Sick :(

So today was not a good day. When I woke up this morning I fainted. I know many of you are going to want details so here they are. Symptoms: being overheated, tired, stomach aches, hot/cold spells, dehydration, headaches, eating fried food, dizziness. What happened: I was cold last night (everyone else thought it was really hot) so I went to bed in long pants, a t-shirt, socks, and a sweatshirt. I woke up around 6:45 with a headache and really hot so I decided to take of my socks and sweatshirt, roll up my pants, and take of all my blankets. I went back to bed thinking when I woke up a half hour later I would be fine. I wasn’t. I woke up with a headache and was really dizzy. But I had to get ready so I went to the bathroom, washed my hands, grabbed the door to open it and the next thing I knew my roommates were surrounding me and I was on the floor. They turned on the AC, called Hadas (one of our counselors), and gave me water. When Hadas got here she toke me to the nurse. The nurse told me to drink water, take some advil, eat some food (not diary or fried food), and go to sleep. So I went back to my room (after taking the group picture and feeling terrible), took some advil, had some water, had some cheerios, and went to bed. Hadas came to check on me around 10:30 and I still had a headache and didn’t think I could make it through class so I had some more water, cheerios, and went back to sleep for about an hour. When Hadas came back I felt good enough to go to class so I got ready and went to Jewish History. After that I went lunch but all I had was a piece of bread and an apple. Then I went to my classes and luckily I made it through all of them. I went back to my room and started doing the work I missed from Jewish History and Hebrew. Then I went to dinner and had an apple and some bread with hummus. After that we had an activity to meet our counselor that came yesterday. Then I went back to my room and did homework. And now I am going to bed b/c I am very tired. Goodnight!

School? Already?

SO today was crazy! We woke up and went to an Archeological Dig. It was soo hott out! During the dig we went into some old tombs, climbed in some caves, and dug in some dirt to find artifacts. It was fun. After that we went back to the kibbutz and started school (yay junior year! wait never mind this year isn't going to be fun). I had lunch first so i showered and then ate. Then I went to AP micro econ. and me and the other girl basically just introduced ourselves. But our teacher seems nice and he doesn't want to make class boring so I think it will be fun. Then I went to physics and our teacher scared me and my friend Dory. He kept telling us that white is actually black and that we actually live in South America not North America! It was so weird! After that I went to AP Eng. Lang. which was good. We did some writing and started Beowulf. Next I had AP Calc. AB and we just sat there talking and introducing ourselves. But tomorrow we start actual work so I am scared. Then i had an hour off. So i cleaned my room and started homework. Then we had dinner, services, and now we have free time/homework time. But I finished my homework so I am writing this. But now I am done. Bye!

Onions have a really strong smell!

Shalom,
Today was a very busy day (the first of many). This morning we woke up around 7:30 and had to make sure we had everything for our trip today. Then we had breakfast which as normal was repetitive. After that we had some free time before Hebrew orientation. So I went to the market and bought body wash, batteries, 2 bananas, and a box of multi. Grain cherries. After that we had Hebrew orientation it really didn’t go well for anyone other than the kids who already spoke Hebrew (I wasn’t one of them). We find out our classes on Tuesday but the teacher who I talked to told me I would be in a beginner class, like 32 other kids. After that we got on the bus for our Tzedaka Project. We all thought we would be picking oranges like spring semester 2010 but we didn’t. We got to pull onions out of the ground. At first it was kinda fun but then it wasn’t so we had to find way to make it more interesting. However I have decided that I will not become a onion puller outer for the rest of my life. It was way to hot out and we all came back smelling like onion. After picking 5000 lbs. of onion we went to a mall for lunch. We were each given 25 shekels to get food. I got a hamburger for 23 shekels and I asked for onions and ketchup but they gave me everything. But don’t worry I took it all off except for some weird sauce that was on it. I attempted to cover it up with ketchup but it didn’t help that much though. And I realized that shekels make everything seem so expensive (until you divide by 3.8) When we got back to the Kibbutz I ran back to my room to shower! It was so great not to smell like onions and dirt! After everyone showered and had some free time we went to the Belmont (the hotel) to meet our general studies teachers and get our schedule. I have first period lunch (we don’t start general studies until 1 something). Then AP Micro Econ. Followed by Hon. Physics, then AP English Language. They didn’t put AP Calc. AB in my schedule (they hopefully will have by tomorrow) but I will most likely have it 5th period. Which means I will be done with school around 6:10 everyday. My biggest class is 5 people (for general studies), which is so different than at Whitman. I don’t know how much I will like having more attention on me rather than one of the 34 other kids in my class. After that we had free time until dinner at 7 unless you had to get your phone fixed (which I had to do). During my free time I attempted to write my English paper that is due tomorrow ( I know we haven’t even really started and I already have homework!). After dinner everyone on the trip (just the 45 kids not adults) met in the lounge so we could sign a card for Noah(a kid on the trip) because he lost his grandma earlier today. Everything for Noah was set up by the Canadians on our trip (there are 2 of them) who are wonderful, they even made matching maple leaf shirts and wore them today. Plus, they got us all quite 10 times faster than any adult ever has. We surprised him with it and had a big group hug when he walked in at 8 (the time we were all supposed to meet at). Then we had an activity and were sent off for free time before bed. I finished my essay and talked to some people. Then wrote this! All while trying to battle the sucky internet service. I have to get up early and clean my room still tonight so this is the end of the post. But for those of you wondering…my phone does work again!

Real Food!

So today was Shabbat so we got to sleep in. It was wonderful. We had Shabbat morning services and then we had lunch. After that we had free time. So I hung out in my friends room. After that we had some mixers and took a tour of the kibbutz. Then it was time for dinner. The meals are getting repetitive and when we went to Ben Yehuda Street (spelling?) my friends and I were so excited to have normal food. After dinner we went into Jerusalem for havdalah. It was really pretty and kinda unreal. Especially b/c last week we had our WHECTY board retreat and Ira had mentioned that next week (today) I would be in Israel. After that we went to Ben Yehuda for about 2 hours. I walked around with my friends and we went to a few stores and then got ice cream. It was soo good! After that we just sat their and talked. Then we got back to Tzuba and just chilled out in our rooms. It wasn’t a eventful day but it was fun! Tomorrow we have to get up early ☹ but hopefully our Mitzvah project will be fun.

The Wall!

Hello there,
So today was a pretty interesting day. We had our first full set of meals on the kibbutz. It was interesting but I am trying to stay healthy. This morning we got our Jewish Study classes and met our teachers. It was only an hour and half long class but it felt like forever! And the rest of the semester classes are 3 hours long! Oh my! After lunch I went to the market and bought some school supplies, shampoo, conditioner, and water and it was 70 shekels (about 19 dollars)! Then we had some relaxing time so I just hung around my room and was on facebook but it was 6-7 am for everyone at home so no one was really on. Then we got ready and went to the kotel (Western Wall) for out first friday night shabbat service! It was really pretty! We went over to the separated men/women area for a little while and the men's side sounded like more fun. It was a little weird though cause we had to walk backwards away from the wall. After that we got back on the bus and went back to Tzuba for dinner. I enjoyed the fact we said the birkat at the end of the meal b/c my friends who went to other URJ camps and I got to do all the hand motions and such. Then we had oneg. But there was no food involved :( Oneg means pleasure so we did happy things like sing songs for a bit. Then we had some free time (like 3 hours of it) and we all just sat in front of the dorms listening to music, talking, dancing, and running around. It was pretty fun. But now it is late so I am going to bed and I get to wake up late so yay!
Shabbat Shalom!

It would be me...

So it has been a long 2 days! The plane ride felt like it was really slow for the most part but once we landed it was like the ride had only been 10 min, it was actually 10hours.We had completely forgotten that an entire day had gone by. Once we got to Israel we went to get our bags and of course mine was the one that never showed up! One of the staff members and I went to the lost and found and sure enough as I turned around sitting on the carousel was my bag. The zipper broke and it was all taped up but so far I don’t think I have lost anything because of it (I hope). When we finally got to the kibbutz we had a welcoming ceremony and then put our bags in our rooms. Then we had dinner and did some mixers. We also got our phones and they are so different than the phone I am used to having, but I will get used to it. After dinner we went back to our rooms and attempted to unpack but it isn’t going to well…..



It still hasn’t hit me that I am in Israel. Even sitting on the bus as tired as I was going to the Kibbutz it didn’t really look like Israel. It looked like Colorado with the trees and mountain like hills. But hopefully it will hit me soon. Tomorrow is going to be pretty busy with orientation stuff but its Shabbat so I am thinking it is going to be a good Friday night.

Israel in 5.4.3.2....

So I leave in 2 days! Wow that is soon! It still hasn't really hit me that in Less than 72 hours I will be in Israel and won't be home for 4 months! But i know it will be amazing so my nerves need to go away!

Because of the various trips we are taking I can't promise to post something everyday but I will try to. Plus the more I post the less minutes I have to use on my phone :)

I hope you enjoy reading about my Fall Semester of Junior Year in Israel!