היייי

Phewww. Its been quite a whirlwind here since I wrote last. I definitly have lots to fill everyone in on!
Last time I wrote, I had just arrived in good old Yerushalaim, where I could barely contain my mounting excitement at the prospect of exploring the Old City, the Tayelet, and of course, my personal favorite, the Shuk.

Thursday morning Ashley and I woke up, checked out of our luxurious accommodations with my relatives, and made our way two Kiriat Moriah, a hostel/learning center owned by the Jewish Agency in order to finally meet up with our group from the Career Israel program. Amidst the name learning, ice breaking, kindergarten reminiscent activities, we managed to make our way around Jerusalem and learn a few things along the way.

First: A bar may boast free Hookah and popcorn and usher you in like you are a VIP, but if less than half of you decide to actually order anything, it doesn't go over that well. Unlike in the States, where waitresses and waiters are trained that the customer is always right and blah blah blah, here they have no problem getting in your face and screaming at you if you haven't done what they wanted, i.e. spend more money.




Second: Socialized medicine... Ani lo yodaat. So, when I woke up on Friday my foot and expanded to about twice its normal size. My wound was pussy and painful. I realized I probably should go to the doctor. I was thankfully escorted to the doctor's by my American born madricha who had made aliyah about seven years ago, so could thankfully help me out and get me where I needed to go. An hour later, I held in my hands a prescription for antibiotics and antibacterial ointment. Of course I would be the one to fall off of a banana boat and actually get legitimately hurt. Awesome.




Third: We need that security fence. I know it is controversial, but seriously, it wouldn't be there if it wasn't necessary. I mean, it really is a huge basa that it inconveniences people and that it makes life harder on those who live on the other side of the border, but the way that the quality of life has improved for those inside of Israel is unreal. On Sunday we went on a tour of East Jerusalem and got right up near the '67 border between Israel and the West Bank. To actually see the security wall/fence was so crazy, I think it gave us all a bit of a reality check about what life has been like here for people. It is so frustrating to think about people who are against the fence... but it does make sense. On one hand, you have the state of Israel, whose main duty is to protect the well being of its citizens, and so how could there be a question in mind about whether or not the wall should be there? On the other hand, you see the perspective of the loyal, innocent Palestinians who have been separated from their land, their families, their schools, and their lives in general by this huge pain in the tuchus every time they want to cross. So what is the right thing? And who gets to decide? People lose any way you look at it.

























So, now that you've gotten the gist of that, I'll
continue on.


We arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening. Upon pulling up to the apartment complex, we knew we were in for some kind of experience...
The outside of the building looked...used, at best. After lugging our bags up two flights of stairs, Ashley and I opened our door to find a large, bare room with two couchy things that we assumed were our beds, a kitchenette situation, and a bathroom that was usable, but slightly grimy. We hurried out to buy some cleaning supplies and food to make it a bit homey-er, and it was not so bad we thought. Until that night when I recieved a panicked call from Ashley who informed me that she found a huge, black, DIGUSTING COCKROACH. AHHHHH!

We slept with all the lights on that night.

Since then, we have kept every bit of food sealed away in the fridge, not allowing a single crumb to hit the floor. Hopefully our small legged friends will stay the hell out. Eeeck! (We need a guy living with us, we're both terrified of going anywhere near anything resembling an insect).

Yesterday, since neither of us had to work yet,
Ash and I headed for the gorgeous beach right
near our apartment. Upon reaching the water,
we sighed, looked at each other, and understood
completely why everything was worth it. The grime,
the bugs, the cold shower. All for this.









We made some friends (suprise) who taught us to play the tennis like beach game with two paddles and a little ball. So much fun. We ate delicious watermelon, soaked up the sun, and laid our eyes on the most enormous meduzza (jellyfish) EVER.





Today I began my internship at the camp! To put it simply, I. LOVE. IT. The kids are freaking adorable, and even though understanding each other is a huge strain, we LOVE each other. The highlight of my day was hearing them attempt to sing the song Tick-Tock be Ke$ha or whatever her name is. It sounded some thing like this: "I wake up inamorni fili ike P. Diddy dbhbfjefkfbkjbk...." And so on. SO CUTE. My hebrew is going to get GREAT so FAST. Or at least it better, or else I am going to SINK. I taught the girls how to fish tail braid, and learned a lot of words myself! Let's be honest, they can teach me a lot more than I can teach them. Seriously though, I am STOKED about this job. They all were so excited to have me there, and I feel so good and so excited about working with them! I'll take pictures tomorrow and post them ASAP.

AHH so everything is great, minus my lack of internet and hence my internet cafe haunt across the street. Write again soon!

Neshikot! (Kisses!)