Last Post from Israel!

שלום שלום
(As the security guard always says)

Wow! When I was thinking of a title for this post, it hit me that this is probably my last post written from Israel!! Today is May 22nd and I am of course with Bri and Sheli in Modi'in! But, I will get to that later. This past week has been pretty stressful with finals and I am also an editor of the yearbook so I have A LOT to do by Sunday evening and I don't really know how it all is going to get done...

Last Sunday and Monday were the final day of classes. Even though I should have been completely focused and glad I had time to study, it also was a somewhat boring week. And, I am someone who hates not being busy all the time (just ask my parents). Tuesday was the ICC final. The test took me 5 hours! Even though it was long, I didn't really mind much because Israel's history and current events are what I found so interesting. I can easily say that my ICC course has been the most rewarding of all my academic courses. It has inspired me to continue learning about Israel.

Tuesday evening we celebrated Erev Shavuot. Before this year, I had no idea what you did on Shavuot or what was being celebrated. I know now that Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai and is the second major pilgrimmage festival to the Kotel (other pilgrammages include Pesach and Sukkot). You are supposed to study Torah all night, eat a lot of dairy, then pray early in the morning . We had dinner together, then starting at 10 P.M. we had study sessions till 3 A.M. at which time we walked to the Kotel. It was really neat to be walking at such a hour with many other people who had the same destination. Once we got to the Old City, the sun was rising and with a bunch of others (many American's from different programs) had Shacharit at Robinson's Arch. We then went to the Kotel, which was very crowded, and the mechitza(separation of men and women) was extended, keeping women from using bathrooms on the other side of the men's section. The Chabad was passing out little bags with cakes for everyone. We then headed back to the Chava and stopped on the way at a park for breakfast. Exhausted, we slept all day until dinner and then had a Peulah for Shavuot in which we had to make a Torah out of food provided for us (like Ironchef). My group's Torah was not very good, but it tasted delicious. Once Shavuot was over around 8:15 P.M., we had a short free night and I went to Ben Yehuda with several friends.

Unfortuanetly, my whole sleep schedule was really screwed up from Shavuot and I was up all night. But I am so used to the lack of sleep it isn't a huge deal. Thursday I had my math final and had a recheck exam at the ear doctor, which was pretty pointless, then had some free time on Ben Yehuda. It was so different during the day! Many more stores were open and the streets had completely different vibes! I loved being out in Israel during the day rather than being stuck on the chava.

After a very long week, I was so excited for Friday afternoon to come to see Sheli! We had a wonderful day in Tel Aviv. We walked around the Tel Aviv shuk and the Nachlet Binyamin, which has a ton of art vendors. I love the shuk in Jerusalem, but this shuk was even better!! I could spend so much more time in this area! There is so much to do!! I was waiting for Friday evening all week. We went to see Batsheva Dance Company (my absolute favorite dance company)!!! It was amazing! I wish it never ended! Now it's Saturday and we are going to explore Tel Aviv some and return to the Chava tomorrow morning.

This next week we have a couple days of finals, although I am pretty much done. Then we head up north for our final tiyul in the Galilee and Golan. I will talk more about this in my next post, which will probably be done from Crown Point, Indiana!


שלום שלום
חנה