"Tell me I'm great and I'll be greater."
Put me in the advanced Hebrew class with the fluent speakers, and I'll study harder to be able to keep up with them.
"Empty that cup of trouble and sorrow."
Ear infection -> trip to doctor -> doctor speaks only Hebrew -> wait for the wrong bus home -> wait on the wrong side of the street for the right bus -> finally get home and start my antibiotics: sleep for almost 20 hours.
One little ear infection can cause so much trouble, but instead of sulking about it, I found the bright side: the antibiotics are making me finally get enough sleep!
"Fill it up with a happy tomorrow, we got some living to do."
Shabbat Shalom l'kulam! I have a restful day of Shabbat planned, and then another week of interesting educational activities, and in the future, so many more amazing things to come.
"Cuddle me up and I'll squeeze tighter."
Oh the Dojo. I've got such amazing friends here, and we spend so much time in the Dojo.
How did my first week of actual Etgar classes go? Amazingly.
Sunday: We had Hebrew at 9am. I went to the classroom (well, Dan A went to class and I got a piggy back ride). When I got there I was sent to the other classroom for the advanced students. I am in a Hebrew class with two fluent speakers, one almost fluent speaker, one very good speaker, and me. I can barely keep up, but it's challenging me to actually try very hard to keep. I've never had to study or attempt to keep up in a class before, so this a challenge for me. But the word 'etgar' means challenge, so I guess this is what's supposed to happen! We then had a class on Hadracha (leadership) led by our very own madrichim (leaders) and I know it's going to be very relevant and useful. Our last class was a Tanach class that we all loved, having learned and discussed and become more knowledgable.
Monday (Sprite Day): A very interesting history class that included a tiyul to the Temple Mount and the Church of the Sepulcher. We ended our trip early when we got a call from Israeli Security telling us that we should probably leave. The day before there was a rock throwing incident, and tensions were high that day, especially in the areas we were visiting.
Tuesday: Hebrew again, I understood more this time and I am beginning to think that I'll be able to stay in the advanced class. I even made a joke in Hebrew! After Hebrew, we had a class on Reform Judaism with a hilarious teacher called MKK. Everybody is sure that this is going to be our favorite class. We spent a half an hour introducing ourselves and getting to know each other, and then an hour discussing and learning about The Meaning of Life, which ended in MKK driving home the point of Reform Judaism and the basis of the fundamental concepts that make up our ideology as Reform Jews. After, we had a Yom Tnua with our Machon group (the other half of Shnat Netzer who are doing a different program right now). We had some fun time together and then went out as a group for Jade's birthday. Despite our best intentions, we keep going back to Nadine's. Luckily, the reason we left wasn't our own fault but we went to Kings instead and met up with lots of new Machon friends there.
Wednesday: We have volunteering time in the morning. Alyson and I volunteer at a vocational rehabilitation center for adults with disabilities. Our directions on how to get there were kaha: take the 18 bus to the roundabout with the huge gas station called Oranim. It's the last stop for that bus. In actuality, we needed to get off at an intersection. We eventually found that gas station, but you can't see it from the intersection. And having taken that bus route another 15 minutes past our stop, I can assure you that it is not the last stop on that line. Due to intense luck, our map, and my sense of direction, we made it there on time and went to work. Three hours later, our fingers were raw, we had messed up an entire order of something, we made a new friend, and we got three Twix bars. On the way home we got mamash taim falafels. And then we got lost again, kind of. I think that there should be a different word for 'not being lost, but not being where you're supposed to be.' We took the right road home, but made a few wrong turns and ended up trekking through a mid puddle and finding Barcelona on accident. We finally made it to Beit Shmuel, where I burnt my finger, thanks to Jake. We then had Hadracha time with our lovely leader Dana. Afterwards, our heads all hurt after thinking so much about such deep topics.
Thursday: An interesting discussion on the Birkat Hamazon which ended in no productivity. A 'Q&A' with a rabbi that involved no Q's or A's, but was interesting all the same. Hafsaka that included coming up with Hidden Agendas for the next session with Madricha Noa. The game Hidden Agendas can be played a number of ways. The way we played on Kibbutz Lotan was that we all had tasks to accomplish by the end of the night (usually pub night). They were things like 'lick 4 elbows' because if someone licks your elbow the right way, you can't feel it. The next day we would go over who had done theirs and who hadn't. The way we played during our session with Noa was that we all had something different to do or act like. For example, Dan R and Ariel had to switch clothes. They actually changed their entire outfits, and changed back, throughout the course of our session. Kitty had to act like Jake, so she kept getting confused, bringing up Hummus Ben Sira, and singing Ain't No Rest for the Wicked. Jeff had to make anti-America comments. Dan A had to relate everything to Star Wars. Needless to say, we were laughing so hard we were in tears before we were even halfway through the session. The whole purpose of the session (planning a Purim party for kindergardeners) was not being done, so we gave in and explained it all to Noa. After, we actually planned the party and all was well. This day ended with a fun-filled trip to the doctor's office. I went, conversed in Hebrew, got some prescriptions, waited for the wrong bus, waited for the right bus on the wrong side of the street, went home, and stayed up late to skype with someone but fell asleep just minutes before that person was available to skype.
Friday: I missed most of Friday. Antibiotics make me sleep more, so I didn't wake up until just before 5pm. I attended an amazing service at HUC (Hebrew Union College) that I loved, despite having just put in ear drops so my hearing in my left ear kept changing. Now I'm sitting on the Internet Couch (the only couch that gets internet in our flat), having just made a video not to be seen until the end of Shnat for fear of backlash of Jeff and Kitty, and eating ice cream and eggs made by my lovely Alyson. Some more coffee for me, and then if nothing exciting happens, I'll go off to bed. A lazy day of Shabbat is predicted for tomorrow, and then a whole new week of classes next week!
There's an essence of Etgar, but it's hard to explain. It's getting up early to discuss the Birkat Hamazon. It's debating the difference between butter and margarine. It's never drinking coffee out of a mug with a handle. It's making sandwich after sandwich after sandwich, and then wondering why we're out of bread and cheese. It's eating home made ice cream. It's the Dojo. It's spending way too much tim eon the Internet Couch. It's asking which room is 117 every day. It's wondering who's moving the washing machine forward. It's your snif trying to take over Kab Shab. It's making fun of Josh singing. It's finding cheese in the Meat Fridge and knowing who did it. It's Sprite Day. It's disrespecting Sprite Day. It's enforcing Beit Shmuel rules to our visitors. It's using the wrong button as the doorbell and wondering why nobody ever answers the door. It's never being on time to class. It's never having a bad day, it's always having a bad hair day. It's loving your madrichim and gossiping about the teachers. It's loving where we are and why we're here and what we're doing and why we're doing it. It's new adventures and experiences. It's etgar.
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