled so bad.

Today we didnt have to be at the ulpan center until 10! I was still exhausted when i woke up and could not get out of bed. I rushed, but then got to the ulpan place early and had to wait for the madrichim to come. We then found out where we are volunteering. I was initially at an elementary school. I wanted a high school, so i was going to ask if i could switch after. We had a stupid slideshow presentation and then since i was in a school and not a kindergarden i had another stupid thing. UGH. so stupid and pointless. After the stupid thing i asked to be switched, but she told me that they had a bad experience with the high school, so volunteers arent going there. But, rach is going to a high school. i dont understand! This one girl, orly, switched with me (so now im in a junior high) because she didnt sign up for schools at all because she had a sad experience when she worked with kids in jerusalem. Tomorrow we go to our volunteer placements, so ill see how things go. I wish i could be with rach because it is like a 2 minute walk from where we live!!

Then rach and i went back and took over an hour and a half nap, that was supposed to be only an hour nap. I had such weird dreams. One of them was lori and i in a cab in israel and i asked if she was still interested in getting a nose ring. She wasnt. I then said in hebrew that i want to speak in hebrew and so i told her how i think nose rings look nice when you wear it with different shirts. i said think in past tense, but when i corrected myself the driver smiled at me. Another dream i had was getting lost in the lis's neighborhood. There were some more dreams, but those where the weird ones.

After rach and i dragged ourselves out of bed, we made lunch and then we headed to the beach. I got an ice cream. I wanted ice cream that would cost me 9 sheks, but then i thought the guy made a mistake and gave me too much ice cream--so it would cost me 16 sheks. I was wrong...i got all of that ice cream (2 big scoops in a small cup with a cone on the side) costing me only 9 sheks. woo hoo! Rach and i then read for a little, but had to stop because it started to rain. We then decided to go to the mall, where we sat and read for about half an hour. We had to be back at the ulpan center at 5 for a shevet thing. We learned a little bit about chanukah and found out different reasons for why we celebrate this rabbinical holiday. One reason was because the oil lasted 8 days and another reason is to celebrate the victory of beating the greeks. It is interesting how different time periods believed in different reasons, but today we just take into account all of the reasons. We then made our own chanukiahs, but one or two for each apartment. Ours turned out to be pretty, ill take pictures.

After this, for those who signed up, we went on a coach bus and went to a tv show thing. We got masa shirts and basically were part of the audience for this chanukah special show. There were singers and speakers--most of them about making aliyah. One guy made aliyah while he was in a coma--he was from morocco and his brother made aliyah and was serving in the IDF when his brother got in an accident. The brother knew that the hospitals in morocco werent good, so had is brother come to israel. His brother woke up from his coma 19 days after he made aliyah to israel and is now doing well. he was too nervous to speak though. At first it was fun, but then got boring after having retakes and not understanding what everyone was saying. At the end we got doughnuts. score! I slept on the bus ride back. We didnt get back until after 11. We made ourselves a light dinner, then i showered and updated my blog. It is now about 5 to 1. i have to wake up at 8.

Yesterday we didnt want to be late because the madrichim are really strict with time...we arent used to this because in jerusalem it was normal for everyone to be late. So, we left 25 minutes before we had to be there and got there like 10 minutes early. None of the madrichim were there yet to unlock the door. Everyone got there on time, surprisingly! We had a seminar thing about volunteering that was pointless. We had stupid activities. One of them was getting into groups of 8 or 9 and each having a plastic bag. We were to talk about the difficulties of our volunteering into the bag and hold the bag with the air. Then we had to pop the bag. AH. There were other stupid and painful activities we had to do. We also got into a big circle and talked about different experiences we had (good and bad). We had to write them down before we got into the circle. Finally, after those activities, the list of where we are volunteering was put up. I'm in schools again, which is what i wanted. I will find out tomorrow if i am in a high school.

