Short, Sweet, and to the Point

This week Channukah left me with an unfortunate stomach bug, so I definitely had less adventures to work with but I hope what I did do can compensate for my few sick days – blame it on the drastic weather changes not me.

Tuesday was finally a less busy day then the rest- but what I did do was very memorable.  After dinner (Nativ finally served latkes!), we had Erev Nativ. Usually we just stay on base and have discussions, but that night we had a field trip. Nativ bought tickets for everyone to go to the Light Show at David’s Citadel. The Light Show is up for Chanukah, and is basically a show of amazing and realistic projections onto the Citadel which tells the story of the Jews, up to modern day. The projections were so realistic and the way the makers of the show were able to handle the angles and juts of the castle were very impressive. I have never seen such vivid projections, and it was so cool that there were no words, yet it was easy to follow the story.

The Citadel looked beautiful

After a pretty simple evening the night before, Wednesday made up for it with nonstop adventure from morning till night. Because it was still Chanukah, there was Torah readings in the morning, all week.  I had offered to read torah that morning and even though I had forgotten throughout the week, I had still been able to learn it in time. Even though my throat is extra scratchy in the morning and I was really tired, it was cool to be able to read in front of my friends and keep up my skills. I had a pretty normal day of classes that day, but at 6 my day got truly exciting. I was going to see “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”! The Hebrew University, where the majority of Nativers study, puts on a musical every year, some of the Nativers even star in it. This year the musical was “Joseph”, which was actually the first musical I ever saw! Our family loves musicals, I remember when I was younger, listening to the music from “Joseph” in long car rides and even to school, so I was really excited to see the show. It definitely was not a disappointment, which was important since it was the last night of Chanukah. I was surprised at how good the singing was, the whole time my friends and I were dancing and mouthing along to all the songs. It was really cool to see people from Nativ in the play, showing off their talents, I was surprisingly impressed. Plus the actor for Joseph looked like Matthew Letts (my brother-in-law), which was an added surprise. The music ultimately put me in an extremely good mood, and when the show was over and we got to see all the actors, I got to see Paula Sass, a friend from USY who is studying at Hebrew U this semester. When we all got back (in very high spirits), it was time to light the Chanukiah for the last time this year in Israel. It has been such an amazing experience celebrating the Holiday in Jerusalem so of course I was sad, I didn’t want the magic to end. Luckily, the last night was a perfect culmination. I was surrounded by so many friends, all singing songs, and the glow of candles.  Seeing all 8 candles lit in each Chanukiah was a very special memory I’ll never forget. To end the holiday with a final bang, 2 guys in our Karmiel group organized a Latke making party. I was so excited; I had definitely missed helping Imma in the Kitchen, cooking up those holiday potato pancakes. I got to shred potatoes, mix in flour and seasonings, make little patties and flip them in the pan of hot oil, while music blasted and the rest of our group worked (and ate). It was a blast and eventually I got to take over flipping (actually cooking) the latkes in the pan, which I missed most from home, so I took my new job with pride. Eventually the crowd started to disperse and there were only 5 of us left, but there was so much potato mixture, that we stayed up till 2 am using up the rest of the concoction - it’d be  shame to waste it!  We were left with two plates piled high with giant latkes, and tired chefs.

Ready to go see Joseph!

I saw Paula!

Last night of lighting the Chanukiah

The Late Night Left Over workers

Eventually we started making giant Latkes!

 The next morning I woke up smelling like latkes, which is usually a delicious smell, but I really didn’t want people eating me. Even with a shower, it appeared that I’d need time to get rid of the lingering scent. Unfortunately, not only did staying up till 2 making latkes give me a new perfume, it also weakened my immune system. All week I kept staying up really late, enjoying Chanukah and its excitement, and that final night was the straw that broke the camel’s back. In the middle of Talmud class I started feeling very sick and nauseous and couldn’t stand another minute. The chills hit me, and I knew I had gotten the stomach flu that had been going around. I didn’t want to admit it to myself because no one wants to be sick, but as the afternoon rolled around and I was still feeling awful, I had to make the call I was dreading. All of Chanukah I had been looking forward to seeing Alex and Laura Freedman, but now I had to call and cancel. Since it was still the last day of Chanukah, I was going to be able to say “so long” to the Holiday with family, plus we were going to see this cool performance called mystery theater and get Roladin Soufganiyot(donuts). I had been really looking forward to Roladin, I’m not a big fan of Jelly donuts so I hadn’t really had any throughout the holiday, even though it’s the big food of Chanukah in Israel. But Roladin donuts come in decadent flavors like champagne, popcorn and more! I had waited all week to share the delicious-ness with Alex and Laura and now I was sick, Roladin didn’t even seem appetizing! I also, always feel bad cancelling last-minute, but of course Laura and Alex were so sweet and just wanted me to feel better. I spent all day in my room resting/watching Boy Meets World, and made myself eat soup, even though I wasn’t hungry I knew I needed food. Then to cheer me up, Alex and Laura stopped by just so that I could still see them, and they even brought me a Roladin Soufganiyah! Even though I was still feeling sick, seeing Alex and Laura definitely brightened my evening.

