Even though last week I had some stories to share, it was still a shorter entry, and the routine was pretty monotonous. But this week, if you think you can handle it, I have redeemed myself with more adventures and stories than should be legal to enter in one blog entry.
Unlike last week, where I skipped some days in my blog entry because nothing happened, this week’s adventures pick up the very day after I left off, Sunday. Imma and Abba (Hebrew for mom and dad) actually went to Michigan for the weekend to visit my Bubbe and Zayde, and Grams (my Grandparents) and the rest of our family there. I hadn’t been able to talk to them since I left for Israel, so when Imma and Abba visited, they brought a web camera with them to set up on Grams’ computer so we could skype (video chat over the internet). Because of the time difference I left class early (my teacher completely understood even if he jokingly gave me a hard time) and after two and a half months (wow has it been that long already?!?) I finally got to SEE and talk to my grandparents and 2 of my cousins! I was so excited and thankful that not only had my uncle worked hard at figuring out how to install the camera and skype program onto Grams’ stubborn computer, but also, my Grams had organized a brunch so that my Bubbe and Zayde and cousins could come over and skype. It was so exciting to finally “see” the family, and now that skype is installed I’ll be able to plan more skype “dates” with the family! After seeing the whole family, I realized how much I missed not being able to visit everyone with Imma and Abba like usual, so to distract me, my friends, Zoe, Dave, and Jessica let me help them cook dinner. Even though I already had a salad prepared, I really miss cooking at home with my Imma. They were all happy to have extra help with making the stirfry, and I was so glad to be back in the makeshift “kitchen”. (Nativ has now converted the bomb shelter into a “kitchen” by supplying 2 hot plates, a toaster oven and a microwave, but we’d have to buy our own pots and pans to use it). I was having such a good evening after skyping and cooking, but I still had another JET program (Jewish Education Training). It was actually a really fun class, we got to act out classroom scenarios for different age groups and situations, so not only did we learn how to deal with them as teachers; we got to play roles and act like little kids for fun. I guess I was already in a childish mood, so it was great that I got to watch the first half of Lion King with one of my friends, Debra, before she had to skype with her mom. Lion King is definitely one of my favorite Disney movies and singing along with the songs always puts me in a good mood.
Not only have my days been full of happiness, so has the weather in Israel. It’s already the middle of November and it is still 80 degrees and sunny. Even though this makes the days really enjoyable, it’s actually dangerous for Israel because Israel has a very low water supply and depends on the rain in the winter time just to get by. Right now it’s practically a drought, but the weather is still nice to appreciate, because it’s just plain hard not to enjoy the sun. Because Nativ supplies lunches for the Yeshiva and Ulpan students on Monday, a bunch of us decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and take our food in to-go-trays from the lunch room to the park across the street. It was so sunny and the music and blankets made for a really nice change of scenery from the usual lunch room. I got another special meal that night when I want to Alex and Laura’s house for dinner. It had been a really long time since I’d seen my cousin, and since I hadn’t been able to go to their house for Shabbas dinner because of our closed weekend, we were lucky to find that Monday night was open on both our calendars. Dena Rapaport was also able to come to dinner, and it had been quite a while since I’d seen her too, which added to the awesome evening. Laura (with the help of Alex) baked some delicious salmon, Israeli couscous, and a delicious salad, not to mention a plum tart for desert. I was in heaven with delicious homemade food, and had such a fun time just talking and catching up on everyone’s lives. I left full to my gills and enjoyed the walk back to base, to walk off some of the night’s dinner. When I got back, I found I had made it back just in time to see tonight’s Israel movie. It was called “The Secrets” and is about these orthodox women studying In Jerusalem, who meet a Russian woman who wants their help repenting before she dies. There are some really intense scenes and was really interesting, plus the movie only came with Hebrew subtitles, so even though 2 of our Israeli staff translated some of the movie, it was cool to watch and understand some of the Hebrew that they didn’t translate.
