Growing Up

There are certain moments when a person can know that their lives have changed.  A birthday, a graduation, or a new job.  Very concrete moments when one moment you are defined as X, and the next you are defined as Y.  Everybody goes through at least a few of those, and they can be marked as turning points in a person's life.  However, it can be assumed that these are not the only times when a person can change.  Yes, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah is a significant moment in the life of a Jew, symbolizing a transformation from child to adult, but at what singular moment is that switch?  It doesn't exist.  The time spent changing from child to adult is not that one Saturday morning, it is in the months and years studying beforehand.  It is the sore neck from bending over the Haftorah, the sleepless nights worrying about ever being able to understand trope well enough, the countless meetings with the rabbi discussing the parsha or service, the time spent thinking about what this means to him or her, their parents, their community, and the Jewish community as a whole.  The Bar/Bat Mitzvah day is just a culmination of that, a proof to the world.
Most transforming events follow along the same pattern.  A man and woman do not fall in love on their wedding day and pledge their lives to each other then, it happened over years of being together and loving each other and was made legal and public on the wedding day.  A student is not ready to take on the 'real world' on graduation, years of schooling beforehand created that and the graduation ceremony made it official.
But what about all those other times that do not culminate in one special event?  Surely someone can change without having a party to commemorate it, right?  Of course, and this is where the troubling aspect of changing as a person is involved.
Take, for example, a gap year student.  A Jewish teenage girl who lived out seventeen years of her life in California.  She graduates high school and decided to spend the next year on a gap year program in Israel.  One is bound to change during that kind of experience, it is inevitable.  But how and when are you supposed to know?  How can you tell when you've changed fundamentally or even just partially?  How can that gap year student look at her life after being in Israel for eight months and be able to discern what is different?
The pure and simple fact is that she can't.  There is no moment that she can look at and tell that she is different than what she was before.  So how is it possible to tell that anything happened at all?  It's in the little moments, the small defining moments of her life.
It's the maturity of knowing she can put herself in a better mood in the morning by waking up a few minutes earlier to make coffee.  It's another lonely night spent on Facebook and feeling ostracized by her peers for standing up for what she believes in.  It's following the URJ blog for years as a teenager, and now seeing her articles featured there over and over again.  It's receiving e-mails from total strangers offering congratulations on something she did.  It's being tested over and over again on her values and morals so that she knows exactly what is more important to her.  It's realizing that wasting 30 shekels on a lunch she could eat for free at home is worth the time she'll spend with friends.  Conversely, not spending 30 shekels on something she doesn't believe in is worth the peer pressure.  It's going to bed later and later to stay up working on projects and networking and applications and communications and being completely okay with that.  It's getting over her own self-righteousness to save something that means a lot more for somebody else than her own sense of righteousness does to her.
All in all, has that now-eighteen year old gap year student changed?  Of course.  Does she know how she's changed?  No, but she's starting to get a clue.  However, it won't be in a final, teary good-bye ceremony that she realizes it.  It'll be in the small and simple yet significant moments.  All she has to do is look for them.

Yet Another Weekly Report

Sitting on Kathryn’s bed, in our pajamas, feet cold due to the air conditioner, a funny smell wafting in from the kitchen where Naomi is attempting to replicate Hollywok sauce, we are:

Discussing the events of the week.

Kitty: “Wow, I learned so much Hebrew today!  I can now talk about where I’m going, what I’m going to do, and what I had to eat for lunch, but only in the present tense.”

Rebekkah: “How interesting!  What did you think about the class with Neil Lazarus?  Hearing about all those different types of anti-Semitism was eye-opening.”
Kitty: “It really made me think about the political situation and how it relates to Jews worldwide and Israel.”

Rebekkah: “It’s much more complicated than that.”
Kitty: “What do you mean?  It’s just The Conflict.”

Rebekkah: “Let’s step away from rhetoric and look at the facts on the ground.  We know that there are many types of anti-Semitism.  We know how it relates to us and to Israel.”

Kitty: “We know it affects the Jews as well as the Palestinians.  And the best part, we now know how to combat anti-Semitism!”

Rebekkah: “And what about that Tanak class?  Talking about King David and that one guy…”

Kitty: “Yea, he cursed the king, but he was conniving and almost evil.”
Rebekkah: “Yea, what was that weird part about him begging for forgiveness with an entire army standing behind him?  That’s just not cool.”

Kitty: “What an interesting session that was.  What did you do that night?”

