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.