I am becoming a m'lafafon, and other news

I am actually turning into a cucumber. I eat m'lafafonim with every. single. meal. And, my nose is conveniently located at the exact height of the armpits of people holding onto the ceiling bars on the city buses.

In other news, life is great!! I have a lot of school work and class time these days, so I've been doing less blogging and more homework. Monday I had a big day of davening, school from 8-6, and the girls' football game! We have a big team and I am not one of the starring players so I didn't play for long, but it was really fun to cheer and run around and I love the team!

On Tuesday, I did homework during the day and then we had an evening program. Rabbi Artsin came to speak with us about God and it BLEW MY MIND! He has a really interesting view of God, and I felt like that's what I've thought all along I just haven't been able to verbalize. Basically, this is the premise: he rejects the Greek notion that God is all powerful (it's a moot point anyway, because can God create something he can't lift? WOW!), all knowing (it would mean that we wouldn't actually have free will), and outside of time and space. He argues that God is a local force, within us, around us, etc. He did a lot of comparing his relationship with God to his relationship with his wife and daughter, about love and creating meaning. He talked about the commandments, and how mitzvah means "connection" in Aramaic, which suits his argument well. It's great to think about the commandment to pray and keep kosher as a means to connection with God. I was just sooooo happy about this talk-I really want to read a book by him!

Wednesday was another long, long day of school. Everything was really interesting though, although once the sun goes down in Israeli Politics and Society, I am a goner. After school, I ditched my scheduled activities and went out to dinner with nine of my girlfriends and Ariella's mom. It was a beautiful evening, and the restaurant was so cute and cozy. It was covered from top to bottom with books and everything was delicious. When I got home, I finished my freshman writing homework (in case you don't check facebook, my freshman writing teacher-a stickler on spelling and homonyms-sent me an email saying I have a week argument in my outline) begrudgingly and went to bed.

Thursday was a glorious day. Freshman writing was funny because it was so pointless so we just goofed off, although I missed Brian's company (he went to Jordan with his mom!). After freshman writing, we peaced outttt of Hebrew U and I began the planning process for THE ADINA ALLEN BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA!! I went to Elkana (the logistics coordinator for Nativ) to get suggestions for classy bars, since we usually go to mad sketchy places. He recommended a few places, so I went on a walk by myself to scope out the scene. My walk ended up taking me all over Jerusalem, and I wandered in and out of the Russian compound, past an exact replica of a Florentine tower, along the walls of the Old City, through religious neighborhoods, and all different places that I always see from the bus but never actually investigate. It was cool and sunny, and I had my iPod, and I was totally in my element.

When I got home, I napped a little bit and sewed up a muscle shirt for Adam. I was really proud of my handiwork and it looked so good! Everyone had dinner at home and then we went to watch the boys play basketball. It was really rainy and coldish but I was with Emily (she went on Nativ last year and came back to study here and now we are bffls) and we stayed for two exciting games. Then we went back home and got ready for the d-boat!!

The night began with a visit to an ice cream/waffle bar with Adina, Debbie, Rachel, Ariella, and Seffi, and I treated myself to a glass bottle coke that I had been craving. Razie, Max, Jonny, and Jesse joined us afterward and together we went to the bars I had scoped out earlier in the day. The bars hated life though and decided to be only for over 24 year olds; some nicer bars do this to avoid the gap-year customers and the soldiers. So then we were purposeless for a moment, until someone suggested Sideways and we headed there.

Sideways was a good call, because it was off the strip by just enough that there was room for all of us and a significantly lower chance of getting raped or cut by flying glass bottles. Sideways was very hospitable to our birthday girl, and all of Nativ turned out for the celebration! We took over the whole street. It suddenly began pouring and we all huddled under the awnings (some people danced in the streets and I would normally be one of them...but the night was so young and I didn't want to ruin my hair).

From the awnings, we migrated to the bar strip and hung around. I went into a bar to dance for a little while, and that was fun, but the night was already winding down. There were lots of party pictures to be taken, so I made that my job. I was Adina's personal paparazzi because it was her birthday, so I followed her around and made everyone take pretty pics with her. I did a good job.

