Moving to Yagur

So I'm finally at my next step, kibbutz yagur! It's weird being here, like being that kid that shows up to college before the dorms open. There's only a few people that showed up today, none of whom speak English. We live in a converted gan (or children's) house, so all the beds are small and the railings are low. The ulpan classroom is just downstairs so on class days we can just roll out of bed and grab some coffee from the small kitchen on our way. I've been assigned to working with the babies (little or no Hebrew required) and I start Sunday! Tomorrow we are taking our placement exams so they can figure out what level we're in. I'm hoping to be in gimel (level 3) but I'll probably be in bet (level 2). I met the housemother (who is actually a guy and used to be the head of the program) and the head of the program. They're really nice, and are both second generation kibbutzniks. There's also this guy who made Aliyah 36 years ago from New York, and although he's a fitness trainer in the gym, he hangs out with us to speak English and tell stories about making Aliyah in the 70's and 80's. He's going to be helping me with my army prep and is one of the coolest people I've ever met. Here's some pictures of my trip to Haifa and the kibbutz today!




























(The puppy picture is because I'm missing Usdi and Waya)

As I know some of you may be wondering, a couple of weeks ago, I got a call from Jill saying that my dad's chemotherapy wasn't working. The doctors told her that the time between trials would be too long, so he's off the treatment and in home hospice. I've gotten to talk to him just about every other day. Some days are better than others, but even if I just hear his voice for two minutes I'm happy. This has been a long and hard journey for all of us but we fought with science and now we are fighting with prayers as best as we can. A lot of random times I remember some small detail about something we did together, while riding bikes or making pancakes (a not-so-secret lesson about carbon dioxide), some joke he told or a time I made him mad and was too proud to apologize, and I am so proud to call him my dad. We had some fantastic times, and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. Even now, if it's on Skype or just a rushed phone call, I treasure every inch of it. He got to celebrate his Hebrew birthday on Sunday and I called him first thing (for his morning) and sang to him in Hebrew. No matter what happens, things are okay now and Abba, since I know you'll be reading this almost as soon as I post it, I am so happy that we have the time we do now, even if it is long distance. I love you so much.

So, time to get this party started! I will be posting much more often now that I am in this new place. Let's go to ulpan!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hot Chocolate Day

I want to start off by apologizing to any of my readers if this is your only way of knowing what goes on with me. Last I wrote, I was going to visit my dad in Nashville for a week and a half. The day before I was supposed to leave, I decided to stay two more weeks.

It was very hard to be there.

I won't go into the details of the trip, but saying goodbye to my dad was easily one of the hardest things I've done. I don't know the next time I'll get to see him, but the time I did have with him was really special. I got to spend Thanksgiving and most of Chanukah with him, countless hours of just talking and playing games or watching movies. It was heartwarming to see how many people called to see how he was doing or brought food for Jill and Nathan. I did work some while I was there, and it was good to see my coworkers and boss. I got to see some of my friends, and those that I didn't see, I want to apologize. I tried to keep my trip quiet, and I did my best to see my dad as much as possible.

I stayed with my mom to reduce the amount of foot traffic in my dad's house, and it was really good to see her and my sister. I spent part of Chanukah with them, too, which I really appreciated.

I came back to Petah Tikva on Friday, right before Shabbat. I've mostly been sleeping since then, but Shmuel, Dovi, and Esther's mom is coming in town tomorrow so I have to get on a proper sleeping schedule tonight. I only have a few more weeks until I go to Kibbutz Yagur, and I am very excited, albeit cold. YES, it is cold here. It started raining a few days before I came back and hasn't stopped since. I wear so many layers and spend most of my day cuddled up in my blankets while I do things on my computer or sleep. It's the kind of cold where you don't need gloves but you wear two pairs of socks AND your super comfy and fluffy house slippers. The rainy season just started and I'm ready for it to be over, but I know it will be even worse when I move up north. I am more excited for Pesach to roll around than moving to the kibbutz because I will finally have my holiday in Israel and it will be warm again! Esther and I are nice and cozy in our room and drinking hot chocolate while we hope there are no flash floods (although there probably will be).

Until next time,

Shirit

P.S. Major props to Nathan for driving me back and forth almost every day so I could see our dad.

P.P.S. Vols finished up the season nicely, with a solid win against Kentucky. I will admit that I wasn't particularly interested in that game because the overlapping Auburn-Alabama game was so intense that I could barely focus on anything else. I supported Mizzou in the Iron Bowl against Auburn, but maybe Auburn can pull it off in the BCS National Championship game against FSU. We're looking at a fun month ahead in football. And I'll stay up for some of it.

I Survived a Three and a Half Hour Wait at Misrad HaP'nim and Lived to Tell the Story

This is a very hard blog to write. I know I haven't been keeping it up the past few weeks, but with good reason. Let me tell you what I've been up to and what has been going on. It's quite scattered and goes back and forth because while I was living my life here in Israel, I was also having to stay updated about things in the States. I'm telling it just as it happened so you can get a feel of the things I had in the back of my mind while I participated in one activity or another.

Near the end of October, on a Thursday, I got a very difficult call from my dad explaining that his cancer had spread and would be going to a doctor to see which trial medications he qualifies for. The next day, Shmuel, Eliana, her friend Anna Lea, and I went to Holon. It was the last day of the Samaritan Sukkot and Shmuel had been invited to bring us to see one of their famed Sukkot. Samaritans are Jews that adhere closely to the literal meanings of the commandments in the Torah and don't bother with trying to extract further meaning or interpretation. When they read that on Sukkot you should have the four species represented, they go ahead and just build them into their Sukkot, which led to the famous tradition of creating a ceiling of hanging fruit that create all these incredible designs. Also, they sometimes build them in their homes (like the one we saw).

The Samaritan synagogue in Holon--the writing is in Ancient Hebrew

The ceiling of the Sukkah

  The edges, with details

When we got back to Petah Tikva (after making sure Anna Lea was safely on her way to Jerusalem), we got ready for Shabbat. I was feeling down so I went to my room and watched funny videos online while Dovi and Shmuel were at shul, even though Shabbat had started. All of a sudden, I got a call from my dad. He told me he was changing his Hebrew name to Eliezer. It was a short, nice conversation, I said hi to my brother Nathan, and I promised I would make sure he would be mentioned for the refuah shlemah. I went back to a video, but a few minutes later he called back. He asked me to come visit sometime before my ulpan. I was very shocked and said I would think about it. I took it very hard and as a result Shabbat, Sunday, and most of Monday were very difficult for me because I was waiting to hear if he qualified for the new drug. As soon as I hung up, though, I knew I would go.