We had about half an hour until our next thing, so since our apartment is too far away, a couple of us went to james's apartment. His apartment is small. The bedrooms especially. There are 4 grown boys in a room smaller than mine and it is hard enough for all 3 of us to get around and get ready at the same time. For the boys, james said it is physically impossible to get ready and move around at the same time. I forgot to mention that they are on the 6th floor. oy. We then got back to the ulpan center where the americans were told about and signed up for classes. One of them is the david project...i signed up for it, hopefully it will be good and i will learn more than i learned in 11th grade. Ill talk about the classes more when i find out which ones im in. After this we were done until 7, so rach, julia, and i went to find the 5 shek falafel place. Since i had been there before i kind of remembered where it was--shocking, i know. IT WAS SO GOOD.

After hanging out in our apartment for a little, rach and i found our way to the beach. It was so pretty. We talked, listened to our ipods, read, and just looked at the beautiful view. We met up with some friends (kai, katie, and benji) who went swimming. It was so chilly out, especially because it was later on during the day. I forgot to mention that it didnt rain, but during different parts of the day it looked like it was. After hanging out on a bench for a little, we decided to go get ice cream. Rach and i split 2 scoops of ice cream for 16 sheks. it was so good. We then took some goofy pictures with the sun setting in the background. I will post them soon...אולי! After taking the bus and visiting some more apartments, rach and i went back to ours and took a nap.

At 7 we went back to the ulpan center where we just got to know the madrichim better through different games. One of them can play the recorder with her nose. One fell off a chair lift. One has a plastic front tooth. The one we all find to be really attractive is apparently the oldest and is 29...um what? After this we came back to the apartment exhausted and made spaghetti and fresh veggies. Then rach, julia, and i watched gossip girl. It was a pretty decent episode. We were all starving so we had a peanut butter party. I forgot to mention that we had such good food and i cannot stop eating. Im never full. I hate when this happens! Later that night i talked to boaz for a little and then we went to sleep later than we wanted to.

MONDAY

We didnt want to be late because the madrichim are really strict with time...we arent used to this because in jerusalem it was normal for everyone to be late. We left a little later than we wanted so we were a couple of minutes late. We basically were told about all of the different siyyurim we could choose from for the next couple of months. I like that a couple of them are repeated, so if you dont get to go one time, you can go another time. After this we were given our card to go grocery shopping. woo hoo!!!! It was so hectic because super douche (i smirk every time i write the name of the grocery store) was already crowded before year coursers bombarded in there. We got so much fruit and veggies. We were all so happy. We spend a little more than 1000 sheks, but that is normal because it was the first time we had gone shopping and we needed practically everything. After shopping we came back to the apartment and made lunch. We ate together and it was cute. We had deli meat, rather than the packaged kind, and it was cheap!!! We then had to go back to the ulpan center where we did somethings and then got together with our madricha to go over rules and respect. Most of this meeting consisted of the brits saying different excuses and how we miss the jerusalem madrichim. They werent rude, but it was just pointless talk!

After this we went back to the apartment and hung around until our groceries came. We chose to got them delivered this time because we had so much and we couldnt take the grocery cart (like we did in j-ru). Once the food finally came we put it away and then started to make dinner. We had salad and homemade shnitzel...so good! Then at 9:30 we went out with shir and she bought us champagne and we toasted to a great 3 months. We then met up with other people and we were all supposed to go to a club together in tel aviv. we got on the bus really late, but then once we got there we decided to go back because a couple of our roommates were sick. It was still a pretty good night though.

SUNDAY

I had to wake up at 7 am after getting back to my apartment a little after 5. I was so tired. We finished up cleaning our room and took our bags down. We then had some time to chill out and whenever i got a chance i would sleep. I ended up going into the classroom with the piano and james was playing. I was falling asleep to him playing...he is so good! A lot of the british boys know how to play the piano really well. Then others came to play and i fell asleep. I then woke up and went into the library to sleep there for a little. We then had to clean up our apartment some more, but rach and i didnt really have to because when our apartment was getting inspected our room and the bathroom (the one with the showers) were clean and approved. yeahhhhhh!!! Finally our apartment got approved, and so then britty called a cab, because she was going to go to the central bus station and go to her seminary. It was really sad when she left. she hugged moran first and britty started to cry (with her sunglasses on), and so then we all started to tear up and cry. Katie and i jokingly ran after the cab. It is going to be weird without her. We will still talk to her and see her, but it is just not going to be the same!

