Yesterday I had to wake up at 7:45 and since I was sleeping in the sukkah and in a sleeping bag, my hair was such a mess! I attempted to tame my hair, didnt work out so well. By 8:30ish we were on the bus, thinking we were going to be planting trees for JNF (only the people who didnt have volunteering because of the holiday did this). We were all surprised when we went into a tunnel and started to dig up dirt. We ended up doing archeological digging and going through tunnels. The annoying thing about the program is they never give us a real heads up of what we are doing. We ALL thought we were going to plant trees! The archeological digging wasnt anything special. I just kept on thinking about the pottery we found the first time i was in israel. It was almost a complete cup, so we took it! We werent digging, it was just there with other broken pottery in the ruins we were touring. Anyways, we then went through a tunnel where families lived/hid for nearly 2 years. I think these Jews were hiding from the ROMANS right after the 2nd Temple was destroyed (70 bc). I guess it is kind of cool because it was so old! We also went into 2 places where people were buried. One was a christian one, and one was a Jewish one. They looked similar.

In the Jewish one, our guide told us that they found 4 bodies. What they would do back then is place their relative into a little cave within the burial cave. For a year they would go there, but there would be a stone blocking the entry. After a year, they would open it up, collect the bones, and place it in a place that would gather bones. They believe that when it says to be buried with your relatives, combine each other's bones. It is crazy that people lived here during the times of the Temple. I guess it is hard for me to believe that we have physical evidence of things that are said to have happened in the Bible.

After this, we got back on the bus to go eat lunch. Most of us were starving and ate our lunch on the bus on the way to where we were going to stop. The bus then took us to a gas station to buy some food. Rach and I bought ice cream and it usually cost 10 sheks for that kind of ice cream, but i think it was 10.99 there. Luckily, Rach and i just decided to buy it together (so it would be quicker...she had a 20 and i had a 10, so i just gave her the 10). When I paid for our ice creams, i got a receipt and change back..i didnt understand! I guess we get a deal for buying 2 and the ice cream only ended up costing us 6.50! That is less than the smaller ice cream! i love deals! I'm gonna go to the super market soon and just buy ice cream in bulk, so it will be less expensive. While we were all eating our ice cream, people were asking the people in charge if we could cut our day short because it was already pretty late and we were going to be doing something else. We were all pretty happy (because we were exhausted) that they listened to us and we ended up just going back to our apartment!

On the bus, we found out that they were disappointed with us. Oh, i forgot to mention that the tour wasnt painful and a little enjoyable because people didnt really talk! I found out that the other group was a bad group and wouldnt shut up. Anyways, so tomorrow they told us we were going to skip a hike (where did this hike come from?!) and instead do the activity we were supposed to do that day. When we got back, rach and i ran to our room, striped, and jumped into the showers. The showers felt so nice! We then hung out for a little and watched gossip girl. It was an okay episode. I think it is a little much that hilary duff AND tyra banks were in that episode. Around 5:30ish we started to get ready to go to a religious dancing thing. Katie made some of us shnitzel, but i had to stuff it down my throat because we had to be down by 6:30 and i had to straighten my hair. Rachel did an okay job straightening, but my hair was just so big! So i went over it, but i still dont think it looked that good.

We met emma (a british madricha) and about 6 of us got on a bus to a place close to meya shearim. We were told we were going to a place where there is a woman band and we would be dancing. We were supposed to meet up with this rabbi, and luckily we found each other. He then told us we were going to be meeting up with some girls from a seminary at a womans house..huh? We were all so confused, but met the sem girls on the way to the person's house. When we got to this random person's house, we sat down inside and all mingled with each other. Most of the girls were here for there 2nd year. They were really nice and it was crazy how good they were with remembering names. It was funny how interested they were with our program, they were enthusiastically asking us so many questions! The rabbi finally tells us to follow him to the place where there will be dancing. We follow him and finally get to a shul (i think). There are women all around sitting in chairs. No one is in the middle, so we all just sat in a huge circle in the middle. The music didnt start and so we all just sat around in the circle. It was hilarious because these girls just pulled out all of this food from their bags! They also found it to be funny. A girl had some cake and she had some cupcakes! She offered, so Katie and i split it. We pretended to do a blessing and ate it. It was chocolate chip and was so good! Eventually the music started (got a slow start because the women in the band kept on stopping to argue with each other) and we all started to dance. No one else was dancing. We got people to start dancing and then it was a huge, crowded party! We were dancing with little girls and old women. Everyone was just going crazy! There was a lot of trains, dancing in circles, and pushing! so fun and funny. We then left when it started to get really crowded.

We had to wait awhile for the bus to come, we decided to just take a different bus to the central bus station and then get on a different bus from there. While on the bus, emma got a call from the rabbi asking why we left so early when it was just getting started! We were all cracking up because how did he know we left! Katie and i got giggly on the bus ride back...that was our ab workout for the day. When we got back to the apartment we got dressed for the themed party tonight called "the rave." it reminded me of JAMD's school dance! I looked like i was from the 80s. We got there early and no one was in the bar, but we still danced. Whenever we walked outside, EVERYONE would stare at us. I guess they have a right to, because we were dressed in neon colors. I bumped into Kendall for a second, which was funny. Around 11:30ish (when i wanted to leave) a hugeee group of people were outside the club wearing their ridiculous clothes. We danced for a little and a group of us decided to leave in time for the last bus. i was happy. When we got back we got ready for bed and went to sleep.

Yesterday we had to wake up at 6:45 to be down by 7:15. My throat hurt a little, but once we got on the bus, i listened to my ipod and looked out the window/slept. I always try to stay up and look out the window until we reach the freeway. Jerusalem and its hills are so pretty. I sat next to Katie and kept on doZing (mom, that was for you). We ended up at a biblical nature reserve. It used to be an army base, but then soldiers (i think) decided to make it pretty by planting every tree and bush that is mentioned in the bible. We played this one team game with a hula hoop and no one really cared...but i was in a good group who wasnt rude..yay! We then started talking about the meaning behind this game and what we did wrong because it took about 3 seconds per person, rather than 2. People were giving funny answers (katie relating it to having a child), but i was distracted becauseee...IT WAS RAINING!!! Rachel, Katie, and I ran out and started to dance..others just watched. haha.

We then sat around an ancient cistern (collects rain water, not a well) and learned a little bit about cisterns and what people did in ancient times. For example, they would put a rock to cover the cistern that was so heavy that 10 men would have to lift it together. This would prevent anyone stealing water. Cisterns also plays a role in the bible. ______ men rivkah at a cistern and it says in the bible that when he saw her he found her to be so beautiful that he lifted the rock covering the cistern all on his own. It also said he had a vision and started to cry because he saw that he would not be buried with rivkah and he was upset that he wouldnt be with her for eternity. With the perspective of looking at the bible figuratively, i wonder what this means...hopefully we will discuss this in my class! If not, ill bring it up.

We then played another game where we are split up into 2 teams and we have to get this hook onto a water jug and get the water jug in the cistern, take it out, and place the water jug back. There were 4 pullies and the difficult part was the people controlling the pullies (which were connected to the hook) were blindfolded and they had guides next to them. There was also someone in the middle controlling everything, but he couldnt talk. I dont really understand the point of why we did this activity...

After the activity we went by goats and sheeps. We then got split up into 2 teams (brits/canada vs. americans) and we had to pretend we were shepherds and had to make all of the goats go into 4 different circles (being in each 1 for 10 seconds). It was a funny activity. Everyone just wanted the goats to stop eating under the tree and go, so we started to talk to them! Katie was so funny, she introduced herself and was tapping them and kindly asking them to listen to her. We realized though that we had to control them by where we all stood. The americans ended up getting the goats into the 4 places, so we won. woo hoo! Our guide then told us how people (young people) could be shepherds. The trick is to give one of the goats authority so then all of others will follow that one. The leader is always a woman and you teach her her name and to follow you by tying a rope to her neck and pulling the rope whenever you call her name. She will soon learn to come to you when you call her name.

