'O Chanukah- O' Chanukah Come Light the Menorah...

Okay, December is almost over and so is Chanukah! AAAAHHHH!!!!! How time flies when your eating doughnuts... lol

So this month i'm changing up the format and those of you who generally read these will notice...

College is going great! I'm in a race against time this semester b/c i'm trying to finish my BA as fast as i can!! to the tune of "Under pressure...." But really- experimental psych is the worst!

For the past 2 tests i've had to go to Ramat Gan to take them. The test takes me less than an hour but the travel time is almost 4 ... so basically i have to get up at 7:00 in the morning to get to the bus station on time to catch the bus at 9:50 to get to the testing place by 11:30 to take the test at 12:00 and then i don't get home until 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon. So basically test days are just that- test DAYS.... even my afternoon is only spent recovering :|

So for all of you who are interested this is the way it goes at Pearson Professional Testing Center-

When you reach the office you are already 4 and a half hours into your day. You have: taken a shower, gotten dressed, put on makeup, Davened, Eaten breakfast, taken your vitamins, packed a lunch, Taken precautions against rain, walked to the central bus station of Jerusalem, and spent 2 hours on a nauseating bus ride with a maniac driver.

In the Pearson Professional Testing Center's office:

Step 1 to receiving your test)

An elderly South-African lady shows you to a seat in the waiting room and tells you to take a rule pamphlet and read it over. The pamphlet is only as long as one of those cartoon scrolls that just keeps going and going in the Disney movies. and it all says "bla, bla, bla"... or at least that's all i can remember of it.

Step 2 to receiving your test) you raise your hand to signal that you are finished reading it.

Step 3 to receiving your test) The old lady gives you a key and tells you to put everything you have with you in a locker... although the rule book says that they are not responsible if things get stolen from it. lol

Step 4 to receiving your test) The lady sends you back to the locker to put in all your jewelry and hair clips which she has just instructed you to remove and put away. Lest you are a rich computer genious who can access information off a computer chip strategically placed into the metal holding piece in your earring. :)

don't worry it gets better.

Step 5 to receiving your test) The lady sends you back to the locker to get your passport which she conveniently forgot [memory is going or s/t] to tell you to leave out.

Step 6 to receiving your test) The lady cannot identify you by your passport picture since it's a mugshot and doesn't look like you. So she sends you back to your locker to get an alternate form of picture ID

Step 7 to receiving your test) You return with your medical insurance card, driving license, student ID, and Bus Card- b/c your confident that you don't look like yourself in any of them.

Of course she looks skeptically at each one of them, and when you explain that you're just not photogenic she just peers at you suspiciously over her granny glasses. Luckily, she believes you. "Whew... now i can cheat and take someone else's test!" big sarcastic smile :D

Step 8 to receiving your test) "WHEN AM I GOING TO TAKE THE TEST ALREADY?!" don't worry though b/c they only have to palm print you for safety 5 times on each hand.

Step 9 to receiving your test) They ask you to sit down so they can take a picture of you for identification- so that if you walk off after cheating they can hunt you down.

Step 10 to receiving your test) On the 10th try the camera still doesn't accept the picture as valid... "I told you- i'm just not photogenic"- unlike the old lady, the computer doesn't accept this answer.

Step 11 to receiving your test) The lady then grudgingly explains to you that they are actually secretly pupil printing you [what the heck does that mean?] and so this time, when you look at the camera, go really close and open your eyes really wide.

Step 12 to receiving your test) You do it and your picture looks like a fish... speaking of not being photogenic. At this point you are ready to just submit to the handcuffs and let them take you away... jail seems so much easier.

Step 13 to receiving your test) You are given your passport and other Identification cards back and asked to proceed to the testing area.

Step 14 to receiving your test) The new elderly South-African lady at the next desk takes your passport and asks you to palm print... just in case you switched with someone in the four feet between the two desks.

Step 15 to receiving your test) lady #2 checks your picture and stifles a laugh. "thank you... i'm sure that's very funny isn't it- can i please just take my test now?"

Step 16 to receiving your test) Lady #2 now graciously reexplains all the rules to you again. She's probably afraid that all you saw in the pamphlet was 'bla, bla, bla' :}

Step 17 to receiving your test) You are shown into the testing room and set up by a computer with the picture of yourself as a fish on the screen.

Breathe in breathe out.... and you take your test. But don't worry you can't leave when you are finished without being *escorted* out. You take your things out of the locker and palm print one last time to receive your grade. B"H! you passed!!!! whew... now i can go home and take a shower and go to sleep!!

College is a depressing topic... lets to to more pleasant things :)

Shabbos! first shabbos of the month i stayed in the dorm with P'ninim which is my preferred way to spend it.

The second shabbos I stayed in and ate at a friend and my teacher for a dif meal.

The third shabbos I made a girl shabbos with a friend who's parents are in America. They left her and her sister for a month so we made food and invited friends. I made shnitzel and bought doughnuts for dessert. :)

Shabbos Chanukah I went to RBS to a roommate b/c originally we planed to have a roommate shabbos with all 6 of us, but it fell through. So i went anyways with another girl in chedvas.

All of these shabbosim were really nice and beautiful. :)

A special thank you to Esti who i see almost every shabbos :}

This month I really went all out and had fun- wel... its chanukah month! I went to Katzefet with Esti and out to dinner with Mitch, and to the Aish Cumzitz with my roommate, and treated myself to lunch on the way back from my tests in Maffe Ne'eman, and ate like one hundred doughnuts in all [i'm probably exaggerating... but not by much :}] We also had a pre-chanukah cumzitz in class with two very talented musicians who came with 2 guitars and a flute. We cut the lights and lit candles all around the room. They led songs and we sang while they wove the story of Chanukah and its lessons into the music... It was a really an inspiring and powerful experience.

On the Friday that i made shnitzels i also met Adam in the Shuk... I got to show him a bit of Yafo and we walked around the shuk for about an hour. It was really nice seeing someone from the family- it reminds me of home. The birthright tour was playing a game that each kid was assigned another kid to buy things for and "admire", so we found a toystore so Adam could buy his assignee a present. So here's a shout out to Adam- Thanx for visiting!

last but not least, cause it just happened- dadada da! CHANUKAH!

The first night of chanukah we had our school chagiga. We had an elaborate meal followed by a chanukah video spoof that some really talented chedvasers made. I was in it as one of the maccabeats. lol- they asked me to be in a video a few weeks before and i just said yes, i didn't really know what they were going to do with it. They gave me and 2 other girls a twist on the maccabeats story and asked us to act it out while they filmed. So we all put on big purple sweatshirts, baseball caps, and sunglasses (outside in the dark).... We took metal ladels and serving trays as our swords and sheilds and acted it out.

The outcome was quite different than we had imagined. lol- the video was a half hour long drama with special effects. :) It ended off with a spoof song by a different group of chedvas girls about doughnuts. The girls liked it so much that they played it 3 times in a row! I have to admit that i was also crying from laughing so hard.

I'll try to figure out a way to send it home so e/o can see it. bl"n

We also had an auction and a chocolate fountain. :) that was the really yummy part. Almost better than doughnuts.

The third night I went out to dinner with Michal G, as mentioned above. We got pizza and it was cool. Then that night i went to the Aish Cumzitz with 2 friends and we bought ice cream and shivered together by the light of the old city golden menorah... well- it wasn't literally lit, but we certainly shivered.

The 7th night of Chanukah I went to the Neve Hachnosos Kalla Chanukah Chagiga, where all the Neve schools perform choirs and dances and some really talented individuals did solo acts. Some of the acts were really really good. Like the Midreshet Tehilla Dance and 2 songs were performed solo by the girls who wrote them. Also the Bnos Chava girls did a great job on their dances and Neve did a really nice ballet.

8th day of chanukah i took my second test at the Pearson Professional Center... which was today. :/ and so this is what i'm doing with my recovery time. :P

Hopefully tonight i'll be able to skype the family during lighting time. Looking forward!

Love you all!!!!

email me!! xoxo

Hello everyone. It's hailing outside.

Last few shabbosim I stayed in the dorm, exclusively :) as you may have all seen pictures of my shabbos table (taken on Motzei shabbos silly!)