Monday we found out he had been approved for two different treatments in case the first (a pill) was a bust. It would be a couple of weeks before he started. On Wednesday, I took Anna Lea to Yafo to see the shuk, the port, and eat at Dr. Shakshouka's.

The tower where Taglit 365 began our adventure of a lifetime

The first restaurant we ate at on Taglit...yummy shakshouka

When it came time for Shabbat again, I went to Jerusalem to visit family friends from Cleveland who made aliyah last year. I came back Sunday morning with a stomach bug, but it was good to see them and meet some of the kids I hadn't met before.

Eating crepes with Ayelet at Waffle Bar on Emek Refaim

My dad had gone to Florida for a getaway weekend with some of our family. He hadn't felt well over the last couple of days, so he and my stepmom, Jill, went going to the hospital as soon as they landed in Nashville. He was not admitted, but had to come back pretty much every day for testing. Over the week, I spoke with Jill and my dad about some options for coming to visit. We figured that if I came around the beginning of December that would be best, and I would need to get permission to leave since I have only been an Israeli citizen one month.

Thursday, Dovi and I went to Tel HaShomer base in Ramat Gan for a future Lone Soldier IDF job fair where we could learn about different parts of the army, jobs within each section, and what we need to do in order to get the jobs we want. We knew that Shmuel works there so we saw him on our way into the base (over an hour after they said everything would start, welcome to Israel!) and he walked us to the courtyard, but then had to leave again. The boys and girls were separated (about a dozen girls and probably at least 20 boys) and we were briefed on the basics of how the draft process works. We spoke about half and half in Hebrew and English. A few minutes in, when we were talking about the tzav rishon (first notice) and manila (the document on which you choose from the jobs for which you are qualified), a soldier walked in. He looked really familiar, and as I realized it was Noam from my Taglit bus, the biggest smile exploded on my face! He made a hand motion that said "Let's wait until this is over," and then calmly walked out. I refocused on the discussion, but a few minutes later, a group of four or five girls walked in to join us late. Again, one of them looked familiar, and we both at the same time realized we did know each other! It was Rachel Gardyn, a really close friend of mine from Ramah Darom. We hadn't seen each other since 2008 and lost touch almost completely the past couple of years. She's in ulpan and working on making aliyah within Israel and wants to be a volunteer in the army when she becomes a citizen. We didn't get to talk much, but now we know that both of us are here in Israel. We hugged on the spot and after got a bit caught up, but mostly we were just in shock from meeting so randomly. When they released us to join the boys, I found Noam and gave him the biggest hug! I knew he was a commander, but apparently he was in charge of making sure our program ran smoothly on the base where he works. He was very surprised to see me, but it's good to know he works on the same base as Shmuel, pretty close to Petah Tikva! I went to learn more about being a paramedic (I've been hearing a lot more feedback and almost everyone says it is the better job and I will get paid more then and in the future!), the Navy (Cheil HaYam, literally soldier of the water), and a few other options for me. Dovi and I had to leave the program early, but we ran into him on our way out. He was registering his soldiers for Birthright trips and himself for another Birthright trip, this one music themed (he's an amazing singer).

Navy boat on display

 (Yes, Commander!) כן, מפקד!

When we left the base, we headed for the beautiful city of Jerusalem. The pre-weekend bus was so packed that Dovi and I both ended up sitting on the floor (and we weren't the only ones) for most of the trip. When we arrived, we checked into this great little hotel (there are few differences between hostels and small-time hotels) called Hotel Zion near Ben Yehuda. The service was amazing (the owner truly loves his job and insisted on personally checking in and walking all the guests up to their rooms) and it was very affordable!

The view from the balcony at Hotel Zion

After we changed, we went to Baka for the Jerusalem Wine Festival, which was a lot of fun. I even met a couple who invited me for Shabbat sometime. We decided to meet some of both of our friends near Ben Yehuda at a bar where Dovi is well known from his mechina days, and we stayed for hours. When we did leave, we ended up at a karaoke bar and stayed until last song/call. Finally, it was about 4:30 AM and there was just a few of us left. We went to a place called Four Corners, which is basically a rooftop near the Kotel where you can see all of the beauty of Jerusalem. We watched the sun rise over the Dome of the Rock.  We went our separate ways while Dovi and I went to finally get a few hours of sleep, breakfast, and then went to Machaneh Yehuda to meet some of his friends.

Mitzi's in Machaneh Yehuda has the most incredible burgers I've ever tasted

When it came to be closer to Shabbat, I made my way over to the Inbal Jerusalem Hotel to meet up with the Nashville Jewish Federation community mission trip. My mom works for the Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee and several people from her office were on this trip (not my mom...but that's another story), and it was so good to see them. We are all very close and it was like seeing family. They had invited me for Shabbat dinner, but at the last minute also invited me to Kabbalat Shabbat. Little did I realize...

Me and my former youth director at the Kotel for Kabbalat Shabbat

Yes, we took pictures, but it was a lot of their first times at the Kotel and my first time as an olah AND for Shabbat! It was very special, despite the silly nature of the selfies. When I got a turn at the Wall, I prayed very hard for my dad. It was one of those times where I just really missed him and hoped that this whole thing would end sooner rather than later. We walked back to the hotel, enjoying the atmosphere of Shabbat in Jerusalem and me sharing some of my crazy stories since making aliyah. We had about an hour before dinner, so some of us hung out and got caught up. Hadar had been with her family for Kabbalat Shabbat, but before dinner I finally got to see her! I had missed her so much and we spoke in mixed Hebrew and English. She gave me a scrapbook that Ana, Julian, and Kasey had made me but I had to leave behind last month. Then, when she went to finish getting ready for dinner, I got a call from Jill. She told me that I was the first person she called after speaking to the doctor, and my dad was getting an IV. The doctor suggested that if I want to have a nice visit, I should come sooner than three weeks. I told Jill I was going to Misrad HaKlita on Sunday, and was struck silent when she said she would book my flight for Monday. We agreed she would book whatever flight she prefers and I would talk to her after Shabbat.

All of Shabbat I had no idea what exactly that meant. For all I knew, it was that my dad might be lucky to have three weeks to live, but, per his request, I tried to stay positive. I went to dinner even though I wasn't very hungry. I stayed to talk to the group for a while longer until we agreed I would come with Hadar's group for an activity in the morning. I went to the Muszkats and slept a few hours until it was morning.

When I got to the hotel, part of the group was going to Masada and the Dead Sea and offered their room numbers to me so I could eat the fancy hotel breakfast. After we finished, we hopped on the tour bus and drove to Tal Shachar where her aunt and uncle have a farm. Her whole family was there to help with the annual olive harvest (masik zaytim) and we were the special guests. It was so much fun and very cathartic, and after we had lunch that included oil from last year's harvest and LOTS of other delicious food.

The most effective way to harvest olives

They had little puppies

לחיים!

There were 13 of us in addition to Hadar's big family

Olives ready to be sent to the press, they turned our hands purple

We got a tour of the farm, where they have sheep, olive groves, a beautiful house, and a woodworking shop. They invited me back to help or have dinner sometime since it's not too far from Petah Tikva. I slept most of the bus ride back, and then took a cab to the Muszkat's to spend the rest of Shabbat. It was good to really spend some time with them, and as soon as Shabbat was over I called Jill. She told me that he is going on the alternative medication on Monday since it is intravenous and he is so obstructed by these tumors that are growing significantly by the day that he can't keep down food and thus the other treatment is on standby if this one works. We agreed I should get permission first and then buy the plane ticket so there wouldn't be any complications. The reason I am going so soon is because within three weeks my dad will probably be in a haze from all the medication and I'd rather spend some good quality time with him before that. If this works and he can keep food down, he'll take the other drug which is more effective and will very likely be okay! In that case, I will have a nice trip now and have an even better, healthier one in the future. For now, all we can do is pray and hope that this medicine works. After a while of hanging out and watching Nurit do her manila, I met up with Dovi and we went home.

HaYarkon River in Tel Aviv while waiting for the bus

Today I went to Misrad HaKlita to ask about the papers I would need. They sent me to Misrad HaPnim which was very intimidating, but I left quickly since I had left my American passport at the apartment. When I returned, there were about eighty numbers before mine. I ended up waiting for three hours and I didn't even have a book! It was definitely worse than any line I had seen here to date, being right after the weekend and open to the public. It took a lot of patience and persistence because they didn't quite understand what I needed at first or just didn't want to deal with it. When they finally realized what I needed, I had the notarized paper in my hand and was out the door in two minutes!

Tomorrow evening I fly out of Tel Aviv and head home for a short visit with my dad. It is not how I imagined my first month here, but I know that it will all be worth it. I will be back in time to celebrate Thanksgivukah and all of Chanukah, my first holiday in Israel (ever, not just as an Israeli!). I will blog again when I come home and again after the holiday! Thanks for reading this long blog, but as you can see it has been quite a ride and I am just glad I get to see my dad in a couple of days.

P.S. For those of you interested, I would be very grateful if you mentioned Eliezer ben Chana in your prayers as that is all we have until we know that this drug that he starts tomorrow works.

P.P.S. Vols are 4-6, but as I previously mentioned it is THE most difficult schedule for a non-ranked (and even a ranked) school in the history of the SEC. Hopefully we can pull out a win with Vandy in a couple weeks after their unthinkable Georgia and Florida upsets.

"I Would Date a Loadmaster"

Boy, do I have a blog for all y'all! I was in Jerusalem for three nights and two days (the third I left pretty early in the morning) and in that time had several amazing adventures! Honestly, this will probably be the most exciting blog to date, so I am very anxious to get these stories out to you!

You all remember the blog I posted on Thursday (most of you didn't see it until today, which is fine), but after I arrived at Beit Nativ (also known as the Center for Conservative Judaism (hostel and synagogue), where Nativers live during their time in Jerusalem) I hit the ground running. I wound up getting off the bus a stop early so I walked for several blocks down King George Street.

No big deal, just Jerusalem's Great Synagogue itself

When I arrived at Beit Nativ, it was time for Ma'ariv. Honestly, I had forgotten that this is a USY program so obviously they are going to be praying for the third time that day. But I went in, sat in the back with my weekend backpack, took a Ma'ariv card and went along with it. Then, Jules Gutin (former director of USY, he was the big cheese in my USY days, famous for always rocking the sweater vest) began his lecture on Conservative Judaism. I didn't realize I had stepped into the first part of the weekend lecture series commemorating some number of years of the Conservative movement. So I moved down, sat with my friends, and listened to the lecture. Mostly it had to do with a survey the Nativers had filled out a number of days prior but it was still very interesting to see how the group relates to the Conservative movement. After the lecture was over, I put my things up (this is a youth hostel after all) and we went out to enjoy a Thursday night (no classes at Hebrew U on Fridays) and my being in Jerusalem! I got to see people I haven't seen in years and met a lot of their friends. We got back late but in the morning some of them had another lecture early on Friday, so I packed up my things and headed out.

Sipping coffee and enjoying the view before leaving Beit Nativ

Friday morning I decided to go to the Old City. See the Wall, get a couple things from a kiosk, eat some felafel, the usual. I was the only person on the bus when we got to my stop, but I didn't stand up soon enough for him to know I needed to get off (yeah, I know, the buttons...who uses those??). I figured I had all day so I got off at the next stop and started to walk back. As I was crossing the light rail, a guy came up to me and asked if I had a couple minutes. Now, this happens every once in a while in Israel, mostly bigger cities like Jerusalem. In my experience, it's campaigners and sometimes soldiers having a fun day off, and these guys weren't campaigning. So I figured I'd help them with whatever, see what they were up to, and be on my way. They got a couple more people to join them at this big sun dial and we all joined hands and sang songs about the sun while dancing around it and being recorded on someone's phone. I got to talking with them after this. They were a group of IAF (Israeli Air Force) reservists from battalion 757 on a fun-day scavenger hunt around Jerusalem who invited me to join them for the rest of the day!

Me: "My friends are NEVER going to believe this..." Here's my proof

The last station where we found out where we were having lunch, proudly waving the 757 from a balcony

Like I said, I had all day and it was going to be a public transportation-only trip around Jerusalem with a group of Air Force reservists. I was very safe. So can you believe it, we go to all these great sites around Jerusalem, doing blindfolded puzzles (me) on Ammunition Hill, dancing with and singing about felafel at Denya Square, finding people named David at Davidka Square, getting girls (me) to have video recordings saying "I would date a loadmaster*," finding people who actually know what happened at Allenby, and ending the adventure with a 757 lunch at Rosa's.

Awards ceremony at Rosa's

Our group (#4) got fourth place, and the guys were ecstatic. Why? Not only was 4 and 4 lucky, but mostly because the winners had to organize next year's scavenger hunt, a rough job. (Also, for the record, the group that consisted of the 757 guys still in their service got last place.) So second place was the new first place, making fourth not so bad! Not to mention we had the most fun taking our time, eating felafel, and our group had the most girls (one). After lunch and the trophy being awarded to the poor team that got first place, some of the guys who have stayed close invited me to enjoy the pre-Shabbat Mahane Yehuda (the largest shuk aka market in Jerusalem). We walked around, I bought some rugelach from Marzipan for the family I was going to see over Shabbat and tried fresh-pressed pomegranate juice for the first time, and we got free samples everywhere.

Rugelach ready to go in the oven, it was going so fast!

Tehina Queen, sister company to Halva King

We even got to see how tehina is made and samples of different flavors of tehina (the sweet chili was not very good). Finally, we went to a little pub and celebrated the loss before parting ways. I was having trouble figuring out which bus to take and my phone was low on battery (my battery case was dead as well), so one of the guys whose parents live near the Muszkats gave me a ride right to their door. It was very interesting to see life after the army and to see how Israelis see olim chadashim. They had lots of questions, and we all got to practice our respective second languages. I even got to meet the IAF Chief of Staff (if I'm remembering his position correctly) who they had been sending the videos and pictures (featuring yours truly) to via Whatsapp all day! He wanted to know how much the boys had paid me, which everyone from our group thought was funny, but the other groups asked the same thing. All in all, I had a lot of fun with my first army experience, which is not normally how it goes!

When I got to the Muszkats, it was crazy as well. This is a family I hadn't seen in ten years, with a new sibling that I hadn't even met! It was so much fun spending Shabbat with them (although Nurit was studying for some major exams for Sunday). Friday night we went to their neighbor's house for dinner after shul and some great discussions went on, but I only understood some of them. It was definitely the hardest part about the weekend, everyone talked very fast in Hebrew most of the time! (For the record, the best part was seeing the family and Michal or somebody feeding me every five minutes!) In the morning, we all had breakfast together and talked a bit about the parsha. Then we went to shul again, which was pretty cool because it's very unique. It is a traditional Orthodox synagogue, except it is egalitarian. For instance, a woman led the Torah service and carried the Torah around the women's side and then handed it off to a man to carry it around the men's side. When we got back, we rested for a bit but then we had to get ready for a late lunch because Moti's family was coming! And come they did. Aunts, brothers, cousins, grandparents, you name it, they were there! There was so much food and all but about four people had birthdays in October (including myself, as you may know) so we celebrated by toasting and singing about four different times while trying to name everyone with an October birthday. Everyone helped clean up then left, and then I spent some time playing with the youngest and trying to speak my best Hebrew. In the late afternoon, Nurit and I went to a program with the after-school program where she is a counselor. It was absolute nuts, but apparently the kids were just being crazier than usual.

After havdallah, Michal gave me her mother's number (she lives in Petah Tikva!) and made me a sandwich for the road. I said lehitra'ot (see you later) and left to return to Beit Nativ to watch the UT vs. #11 SC game with Zach and Nathan! Boy, it was a crazy game. We were down by one point and all of a sudden we had a beautiful 39-yard reception by Marquez North (#8) which led to a field goal by Palardy in the last three seconds of the game! Everyone went nuts! We went out to celebrate singing Rocky Top and screaming "IT'S GREAT TO BE A TENNESSEE VOL!" in the streets of Jerusalem. Truly an awesome win and such a fun night out, even though it was Saturday, which is a weeknight here. Fortunately, nobody had a class on Sunday before noon!

The next morning, we got up and once again said lehitra'ot. I made my way back to Petah Tikva, showered, and headed over to Michal's mother's house for lunch! She made aliyah when she was twenty or twenty-one from Buenos Aires and gave me some great advice and a couple of children's books to read in Hebrew. When I finally got home for good, I fell asleep for several hours and spent the rest of the day in pajamas. As you can see I am a very busy person!

Usdi is also very busy with making sure I don't sleep too much by taking up ALL the space on my bed

Just to put my mom's old van in perspective, this is one of Petah Tikva's family vans...and y'all thought SHE had a lot of bumper stickers!

Anyway, winding down from Jerusalem also involved making plans for my next trip back and catching up on some TV (can I get a hell yeah from my Walking Dead followers?!?). Basically another lazy day, but I see jambalaya in our apartment's future, so that will be tomorrow's endeavor, along with finding a local gym I can join. Have a wonderful week everyone! 

*A loadmaster is someone who works on a military cargo plane, basically everyone I was hanging out with.

The Road to Jerusalem

Hello from the bus to Jerusalem! Today I am going the farthest I've been from Petah Tikva since I made Aliyah. I'm going to hang out with Nativ 33 today and tomorrow morning, and tomorrow afternoon and Shabbat I will be with the Muszkats-Barkans! I haven't seen them since the first time I visited Israel, about eleven years ago. It's going to be really amazing seeing them again and of course meeting the youngest, who was born after our trip.
Since my last post, I have completed all but one of my post-Aliyah tasks! I am insured, own a bus card, have a credit card with my bank, and (thanks to Shmuel) I have a SIM card that allows me to do more than just make phone calls. I don't know how long I will use it, since I'll be living so far away as of December. But I want to take this opportunity to once again thank Shmuel and Eliana for being so amazing and welcoming. Also, I have a meeting with Nefesh B'Nefesh career services next week so I will soon be a contributing member of Israeli society!

Word of the day:
סברה
Sabra
A kind of cactus. Very prickly and dangerous on the outside but the inside contains a delicious and sweet fruit.
This week I noticed some things, mostly yesterday. When I went to the health insurance office, I was just sitting there listening to music when a 65-ish woman tries to get my attention. After struggling a bit with Hebrew, I finally realized she was trying to give me her number in line. Apparently she had to leave and for some reason chose me to give her smaller number to me. In fact, the man sitting next to me was facilitating the conversation and I ended up giving him my number. Then, waiting for the bus, a woman couldn't get her stroller on and this thin lady who was at least 80 and a brace on her wrist tries to grab the end of the stroller to lift it onto the bus. The bus driver and the mother agreed to just pull the bus closer to the curb. But my point in all of this is that everyone warned me how cutthroat Israelis can be and the closer I look the more kindness I see. Yes, there was the man at the office who screamed at the office lady until the one who was helping me got up and got in a screaming match with him and all the people yelling at this bus driver because his scanner didn't pick up my rav kav (bus card) for some reason so it took FOREVER. There are all the people who push their way to the front of the line and have no sense of personal space. But you have to remember Jews as a whole and Israelis more specifically have gone through an awful lot.


Unlike at an American synagogue, the door was wide open and they actually mean that everyone is welcome.
(I can't caption from my phone so I will edit this later)

Life is not easy when you have a target on your back. Natural-born Israelis are the way they are for a reason. Here they are called "sabras" and it's not hard to tell why. You have to get past the rough exterior to get to the sweetness. But prior to my Aliyah, I thought it is only once you get to know a sabra they show their sweet side. I now know it's almost like an Israeli's kindness is an accident, but without a doubt it is not. See, when a lot of crap happens to an already community based group of people, they learn not only to toughen up but to help each other. Even people who do not know I made Aliyah (although it is more prevalent if they do) have shown me some of the greatest kindnesses. It's like I give off this innocent scent that all olim chadashim wear. "Help! I have no idea what I'm doing!" They sense an opportunity for some great karma and just pounce, and all I can do is look at them with my wide eyes and say "todah rabah" with all the vigor I have. I don't know if this is cheesy, but I feel like maybe the whole shaliach mitzvah thing worked. (I am planning on going through with my brother's mitzvah in Jerusalem, for reasons that I feel are cheesy but simultaneously can't help feel justified.)
Just going to interrupt for a minute and talk about the gorgeous landscape I am watching fly by. The sun is setting on my right over these rolling hills and we are so close to Jerusalem I can feel it. There is an enormous moon to my left, where there is a lot of rush hour traffic. When I look behind me, the last bits of orange and purple are on the horizon while dozens of towns are lit up in the valley. The only thing that would make this more beautiful (screaming children and all) is if my family was on this bus with me. I wish they could see everything I am seeing and experience the amazing feeling that is living in Israel. I mean, where else can you grab a Goldstar, buy a shawarma laffa, and take it all to sit down at an outdoor table with someone you've known for a week and have so much in common simply because you moved to the same country? (To be fair, we live in the same apartment, but you see my point.) I am so happy I had that 20 seconds of courage (granted, it had to occur multiple times to last me four months) and supportive people that allowed me to take this step.
Welcome to Jerusalem!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

First Shabbat/Birthday

Hi everyone! It's been one week since I left Nashville, five days since I made aliyah, and one day since my birthday!! Yes, that's right! Yesterday I turned TWENTY! Lots of exclamation points today. Since my last post was so scattered, I promised myself I wouldn't write again until my jet lag was cured. TODAY IS THAT DAY! (With the help of the cafe on the street corner...the owner already knows me!)

Mostly I have just been hanging out, but...I made some (American) friends on the bus coming home from the bank (yes, I now have a bank account!) and my birthday was really something that only happens here in Israel.

Some school kids being crossing guards, a typical day in Petah Tikva

A shop in the mall called Revital (!!)

Which brings me to my Hebrew word of the day! (actually it's two words):

הַכְנָסַת אוֹרְחִים

(Hachnasat Orchim)

Hospitality

See, my birthday coincided with my first Shabbat as an Israeli and my first Shabbat living with a Dati (religious) family. So Friday night at dinner, you can only imagine how far my jaw dropped when they told me services in the morning started at 7 am. Yes, 7 am. As in before 8 am. See, Shmuel and Eliana are the token young couple in the elite group of their synagogue which is a minyan consisting of the founders of the synagogue who are now all older men (and all best friends). So we went all the way to two small rooms (men/women) upstairs at 7:45 (Shmuel made it on time, the rest of us slept in...kinda) where this special minyan was being held. By 9, we were sitting at desks in a classroom next door, listening to one of the group leaders (there is no rabbi for this group, they do everything themselves and take turns with different prayers and weekly tasks like hosting the kiddush) giving us a d'var torah (basically 10 minutes of fun facts and back stories and life lessons of the week's torah portion). On Friday, all of us had helped bring TONS of food over to the shul (synagogue) because we were hosting kiddush. As soon as the guy was done with his d'var torah, we got to enjoy that food with everyone in celebration of Dovi's and my aliyah! Around 10, Shmuel told us we had to wait about 20 minutes, and then we should go downstairs...to snack on the DOWNSTAIRS minyan's kiddush (which was huge and not hosted by just one small family)! You see, everywhere Jews are known for making everything about food (torah: what you can eat; holidays: special/symbolic foods to eat; fast days: this is how long you until you can eat again; etc.), but Shabbat in Israel is all about seeing how much free food you can get and is basically a contest to see how long you can go without NOT eating. Because, of course, once we went home from that kiddush, most of us took a nap for an hour or so...and then helped get ready for lunch! The other wonderful things Israelis/Jews are well-known for is hospitality. Mind you, Shmuel and Eliana have generously opened their home to not only myself, a (temporarily) unemployed pre-ulpan/army/everything olah chadashah, but also two of Shmu's siblings, Dovi (college student/oleh chadash) and Esther (high school senior spending the year in Israel).sfghm  vgc AND THE DOG USDI who just jumped over the couch onto my hand/computer and scared the crap out of me, and the not-yet-house trained puppy Waya.