 |
| Seth, Sean, and I enjoying the picnic |
 |
| Nina, Tamar, Becca, Ariel, and I (the girls) |
 |
| Alex, Laura, and I after an delicous dinner |
Apparently the change of scenes for my meals wasn’t over yet. Tuesday for lunch I got a very special treat! If you didn’t know, my family lived in England for three years, when I was in 1st through 3rd grade, and we made a lot of good friends, some like family. It’s been hard to keep in touch with everybody but one family we’ve kept in touch with are Charles and Pauline Posner. I can still remember when I was little and playing in their house during a Shabbat lunch after services. They were always such good friends when we lived in England and even though I hadn’t seen them since I was in 5th grade, Tamar was able to see them a lot when she was on Nativ (they visit Israel a lot) and e-mail has been a great way to keep in touch. When I came to Israel it was obvious I had to tell them I was here in case they ever visited Israel. I was so happy to find out that Pauline would be visiting Israel and would be in Jerusalem for two days, so lunch was a great way to see her. Seeing Pauline made it seem as if it hadn’t been forever since my last visit to England, and as always I love having “family” to spend time with in Israel. I showed Pauline around the Nativ base, where I live, and as we headed out to lunch, we ran into a very funny coincidence. Since I live next to the Yeshiva and it was the Yeshiva lunch time, sometimes teachers and students come outside and enjoy the weather or go out to lunch. At the very time we were walking through the outdoor amphitheater, one of the Rabbis who teaches at the Yeshiva was walking outside too. Apparently this rabbi is now the Rabbi for Pauline’s shul (the shul that my family helped start when we lived in England)! Pauline stopped in shock and began talking with Rabbi Joel Levy, apparently he knows my family, and he became the Rabbi of the shul just as we were moving back to Cincinnati. He was surprised to find out I was a “famous” Pentelnik, and the Jewish geography was very exciting. Pauline and I still had lunch to attend, and she treated me to this delicious lunch at Restobar, which I’ve passed a lot when walking around the city. We got to sit outside and enjoy the sunny weather while still being in the shade and I had a delicious Sweet Potato Soup and Blue Cheese Salad. Though the delicious food was a really exciting treat, being with Pauline was even more amazing. We talked forever until her friend picked her up from lunch so they could spend time together. I was also so excited to hear that both Pauline AND Charles would be visiting Israel 2 more times while I’m on Nativ! We had had so much fun, that our lunch had run late of course, but luckily, I was still able to make it in time for mine and Tamar’s skype date. It had been so long since we’d talked, and now we were finally able to start discussing our plans for when she visits in December. Now we have so many ideas and I even got permission from my Nativ Director that I can leave early before my break starts so Tamar and I can spend two days in Eilat, I’m so excited. Now that the plans are starting to come together, everything seems real. Apparently Tuesday was also family day, because after Tamar and I skyped for a long time, Imma and I skyped for another hour, just discussing all my plans, and really catching up on both of our adventures. It was so nice just to have a “family” evening. With skype, it makes the distance seem so much smaller, even though I couldn’t really hug Tamar or Imma, the fact that I could see them and talk with them, was awesome. The rest of the evening I worked more on plans, and cleaned up my room (which can be very fulfilling/relaxing) and had Erev Nativ, and a much-needed-early-bedtime.
 |
| Pauline and I with our meals that looked beautiful |
 |
| One last goodbye until later |
The amazing weather was still keeping up by Wednesday, so after lunch I wanted to walk around Jerusalem, since I didn’t have anything to do till class time. I was able to find that two of my friends, Zoe and Becca, were planning to go check out the artist colony near the Mamilla Mall. I’d passed it a lot on all of our tours through Jerusalem, and had always been curious, so I didn’t hesitate to join them on their escapade. Unfortunately the artist colony wasn’t really interesting and the art was less than expected, but at least, now I know. At least I was able to enjoy another sunny day. That night, after class, we had another Beit Midrash class, this time I attended a class that discussed astrology and its correspondence to ancient Judaism and Judaism today, It was so interesting to learn about the stars influence on some Rabbis theologies, and it went really well with my leftover soup and salad from my lunch with Pauline J.
Of course this week kept up with more antics, and Thursday afternoon, since we get out of class early, I finally went shopping (It had been over a month!). I had heard about this consignment shop on Yaffo Street, and I really wanted some big sweaters to wear with leggings (it is starting to get chilly in the evenings), plus consignment shops are always fun to explore and check out. I told my friend, Allie Griff, about the store and she really wanted to check it out too, thus our adventure began. The store was so cute and small, it had some crazy full length dresses (if only I had another prom or ball to go to), and I was able to find 2 great sweaters for the winter while Allie found a really cute poncho, basically, the shopping was a success. We got back with smiles on our faces and in time for a quick Nativ dinner before football practice. There was a program that night for people who would work at camps that summer, so a lot of our team wasn’t available for practice. It was fun having another small practice, we even had fun goofing around, singing, and dancing, but don’t worry we still worked hard. The night wasn’t over yet though, at 9:30 I got to see… HARRY POTTER 7. Not only did I see harry Potter opening night in Israel, but I saw it before people in America were even ABLE to see it! Plus it was just an amazing movie in general, and the Israel experience made it very unique. In Israel, when you buy tickets, you are actually assigned seats. Since my friends and I arrived only 7 minutes before the movie, the only row available was row 2. But the theater we were at is actually a converted theater for plays, so we had awesome seat since there was an entire distance of a stage between our seats and the screen. Plus, there were Hebrew subtitles on the bottom of the screen, and I enjoyed glancing at them at points and understanding the Hebrew- what a cool experience. Lastly, in Israel their movies have “intermission”. They stop the movie in the middle of its viewing, and even though it’s technically a “smoking break”, because a lot of Israelis smoke and “need” that intermission (gross), it’s also a great break to run to the bathroom or get a drink. Harry Potter was an exciting end to a fun day of being with friends.
