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.