Today started late-around noon. I had lunch at home, ran around in the rain, put on a slicker, and went to the supermarket across the street to buy snacks for Shabbat. I am going to try to stay more on top of blogging from now on! I know you missed me....

The Good Life

The past few days have encompassed everything I love about being in Israel, being Jewish, and being young. So for those who claim that youth is wasted on the young, or whatever that saying is, know that I am fully cognizant of my good fortune and take nothing for granted.

Thursday night after my last post, I walked to a medical clinic with Shira and Rachel to get our flu shots. The clinic is all for Americans, and the people all speak great English, and it is very clean and nice. The flu shot was not so nice, however, and for the past few days is has been swollen, red, hot, and painful on my left arm. Oh well though, it's better than the flu.

I walked home with a different Rachel, and Gabe and Michael (it's weird to call some people by their first names here, but for the sake of other people's privacy, I decided to just do that a long time ago), and we had amazing pizza squares for dinner at Beit Nativ. If you have been following my food adventures, you may remember how much everyone hated the food at home before, but now that we have stipends and are responsible for about seven meals of our own per week, Beit Nativ food is so great! Never thought I'd say that...

After dinner, the time was ripe for d-boating. We got dressed up, we went to the park, we encountered sketchy dangerous people so we left the park, we hung out outside bars, we danced on bars, we took pictures, we partied. I bought myself a chocolate bar since I wasn't drinking, but all my drunk friends thought it would be really appropriate to ask me to share the ENTIRE thing, and this made me very upset, and then Joshy noticed I was upset that my chocolate got away before I could even enjoy a third of it, and he bought me Reeses Pieces (I am adamant that the pronunciation be "reeseeees pieceees") and that made everything much much better.

I emerged the next morning at noon, just in time for lunch at home. I showered, went grocery shopping, bummed around, and got ready for Shabbat. I went to Yakar with Razie, Shara, Ariella, Max, Jonny, and Aaron, and of course it was beautiful. The Friday night services at Yakar are so incredibly spiritual, and I know pretty much all the tunes at this point. Services here vary from the US in many ways, but one thing that is hard to get used to is that no one calls page numbers because everyone brings his own siddur. It makes the service flow better, though, for sure.

Shabbat dinner, football, and tisch followed services. We ate, we threw, we caught, we sang. I played football for another three hours, or something ridiculous like that, because more and more people kept coming over and wanting to join! And how can you turn people away from a game of catch? You can't. So we kept expanding the circle and reordering the catching cycle. I never thought catch was fun before, but it turns out that it's super fun, and endlessly entertaining. It is, however, horribly demoralizing to chase after a football that has gone astray, because of its unpredictable path. There were definitely some embarrassing moments.

I ended up staying up until 6 am, which in retrospect was a very bad idea, since I woke up at 7:25 am to go to Shabbat services. I went to Yedidya with Judah and LeeAnn, and even though it's a 45 minute walk, it went by really quickly with such great company. LeeAnn and I went to the women's Torah service too, which was really cool since it was a Bat Mitzvah, so the BM girl read the whole thing, and she was good! The portion was interesting too-the flood and the Tower of Babel-what more could you ask for? I read the English and commentary for the portion before dozing off here and there.

The service finished with Mussaf and kiddush, and a delicious one at that. We walked home and discussed Torah and life. It was perfect. I had lunch and schmoozed and lounged, and I ended up napping in Josh's bed for five hours. I had originally planned to hang out with Seffi and Debbie in Seffi and Josh's room, and since Josh wasn't home, Debbie and I snuggled up under his really nice down comforter, and immeeeeediately fell into deep sleep.

I woke up after Shabbat was over, felt exceedingly refreshed, and went for a run with Meir. It was mostly successful, and he slowed down for me for the first two-thirds of the run, and then it was uphill for the rest of the way and I didn't want to keep such a fast pace so I told him to run on ahead. We both passed a group of Nativers a few minutes apart on the way, and they laughed at us. After a very necessary shower, we went to meet that same group of Nativers who were having dinner for Becky's birthday. We got there just in time for dessert!