 |
| Harry Potter was so exciting and scary! |
The next morning, I had to wake up early to pack for Pizgat Zev (a community in north Jerusalem), where the Weiner family live, because I was going to spend Shabbat with them! Even though I wouldn’t be leaving till 1:30, I had just gotten a phone call the day before from Shir Cohen, my friend from Netanya, who was in Jerusalem and wanted to meet up Friday morning. So after starting packing, I went down to breakfast, where I heard that my friend Zoe’s plans had been canceled a second week in a row, which no one should have to go through. I asked her if she’d be interested in coming with me to the Wieners, even though I told her there was no guarantee, since it was last minute, but she said she’d really like to if it was possible. On my walk to Ben Yehuda Street to meet Shir, I called the Wiener family, and even though I said they shouldn’t feel obligated at all, they are such a loving family and said of course Zoe could come. When I got off the phone I was able to spend the morning with Shir, which was so much fun. We just spent the morning walking down Yaffo Street, browsing in all the stores, while catching up on life; basically, it was a great way to start the weekend. Zoe and I left for Pizgat Zev after lunch and got to the Weiner’s house at around 2:30. Just entering the home, it felt like any stresses were lifted away, I could tell it was going to be a vacation-like weekend! Whenever I come over its like being at my home in Israel, I feel so comfortable and I’m with “family”. Plus, that Shabbat, Yael, their daughter who is my age, was in, and their daughter Michal (Tamar’s age) came too. It was so awesome seeing them both, especially Yael, even when we won’t talk for a long time; it’s always easy to reconnect, and ever since I came to Israel we’ve been keeping in touch more and more. Before Shabbat it was fun to just talk with the family, and watch Glee, of course. But dinner was a different story. As I’ve said before, David Weiner is an amazing cook, For Shabbat dinner, not only was there homemade challah, there was a delicious Indian soup, a yummy rice/onion dish, and a special vegetarian tofu and vegetable stir-fry, I was in heaven. I definitely don’t get food like this on Nativ, and the family atmosphere was a refreshing break from the college-like atmosphere I’m used to. After a delicious dinner, Zoe and I were so exhausted that we were falling asleep at the table, so we took an early night and went straight to bed. The second my head hit the pillow, I was out.
 |
| Shir and I |
 |
| Yael and Michal let me in on a sister pic |
 |
| Zoe, Yael, and I |
After about 12 hours of sleep, I awoke, well rested and very relaxed. Zoe was also awake, so we joined the family pajama party; everyone was just enjoying the relaxing Shabbat with a good sleep-in and family time. By 11, we figured that it was time to eat, so we started putting together a Shabbas brunch that reminded me of home. The feast of fresh veggies, cheeses, tuna salad, and homemade challah was delish and very relaxing. For the next couple of hours (while we were still in our pajamas) we played Bananagrams and Anagrams, perfect games for Shabbat that are just plain fun. Even though I had slept so much the previous night, I somehow still got tired after a playing the games for a while, so I took an hour nap, while Zoe read a book and Yael rested. By the time I woke up it was already time for Havdalah (when Shabbat ends- when there are three stars in the sky) because Shabbat ends so early in the winter. After Havdalah, we thought a movie was a good way to enjoy Zoe and my last bit of time with the family. The movie was a classic that Zoe and I had never seen before, “Music Empire”. It was a really funny movie, and it was the first time I’d watched something on a tv screen in over 2 and a half months! (we watch our shows and movies on our computers). It was especially nice that when it was time to go, David drove us home rather than having to take the bus home at night, and even though I’d had such a relaxing day, completely in my pajamas, I was still exhausted when we got back and I went right to bed.
Sunday wasn’t very eventful; it was just a day to get back into the swing of things. There wasn’t much to do because almost everyone went to go see the new Harry Potter, but I had seen it on Thursday already. Luckily I still had a great night, because it was apparently family night! After skyping with my friend Lainey back in Cincinnati I had 3 consecutive skype dates; first I skyped with my parents, next was Tamar, followed by Leah! Even though I didn’t really have any special adventures, “spending the night” with my family was special in its own way.
As always, have a good week, and I know there was a lot to read this week, but there was just so much that happened, so I hope it was entertaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment