JANUARY

This post is not finished, but Ayelet asked so here it goes...

also, to get a current update on my situation skip to the bottom

After finals and a week of touring with Mama, Mary Beth, and Brianna, and then a week in Haifa volunteering at a day center for old people, I set off with Debbie, Adina, Rachel, and Ariella to conquer Italy. The rest of Nativ came too.

Before delving into the wonders of the European continent, I will just say a few words about the events that led up to this adventure. First, finals were pretty easy and predictable, and I’m glad I didn’t spend too much time or stress on them. Handing in my Talmud paper on Sunday was a really great feeling, and I loved kissing Bus 19 good bye on Monday night. I loved Hebrew U, my classes, my teachers, but Bus 19 was the bane of my existence. I’m so happy I had a university experience in Israel, and I’m also glad I’m not going back for another semester. It ended at a good point.

On Saturday night, Mama/MB/Brianna picked Meir and I up from Kibbutz Sa’ad, an amazingly gorgeous and idyllic kibbutz a stone’s throw from Gaza. We had an incredible Shabbat experience there, complete with Friday night services, dinner with Yemenite Jews, the sound of explosions in Gaza which at the time were coming from an unknown location, sleeping in, lunch with Yael’s family, a trip to the refet where the cows live, a baby cow sucking my entire hand like a pacifier, a trip with twin baby girls to the kibbutz petting zoo, and then the misery of trying to navigate for my mother.

Finally, the crew arrived on kibbutz and we all headed to Jerusalem. Once finals were over on Monday night, I spent the rest of the week touring the Old City, volunteering for the last time at Shalva, climbing Masada, floating in the Dead Sea, playing beer pong with a very talented and ballin Brianna, taking way too long at Yad Vashem, visiting the shuk and zoo, and spending Shabbat at the apartment in Bakaa. It was a winning week, aside from the catastrophic congestion and cold that ensued staring Friday morning and not ending until ever. On Saturday night, I had one last hurrah with B and then we all had to say good bye.

I had no time to dwell on farewells though, because I left for Haifa with 18 Nativers and Shosh early Sunday morning. There we met Barry, the nicest man I’ll probably ever meet, who coordinated our volunteer placements and afternoon programs. I helped out for four mornings at a day center for the aged with Nadav and Alex. I really felt like I was making a difference for the people there because they were so happy to have young people there to listen to them, and I also really got to practice my Hebrew since most did not speak English. I played a lot of chess, a little rumicube, did some crafts, and on Tuesday I even accompanied one lady on errands out and about in Haifa and she took me to the Haifa shuk. In the afternoons, we went to the Bahai Gardens and around the Carmel, to Madatech in the Technion building (so cool because we learned about that building in art history!) which was a really cool science museum that covered most of my high school science curriculum only better and featured a human yo-yo, walked around the German Colony, got dinner at the Grand Canyon mall, and visited an Arab youth group in Wadi Nisnas where we met with them and got to know them a little better. One night at our hostel Ethiopians came for dinner also and we sat down with them to eat. We sat with a group of 14 year old girls and they were shy and giggly. It was really cool to meet all these different groups in Haifa though, especially because there are so many divisions in Jerusalem sometimes, even between Jews. Haifa was amazing, I loved it, and it was such a good choice for Israel Experience week for me.

We got home from Haifa at four and then the craziness began. I packed for Italy, showered, had dinner with Meir/Meir’s mom/David/Yael at HaMoshava 54, took a bus with Meir and Joshy to Kenyon Malcha and then walked blindly into the night for twenty minutes, arrived at the Young Judaea youth hostel where Melanie and Mathew were waiting for us. I had known they were both coming on birthright but didn’t make the connection that they were both from Maryland and would be on the same trip! I didn’t think I would be able to see either of them so it was amazing to see them even for just the hour that I did. I was going to take a taxi back with J and M, but then Meir put his hand out and at that moment someone stopped for us, he seemed nice enough, and he dropped us in Talpiyot where we caught the 21. The whole time Josh and I were in the back looking at each other in amazement that we were hitchhiking. It was exhilarating!

That same night, the sherut picked us up at 2 am. We got to the airport around 3, moved smoothly through security, and sat in the terminal for another two hours before our flight. The flight was smooth as well, and I just woke up at the very end when Rachel wanted me to see the view of Italy as we were flying in. It was really beautiful, and I’m pretty sure I saw the duomo in Florence but can’t be sure.

Things went downhill upon arrival. Leonardo da Vinci airport didn’t give us too much trouble, and the shuttle to our hostel afterwards worked out well too (we even met someone who lived near Adina in Minnesota!!), but the hostel itself was a bit of a let down, it cost 1 Euro to store our bags in the basement, and we couldn’t move in for another four hours or so. We then walked to what was supposed to be an area with cafes and the like, but it turned out to be really difficult to find a cafe. More than a cafe, what we really wanted was free Wifi because our hostel costs us for internet. The hunger for internet was stronger than the hunger for food, but we got food without the internet in the end. Our mozz and tomato sandwiches were pretty good, and then we headed back in the direction of the hostel. We stopped at the Olympic Stadium and walked around a lot there.

things I will expand upon in Rome:

-navigation

-Vatican museums

-seeing other groups

-the universe aligning when I literally just appeared at Meir's hotel and hoped he'd be there

-transportation and tipping

-the train

Right now I am in Florence. We stopped in Piza yesterday on the way here and it was such a mind blowing experience to see the leaning tower. I really liked it, but it was hard to enjoy because I had never felt such intense pain in my life. I have been literally crying for the last 24 hours (even though I'm trying not to because apparently it makes things worse) because I have a very terrible ear infection. If my friends weren't here to keep me from taking the whole bottle of advil, I think I would have tried. I can't think about anything besides the next time I get to take pills.

Last night, things came to a climax. I went down to dinner and Adina noticed red on my neck. I wiped it and thought it was just oil from the pizza. Upon further inspection, it became clear that my left ear was indeed bleeding. This set off a new round of tears, and my friends insisted that I go to a hospital.

We took a taxi to Hospital #1. Debbie waited with me in the place for patients and the other girls sat in the waiting room. We waited for about an hour, only to be visited by a doctor who said she was not an ear specialist and needed to refer me to a specialist at another hospital. Then another taxi, then the other hospital. Hospital #2 had an emergency room, so we went there first. Turns out we were supposed to go to a different place for the specialists, so we walked there within the hospital complex, but we got lost a little bit. The doctor fortunately saw me right away and said that it was an infection, and the blood was just part of the infection. Then another taxi back to our hostel, then a walk to the pharmacy at the train station where the drugs were supposed to be free but ended up being definitely not free.

My ear bled on my pillow last night, even though the towel I put down. I'm freaking out a little. But I get to see Julia today in under and hour, so I am thanking God for my blessings. Feel free to write on my facebook wall saying you miss me and want me to get better--friends and love are by far the best medicine.