Seriously, she's right. I can explain the absence, really, I can. The simple fact is that by the time I am done with my daily activities I am so tired that I hardly want to write. I attempted to a couple times, but feel asleep in the process. So here goes another post that will drag on for far too long. Enjoy!
From the 13th to the 22nd I was on break for another group of holidays. This included: Sukkot, Simchats Torah, and Shmini Atzeret. I am going to try to remember most things and reiterate them to you, with some pictures, as accurately as possible.
Monday and Tuesday: 13-14
This was the first night of Sukkot and when the actually celebration takes place. I was invited by Aviel to join him at his home in Giviat Zev, a town out side of Jerusalem. I accepted with great pleasure! We got a bus with Shelley and Ayelet to Jerusaelm. Ayelet is another one of the Tzofim living in Holon with the other YC. She also lives in Giviat Zev and brought Shelley with her for the holiday. The bus to Jerusalem was crowded, so we had to sit on the floor. That would never fly in America. I was sitting next to a soldier who is in the Givati unit. He had the new Tavor gun. An amazing Israeli development.
When we finally arrived in Giviat Zev. I meet Aviel's family. Wonderful people. Aviel is the oldest of six kids. So the house was all busseling with noise, which is not a bad as it might seem.
This was the first night of Sukkot and when the actually celebration takes place. I was invited by Aviel to join him at his home in Giviat Zev, a town out side of Jerusalem. I accepted with great pleasure! We got a bus with Shelley and Ayelet to Jerusaelm. Ayelet is another one of the Tzofim living in Holon with the other YC. She also lives in Giviat Zev and brought Shelley with her for the holiday. The bus to Jerusalem was crowded, so we had to sit on the floor. That would never fly in America. I was sitting next to a soldier who is in the Givati unit. He had the new Tavor gun. An amazing Israeli development.
When we finally arrived in Giviat Zev. I meet Aviel's family. Wonderful people. Aviel is the oldest of six kids. So the house was all busseling with noise, which is not a bad as it might seem.
The meal that Aviel's mother and grandmother's prepared was excellent. It was a lot of tradtional sephardic dishes. Something that I never grew up having. I ate myself past the point of fullness.
Later that night things turned a little sour. I didn't feel so well because I ate so much, but it turns out it was something way worse. I spent pretty much all night hunched over a toliet. Wonderful I know. In the morning Aviel had to drive me to a hospital in Modi'in because it was the only open due to the holiday. I ended up getting an IV to rehydrate and an anti-vomiting agent. It worked and I felt much better after eating a little and sleeping all day at Aviel's.
That night we drove to the Judaean Youth Hostel in Jerusalem and hung out for a couple of hours before we caught a bus back to Holon. I saw Hiesler there and we talked for a while. It was good to see people from another section that I haven't seen yet.
Wednesday 10/15
Bright and early I woke up to meet a group for a mandatory hike in the North. I know I'm crazy for even getting out of bed that day after being in the hospital on the previous morning, but what can I say? I like to hike! It turns our the "hike" was more of a three hour bus ride each way and an hour walk. It was beautiful though. We walked a small trail on Mt. Meron. From this vantage point you can see Lebanon and only some of Tsfat because of the clouds. Adina, one of the counselors from Bat Yam, explained to us that one of the outlook points we were standing on was dedicated to a soldier killed in Lebanon. From where we were looking you could actually see the bunker where he was killed during the Second Lebanon War. A very powerful moment.
Thursday Morning 10/16
In the morning was another part of mandatory attendance during the Chofesh (break). Our group was required to meet at the community center around the corner from my apartment and paint the bleachers around the back side. I was all for it and getting my hands dirty, but some other people weren't. It took much longer than it should of because of people messing around and just straight up complaining. Eventually it did get done though.
After volunteering I went to my friend Fluffy's apartment. He owns a pair of hair clippers. Guess who go a mowhawk?!
After volunteering I went to my friend Fluffy's apartment. He owns a pair of hair clippers. Guess who go a mowhawk?!