Rebekkah: “I went to a student concert with Dan R and Josh.  There were thousands and thousands of people there to see some of the biggest bands in Israel.  We even saw Hadag Nahash!”

Kitty: “I went to the Old City with some friends from Machon where we met an interesting rabbi and had a chance to visit the Kotel and see the festivities of all the people celebrating Yom Yerushalyim.”

Rebekkah: “I heard Jeffrey tried to find the folk-dancing, but it wasn’t actually happening so he had intellectual conversations with HUC students about the controversy of Yom Yerushalayim.”

Kitty: “How did you like your first visit to Yad v’Shem, the Holocaust museum and memorial, on Monday?”
Rebekkah: “The tour was a bit dry, but I loved the memorials.  They were all so interesting and emotional.”
Kitty: “Yea, I wish we had time to walk around the museum by ourselves.  I liked Jeff’s program after because it had been a long day of being bombarded with information and it was nice to be able to process thoughts.  How was your Hebrew class Tuesday morning?”

Rebekkah: “I love it, we’re all able to speak in past, present, and future tense, and we can demand things in Hebrew now.”

Kitty: “We learned how to say things belong to people.  HaMachshev HaNayedet sheli po.  That means, “My laptop computer is here.”

Rebekkah:  “What did you think of the movie we watched afterwards?”

Kitty:  “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of my absolute favorite movies.  I can say almost every line.”

Rebekkah: “And the Masa event we went to Tuesday night?  I found all those motivational speakers interesting, but I thought Prime Minister Benjamin Nentanyahu’s speech was thought-provoking.  He spoke about a lot of things like making Aliyah and the recent tragedy in Yemen.”

Kitty: “That was cool, but the dance performance afterwards was sensational!  I really liked the way it was all about how everyone is an individual and they all find their individuality through music and beats.”

Rebekkah: “The bagels we got that day were delicious. You even ordered yours entirely in Hebrew!”

Kitty: “Well after the class on How to Teach Hebrew on Wednesday, I’m practically fluent.”

Rebekkah: “I’m so proud of you!  What about Jemma’s program on secrets and sharing after that?  I thought it was a nice thing for all us to do.”

Kitty: “It really gave us a time to think about ourselves and how we would respond to things.  But Wednesday was so British!  Remember the High Tea theme night?  I loved your dress!”
Rebekkah: “Thank you!  The scones Alyson made were delicious, and hearing even the Brits put on posh accents and talk about weird British things was such a culture shock.”

Kitty: “I’m a bit disappointed about how that night ended up.  The protest we were going to was sure to help end racism against Ethiopian Jews.  I wish we could have found that.”

Rebekkah: “Me too, but the park we went to was pretty cool anyway.  We got really nice drinks at that café bookstore with our friends, remember?”

Kitty: “I’m so glad we walked so much around Jerusalem that night to work off all that sugar!  What did you get for breakfast?”

Rebekkah: “Tara and Alyson made me french toast and tea, but I couldn’t even wait for them to bring me a fork before I just ate it with my hands.”

Kitty: “Live Shnat!  I had scrambled eggs but they forgot to bring me my tea.  What else have you done today?”

Rebekkah: “I had a feedback session about Northern Tiyul-“

Kitty: “Oh my word, me too!”

Rebekkah: “And then I met with Michael about Closing Seminar Week and I made those massive signs organizing the Etgar Project.  Thanks for helping me with that.  We really make a great team!”

Kitty: “Sounds like everyone’s really enjoying their lunch.  You know, after this week I really hope that someday we can bring peace to the children of the future."

A Life Philosophy

One of the things I will miss the most about the Etgar flat is this chair.  Simple, comfy, and worn-in, it's the best place to sit.

I am going to miss Jerusalem.  From the Jerusalem stone to the Old City to Ben Yehuda to Taglit tourists to the ultra-religious to knowing all the bus lines and where to stand on the tram.

How can you tell me to clean the living room when you haven't cleaned up your activity that is still all over the floor of the living room?

Why are some people such good people?  Why can't there more of those people in my life?  The most selfless, caring people, and they all seem to skirt around the edges of my life.

I recognize your new shorts, you notice my new sweater, I mention your new shirt.  I know the lsat day you shaved your face.  I know the latest injury and how it's healing.  We've spoken about life and ideology and the future and the past and the present.  So why do I feel like I don't know you?

The last time you showered I was there, you showed me your last text, I know how you take your tea and your coffee.  I know the pattern of how you walk and exactly the way it clashes with mine, so much and so often that we don't even bother apologizing anymore.  So why are we going to say good-bye in just a few days?