Today I took my second Psychology clep and I passed!!!! Hashem loves me!

anyways, the big question i want to ask everyone is:

Can you see the writing on this page?

i'm looking at it and i've noticed that i can't read parts of it b/c the white blends in with the background colors.... Its driving me crazy for 2 reasons

1. I don't think it has always been like that

2. I can't figure out how to fix it!!!

how frustrating?!?

okay, anyways. I miss everyone!

Keep me and my college tests in mind in your prayers!

xoxoxo

Rain rain- come today... for now we have begun to pray :)

Well, we started praying for rain people... did you know that during the first maariv saying V'Sen Tal in Israel it started raining? Now that's a bracha!

Nothing interesting happened last week other than me studying like a maniac. Oh- and i started getting over my cold.

Shabbos I stayed in the dorm and ate meals by a classmates cousins with her and 3 other girls. I did try to hold onto the ideals of our previous shabbos so i did make a shabbos table even with a real tablecloth this time! I also cleaned the whole dira and it felt great! Unfortunately we had Shalosh seudos plans. We walked into Har Nof in guess what? The pouring rain!

We made it there soaking wet but in high spirits!! The meal was nice. We got a ride back after shabbos and did Melava Malke in the dorm. It wasn't quite so uplifting... I did do some guitar practicing though and i think i'm doing pretty good for not having played since 2 summers ago. :)

Sunday i studied. Monday i took my psych test... and directly afterward i collected the 400 page college textbooks to begin studying for the next psych test :D {big sarcastic smile}

Anyways- at least its a subject that interests me.

Today I have contracted a new "sick" in the dorm. Its even more lovely because i haven't completely gotten over the last 2. I think i'm going to get some onions and garlic and start a bacteria catcher.... i'll let you know if it works :)

And now for the joke of the day:

What do an Elephant and a plum have in common?

They are both purple except for the elephant.... lol :)

[i actually thought that was hysterical]

alright people- don't give up on me! keep emailing and trying to keep in touch with me... it really makes a difference!

Love, shayne

The Cold's 'Acomin... sniffle

So 2 weeks ago, there is nothing interesting to write about other than the fact that I begun studying for a psychology clep which was really interesting. I love random things like the fact that infants are correctly termed "neonates". And seeing silly and obvious truths like children in the age between 5 and 10 years of age are in the "Identity vs Inferiority" stage according to the great psychosocial theorist Erik Erikson. :)

Anyways, I also had a bad cold and besides for that it was cooooold outside! Brrrrrr!!!!! lol- we have the funniest situation actually... so the heat hasn't been turned on yet in the school (as we were told 'we are waiting for people to start complaining') But our room in particular seemed to be so very much colder than anywhere else in the dorm and it was driving us crazy. And particularly one roommate of mine simply could not sleep for how cold she was! Anyways, one fine morning we were all sitting around talking and one of the roommates was sitting on this girls top bunk bed when she suddenly calls "Shaaaayne" I came hurrying over to find out what she could be looking at... turns out she could see Angels bakery through the wall over this girls head. :)

I'm not joking about this one. There is a palm sized hole from the drywall all the way through the jerusalem stone of the outer building structure which had been plugged up with tissues and tape. I guess it was lucky the tissues began to disintegrate when they did, and that someone saw it- otherwise we might have freezed our tushes off all winter!

No wonder our room couldn't get over our sick!

shabbos [Oct. 29]

Here is the beautiful, and inspiring thing that will probably stay with me throughout the rest of my life...

Friday the girls and I propped 2 bed boards across garbage cans and covered them with a white sheet before shabbos. Then we put a vase of flowers [donated by a friends family in honor of her birthday] in the center and lit our candles there. I also donated my new shabbos Challa cover to the mix... It looked stunning. We really felt like we were getting ready for our own shabbos! we ran around all friday cleaning and making the place sparkle with a Taam of home. We cut toilet paper and taped lights, ripped wrappers and tried to be ready in time to take shabbos 40 minutes before shkiah as per the minhag yerushalym.

Friday night meal I had the seuda in Givat Shaul with my P'ninis.... and Shabbos day i went with the seminar crowd to a classmate in Har Nof.

But Shalosh Seudos was something to be witnessed... A bunch of groups of girls had bought little amounts of food to eat at shalosh seudos without realizing that anybody else would be doing the same thing. But by shalosh seudos time we all found ourselves around our beautifully set shabbos table... the one made out of garbage cans, bedboards, and bedsheets... Our humble little shabbos table. Combining our food we found that there was more than enough to go around- and how! Really it was a feast. We brought up song books and sang and sang, and I said a dvar torah since I was the shabbos tatty :) We also realized that we could do a Mizumenet.

And as we were told- Al Pi Halacha, its a machlokes whether or not its obligated, but its certainly a nice thing to do. And that's how i found myself leading the Mezumenet- "Chavroti N'varech!"

By the time we were ready to let shabbos out we discovered that it was past Rabeinu tam! We did havdala but were on such a shabbos high that we decided to go straight into Melave Malke. Someone ran to put on Melava Malka music on her laptop and I got a Chanukia and 4 candles. We lit candles, rewashed, ate a czais of bread, and sang some more.

And that was probably the most meaningful shabbos of my life.

Rain rain- come today... for now we have begun to pray :)

Well, we started praying for rain people... did you know that during the first maariv saying V'Sen Tal in Israel it started raining? Now that's a bracha!

Nothing interesting happened last week other than me studying like a maniac. Oh- and i started getting over my cold.

Shabbos I stayed in the dorm and ate meals by a classmates cousins with her and 3 other girls. I did try to hold onto the ideals of our previous shabbos so i did make a shabbos table even with a real tablecloth this time! I also cleaned the whole dira and it felt great! Unfortunately we had Shalosh seudos plans. We walked into Har Nof in guess what? The pouring rain!

We made it there soaking wet but in high spirits!! The meal was nice. We got a ride back after shabbos and did Melava Malke in the dorm. It wasn't quite so uplifting... I did do some guitar practicing though and i think i'm doing pretty good for not having played since 2 summers ago. :)

Sunday i studied. Monday i took my psych test... and directly afterward i collected the 400 page college textbooks to begin studying for the next psych test :D {big sarcastic smile}

Anyways- at least its a subject that interests me.

Today I have contracted a new "sick" in the dorm. Its even more lovely because i haven't completely gotten over the last 2. I think i'm going to get some onions and garlic and start a bacteria catcher.... i'll let you know if it works :)

And now for the joke of the day:

What do an Elephant and a plum have in common?

They are both purple except for the elephant.... lol :)

[i actually thought that was hysterical]

alright people- don't give up on me! keep emailing and trying to keep in touch with me... it really makes a difference!

Love, shayne

Lousy Sukkot? Maybe, maybe not...

Sukkos- Hello, so this is the month of October in a nutshell. First day of Sukkos I spent in Beit Shemesh at my teacher’s parents house. They had a beautiful sukkah in their backyard and the weather was gorgeous. Thursday night I went back to the dorm and Friday I spent celebrating the Chag of Sukkot with my roommates and the rest of the P’ninim girls who were keeping 2 days. I ate meals with them and sang… I turned off the gas oven for them… lol. Friday night I was in Givat Shaul and Shabbos day in Rachavia. After my meal I stopped over at a friend from sem this year who taught me how to play perpetual commotion.

Chol Hamoed- We had a simchat Beit Hashoeva. On the agenda was a drama-musical performance by a professional writer and artist. The presentation lasted for close to 2 hours and people were pretty bored by the end. It didn’t help that the mic and amp system didn’t end up working and we were all sitting Indian style on the floor. Then me and another girl said dvar torah’s having to do with sukkot. I spoke about a concept that is very dear to me and holds a lot of personal meaning. I talked about Sukkot being a time of open miracles. About the fact that Hashem is involved in everyday life even to the point of making miracles for us if that is what it takes. I brought out the lesson from tracing Bnei Israel’s travels in the dessert and focused on the Clouds of Glory and their significance. I was really nervous to say it and was hoping that I wouldn’t have to but in the end I got coerced by teachers and friends. The important thing is that I got to speak from my heart. Afterward I was glad I did it.

One of the days I organized a trip for whoever wanted to come to the Rose Garden of Jerusalem which is an absolutely stunning garden with waterfalls and ponds, flowers, and arches- only a 15 minute walk from our building! I bought frizbees and packed lunches for everyone. A few hours before we left for the park one of the girls electrocuted herself in the socket and was told to go to the ER to make certain she was okay. Fortunately this girl is used to weird and unexplainable things happening to her, such as knocking herself unconscious on a low ceiling in the presence of Rabbi Meisels… Confusion of foot (as per medical records)… and other such creative things. So while some of us packed up to go, the others were sitting in Terem waiting for a diagnosis. In the end we all met up and spent an amazing long afternoon in the park, splashing in the water in our black tights, eating, talking, playing frizbee and hacky sack, taking pictures, and teasing the girl who got electrocuted. At one point she even had earphones in and looked like she was playing music… only after a few seconds did someone realize the ipod was on the ground and the earphones were being held up to her finger. J lol- it was a blast!

Erev Chag I set up a small room outside the madricha dira for yom tov. I set the table with tablecloths and a challa cover and put out chandles and my siddur… It really felt like it was going to be yom tov! Doing my own chag was the most uplifting thing for me- it felt the most like home. Simchat Torah night I went shul hopping by hakkafot and then joined my friends family in Givat Shaul for the seuda. The next day I woke up sick… which was no surprise seeing as my whole room had sinus infections for about a week already. I ate the meal in with challa and kugel from Ariella and other food I bought from Hadar Geula on Wednesday just for the occasion. Then I spent the rest of that day with friends and my roommates who were in the dorm. Thursday night my Israelli friends dragged me out to Hakafot Shniot in Craft Stadium. There was a band and hundreds of woman dancing their hearts out on the other side of a 10 foot mechitza from the men. From Chassdish women to Datti Leumi were there all dancing for the torah and having a blast! I felt so part of the culture… so Israelli- it was amazing!!!

I got back to the dorm close to 1:00 and everyone was sleeping but the next morning I joined them for their yomtov meal before leaving to catch a bus to Ramot for Shabbos.

Shabbos- Shabbos I was in Ramot by the Davis family. They have a daughter who is both in Chedvas at night and also in Michal Gershaw’s class during the day. I really enjoyed being there and have so much hakarat hatov to Rikki and the Davis family for taking such good care of me especially while I was sick.

Sunday after Sukkot I called my college advisor and switched to a Psychology Major. I am really excited about it and will Imy”H take my first Psych test this Monday [keep me in mind in ur tefillot!] So I basically studied all week without break until Shabbos.

I spent Last Shabbos in with 2 of my roommates. Friday night I went with a group of fellow P’nini’s to a friend’s house and we discussed with her mother Chinese Medicine (because she is a nurse and an expert at evaluation, prevention, and treatment of diseases through herbal remedies). Shabbos Day I went with the Seminar/Chedvas crowd to an Israelli Chedvas girl in Har Nof. We really had a blast and also borrowed books from their enormous Jewish library.

This week the whole Chedvas has lice. I kept getting checked hoping that I wasn’t going to get it but chances were nil… I got a few nits- and was bugging out! Pun intended. When my Em Bayit was checking me and finding them she was trying to calm me down and tell me how little I had and that it was practically nothing compared to certain dira mates who might have had close to 800 plus bugs…. And I just couldn’t talk cause I was scared if I tried I would just throw up… Then she got nervous. I remember this conversation going on around me in my semi-incapacitated state…

“Shayne… Shayne? Don’t do this to me… What are you thinking?”

My roommate, “Lice really makes Shayne nervous.”

Em Bayit, “Okay, but its not so bad-“

“I don’t think you understand Mrs. Lorch- Lice is the ONLY thing that makes Shayne nervous.”

“Oh…”

So for all you American's i have a new article: How To Get Rid of Lice 101

1. Shower
2. Put globs and globs of conditioner in your hair
3. Use a comb that pulls all your hair out and Comb Your Hair for HOURS.
4. Boil the Comb
5. Take another Shower
6. Repeat steps 1-5 repeatedly until you stop finding whatever it is you are finding.
7. Check the next day
8. Check the next day- and if you find anything new... Start over from the beginning and this time use Rosemary Oil (bleh!) :) lol

Anyways, I only had a few nits and then we combed and checked and now I don’t… but i haven’t been sleeping with any linen or blankets b/c I’m scared of lice so I’m suffocating everything that either I or any of my roommates came in contact with before the lice was over (including my teddy bear Sir Lancelot) in order to kill the lice. I have also been wearing hats. Today Rabbi Kahane caught me going to class in a hat and told me i couldn't wear it because i wasn't refined. So 15 minutes later found me in Rabbi Orlofsky's class with a Mitpachat. And guess what he was talking about... Marriage. lmto- i raised my class to answer one of his questions and he asked me if i was married b/c if i was then it would be no fair to play. :) and just in case any of you are wondering as to my response- the correct answer is NO. I am NOT married.

Anyways, that’s my life! All in all, it was a month I will remember positively… even the lousy part :}

September in a Nutshell

Sorry everyone for taking so long to write this up it's been a whirlwind month and a half but i'll try to be better about keeping updated! Thanx for understanding! so here it goes:

I concluded my stay in Tel Aviv with Chaim taking me to the airport on Thursday night the 8^th of September. The amazing Hashgacha Pratis I met there in the form of two of the girls from my program last year who would be joining me again this year, already jumping into a Nesher to the school. That made things a lot easier and more clear. Of course the driver charged me extra for the 4^th bag I had but... I was just happy to be with my friends.

When I came to my building I got to see my old Madrichot and some farmiliar faces which made me really happy. We didn’t’ have our room assignments yet so we bunkered down in whatever rooms were available until we would find out.

Shabbos September 9th was a P’ninim in-shabbos which I was asked to stay and help out for. I was really happy to do it because I love to stay in for Shabbos. It feels more like home… like its my own. So I got to get to know the new P’ninim recruits a bit and also to talk to my old teachers.

Sunday the internet for Chedvas students is still down, in fact it’s not going to be working anytime soon.

Monday we got room assignments and although I had asked to be with a P’ninim girl and in a ‘early to bed’ room… Rabbi Kahane saw fit to make me into the only P’ninim girl in a room without another P’ninim girl and I was also in a 6 room. The ONLY six room. Well thanx is all I had to say. But I took it in good humor and dragged my chosen closet across the building to my new room and made my area my own by sectioning off my corner of the room thereby leaving me in a considerably smaller sized bedroom for 2.

Tuesday I had Orientation and Wednesday we began class. By that time all of my roommates had arrived… if not unpacked. There are 2 former seminar girls and 3 Olot living in Ramat Beit Shemesh. One is from South Africa, one is from Australia and the other is from America. By the first week I honestly knew I had the best room. It was better than I had imagined and I really love all my roommates. We have a great dynamic and the truth is that when I go to sleep on time, so does everyone else. Everyone is so respectful and so great. We seem to be all home bodies and are in during the days, whether studying or otherwise, we have a lot in common.

From Wednesday morning, I loved the classes and still do. That Shabbos we had a Chedvas Bais Yaakov in Shabbos and it was really nice. Over 50 percent of my year live in Israel. It makes Shabbosim less of a hassle that’s for sure. Monday of the week before I had already been working to get a phone and Ariella had helped me get in touch with an agent for a cheap phone.

But get this people- to get the phone delivered, he had to call me…. What the heck kind of idiot came up with that policy???!!! Because OBVIOUSLY I DON’T HAVE A PHONE TO CALL!

Shabbos September 16th was a Chedvas in-shabbos. Even the non-dormers stayed in and we had a really nice get to know you weekend. On friday night during the Oneg we were each asked to stand up and say something unique about us. The unique thing about me was that I was the only girl in the school who has a married younger sister.

On Motzei Shabbos, between borrowing other peoples phones and other such methods that I was not happy doing, I finally made contact with the guy who came and dropped off my phone. He told me to turn on the phone by the next morning at 9:00 and it would be working… which was great because (also through the frustrating process of borrowing phones and communicating through the ever unstable email system) I had a college meeting set up to begin planning my degree and get started, on Sunday afternoon… haha.

Needless to say, I turned the phone on at 9:30 and low and behold- It wasn’t working. Nor was it working at 1:30, or 2:00 or 3:00.

And you can’t imagine what goes into this college meeting thing. I needed to confirm a few hours before on a phone that I didn’t have, I needed to know what documentation to bring, I needed to get the address and find out which buses I had to take. All without a phone. All on email. And the Internet for Chedvas was STILL down.