The cutest puppy known to mankind

So, as you can see, we've got a houseful already. But even so we had guests for every meal (even one for all of Shabbat), which it's totally normal here! It's so much fun! I met lots of new people and even had some guests of my own! That's right, two of my BEST friends from Tennessee (one from Nashville and one from Memphis) are on Nativ, USY's gap year program, and came to visit me all the way from Jerusalem!

After Shabbat and everyone went home, Dovi and I got ready to go to Tel Aviv for a party for his college. But, before we could leave, Shmu put me in his and Eliana's room and told me to look in Waya's cage and around the room for a bit. Then he asked to borrow the camera on my phone and Eliana called me to help her in the kitchen with something. When I came out, it was a little birthday party! Eliana had made chocolate balls with candles in them, and Dovi and Esther were holding a big Power Rangers sign that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Usdi making her presence known, as always

It was so nice of everyone! It only lasted maybe 15 minutes because then Dovi and I went straight to the bus stop to go to the beautiful city of Tel Aviv, but it was still the perfect birthday party! In Tel Aviv I met a lot of Dovi's college friends (almost everyone was from a different country...international schools are so cool!) and had so much fun, but then we had to go because he had class in the morning. Since all the drinks were so expensive at the bar, we decided to stop at a convenience store and get a post-birthday beer before we went to the bus. Unfortunately, it was too late to buy drinks, but when Dovi went to the ATM, I got to know the cashier and he told me to pick out a chocolate from the store for my birthday! Even better!! I ate half on the way home and am currently enjoying the other half as I type :) I love birthdays!

In boring Sunday (which is not part of the Israeli weekend) news, I have been trying to set up an appointment with Misrad HaKlita to talk about my bank account and Sal Klita payments, but everyone's busy. When Eliana gets home from work, I'll ask her to help me tomorrow morning because she said her person was really nice and helpful! My favorite part about right now is that I can take things nice and slow. Once I get everything in order, I will be hopefully working soon and being a contributing member of Israeli society! Until then, peace out from the couch!

P.S. I enjoyed the Vol's bye week coinciding with my birthday/first Shabbat here, but next week is South Carolina Gamecocks with Zach (Nashvillian Nativer, future Vol) in Jerusalem!!

P.P.S. My Hebrew words of the day so far are words I think emulate the theme of the post, and then I actually have to look them up and learn them myself when I include them. So we're all learning Hebrew here :)

P.P.P.S. Usdi and Waya were videotaped being cute several times in the past couple of days so I put one of the videos up on YouTube. (Probably more to come!)

With Love, From Israel

I made it! I am officially Israeli and live in Petach Tikva (for now). I am totally exhausted but you'll understand why when I describe the past four days.

Sunday:

It was very hard to say goodbye to my family and friends, but I went ahead and got on the plane anyway...after a delay because of weather. The plane ride was terrifying because I was stressed I wouldn't have the courage to go through with this and it was 60% turbulence so bad the flight attendants had to strap up. When I finally got to Newark, two of my bags had opened in-flight. I still don't know how much I lost (it wasn't that much). I couldn't figure out how to stack all three on the cart so I ended up with my backpack on my front, a duffel on my back, two duffels on the cart (one kept rolling off, too), and my purse, pillow, and winter coat on the basket/handle. I went like this from one terminal all the way to the shuttle pickup...where I waited for more than half an hour for the hotel shuttle. (By the way, this whole time I was wearing rainboots, knee high socks, jeans, a tank top, and a jacket so I was HOT). Finally, I got to the hotel in one piece with almost all of my belongings (whatever I lost I decided not to worry about). I got about five hours of sleep, then...

Monday:
Monday was less eventful but still not exactly smooth sailing. Soon after I registered, our Misrad HaP'nim person had fainted and could not be cleared to fly until after we left. I made friends with a middle-aged Canadian-Chinese lady in our group (more on her later), and then met a bunch of the young singles who consisted of the majority of the flight (also the families kind of stuck to themselves).

A group of us, along with an Israeli who does advocacy work internationally, had a jam session while we were waiting for the security line to open.

After security, it was a lot of looking for Starbucks (which didn't exist), coffee in general (which was terrible), figuring out the WiFi, and Jew-ography on Facebook until the flight. When most of us were on board, they started to give whoever wanted little dixie cups of wine. When I took a cup, the flight attendant asked me how old I was before she poured any in...(sometimes looking 15 is annoying!) but she gave me a little when I said 19. As it turns out, I sat next to the Canadian Chinese lady (who changed her name to Kineret yesterday) and she kept trying to set me up with boys on the flight. At one point, she even told me to stop playing on my phone and give my eyes a break! (The perfect combination of stereotypical Chinese mom and Jewish mother.) We ended up being on the plane at least 12 hours (the flight was about 11) and I only slept 45 min (mostly I just pretended to be asleep to trick my body into falling asleep, which did NOT work). I was seated in the middle of the middle aisle between Kineret and a girl who had lived in Israel the past two years but was just making it official. Not a whole lot happened on the flight until...

Tuesday:

We landed in Israel around 6:30 AM. The told all Nefesh B'Nefesh olim to wait until everyone else had gotten off the plane and then put on NBN hats so they could "identify us" (beige and black...SO distinct!). When we got off, everyone was congratulating us and giving us Israeli flags and then we had to wait to make sure everyone was off the plane. Then we went to passport control and got these little cards but were told not to go through. We went to the bus to go to the Misradim (HaKlita and HaP'nim are in the same building), but that took at least half an hour. When we got there, it was already 9 AM and we were told we'd be done in an hour and a half.