The people here are so close and yet so unconnected in the most singular way.  We know such intimate details about our lives, and yet sometimes we feel like strangers.

If I can make the mental step to actively apply everything we learn to a different situation and context than the one we're being taught in to something relevant to me, then why can't you?

And why do you have to interrupt class time and insult the teacher to do it?

Last night every piece of clothing I own here was on my bed and it was too late and my roommates were already sleeping so I couldn't put them away, so I just slept on top of them and chose a few soft items to be my blanket.

The more I spend money on food, the more I do the two things I want to stop doing: spending unnecessary money and eating unnecessary food.

There are aspects of me that changed that I wish hadn't.

When I get up and go to bed, who will say good night to me?  Does it matter?  Why?

How is my hair possibly this soft?  And, on that note, did I really leave my hairbrush in the Golan Heights?

Somethings I wish I worked harder to change but didn't.

Why am I so uncomfortable in the comfy chair?

How can you be so nice to me one day but so mean the next?

How do you justify the extreme level of hypocrisy you are?

Why won't they share the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese?

Will I ever achieve the things I want to achieve?  Will I ever figure out exactly what it is that I want to achieve?  How?  When?  What if it's too late?

Some of the best conversations I've had leave me feeling unsatisfied after.  Some of the least satisfying conversations I've had were the best.

Sometimes you need to put on a movement top and go to a protest.  Sometimes you need to play on a playground.  Sometime you need to cry in your room because you have nothing to wear.  Sometimes you need to readjust your life based on one night.  Sometimes you need to order chocolate.  Sometimes you need to justify that chocolate by walking too fast.  Sometimes you need to put on somebody else's pajama pants and an old stained top and rub the make-up out from under your eyes.

All the time, you need to not care what people are judging about you during any of that.

Sometimes the money for the activity is not for the activity, but for the time you spend with the people you go with.

Every once in a while, your home is not your home and your room is not you room and your kitchen is not your kitchen.

When everything is going wrong, it's okay to let a friend fix it for you.

If you are unhappy in a situation, get yourself out of the situation or change it.

I had pizza, ice cream, scones (a lot), cucumber sandwiches, and a hot chocolate drink today.

When you're waiting for something to happen and it doesn't, it's okay to be disappointed, but it doesn't actually help anything.

When they say goodnight and you're absolutely right when you guessed who would say it and who wouldn't.  Is it a victory or is it just sad?

Going to sleep knowing you have to wake up tomorrow and deal with all of these aspects of life, and so many more new ones.  How is there enough time, energy, or support in the world to figure any of this out?  Are we meant to?  Can we just try and hope for the best?

That's the biggest struggle.  The biggest challenge.  Waking up with a smile on your face and jumping into these questions.  But somedays they don't matter, and somedays there are no questions.  It's all about how you choose to perceive life.

In the simplest context, glass half empty: lots and lots of questions; glass half full: no questions and a simple, happy life.  Walk into life with a glass half full perspective, and everything should be better.  The questions are still there, they never go away.  But they might matter less or be overshadowed by something better.

That, however, requires a good amount of sleep.  And in order to get that, I need to go to bed earlier than 2 am every so often.

In other news...

27 days left of Shnat.

My Recent Life in Israel

Yom Yerushalayim.
As controversial as it is, we never talked about it.  Every time it was brought up, someone declared it 'too controversial' and we left it.  Luckily for me, I have a space to write what I think and know about things.
I know that Jerusalem was captured and separated.
I know that Jews were denied access to some of our holiest places.
I know that the IDf recaptured Jerusalem and the entirety of the city was once again under Israeli authority.
I know that the line that determines where I am allowed to safely go, where the municipality lines lie, and where the wall was built are all different.
I know that there are parts of Jerusalem that I am not allowed to go.
I know that all areas in Jerusalem municipality pay taxes and are part of the city, even if they are outside the wall.
I know that one of my roommates had a rather strong view leaning towards the right side.
I know that one of my teachers had a rather strong view leaning towards the left side.
I think that, technically, Jerusalem is united and is one.
I think that the wall was necessary when it was built.
I don't know if it is necessary now, but I think that it is.
I think that, practically, Jerusalem is divided within itself.
I know that I wish I had more information and discussions about this, but I guess it's 'too controversial to be taught about.'

