Beit Shemesh, Efrat, paintball and syran wrap... and Thanksgiving

So, I haven't blogged in a few weeks, but don't worry, I'll update you all thoroughly. :)
First for the siyyur on Tuesday: we all went to see a one- man show about terrorism and how it happens (it was really cool, and showed how fighting against terrorism can also create the kinds of broken people that perform these acts). It was very interesting, and really made me think about how we are going about the situation the world is in right now. He showed how Muhammed the baker turned into Muhammed the terrorist, because the Israeli army (consisting of 18 year olds who are inexperienced) knocked down the wrong house, accidentally killed his family and destroyed his store, withou meaning to, and also without properly compensating him. The actor was very talented.
That weekend I went with Shayna to her family friends who live in Beit Shemesh, which was a wonderful and exhilirating weekend. We left on Thursday night with a bunch of others to go to Jerusalem, and we all hung out there, then parted our seperate ways. I got delicious falafel on Ben Yehuda, and had a minor scare when Maddie got stuck inside Ben Yehuda street cause the police blocked off the way out to explode an unidentified bag. (Israel has a policy of destroying a.k.a. exploding bags that do not have an owner that are left places- a good reason to keep track of your stuff)- but anyways, all of a sudden we all hear this loud bang and none of us know what happened (we were a few blocks away)- and when we called Maddie, she was freaking out (it's what she does, love her though :). But it was just a false alarm, thank god. That night, I slept in Emunah V'Omanut dorm with some friends of Masha and Tova's (who previously visited Bat Yam and are super sweet). When Shayna and I went into Beit Shemesh on friday morning (we met up with Elianna Mintz at the Tachana-bus stop- first) we didn't know which stopto get off on bus, and we were in major- Chassidish town, but the busdriver got on the phone with Shay's friend and got directions, and dropped us off as close as he could (we were the last ones and he was super nice). I had a great time on shabbat, with lots of little kids (one Alex's age who I did puzzles with, and one Sofies age who told me all about their birds). Also, Beit Shemesh is gorgeous, next to the mountains.
The siyyur that Tuesday was to the Palmach museum, about the first Israeli military force that helped gain the state its independence. The museum was very well done, but it was a frustrating siyyur because we had to get ourselves back by bus and our bus passes didn't work that far away from Bat Yam, so we had to pay our way back; and while it only took 45 minutes on the charter bus YJ gave us for the way there, it took 2 hours to get back afterwards. And I do not enjoy long busrides without a chair to sit on.
That weekend, I went with Chana and Tova and Masha to Chana's family in Efrat (close to the Green line). Again, gorgeous veiw of the mountains, and wonderful little kids to play with, as well as a dog this time. It was very homey and I really enjoyed it. However, on Shabbat day, Tova and Masha decided to go on a walk and accidentally crossed over the fence and into an Arab vineyard. Luckily, Chana, her cousin and I saw and were able to retrieve them, but they were just wandering in Arab land , where they take tresspassing very seriously...
So I have no lack for drama :) what with people endangering their lives and such
The siyyur that week was to the Comic museum in Holon, themed around the idea of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They focused more on Israeli creations, so I dod not see any familiar faces, although there were American comics in the giftshop. It was not very exciting, but we heard an informative speech about how Arabs and Israelis are both affected by this conflict, and about this organization that tries to bring both sides together in the mutual pain caused by this conflict.
This weekend, I had Elianna and her friend from seminary Melissa come over for shabbat, and it ws really nice to be able to spend time with them.
For Thanksgiving, Shalem did their own special dinner, with each apartment bringing in food. The trukey was delicious and sweet potato pie...mmm....
That was really nice, and our Madrich, Avi, even came for a bit. We all love Avi and we're all gonna miss him when we move to Arad. Today he was giving us instructions on how to pack up and clean, and he said that now that there's only one week left, he's gonna be dangerous, that we should watch out :) He's funny.
Last Wednsday, Barry and his apartment bought syran wrap and wrapped Avi's car while he was talking to someone inside the Ulpan building (hwere we have our classes). Afterwards, Avi chased Barry and threatened to thro him into the dumpster, and made him clean the car in 3 minutes, but ended up chasing Barry and the tripping on the slippery- just washe- floor of the Ulpan, saving Barry.
Also, last Wednsday, Shalem went paintballing which was very fun. I was so good at it, I got 6 or 7 people out, including Avi (which is serious because he was Mr. Army, and was a sniper and all that jazz) I got him rismack dab in the middle of his back, then later on his shoulder, but i only got hit twice :)
So much fun.
So, we had our finals in all our classes and just wrapped up volunteering, and now we need to start cleaning up the aprtment for the next kids, as well as pack up our stuff.

I'll post one last Bat Yam post... sad to be leaving, but glad for the change of scenery... and it also means that I'm that much closer to starting Marva (2 months of army training)!! Yay

Love you guys, and miss you more than you know.
<3
:)

four long bus rides... and a cat named Sassy

So, the siyyur this Tuesday was in the north- I was supposed to go rapelling in the mountains, but due to severe rainage (it was STILL storming!!) that was cancelled, and we went to wee the ancient city of Acco and the Bahai gardens instead. It was nice, except for that the bus ride was four hours each way and I had to wake up at 5:30 since Shalem has davening every morning... :)
But I had fun, it was a nice change of pace , and it was pretty. Also, there was a shuk there where I bought a nice scarf for 20 shek- not a bad deal.

Friday Shalem all got up early again (for it being a Friday and usually a day off) at 6:30 and we set off again for the golan, first to Gamlah which is a nature preserve for vultures and eagles and other such large birds of prey, and then we all went to stay in this wonderful moshav called Moshav Yonatan- where Rb.Yossela's sister and her family lives. The scenery as well as the weather were wonderful, and you could see soo many more stars at night than in Bat Yam or MN.

At the Moshav, all the girls were in the same house, in guest bedrooms of a nice house. For meals, we plit off into groups of 2 or 3 and ate at the local families' homes. I had alot of fun practicing my hebrew, and got to play with little kids who reminded me insanely of Sofie and Alex. On Friday night, there was this boy named Ariel was about the same age as Alex, and acted just like him- the way he runs away fom the table, being all pouty. And on shabbat, there was this one year old who was exactly how Sofie was at the same age- spilling all kinds of things on himself, and running around, trying to join his older siblings' games.

I was very happy to find that many families in the moshav had pets- so I met a huge Yellow Lab named Popeye, and a German shepherd/Black lab mix named Skipper- both of whom were so sweet and playful. Then, near the end of shabbat, this adorable and insanely soft cat (who we later named Sassy) was hanging aroung us and letting us pet her- so we took her with us to the rooms we were sleeping at and sat and played with her. She was so adorable, but we couldn't bring her back with us to Bat Yam- even though we wanted to. :)

Just got back after another 3 hour bus ride...
love you all <3
:)