After this we drove for a little to a place that has different sukkahs. It was a cool place! I took pictures of some of the sukkahs, but basically it has a ruling if such a sukkah is considered kosher or not kosher. For example, if it too tall or too short it is not considered kosher, but you actually see the huge sukkah and the tiny one. There were so many! After this we had a long bus ride and i fell asleep. We stopped for lunch and then drove for another half hour to where we would be snorkeling.

I got a call from miki before i got there letting me know that she would also be there (with nathan and yoni)!!!! I saw them and i was so happy! We got split up and my group watched this boring movie about tzitizit and the t'cheilet. They showed us them cutting the snail, how rare the snail is, etc. We then made the blue dye and put wool in it and learned about how God only knows the difference between the indigo (the dye) in the plant and in the blood of the special, rare snail. We then went to the beach to go look for these snails (only a couple of people actually looked). But Rach and i really had to go pee, and didnt think it would be nice to pee with a lot of people around us. We had trouble finding the bathroom, so I (did caps on purpose) asked a couple of different people ALL in hebrew!! and i understood them (for the most part)!! woo hoo! haha. I didnt just ask "where is the bathroom," but "where is the restaurant with the bathroom." I know it is an easy sentence, but im so happy i spoke in hebrew!

We finally found the bathroom and the sign was so funny. I didnt get a pic of it because my camera had no battery, but it was a guy and a girl crossing their legs and making unhappy faces. (haha rachel and "daddy alert"!!!!!) We went back to the each and we had to wear a t-shirt in the water to cover ouselves. Ugh, it was so annoying and i hate the feeling. It didnt even make sense because I was wearing a white t-shirt which was completely see through. Because we dont want to snorkel, rach and i decide to have a chicken fight...we tie and we thought we would get everyone interested, but that didnt really work out. hahaha. I hung out with miki for a little in the water. i forgot to mention that the water wasnt too cold..just really dirty. After we changed, we got on the bus for a 3 hour bus ride. I slept for most of it. When we got off the bus it was so cold out and i was just exhausted! People were planning on going to a club, but dont worry mom, i took care of myself and told myself i would not be doing that. I decided that im not gonna go out on monday nights because i need to sleep or else i wont appreciate the siyurs. For dinner, our group made chicken soup and we got all bundled up so we could eat it in the sukkah! It was really nice. After that, rachel said we must go out and do something fun because it is sukkot, so we got dressed in modest clothing to go to the old city (hahahah waiting for bus..katie (sorry)). We went to this yishiva and outside of it they were having a concert. It was a cool experience. It just was so annoying how PUSHY people are. UGH!!!! If they just move their shoulders a little bit, they wouldnt bump into me! Rach was standing by a stroller that was in the middle of a path for people to go in and out and someone asked her if it was her baby! Rachel was like "we have to move away from the baby right now." haha. weird though! We left 15 minutes before the concert ended (i would have enjoyed it more if i knew any of the songs...) and met up with rachel's brother. On our way to the bus stop, we bumped into katie's mom and older sister! After saying bye to rachel's brother, we took the bus back to emek refiem and when we got back i made myself a grilled cheese! i did it all on my own in a pan! I was starving so i also ended up eating a lot of other things...healthy? probs not! Joel then came in and asked if rach and i were planning on sleeping in the sukkah. We were thinking about sleeping in it another night, but then we realized that tonight would be the best night to sleep in it...so we slept in it! I'm bummed that we didnt get a picture of us! I was so excited and dressed in so many layers and was so comfy, but it was not THAT cold. I was a little hot. I slept pretty well though!

i feel like this picture could be a postcard..if i sent it to people i would do what bubbe adele does with the postcards she sends us from cruises...ill circle myself being by the bathroom. haha.

