Oy, this blog...

Well, yet again, I haven't posted in over a month. I'm thinking I need to fix the blog, either change the format entirely or maybe just stop.
Anyway, a lot has happened since I posted last. The biggest one being- I finished my Sherut. It was still sad. Actually, it still is. I miss being in Ariel and I miss my friends. But I guess being sad shows that I had a great year, so it's not so terrible. I hope my year in Midrasha is that good.
The last month of my Sherut, I worked in a day camp in Ariel. I didn't like it much, because it was different kids and they kind of drove me crazy, to put it nicely. But it's over, and at least I felt better about leaving my work.
I'm leaving for the US early tomorrow morning. I'll be there for two weeks, most of the time with two of the very few people who read this blog. :-) (Hi, Bubby and Zeyda!) We'll mainly be seeing family, and taking some trips. Well, I haven't been in the country for awhile, so it should be nice.
I guess that's all for now. Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Summer's starting...

• There are two more days of school. That is just so sad. It's the beginning of the end. No, scratch that. The end has already begun. I could start rattling off how many of this and that we have left, but I'm not going to. It would just make me sadder. So yeah, after this Monday, there are probably a lot of kids in school I'm just not going to see again, and that's sad. It's been tough at times, but I'm going to miss them. And the teachers too...


• Since my Sherut goes until the end of July, for the next month (almost) I'll be working in a day camp in Ariel. I don't have any details yet, but hopefully it won't be too bad a way to end the year. (*sniff*)


• That was an interesting night. It was a bit crazy at home because my sister Sarah is leaving tonight for the US. As for me, I'm doing the usual come-home-for-20-hours thing before I go back to Ariel for Shabbat tomorrow. My parents were at a Bat Mitzvah. And in the middle of all that, the elementary school near our house decided fireworks would be a nice touch for their graduation. Somehow, everyone else in the house freaked out during the first round, thinking it was gunshots, while I saw the light outside and knew what it was. Then there was a longer round, and everyone else was outside watching, and I thought it really did sound more like gunshots than fireworks and dragged Noam into the protected room in the basement. Looking back, it was a bit funny, but they really shouldn't do that kind of thing.

I think the end of school is the biggest thing that could be happening right around now, so I guess that'll be it.

Hakuna Matata! Shabbat Shalom!

Just popping in to say hi...

I don't have much to say at the moment... I was just in Ariel for 9 days straight, then I came home on Thursday and I'm going back tomorrow. What else is new?
Efrat celebrated its 25th birthday this week. It's not too exciting, but there was an event on Thursday that was OK.
That's it... I'm tired. Shavua Tov!

What a week.

So I haven't posted in two weeks... OK, I'm allowed once in awhile. I got home this past Thursday and will be here until after Shavuot. Woohoo!

I'm recovering from the longest week ever. Not because anything particularly bad happened, just because. Maybe because I was in Ariel for Shabbat, maybe because I had something every day. Maybe just because.

Anyway, you might say the highlight of the week was Yom Yerushalayim. On Yom Yerushalyaim every year there is a huge event in Yerushalayim called the Rikudgalim that something like everyone goes to. It's a really nice thing, and so much fun...

The day before, we had a big thing in Ariel. I guess it was kind of an imitation Rikudgalim, but it was a lot of fun. There was some kind of march (for lack of a better word) which was followed by a lot of dancing and a ceremony, which was great.

What else? Our birds learned how to fly and left. We'll miss them. Though they do come back every night. No, I take that back. I'll miss them, and one of my roommates. The rest couldn't care less. But that's not to say the nest and poop are all cleaned up, or that the risk of bird flu is gone. Not that I really understand that stuff. Anyway, check out our gorgeous babies!

In other news, Ariel turned 30 this week. We actually missed the festivities because we were at a Torah dedication in memory of our friend's father who passed away recently. But I don't seem to have missed much. Anyway, the city is rather obsessed with this big birthday, but the fact is it's a big thing. It started out as nothing, almost. Look how much it's grown...

I just had Esti, a very old friend, over for Shabbat. That was a lot of fun. Except that she's going home to the US in a couple of weeks, and I've only seen her this once. But it was great to see her.

I think that's it. Tomorrow night is Shavuot, which means theoretically staying up all night, and a lot of dairy products. I just won the game of Sfirat HaOmer. The year is close to over, and the closer we get, the more depressing. Our summer plans are quite possibly changing drastically due to some kind of tax thing I don't understand. Anything else? I think we're done.

Mind the Gap. Shavua Tov!

Vegetarian Lag BaOmer, end of year sadness, and bird flu.

Well, yesterday was Lag BaOmer. That means I was in Superland (with a couple of friends) on my father's company's annual "Yom Kef". It's kind of getting old, but it's fun. Every year I say I'm not coming back, but so far that hasn't lasted more than a year. Anyway, it was (literally) a fun day (except for the sunburn), and we'll have to see about the future years...

The night before that, I stayed in Ariel for the bonfires. We manned the food booth at the citywide bonfire, which was slightly lame but we had fun... there was music and good food, anyway. When that was over we went to a bonfire a bunch of the families we know made, which was basically winding down, but we still had time for some singing which was great. Then we went back to the apartments, and I felt really old because we went to bed around 1. You don't go to bed before 2:30 on Lag BaOmer, ever. And I also had no meat that night, just because I wasn't at the right place at the right time, which was different. Lag BaOmer means bonfires, which means meat.

Today we had a bunch of cousins for Shabbat, and that was fun. Most of them are leaving at the end of the year, so it was good to see them all before.

Speaking of the end of the year, it's starting to get sad. Suddenly you realize how short Sherut Leumi actually is. It's just like- next year, I won't be in school anymore, and I won't be in Ariel. It's kind of weird, but life will go on without me, you know? It's not like my life won't be going on without them. And I'll be leaving all the girls, who have become really good friends. That's sad.

In my apartment, we have a nest in our window. In the nest are two baby pigeons. Actually, they're not really babies anymore. In any case, their mommy left them, and we're left to watch them. One of my roommates really loves them, and I'm trying very hard not to admit I feel the same way. The rest of us have been saying for weeks that we need to get rid of them because they carry diseases. I actually freaked myself out the other day by looking them up on Wikipedia to check exactly what diseases those are. I then needed to call my mother and get reassured that there is no danger in breathing the same air as them, and the only danger is coming in real contact, like being bitten. So we're fine.

I think that's all for now. Keep twiddling those dials. The next password will be "bird flu". Keep each other safe. Keep faith. Good night.

:-)

Shavua Tov!

Well, I don't have much to report this week, except that now I've really decided to go to Nishmat next year. Thank goodness that's over. I guess that's about it. Coming up is my first full work week since Pesach, and then a Shabbat at home with a bunch of cousins.

And in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night! :-)

Hey!

Well, I did it. I actually managed to post twice in 2 weeks. Good for me!
The big excitement for today is our favorite state's reaching the big 6-0. (To quote the mayor of Ariel: "Our state is 60, we wish it until 120." -as is customary to wish people on their birthday.)
I mean, 60 years is a long time. Wow. But then, for a state, not really.
Anyway, for me, it means vacation, which is always nice (even though I'm going back to Ariel for Shabbat) and tonight we're having a barbecue, of course. Last night we had the usual performance in Efrat, which was nice.
What's new with me is that I've started thinking again about doing Sherut again next year. I'm a bit surprised about this, myself, because I was pretty set on going to a Midrasha. I still think I'll be in Midrasha, but I'm not sure. I don't know exactly what I'll do if I decide to do Sherut, but I want to stay close to home.
Um, what else is new? I think that just may be it. Chag Sameach!