I know that right after asefah, Dan R, Josh, and I left and walked to the park with the concert.  We paid our hundred shek, and walked around avoiding tampon hand-outs.  We waved our drinks over our heads and sang as loudly as we could to Halleluyah.  As the three worst singers on Shnat, it was a beautiful moment.
The concert was deafening, hot, close-contact, energetic, and youthful, I guess.  A student party, technically, it was full of college kids and gap year students.  Jumping and cigarettes and empty Carslburg containers and Hebrew and English and (ugh) Australian accents.  Israelis either disliking or loving Hadag Nahash.  Tourists loving them.  Making friends in the crowd.  Everybody going crazy.

Josh on one side, Dan R on my other side, arms around each other.  Singing Shir l'maalot as loud as we can, our voices joining in with thousands and thousands of Jews.  Dan translating things that I don't really need translated for me.

We walk home and fall into our beds at 5:30am, just to wake up at 7:30am.  I took a handbag for once, packed a sleeve of Thin Mints for lunch, and then left for Yad v'Shem.  It was an experience, to be sure.  The main museum part, well, I don't really feel like I've been there.  If I can, I want to go back and visit more thoroughly soon.  The other memorials were really touching.
The one thing that struck me the most was the connection I felt.  Before, I knew that I had no family in the Holocaust.  It was hard for me to connect emotionally to the things I saw and heard.  But through all the time I've spent in Israel, I've discovered another link to the Jewish people, that of culture and heritage and community.  I think that has helped me and I could definitely tell when I was in Yad v'Shem how much of a connection I saw and felt.

Today at the Masa event, we heard from speakers who overcame some kind of adversity and rose to accomplish great things anyway.  Three sports stars, a woman whose son and husband died, and Natan Shironsky.  All very inspiring talks, if it weren't for the people on either side of me falling asleep on my shoulders.  Later we heard from Benjamin Netanyahu.  As exciting as it was, he didn't really say much.  He spoke about how we should all make Aliyah.  He spoke about the tragedy in Yemen.  He spoke about being a cutting-edge nation.  The only thing that really surprised me was when he mentioned 'Liberal Jews.'  It was nice to hear the leader of the nation recognize Reform Judaism and legitimize it in his speech.  We just wish he would legally legitimize it in action.

The performance afterwards was mind-blowingly amazing; technology and dance and music and media and just pure talent.  I was so impressed; it makes the Etgar boys rendition of Kids by MGMT sound amateur.

A short trip home, loud friend time, quite friend time, silent laptop time.  And now for some sleep.  I hear we have a class sometime tomorrow.

It is Ending

And I keep thinking about it.
What has happened?  A lot.  A lot has happened.  A lot of good and a lot of bad.
What could happen?  Again, a lot of good and a lot of bad.
Basically, there is what was.  That's done and can not be changed on an existential level.
However, there also is what will be.  And what will be has possibilities. And these possibilities are dependent on so many variants.  And of these variants, enough of them can be controlled or influences by us, that we can affectively control or influence the future.

So while what is done is done, there is also what is to come.  And of what is to come, we can change at least some.

Northern Tiyul: Everybody can be a Rosh of something

I wrote this up as the Weekly Report from Etgar, the italicized bits are new parts I added for this post.

Friday: Inidividual Peace and Spirituality
We started off a lovely tiyul with a stop at a cemetery, where we were all attacked by thousands upon thousands of bugs. We heard about writers and revolutionaries who changed and risked their lives to follow their dreams. We were then challenged to seek out our own passions and ideologies and act on them. Our next stop featured a strategic military spot, complete with graves and a Palmach memorial. We had an Opening Tekkes, led by the Tiyul Tzevet: Rebekkah, Naomi, Kitty, oh and Dan Aron. Then we were led into a cave on the mountain. We heard more stories about spiritual fulfillment and ways to achieve them, and were personally challenged to come up one word to describe ourselves. I know that for at least a few members of the group, this was very difficult. One by one we said our words and heard them echoing back to us again and again in the dark cave, and then sang Eli, Eli resoundingly.
From the Palmach hilltop, we left for the city of Tzfat. We walked around, viewed the beautiful color blue all over the city next to the bullet holes and walls missing chunks from missile attacks. We talked about history, and then informed EVERYONE in the city of Tzfat that were were NOT Taglit. We stepped inside an old shul were we saw such different things than we were used to, like a chair that supposedly gives anyone who sits in it good strong babies. After, we had some time off for pizzur, which involved some very stressful pizza decisions for a few of us. I'd like to formally apologize to Emily for being so wishy-washy about that. <3
We finally made it to the hostel we were staying at, and got to enjoy the view from outside the gate for quite a while before we were let in. Showers all around, and then Naomi led a Shabbat Preparatory Time, where we spilt up into groups to make place-mats for Shabbat dinner, the drash for Saturday's service, and Shabbat candle holders. Naomi and Tara led a Shabbat service that has us all pondering our own connection to each prayer and song, while we enjoyed the light of the candles held in our own specially-made candle holders. From there, we rushed over to dinner to partake in a hearty rendition of Shalom Aleichem, HaMotzi, and the Kiddush prayer, and then an even heartier dinner. We ended that night huddled around the bunsen burner for a cup a tea.There's something about Israelis that is just so hospitable. We were sitting around talking about how much we'd like a cup of tea, we even had the tea bags and sugar and cups, we just didn't have a burner. And the two Israelis sitting there next to us offered us theirs. They couldn't use it because they didn't want to light fire on Shabbat, but we could use it if we wanted.

