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
- Shower
- Put globs and globs of conditioner in your hair
- Use a comb that pulls all your hair out and Comb Your Hair for HOURS.
- Boil the Comb
- Take another Shower
- Repeat steps 1-5 repeatedly until you stop finding whatever it is you are finding.
- Check the next day
- 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 :}
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