Wednesday night i had my second Sheitel Class. It is an optional class where they teach you how to wash cut and style, hair and sheitels. How cool is that??!
Contrast...
After the class I convinced a few of the tougher girls in the dorm to teach me self defense.... sounds like a good idea right?? Well, basically it went like this-
Other girl speaks about different techniques
Shayne gets grabbed by a fighter 7 inches taller than her
Shayne tries to defend based on theorized techniques
Other girl counterattacks based on defense
Shayne gets beat up or thrown across the room
Shayne gets back up and tries again.
lol... it was actually really educational simply because I had never come up against genuine opposing force before. Major accomplishment for the night... Got beat up in just about every way possible. And I won't go into it b/c if i do I will probably be dragged home by my parents and chastised by just about e/o i know.... :D lol. I did learn a few really good moves from it as soon as a Krav Megaah chick stepped in to work with me on defense.
Ended up with a minor concussion, because I got thrown across the room, about which I was responsible and took myself to the doctor over. (A very hard thing for my personality to do, mind you.) They said was totally fine and I should just rest off my bruises and bumps... and that i shouldn't practice self defense again for a few days. I'll most likely start working with the krav Megaah girl on a regular basis though... after i take it easy for a few days. :}
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sally the Camel had 2 humps
Monday the school took us CAMEL RIDING! We went to this place out on a mountain top in the middle of nowhere and met Domesec Eliezer. Who if you don't know... (because none of us did) is Abraham the Forefathers main servant [like seriously]. He was dressed in old tradditional garb and explained to us that in his time how and where they lived. Which is right on the spot where the place was built actually. We were challenged to use our superior jewish intellect and group effort to figure out how to make a tent out of a piece of cloth and some sticks. Which wasn't very complicated because there were wooden top piece things in the cloth wherever the sticks were supposed to go. Then we tied the tent down and moved on to the actual camel riding.
A lot of girls were screaming and freaking out. Someone even shreiked loud enough that she was going to die that the guy put her camel down and made her get off. I didn't really have an issue with the camel riding. My teacher commented that i rode like a queen... what she means is that I maintained my posture and didn't grip the saddle with every once of my strength :}
When the group was learning to herd stinky sheep, a bunch of us uninterested people were looking over the side of the mountain and taking pictures of how far it was until the valley in between. (Mind you, we weren't leaning directly over a cliff. There was plently of mountain sloping within walking distance that it was 100 percent safe.) The Eliezer dude told us that it was about 800 meters down. Not a ginormous mountain at all. One of the girls decided to get risky and see if it was climbable. Of course I followed. It turned out that the mountain side wan't as steep as it looked and in fact we only climbed about 40% of the way. The other 60% we basically walked. Not to say that it wasn't dangerous... but it probably wasn't too bad because the guide did know what we were doing and didn't exactly try to stop us. At the bottom we could see the tiny dots of the people above that we hadn't been able to see for most of the way down. Although we could hear them perfectly due to the awesome echo. Climbing back up prooved to be infinetely harder than climbing down and it took us almost double the time and a lot more caution. But we did it. The whole thing took us about 40 minutes tops. The camel riding had been an experience but it wasn't such a big deal for either of us. Climbing the mountain was a challenge that we both appreciated.
A lot of girls were screaming and freaking out. Someone even shreiked loud enough that she was going to die that the guy put her camel down and made her get off. I didn't really have an issue with the camel riding. My teacher commented that i rode like a queen... what she means is that I maintained my posture and didn't grip the saddle with every once of my strength :}
When the group was learning to herd stinky sheep, a bunch of us uninterested people were looking over the side of the mountain and taking pictures of how far it was until the valley in between. (Mind you, we weren't leaning directly over a cliff. There was plently of mountain sloping within walking distance that it was 100 percent safe.) The Eliezer dude told us that it was about 800 meters down. Not a ginormous mountain at all. One of the girls decided to get risky and see if it was climbable. Of course I followed. It turned out that the mountain side wan't as steep as it looked and in fact we only climbed about 40% of the way. The other 60% we basically walked. Not to say that it wasn't dangerous... but it probably wasn't too bad because the guide did know what we were doing and didn't exactly try to stop us. At the bottom we could see the tiny dots of the people above that we hadn't been able to see for most of the way down. Although we could hear them perfectly due to the awesome echo. Climbing back up prooved to be infinetely harder than climbing down and it took us almost double the time and a lot more caution. But we did it. The whole thing took us about 40 minutes tops. The camel riding had been an experience but it wasn't such a big deal for either of us. Climbing the mountain was a challenge that we both appreciated.
Beachy ;)
As I previously mentioned, Monday afternoon I took Geveret Tzipora shopping for a bunch of things she needed for her grandchildren and herself. She made sure to point out which foods were healthy and which ones weren't. And taught me to always look at receipts to make sure you weren't cheated or wrong-changed. When I dropped her off at her apartment she made sure to pack me up some dates for the way. lol... and I mean tamar not boys.
Friday Morning a friend and I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and got on a bus to the beach. Originally we missed the bus to Ashdod but made a spontaneous decision to get on a bus that was just leaving for Ashkelon. I was so excited to be wearing my new sunhat that Tante Chava bought me!!! The bus ride was about an hour and half. At the beach we walked along the shore, put our feet in the water, tanned, and I even built a sand sculpture!! We also bought ice cream to substitue for both meals we were missing. lol... it was worth it. Finally at about 11:00 a.m. we left.
When I arrived back i quickly packed up my bags and shipped out toward Nivei where i would spend shabbos with 2 friends. We were allowed to use a room in the dorms.... in the same building as Midreshet Tehilla- the Seminary I was supposed to go to but changed my mind. On Shabbos Day we ate at our Teachers house and Shalosh Seudos we ate ourselves with food we bought on friday. Really It was my most relaxed shabbos outside of the ones spent in my own dorm.
Friday Morning a friend and I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and got on a bus to the beach. Originally we missed the bus to Ashdod but made a spontaneous decision to get on a bus that was just leaving for Ashkelon. I was so excited to be wearing my new sunhat that Tante Chava bought me!!! The bus ride was about an hour and half. At the beach we walked along the shore, put our feet in the water, tanned, and I even built a sand sculpture!! We also bought ice cream to substitue for both meals we were missing. lol... it was worth it. Finally at about 11:00 a.m. we left.
When I arrived back i quickly packed up my bags and shipped out toward Nivei where i would spend shabbos with 2 friends. We were allowed to use a room in the dorms.... in the same building as Midreshet Tehilla- the Seminary I was supposed to go to but changed my mind. On Shabbos Day we ate at our Teachers house and Shalosh Seudos we ate ourselves with food we bought on friday. Really It was my most relaxed shabbos outside of the ones spent in my own dorm.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Shabbos in Sefat!
Erev Shabbos we woke up at 7:00 am to leave for our Shabbaton in Sefat. After a 3 hour bus ride, without breakfast, we went to the Kevar of the Arizal. It was a blisteringly hot day, and as much as we might have been looking forward to davening by his kever, nobody was in the mood anymore seeing as we were hungry, tired, and sweaty. A lot of the girls didn't make it up all the stairs, choosing to return to the bus until the group came back.
Then we went on to the house we would be staying at. To say 'House' would be a massive understatement. It was no house. It was a stunning mansion filled with beautiful mirrors, chandeliers, and mehogony funriture. The rooms had tons identically made beds like a hotel... but the cool thing was that the beds were all high risers so that the place could be reconverted into a regular house at any time. My room had 5 beds out but it would regularly have had a bunk bed and a single bed.
We all quickly called showers and started to prepare for shabbos. Of course I was running around like crazy trying to figure out which of my choir girls would still be joining us in presenting that night. It ended up being myself and 2 other girls and we made fast improvisations to the songs.
Friday night we went to the shul of my roommates father. Rav Weingatt's shul, Mekarev. I have to say it was the most beautiful davening I had ever heard. It was hard to see but I heard that the men were also dancing the whole time. The atmosphere itself was very uplifting.
Afterward we enjoyed a beautiful catered shabbos meal at the mansion. We heard speeches, the choir presented, we sand zemirot and then we had a panel discussion followed by Oneg (more food). Me and a friend went for a long walk through the old city of sefat and tried to count the steps from the top to bottom. We got to 202, which was about half way, before we had to run and lost count. We got back just in time for curfew and stolen cholent. :D
Shabbos day we again ate at the mansion and then had a game followed by a tour of the old city which i missed due to exhaustion. I didn't regret it too much though since I had litteraly scaled the place the night before and I plan to go back with my roomate some time in the year.
Havdala was done by a NaNach (a guy who followes Ooman [Rabbi Nachman]) who told us a whole story with a guitar and acting and everything first. Then he sang the most beautiful Havdala I've ever heard.
After Shabbos we all packed up and boarded the buses once again... this time homeward.
Then we went on to the house we would be staying at. To say 'House' would be a massive understatement. It was no house. It was a stunning mansion filled with beautiful mirrors, chandeliers, and mehogony funriture. The rooms had tons identically made beds like a hotel... but the cool thing was that the beds were all high risers so that the place could be reconverted into a regular house at any time. My room had 5 beds out but it would regularly have had a bunk bed and a single bed.
We all quickly called showers and started to prepare for shabbos. Of course I was running around like crazy trying to figure out which of my choir girls would still be joining us in presenting that night. It ended up being myself and 2 other girls and we made fast improvisations to the songs.
Friday night we went to the shul of my roommates father. Rav Weingatt's shul, Mekarev. I have to say it was the most beautiful davening I had ever heard. It was hard to see but I heard that the men were also dancing the whole time. The atmosphere itself was very uplifting.
Afterward we enjoyed a beautiful catered shabbos meal at the mansion. We heard speeches, the choir presented, we sand zemirot and then we had a panel discussion followed by Oneg (more food). Me and a friend went for a long walk through the old city of sefat and tried to count the steps from the top to bottom. We got to 202, which was about half way, before we had to run and lost count. We got back just in time for curfew and stolen cholent. :D
Shabbos day we again ate at the mansion and then had a game followed by a tour of the old city which i missed due to exhaustion. I didn't regret it too much though since I had litteraly scaled the place the night before and I plan to go back with my roomate some time in the year.
Havdala was done by a NaNach (a guy who followes Ooman [Rabbi Nachman]) who told us a whole story with a guitar and acting and everything first. Then he sang the most beautiful Havdala I've ever heard.
After Shabbos we all packed up and boarded the buses once again... this time homeward.
Drive 4 Purpose
On Monday, instead of having a tiyul, we had a day to prepare for the shabbaton. Each person was either put in charge of a committee or put in one. I was in charge of a choir presentation, and so my commitee was just basically looking for pretty but not so well known songs the whole day.
Fun story... Thursday I called both of my chesed families to ask if either one of them needed me, and as it turned out, both had other things going on and I didn't have to come. This made me very happy because it gave me the much sought after time to read and do laundry. Unfortunately, trivial things loose their glamour in so short a time and after about 3 hours, I got really bored. So I decided to take a walk. I walked for near an hour when I came to rest on a bench opposite the central bus station. Close enough to observe the unsuspecting people running by, minding their own business, and far enough not to be seen. Somehow this form of entertainment seemed to only intensify the boredom.
When it seemed there was no hope for my mood, I remembered something one of my teachers said in class that week. His class was all about distinguishing fantasy from reality, and revealing society for what it is... He explained that just like hunger is a signal of the Neshama to eat (not a cheeseburger like on the commercials, but certain nutritious foods that we know we should eat) and thirst is a signal for water (not soda or gatorade) so too, boredom is not a state of being... its a signal. Boredom is a signal for purpose. When the Neshama is crying out to do something- to do good deeds, the person feels bored. As he so plainly put it "What happens when you eat when your bored? now your full and bored." It's not that we have nothing to do... its that we don't want to do anything. We are reaching out for PURPOSE.
Once I realized this, I felt happier. I understood that the reason for my boredom was missing chesed, and that I now needed to find a chesed to do. I quickly set off back for the seminary, assuming that I could probably find someone who needed help with something there. My opportunity came sooner than expected when I met an old woman stooped over and pulling a shopping basket behind her. I went over to her and asked if I could help her out. She asked me my name and told me she was on her way to the Center right next to the Tachana and that usually her grandchildren go shopping with her but everyone had been too busy that day. I knew right away that Hashem had sent me a unique opportunity to do chesed right then and I wasn't going to let it pass me by. On the way to the Center I learned alot about Geveret Tzipora and she about me. She even told me that we should only speak hebrew between us so that I will learn to speak it very quickly. She is a really smart and exceptional woman who takes care of her family and grandchildren even though it is hard for her. It was so clear to each of us that this was a shidduch Min HaShamayim. It also turned out that she lives only a few minutes walk from the seminary. When we got to her apartment we exchanged numbers and said goodbye with the promise to do it again in the future. Which we did on the following Monday.
Fun story... Thursday I called both of my chesed families to ask if either one of them needed me, and as it turned out, both had other things going on and I didn't have to come. This made me very happy because it gave me the much sought after time to read and do laundry. Unfortunately, trivial things loose their glamour in so short a time and after about 3 hours, I got really bored. So I decided to take a walk. I walked for near an hour when I came to rest on a bench opposite the central bus station. Close enough to observe the unsuspecting people running by, minding their own business, and far enough not to be seen. Somehow this form of entertainment seemed to only intensify the boredom.
When it seemed there was no hope for my mood, I remembered something one of my teachers said in class that week. His class was all about distinguishing fantasy from reality, and revealing society for what it is... He explained that just like hunger is a signal of the Neshama to eat (not a cheeseburger like on the commercials, but certain nutritious foods that we know we should eat) and thirst is a signal for water (not soda or gatorade) so too, boredom is not a state of being... its a signal. Boredom is a signal for purpose. When the Neshama is crying out to do something- to do good deeds, the person feels bored. As he so plainly put it "What happens when you eat when your bored? now your full and bored." It's not that we have nothing to do... its that we don't want to do anything. We are reaching out for PURPOSE.
Once I realized this, I felt happier. I understood that the reason for my boredom was missing chesed, and that I now needed to find a chesed to do. I quickly set off back for the seminary, assuming that I could probably find someone who needed help with something there. My opportunity came sooner than expected when I met an old woman stooped over and pulling a shopping basket behind her. I went over to her and asked if I could help her out. She asked me my name and told me she was on her way to the Center right next to the Tachana and that usually her grandchildren go shopping with her but everyone had been too busy that day. I knew right away that Hashem had sent me a unique opportunity to do chesed right then and I wasn't going to let it pass me by. On the way to the Center I learned alot about Geveret Tzipora and she about me. She even told me that we should only speak hebrew between us so that I will learn to speak it very quickly. She is a really smart and exceptional woman who takes care of her family and grandchildren even though it is hard for her. It was so clear to each of us that this was a shidduch Min HaShamayim. It also turned out that she lives only a few minutes walk from the seminary. When we got to her apartment we exchanged numbers and said goodbye with the promise to do it again in the future. Which we did on the following Monday.
It's Raining its Cheshvan
So, a cool thing was that it rained on Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan... how awesome is that??! It was a really encouraging thing b/c it demostrated so clearly the fact that there is a Seder in the world and that every little detail is orchastrated and cared about by G-d.
