Israel Trip: Week 2

July 9: another day of learning; in Israel, Sunday is a regular day of work. Very confusing if you live in the US or other countries where you have Sundays off from work.

July 10: more learning; after classes, we usually hang out in the apartment, playing Scrabble, surfing the internet (one of my lovely roomies had a laptop with internet access), talking

July 11: classes in the morning, afternoon tour of the Old City, afterwards I met up with my aunt and uncle for dinner

July 12: classes, hanging out with roomies

July 13: Fast of Tammuz; first time ever observing that day; classes in the morning; I left late afternoon to go meet my relatives

July 14: spent late morning/early afternoon in Tel Aviv with two of my cousins; at night there was a family dinner

July 15: went to services at my grandmother's home (she lives in an assisted living facility), had lunch with her; she has led such an interesting life and I want to ask her as much about it while she's still around; after Shabbas, went to the mall with my aunts, had some coffee with them

July 16: more classes, met up with a friend for lunch, I knew her back when she was in New York learning at Aish Hatorah, spent a year learning, never left, is now married and expecting (update: she had the baby this week)

July 17: last day of classes, very sad : ( went to a series of lectures in Jerusalem on laws of speech, my roommate and I left after the first speech because we couldn't understand what he was talking about (and he was speaking in English!)

July 18: finished packing, met my friend at the Aish Hatorah womens' seminary and saw a friend who I hadn't seen in close to 3 years; afterwards, I went to the mall and met up with my roommates and a friend from New York, a great good-bye dinner followed, I feel so blessed to have been able to spend time learning, to have met the women I learned with, specfically all 6 of my roommates; I really felt we had a special connection and that will always be there.

July 19: arrived safely in the US after a long, long flight

Coming up: Reflections on Israel trip, have I changed?

Oops, I Did It Again

Here I go again, liking someone who is so unsuitable for me it's not even funny. Age is nothing but a number? Ha, if I truly believe that, I must have a one-way ticket to Fantasyland.

Israel Trip Week 1: July 2-8

July 2: arrived in Israel, was greeted at the airport by my cousin, took a shuttle to where I was staying in Jerusalem, met my roommates, went out for dinner, settled in

July 3: first day of learning for me (8:30-5:30 with lunch break in between), met the women in my classes, all beautiful, intelligent women; first trip to the supermarket, very interesting to try to naviage the store when you can't understand the language all that well, now I have a slight understanding how some immigrants feel when they arrive in the US for the first time

July 4: half day of school, had lunch with my cousin who lives close to Jerusalem, met my roommates in Mea Shearim (kind of like Boro Park), the only town I know with a sign telling women to dress modestly

July 5: more learning

July 6: half day of learning, trip to Masada/Dead Sea in the afternoon; guided tour of Masada followed by a swim near the Dead Sea; first time at a womens only beach and quickly realized that wearing a bikini on a beach in Tel Aviv is okay but not so okay on a womens' beach; after a quick meal, we went to the Sound and Light show at Masada; first part was a taped lecture on the history of Masada followed by a reenactment of the fall of Masada; I didn't know what to look at first; the reenactment or the night sky

July 7-8: Friday was spent hanging out with roommates; Shabbat dinner I went to a family in the neighborhood with 2 people, Shabbat lunch I went to another family by myself; thankfully a few of my roommates were around for Shabbas so I wasn't lonely; Motzei Shabbas (after Shabbat) I went to the Kotel; even though I've been to the Kotel before, I've never been there at night; there is a special energy at night, especially right after Shabbas

Coming up: details of my 2nd week in Israel

Israel in My Heart

I arrived back in the US 4 days ago and as happy as I am to be back in the US with my family and friends, I already miss Israel, specifically my relatives, friends from the US that are in Israel, and new friends I made while I was learning. G-d willing, I will be back in Israel soon, longer than 2 weeks (I hope!) and hopefully at a time when things will be calm again.

Coming up: Israel trip overview