Today I had to wake up at 7:30. I didnt get out of bed until 8:15. I was so tired. I could not function. We didnt go to the informational meeting (which was at 8:15) about berkat ha kohanim. Britty gave us some information about it while i was still in bed. I wore rachel's jean tight jean skirt with my cute anthro striped blue top and my converse. I ate the other half of my plain bagel...not the best breakfast but we dont have any food yet. We didnt leave until 8:30 and we thought we were going to take a bus, but we walked all the way to the kotel. I was not social at all, i really just couldnt function! When we got to the kotel area it was packed (we werent even inside yet) and i saw some people from section 2. I saw some of the people i met, and i saw nathan!!!! I called miki and we ended up finding each other. After a couple of minutes me, rach, britty, katie, and julia decided to go inside the zoo (aka kotel). IT WAS PACKED. i didnt bring my camera because rachel did and her brother just showed us pictures he took from an eagle view...ill post them. it was unbelievable. I forgot to mention that it was so hot out today. Since i was also cranky i was so annoyed with how pushy people were!

I really had to go pee so rach waited outside while i tried to get to a toilet. I was sweating and people were cutting and pushing. I was about to pass out (and im not one who usually gets this way). A woman noticed that my stall was going to be open before hers (she had already cut me) and i saw her inching towards my stall. But i put my foot out so i was guarding it...i was starting to become aggressive! I finally got to go pee and it was difficult to leave. I kept on saying sleecha as i tried to get out of the bathroom.

When i got out, a woman on the ground all of the sudden grabs my hand! I thought she wanted tzedakah, but in hebrew she asked for my hand for me to help her up..i understood her! I then found rach and we decided we were going to go. The Kohanim havent blessed us and on a loudspeaker people were praying. Rach and i were starting to walk towards the exit (on the completely other side of the bathroom). All of the sudden everyone is shushing each other and everyone is quiet and everyone stops moving. The Kohanim began to bless us over the loud speaker. It was really nice how everyone just stopped and rach and i saw parents blessing their children and covered them with their tallits. rach and i wished that our parents were there to bless us! It was also funny how many tourists there were. I was so happy that i wasnt on a tour, i was experiencing israel. I'm finally not a tourist!!!!

After the prayer everyone started to be loud and move and push each other, again. Rach and i pushed our way out of the area and sat down on the cold stone with some other YJers in the shade. We were parched (as aunt ronda would say!) Next to us a group had a sign and they were playing music and wanted us to dance. We danced for 2 seconds (the guys continued to dance) and we found out we were allowed to leave whenever we were ready because we didnt have another program until 1 and it was back in beit ar-al (where our apartments are). A group of us walked back. We took some breaks because it was so hot and ate some cookies that katie stole from this morning's gathering. Britty also took a pic of me with the really hot model for gap. haha-steph it will be on facebook soon. it is the same model that is outside of the gap by coney off of telegraph. We got far enough away from the kotel area, so we could catch a bus. THANK HASHEMMM. We got seats and the bus wasnt too crowded. yay! We walked back and when we got back rach and i stripped and were resting. We had to get up to make a shopping list and we then went back to sleep. It was such a great nap. I didnt want to get up at 1ish, but we had to.

I got a message from yoni buckman saying "***** (middle name), come downstairs." I roll out of bed (actually, i climb down) and i go into the sukkah where there are about 20 people. We then were given alcohol/wine for l'chaims (so funny). Then we started singing and dancing because we were celebrating the arrival of the Torahs!!! At first some of us were confused (there were hired musicians!) and we then danced into the beit midrash and it was so much fun! There was a lot of simcha crazy dancing. I love simcha dancinggggg. After about a good hour we were all exhausted and some of us helped boaz get food and drinks into the sukkah. There was so much food! We all ate and shmoozed for awhile. Katie stole some cake for our apartment and we took left over hummus...hehe. We then played some cards, this weird british game where you just have to catch on to the rules...i lost. We then came back to our apartment and rachel's brother came over and we went food shopping.

Food shopping was kind of fun! I wasnt too helpful, but im improving. James tagged along with us and he was pretty entertaining. When we were helping the guy put our groceries into bags, i dropped my phone and it fell and COMPLETELY fell apart. James thought it fosh was broken, but the guy putting groceries into bags helped me and ended up fixing it. I think he thought it was his fault, i wanted to let him know that it wasnt, but i think he was arabic and didnt know hebrew. I also tried hugging him..haha that didnt really work out.