After putting my suitcases on my back and carrying them to the truck with all of our bags (we had stickers on them saying what apartment they were going to go to) rach, julia, and i snuck out and went to beit lechem for some falafel. 7 sheks for half. It was good, but i was still hungry after it. Soon after, we said bye to our madrichim (im going to miss them so much) and were on the buses. There were 2 buses and katie was on the other bus (alphabetical order). It was weird because we didnt have any staff on the bus. Chanichim were in charge of making sure everyone was on the bus. I, along with a lot of other people, passed out on the bus ride. I actually blacked out. it was weird because i thought we would be leaving at like 8 for bat yam, but we didnt leave until like 12 or a little after.

When we got to bat yam we carried our lunch to the blacktop of the building our classes are going to be in (and where we meet up). We then had lunch with our madrichim and scouts. Once again, i wasnt with katie :( We just introduced ourselves. After lunch we were given our apartment key and bus pass and were sent off to our apartment. Our scout knew where we were living. It is a little bit of a walk from the bus stop. We go on a path that takes us through a parking lot, past a beit knesset, on a ramp, and on a dirt trail. There isnt a street below us. Our apartment is called katzenealson 59. The mall where super douche (grocery store) is is right across the street from us.

When we got to our apartment we hung out together for a little--im with shir (our scout), julia, rach, shani, and nicola. julia, rach, and i are in a room together. Our scout is this cute small girl with blonde hair that goes down to her butt. She is really nice and funny--she gets my humor. We all napped, i slept on one of our gross couches. Our apartment has a pretty nice kitchen, a big living room, 2 small bedrooms with 3 people in each, a small toilet without a sink, and then a small bathroom with a tub and sink. Unlike miki's apartment, ours has a few mirrors. Later on after noa (our madricha) came and talked with us, our bags came to a street closer to us than where the bus stop is. We got our bags and brought them to our apartment. Shir helped me take my 3rd bag to our apartment. Oh, i forgot to mention that we live on the 2nd floor, rather than the 6th like others. thank hashem! since our room is really small, we all had to pack at seperate times. Julia went first, but didnt finish because we had to go to the ulpan center at 6:30 to kasher our pots, pans, silverware, etc. We forgot to bring out plates and cups. We dont have any bowls yet, but we are going to get. They bought us pizza for dinner. Then we went back to our apartments and finished unpacking. I was too cold and grossed out to put my sheets on my matress, so i slept with rach. This is a big deal, because i am not a touchy person and i like sleeping in my own bed!

It is a lot different here than jerusalem. I have no clue where everyone lives, im used to us living like next door to me. The apartments arent as nice, but i do like the homey feel. I miss the madrichim...we were friends, but i feel like im not going to be friends with the new madrichim. There are 16 scouts, i havent met all of them yet, but i like the ones i have met. It is also good because i met some of them from when i stayed with miki.

mom, to answer you questions:

did you all clean your apartment so it was as if you were just moving in? yes

what did you sleep in the last night? save your sheets for packing last? or like camp and you pack everything minus sleeping bag? i slept with the sheets on my bed with my sleeping bag. i packed those last. unlike camp, we had a long time to pack.

must be so strange to think one third of year is done - and you are moving on. didn't realized britty would have been in your apt in bat yam. any chance she'll change her mind? it is weird to think i have already been here for 3 months!! it is going by too quickly! like when i look back it has been a long time, but it has been flying by. and britty is not changing her mind.

is her sem in jerusalem - i think you told us it was. it's a sem kendall was considering. it is 2 hours away from jerusalem. it is on a kibbutz and isnt so so so religious--girls dont have to wear skirts. you learn just to learn, not for grades. you also have host families that you go to for shabbat and holidays (if you want).

adn we've switched from french toast wednesdays to pancake wednesdays. see how crazy we are!! WHAT?! that is crazy. are the pancakes at least chocolate chip?!

please take care of yourself, don't get sick(er). i am getting better, even though i have not been sleeping enough. plus, bubbe's vitamins are too big for me to swallow/i havent tried them yet, but they are scary!

oh, btw, are you keeping in touch with your "native" friends?! which "native" friends?! yours or mine--and if mine, who are mine?

sorry these posts are short, ive been too busy to tell them in more detail!

