The Senses of Etgar

Smell

• Feet
• Sweat
• The boys' shisha
• Faint odor of Alyson's perfume wafting from our room

Taste

• Cookie dough, our guilty pleasure
• The good tea we bought
• Salt of garinim

Sounds

• Emily never being angrier
• Kitty reading to Jake
• Jake talking to Kitty, ignoring her reading
• Tara playing a video
• Alyson yelling at us to be quieter
• Dan R quietly laughing at us all
• Dan Aron and Liz snoring, we can hear them all the way from their bedrooms
• Jeff saying things
• Josh laughing at the pictures Emily is uploading
• Naomi humming beautifully
• Me typing

Feelings

• The stickiness of the pleather sticking to my back
• The griminess of everything disgusting to ever exist on my feet
• Wet hair cooling my shoulders and back
• Eyelids drooping, but mind racing
• Dry hands, I wash too many dishes
• A breeze from the window to the balcony the boys left open

Sights

• Kitty and Jake sitting on the couch opposite me, but she's getting up to go to bed now, Jake is looking around wondering what to do next
• Dan R walks in, silently signaling the boys to get up
• The boys mass parade out to the balcony
• In the reflection of the window, I can see Tara watching her video

Memories

Becca, Lily, Kitty, and I on the social gaps tour in TA 

Zorba fun with Naomi

My bed on a normal day

Hi Machon.  We know you want to clean right now, but we'd rather just hang out.

Emily and I are in love

Oh Emily

Michael and I

'Swagg' - Jake

2am Snack

Commanders K and R

Boys will be... boys

Jake photo-bombed

Josh couldn't handle the flash

Ariel and I

Emily photo-bombing

A picture of just myself turned into a group shot

The good ol' Etgar group

Emily, Josh, and I

As hard as it is to live here, deal with the stressors, organize my life, watch my temper, and try to chill myself out,

I wouldn't give up one second of it.

The hard times,

The times that make me cry or scream or want to go home,

There are plenty of those.

But there are also the good times,

Smiling and laughing,

Or simply just being

And knowing that I'm loved and accepted

Being me

Here.

Please disregard all cheesiness,

It's just been a really really good day.