Misrad HaKlita/HaP'nim combined offices on the airport campus.
Not shown: "Welcome Home" signs in eight languages

NOPE. At least two and a half hours later, we were all done but not everyone had their Teudat Zehut (permanent ID card) because the Misrad HaP'nim lady was still in the US. I didn't get mine at the Misradim, but when we went back to the airport and through passport control to baggage claim, they said mine was upstairs. So I get a cart and I can only find one bag of three. I told one of the NBN people and she took me to the El Al desk...but everyone was on break for lunch (yes, by then it was noon). Finally, a guy from El Al says come with me, let's check again. So what do we see when we look again? That's right, my bags! Someone had mistook them for theirs but realized later and put them back. When I leave baggage claim, everyone is still dancing and singing and waving huge flags and congratulating us! But I couldn't find Eliana anywhere! So I hand in my taxi voucher and wander around to try and find her (her phone was dead). Finally, I go to one last corner and there she is! She and her sister in law had been waiting (with a dead phone) since around 9:30 am, and it was about 1 pm. We waited for the taxi together and then took a very squished car ride home (there was another olah in the regular sized taxi with us, her guitar was across our laps and most of our luggage was on top of the car). I took the most amazing shower and then we walked over to this pizza place and destroyed all my fears of not having good pizza here. I slept while the dog kept me company and woke me up two hours later with her obscenely loud cries because she thought I had died (I guess I was sleeping pretty hardcore). When everyone got home, we had dinner and I gave everyone my presents from the States (mostly useful stuff). Around midnight, I let myself go back to sleep and slept for TEN HOURS.

Wednesday (today):

I woke up late and sat in bed for a while longer. I haven't done much today but I did take another 2-3 hour nap this afternoon and take the dog for a walk. I bought a sandwich from a cafe on our street corner and he asked me right off the bat where I was from. He was very impressed I made aliyah, but I can't wait until my Hebrew is good enough that I don't get asked that anymore. I am still very tired and might sleep again (!) but I've had the opportunity to talk on the phone with my dad, mom, and sister so far which was great. I've never owned dogs and here there is a dog and a puppy so it's lots of fun and I'm never alone, even when all the humans are gone. Usdi (the dog) has taken a special interest in me and I'm afraid I'll spoil her while I'm here (at least until I start working). Waya (the puppy) continues in his special interest in peeing on the floor. Starting tomorrow, I will have to take care of a lot of things, including opening a bank account, getting a permanent cell phone plan (Misrad HaKlita gave me a temporary SIM with 200 minutes!), and lots of other stuff. Then it's Shabbat and my birthday and at night a party for mine and Dovi (Shmu and Esther's brother)'s aliyah and my birthday! Next week I have even more stuff to do, including taking a trip to Tel Aviv for an interview with NBN career services. I have so much to look forward to!

I wish my Aliyah had been super emotional and awesome like a lot of people's, but since we had so much crap going on that it was mostly sitting around, it was hard to keep the adrenaline running. When we landed, we were already so exhausted they played music because nobody was singing (although we did clap).

No ugly hat could stop me from smiling walking off that plane!

Despite everything, I am so glad I am here. It was an experience, if an unusual one, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It hasn't hit me yet, but maybe once I wake up I will be more excited. I should be back to my normal (newly Israeli) self by Shabbat!

With Love, From Israel,
Shirit

All Grown Up

Word of the day:
גדלתי
(Gadalti)
I grew up
The past week was supposed to be all about enjoying Nashville, the place where I grew up. Enjoying the sights, the places, the people. I had everything planned out, I had high expectations. I knew how I wanted everything to go.
Instead, things happened, plans were cancelled, people had arguments, and general normal life that can happen to anyone anytime. I got scared a couple times and was afraid to leave.
But I stuck it out. I took everything in stride. I held my head high and adapted.
And this morning, as I get ready to say goodbye to my dad before he has to leave for his monthly week of treatment testing, I realize that I made it.
As much as I would have enjoyed the alternative, this week wasn't supposed to be about WHERE I grew up, but THAT I grew up.
That's not to say I don't have more growing to do, or that I am a full-blown adult (I like to emphasize the YOUNG part so I can get crayons at restaurants). I just mean that I passed my final test, I graduated. I'm ready to leave Nashville and I'm gonna be okay. I faced some hard stuff in the past few days, none of which I had even imagined before, and I pushed through.
Which means that I have the extraordinary honor of telling you guys that I leave Nashville today and I am just so excited!! I am writing from my phone because my laptop (and everything) is already packed up so it's going to be a little shorter. Let's get right into it:
I want to thank you, the readers, for being so awesome to me the past several weeks! This is my official last PRE-Aliyah blog post! The next time you visit my page or get yet another notification that I wrote a new post, it will be from Israel. GET PUMPED!!! It's going to be a great ride, and I can't wait to tell y'all about the amazing experiences I will have! I guess in comparison to the next step I don't have a whole lot to say except thank you to my readers, all my teachers (school or otherwise), my friends, my family, everyone who helped me get here! This evening I start my three day journey to the holy land and it's all because of every one of you. I have a philosophy that not only does everything happen for a reason, but I believe that if any one thing had been different up to any point in my life, I would not be where or who I was at that point. And today is the best proof I have. Despite many setbacks and frustrations, I am still here, bags packed, ready to move to Israel, my new home. So one more time before I go, thank you.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

P.S. It is with grief I tell you that UT lost to Georgia yesterday by a FIELDGOAL (3 points) in overtime. Vols are 3-3.

THE FEELS (It's Here!!!)

This is going to be one of my last posts before my aliyah! I leave Nashville in five days. I might do a quick blog during my three day journey, but for now this my last one for a while.
Like I said, I leave in five days. This last week has definitely been the hardest (and I'm only two days in!). I'm somewhat of an emotional wreck, but I'll be okay. My parents are hanging in there for me because now it's MY turn to freak out. This week is all about packing and saying goodbye. I'm having to go through all the stuff I want to bring and weed out even more things because yesterday when I tried to pack not everything fit!
Sunday I spent the morning kayaking, napping, and also hanging out with my friend Nate who is also starting his aliyah process. It's really nice to talk to him in general and also I gave him advice and hints I wish I had known about when planning my aliyah. I also got to have dinner and a movie with my mom!
Yesterday I got to see the Rothberg's (I'm very close with the whole family) and then I had dinner with Hadar which was SO nice! We talked for hours and she gave me some great advice and some things to help me pack (compression bags, mainly). We did have the whole conversation in English. Since she is moving back home (to Israel) in eight months, I will have graduated from ulpan and we will have dinner then and speak only in Hebrew!
Today I'm having dinner with my dad and stepmom, and apparently it's a pre-birthday dinner! In all the craziness of making aliyah, I keep forgetting my 20th birthday is right around the corner. I keep saying that my Israeli citizenship is the best birthday present I can give myself!
I'm much calmer now that I've watched the season premiere of Modern Family (I'M SORRY ANA I KNOW I'M A HORRIBLE FRIEND I COULDN'T WAIT ANY LONGER), eaten some food, gotten more packing done, and written a blog. I was going to wait until I had my visa, but I really like writing these so I had a hard time waiting (also, it might not even be here today, I might have to wait until tomorrow ahhh!).
The rest of this week is absolutely packed with things to do and people to see. I'm very excited for most of it, and I will be very sad to leave as this has been one of my best summers (and beginnings of fall) I've had in Nashville. There's a lot of people I wish I had gotten to spend more time with or met sooner. I'm just grateful for the time I have had and if I don't have the opportunity to see you before I leave (I'm trying to see as many friends as possible but I also need to set aside time for my family), then I'm truly sorry and we will have to catch up on Skype or meet up when I come home to visit!
Also, apparently parts of the United States government shut down today (?) and I can honestly say that I am over worrying/caring about American politics. Many of you know I used to be somewhat active in preserving various human rights, but now I am just looking forward to life as an Israeli starting in a week. As of right now I will be staying a dual citizen American-Israeli, but that means I also have to file my taxes and everything from overseas. The longer I stay in Israel, the less likely I will want to deal with TWO citizenships and TWO sets of tax forms and all that, so I guess we'll just see what happens.