FRIDAY

I hung out with boaz for most of the morning. When i went back to my apartment I ate some food and then watched some of "The Ugly Truth" with rach. At 3:45ish we had to go get ready to walk to the kotel. We walked and hung out at the Kotel. We then went to our teacher's house for shabbat dinner. It was a really nice dinner. It practically was a Q and A session! We didnt get back to our apartment until 1:15 in the morning!!! Rach and i were tired but we decided to finish watching "the ugly truth."

SATURDAY

Today I woke up at 10:15ish to go to shul, but by the time i got ready, katie and i decided shul would probably be over by the time we got there. So, i went back to bed, but got up at 1 for lunch. I then read for a bit and attempted to work on an extra credit thing for my holocaust film class with Katie, but lets just say we werent in the mood. Eventually, i just gave up...i think ill still have a fine grade. I then had an eating party with some people and then decided to repack, because i wasnt happy with it. I then hung out for a bit and went out for dinner with katie, naomi, julia, britty, rach, and moran. I then hung out with boaz and went to bed.

Today i was tired when i woke up, but knew it was my last day of volunteering :( When we got there we read and ended up not going to any classes!! We hung out with some people and then before we left, Pamela told us to come into the staff lounge where her and other teachers gave us a letter thanking us and hoping we make aliyah. They also gave us a present, which ended up being a cd called "רק בישראל." I then said bye to ayal and he not only got up to shake my hand but kissed me on both of my cheeks!!!! i was so happy. We then said bye to students, but we knew we would see them in town tonight.

When we got back we filled out an evaluation on different things and then we had the rest of the day to pack and clean. I packed a little and cleaned a little. I just hung out with people. I talked to sarah on video chat for a little and then mike because there were some rooming issues with other people. i forgot to mention that the other day we got our rooming...im with julia and rach and someone else and a scout, but katie and naomi are in a different apartment! We are all so so soo upset! Like why did they split us up!!! (Britty is in my apartment too, but she is switching to a sem). I then watched gossip girl, which was so good! I then showered and just hung around for a little. Some people tried to take out all of our money from our debit card. We had 1000 something DOLLARS! At first we all thought it was sheks. For some reason we didnt get all of the money out, so they bought food and there was just so much more money left on the card than we thought, so we now have so much food! hahaha.

We then had a nice dinner and didnt leave until 11ish to go out. All of the brits (who were on a bus with us) were so wasted. When they are wasted they just sing very, very loudly. The bus driver we were all together so he just told us to get on--we didnt need to show him our bus passes. We then hung out in town and danced for a little.

note to self: osf

Yesterday I woke up for volunteering, but my head hurt because i had so much fluid in it! I got up for volunteering and after reading for a period, we went with this one teacher, but the students are so bad, so we just left. We then helped Pamela out, but i messed up, it wasnt a big deal but she was stressed so she was like "today is not your day." oops!! For the last 2 hours, we sat with gratzia's 12th grade class and watched "shakespeare in love." Pamela wanted us to help her, but when she found out that neither of us had seen it, she told us to go watch it! haha. We missed the very end because class ended, but it was good. The only problem was my cough was so bad. I only did it like 3 times, but they were hardcore coughs.