One of the girls in the sem was really cute about it. When she saw the rain she went running outside soooo excited and came back in all dissappointed. When I asked her why she was down she said, '"you always hear that when it rains in Eretz Yisroel all the people come out and dance in the streets... but there was nobody outside dancing." lol, i seriously wanted to pinch her cheeks. :}
That Shabbos we were able to get a large enough group together to stay in the dorm for shabbos. After having to go out and find places to stay and eat all the Chaggim a lot of girls were glad to just be able to stay in. We ended up with about 30 girls more than anticipated.... which didn't do so well for the food situation. Luckily we are not animals- well actually, to be honest, that is not entirely true for the whole group. But never fear, we managed and e/o was happy.
Motzei Shabbos we had a Melava Malka at our Eim Habayit's house. We played a game, and ate food, and sang. And then since it was such a beautifully cool night some of us did the hour long walk back to sem.
After we came home, there was a Sefat Shabbaton Breakout. Where we made a mock shabbos meal... which had us all rolling on the floor laughing. Then when our stomach's couldn't take anymore abuse, we decided to play freeze and justify. And to sum it all up, we were all crying with laughter the entire hour. I was taping it with s/o elses camera. All the shtick i can remember at this point included... our mock bubby being chased around the room by the mock tatty with a stick, a belly dancer, a bipolar chick, obama, hippies, and scary chassidish men.
lol. I'm sure you get the picture. :D
One of the girls in the sem was really cute about it. When she saw the rain she went running outside soooo excited and came back in all dissappointed. When I asked her why she was down she said, '"you always hear that when it rains in Eretz Yisroel all the people come out and dance in the streets... but there was nobody outside dancing." lol, i seriously wanted to pinch her cheeks. :}
That Shabbos we were able to get a large enough group together to stay in the dorm for shabbos. After having to go out and find places to stay and eat all the Chaggim a lot of girls were glad to just be able to stay in. We ended up with about 30 girls more than anticipated.... which didn't do so well for the food situation. Luckily we are not animals- well actually, to be honest, that is not entirely true for the whole group. But never fear, we managed and e/o was happy.
Motzei Shabbos we had a Melava Malka at our Eim Habayit's house. We played a game, and ate food, and sang. And then since it was such a beautifully cool night some of us did the hour long walk back to sem.
After we came home, there was a Sefat Shabbaton Breakout. Where we made a mock shabbos meal... which had us all rolling on the floor laughing. Then when our stomach's couldn't take anymore abuse, we decided to play freeze and justify. And to sum it all up, we were all crying with laughter the entire hour. I was taping it with s/o elses camera. All the shtick i can remember at this point included... our mock bubby being chased around the room by the mock tatty with a stick, a belly dancer, a bipolar chick, obama, hippies, and scary chassidish men.
lol. I'm sure you get the picture. :D
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
and his name was Catul...
Funniness.... its been a while. :D I have more than a Megilla to write, so I'll try not to go too much into detail.
Deep quote that states the obvious but is generally overlooked- "A relationship is only as strong as the one that loves the least." Rav Noach Weinberg
And just an cute quote I found from I don't know where- "G-d doesn't give you the people you want- He gives you the people you need. To help you, to hurt you, to love you, to leave you, and to make you into the person you were meant to be."
Okay, starting from 2 weeks ago-
On Sunday we had an aerobics class.... which I conveniently missed on account of doing my laundry (which, for your information, I do by hand since its so expensive here). But afterwards I went down and learned some cool gymnastics from a girl who is really awesome.
On Monday we went to Ir Dovid, the location of Dovid Hamelech's palace, to go caving. We hiked through waist deep water (which is more than likely not waist deep on anyone else besides me) in an underground tunnel in the stone. We sang the whole time and that helped the girls who were really clausterphobic. In some places the ceiling was so short, I even had to crouch. the entire length of the cave was a 40 minute walk and the width was barely a small man's width throughout. One way or another it was a lot of fun.
Tuesday me and my roommate went in search of a horse farm she had heard was nearby. Much to our delight we found it and spent some time petting them. There were also all the other basic farm animals there. And even some not so basic ones.... like the donkey. Eehaw!!
Oh- did I mention that I have begun learning French. I am learning Hebrew as well, but that is a given. We have girls here from Montreal and from France. They are having a lot of fun teaching me their language and I have figured out that as long as I am actually using it, all the skill I need is memorization.
On Wednesday my roommate, one other girl, and I all went back to the horse farm. While we were there we met the owner of the farm. He is an old man with a small family that built the entire farm and his house with his own hands when he came to Israel. While we sat and talked to him we had the chance to get acquanted with his kittens. One of the girls I was with jokingly said "Can I keep him?" and much to our surprise the old man said Yes! He even told us how to take care of it. We discussed it among ourselves, and of course reason was tossed to the wind as unsatisfyed childhood dreams resurfaced from decomposed graves. We had always wanted pets.... and it was housebroken.... I don't think its even necessary to say that we took it home.
We figured our biggest challenge was going to be getting the kitten up the 4 floors and into the room without anyone noticing anything amiss. (We didn't factor in the fact that I am allergic to cats and that we aren't allowed to have pets.) Once there, we could keep the door shut and nobody would know. We named it Catul... derived from the hebrew word for cat- Chatul... and made him a bed and litter box and gave it dinner. It was a top priority secret so by that night, naturally, everyone knew about it. Well, not everyone. Not the girls who we knew were even the slightest bit afraid of them. Although we did have a few close calls... Like when we put a 'forbidden to enter without knocking' sign on the door and everyone was convinced we were hiding something. Luckily, at the time that they pushed there way through the door looking for the boy, Catul was sleeping in my lap and I was reading a book over his head... making him invisable. lol But all night, the sympathizers and animal lovers were hanging out in our room.
At about 11:30 at night, nearly an hour after curfew, the Am Bayit... who has been suspicious about our room since day one (on account of the many secret missions we carry out from within our silent 4 walls) :} came to visit our room. I basically shut the door on her face and then went out to talk to her..... the conversation went something like this:
"Hi!"
"What is going on in that room??"
"Nothing.... absolutely nothing... why would you think s/t was going on?"
"Haha, very funny, what is happening in that room??"
"Okay okay, we sort of got a rabbit."
"A... rabbit.... like a live rabbit?"
"um..."
"Wait, you seriously have a live rabbit in your room??!!"
"um... well... its a little bigger than a rabbit"
"... a little bigger than a rabbit. What does that mean?"
"well, its not exactly a rabbit..."
"I'm not getting it."
"Okay, we sort of have a kitten."
"Your joking."
"emhem... no i'm not."
"You brought a live cat into the dorm?? into your room??"
"um, yes."
"Let me see it."
"Be my guest."
So the end of the story is that she sympathized, because she likes cats.... but she made us get rid of him anyways. Right away. So I got to break curfew to walk the cat back to the farm, he never made it though, because my friends cousin wanted him and came to pick him up.
And so ends the saga of Catul, a dream fulfilled and then taken away before I really got a chance to appreciate it. lol.... :) it was still fun.
Deep quote that states the obvious but is generally overlooked- "A relationship is only as strong as the one that loves the least." Rav Noach Weinberg
And just an cute quote I found from I don't know where- "G-d doesn't give you the people you want- He gives you the people you need. To help you, to hurt you, to love you, to leave you, and to make you into the person you were meant to be."
Okay, starting from 2 weeks ago-
On Sunday we had an aerobics class.... which I conveniently missed on account of doing my laundry (which, for your information, I do by hand since its so expensive here). But afterwards I went down and learned some cool gymnastics from a girl who is really awesome.
On Monday we went to Ir Dovid, the location of Dovid Hamelech's palace, to go caving. We hiked through waist deep water (which is more than likely not waist deep on anyone else besides me) in an underground tunnel in the stone. We sang the whole time and that helped the girls who were really clausterphobic. In some places the ceiling was so short, I even had to crouch. the entire length of the cave was a 40 minute walk and the width was barely a small man's width throughout. One way or another it was a lot of fun.
Tuesday me and my roommate went in search of a horse farm she had heard was nearby. Much to our delight we found it and spent some time petting them. There were also all the other basic farm animals there. And even some not so basic ones.... like the donkey. Eehaw!!
Oh- did I mention that I have begun learning French. I am learning Hebrew as well, but that is a given. We have girls here from Montreal and from France. They are having a lot of fun teaching me their language and I have figured out that as long as I am actually using it, all the skill I need is memorization.
On Wednesday my roommate, one other girl, and I all went back to the horse farm. While we were there we met the owner of the farm. He is an old man with a small family that built the entire farm and his house with his own hands when he came to Israel. While we sat and talked to him we had the chance to get acquanted with his kittens. One of the girls I was with jokingly said "Can I keep him?" and much to our surprise the old man said Yes! He even told us how to take care of it. We discussed it among ourselves, and of course reason was tossed to the wind as unsatisfyed childhood dreams resurfaced from decomposed graves. We had always wanted pets.... and it was housebroken.... I don't think its even necessary to say that we took it home.
We figured our biggest challenge was going to be getting the kitten up the 4 floors and into the room without anyone noticing anything amiss. (We didn't factor in the fact that I am allergic to cats and that we aren't allowed to have pets.) Once there, we could keep the door shut and nobody would know. We named it Catul... derived from the hebrew word for cat- Chatul... and made him a bed and litter box and gave it dinner. It was a top priority secret so by that night, naturally, everyone knew about it. Well, not everyone. Not the girls who we knew were even the slightest bit afraid of them. Although we did have a few close calls... Like when we put a 'forbidden to enter without knocking' sign on the door and everyone was convinced we were hiding something. Luckily, at the time that they pushed there way through the door looking for the boy, Catul was sleeping in my lap and I was reading a book over his head... making him invisable. lol But all night, the sympathizers and animal lovers were hanging out in our room.
At about 11:30 at night, nearly an hour after curfew, the Am Bayit... who has been suspicious about our room since day one (on account of the many secret missions we carry out from within our silent 4 walls) :} came to visit our room. I basically shut the door on her face and then went out to talk to her..... the conversation went something like this:
"Hi!"
"What is going on in that room??"
"Nothing.... absolutely nothing... why would you think s/t was going on?"
"Haha, very funny, what is happening in that room??"
"Okay okay, we sort of got a rabbit."
"A... rabbit.... like a live rabbit?"
"um..."
"Wait, you seriously have a live rabbit in your room??!!"
"um... well... its a little bigger than a rabbit"
"... a little bigger than a rabbit. What does that mean?"
"well, its not exactly a rabbit..."
"I'm not getting it."
"Okay, we sort of have a kitten."
"Your joking."
"emhem... no i'm not."
"You brought a live cat into the dorm?? into your room??"
"um, yes."
"Let me see it."
"Be my guest."
So the end of the story is that she sympathized, because she likes cats.... but she made us get rid of him anyways. Right away. So I got to break curfew to walk the cat back to the farm, he never made it though, because my friends cousin wanted him and came to pick him up.
And so ends the saga of Catul, a dream fulfilled and then taken away before I really got a chance to appreciate it. lol.... :) it was still fun.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Simchat Torah with the Tragers
Okay, Hi everyone. Sorry that I'm so behind. My bad ;)
Shmini Atzeret/ Simchat Torah I spent at the Tragers house in Ramat Beit Shemesh. Getting to see everyone and spend quality time with them was amazing. Avrami, Eli, and Alex have grown up so much!! I barely recognized them!
The Shul was beautiful, the dancing leibadick, and the candy overwhelming. lol. The kids looked like they were really enjoying themselves. Its interesting that here in Israel shmini atzeret and simchat torah are on the same day... but cool.
The first night meal we ate out, and the rest we enjoyed together at home. Thank you Sharon and Shira, the food was amazing!!! lol- especially the rebellious waffles ;P
Oh- and I forgot to mention the cat which doesn't have a name yet... or rather has many names. Some of which include Quagmire, kitty purry, Citty, Kat, and Chatuli. She is soooo cute! She is a tiny little kitten that the Tragers saved and adopted in infanthood. They even had to bottle feed her at first. She is sooo playful and mystchevious!!!! I love kittens!
puuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Overall a hugungous thank you to the Trager Family!!!! You guys are the best!
Shmini Atzeret/ Simchat Torah I spent at the Tragers house in Ramat Beit Shemesh. Getting to see everyone and spend quality time with them was amazing. Avrami, Eli, and Alex have grown up so much!! I barely recognized them!
The Shul was beautiful, the dancing leibadick, and the candy overwhelming. lol. The kids looked like they were really enjoying themselves. Its interesting that here in Israel shmini atzeret and simchat torah are on the same day... but cool.
The first night meal we ate out, and the rest we enjoyed together at home. Thank you Sharon and Shira, the food was amazing!!! lol- especially the rebellious waffles ;P
Oh- and I forgot to mention the cat which doesn't have a name yet... or rather has many names. Some of which include Quagmire, kitty purry, Citty, Kat, and Chatuli. She is soooo cute! She is a tiny little kitten that the Tragers saved and adopted in infanthood. They even had to bottle feed her at first. She is sooo playful and mystchevious!!!! I love kittens!
puuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Overall a hugungous thank you to the Trager Family!!!! You guys are the best!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Chol Hamoed and CPB&J ;)
First 2 pics were from the shul in Aco.Last three are taken in Tel Aviv with Dror.
Talk about busy... from beginning to end, Chol Hamoed was a whirlwind of fun activities!!
Sunday night P'ninim took us to the old city to celebrate succos with a Simchat Beit Hashoava on the roof of the Heritage House. There was music, lots of different styles of dancing, and of course- food to feed an army. It took me some time to warm up but in the end we all just let loose and had fun!!! We also had a speaker (and this is for Meyer) who used the Word 'LeMafreah' which, for all you people who don't learn Gemara, means 'retroactively'... and i knew what it meant!!! Overall we had a blast!
On the way back there was so much food left over that every single one of the nearly 50 girls in attendance had to carry a box or pan the 20 minute walk to where the bus was parked. Me and a friend found an easier way than struggling under the weight of our boxes and put them on our heads. We marched through the streets of the old city with conspiritorial smiles and confident steps. An old man even begged to take a picture with us!! lol, we did it and the whole sem was laughing. Right before we left on the bus a man with a little kid asked us if he could have a drink because he was thirsty... there was so much left over that I was able to give him almost a full bottle of fruit juice. Again we all laughed and shrugged... only in Israel.
Monday I went to Tel Aviv to meet my cousins. Dror picked me up from the bus and took me to Yafo, the old city of Tel Aviv, to sightsee. We got to look at all different kinds of cool art and the area itself was beautiful. Dror explained to me that a lot of it was just newly redone in order to attract tourists. We visited the old train station and even got free shwepps flavored bubbly water samples.
When we were no longer able to stand the heat, we went out for lunch. Dror bought me my first Felafel in Isreal. Which was surprisingly good since I really never liked felafel in America. Although everyone did warn me that its better here. For desert we both got 2 gigantic scoops of icecream. :D
After lunch I went with Dror to pick up his two daughters, Hadar and Ohr, from Gan. Hen Col Cach Chamudot! At the Gan we also met up with Karen (Dror's wife) and her sister Anat and then we all went back to their house to hang out. Dror took me to go see Michal for a few minutes at the fancy Salon she works at.
For Supper Chaim and Chava joined us and we ate in the succah. :) After dinner Tante Chava took me to a really fun program called (in english) "Invitation to Silence". It is an hour and a half program to help you understand deaf people and the world they live in. We had to wear headphones and not talk or make noise the whole time. There were about 14 people in the group and we all had to work together to complete tasks and communicate messages to one another. I could talk about the experience from today till tomorrow but i'll suffice it to say that it was a lot of fun and very educational.
