TUESDAY:
It was a little cooler outside when we woke up. Rach and I went to breakfast a bit later, but still finished before 8:15, so we sat outside and then got confused as to where we were supposed to be. I thought it was where we were last night, but I was wrong. Rach and I were both confused as why she would actually listen to me! One thing we heard in the daily news was that Israel had made it clear that their planning to build will take about 2 years-and strongly said that they never said they were willing to freeze their building plans. Then off we went to volunteering!

At first we sat for a bit and then were told to come outside. We love being inside because there is good AC. The main guy (he doesn’t know English) told me to fill up the huge water jug. I asked some soldiers where a hose was. Then one of the guys helped me. I think he just wanted to practice his English, but I don’t care! After watering the plants, we were given the job to paint the outside. After we finished (Rach got paint on herself), the girls were given the job to check more flashlights. Arthur came and hung out with us and after sitting for a bit, we were told to sweep the big room. So much dust. Even if you sweep in the same spot over and over again, there will always be more dust. The room got a bit cloudy and I really think it was from us sweeping. The dust would just go up and then settle somewhere else on the ground. After lunch, a group of us lied down on the grass on top of each other’s stomachs. We played the “HaHa” game where you go in a line saying one more Ha then the person before you. When we came back, Arthur was napping on the couch, so we napped in our normal spots. We actually fell asleep. I thought that Rach wanted me to wake her up every time she started to snore, but eventually she just yelled at me to stop and told me to move. Hahaha. I woke up to Rachel tickling me and her and Arthur staring at me and laughing. Then we did the same thing to Michal. We had slept for about an hour. At this point, I believe we became actual friends—like we could be friends on facebook and it wouldn’t be weird—with Arthur.

Then we were given the job to pick up trash from outside. It was hot and not fun. We also had to organize some things. After carrying papers to an office and them not wanting them, we painted the inside of the warehouse. Arthur called me a good girl before he left. It was a little awkward!! After we finished, we decided to go. We went to get our ice cream and then we had dinner and after our peula was outside. We were in a circle and we were put into groups and were given a situation and try and give our opinion in trying to resolve it. The topics were about the Hatikvah talking about Jewish souls when not everyone in Israel is Jewish, should Israel continue to build in Jerusalem, should stores be allowed to be open on Shabbat, should buses be able to run on shabbat, the problems of marriages in Israel, and war crimes in Gaza. I talked a lot, I just had so much to say! I was impressed with myself how certain vocabulary would just come out and I felt like I knew what I was saying. I really have learned so much about Israel and I have a better understanding of situations where people are not sure if they should agree with Israel or not. After showering, we got some food before going to bed.