P.S. The Vols beat S. Alabama on Saturday which makes us 3-2!! This season is lookin good!

I was just going to go ahead and post this but my visa just showed up!!!! I opened the door and saw the FedEx guy and started screaming and crying (hey, I already warned y'all I'm an emotional roller coaster this week) and I almost hugged him. He was really confused and said, "What? Is there a million dollars in here or something?" and then our neighbor was walking her dog and asked what was so exciting and I was just so overwhelmed I couldn't talk so my mom explained for me. I was hugging her and just being so excited I could barely sign for it. I ripped it open and inside there was my passport and a receipt so I was kind of confused but my mom showed me that it's actually already officially and beautifully glued into my passport. I'm so happy and relieved! Now all I have to do is pack a few more things (seriously, I'm almost done) and otherwise enjoy my last week in my beautiful hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. This Southern gal is MAKING ALIYAH!!!!

Ohhhhh Boy!

Oh boy. What an intense week and a half it's been since I last posted! The Vols lost to both Oregon and Florida (though we put up a much better fight with the Gators than last year, and, had we played Oregon last year, we were definitely better prepared), the Titans won on Sunday, and we're playing South Alabama on Saturday and it should be a good one! I've started my packing, a lot of parting ways with favorite books, movies, clothes, etc. I have a long ways to go, but I officially leave Nashville in less than two weeks! I have started calling the Israeli Consulate yesterday about my visa and passport because I finally confirmed they had gotten it (more than two weeks ago). Today, they called me back to tell me the Jewish Agency would have it Monday, and I would have it Tuesday or Wednesday!!!

It's Sukkot which is one of my favorite holidays! I am so glad I get to spend this one with my family. I helped build it, decorate it, and of course have eaten several meals in it! I also went to a Sukkot potluck where I saw lots of people and had a great time. Cantor Lane even gave me some advice on what to do about my visa! It was really great. I also saw my fourth grade teacher and her family (who I had seen before), but her parents were there also, and her dad was in the Six Day war so we talked some about serving in the IDF. I saw my Hebrew School teacher (who I later worked with a few years ago) who is very dear to me, his wife (also a dear family friend!), and their nine-month-old son.

My family's sukkah

Saturday night Ana took me to my house and there were all these people sitting in the living room and said "Surprise!" I had been feeling kind of depressed because I have been very lonely lately, so it was lovely to see so many wonderful faces! I had known there was going to be a surprise party (I had figured it out but didn't tell my mom), but I had no idea who was coming! It was truly special. Not to mention all the wonderful things people gave me! These are gifts that are truly from the heart, folks. I got tomatoes and basil from a home garden, a "nesiyah tovah" from a non-Hebrew speaker, a painting from a three-year-old, instructions to be a "shaliach mitzvah" (the mitzvah was to have a good time!), three wonderful cards/notes, a very special travel mezuzah (which I thought was for a car, but is actually a necklace!), and the gift of all the people who came to show their love and support (and who managed to keep it secret better than my mom! She was the one who unknowingly gave it away haha). It really took my mind off waiting for my visa/passport, and showed me that I have lots of people who love me, even if they had to miss the party! I still have no idea who was invited, but yesterday when I went into work one of my coworkers asked how the party was and that she was sorry she missed it! I feel so blessed to have all these people sending me well wishes when I'm in Israel.

Of course, this happened when I posted my thanks of Facebook:
"When are you going to come clean & confess it's all a joke? This has gone far enough!"
Which reminds me of how I told my mom about all this. In May, my mom and I agreed I needed a car to get around (Nashville and Knoxville aren't very pedestrian friendly). When I came back from Israel, about a week and a half later, 
Mom: Let's start talking about the car.
Shirit: Hmmm... maybe not.
M: Why not? You need a car.
S: Maybe I don't.
M: You need a car in Knoxville.
S: Well, what if I didn't go back to school?
M: What else would you do?
S: I could get a job, movetoIsrael, stay in Nashville, lots of things.
M: Wait, move to Israel?
S: Mayyybe.

From there, she spent the next month trying to call my bluff until I was ready to tell everyone, when it finally hit her.
(I would tell the story about telling my dad, but it was less funny and involved a lot more Mexican food.)

Guys, I know this move is hard on more people than just my family and me. But maybe it won't hit others until I'm gone. That's okay. It's hit me several times while other times I'm completely numb to the fact that I'm leaving the people I love. I do know that at first when I arrive in Israel, I will feel it all the time, but probably the people here will feel it off and on.

Sorry I keep going on tangents, everything is all over the place (literally, my stuff is allllll over the house) and so is my brain!!


FYI:
For the non-Hebrew speakers out there:
Sukkot = Jewish holiday, hard to explain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukkot
Nesiyah tovah = have a good trip!
Shaliach Mitzvah = someone who is on a mission to do a mitzvah, such as a favor, and is therefore supposed to be under the special protection of God.
Mezuzah = also hard to explain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezuzah