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!!!!
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