I don’t have much to write for Friday and Saturday because I was still sick. I basically sat in my room all day Friday and watched Boy Meets World and when it was time for Shabbat, I threw on a skirt so I could join Nativ for dinner, and made myself eat again, even though I was still nauseous. After dinner I went straight back to my room for more quiet time. The next day was another “bedroom” day. My chills were gone but I still had little energy and whenever I ate the nausea would begin all over again. I had planned to stay in Jerusalem that Shabbat because I wanted to take advantage of the myriad of religious experiences of the city; I had wanted to walk around the Old city and experience many of the different synagogues Jerusalem has to offer. I guess it was good I hadn’t made any plans, even if I didn’t get to see the sights, I was able to heal.

And apparently the restful weekend paid off. Sunday morning my stomach was still tender and after breakfast I felt pretty ill, so I took off class in the morning, but by lunchtime, food wasn’t as hard on my stomach and I decided I was up for my afternoon class. Though I was back to almost normal health, I didn’t know if I’d even be able to get to class, Israel was having CRAZY windstorms. The wind was so strong I thought I was going to be blown away. Not to mention it was sooo cold and because Israel has been so dry, the windstorm was really a dust-storm! There was dirt everywhere, and the wind was so powerful, the power flashed out a few times. But as long as I stayed inside I wasn’t too scared… I also wasn’t going to let the crazy weather keep me from my usual evening of activities. As I mentioned before, we had filmed some scenes for the USY International Convention, and there was still one more scene we needed to film, so after dinner a bunch of people from the Karmiel group got together for the last scene. It was fun, but I got covered in baby powder because we had to throw it up in the air- at least it wasn’t the dirt from the storm. After the video filming, Nativ was offering an improv evening. I love improvisational games. When I was younger, our family would always watch the show, “Whose Line is it Anyways?”, which was basically a show of nonstop improve games, that could make you laugh till your side hurt. While Nativ doesn’t have the same funny actors like Drew Carry and Wayne Brady, we have some pretty funny characters of our own.

Though the windstorm was greatly unappreciated and rather scary, Monday’s weather was a change for the better. It rained again! Even though it was cold weather and I don’t like being cold and wet, I’m always grateful when there is rain in Israel – though I can’t help but whine a little. So even though the morning wasn’t the most comfortable weather, at least it benefitted the land of Israel. And the weather was so cooperative, that by the afternoon it stopped raining so we could still have our football game. It was still really cold outside, rain or not, and some people weren’t feeling so we had an extra small turnout… only 7 girls! Amazingly, we won again! In fact we won 25-0… because the other team forfeited, and that’s how football rules work, I guess. It was pretty funny, and exciting, that we had won our third game in a row (even if we didn’t play), but it was a little frustrating after we had walked such a long way in the cold weather, not to have a game to play. Luckily, a team that had already beaten us, offered to play a friendly scrimmage. I was a little scared after getting crushed by them before, but there was no pressure, so we all just had fun. Our Nativ team was having lots of laughs, as a couple teammates (including myself) made very memorable crash landings in both defense and offense; don’t worry nobody got hurt – unless you count pride. To add to the excitement of our win, Chana Pentelnik, my cousin, showed up to watch the game! It was awesome seeing her, and having the family support, plus just hanging out a little, while I wasn’t playing, was fun, not to mention my dive into the grass brought some laughs.

Even though I got sick this week, it was still a memory to take from the trip, and it didn’t kill my week completely, it just gave me an easier writing week because there is only so much one can write about being sick in bed. Have a good week everyone and get ready for next week, somehow I think it will be a little more eventful.