Finally after a lot of frustration- begging, buying, borrowing, kicking people off the school computers... I went to my college meeting and had a timely run-in with G-d who helped me find the place when it became impossible to do it myself and I was already late and out of energy…. Lol- don’t take that literally guys. There is more to the story but I have no Coach to write it all.

The phone started working conveniently that night. Better late than never i guess :D

Tuesday Chedvas went to a private beach with the Mechanchot. We had a blast in the water and I even made a turtle out of sand. Me and my roommate from last year wrote I Love turtles with a sand I a heart made of shells and the turtle I carved, and took a picture for our roommate Bat-7 who is in a different sem this year. Then we had a Barbeque and rushed back to be in time for night classes.

That Shabbos the 21st, I went to my roommates house in RBS. It was a beautiful Shabbos and I really enjoyed getting to know Malka’s family. Thank you Benporath family!!!

The following week we had classes all the way up until Tuesday, Wednesday being Rosh Hashana.

I joined the Gershaw’s in Maalei Amos on Wednesday once again anticipating a beautiful and meaningful chag, which is exactly what I got! The three day yomtov was trying but the Gershaw’s are ever-chilled and know how to do it right!! I had a beautiful time! Thank you Leora and family!

Tel Aviv and Jet Lag... What a daymare!

So, I've been in Tel Aviv for about 2 days and I have to say that I am totally messed up. That first day I "napped" from 8:00 am until 6:00 pm and boy and i having regrets! Not that I could have done it any differently without an alarm clock...

Both nights so far I have slept from 12:30 until 3:30... about the reverse time of my usual day nap when I didn't get enough sleep the night before. And all day I've been falling asleep... or almost falling asleep. In the very least, i've been totally lethargic and can't move from like 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning until at least 4:00 in the afternoon.

On a happier note- Last night was my really good friend's wedding. It was soo exciting!! She is the first one of my friends who are really my age to get married. I had tears in my eyes when I saw her (also because I didn't get to see her the whole summer) and I cried during the chuppah... My friend was so beautiful, she looked so happy, and I'm sooooo happy for her! She deserves every bit of that happiness! Poo poo poo...

I can't explain what the difference was being that she is a good friend... but it was all so personal. It was so different even from Sarah's wedding in the sense that- when Sarah got engaged and married, i didn't feel that it affected my 'marriageable age status' because she chose to get married so young and I am still on the younger end of things. But when my friend got married, and I was looking around to all my other friends who are dating and wishing to be married too, I thought to myself- "am I missing something?" "So is this it? is this what we're all going to be doing now?"

lol- and as all you facebookers may have seen, i traveled alone by buses to the wedding and back so I was very nervous about getting lost, so I asked for people to say a perek of Tehillim for me b/c it was sooo bound to happen. And the prayers worked and Hashem sent people to guide me at every step of the trip. So thanx to whoever said those prakim of Tehillim. :)

Tonight I go back to Jerualem and school. I am very excited to be back. (yawn) And I can't think of anything more to say but i'm trying not to fall asleep so i should write more. Maybe i'll go finish packing up to go to Jerusalem.

Thanx for reading everyone! Imy"H i'll keep updating when I can!

Love, Shayne

Back To Israel

9-4-11

I said goodbye to Mindy about an hour and a half ago and I am now sitting at the gate in JFK… I want to send a shout out to the JJ and Adeena Weiss famly in Far Rockaway NY for hosting me over the weekend.

My flight is a 7 hour trip that will become 12 by the time I get to London. In London I will hang out at the airport and entertain myself for 12 hours. I’ll let you know all about that when it happens J

In general- I am calm. I have everything I need and I know what I am doing. In about 36 hours, I will be in Tel Aviv.

9-5-11

I am in London and yet I haven't left the airport. In my way of thinking, it's not really worth getting lost and missing my flight to Tel Aviv for 8 hours spent touring around a country I have absolutely no interest in. I mean, if there was something arranged and it was safe to go, it would be cool to see things like Buckingham Palace and Big Ben.... but staying in the airport was good enough for me. I spent 4 out of the 12 hours hanging out in the bathroom... changing cloths, rearranging my carry-ons, etc. Spent an hour and a half getting a coffee and looking for wifi. 1 hour writing random stuff on my laptop. A half hour coloring in my coloring book- yes i have a coloring book :) A half hour touring the airport and the rest of the time reading a book I bought out of sheer desperation.

All in all, that was my London experience and soon I will be getting on a plane to Tel Aviv. Hurray!!

9-6-11

I have just gotten into Tel Aviv. Uncle Chaim picked me up from the airport and I am exhausted! I didn't sleep at all on the plane after take off... but I did sleep from boarding until take off :} which was about a whole of 25 minutes- maybe.

The important thing (YAWN) is that i'm here in Israel. I finally made it, safe and sound. Bad plane experiences and good ones. Annoying airport waits and stressful security checks. I'm here and I think i'm going to take a nap.

Traveling to New York

September 1, 7:40 a.m.

The sun is shining brilliantly through the giant airport windows of DCA, and the caffeine that is running through my veins has me alert and appreciating every moment of it. My first leg of the trip is done. I am now sitting in the D.C. airport at the gate for my next flight. On which I will be flying first class… J not because I booked a first class ticket… but because it ended up being cheaper than paying for 2 suitcases.

The plane I just got off of was a 12 row plane. That means 48 seats. Anyone who travels a lot will know that this is a small plane. When we deplaned, we walked down the cockpit stairway straight down onto the runway, the way you see the president always does on TV. It was very cool. Of my stay here, the only thing I learned about Washington D.C. is that there are a lot of trees… and Olympic sized pools. The gates are filled with kiosks and nice things for sale like any tourist spot. My next flight leaves in about an hour and a half...

September 2, 6:56 p.m.

The second flight was really nice and comfortable. First class is almost worth the extra money just for the bigger seats :) When i got into the airport Mindy picked me up and we went to her house in Far Rockaway which is where i am now and will be staying until Sunday evening. Yesterday I went with her to Queens College and got to see the school campus while Mindy was in class. It was interesting how many different types of Jewish people went there and how they all interacted with one another.

New York is very different from Detroit and its an experience being here... even more than going to the catskills for 2 months. It's something i would have to get used to.

Have a Great Shabbos Everyone! I Love You!!

Shayne

After Pesach

Okay so my memory is failing me about what exactly happened after pesach... I just know that i had my first burger in Israel on Motzei Yom Tov. I also went on a trip with the sem and i don't remember everything we did. I do know that we went to Hertzelia park which is basically a playground for adults. The slides and swings and jungle gym were all huge!! I was really tired that day so if i can recall, i sat under an umbrella and read a book the whole time. I still had fun though. Afterward we went to the beach and sat on the rocks looking out over the water, and had a barbeque. It was really peaceful and nice....
Then the Tuesday after Pesach we started class again. That shabbos I went... somewhere maybe Meisels...
Then we had normal class and then I went to Ramat Beit Shemesh for shabbos to a friends friend who was her boss in NY.
And this is sounding really really boring. granted.
Hmmm... I'll have to go interview my diramates to find out what i've been doing this whole time :} then i'll get back to y'all.
<3 <3 <3

Pesach!!!!

Okay, so I did my seder at the Simons. It was a huge privilage because this was the first time they had ever had any guests for the seder. It was just me and mindy and we really really enjoyed it. Especially the famous 'Simon Choir'!
First day I ate by Meisels and then that night I did Havdala with the handful of other girls who were only keeping one day.
First day of chol Hamoed I stayed around the dorm and played Shabbos goy for everyone who was keeping 2 days. That night I made a matzah lesagna and then i got called down again to make another one a bit later. I can't rememeber what I did on- o, i do remember.
On thursday a couple of the girls decided to go bike riding in Ganei Yehoshua in Tel Aviv and invited me. I went and we had a lot of fun waiting in line. Unfortunetely the lines being hours long was not condusive to our chol hamoed happiness so instead we played in the park for a bit. Right before we were about to leave I noticed a little girl walking around the packed park crying. So Mindy and I helped her find her parents. It wasn't so hard considering there were at least 800 frum families there... :) It was actually really cool, at one point, from where we were sitting we could see 6 minyanim at one time in different corners of the park. Then we rode the train for about 2 minutes to our bus stop to go back to Yerushalym.
Erev Shabbos I was supposed to go shopping but it rained. (It was raining for four days starting from the second day of pesach.) But then on my way to the bus stop to go to Kiryat Sefer for shabbos I ended up finding what I had been looking for anyways.
I was at my teacher Rabbi Kornblau for shabbos with a friend and we stayed by a detroit family that just made Aliyah. (Ehrinrich- they are Mrs. Kornblau's parents)
Erev Yom Tov Sheni I made Matzah Meal Pancakes at Ariella's (since we can't cook gebrachs in the dorm). I'm actually really in the mood to make more right now.... hmmmm
neways, Last night I ate at my Em Bayit's house. Afterward I went to hear Stallin sing Az Yashir at midnight in Meah Shearim. We got back to the dorm really late. Today I did a meal in the dorm and then chilled out until Yom tov ended. Everyone is trying to convince me to go out and buy pizza or something but I feel very sentimental about that... maybe i'll get a burger... or maybe not. hmmm... what to do?????
okay, hope everyone elses pesach was as great as mine was!
<3 you all!!

