ehh... so what you're saying is...

i just got an email from haifa that may have indicated that all programs are on, to be in haifa, and we are going back thursday after class, to have our last week of ulpan in jerusalem.  i may have gotten this email.  approximately 80% of the rest of my program did not, as it was only sent to those of us intending to continue through the fall semester...thus, i somewhat doubt its legitimacy... more on that to follow, i ASSURE you.

 

it is weird. i should be rejoicing that my programs are happening and i can go back to my original plan...but somewhere between an uneasy feeling of "whaaaa?", a lack of confidence in the lasting durability of this ceasefire, and all the work ive done to create other options for myself that arent so heinous make me not so jumping for joy immediately...granted, i seldom jump for anything (except jump rope for heart circa 4th grade. anyone? anyone? bueller?).  basically im unbelievably confused and torn and unsure what i want to do at this point, and currently more nauseated than excited at the prospects.  dinner should help.  as should some definite word from the administration, which i think will come tomorrow or tuesday.  the email they got back from me was probably one among many, but i did indicate that this seemed mildly ridiculous (to uproot us and move us back to haifa for the last 5 days of class? i mean great that the rest of the programs are going on, but, uh...thats dumb...) and especially that they had made some kind of "decision" that affects all 100 ppl in this program, but only told 10-20 about it, seems reallly stupid. so the response i got back was that they are evaluating and will be discussing with us tomorrow or tuesday.  so until then, no official decisions from here... but a lot of nerve-wracking, which is pretty normal at this point.

 

moving on.  other than the clothes currently on my body, every article of clothing i own on this continent is currently under the care of a brusk-sounding israeli named "kobi."  i am praying it comes back to me tonight, as that would make for qutie an awkward trip to beer sheva tomorrow... though at this point with the recent announcement from hafia, im not sure if i am still going to go (also could have somethign to do with the fact that the bus id have to take leaves from the central bus station at 6:45am...and i live about 40 mins away from the central bus station...)  apparently as much as id prefer to do my own laundry, that sort of thing is passe here on mount scopus... it is less expensive for "kobi" to pcik up your laundry from your dorm and return it to you later that day or the next day clean than it is to go to a laundromat, buy your own detergent, pay for machines, etc...not to mention that it is a 20 minute walk to the nearest laundromat, or bus/cabfare there and  back... so ill be counter to my instincts and send it off... kobi said i owe him a cup of coffee because he is putting a rush on my laundry so it done tonight... i love making new friends. 

 

this weekend was really enjoyable. as i may have mentioned, i have been very strategic about my friend-making... in that, i am deliberatly not making any close friends who are on the haifa program, and instead am making friendly acquaintances in class and hanging out w/ emily, drew and some of their friends in the evenings.  the logic behind this is somewhat convoluted, but let me be. it works for me. plus, obviously i love em and drew, but some of their roommates/friends are quite cool as well.  specifically, em's roommate jess, who looks REMARKABLY like our other best friend, rachel haskell, and some of drew's roommates... jeff, a somewhat typical but harmless and fun gw reject, and erik, a 28-year old bearded goofball (though he shaved it today, sad) who spends a disproportionate amount of time speaking in an impersonation of shimon peres... it is addictingly funny, and he is in my phone as shimon peres.  it is funny to scroll through my contacts and see "rose, sarah, shimon peres, shlomit..." ha. so those are some of the key players in the weekend (though i promise i do have friends on my own program..and they have names... like aly and adina and talia... i didnt make those names up either, theyre real people). 

 

thursday night we went out to the art fair, which was exceedingly fun... me, em, drew, jess, erik, and one of emily's other roommates, marla (think a league of their own marla... yup).  im a problematic friend to bring to an art fair becaus ei will point out all of the things you should buy, but not buy anythign myself because, as you may recall from the end of europe, i have no money, but a tremendous amount of will power (when it comes to everything b ut food).  art fair was really fun, and from tehre we went out to an outdoor-ish hookah bar, one we'd been to previously and enjoyed, and this time doubled up on liters... meaning that in addition to 2 hookahs for the table, each of us consumed 2 liters of beer.  picture a 2 liter bottle of pop (or soda or coke, whatever region you're from). now fill it with beer.  we each drank that much.  it was a really amusing night.  there are funny pictures on all of their cameras to indicate, though i still have yet to take my camera out anywhere.  i think im in protest. slash i will just get them from emily/erik/etc. 

