#shnat

just had such a good zman kvutza - honestly and constructively critiqued each other and it was sooooo good.many breakthroughs #nocomo (no competition)

classes today! woke up early (lol 8:30) to bring the laundry then had a lackluster zk, ok ed class (order was flipped) and great beit midrash and econ. Talked about neoliberalism, learned about it and milton friedman, and discussed the attempted isaac sacrifice.(new theory - faith was faith that god is good not blind allegiance). had an erev kvutza with danito reviewing israeli history for the trip tomorrow. kinda tired.

So for Rosh Hahshana,I went to Mika's house.Weekend was pretty uneventful, here's what went down:

Wednesday: Left the kibbutz around two. Mika's grandparent's drove her, flam, and i to hodesh sharon, mika's parents house (her grandfather is a terrible driver!). We saw the beautiful apartment they have and helped set up the roof for the dinner that night. Had very secular dinner, large variety of food, ended with songs and wishes from everyone one of the 30 (30!!0 guests who were all in Mika's family.

Thursday: Spent the day kind of bored and visited Iggy at night. She was hosting a party so we met all her friends including one from BINA and one who was really cool from another global youth movement. It was nice to see Iggy, but we didn't talk much. When we got home listened to a This American Life with Yael about New Ramapo (made me maddddddd)

Friday: I woke up sick! Felt terrible, threw up, went back to bed, threw up three more times that morning, spent the day in bed sleeping. Got up at 1:00 am and watched bits of very quiet Charlie's Angels with flam and mika, then went back to sleep.

Saturday: Felt better but  not great. Went to the beach which was soooooo nice and fun with everyone + sofia and yael berkman. ate at a vegan burger place before going back to the kibbutz.

Yesterday we had our first day of classes. I was really nice to finally start doing something and Karen and Dana, our teachers, seem pretty good. Everything was really introductory, but we had a good conversation about privilege (in economics and social structures) and I talked to Nissim a lot about his family (which is very messed up) in the eduction class.

It was Siobhan's birthday as well so we had a party and had a lot of fun playing king's cup with sangria and then cutting Nissim's hair. I then talked with Emanuel for soooo long and hung out with him, drawing on his arm in the modon (we're becoming really good friends!).

Another funny thing about yesterday was that we did laundry and it came back all mixed together and everyone freaked out, picking through it like vultures in the big house.

Today we went on a trip, to Givat Haviva and Barta'a. We listened to Yaniv Sagee and the head of Through Others' Eyes about the conflict. We then got a history lesson and toured the town, which felt very voyeuristic and weird. Rosh Hashana is tomorrow and I'm still figuring out where to go (probably definitely Mika's).

and heres how the first week went:

Tuesday, Sept 9- I got a call from Idan saying I couldn't meet up with everyone when I got to Israel and had to make arrangements to stay somewhere for a day. I went to the airport at 11 and left the country (Turkish Airlines)

Wednesday, Sept 10- After a layover in Turkey and reading all of Gone Girl (really good!), I arrived in Israel!!I didn't know who was meeting me at the airport (see aforementioned problem) but Danito found me and took me to Rachel Bart, a friend f my mother's house. I stayed in Aviv's room.

Thursday, Sept 11- I spent the day at Rachel Bart's. Read Three Musketeers and tried to communicate with her housekeeper, a fourteen year old who didn't speak english. I went down to the Beach in Ashdod with Rachel thatnight and had brie sushi (very strange, not too bad)

Friday, Sept 12- I left Rachel's in the morning and took the train into Tel Aviv where I met Omer and a Bulgarian girl who was also arriving late. Tanya was really nice and talked to Omer as he drove us to meet everyone else (I was too tired to really interact). We stopped at Givat Oz to drop off our bags and then went to a druize village in the north where everyone came and met us at a youth hostel. Meeting everyone was really overwhelming ( notice how much i use the word really) but Mika and Sofia and Yael were wonderful. They took me to the room we would share and told me all about what was going on. Then we had a kabbalat shabbat and went to the village's synagogue where we learned about the places history. It was one of the only places Jews had occupied continuously since forever, but now there was only one old woman left. Actually, while we were blessing everything, she arrived. Margalit (the old woman) looked like the old Italian grandmother in those picture books. She had not been there for long when a man arrived and started filming The two got into a fight and the man said that this was his land. It was all very strange and we resolved it by loudly singing od yavoshalom alienu. That night I hung out with the Australians and had a great time.

Saturday Sept 13 - We woke up at 8:30 ( late apparenty for the MASA trip, where they had had to rise with the sun), went on a walk to Margalit's house and learned about the place more. We watched a video and then went to a cave where a rabbi (the one who founded Kaballa)  hid during Roman rule. Afterwards, we had lots of free time and I mad friends, with Alex, and others, and played cards. That night we did a show and played a game with candy compliments that wasn't very timely.

Sunday Sept 14 - We woke up and got on the bus to go to Jerusalem. I slept most of the way ( note, I have not been falling asleep until about 4:00 am) and sat with Tanya, Alex and Yael. We got to Mount Herzel, toured for an hour and then did the museum, which is exceptionally bizarre. It is narrated and multimedia and impossible to describe except as strange. Then we had a final peula with the MASA people ( who were not so good) and went back on the bus to go to Givat Oz. I found my room- in the big house with Sol, Brit and Caro- and unpacked (I felt much better after doing so. We had a party and I spoke some french with Victor and David!!!!!

Monday Sept 15 - First day on the kibbutz! Had a very relaxed day, went in the pool and talked to Raymond and Emanuel.