Pre Pesach Preparations

Okay, So the week before pesach I stayed in Efrat from Sunday until Wednesday night. Monday was Aviad's birthday so Deja's family and I went to the zoo with the kids to celebrate. Afterward we ate out in Malcha mall and then got back in time for Mindy to come vist me. It was her birthday too so she came to have a party and sleep over. We tried to roast mashmellows in a park but we had a broken lighter and it had just rained so we couldn't use any of the wood to start the fire. Instead we just ate cold mashmellows and candy and froze in the park until we decided we had had enough birthday fun :}
Thursday P'ninim went on a trip to the zoo with our chesed kids as a favor to our chesed families. I didn't end up taking any kids and Mindy ended up running the project so in the end... Mindy took me. I saw a rinacersrasorus!!!! and i got to go on the train!!!!! :D
After the trip I pesach cleaned my room- only took like 3 hours what with moving all the beds, bunk beds, and closets... even though it had been spotless before.
That night we wanted to go sleep on the beach but we were warned about the danger so instead we ended up making camp on the porch. And Mindy and I finally got to roast our mashmellows ;)
Shabbos was an optional in shabbos for whoever wanted. I stayed in and ate shalosh seudos by Ariella's. Motzei Shabbos I went to sleep earlyish... cause Sunday I went back to Efrat for my last day there. At the end of the day I said good bye to the kids and had to run to get back in time for Bedikas Chametz. I did the dining room which should have been cleaned with a toothpick before but no such luck shayne... found croutons and all kinds of crumbs everywhere. Erev Pesach we did Biur Chametz and got ourselves ready for the chag.

Pre Pesach Tiyul- ONLY LOYAL P'NINIM STUDENTS ALLOWED!

Wednesday we went on a tiyul with whoever was left here for pesach. In the morning we went to the chocolate factory- De Karina. We got to see how they make the chocolates by hand and then we also were able to make our own chocolates. We made chocolate designs, chocolate cups, chocolate truffles, chocolate faces (OUR faces to be more precise)... "Mindy started it!!" lol
Afterward we drove out to a ropes course place where we could do a huge climbing wall, a cool ropes obsticle course in the air, and archery. Originally, there was also a zip line option but since it was freezing and raining, and since the zip dropes you off in a- Ksiv:Lake Kri:Swamp, :} we couldn't go. Anways, it was a ton of fun anyways. Anyone who is interested in a minnie story that happened here but is not neccessary to write out, can email me and show me how much you love me :) even if its just out of curiosity. ;P
Afterward we went to the Kever of Rebbe Meir Baal HaNes and davened Mincha there.
Then we ate dinner and drove out to the kineret to watch a light/water show. It was beyond beyond cool. And thanx to all the wonderous rain we've been having lately, the kineret-o-meter measurer thing said that the water is above the warning line. Hurray!!!
Then we bonded for 2 and a half hours on the way home.
And then I went to sleep early b/c on Thursday I went to work again. Funny thing, both days I worked so far, there were Chefetz Chashud's on the way to the bus. Tuesday it almost made me miss my bus b/c they blocked off my whole street and I had to go through the Shechuna to get to the Tachana Mercazit. Thursday it was right in front of the Tachana Mercazit so it delayed my bus just enough so I could make it there on time. :) Second one was an insane Hashgacha pratis story... don't know how it was possible that i made it to that bus b/c it was so for sure that i had missed it, but then i didn't :)
and Today, I am chilling... went to Ariella's for a few hours... ate some of her chometz... This shabbos I'm staying in the dorm and going to meals close by. Maybe we'll go to the kotel for shalosh seudot... idk.
neways... Have a Great Shabbos e/o!!!!
<3 me

Pesach is coming... Spring is in the air... Rain is- RAIN!

Okay, so I guess its would make sense to start with the Mechanchos evening that I mentioned last entry. I went to my Mechanechet's house and we had a lovely pizza dinner and sang songs at the piano. We also did a really cool activity. She gave us tons of jewish magazines, paper, scissors, and glue sticks. We were told to make a collage representing ourselves from pictures and words we found in the magazine. We were all really into it and spent over an hour working on it. Afterward we all presented our collages to the group and explained the things we put on it. My collage was divided in 4... one corner was my past, one was all the things I like or like to do, one was this year in sem (an essential trasition and turning point), and the last was my future. I joined all four of them together with a giant "Miracles" in the center of the paper, because Hashem has made my life the way it is and only with Hashgacha/Miracles does e/t come together the way its supposed to be.
Did I mention that we had a Kibud Av VaEm- Yom Iyun last week? I missed part of it when i was sick but i caught the end.
Thursday was normal.
Friday I stayed in the dorm... or did I?? I can't remember...Oh right- I did. We had a mandatory In-shabbos because it was the last before Pesach vacation and most of the girls went home. Random Interjection- of all the girls who have left for pesach vacation to go home, the only one that hasn't left yet is my roommate- and that's b/c she loves me :) just sayin.
So anyways, Friday night we did in the the dorm with the Simons (my teachers). I was still a shtickle sick so I went to sleep early and missed "the best speaker of the whole year" and that made me sad... but I'm over it. ;) Shabbos day We ate in the dorm also with my Em Bayit and her family. In the afternoon, a friend took me to a beautiful nature path thingy with flowers and grass!!!!! and since the weather was absolutely sensational, I took a nap in the grass :D a much missed commodity. (is that how you spell it?... ) Then for Shalosh Seudos we went to the Meisels and heard Gila Manolson speak about Tznius. Even those of us who weren't already aware of who this woman was, were very impressed. Motzei Shabbos we chilled...
Speaking of chilled... starting Sunday its been absolutely gross out, rainy and freezing and muddy. But thank G-d for the rain... we need it. (and yes, i'm convincing myself of that)
Sunday and Monday we had a Pesach Yom Iyun, which was really inspirational. Monday I went with my Halacha Rebbe to go ask a shaala from Rabbi Ezriel Oroback, the son of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Orobach. My question was about keeping 1 or 2 days of Yom tov. The Rav Orobach asked a bunch of questions to my Rebbe and he then asked me. Sof Ma`asa, I am keeping one day of yom tov from now on. :) but i have to tell you that i'm really nervous to. I'm afraid its going to feel like being mechalel shabbos if i know that all of my friends are keeping 2 days... we'll see. The older girls who are keeping one day already told me it won't be weird and i'll get used to it fast... I guess i have to trust them. The Rav also gave me a Bracha!! All in all, it was really a special experience for me.
Tuesday I started work in Efrat. I'm helping Deja around the house and with the kids.

Bombs, Weddings, and Day to Day

So, as I said in my last post which I wrote as the entire episode was happening, there was a bomb in Jerusalem last week Wednesday. It went off just a block from my school next to a bus that nearly my entire school takes on almost a daily basis, the 74. More than 10 of our girls were either running to get on that bus, missed the bus by seconds, got off the bus on a whim, or were right in the area. With tremendous Hashgachas Hashem, nobody was hurt. Some of the girls saw it, a lot of them were very shaken. At the time, a good friend called me, totally hysterical. She had heard about it as she walked into the building only a minute after the bombing. When she saw that I wasn't in and because the cell phones were down she couldn't reach me on my phone, she was really scared that I had been there. When she finally reached me a few minutes later, she was the first to tell me about the bomb. Thank G-d everybody was saved. Most of the Israellie girls didn't give it much thought... they told us they were used to this. They said that a few years ago this is how it was day to day, week to week. It doesn't phase them anymore. I guess I understand it, I too wasn't as upset by it as I knew I should have been, coming from a higher sensitivity level.
As soon as things looked clear the school instructed all the girls to come back from wherever they were at the time. I was at Ariella Zilberman's place around the block so it wasn't so far for me to travel. At the school, Rabbi Meisels and a few other Rabbeim and teachers were saying Tehillim with the girls. As we came in we joined. Afterward the Rabbanim gave us speeches about tragedies and moving on. About taking in the pain of the klal but not becoming depressed. About acceptance. Mainly they were there for us, giving us chizuk and answering any questions.

