30 Days Left of Fun

Ooh man! We have some big news coming around! Today marks 30 days until my draft day, and lots has happened since my last post (per usual).

A few weeks ago, I went down to the South with some friends to see some beautiful flowers. We also stopped by an ostrich farm/restaurant thinking it was a restaurant where we could try some ostrich. Strangely, it wasn't even a restaurant at all (and certainly no tasting of the birds). But it ended up being a really fun weekend road trip!

About a week later, I went to Jerusalem for a brit milah (circumcision) during the week! It was really awesome to experience such an important celebration with friends that I haven't seen in a while. I hadn't seen or even met some of the family since I have been in Israel, so it was really nice to catch up. While I was there, we had discovered that their downstairs neighbor knew my dad when he was in Young Judea in San Antonio, so I got to meet and talk to her for a while. After the brit, some of us took the kids around the city on the bus and train until they all needed a nap and I needed to head home.

My friend Jimmy preferred the puppy to the flowers.

Shlomo HaMelech!

Ron, Shlomo's brother, fast asleep, on the bus

I celebrated my SECOND holiday ever in Israel, Purim. It was definitely strange, though, because the kibbutz celebrates it on the Friday after. In the gan we celebrated the Friday before (oznei haman and mini clowns included), and Sunday evening all the kids had a party. Then, at the end of the week, the adults had their party. Every single person was wearing a costume, and they were pretty clever. It was a huge success!

Dressed-up ulpanistim

Captain Maya and "Hayden Panettiere" /country music singer

In more exciting news, I was invited to a day of testing at Beit HaTzanchan in Ramat Gan last week. I tried to ask around beforehand to find out what it was about and what it was for, but I got basically no information. I traveled almost three hours from Yagur to Ramat Gan, and walked into Beit HaTzanchan 15 minutes early. At exactly ten AM, they called us some thirty girls into an auditorium. We sat down at desks and were told to start with little explanation outside of which packet to start with. I and three other girls asked for and received all our tests in English. The tests included a personal information packet, a personality test where we had to rank hundreds of statements based on how they applied to us, hundreds more true/false personality statements, over 50 statements that we had to complete in 20 minutes, and an interview in between! When I was called for my interview, my interviewer explained to me that these tests were to help the army decide what kind of job I would best be suited for. Basically, they think that each of us would be suitable for a specialty job, which means that those tests could potentially help me get into the paramedic's course! Four hours later, I headed back to Yagur (but not without stopping for some well-deserved ice cream).

My first peek at the Ba'hai Gardens was a bit obstructed by Yaniv

I finally met my new kibbutz family! They are so sweet and have three adorable kids. I've seen them a few times and they really are treating me like family. It's an amazing feeling, to finally have an official adoptive family here in Israel.

Last weekend, some friends and I went to Nahalal, a moshav about half an hour from Yagur. There was a swap/flea market on one of the properties, and we also got a tour of some of the farmland and then a tour of a dairy on another property. It was so cool to see how some of the volunteer huts were built and how things run on the moshav.

One side of the communal building

The walls are built with mud and straw, but incredibly well-insulated

The inside of a volunteer's hut that they built

The outside, plus Tamara

This week, I am going to Tel Aviv on Wednesday for a Lone Soldier army prep day. Then, we have an ulpan trip to Jerusalem, Pesach (Passover), and then a week later I get drafted! It's gonna be one hell of a month, so stay tuned!

Here are my little leitzanim (clowns):