 

friday i slept in later than i have in weeks.  i can measure how late i sleep by how many times i hear the call to prayer from the nearby mosques, and friday i think i missed the first 3 calls... aka i slept till like noon or 1.  glorious. gloriously hot in my room but whatever i was unconscious. i met up with my good friend MARA from school (a fellow avi chai-er, and one of the best people ever in life...) and her parents for a delicious lunch. so pleasant, it really was great to see them.  then saying goodbye on the street we ran into shlomit, one of our staff from the trip.  only in israel, right?  i had seen her earlier in the week, but she and mara had not seen each other since the trip ende din january, so it was a welcome coincidence.  i went off with shlomit and helped her prepare for shabbat, then returned to mount scopus to do the same... from there, emily, drew, erik and daniel (one of drew's roommates, a brittish guy who is a BIZARRE combination of zach gelman and my uncle jeff... i dont think there is anyone else on earth who knows both zach gelman AND my uncle jeff, but if you were to know both of them, you too would be astounded by the combination) and i went down to emek refaim (adorable area, atually where shlomit lives) to go to services at a synagogue called shira chadasha.  id been there before, once on avi chai over winter break (but i was mid-stomach virus, so i cant say i got much out of the service), and again whne i was here in march on purim to hear the megilah being read (the purim story, that holiday in march where jews get dressed up, eat triangular pastries and get needlessly drunk... another victory of the little guys over a larger oppressing body... hope that was a sufficient explanation for the non-jews, and an offensive enough one for the rabbis on this list).  anyway. it is a traditional orthodox synagogue, with a mechitza down the middle (a dividing barrier to separate men from women while praying), but it is egalitarian, which is pretty unique. so instead of the womens section being behind the mens, or in a balcony above, they are side by side, and the divider is a curtain, so it is not so oppressive as some can be.  moreove, friday night services, the first part (kabbalat shabbat) is led by women and is filled with beautiful and spritual melodies and niggunim (wordless melodies, for more info contact nshriber@gmail.com) and was truly moving.  the service almost brought emily to tears, but then again, so did rugelach last week...so that doesnt say too much. anyway, it was really powerful and im sure i will be back.  from there we had a lovely walk through the city to get to one of the few restaurants open on shabbat (most things are closed in jerusalem from a bit before sundown on friday to a bit after on saturday) for dinner. thanks ad.

 

yesterday, less in the spirit of shabbat, me, em, drew, erik and jess boarded a sherut (shared cab) headed for tel aviv for a day at the beach!!! after a mild altercation with an ornary israeli man who wouldnt give erik back his seat, the ride was relatively smooth and we were excited to arrive to a beautiful stretch of beach!  it was weird for me to be on this side of the medeterranean, after just being on the other side a few weeks ago in nice with adam, but this felt right. it was also the same strecth of beach i'd spent a good amount of time on a few summers ago after my birthright trip, and i was glad to be there with good friends.  and was scared and excited at the prospect of finally evening out the tan/burn lines from my 2nd degree burn from the beach in eilat in march... im a little burnt, but i think mission accomplished, in that im only burnt where i wasnt before, and maybe this will eventurally turn into an even tan? basically i look ridiculous and have multiple different colors of skin, varying from glow-in-the-dark white to bright pink to an elusive bronzey tan... but of course they will nto likely ever merge into one... dotn worry.  tan lines are a mark of pride, so naturally, mine would be absurd and funny.  duh.

 

beach was fun, despite the disproportionate ratio of  body hair to bathing suit coverage....

 

thats prettymuch the update from here. i should go meet kobi to get my laundry (and apparently coffee...what???) and hope for the best.  there will be more updates as i find out more info about the program, obviously. i realllllly apprecaite all the emails tha tyou guys have been sending back, thank you so much and please keep them coming. i mean it. i love opneing my email box when i only have 8 minutes and having 31 emails from a 24 h our period...and i love that gmail doesnt tell you how many "emails" you have, just how many new "conversations"... so often there are 10-15 individual emails within each new conversation...basically i love getting emails. so send them.

 

off to find laundry and aloe...

am