Sukkot, etc.

I came back on Sunday from a 4 day break for Sukkot! I slept in a different house each night during the break, but it was really fun to travel through Israel and see some people I hadn't seen for a while! I began at my family's house in Kfar Saba. I spent the day with my cousins Keren, Shir, and Maya, and we watched movies (aka I napped) the whole day. We went to their neighbor's house for dinner, and then all the cousins came over for a sleepover! It was fun, but I also slept through most of it-I had gotten almost no sleep at the mechina the week before.

The next day, we all went to the sea near Tel Aviv. The waves were HUGE-probably some of the biggest I've seen in my life. I learned the best ways to ride the waves, and despite all the salt water getting in my eyes, it was very fun! I returned that night with a different family in my extended family, and they have four children, all of whom are very cute. I stayed up with them almost until 1 am, making them friendship bracelets and playing games with them. I went to a dance class the next day with Adi, their oldest child, which really made me miss taking dance classes. The girls were supposed to bring someone over 18 to the class, so Adi brought me, and the teacher was very confused that I was not a parent and by my American accent. I hung out with the other children for the rest of the day until they took me to Tel Aviv to meet with my JRF friends!!! Yay!

I met Ya'ara, Carmel, Ruhi, and Amy at a pub in Tel Aviv where they play live Irish music every Friday night. The music was good, and it was so nice to see them! We then drove to Ashdod, were Ya'ara lives, and we went to a restaurant by the beach. Carmel had made a DELICIOUS chocolate cake, so we took it to the beach and ate in on rocks (kind of like the ones near Northwestern). We didn't get back until pretty late, so I slept into the afternoon. We made shakshuka and then went to the beach again! The waves weren't as big as the ones in Tel Aviv, but they were still pretty huge. Throughout the day, we had many discussions about how it is to adjust to Israel (Amy and Ruhi are also only here for the year), and it was great to share my experiences with them.

On Sunday, I went wth my mechina to the L'haka festival, a Jewish learning festival that happens every year in Sderot. All of the other mechinot in Israel were also there, so I saw my friends Elana and Jacquie, who are at mechinot in other parts of the country. I went to four classes: one on the Israeli-American relationship, one on L'cha Dodi, one on religious homosexuals, and one on music. It was hard for me to understand the classes (they were all in Hebrew), but it was interesting to see how different the lecture culture is in America. I kept comparing this to my experience at the AIPAC seminar in Washington DC last year. The structure was very similar, but the lectures were much more discussion based. In the evening, we had a concert, which was SO MUCH FUN! We all danced together and cheered for our mechina. I came out just as sweaty as if I had been at ETHS Homecoming or Cotillion or something like that, but the dancing was very different (we broke out into the hora in the middle for example). It was great!

For the past few days at the mechina, I have been working very hard and going to a lot of meetings. "Chulyat tiyulim" is planning right now our trip to the Golan, which will happen in about two weeks, and we finished the schedule yesterday. We have some awesome things planned, and I'm really excited to go on our first long tiyul! Also, I am on Chulyat Shoah, which is planning the week dedicated to the Holocaust, and I have to call a lot of people to organize them to come speak with us. It should be a pretty meaningful week.

I am leaving again tomorrow for our Simchat Torah break. I am going to Ra'anana again, but this time I am staying with my friend Shir. She already has many things planned for us to do with her friends, including going to a movie and going to the Tel Aviv boardwalk (where we will go to Max Brenner! I've heard so much about it but I"ve never been).