Saturday: Group Spirituality
To start off our second theme, group spirituality, Kitty led a wonderful service, and then we all worked together to provide a Torah Service with improv Torah readings, Aliyot, Hagbah, and Glilah. I felt like anyone who looked in and watched would have been so confused as to what we were doing with the Torah.
Then Naomi had us all thinking about what Etgar is as a group, what our purpose is, and how we should interact with the outside world. We had a great discussion, and then it was time for lunch. After eating way too much food than we ever thought we could, we ventured outside the hostel walls to get our hearts pumping in an exciting game of Capture the Flag, supplemented by real Israelis and ogled at by a large family. A few injuries were had, but we're more or less all okay. It's not like I had a larger, more relevant, exciting game with more rules and tricks and fun. No, when I started explaining it, they didn't like the very first bit so without even being able to explain the rest I had to ditch the entire plan I made and do a regular game instead.
As it always is with us, there was more food, this time for Sueda Shlishit. We told stories about men from Tzfat and then gorged ourselves with all the best Israeli treats. Kitty then led a peula on how far would we take our own beliefs and what we would give for them. We ended by creating a piece of art representing both the sun and Netzer with our bodies (I keep reminding the people who took pictures to post them so I can send them out with this, but it's not looking too hopeful). After, we all got ourselves dolled up for an exciting night out; most of the girls asked make-up extraordinaire Dana to make us look beautiful, and we were not disappointed (Again, I hope the pictures will be up by the time I finish writing this). Later, we had a Havdallah service celebrating group support and love, and as an added plus we were joined by some Israelis and an army unit. In our time to kill, we took way too many pictures of ourselves, and then all got on the bus to Rosh Pina. Our lovely madrichim gave us pizzur money, and we were off. Some of us went to a nice restaurant were we ate to our heart's content, and others sought out chinese food. In the end, we were all exhausted from the sheer excitement of looking nice and being classy for a change.

Sunday: Communities within Israel
Sunday was an early morning, and we all almost froze to death (not really, we're an exaggerative bunch) on the top of the Palmach hilltop. We spoke for a long time about this different group and communities within Israel, specifically Tzfat. Most of us were surprised to hear the kinds of facts that we heard, but I'm sure each and every one of us took away something different. We went to the hospital, kind of, and learned about the kind of socio-economic issues that can be found in Tzfat and how it affects citizens there and all around, for example in the medical system. When I volunteered in MDA (Magen David Adom, the emergency medical service in Israel), the patients we had almost always requested the Tzfat hospital, so I was surprised to hear that the whole hospital is not looked upon so highly by most of society. From there we left for Rosh Pina, where we had lunch. I'm proud to say that Kitty and I found the best lunch for the cheapest price: Massive, delicious egg sandwiches, chips, salads, and a free drink, all for nineteen shekels! We for to enjoy our food, but were soon off to tour Rosh Pina itself, not just the mall area. We watched a 3-d film about the history and hiked up to the hilltop (there were SO many up-hills that day) to see the breath-taking view. After, we travelled to Kibbutz Machanayim for lunch and talked to a man who had lived there during war times and had some interesting stories to tell. After that program, we would all tell a story about a dog and a cat and the circle of life, but I'll leave you to ask your Shnattie about that one. Another drive, and then my roommates, Noa, and I ended up watching preteen kids cook for a few hours, and then bed.