The dinner party broke into groups afterward, and I walked with Becca to the next celebration, this time at the bars. It was much like any other night out, but this time, there were two additional birthdays and more flaming alcoholic beverages (it seems instinctive to not drink poison that is also on fire, but apparently not). We all usually sit at tables outside of this one particular bar that has good deals for happy hour, but Liza needed to go to the bathroom so we went inside, and what did I find but the POPCORN machine!!! I made best friends with the popcorn machine attendants and succeeded in scoring mad amounts of delicious and salty puffs of perfection. It made the whole night worth it.

The birthday party walked around the area for a while, carrying speakers and blasting hip hop, so it was an amusing event to be a part of, and then it was time to go home. There was more football to be played though, at one am, and then finally I could sleep.

I woke up this morning at ten, stalked my own facebook, and ate some rugalach. Today is a big day of Art History, football practice, and Idan Raichel!

The Swing of Things

Life has resumed a rhythm such as I have not experience since my 9-5 job this summer, and I love it. The semester brings many changes that give us more independence, more choice, more opportunities to save money or waste money, the option to only pray twice a week in the mornings, and the responsibilities of time management. I now have to wake up and eat breakfast not based on the prayer schedule but by the public transportation schedule! The program had a firm grip on my hand for the first few weeks, but now I am holding on by a mere finger.

Tuesday I woke up very early and took a city bus to school for my Art History class. We learned so much in just an hour and a half! We talked about Rembrandt's Belshazar's Feast and learned the Bible and Talmud behind that, Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, and other symbols of liberty. I really enjoy the teacher and the style of the class, although there is this one Canadian boy in my class who has to comment on everything, and he is really anti-American! We were looking at the Statue of Liberty from social/historical/cultural point of view, and he took over the professor's lecture with one of his own about the evils of capitalism and American domination! He was sitting next to me and invading my personal space and I was getting really frustrated. If you want to bash the US, take a different class; art history is just not the right venue for your rants. Honestly!!

After Art History, I had Hebrew with my Ulpan class from MiniMester. I really like my two new Hebrew teachers, because not only are they really chill human beings, they are so well trained to teach Hebrew! Like Hebrew teaching machines! It's a beautiful thing. The class is a really good level for me, and we are learning at a good pace. I can say so many verbs now, too, except I can't say "I need" which is a problem because I am a very needy person sometimes and it makes it difficult for me to express myself.

I stayed after class for a little while on Tuesday to find books for my research paper on the Oslo Accords, which was a successful hunt. I felt like Hermione in the Hogwart's library! Absolutely thrilling! Reading about the peace process so much is kind of getting me down though, and I'm starting to question/lose faith in all political leaders, like Obama AND Netanyahu! I am of course speaking specifically about peace in this region, so I can still support these leaders in other areas. But which direction is the correct way to peace!? Settlements or no settlements, partition or integration, one state or two states, economic dependency or separation??

After my diplomatic and depressing bibliographical experience, I took the 4 Aleph bus home. It was a new route for me, since we all usually take the 19, which is more direct. It was a very interesting cultural experience however, because the route is almost solely through Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods. I saw a group of girls, probably my age, standing at the bus stop, and I wondered if they were the cool or provocative girls around town, because their long skirts were tight around their hips. I saw a lot of black hats and earlocks and multi-child strollers. The streets were crowded and not very clean, but they were vibrant and interesting. It was a good show.

I got home just in time for my Talmud study session with Adina. We are taking the class together, and it is popular to study text in Chevruta (I am not sure of the literal translation, but it basically means studying with a partner). We looked over a text about a disagreement between rabbis which ends with one rabbi getting excommunicated. It was pretty hard, but we sat for about an hour and really worked it out. We looked at references from the Bible and considered what I thought was literally every possibility of certain confusing passages.