The next day I went as planned to Michal Epstein's wedding. Tal Erez and Jonathan picked me up from my school. We met Shmulik and Hadassa, and then continued to the wedding together. The wedding was beautiful, the bride was stunning and shining and brilliant, the guests were happy, the dancing was upbeat, and the food was first class. All in all, i think everyone enjoyed themselves and had an amazing time.
Shabbos I went to Rabbi Kornblau's house. He was having a kiddush for his baby daughter Chana Gittle. Mindy and I went to help out but mostly because we really wanted to take advantage of the unique opportunity to spend shabbos with such a Chashuv family. For that reason we even overcame our slight aversion to buses.

Sunday I took a day off of class to work on college essays. Monday I got sick. Tuesday I was better again :D... G-d loves me!!!! And today I had cleanup duty. ;P
lol, tonight is a mechanchos dinner, that should be fun. More info later. <3 y'all!!

EEEEK!!

Okay, so a bus just blew up down the block from my school. It's really scary... the school is trying to round everyone up... i'm around the block inside, so my school told me to stay there and not to go out. trying to reach my friends... trying to reach people... nobody is answering phones b/c the lines are flooded. news is vague. more updates coming. more information later.

AFREILICHIN PURIM E/O!!!!!!!!!!!

Motzei shabbos we left Efrat quickly because we didn't want to do 2 days of Purim but we got to see some cool fireworks while we were waiting at the bus stop!
Sunday, while you people were all celebrating purim, I had a normal day (albeit no class). I took it easy and went shopping for my shaloch manos.
Last night was our Purim chagiga. We started off in school hearing Megilla by Rabbi Meisels son and then relocated to the 'wedding hall'. We had, sem girls, yeshivah guys, waitresses, his side, her side, gypsies, crashers, and I was the flower girl.
The teachers were the Chasson and Kallah and they did a really funny skit about shidduchim (yes its getting a bit old... just a itty bit) Then the heads presented a hysterical shtick vid that they made. Partly it was skit on Yam-LeYam trip which is up and coming (a 3 day hike). Part of it was random takes of the dorm at night. And part of it was them filming the girls dressed up and doing funny random things in the middle of town :)
neways. We got back at about 1:00 in the morning... which was great because some of us were waking up at 3:30am to go to Netz at the Kotel. So basically I got one hour of sleep for the night.
We walked there, right down Yaffo and all the dregs of society finishing their parties and heading back to where they came from. One of the really innocent and naive girls was soooo freaked out and upset by it. It was cute to see that someone can still get so upset at the Kedusha of Yerushalym being violated like this. I guess we've all just become so accustomed to it that it seems like that's the way it is everywhere, so why not in Yerushalym?? We davened Shachris at the Kotel and then walked back. I went back to sleep for an hour and woke up to catch Megilla at Mercaz HaRav. Afterward I delivered my shaloch manos- all 1 of them :) and then rested for a bit before going to daven at the kever of Rabbi Gedalia Moshe bn Shlomo. Then I went to the purim seuda locally at a friends house in Givat Shaul.
The food was good, the people were nice... and drunk :)but the good kind of drunk- the cute kind. All 'toira' and 'just love Hashem'-ish.
When I got back to the dorm I got the unique pleasure of babysitting a couple of drunk girls who were sent back from their various Seudas in taxi's. It was definitely an interesting experience for me, being as it was a first. I can be grateful that at least I did not get thrown up on...
And as a smashing end to the day- i'm sitting here catching up on my blog because when i'm having a great time, all i can think of is you people. :D u should feel sooo flattered!!
<3 <3 <3 Miss you all- especially those of you who are part of our detroit purim party that i missed this year!!!!!!!!!

Trips, Shtick, and Taanis Esther

Week of March 13-19
Monday we went on a trip to reward good attendance. Most of the girls worked really hard to be in class enough to get on the list so we had a big group.
First we went ATVing. There were too many drivers for everyone who had a license to drive the whole time but Mindy and I switched off driving ours. As slow as it was because some drivers can't drive... :D it was a blast. One ATV almost went off a cliff, and one even flipped over! cool to hear about, glad it wasn't me right :P
Afterward we went to a really sick lazer-tag place. We played a game of capture the flag with lazer rifles in a huge 1000 meter forest boundary!!! Before the game started we painted our faces with green and black camouflage... so, naturally, i gave myself a black eye and told e/o "u shoulda seen the other guy :D"
We played 3 rounds. My team won the first round, theirs the second and we tied on the last. It lasted over an hour and was really intense. It had to have been my favorite trip this year though!!
Then we went to get ice cream in Elad... a break off of Bnei Brak, and then headed back to school.

Wednesday we all ditched afternoon classes and went to Gan Saccer (a park nearby). We left a note on the board for Rabbi Meisels to call us if he wants to get us to come back to school. Someone tipped him off that we were in Gan Saccer (as planned) and we ordered 6 boxes of pizza and drinks to the park, to arrive at the same time as he did. When he showed up, he was promptly handed the bill for our dinner :)As it worked out though, he had brought his whole family along anyway so we all had dinner in the park together. A few other girls and I made a spontaneous bonfire to keep us warm once it got dark and then most of the girls went home.
I stayed with a few kids and we made a second, much bigger fire in a pit and burned all the pizza boxes. We sang songs and entertained curious kids and asked people what they were dressed up as, when they walked by. (It was the day before Taanis Esther so everyone was dressed up)
When I got back that night Mindy, Leah G, and I painted our faces demon style and went out to scare people. Wherever we walked we did funky things at the same time (like for ever 10 steps forward we'd take 2 steps back, or freezing in exaggerated positions at every street corner). We went to the window of coffee bean where our friends were inside playing banana grams and froze. The couple sitting closest to the window nearly had a heart attack when they chanced to look up and saw us frozen with scary faces in the window less than a foot away from their faces :) We also pretended to be mannequins in a costume store on Yaffo and scared a lot of unsuspecting costume shoppers.
Taanis Esther we had a Purim Yom Iyun which basically focused on the Coach HaTefilla on Purim. I slept through most of the day since I'm not such a good faster. We broke the fast on... pretty much nothing. Since they forgot about us and didn't make food. But its fine because we found cottage cheese and yogurts in the fridge. And later that evening I did a mitzva with a friend and got another girl take out since we figured out that she hadn't eaten anything and was planning on sleeping it out till the next day.
At night Mindy and I asked for late curfew to go for a walk and I got to show her around Kiryat Moshe. We also found a small kumzitz so we sat in the distance and listened for a while. :)
This past Shabbos I went to Efrat, to Deja and Aviad, with a friend. Their twin babies are really cute and the Ariel and Choshen are too. We had a wonderful shabbos!!

Rosh Chodesh and P'unk-Ninim!!

Week of March 6-12th
Motzei Shabbos we stayed up all night 'Punking' Rabbi Meisels office. The girls covered his walls in plastic wrap and then graffitied. We had our best artists work on it and it turned out really really cool! A couple of girls also tin foil wrapped all of his things. Individual wrapping the desk, every chair, book, pen, and candy. Well- to be honest, they ate all the candies and stuffed the jar with wads of tin foil :) lol
My job was to make him a hat and bling necklace to wear. I paper-mache`d the hat and then graffittied the top. I wrote RABBI across the front in silver foil and then bedazzled the rim. The medallion I made him was a chain of silver foil and foil covering cardboard that said 'P'unk-Ninim' on it.
When he came in on Sunday we were all dressed as punks... all out- hats, bling, and black lipstick. :P
Monday a girl in my seminary got engaged. She had been getting late curfew for two weeks and getting dressed up every day, especially that morning. We were all told about a Lechaim that would be held in the Meisels house and the whole thing was very surprising and last minute. As you might have figured out... it was all a hoax. This girl was head of Chaggiga together with her roommates so it was really easy to make it believable. They broke out the theme of chaggiga(Mock Wedding) at the Lechaim, during which a few girls inconspicuously slipped out and went back to sem to do some messin of their own. When the Chaggiga heads came back to school, all of their beds, closets, and drawers were outside on the porch. :} not my idea... hehe, they weren't tooo happy but we can all take a joke right??
And some time this week I also bought a bucket to do my laundry in since I've been hand washing since i got here. lol... I wrote on it "Shayne's very own bucket- דלי. If anyone even so much as thinks of stealing it- Beware... I have strong friends."
Okay, shabbos I went with 2 friends to a different teacher on Sorotzkin. Friday night we went to the Belzer tish and got to see all the mentchies walk on the tables!! ('all those yoilies came to see- came to see... the Rebba's shabbos table just like royalty, hey-ay!')

Marching marching....

hehe... how korny was that title huh :D
Okay so finishing the first week in March...
So on Thursday, after everyone was semi-feeling better, we had a tznius yom iyun which was actually really inspiring and cool. I think most if not all of the girls enjoyed it.
That shabbos 4 other girls and I stayed at the Meisels' (my principal). I'm not sure if I wrote about it when it happened last, but the last time I went to Rabbi Meisels' house his niece was there. What's Hashgacha Pratis about that was that it was both our first times there and we are really good friends from middle school. I haven't seen her since 9th grade when I traveled to Toronto by myself and stayed at her house!! What's funny is that I didn't even know that she was in Israel, let alone that she is my principal's niece. So this was both of our first shabbos back since the last time and it wasn't planned at all. Hashem really does love me!! <3 <3 <3
Shabbos day we all ate at our teachers' the Simons. Both Rabbi and Mrs. Simon are teachers in the school and are very involved with the students. I think it was all of our first times going there for a shabbos meal.
All in all, we really enjoyed shabbos... especially the riddles.
Riddle from Rabbi Meisels- try and figure it out.
There are 12 weights that all look the same. You have a olden day scale that goes up ad down when you put stuff on either side. The are all equal in weight and size besides for one. It is either heavier or lighter than the others. You can use the scale 4 times before you need to know- which weight is not equal, and whether it is lighter or heavier.
Now you try it :)

Call in the Riot Police!!! Is this how its supposed to be?

I pretty much stayed in this past week since everyone was sick (I have a cold) and also I was working on getting the March calendar finished and up on time. B"H I was able to put it up last night.
O- here's some news. Monday Mercaz HaRav Yeshivah was rioting about some police attack on a kibbutz last week... apparently he just started shooting and killed a bunch of innocent chareidim. So the boys were rioting right outside the sem. There were about 30 police cars around the building. When Rabbi Kahane (our teacher and the Shana Bet principal) showed up to teach us that night, he thought P'ninim was finally being arrested :) lol...
what's not so funny is that 6 of the yeshivah guys were arrested. Later that day hundreds of yeshivah boys came out to riot in support of their friends in custody. When the riot police arrived it was a really not a pretty sight. Unfortunately many of the boys sustained injuries, some more severe than others... O- and don't worry, we weren't allowed to leave the building either.

L'Zicaron

Week of Feb 20th- 26th
Mindy's parents were in for the week so she moved into the apartment they were renting with them. Monday they came with us to Yad V'Shem, the Jerusalem Holocaust Memorial Museum. Our guide was none other than Hanoch Teller. When I was going around on my own afterward, it trully hit me how lucky we were to have that privilage. A guide I had stopped to listen to was giving a detailed analogy of all the art in the museum, who designed it, and their lives.Its scary to think that the guide really shapes your way of thinking about the entire meseum- and the holocaust itself. Whereas we heard facts and true stories (survivor accounts) of what happened during the holocaust- coupled with all the pictures and evidence being presented in the glass cases and exhibits of the museum.
For most people, not surprisingly, I think the most moving part was the children's memorial- even though it presented no facts or stories, had no pictures and no evidence. It was a stone buiding. Inside is dark with a walk way suspended half way through a huge empty room aside from the whole middle being a giant glass case. Inside it and on the walls were thousands of candles seemingly suspended in mid air. One candle per child that was documented murdered in the holocaust. Resonating through this stone building was a deep male voice slowly speaking out the name age and country of every child- one by one. Going across the catwalk took less than 3 minutes but just about everyone who came out of there had tears in their eyes.
Tuesday I crashed Mindy's apartment for the night just to get out of the dorm, and Wednesday night her parents took her, me and my roommate out for dinner at Rimon. It was a beautiful evening and I had a great time.
This past Shabbos I was in Maalei Amos with Leora Gershaw and family. Of course I had a beautiful, relaxing shabbos together with them and look forward to going again.

How Many Balloons....

Week of Feb 6th- 12th
Monday night we had a Mechanchos Supper at my teachers house in Ramat Shlomo.
That Shabbos I also stayed in the dorm. There were only about 4 other girls there this time though.

Week of Feb 13th- 19th
Monday night I went to Karaoke with Mindy which is always fun.
Wednesday, Shalom Task Force came to speak to us. For most of you Michigan people, you have no idea what this is. But its pretty recognized in NY. STF is an awareness program for Domestic Abuse. They help and aid frum women in abusive marriages all over the east coast. They also put together informative and preventive programs for single women who are either dating or even not yet. They focus on recognizable signs of manipulation and that sort of thing. I found the program very interesting, and overall it wasn't at all extreme or assuming. Just down to earth and real.
That night me and bunch of the gals stayed up blowing up balloons and stuffing them into Rabbi Meisels office. 500 balloons wasn't enough to fill it to the door so we started with a balloon wall and tape and then worked toward the door. In random balloons we put water, rice, flour, confetti, and beans. Also we made faces and pictures on the balloons. The madricha made a Baloon Rabbi Meisels and put it on his chair, so that when he broke through all the balloons he would see it. We wrote P'ninim Purim Katan in Balloons on the wall behind his desk too.
We closed the light and left a safety pin on his door. When he came into school the next day (the day before Purim Katan b/c there is no school on Fridays) me and one other girl were sitting outside the office (a common place to be for most students) as if to be waiting to speak to him. When he unlocked the door but couldn't open it, we were right behind him with the video cameras. So we have a full 15 minute video of Rabbi Meisels trying to break through the balloons with the safety pin. The whole thing was a riot and we all had a lot of fun doing it!!
That Shabbos was a Shabbaton in Kommimius (a Chassidish Kibutz). The girls were absolutely enthralled with the scene around us- all the Yoelli's on tractors :P
The theme was Tov LeHodos LaHashem and Gam Zu LeTovah.
Okay, all in all, it was a beautiful 75 degree sunny shabbos that was just relaxing and inspiring. I gave a 'Dvar Torah' on the Gam Zu LeTovah part of the theme during Shalosh Seudot that I was mucho not prepared for. No but I really wasn't... I had zilcho written down. I just had printed out a few pages on the subject from chabad.org and Aish.com... and asked people for some stories over shabbos. It ended up being more like a 15 minute shiur because I had so many cool things to say even without the stories.
Like the whole concept of the Tes for Tovah. If i'm correct its the first Tes in the torah, and just like the Ches represents a marriage, the Tes represents the child in the womb- inner goodness that is hidden. The idea being that all is good but goodness is not necessarily revealed or known to man. Just like to Moshe's request for G-d to reveal Himself- He answered "You may see My back, buy My face- that you will not see"- I believe its the Ksav Sofer who says that Hashem was telling Moshe a rule- in hindsight (at the end of days) you will know why I've done all that I do, but foresight was not given over to man. And I told a few stories about knowing that even when something is bad... and it stays bad... and its not going to change- it too is intrinsically good, whether we can see why or not.

Vacation!!

Week of Feb 1st- 5th
Okay, so the beginning of Feb I was on vacation for a few days. From Tuesday until the next Motzei Shabbos I think.
Wednesday we went on a Tiyul to Rosh HaNikrah. We went on Cable cars, a small hike, some caving, and saw a cool presentation on the formation of the mountain. We also went ice skating. It was just about the worst ice rink i had ever have ever been on but nobody died I guess. Had to hold back on most of my tricks though :) It was a beautiful68 degree day though, right in the middle of the winter.
Thursday night I went with Mindy to Maalei Adumim for the night where we had a little vacation-celebration. lol- i hereby copyright that phrase and officially name it the korniest line of the year ;)
That Shabbos I stayed in the dorm. Most of the girls did too since the whole week was very tiring.

