Home

I've been home for about a week and a half now. It has been pretty good. The mifgash kids came and went. Hopefully I will see them in Israel. Most of my friends have all moved in to school by now. (Good luck guys. Have fun, but keep it all in moderation.) I got to see most of them, which was good. The Stolls had an Arab night at his house on Friday and a lot of people were there. I put up a seudo Bedouin tent in their backyard and it looked pretty cool. I think its still up, I should probably go take that down.

Yesterday I went to the lake with my grandparents, their best friends the Carrs, who I call Aunt Marsha and Uncle Al, and Marsha and Al's daughter Cheryl along with her husband Kenny and twin daughters Ashley and Brittney. The girls and I are the same age, we are pretty much cousins. We have been good family friends since we were all in uteoro. Anyways, we all went down to Clinton lake were my grandparents and the Carrs each have a boat. Well the grandparents were fishing, I went and rode my mountain bike on the trails that surround the lake. It was the first time I have ridden off road with my clip-in pedals. It was a little nerve racking at first. I came back from my first ride and the girls, Kenny, and Cheryl showed up with a jetski in tow. Kenny showed me how to drive it. The thing is a blast. It is very easy to learn how to drive. Kenny also took me and Ashely tubing on it. He couldn't knock me off. I'm too used to how James takes people tubing. Kenny had me on there for a good twenty minutes before my arms gave out. We came back in after a couple hours on the jetski messing around and the Choikits left. I went on another bike ride. When I came back we left for dinner at Montana Mike's. I managed to eat a 20 ounce ribeye with mushrooms and garlic, a whole sweet potato, a salad, and a large roll. Amazing how hungry I can get. We went back to the lake so the grandparents could fish some more. Needless to say I was beat, so I slept in the car. I woke up this morning and my shoulders and arms are killing me! It was a great time at the lake. Thanks Bubbie and Grandpa.

I forgot something really cool! Ashely and Brittney are going to be in Israel for a year also. They are going on Nativ, a program run by USY. I will be really cool to hang out with them in Israel. I can also tell their parents all the trouble they're going to be getting into ;)


Tonight I was invited to a local Hadassah meeting. They all wished me great luck and gave me a journal as a gift. Thanks!

Even more important, they were honoring Sybil Kaplan as she is making Aliyah just a day before I leave. Sybil was my hebrew school teacher in 8th grade and is the one responsible for getting my involved in Young Judaea. She came up to me before the meeting and said, "Well you certainly have come a long way from when you were an 8th grader sitting in my class with a backwards baseball cap on." I look forward to seeing her in Israel. Her and her husband Barry are getting an apartment in Jerusalem.

In other news....
I don't think I have mentioned this on the blog yet, but as most of you know my family is getting a Korean exchange student. He arrives tomorrow. The house is a little messy, so that's my task tomorrow before he gets here. Its kinda weird that I will only get to know him for a week and a half before I head off.

Speaking of heading off....

Thirteen days before I leave!!!!! I'm more excited than a five year old waiting for the family vacation to Disney Land.

Packing is gonna suck though. El Al has crazy restrictions. My luggage of only two pieces cannot exceed 107 inches of combined length, width, and height. And each piece can't weigh more than 50 pounds. Otherwise it is an extra $100. Such crap. I can't imagine how much this sucks for girls.

Altogether there are thirteen people from the Kansas City area going for a year in Israel. That is a spectacular number. Check out the article in the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle. Written by none other than Sybil Kaplan.

"This year, four young men and one young woman from Kansas City will be on this course, including longtime Young Judaea activist Daniel Siegel. Your reporter was able to speak with Daniel personally while he was a counselor at Camp Young Judaea Midwest. Daniel is 18 years old, a 2008 graduate of Shawnee Mission South and son of Lisa and Steve Siegel. Daniel has been involved in year-round Young Judaea activities since middle school; attended national conventions during high school; was the local chapter president; and served on the region and district boards as well as on a steering committee for National convention."
Click Here for the rest of the article.


I have some Olympics to catch up on.

B'Shalom....YO!

P.S. Look what I found today, it's so stupid, but still funny.