Thursday Night-Saturday Night: BERESHEET MUSIC FESTIVAL!
I mentioned a couple of post back that I would be going to the Beresheet Music Festival on the Kneret. I went, and It was an amazing time. There were tons of Year Coursers, so it was kind of a YC weekend, but it was great to see people from different section, as always. The camping equipement that I borrowed from Lior worked out very well. I split food with with Daniella and Jon. It ended up being much cheaper and much tastier than the food at available for purchase at the festival.
The music at the festival great. Some of the bands were only ok. I saw this crazy metal band that had a song where they screamed the ten plagues and the shema. It was intense. I managed to miss a great concert by Abaraham Tal, the ex-lead singer of Shotei Ha'Nevua. I will forever kick myself for that. I did, however, see one of my favorite bands: Hatikva 6. They threw an amazing show. Besides just the bands, there was tons of other music. There was constant trance and dance music at one stage. We are talking 24/7 thumping bass. I somehow manged to sleep through it. There was a constant drum circle. I hopped in a couple times. There were also really cool workshops. I learned to play didgeridoo!
There were lots of fun things to do at the festival, especially since it was on a beach. Here are some pictures of the weekend.
Only in Israel do a large group of religious Jews show up to a hippy music festival.
A couple sunsets of the on the Kneret. Can't wait to go back.
There was a mud pit at the festival. It was tempting....
Good music, good company, and good coffee. These things make a great weekendSunday-Monday 19-20
CHILLED! I needed to catch up on sleep and hang around on my butt for a couple of days.
Tuesday 21st
This was the end of Sukkot, celebrated by the holiday of Simchats Torah. The original plan was to go to Tsfat via a Sherut with a few guys. After that was tossed out the door, the next plan was to go to Jerusalem....which also didn't happen. It really just ended up being a fun Tel Aviv night.
Thursday 23rd
Volunteering in the went really well that day. I know the kids really well now and I feel like I am a valuable member of the staff there.
Here is me with a couple of the girls in the gan. Hila on the left and Keshet on the right.
That night was a foam party in Jerusalem. A ton of YCers went, and I didn't. It ended up being a great choice. I heard from a lot of people that the party wasn't that fun. Aaron, Allon, and I instead went to Kibbutz Ha'polim where our friend Noa lives. All of us staffed camp together. We went to the kibbutz to see Noa preform her first concert! It was really cool and the atmosphere was very kibbutz. I liked it. I need to spend more time in on a kibbutz.
Friday and Saturday 24-25
Caught a bus straight from Holon to Jerusalem! From the central bus station I walked to the Shuk and met up with the Choikhit twins and their mom. We walked around for a bit and ate some food. From there we walked to Ben Yehuda street and meet up with some more KC people. This included: Hiesler, Feldman, Tali, Joey, and Molly. After chatting a bit I left with Hiesler, Feldman, and Tali.
We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out in Hiesler's apartment. It was really relaxing and fun. The five of us boys cleaned up Hiesler's messy apartment. I know! What would inspire five 18 year old boys to clean a whole apartment? Well I am telling you, it was that gross. Following our cleaning fiasco, the five of us sat down and had a wonderful, testotarone filled, shabbous meal. The rest of shabbat we slept, made some amazing brownies, and hung out with other YCers.
Hiesler lives in the set of apartments owned by YC instead of living in the hostel like the rest of their section does. Its a really cool deal. All of the 12 apartments are on the same staircase. Everyone leaves their doors unlocked when they are home and people just hop between apartments. As an added bonus, all the YC that live in the apartments get a bus pass for all of Jerusalem. Something you wouldn't get living in the youth hostel. I am really hoping I get to live in the apartments when I move there.
Sunday-Today 26-31
The Chagim (Holidays) are over and I can finally get back into a routine! Volunteering this week has been great! We have a new director at the gan because the old one is going into labor any minute now (Mazel Tov Avital). The new directors name is Maggie. Nice lady, but a much different style then the last one.
I had my first Ulpan exam. I passed with flying colors!.....but it was only oral. I am worried about the one tomorrow. It's all written.
