This week

has been my first week back at Cornell and RA training. So much to do, so little time. Here are the highlights:

I met my new co-staff and boss!

I had Shabbat dinner at Rav Ami's and Eliana's with their friends who were visiting from Israel. The calm buzz of intelectual energy in the room was palpable. We also had a delicious spinach/basil soup!

I made lots of friends with other RA's...really good people who care a lot about Cornell and the students who go here!

I was a cohort leader and I got to guide seven other RA's through the training process!

I helped Rudy move in and was rewarded with delicious dinner and wine at Madeline's!

I saw Beasts of the Southern Wild and I will literally never be the same again.

I started seeing friends I have missed dearly and deeply. How wonderful to be back at Cornell!!!!

Tomorrow I

am heading back to Cornell University for RA training. I cannot believe that the summer of dreams has come to an end. I also can't believe that I managed to unpack from sophomore year and pack for junior year in the last three days. (I didn't want to unpack when I first got home because I missed school and unpacking means you are here to stay; I didn't want to pack earlier because I was enjoying home so much and packing means you are leaving again).

My last day consisted of breakfast on the porch (we have a bistro set!) with Mama, errands, a little babysitting, a little Real Housewives of NJ, dinner with Daddy, and a run around the neighborhood. I spent my last night with a delightful group of friends from high school. We watched the gymnastics competition, played with a puppy, and went to the Otter Lodge. It was a most fitting end to my summer at home.

I will miss so many things. But so that I don't feel badly about leaving, I will list three things that I won't miss:

1. air conditioning
2. being confronted with all the clothing items I have refused to throw out over the years despite their lack of fit or style
3. meeting people outside the college age range at bars

Tonight is

The one week anniversary of me sleeping on my back. For the first time in memory, I have not been sleeping on my stomach, a position which has apparently been torquing my neck and crushing my organs. My dreams in the past week have been very colorful and I have been very conscious of my body. It's an interesting experience. I hope it has a positive affect!

Laila tov l'kulam!

Today I

went to the Seneca Park Zoo with my mother. We have been wanting to go all summer and finally seized the opportunity! There is a new Africa exhibit called Ngorongoro and there is a beautiful lion habitat. We spent a long time just looking at the sleeping lions (there are three: two females and one male, all about 2 years old) and asking the lion expert lots of questions about lions. One of the young females really reminded us of our own little girl cat, Zara, so we were calling her Zara at the zoo today. It was legitimately hard to step away from the lions. They are captivating! And we are cat people, so we were easily captivated.

There was a monsoon as we were trying to exit the zoo so we spent a little extra time in the monkey house. We read about the havoc that the palm oil industry is wreaking on the orangutan population and other rain forest dwellers. Buy sustainable palm oil products!!!