When we got to class on Wednesday afternoon, after a long morning of Hebrew, I found that there were actually several possibilities that we missed. I still felt like Adina and I had covered many important points in our personal study session, however, and I was glad that I had gotten to go over the text with her since there wasn't an opportunity to share all of our findings with the teacher, since the class is only an hour and a half. Our class is also really big for the style of class it is supposed to be-it's difficult to have class discussion with such a large group. The teacher is really great though, a cute little old man with a lot of knowledge, so class is great still.

After Talmud was Israeli Society and Politics, and that goes from 4:30-6 pm. The last half hour, I was gone. The sun had set and it was pitch dark and the Third Alliyah started to sound just like the Second and the First and everyone who immigrated was from Russia anyway...

I rushed home from school to make PB+J and go to Jewish Educator Training, an hour and a half class for people who might want to teach Hebrew school back in the states. It sounded like a great opportunity for resume building-and the class is free-so I had nothing to lose. It wasn't exactly what I had expected, but I did learn from it, so I think I will keep going. The only problem is...

Girls' football practice started immediately after JET, and I was so rushed! I was also really nervous on the walk to the park where we were going to practice because the boys who were coaching us were acting very intensely. It turned out to be the most fun I've had in a while (which is saying a lot since life here is very excellent all the time), and I even stayed after to practice with a few of the girls and the coaches. Four boys from the program are helping us, and they are so nice and supportive! I don't want to say it was a different side of Adam, Brian, Asaf, and Garrett, but at the same time, they completely transformed into dads teaching their daughters how to throw a ball. It dissolved all my fears, and I even caught the football successfully a few times!!

I ran home from the park with Kay, and then I was sweaty and tired so I showered and slept.

Today I had Freshman Writing and I actually enjoyed it. Our teacher likes us now, and we are allowed to have fun in class, so it was very humorous. Then I researched in the library, ate the lunch I packed for myself, hung out at the cafe, and helped Aaron find books in the library because now I am a master at channeling Hermione. We took the bus home and I just finished a good deal of my homework with Adina in the library on the first floor of my dorm building.

I am about to go get my flu shot : (

but then it is party time!!!! Lihitraot!

Jordana Conquers Fears

Before I tell you the story of this Shabbat, know that I am deeply disturbed by close contact with four things: slobbering dogs, slithering fish, grocery stores, and new food.

Shara and I woke up at 2 pm on Friday. Already we knew it would be a glorious day.

We packed for the weekend and bought chocolates for her Aunt Marcia, who is actually her second cousin (but these are minor details on which we mustn't waste time). Marcia picked us up around 4 and we drove with her to her moshav near Netanya. A moshav is a capitalist's kibbutz, if you will. She owns everything (house, horses, land), but she pays moshav dues for a guard, some programming, landscaping, and they have a plot of land for farming that is bordered by other plots of land for small farms. It is a great system, and many kibbutzniks are moving in this direction.

The house was a big ranch style home, with a big open room for kitchen and tv and many bedrooms. Shara and I actually had our own apartment attached to the house where Marcia's mother usually lives (she's on vacation in America). Everything was decorated with older furniture so it had a very homey feel. Nothing was fancy, but it was all beautifully kept. The three horses and two donkeys lived in an open stable in the backyard.

We arrived after dark and there was a REALLY BIG DOG named Whiskey waiting at the front door. There was a problem finding a key so I had to interact with the dog for an amount of time that really pushed my comfort zone limit. We walked inside and we were welcomed by a tall Israeli man with a ponytail, Tamir (Marcia's son), and three more dogs!!! Shara and I retired to our apartment until dinner time.

Five of us packed into a compact car (Marcia, Marcia's two sons Tamir and Eden, and us girls) and we drove off at an alarming rate to Rishon Nitzion (it actually might be Rishon Le Tzion, I have no idea, they didn’t enunciate). Forty five minutes later, we ended up at a beautiful apartment complex and took the elevator to the top floor. The apartment was stunning, and it was two floors, and modern, spacious, brand new, and filled with a big family and lots of food. There were tables set up on the big balcony porch and probably 25 of us ate comfortably there. It was not a religious family, but they were incredibly lovely people, extremely welcoming, friendly, and warm.