When we got back (after rach and i took back the shopping cart) i wanted dinner and no one started anything so i made people tell me what they want. We ended up having salad and noodles with tomato sauce. I cut up veggies! After dinner i wanted an apple with chocolate so i CUT up the apple into small slices so i could dip it into the chocolate! We bought a big thing of chocolate spread (not nutela) and people do not really like it. I dont love it but since we will need to eat it...(the YJ model) "Fcuk it!"(in a british accent). Ill sacrifice myself for the group and eat it... I then showered, read, and hung out for a little. People ended up going to a club tonight but we have to wake up early tomorrow because we are going to Cesaria. I also am exhausted and need to sleep. We are going to be snorkeling to get snails to make techeilet (the blue/turquoise strings on tzitzit)

Today I woke up at 10:30ish and i had such a good sleep! I eventually got out of bed and then me and one of miki's roommates, anna, chilled. We then had breakfast, i had cut up fruit! Their apartment has such good food! I cant wait to buy food for our apartment and do that! We then were just on our computers and miki called nathan. After a little we decided to get ready to go to the beach. I realized that i brought 2 bottoms, rather than 1 top and 1 bottom. I borrowed one of miki's tops and it was a little big on me...oh well. We then met up with nathan and we walked to a place where they have falafel for 5 sheks! There were 2 places and we walked past the first one because nathan said the 2nd one was better. It was so good!!! omgggg. i am excited for those 5 shek falafel when i get to bat yam! The apartments are not as nice, but it is definitely more on your own living. I also like that you have stranger and actual neighbors all around you. I also am happy that i am going there during the winter because the apartments do not have air conditioning and it is HOT there. Unlike Jerusalem, it stays hot at night.

Anyways, after the 5 shek falafel, we headed to the bus stop for the beach. The mediterranean was so pretty!!! First we got ice cream from "victory." yes, I actually bought ice cream that wasnt packaged, but it was only 10 shekels! It filled me up. I got the one with cookies in it. so good! We then went by the water and we all hung out in the water (with some of nathan and miki's friends) for a good half hour. The water was so warm--so much warmer than the atlantic! We then got out and some people went to go get ice cream (because they didnt get before), but miki and i stayed and laid out to dry off. After about 20 minutes we packed our stuff and headed back towards miki's apartment. We get back to her apartment and i pack up to go. I wait for the bus to take me to the tel aviv train station with miki and nathan. I say bye to them and they tell me that they will come visit/stay with me for the weekend soon. I then take an HOUR bus ride to the station. I kept on dosing. On the bus, a black hatter was praying and he was shaking his lulav. It was really interesting to watch, especially how he kept on trying not to fall without holding onto anything.

Once i got to the train station, i bought my bus ticket (that will take me to jerusalem) and got on the bus. I got a window seat and just listened to my ipod and kept on dosing off. The bus ride to jerusalem was shorter than the bus ride from bat yam to the tel aviv train station..what the heck!! I then have to wait for another bus that will take me back to my apartment. I felt so independent and i was comfortable and knew what i was doing!

When i get back to my apartment i see that the girls from the other eating group went grocery shopping. No one from my group is back. I put my stuff down and shower. I then talk to some people from my eating group and we decide that we will make a list and go food shopping tomorrow. I then head off to emek refiem for shoshie's kind of surprise birthday dinner. We went to tal's bagels. It was okay..i got a salad that came with a bagel on the side. I didnt finish them so now i can eat something in the morning! After the dinner (which was kind of expensive? maybe not, im just not used to going out to eat), we see terri and rob roth..it was nice to see them! We then go back to kendall's apartment and we had some desert in her sukkah. There were a couple of sukkahs in her apartment area and it was so cool! I love it here during sukkot and seeing all of the restaurants and hotels having sukkahs. It was really fun hanging out with all of shoshie's friends. I also got to see some JAMDers which was really nice. Shoshie was sleeping over kendalls and since i didnt have a curfew (the seminary girls all had curfew), i helped clean up. Kendall's parents apartment is BEAUTIFUL. i cannot explain how clean and nice it is. It isnt too far from my apartment. Im sure there is a short cut though. It got a little late, so i decided to head back to my apartment. i was so independent today! I walked and travelled alone so many times!