Production!!!!

Okay so there is not much to say about the days leading up to production other than that i practiced all day, and that my best friend here is AMAZING! She always knew when I just needed to get out of the building and would take me for a coffee or for some fun night out where I had to get dressed up..... <3 u Mins! I was really nervous the few days before the play because its a really funny script with some really funny actresses and I was having a hard time staying in character and not laughing. I was one of the only parts that COULD NOT laugh. I told the director that I couldn't do this part like a day before the play and she told me that I was doing it and that I wasn't going to laugh. Well, I guess she was half right. I think I laughed half the play behind my hand. Luckily nobody realized.

Wello...

no the W is not a mistake ;)

So basically, I had thought i was all caught up and that I would write about Benei Brak shabbos and then get back on schedule... but unfortunetely, the play directors had other plans. But its fine because I didn't do much of anything in the past month besides for hang out with Sarah, practice for the play, um- practice for the play, .....try on my costumes for the play, eeeh- try them on again, practice a bit more for play, OH- and did i mention i've had a few play practices lately?? ;-P
So its not that play directors aren't great, in fact i think we have great ones.... but they do All seem to have this thing agaist eating, sleeping, and ever seeing daylight. :P haha, jokes on u tobi. lol
Oh- and i would like everyone who knows me for at least a year to note the change in the About Me section of my profile. :} u may get a kick out of it.

Okay, so the last thing I remember is Benei Brak Shabbaton which was flippin awesome and starting me seriously thinking about my life and the direction its going.... and i don't think i'll expound upon that concept anymore. :-X lol- nothing to awefully serious. don't worry, i haven't fallen in love with Chassidous or Chabad. Right, after that I spent practically the whole next two weeks with Sarah.... um, the first shabbos after I actually went with a sem friend to her grandmother's-friend's-grandson's Bar Mitzvah. Where we both slept on a half inflated (notice i didn't say half deflated) air mattress. Which wouldn't have been as bad as it sounds if the floor had not been freezing!! lol, no really, i had a really fun time. They were really really sweet people. The next Shabbos I went with Sarah to her cousin's house which was also fun. I got to learn all about a Mezumenet and some other Daati Leumi fun customs...... right and then the rest is all play practice..... which btw- is on MONDAY!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so i'm totally not nervous... whatever. :P
lol- kk. gtg. love u all!! bye!

Lol

Okay so this was just a totally random post. The other day I sat down to write down some of the things that I think are either funny or ironic about sem, or about me in sem..... and I figured you would all enjoy something up to date to read. For sure those of you who either know me well, or have been to seminary will laugh at some of these funny things i've listed below.

So, this is for all of you who were wondering about the new me... :D Enjoy!

This year in Seminary....

1) i've learned to not be picky about what i eat... seriously, i've can eat cottage cheese or chumus out of the container... or soups of various thickness and colors- including orange and purple... :)
2) i sleep on a matress that is less than 4 in thick with a wooden board underneath.
3) i've learned that despite what everyone has told you- air conditioning is not a necessity, even in 100 degree chamtzins.
4) my room is, surprisingly, warmer in the winter than my room at home ever was. :P
5) I still can't always differenciate between the crying of a cat and a baby
6) I no longer need to hear the words "Ani Tzarich Ezra LaChatzot Et HaKvish" in order to understand that the 3-year-old on the busy street corner wants me to cross him.
7) I still can't bring myself to imagine spending 30-40 shek on a box of cereal when in America we pay 2-4 dollars.
8) I learned that it's possible for ones room to be emaculetely clean for a month straight (even with 4 girls living in it), but as soon as one of us has a hard day and her bed is a mess, Pitom- everybody's space is messed up.
9) i've learned that there is no depression that some blasting jewish music and a manicure party can't cure.
10) Practical advise for life: If your carrying an UZI, they will put you up first for karaoke... and every other time u ask.
11) My dictionary of English words- Buscuit= cookie, Plaits= braids, Fringe= bangs, Knickers= pants, Trainers= sneakers, Dodgy= sketchy. O, and don't ever say bloody... not even if you've just cut yourself and are bleeding everywhere.
12) Being sharp in class only gets u nicknames.... like Bamboo for instance.
13) I can now recognize a Frenchy from a mile away.
14) I've learned that sometimes staying away is the best way to keep someone close.
15) I've come to appreciate rain and bushes
16) I can now understand sentences like- "I love chinked peeks"
okay that's enough for now. hope u enjoyed hearing about the totally true, funky things in my life. So long folks!!
love you all!

The Rest of December

Shabbos of December 11th:

Okay, So Shabbos i went to Ramat Beit Shemesh with a friend and stayed at her old neighbors house. There daughter is in Rachel Factor's seminary for the arts, Midreshes Shmuel. Her and 2 friends also were home for shabbos. It was the first shabbos in a long time that was rainy and slightly chilly. I went to a sem friend for Shalosh Seudos.
Then on Motzei Shabbos I went to Rabbi Kahn, my halacha teacher's house for Melave Malka ( a different teacher makes one every motzei shabbos).

Week of December 12th-18th

Monday I was casted as a snobby upper class woman in the production. I got my script and we started practicing soon after.

The next shabbos was an in shabbos. Friday night I ate at Ariella Zilberman's- Sarah E's cousin. On shabbos day after the seuda in the dorm, i took Aviah and Efrat Zilberman to the park. While we were there, 2 chabadnicks came into the park and called all the children to come for a shabbos party. They started to call out passukim of Tehillim and some Pisgamim for the kids to repeat after them. To be honest it looked like a cult, but it was so beautiful. The kids were so excited... and they were screaming out words of Torah, and then at the end the boys (who were only younger twenties probably) gave out candy to all the kids. Afterwards I ate Shalosh Seudos by Ariella again.

Week of December 19th- 25th
Monday we went bike riding at this random bike trail. The trip was a smashing success!!!! ..... A successful disaster that is. :P 4 girls ended up in the ER. Because of all the injuries we lost all our guides one by one until certain groups were left to navigate the trails alone. Me and 9 other girls got lost and ended up in an Arab village. When we started seeing black water tanks and little huts we turned and rode the other way as fast as we could.
Tuesday I went out to dinner with a friend... we bought a pizza and some drinks and sat nearby to eat. the only reason this stands out in my mind was b/c it was the first time i missed tuesday night classes. It wasn't the smartest move, but it gave me a chance to chillax and unwind. specially b/c breaks in schedule don't happen nemore b/c of play practices.
Thursday I went to the Aish Hatorah Cumzitz and then went with my friend to her old sem dorm in Maalei Adeumim for the night.
Friday morning the two of us went from there to Beitar for Shabbos. We stayed at her Israelli cousins' house.
Sunday night a girl in the seminary made a Brachos Party for a Zechus for one of our teachers who doesn't have any children yet.

Week of December 26th- 31st
Monday we had the day to prepare for the Benei Brak Shabbaton. At lunch a girl had a seizure in the dorm. A lot of people were really freaked out. I wasn't there and I guess that's what Hashem wanted, but it still bothers me that nobody knew what to do. They told me that not only did nobody know what to do but nobody knew Hatzala's number!!! By the time i found out what was going on, it was all under control. The girl was taken to the hospital, and B"H she is now back in school.
That night I went out with a friend and got the Iced coffee I had been craving for almost 3 weeks. Then we went to all girls karaoke which was basically empty. So we got a lot of chances on stage and had a ton of fun!!
Wednesday Sarah Epstien surprised me. She had told me and everyone who might know me, that she was coming on Thursday just so she could surprise me. lol, boy was i surprised!!!!!! i was on the computer actually and she covered my eyes. The funny thing was that i had just been thinking about her. So i had a feeling it might be her, but i quickly dismissed it. When i turned around and saw her i totally freaked out!!!! For real- i haven't seen her in almost 2 years! Since then i've pretty much been spending all my time divided between class, practice, and sarah.
Thursday night we went to Daniella Jacobowitz's wedding. All you Detroiters know her husband and his family.... Rabbi J's son Shmoo. Afterward we went to stay at Sarah's cousins house in Beit Shemesh for the night. We stayed up basically all night talking, and I left at around 7:00am to catch a bus back to sem in order to be on time to leave with everyone to Benei Brak for our shabbaton.