As nice as they were, they were even better cooks. I ate so many new things, and I didn’t even know the names of half the things I was eating. I do know that there were definitely many baby tomatoes on my plate and I ate them right up. The food situation was metzuyan and we all enjoyed ourselves heartily.

Over the meal, I talked with Eden, Marcia’s 17 year old son, and another boy who was 17. They were both in their last year of high school and about to enter the army. Eden has a long-distance runner’s body, shaggy hair, a nose ring, and big left-wing opinions. He said he hates the army and is not excited about it, but he has to go anyway next year. The other boy was just his opposite, a football player in physique and a gung-ho soldier in training. He said he did well on his army exams so hopefully he’ll get to be a medic, but whatever he does, he wants to fight Arabs. They were both really nice, relatable guys, and it’s hard to imagine them in uniform in just a few months.

The dinner ended quite late, and by the time we got home, I was exhausted. Shara and I washed up, read for a minute, and fell straight asleep. I didn’t wake up again until nine in the morning, but I thought it was actually eleven because the clock on my side of the bed was wrong. Shara didn’t wake up, so I had breakfast and a long chat with Marcia. The dogs were all up in my grill the whole time, but I got to learn a lot about her amazing life, how she made alliyah, her family’s story, her travels, her opinions, her book recommendations. She went on a gap year program in the 70’s and moved here with her husband after living in South Africa and England for a while, and now her life is horses, farms, army, and her family’s screen printing business.

Once everyone woke up, we went to the beach for a few hours. It was a gorgeous, hot day, and we packed our lunches and brought an umbrella. I went into the water right away, and it was so beautiful words can’t begin to explain. It bore an uncanny resemblance to the beach in The Little Mermaid when she has legs and she is wearing a silvery dress and everything is sparkling, and there were cliffs in the distance along the coast just like in the movie! The sky was a bit hazy so everything was silver and white and the water looked like a million diamonds were floating on top of it. I swam by myself for an hour or so, and I just took it all in. There were many, many fish in the water (not just minnows...actual fish sized fish!) and they swam near my legs and I was tempted to get out but everything else was so perfect that I just sucked it up. I thought this would be a good time for me to grow up, because I don’t think that squealing at fish and dogs is cute anymore. I’m not sure what else occupied my time in the Med Sea, but I know I was planning how I would describe that moment in my blog. Unfortunately, my thoughts don’t stream so easily in my current environment (my dorm room at 12:45 am). Just know-it was perfect.

Shabbat wrapped up with a visit to Marcia’s factory, and then we were on our way. We took a bus from Netanya to Jerusalem, ran into people we know on the ride, and walked home from the central bus station.

Sunday morning was the beginning of a big day. I will have to summarize quickly because I’m exhausted right now, but here’s what happened: I woke up early because Debbie had gotten locked out of her room so she slept in my bed (which was a very pleasant surprise) and we all went to breakfast. I then went grocery shopping at a supermarket and the shuk, and it was a really stressful experience but I did it! I even compared mass: price ratios for cereals, and I was seriously a mental math machine. I planned in advance with a budget, the number of meals I plan to make from my shopping results, and a list of suggested food items. I ended up under budget and I got all my foods!!

I felt very accomplished. I made my lunch and got ready for school, and then I was off with Shara and Tali to catch the city bus. It was a trial, and we cut it really close, and an old blind man sat next to me and calmed me down when I thought we were going to be late for our first class.

Art History of Israel was AMAZING! It really stimulated me and I love the teacher (she made alliyah about thirty years ago, she’s probably about 50, and she’s just awesome). I can’t wait to go to class tomorrow!

We got home, we had a girls’ program for Rosh Chodesh (new month, cycle of the moon, feminism, everything like that) and then I just sat and talked with a lot of people that night. The program was cool because I learned really interesting things about girls I don’t know that well yet.