Tante Chava drove me to the bus station and even bought me a beautiful white sunhat that I can't wait to wear on the beach!
And so ends my day in Tel Aviv..... Todah Raba L'Tante Chava, Dror, V'Karen Al HaCol!!!! I had a really great day!!! Love you all!
Tuesday the Madrichot (dorm counselors) woke us up at 6:00 am to get ready for a super all day tiyul to Aco!! Fortunetely we had a few hours to sleep on the bus.... unfortunetely it was like trying to sleep in a cheap movie theater seat. Needlesss to say, not much sleep was happening. But its okay because seminary girls don't need sleep... (and this ones for Reuven) 'its part of the brainwashing process' lol.
We stopped breifly for Breakfast and then visited this amazingly beautiful shul in Aco.... some of the decorations were actual silver and gold. They probably spent millions of dollars on it. Then we headed to the docks for lunch. One half of us ate while the other half boarded a speed boat. I was in the second group to go on the boat so naturally it was time to kick up some trouble..... :-P actually it wasn't even my idea. lol
I dont' know what that big metal thing is called... the one that fishermen use to attach a net for catching mass amounts of fish. It swings out into the water from the boat and then back in when they want to bring in the catch. So a few girls were hanging on on of those when it was over the docks, myself included. The tour guide came over and asked who would be brave enough to swing out over the water and jump, naturally I volunteered. And that is just what I did.
The water was really salty but not too deep, and despite my long skirt and knee socks :} i made it easily back to the dock. The weak tour guide wasn't strong enough to pull me up on a rope (no offense to him but i'm really not that heavy...). So I swam under the dock and climbed up from the other side on some rocks. I then took a bow and everyone on the dock cheered.... hehe.
Although the stunt on the dock was my star moment the actual speed boat ride wasn't at all anticlimatic. It was actually a blast. It felt like a roller coaster. The captain told us all to sit up front and then he revved her up to full power which pitched the nose of the boat into the air... hence all of us. Then we'd come crashing down after a huge wave and get soaked.
Afterward we drove 2 hours to our next activity..... Grape Picking. We spent the last half hour until dark picking delicious green grapes. We brought the grapes to a location 10 minutes away and the guide showed us how to make grapejuice... in the dark. Luckily flashlights were on the packing list. A bunch of girls smushed the grapes with their feet in a baby pool but the more sensible girls took the time to do the process by hand. Me, hanving no interest in swimming in sticky grape pulp, didn't join in these activities. Rather I stood by the side taking pictures and laughing at all the funny things that were happening around me. In the end everyone got a little bottle of grapejuice... and I also got to keep my grapes. *Win Win*
On the way to our final destination... the Sand Dunes of Ashdod... the bus discovered that small enough girls can fit in the overhead baggage compartment. So next thing I knew I was being shamelessly stuffed into it. :-) It turned out the be the most comfortable spot on the bus. The girl that had been put into the opposite compartment and I both fell into our first good sleep since the trip started.
(I have pics of this 2 but just so e/o knows what the hold up with pics is.... It's been really complicated working out blogging in general on account of not having my computer. unfortunetly the pic sitch has been a bit frustrating to work with. But I'll get it worked out and have them posted as soon as I can. )
In Ashdod a few girls stayed behind to work the BBQ and the rest of us climbed a huge sand mountain and had a race rolling down it. It turned out to impossible to breath while doing said rolling so we all had to stop a few times on the way to spit sand and take a breath. :D But we made it down alive and then the tour guide told us a cool story from the gemara... which, incidently i don't remember. Then we rejoined forces for the BBQ and finished our evening with a not too long bus ride and cat-fights over the showers. :}
Wednesday I put up the calendar bulliuton board I had been working on for a few days, as per my job in Seminary.
I then did some shopping in the school's hefker room and packed a yom tov bag to bring with me to the Trager's.
Which brings me to Shmini Atzeret....
So I had a thought.... So you know how Chol Hamoed is smushed in the middle of the 2 yomim tovim?? So succos here was kind of like a Whole weat, crunchy peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The Chaggim were thick and yummy like whole weat bread, but chol hamoad had all the action!! lol
Talk about busy... from beginning to end, Chol Hamoed was a whirlwind of fun activities!!
Sunday night P'ninim took us to the old city to celebrate succos with a Simchat Beit Hashoava on the roof of the Heritage House. There was music, lots of different styles of dancing, and of course- food to feed an army. It took me some time to warm up but in the end we all just let loose and had fun!!! We also had a speaker (and this is for Meyer) who used the Word 'LeMafreah' which, for all you people who don't learn Gemara, means 'retroactively'... and i knew what it meant!!! Overall we had a blast!
On the way back there was so much food left over that every single one of the nearly 50 girls in attendance had to carry a box or pan the 20 minute walk to where the bus was parked. Me and a friend found an easier way than struggling under the weight of our boxes and put them on our heads. We marched through the streets of the old city with conspiritorial smiles and confident steps. An old man even begged to take a picture with us!! lol, we did it and the whole sem was laughing. Right before we left on the bus a man with a little kid asked us if he could have a drink because he was thirsty... there was so much left over that I was able to give him almost a full bottle of fruit juice. Again we all laughed and shrugged... only in Israel.
Monday I went to Tel Aviv to meet my cousins. Dror picked me up from the bus and took me to Yafo, the old city of Tel Aviv, to sightsee. We got to look at all different kinds of cool art and the area itself was beautiful. Dror explained to me that a lot of it was just newly redone in order to attract tourists. We visited the old train station and even got free shwepps flavored bubbly water samples.
When we were no longer able to stand the heat, we went out for lunch. Dror bought me my first Felafel in Isreal. Which was surprisingly good since I really never liked felafel in America. Although everyone did warn me that its better here. For desert we both got 2 gigantic scoops of icecream. :D
After lunch I went with Dror to pick up his two daughters, Hadar and Ohr, from Gan. Hen Col Cach Chamudot! At the Gan we also met up with Karen (Dror's wife) and her sister Anat and then we all went back to their house to hang out. Dror took me to go see Michal for a few minutes at the fancy Salon she works at.
For Supper Chaim and Chava joined us and we ate in the succah. :) After dinner Tante Chava took me to a really fun program called (in english) "Invitation to Silence". It is an hour and a half program to help you understand deaf people and the world they live in. We had to wear headphones and not talk or make noise the whole time. There were about 14 people in the group and we all had to work together to complete tasks and communicate messages to one another. I could talk about the experience from today till tomorrow but i'll suffice it to say that it was a lot of fun and very educational.
Tante Chava drove me to the bus station and even bought me a beautiful white sunhat that I can't wait to wear on the beach!
And so ends my day in Tel Aviv..... Todah Raba L'Tante Chava, Dror, V'Karen Al HaCol!!!! I had a really great day!!! Love you all!
Tuesday the Madrichot (dorm counselors) woke us up at 6:00 am to get ready for a super all day tiyul to Aco!! Fortunetely we had a few hours to sleep on the bus.... unfortunetely it was like trying to sleep in a cheap movie theater seat. Needlesss to say, not much sleep was happening. But its okay because seminary girls don't need sleep... (and this ones for Reuven) 'its part of the brainwashing process' lol.
We stopped breifly for Breakfast and then visited this amazingly beautiful shul in Aco.... some of the decorations were actual silver and gold. They probably spent millions of dollars on it. Then we headed to the docks for lunch. One half of us ate while the other half boarded a speed boat. I was in the second group to go on the boat so naturally it was time to kick up some trouble..... :-P actually it wasn't even my idea. lol
I dont' know what that big metal thing is called... the one that fishermen use to attach a net for catching mass amounts of fish. It swings out into the water from the boat and then back in when they want to bring in the catch. So a few girls were hanging on on of those when it was over the docks, myself included. The tour guide came over and asked who would be brave enough to swing out over the water and jump, naturally I volunteered. And that is just what I did.
The water was really salty but not too deep, and despite my long skirt and knee socks :} i made it easily back to the dock. The weak tour guide wasn't strong enough to pull me up on a rope (no offense to him but i'm really not that heavy...). So I swam under the dock and climbed up from the other side on some rocks. I then took a bow and everyone on the dock cheered.... hehe.
Although the stunt on the dock was my star moment the actual speed boat ride wasn't at all anticlimatic. It was actually a blast. It felt like a roller coaster. The captain told us all to sit up front and then he revved her up to full power which pitched the nose of the boat into the air... hence all of us. Then we'd come crashing down after a huge wave and get soaked.
Afterward we drove 2 hours to our next activity..... Grape Picking. We spent the last half hour until dark picking delicious green grapes. We brought the grapes to a location 10 minutes away and the guide showed us how to make grapejuice... in the dark. Luckily flashlights were on the packing list. A bunch of girls smushed the grapes with their feet in a baby pool but the more sensible girls took the time to do the process by hand. Me, hanving no interest in swimming in sticky grape pulp, didn't join in these activities. Rather I stood by the side taking pictures and laughing at all the funny things that were happening around me. In the end everyone got a little bottle of grapejuice... and I also got to keep my grapes. *Win Win*
On the way to our final destination... the Sand Dunes of Ashdod... the bus discovered that small enough girls can fit in the overhead baggage compartment. So next thing I knew I was being shamelessly stuffed into it. :-) It turned out the be the most comfortable spot on the bus. The girl that had been put into the opposite compartment and I both fell into our first good sleep since the trip started.
(I have pics of this 2 but just so e/o knows what the hold up with pics is.... It's been really complicated working out blogging in general on account of not having my computer. unfortunetly the pic sitch has been a bit frustrating to work with. But I'll get it worked out and have them posted as soon as I can. )
In Ashdod a few girls stayed behind to work the BBQ and the rest of us climbed a huge sand mountain and had a race rolling down it. It turned out to impossible to breath while doing said rolling so we all had to stop a few times on the way to spit sand and take a breath. :D But we made it down alive and then the tour guide told us a cool story from the gemara... which, incidently i don't remember. Then we rejoined forces for the BBQ and finished our evening with a not too long bus ride and cat-fights over the showers. :}
Wednesday I put up the calendar bulliuton board I had been working on for a few days, as per my job in Seminary.
I then did some shopping in the school's hefker room and packed a yom tov bag to bring with me to the Trager's.
Which brings me to Shmini Atzeret....
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