When i got back to my apartment i cleaned it up and hung out and talked to the people i havent seen for a couple of days! i missed them! I feel like i left some funny stories out of this blog post...i might add them in if i can remember. All i can think about right now is that it is 2 am and i have to wake up at 7:45. Ill write in my next post if i added more to this one.

Today I set my alarm for 9, because David said he would call me around 9:30. I woke up a couple of times in the middle of the night, but slept pretty well. I read for a little and then I decided to finish "Ps I Love You." i like that movie. I then went upstairs and apologized for making the alarm go off! They were laughing and said that people dont like the stay there because they are scared of setting off the alarm. I felt better and no longer embarrassed. They told me that they have 2 alarms because all of their neighbors have gotten robbed--more than once! It is a really nice area..crazyyyy.

After I gurgled salt with water I called David to see what the plan would be for today. I call him and woke him up! I felt bad--he said that people left really late from his house. I basically just told him how i would only be able to see him for a couple of hours and we should just see each other another time. I also told him how in December I will be in bat yam which is much closer to him. I also told him that my mom and bubbe are coming in november so we will see him then. Oh mom- can we go visit Papa Norman's forest? Where is it? I remember when we had a picnic there and it was so nice!

I then watched some tv with Zeev and his wife (ah i feel so bad, i forgot what her name is!!!). It was in hebrew and it was people telling stories about different wars (i think). Zeev translated the stories for me in english. He then put on CNN for me and so i watched some news (the earthquake in indonesia) and his wife prepared lunch for us. It wasnt fancy, but im not used to people preparing lunch and us sitting down for a nice meal. It was left overs, but so good! I had the brisket, potatoes, broccoli, and soup. I was stuffed and i couldnt finish the potatoes--but i love potatoes!!!! After lunch I decided to go downstairs and read. I read for a little and then watched "The Holiday" for a bit. I was then really tired and so i took a nap, but set an alarm. Miki called me to let me know she was on her way back to bat yam. I then fell back a sleep and had the weirdest dreams. I was dreaming that i was trying to sleep, and was fake sleeping because someone kept on coming in. It was also weird because i couldnt open my eyes...anyways, my alarm went off and i realized i was dreaming. I kept on changing the time from the alarm and eventually i could not fall back asleep.

I then read for a little and watch some of "The Holiday." i like that movie too. I then go upstairs, but find that zeev and his wife are sleeping on the couches, while their granddaughter is watching tv. I go back downstairs to shower. After my shower, I go upstairs and they are up, so i ask if we can leave in a little. They say whenever (they are so nice and easy going!) I pack my stuff up, talk to my mom for a couple of minutes, and off i go! Zeev decides to take me the long way to bat yam by going through tel aviv on main roads, rather than the highway because "Highways you have in Detroit." haha. His car is really cool and papa i agree with you, they should sell that model in the U.S.! He gave me a mini tour, which i liked and we had a little trouble finding miki's apartment, but found it!!!!

Ah it is so great to be with her and her roommates (there arent many here now) are cool. The apartment isnt as nice, but it seems like they have more space. We had dinner (fajitas) and it was so good. They always have fresh food and have not eaten frozen food once! i think the last time i had fresh food in my apartment was over a week ago. It is just so hard with 16. Hopefully by splitting up it will be easier. After dinner we just hung out and miki and i kept on checking google to get updated with the michigan vs. michigan state game. I CANNOT BELIEVE WE LOST TO STATE. how did that happen??? but we did come back with like 8 minutes left. After the game, miki and went to tel aviv to go get frozen yogurt. I got a plain one with mangos, pomegranates, and brownies! I was still hungry/craving my usual ice cream, so i ended up getting the ice cream too!!! haha. When we got back we came back to the apartment for a little because my ear was really hurting. I think there is water in it. I tried to heat up salt and put it on a napkin and in my ear to try and absorb the water. didnt work...after awhile i gave up and so miki and i went to go find nathan! We met up with him and we all hung out with other year course people and after awhile of hanging out. People were drunk, but miki and i didnt drink. Miki stepped/slid in someone's throw up outside (A LOT of people puked--so gross). We were running around like crazy people and people thought we were drunk. Miki was hopping around and was rubbing her foot in the bushes. We got nathan's key to his apartment and we went up there to wash her foot. Nathan's roommate was sick and he missed the toilet when he threw up and we could hear everything. gross gross gross! After we escaped nathan's apartment, we went back outside, hung out with poeple, and went back to miki's apartment and left videos for a couple of people. it was so funny! but some of them didnt work!!! oh well. It is now almost 2am. oh dear! we are gonna go to the beach tomorrow, cant wait!!!!