That brings me to today, which was long but great. I davened this morning starting at 6:45 am, and it was a very long service because of Rosh Chodesh, Hallel, Mussaf, and Torah. We had just enough time for breakfast and then we boarded the bus to go to Hebrew U for Hebrew class, which was great. Then I got homework done in the library, ate lunch, got free stuff at the student center, and laid on the grass with friends and listened to a concert. It was time for class again, four hours later, and I went to Talmud As A Cultural Adventure. It was awesome, more to come on that later. Right after that was Israeli Society and Politics, which I liked a little less because the lecturer did not pace himself well so we really missed out on the second half of the topic.

I got home from school at 6:45 pm, helped Josh grocery shop and grabbed falafel with him, and then I went on a run, took my vitamins, flossed my teeth, put in my retainer, cleaned my feet, and showered. And now, finally, I am ready for bed. Lailah tov.

TGIT

Thursdays are the new Fridays, so TGIT!!! We had our third (out of six total) Freshman Writing class today at Hebrew University. It was as miserable as the first two, but now at least I know what to expect, that it isn't crucial that I pay close attention, and that it's okay if Brian and I pass dirty and/or distasteful notes back and forth.

I had a dairy date with Stephanie and Arielle today (mixing it up!) and a reallyyyy cute kitty joined us. Then I went with Stephanie to scope out the gym on campus, because I had heard good things. It turned out to be a really far walk and very expensive, but now at least I feel informed. I still might pay to swim every once in a while. We got the bus home and I nodded off a bit on the ride.

Although I wanted nothing more than to continue my bus nap, I worked diligently for several hours (boys came in to distract me, and I did a crossword puzzle) on my homework, that isn't due until next Thursday! I was proud of myself and now I feel so free. The homework was to outline an article about the status of Judaism as a race, and it was fairly interesting although very repetitive. The article claimed that biological/genetic races do not exist at all, but that Judaism can be considered a socio-historical race based on shared history, culture, etc. The article also contradicted itself a bit too much for my liking, but overall a worthwhile read.

I loaded up on carbs at dinner because there was pizza and pasta and bread, and of course, no meal that I eat in Israel (literally, I do not go one meal without) is complete without cucumbers. Shara warned me not to work out right after dinner, but I ran anyway-my long route. It was a mistake. I felt sick for a good part of the way and it made it hard to focus. I did notice cool things though: I now have a favorite tree here in Israel (it may or may not be eucalyptus, I shall investigate. The point is that it's beautiful and majestic), I passed by a concert of sorts outside the Old City, and I saw a wig in a dumpster and it totally freaked me out. That kind of thing is mad creepy, don't you think?

After running and recovering, I showered and got ready for party night! My girlfriends started calling the going-out process a D-boat, because when we came to Israel on summer programs we all got super decked out for a disco boat ride. So I got appropriately dolled up for the D-boat (complete with black FMP's and red lipstick!!) and we took pictures and we walked through the park to the bars. The bars provided me with lots of delicious popcorn tonight, and I danced a lot too. Tonight was nothing crazy, but it suited my mood perfectly and I feel so happy going to sleep right now.

Lailah tov!!!

Telepathy and To Do Lists

Instead of saying the prayers in Shacharit this morning, I read the introduction to the Koren Siddur that I borrowed from Ariella. She recommended it because she knows about my quest for spirituality. It was really helpful and interesting, and I wanted to share this quote because I love the imagery: To see the world in a grain of sand/And a Heaven in a wild flower,/Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, and Eternity in an hour--William Blake

I was productive today! Instead of going to bed after prayers and breakfast because I didn't have class, I did a NY Times crossword puzzle and went to see an apartment in Bakaa for when

Mama visits in January. I took the bus by myself and I navigated and I tried to ask intelligent questions all by myself. I've been meaning to do this for soooo long! It felt so great to stop procrastinating. And when have I ever before scoped out real estate? Never. Shechechianu!