After volunteering I went with james to get falafel at a stand closer than the place i usually go to. It was still good and a shek cheaper!! I then hung around for a little and decided to be productive. I did a load of laundry and while i was doing it I packed! I only did all of my clothes, but still!! Then i had a final activity with moran, but instead of the activity being with just our apartment, it was for all of the apartments who have moran as a madricha. Her activities she wanted to do with us was unsuccessful because people were either talking or messing it up. It wasnt a requirement to be there! so annoying! and it was mostly the british BOYS. Rach and britty couldnt make it and moran gave us this chocolate egg thing (i forget what it is called) so a couple of us wanted rach and britty's (if they didnt want it). We had a feeling britty wouldnt want it, but i called her to check. She didnt pick up so we decided to dig in. Somehow it came out that moran gave us candy and she asked if we grabbed her one...oops (sorry britty if you read this!). we just told her we couldnt "find" it...

We then had a little more of free time, but then we had to walk to where the performing arts were going to put on a show for us. There was falafel for dinner, but by the time i got food there wasnt anymore pita or falafel...i wasnt too upset (some people FREAKED out and were so rude to the madrichim) because i had already gotten falafel that day. After chilling with people, it was time for the show. People were so so soo pushy when the doors were opened to get good seats. Katie and i took seats in the back that was up on a platform. The show was just singing, but it was good. The madrichim then gave out awards, but they were funny because they were complete jokes and the people who won were opposite. For example, the best volunteers were the ones who never showed up, etc. For the cutest couple guess who came in 2nd to runner-up (which was the first couple announced)...ME AND KATIE!!! They give this whole little thing describing us before they say who is the cutest. hahahahha. Rach was runner-up for party animal! hahahaha. After that and a little cute slideshow, we were given t-shirts (we paid 10 sheks before this night) and a couple of us went out for coffee. I ordered my first coffee!!

We then came back to the apartment and britty and i then worked on our corrections for our holocaust film project. I was up until 2:30...ugh! but at least we corrected it so now i think we will get an "A."

MONDAY:

Yesterday I was exhausted and not feeling much better. I had a stuffy nose, my throat hurt, and i had a cough. After going to one class, i was debating if i should just go home or not. Luckily, after the class, ashley comes up to me (because we were in different classes) saying she was so tired and just wanted to go home. yay! So we left early and when i came back i napped until 1:30ish. When i woke up I worked on my genesis parables paper that was supposed to be due after class that day. I knew it would be fine if i wasnt done. I got a pretty good start on my paper, but after a certain amount of time i just couldnt focus anymore! My paper is about the third interpretation which is combining the figurative and literal understandings of the stories in the tanach. After working on it for a long time i gave up. I came back to my apartment for dinner. Then britty and i went to the library to work on our holocaust film final and skyped with mom for a couple of minutes. I then showered and hung out with boaz for a little.

TUESDAY:

Today we didnt have to be downstairs for an activity until 9, so i woke up at 8:50, but i wasnt too tired. Katie made me oatmeal and we went to the beit midrash where we had to work with the people we volunteer with and make our volunteer place something. We were given a picture frame, so ashley and i took a pic i took of her after we organized the book shelves and then a picture of me cut out. I was so much bigger than her. hahaha. After that we didnt have anything until 12:30, so i worked on my paper. Then shevet had a bbq party, which was nice and fun. There was a Q and A session with the rabbi from shalem and after that boaz (our director) drove a couple of us back to beit ar-el. I then read for a little and tried to work on my paper. I just couldnt finish it, so i then worked on our holocaust film final. Britty came back and then we finished that up, it took some time. I then finished up my paper. I showered and then a couple of us went to our teacher's place to give him our papers. His place was really cool and artistic..with a lot of his art! We only went for a couple of minutes, because we wanted to go out for dinner. Moran walked with us and katie and i needed to take out money, and since it was right by where moran lives, we stopped by her place. after a couple of minutes we left and went back to the sushi place. omg the sushi was soo good. We had a couple of appetizers so i got full, surprisingly! katie and i kept on cracking up and i had some wasabi which was a painful experience (but helped my nose open up!) We then got back and hung around for a little. It is 12:19, i was going to read, but im way too exhausted.