"Squeeze the World"

So it's been almost two weeks... wow. It's really been great to be back home. The first few days I spent trying to adjust to my surroundings and catch up on sleep after my flights and time zone confusion. One huge positive about my timing is that I never had to worry about the Spring Daylight Savings adjustment! It was mixed in with everything else. Then we had a few days together with the whole family. That was a really wonderful time, it kind of felt like Christmas. It was sad when people left, but it's cool to know that I can easily contact them and we're even in driving distance of each other!

Now, for these last few days I've been trying to connect with different friends and people. It's been a beautiful week so far and we even tried to fly kites in the park- not very successfully.



I had one job interview this week, not very promising, and am trying to find other places to apply. Also I will be sharing on Sunday and still am not completely prepared. I'm sure it'll be fine, though. It's only supposed to be around ten minutes, anyway, so I have to speed through like a fiend!

Wow... so it's been a long journey. Security at Ben-Gurion went well, and it was alright that one of my bags was slightly over the limit (huge relief). The first flight also went very well and I landed at Heathrow in good spirits. Heathrow, however, is no longer in my good regard. Because of various threats since July it has become terrible security-wise. I'm not sure how long I stood in line. But on the way to my next gate, I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of a Borders store. It had been so long since I had the priviledge of a full store of English language literature. It was wonderful to walk through and see the variety of their selection. It seems that I have caught a bug, though, because I ended up spending most of my time in the Travel section. The flight from there to Chicago went well- I sat next to an Indian American who had migrated at 24. His daughter's gone back to India several times for volunteer work, so he was pretty interested in my experience. The Chicago airport was a little confusing for me- partially because of Customs and also because I didn't already have my boarding pass. I really felt the jet lag while I was there, but I bought an espresso at Dunkin' Donuts and felt fine.

As I boarded my last plane I realized that since many people's final destination was Seattle I might see a familiar face. As I thought that, though, I remembered that several people live in the PNW and aren't nearly as excited to find connections as they are when they live in a foreign country. After I accepted this and found my seat, I overheard two people behind me realize that they were practically next door neighbors. I love the Northwest. The flight was delayed because they couldn't get the door closed, but I got in alright and enjoyed spending time with my parents. This morning we met up with Tyler and Nate in Seattle before heading home. And here I am now! It's very exciting, but I ought go to bed now. I'll probably still write in this, but certainly not with the same consistancy as before. Good night!

Yesterday was my last day at the school. It was quite the heart breaking experience. When I first came in, I got my first card addressed to "Savta Anna Bannana" and a bunch of flowers picked from the yard. I kept getting more and more cards throughout the day and random hugs from the kids. But now it's over and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to work there. It's pretty amazing to think that I've been there since Sukkot. There have been a lot of changes around the place. A volunteer who's been in the kindergarden is leaving this Sunday, and another school volunteer left the day before me but will return in a week or so. So, it's going to be an interesting transition for the place.

Then today I took a trip to Nazareth Village to say goodbye to everyone there. I went fully determined that I was not going to work. I almost didn't take sandals just as insurance. But... I ended up dressed up in costume serving meals to a Chinese American group in the pouring rain. It was a fun time and I'm glad that I did, but it's just another example of things not going how I plan. Saying goodbye was hard, but I'm feeling a much greater peace about everything.

Tonight was a going-away party in the Young Woman's Bible Study for both me and the Gan volunteer. She's studying social work in Germany and has to go to class the day after she arrives. I do not envy her at all. Anyway... it might snow in Jerusalem tomorrow. Crazy stuff. Maybe it won't be such a weather adjustment.

Yay! I love spring, it's so pretty everywhere and I can walk around in sandals again. I only have a week left of it, so I'm enjoying every bit I can! Here are some pictures so the rest of you can enjoy it with me!

Spring at Nazareth Village!
Wrestling sheep.
Walking around the lake, hanging out with friends!