I got home in time for lunch (the person renting out the apartment actually drove me home, which in hindsight could have been risky but he was wearing tzitzit so I figured...well I don't know what I figured but I got in the car anyway; growing up is a learning process). After lunc

h, Ariella and I tried to do telepathy and we researched it on the internet and everything. We were supposed to practice more later, but the day filled up. I am very excited to develop this skill with her though! We are both totally open to it and I sense success in our future. I'll keep you posted. Literally.

At two, we all boarded a bus and drove for a long time until we were far outside Jerusalem and we went to a memorial service for people who have made alliyah and then died in service to Israel. It was in a forest with a big look-out area and there was an accordion player and several speakers, and representatives from different groups read about the olim being remembered and I read for Nativ. It was a good experience, and of course I love

microphones and crowds, but the topic was really depressing especially since a lot of people on Nativ are definitely thinking about making alliyah and it is hard to imagine my friends joining the army and letting whatever happens happen. (The picture shows the featured speaker looking at the torch, which is supported by a tripod of three guns).

We then had dinner at the Harel Mall, and I had delicious mozzarella sandwiches from Aroma with the girls, and 3 shekel amazing ice cream! In the parking garage, someone had put out dishes

of cat food and milk for the kitties, and there was a cat eating it!! It made me sooo happy! Rak po!!!

I had a lovely bus ride home snugglin with Max and then I was ready for a run! I went pretty far again, and I decided to reverse my route because I thought the incline this way would be less steep, but as it turns out, it just made the last 2/3 of the run uphill as opposed to the last third. It felt fantastic anyway, and I was so proud of myself. I rewarded myself with a purchase of fluff, which Debbie and I ate with our fingers on a bench on Ben Yehuda.

The night ended with me having a lot of energy, practicing head stands against doors, and taking a desperately needed shower. The icing on the cake was my skype date with Melanie! And now I am headed to bed! Lailah tov!

I Like the Salad Bar Tender

Yesterday was a fun but uneventful day because we didn't have class. I woke up for prayers and breakfast and went back to bed until lunch. After lunch, Razie and I made up a dance combination to Temptation, a Farsi song by Arash. It is so much fun, and we are going to perform it with the rest of The Down To Dance Team (TDTDT) at the NBA!!!

Before dinner, we had a group program on drugs and alcohol. It could have been more effective, and a lot of kids ended up just mocking it or interjecting their own opinions so much that we didn't really learn that much, besides what other Nativers think about drugs and alcohol. The message was important though, I'll admit that.

I really don't think I did much else of importance yesterday, but I remember being in a really good mood, probably because Adina lives next door to me and Ayelet called me on skype and so did Chelsea and Moss and all my friends are so amazing!

This morning we had a little extra time to sleep, then we prayed, then we breakfasted, and then we went to school. We passed a road sign that said "NO RIGTH TURNS." I really want Israel pay me to proofread this country.

Freshman Writing was less awful today because I got to get most of my homework done in class and I am going to research the Oslo Accords. Also because Brian rubs my back when I get worked up about something that makes it sound like we're actually in middle school and not 18 years old.

Dairy Date stressed me out like whoa today because there was a huge group of students who were super aggressive and smelly and they kept budging me in the salad line!! The problem also was that there was a different salad bartender than the one who always waits on me, because that one was working the cash register. I made eye contact with him at some point and he ended up taking a break from what he was doing to serve me!! We are actually best friends and he knows exactly how I like my salad and he thinks I'm funny. We've actually never talked about anything but salad but I feel like it's the beginning of a beautiful romance.

I calmed down from the salad bar ordeal with my girlfriends and we all had our dairy. I got my reader (it was going to take three hours but I whined and he gave it to me right away!). I took the city bus home with Aaron and Asaf and it was an adventure as always. Then it was time for homework, and I was such a good little student and I finished it right after school!

At 3pm, TDTDT had its first official practice! It was a huge success and we had a group of about seven amazing girls and we all worked so well together and we were so happy. Oh, I love life!!

Now I am letting my sweat evaporate on the second story balcony with my homies and listening to rap music while blogging. Things could only be better if I was showering. Otherwise, I have never been so content.