Who would think that after my last post I’d have any exciting news to share… but I do, I guess that’s what happens when you live in Israel?
I guess I also keep giving away all of my adventures with my “creative” titles, but I promise you should still keep reading, because these stories are pretty exciting (at least for me). In my last blog I mentioned that my cousin had her baby! What I didn’t mention is that my uncle (her father) is in town for 2 weeks for a Doctor’s conference thing. How lucky and coincidental that he was her for the baby too! Also lucky, is that I got to see some more family. Sunday night my Uncle Ed came to base and brought me some goodies from the U.S. (toothpaste I can’t find here, some stain remover for laundry AND a delicious Michigan Zeiman’s Bakery flakey roll!). I was then treated to an amaaazing dinner at the Leonardo Plaza across the street. It was in fact a really nice treat for both of us. I got this amazing pasta/salmon dish. It was so delicious and lucky me, after no fish forever; I got fish a second time! Plus I got to take leftovers home, and like I said earlier, they don’t give us much money for meals… It was so nice to have dinner with family and I even got to see pictures of the new baby! That night I also started the JETS program with Mark Lazar, which I mentioned in my last entry. I’m excited to start working and learning new techniques for teaching, plus I’m with a bunch of my friends.
But familiar faces don’t end there. Lisa and Jon Bernstein from Cincinnati came to Israel for a conference and I got to see them for lunch on Monday! It was so amazing to see people from Cincinnati, I felt like they brought a bit of home with them…which they actually did. They delivered a small package of a few clothes and goodies from home, which definitely made the visit extra special. Plus the food was delicious and I got sent home the leftovers (yay free meals!) and just being with friends from back home was a nice change of pace. That night was the start of POWDERPUFF (girl’s flag football). I’ve never been good at football, as in I can’t throw OR catch a football! I’ve never really played football, it’s the one sport I usually stay away from but of course I didn’t want to miss out on this fun girl bonding. Practice was fun seeing people’s skills, and discovering mine! I have found my calling in defense, I loved trying to get to the QB, and got bruises all over my shoulders it was so much fun. Unfortunately at the end of practice we found out the league is non-contact football, and my beastly defending has turned into boring, chasing after people, oh well.
Football Battle wounds |
bruises on the other arm |
Our activity Tuesday night introduced the new art program nativ is trying out this year. It’s a way to incorporate the arts (even food) with Judaism. It’s going to be about 4-6 times while were in Jerusalem and I’m definitely going to be joining in on the fun, even if art isn’t my thing…jokes! Even though this won’t be real drawing etc. it’ll be nice to have a creative outlet because I haven’t had any time to really focus on my art. With the intro course, we made maps of our journeys, any life journey we’ve had or our life as a whole. It was fun to collage a map and really think about our life journeys and hear about others’ when we shared our maps. The only thing that happened Thursday was football practice again, but, like I said, it wasn’t as much fun now that it’s less physical.
Friday was finally full of more adventure. Even though a bunch of people went away for Shabbas I decided to take the weekend off, after my trip to Netanya. But I didn’t have to spend my Friday on base lonely and bored. Nativ is now offering tiyulim every Friday mornings where anyone can go exploring places that aren’t typical tourist locations. This Friday, seven of us boarded a public bus with one of the Madrichot, Achi, and got off at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. 2 Kilometers later, we got off our trail at Ein Lavan – the White Spring. It was so fun to jump into the natural spring and then lie out in the hot sun and dry off. Plus we discussed the importance of water, especially in Israel, and just had some thinking time to ourselves.
I picked olives along the hike |
Tali, Achi, and I in the spring |
Beautiful view |
Of course, if my blog entry began with familiar faces, it should end that way too. Today was such an awesome Shabbas day. My friend, Allie Griff, and I, met up with Laura and Alex Freedman so we could go to their house for Shabbat Lunch! It’s always amazing to see Alex and Laura, but I was surprised even more when Laura told me they had invited Dena Rapaport, from Cincinnati, too! Of course the lunch was sooo delicious, and I brought the challah, which was really special since Aunt Tissie and Imma are famous and always bake their challahs for Shabbat (too bad I don’t have a kitchen, so we had to settle for Marzipan Challah). It was such a nice lunch and it was nice that Alex and Laura could meet one of my friends, it was so fun and it made my Shabbas amazing.
As always, shavua tov!
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