Monday: Communities within Israel
We started off Monday with a nice service led by Emily, and then Tara's last-minute Druze program. She used all my tziod without even asking. All of it, and then left it all over the room and I was the only one who would clean it up.
We then proceeded to eat allllll the food before the movie started, but we enjoyed watching the Syrian Bride anyway, despite Noa having had given it away just beforehand. We left for yet another bus-ride-that-was-long-enough-to-sleep-but-not-long-enough-to-get-any-legit-rest and arrived at a lookout where we would see Syria right there. We had lunch, and then embarked on our first nature-y bit if the tiyul: the Ein Tina hike.
Dressed in swim suits and hats, we hiked up a waterfall. Plants and bugs tearing at our clothes, shoes slipping on the wet rocks, the hot sun beating down throughout the wet plantation surrounding us, we pushed ourselves to reach the top, and the pay off was amazing. At first, a beautiful waterfall. Little pools to play in and water to douse ourselves in, an amazing sight. Realizing the water was coming from a pipe was a bit of a kill joy, but with all of us laughing and splashing each other and having the time of our lives, it didn't matter so much. We took the path less travelled on the way down, at the bottom played around some more. Well, Dan A and Jeff probably had fun, but as the one they teamed up against to dunk in the water, I had colder, wetter fun. We had coffee, dried off, and changed, and then we back on the bus to head to our destination for that night. This was probably one of my top moments of Shnat. Standing on the top of that waterfall, the cool water falling all around us cooling us off, the sun beating down, the green leaves of the figs trees shading us. Looking out over the Hulu Valley, looking around at the wet faces of my friends, watching them laugh and splash each other and me, I couldn't stop smiling. Even when we got back down and the boys dunked me in the water, I was still laughing. It was all absolutely amazing.
Another great dinner, this time at the Han we were staying at, and then Kitty held a theme night that involved so much sugary foods, I though I was going to be sick.

Tuesday: Nature
As our nature day, we spent the majority of Tuesday wondering at Alyson's eye, which had swelled shut, and hiking. Swim suits, water bottles, lunches, and hats in tow, we set off. It was an amazing hike, with beautiful exotic flowers, bugs bigger than our heads, and an exciting Discovery Channel Live episode, where we got to watch frogs, crabs, and fish fight and eat in their natural environment while we had our lunch. We managed to get across to several groups that we weren't Taglit and collectively decided that the average walking pace of Israeli schoolchildren is much, much too slow. After a stop for a swim break in a spring, a stop for lunch, and stop for another swim and coffee break, we had to head back. The walk back was less exciting, but the excitement from the journey there lingered all the way back until dinner time at the Han. Naomi them held her theme night, which had us competing to take over the Netzer world, but I think the outcome was that one team kidnapped and overthrew the UN, and the Netzer Olami Bank was too happy with the gifts it was given.That night was so cold. My warm clothes disappeared and I had two phone calls to take care of outside. I walked all the way to the end of the campsite, past the screaming Israeli kids, and sat on a rock for a over a half an hour. When I got back, the tea had been made and drank (no one had cleaned up, of course), the food had been eaten, wrappers strewn everywhere, and my sleeping bad had been thrown somewhere, my pillow taken, and my mattress moved. I retrieved it all, had a hasty stealth conversation, tried to block out the sounds of the Brits talking, and went to sleep.

Wednesday: Peace over borders
Breakfast at the Han included the flimsiest and smallest bowls of cereal, but the hottest cups of coffee (I've got the burn marks on my hand to prove it). More frustratingly-short/long bus rides took us to three look out spots where we could see Syria and Lebanon. Guy and Dana led us in thinking about the wars that had occurred there and the outcomes of them, and we talked about how we felt about it all. A brief visit with Machon, whom we met up with at one look out, was exciting and we got to hear all about their tiyul. We shouldn't have worried, we won More Epic Tiyul once again. We had pizzur lunch at the Kiryat Shmona mall, where we found amazing frozen yogurt. Luckily, we were able to work it off with yet another hike, but this turned out to be a short walk cut even shorter by a mysterious closing down of the park that maybe had something to do with eucalyptus trees, we heard. Popsicles, cookies, and a bit of sikkum were had at one of those awkward that's-the-West-Bank-right-there-next-to-us places, and then back home. The arduous journey up to the flat, a delicious dinner by Alyson, and now the epic battle for laundry and showers.
By the end of Tiyul, I learned that my preferred seat on the bus is the very back, where not only is there more leg room, but you can see more outside of the bus. Except when we play The Zohan on the tv screen. Then, I'm in the very front row, Bisli in hand.