Tuesday we had a siyur to the towns of Sderot and Nitzan. There will be a separate post on this becasue it is such a large and important subject.
I haven't gone into Tel Aviv at all this week. It's kinda weird. Every night there has been a YC activity or I have been to tired to go out. Last night was the Section 2 basketball. I was on a team that knew we were loosing coming into it, but we still had fun.
Tonight we watched the movie Beufort. Its an amazing story about a group of soldiers who were stationed on a mountain inside of Lebanon. A very intense and impressive story. The film is based on a book, I will read it soon. Both are defiantly worth checking out.
This Weekend
I am attending a trip planned by the scouts to the North. We are going to be in the Haifa area. The trip is costing me 200 shekel, about $50, but this includes transportation and food. A pretty good deal. We will be doing some hiking and sightseeing. I am pretty excited.
I know I say this every time, but next post will not be put off so long.
Thursday 23rd
Volunteering in the went really well that day. I know the kids really well now and I feel like I am a valuable member of the staff there.
Here is me with a couple of the girls in the gan. Hila on the left and Keshet on the right.That night was a foam party in Jerusalem. A ton of YCers went, and I didn't. It ended up being a great choice. I heard from a lot of people that the party wasn't that fun. Aaron, Allon, and I instead went to Kibbutz Ha'polim where our friend Noa lives. All of us staffed camp together. We went to the kibbutz to see Noa preform her first concert! It was really cool and the atmosphere was very kibbutz. I liked it. I need to spend more time in on a kibbutz.
Friday and Saturday 24-25
Caught a bus straight from Holon to Jerusalem! From the central bus station I walked to the Shuk and met up with the Choikhit twins and their mom. We walked around for a bit and ate some food. From there we walked to Ben Yehuda street and meet up with some more KC people. This included: Hiesler, Feldman, Tali, Joey, and Molly. After chatting a bit I left with Hiesler, Feldman, and Tali.
We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out in Hiesler's apartment. It was really relaxing and fun. The five of us boys cleaned up Hiesler's messy apartment. I know! What would inspire five 18 year old boys to clean a whole apartment? Well I am telling you, it was that gross. Following our cleaning fiasco, the five of us sat down and had a wonderful, testotarone filled, shabbous meal. The rest of shabbat we slept, made some amazing brownies, and hung out with other YCers.
Hiesler lives in the set of apartments owned by YC instead of living in the hostel like the rest of their section does. Its a really cool deal. All of the 12 apartments are on the same staircase. Everyone leaves their doors unlocked when they are home and people just hop between apartments. As an added bonus, all the YC that live in the apartments get a bus pass for all of Jerusalem. Something you wouldn't get living in the youth hostel. I am really hoping I get to live in the apartments when I move there.
Sunday-Today 26-31
The Chagim (Holidays) are over and I can finally get back into a routine! Volunteering this week has been great! We have a new director at the gan because the old one is going into labor any minute now (Mazel Tov Avital). The new directors name is Maggie. Nice lady, but a much different style then the last one.
I had my first Ulpan exam. I passed with flying colors!.....but it was only oral. I am worried about the one tomorrow. It's all written.
Tuesday we had a siyur to the towns of Sderot and Nitzan. There will be a separate post on this becasue it is such a large and important subject.
I haven't gone into Tel Aviv at all this week. It's kinda weird. Every night there has been a YC activity or I have been to tired to go out. Last night was the Section 2 basketball. I was on a team that knew we were loosing coming into it, but we still had fun.
Tonight we watched the movie Beufort. Its an amazing story about a group of soldiers who were stationed on a mountain inside of Lebanon. A very intense and impressive story. The film is based on a book, I will read it soon. Both are defiantly worth checking out.
This Weekend
I am attending a trip planned by the scouts to the North. We are going to be in the Haifa area. The trip is costing me 200 shekel, about $50, but this includes transportation and food. A pretty good deal. We will be doing some hiking and sightseeing. I am pretty excited.
I know I say this every time, but next post will not be put off so long.
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