ps- on wednesday night i went up to a guy who was wearing a "go blue" shirt. he's going to michigan next year. yayyyy :)

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

THURSDAY:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FRIDAY:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Note to self: money

sorry for not doing so well with the blog..ive been pretty busy. here is wednesday:

Yesterday I woke up at 7:40ish. There was NO food in the apartment so I had a handful of nuts for breakfast and then made 4 peanut butter crackers (we only had 9 crackers left). so annoying. when we got to work we had to do busy work. Pamela has run out of stuff for us to do! We had so much free time so we just drew pictures and we got to leave early. It is pointless for us to even go! I was happy when we got to go home early and read for a little. I was waiting for katie to come home because i wanted to go get falafel with her and then go to independence park to finish up some homework. When she got back we got ready to go, but then 2 people were at the grocery store and the credit card they had didnt have enough money. It was this whole mess and so since the grocery store they were at was on our way to the bus stop, we decided to stop by. One of them left while we came because she didnt know where she put her wallet and wanted to retrace her steps. We then looked through the shopping cart and after explaining it to the people that work there, we were able to put things back we didnt want. There were so many unnecessary things. I always bring this up to katie, rach, and britty...people in our apartment think i do so much more than i actually do. It's because i hang out with people who know stuff. Like i dont go out of my way and clean (i obviously clean up after myself and clean when i have to), but since rach and katie do it, people think i do too. Also, all 3 of them go shopping for food a lot and know what the good stuff is to buy, people ask me what is good to get...ha I HAVE NO CLUE!

Anways, after we deal with the groceries we help anna take them back to the apartment. Then instead of buying falafel i decide to make a quick turkey sandwich to go. Before we get to the park i decided to get ice cream. It was a tough, tough choice! but a man (maybe mid 60s?) needed a phone. his phone that he got for 2 weeks was an international phone and couldnt make calls on it to people in israel. but he got the phone so he could call people while he was in israel. him and his wife are from new york and they are visiting some of the kids/grandchildren. Katie and i talked to them for about 15 minutes and i let them use my phone to make a couple of phone calls. They were really nice and it was just nice to talk to americans about crazy israeli drivers! The man's wife works at a school and is a guidance counselor so she asked what colleges we are going to and stuff. She also brought up about how maybe we will meet our future husband here. Her husband rolled his eyes and we all cracked up. The woman said "My son said they were taking classes and studying together, but that is not what was happening." Katie and i have VERY similar humor (mom, dad, noah, steph, and soph-katie would fit right in with our jokes!!!!) Katie then said to her "they were studying. they were studying chemistry" i cracked up. We then both said bye and katie and i headed to the park. We could only be there for 45 minutes but i got some work done.

We wanted to catch a bus so we had to run for it and we were both out of breath and cracking up. When we got back everyone from shevet was outside and ready to go meya sheayreem. We had to change into skirts that covered our knees and shirts that covered our elbows. Rachel's brother met up with us and just came with us! We took a coach bus there. Guys went to a different place than the girls because i guess only guys are allowed to go there and it would be a cool experience for them. The girls got off the bus and then we went to a place where they were selling lulavs and etrogs. etrogs smell so good!!! I was thinking about buying my own (altogether 50 sheks!) but Katie said i can just borrow hers (she got one because some of her family will be here for sukkot). The guy who she was buying from was funny. It was crazy how religious these people are and it was magnificent watching them trying to buy the 4 species.

