Unwinding

The stress has not gone away from the nightmare that was last Thursday afternoon, but I'm finally starting to feel better. I had a quiet and relaxing shabbat. And today I got out of Jerusalem. I didn't even realize how much I needed this day away. I went because my friend Pauline, who I used to play with everything single shabbat afternoon for like fifteen years, is here on Birthright. Luckily we got nearly three hours to hang out but I would have gone for five minutes. It's so great seeing a longtime friend from home-- especially one on her first trip to Israel! I would also like to say that today, on December 23, I walked barefoot on the beach and waded into the water. I miss the snow and cold, I really do, but I can't deny that being able to do that today was wonderful. On the bus ride back to Jerusalem I could feel the air slowly getting colder. When I got off the bus my craving for a milk shake turned into one for hot cocoa (which I got- with Jody, who is leaving me, sniff sniff). I've been thinking about what I wrote in my Nefesh B'Nefesh application essay. One thing I wrote was that I knew there would be good days and bad days. I had no idea.