Well, it's been another full day. I went into Tiberias early to run the sports class with F, my most recent travel buddy. The man who usually leads the class is celebrating his 25th Anniversary, so we had to improvise and try to keep control. The main difficulty of the class is the constant drama. We have the younger girls who will find any excuse not to participate, or will participate until they get "tagged" or put on a team without their best friend. There are also the older boys who play dirty and are sore losers. This means that unless they are all on the same team, the game will end with no explanation as they continue to yell or ignore each other. Thankfully there is a time limit on the class and one of the carpools was late so it was even shorter. After the sports class, I found the fastest ride to Nazareth to help out at the Village. It was a busy day with many tour groups, a production team, a school group and a few different meals. It was incredibly hot and my eyes still haven't recovered. Oh, and I got back to a village next to AQVNT just in time to do childcare for a parenting class.

So... I think I'm going to go to bed soon. It's strange to think that I only have a week left.

So, I'm back in AQVNT and no longer in charge of teenagers! This is an incredible feeling. Okay, well I doubt that I'll be able to bring this up to date in one post tonight, but I'll see how far I can make it...

A student from the American College in Jerusalem volunteered at Nazareth Village for over a month during the winter holidays, so T and I decided to make a trip to visit her and spend extra time in Jerusalem. She's also done work teaching English at the Bethlehem Bible College every week, so we took advantage of that and went through the checkpoint with her. Both of us had heard varied stories of Bethlehem, but it really didn't look much different from Nazareth, and was certainly better than many areas of Cairo. We got through the checkpoint easily enough, but that is the benefit of American passports. The Church of the Nativity wasn't anything special, but we were able to interact with a few locals and get a feel for the place.

We also made friends with the other students in the college and went on a few outings with them. Neither T or I had seen much of the New City, so we went to the Shuk (outdoor market) with some of the students. Because of the secular city atmosphere, I wasn't sure how much of the clothing was due to Purim or was regular wear. It was interesting to see an orthodox jew shopping right next to a girl in skimpy clothes and black fuzzy wings, and many other great sights. Later in the trip, T and I took our own journey into the New City and walked throught the Artist's and German colonies. Also, walking through the Old City was refreshing as we didn't have the tour-rush and could enjoy the people watching. We had some interesting encounters and were free to explore as we liked. One day EB's group from Egypt rendevouzed with us and we did a bit of touring for them. Also! Here's a diagram of the latest poorly-reported Israeli "conflict," in case anyone's following:



I almost forgot to mention- The movie "One Night with the King" which my dear mother mentioned in a comment to my last post was showing at a Jerusalem congregation. We actually attended it, and it was very well done. I and others were slightly disappointed that the makers didn't rely more on the natural drama of the story, but what can you do. We'll have to make our own, I guess.

I took the bus back up to AQVNT on Saturday night, the first bus didn't leave until 7pm because of Shabbat, and couldn't find the key to my house. It was very discouraging, but I spent the night at a friend's house and fortunately had packed enough clothes for the Bersheva trip the next day. That morning, I went to the congregation to help out with their Purim party and met up with my next traveling companion, a fellow volunteer at the school. I shall call her F. She's from the Black Forest in Germany, which is pretty cool since I've heard of it before. That is pretty rare.

Both F and I have a friend, M, living in Bersheva and we met through completely different circumstances. I met M while she did a short-term volunteer service in the army and was working along the the northern border. She was required to take weekends off and ended up staying at the house with me. Somehow she and F met at a girl's conference in Haifa about a month ago. Anyway, we left straight from the party and bussed to the train station. The train is such a wonderful experience after a bus ride. We were fortunate enough to catch a lovely sunset over the Mediterranean and later have a great conversation with a soldier.

The next day M took us on a walking tour about Bersheva. We went through the Old City there and their public marketplace where we enjoyed falafel. She knew of a great "Negev Art Gallery" where a woman practiced her German on F for almost an hour. Later, we saw the Hospital and Ben Gurion University. The hospital in Bersheva is the largest in the south and those wounded in Gaza are often air-lifted there. While we walked through we saw one of the medical helicopters coming in to land.

So, I got back just today and I'm very much enjoying having a house to myself for the night. Tomorrow things turn back to semi-normal, but who knows what the next nine days will have in store. Ha! I did it!