We then walked through some streets and it was cool to see how there were so many sukkahs. There were sukkah's all over the place! Speaking of sukkah's--dad how is it going? did the weather get better so you could finish?? i love sukkot and i wish i was home so i could eat in the sukkah during the fall! are you guys going to bossi and levis? hopefully it wont pour :) hahahha. After we walked through we were just free to rome around. i have started to get used to this kind of freedom. A few of us were hungry and didnt want to go explore. We ended up exploring though to find the bus stop. It was interesting, but uncomfortable. It was so so so crowded and there are just so many young kids! Also, a group of 10 men walked by looking down, holding signs and on a megaphone speaking in hebrew in a monotone voice. The sign in english said to dress modestly and such. It was so weird! I felt like they would hurt someone (like drag them down the street) if someone was not dressed modestly enough.

When we got back to our side of town, I (i capitalized that) made myself a grilled cheese...WITH A PAN!!!! it was good! katie cut up celery and an apple and i cut up carrots. We had it with peanut butter and hummus (not mixed though). so good!!!! While making dinner, we got our new bus passes! woo hoo! We get a bus pass each month..in case you didnt know. september was purple, and october is light brown--not as pretty as the purple! Then before I showered mine and rach's room became a party room and a group of us just talked about how we should divide up to 8 and 8 for food and each take a credit card (because we get 2 credit cards and that is what they suggested to do). I understand that one group might buy something that someone in the other group wants to eat, but it is IMPOSSIBLE to shop for 16 girls. it is impossible to picture the amount of food we need. at least with 8 it is a little easier! We talked about how instead of doing 8 and 8 by rooms, do it by who usually eats with who. There is a pretty solid group of us who always eat together and the others also tend to eat together. It just makes sense to split up into the groups we naturally make, rather than just dividing up by room. We are going to discuss this in our meeting with our madrich. We are also gonna talk about how messy the apartment is. so gross! some of us clean, but others dont!!! we even made a schedule of what rooms do what what days.

After my nice hot shower, i got ready to go out (traffic light) and skyped with sarah, my friend jill from motl (she is also really close with rachel), and rachel (the one from chicago). Before we headed towards ben yehuda, rach and i walked with katie and her lulav and etrog to her apartment to drop them off. It was such a cute, homey apartment! From her apartment we walked to ben yehuda. On the way the funniest thing happened. Katie stops and says "shit! i just got bird shit on me! oh well. it is good luck to get shat on" rach and i crack up and rach says "luckily it didnt get on me or jess...SHIT! it got me too! this black sweater isnt mine..it's britty's!" I couldnt breathe while they were wiping the bird poop off of them. we decided we were NOT going to drink tonight because we dont need to drink to be goofballs and to have fun! initally some funny/interesting things happened. but then the night was pretty good. At first we planned on catching the last bus (which is at 12:30) but then we just decided to stay. It was a dance party at the bar we went to and katie and i were just dancing like freaks. for some songs we were doing interpretive dancing and since it was always techno (got annoying after a little) i always did the hoedown throwdown! people thought we were drunk! hahaha.

we left around 1:30ish and britty, katie, james, and me walked back (we dont like spending money on cabs/want excerise/it's a nice walk). Katie almost got run over a couple of times but one time the driver was so rude! we were not on a main road, it was like a street road in a neighborhood and we are just walking in the street because it is late and no one is out driving. All of the sudden this car just speeds towards us so we run out of the way and he honks for the longest time at us. wtf! katie was so funny because she was on the other side of the street so she could have just stayed there, but her jaw drops and she SPRINTS to the sidewalk that we ran to. We were on the floor dying, and it made it funnier because we couldnt let out our laugh because people were sleeping all around us. We finally got back at 3ish and some people were drunk and loud and sick so i only ended up getting about 2 hours of sleep because i had to wake up at 6:45. That is why i did not write my blog last night! When i got back we did hang out for 30 minutes though. I knew i should have gone straight to bed, but i ended up skyping with steph and soph and got to say HAPPY BIRTHDAYYY to sophie along with seeing stephanie and sophie get into a physical fight because sophie wanted stephanie to pick what movie to watch and stephanie was getting mad at her because she didnt care and wanted to be left alone. I also got to talk to AARON for a few minutes. Im happy he IMed me :)

ps- it was jeff siedel's house i went to to break the fast

note to self: what's your name?