There's some catching up to do

Shabbat, The Parents Visit, First Day of Ulpan, the friend who took me to a party to get drunk, Tu B'Shvat, and other exciting adventures of the past week....

The Shabbat after Bush was here....
I spent shabbat with the Solomonts in Chashmonaim. Ari Solomont was the regional director of New England NCSY for my entire time "in the system" as it were. Despite putting my time in NCSY as far in the past I can, I have maintained a close connection with the Solomonts. How could I resist? When I go for shabbat I'm one of several guests. The Solomonts kids treat me like a big sister. Sarah Beth cooks up a storm and serves five kinds of cookies for dessert. I've been to their house seven times since they made aliyah four and a half years ago. This past visit I was reading through their guest book. I had written so many post-shabbat messages that I wonder if I ever spent shabbat at home in Newton (they lived in the next town over). This is the message I wrote last week: While I hope that I will soon feel at home in Israel, I am grateful that I always have a place here to go home to for shabbat.

Sunday through Wednesday I tried to enjoy my last few days of freedom before ulpan started. On Sunday Lisa and I went to Gilo to get our temporary passports. The view from Gilo is magnificent. We could see the Keren HaYesod area (and waved hi to Harriet). I could sit out there all day.

Thursday was my first day of ulpan. It is exhausting. And boring. Though I do have good reason to think that I will learn something. But it's incredibly boring. I am constantly handed worksheets and we do a lot of things in pairs. It's like first grade all over again. Alissa says that soon it will get to us and we'll start acting like it too. That'd be great-- then I can bring more toys to class than just my little firetruck. At least for the four hours I am closed into the classroom I'm with a seemingly fun and very diverse group of people. My class features students from the US, Canada, South Africa, France, Argentina, Belgium, and England. And since most of them just got here, they remind me of the excitement I felt when I arrived in August. I am also feeling what I knew I would feel once I started Ulpan Etzion-- the magic of kibbutz galiyot. This is why I'm here. My passion for living in Israel is nothing without people from around the world who feel the same way. There is an excitement in the air that we are all together learning Hebrew and beginning our lives in Israel. And by far the best thing is for once I am with a bunch of Jews who have different things to talk about. It's refreshing. I'll leave it at that.

Thursday evening/night:
I guess I suddenly got inspired to make plans and do things with friends I've made here. So I made plans with one friend for the late afternoon to have hot cocoa and catch up, and then another friend who wasn't available the previous day when I called invited me to come to a party with him. And I quote, "No, it's more fun if you're really tired. That way I can make you more drunk so you can have your own drunk story to tell." I don't even think I should bother talking about the party (another glimpse into the Katamon Scene) after that quote. It was an interesting contrast of social situations.

On Friday.... MY PARENTS CAME! With a huge backpack loaded with everything I asked for. But more importantly, they came to visit me and Sam. They tacked on shabbat in Jerusalem to a business trip my dad had in Paris. It was planned just two weeks in advance. It was really special having my parents visit me in my new home. I noticed the deeper effects of "lech lecha mi'bayt avichah." My parents miss me... a lot. I already learned the truth in "asher ar'echa," that there was so "unknown" left in Israel even after ten visits in thirteen years. But at the same time my parents are dealing with an empty household and two children six thousand miles away. And a third child complaining that she needs new siblings. I highly doubt that Avraham's father came to visit, gave him a huge hug, and said "I'm proud of you." Luckily my parents did that to me.

On Motzei Shabbat we all went to a l'chaim for someone my bro and I grew up with in Newton, and whose mother z"l was a very close friend and colleague of my mother's. It was just like shul in Newton. Between Newton and Brandeis olim my parents and I knew half the people there. Even when you think you've left your old life behind, they all show up at a simcha. I saw a good friend I grew up with who also made aliyah this past summer. FINALLY! Supposedly med students are too busy to socialize much. It's great when I'm reminded that I didn't start this crazy dream alone, and I won't live it through alone either.

So now I'm on a "my parents just hugged and fed me for three days" high. Probably helping me not completely break down after losing my 700 shekel phone in a cab today. It is probably a good thing that I was more focused on getting two little kids safety out of the car, but needless to say I am extremely bummed out about this. At least I had my parents buy me a warmer blanket so I can sleep through the night and forget about it for a few hours. Did I mention how freakin' early I need to wake up to get to ulpan? And THEN sit still for four hours? Blah. I am not a fan. But as I said, it's going to be a good experience. I am optimistic... and when was the last time I said that about something here? And people say I'm always cynical...

I'll end with a thought on Tu B'Shvat... so I guess I won't get to my new work-from-home job with IDT and Lisa's fascinating life. I was at a Tu B'Shvat seder tonight and while I wasn't drifting off from exhaustion and thinking about things like closed minded Jews, my missing phone, how boring ulpan was, and how awesome it was to see my parents I was thinking about the ideas being discussed at the seder. Rabbi Greenfield talked about appreciating the different characteristics of a fruit, like noticing the fruits where every part is edible or useful, where even the pit can be used to create a new plant. He also told the classic story of the old man explaining to a little boy that he's planting a carob tree, even though he knows he won't be around to see it produce fruit, because he wants it to be there for future generations. This is probably going to come off as a corny "mashal and nimshal" but as I settle more into my life here, make friends, and figure out what to do with my life, I think I am tasting more of the "fruits" (literally and metaphorically) of Israel. There have been plenty of "pits to spit out" but even those can lead to something positive in the future. I am planting my trees, and hopefully someone somewhere down the line will benefit from them. The first email I sent to my mom after arriving on aliyah had pictures of my apartment and said "... az yaish li bayit b'Eretz Yisrael." So in the spirit of Tu B'Shvat, starting Ulpan Etzion, and being even more corny... "Eretz Yisrael sheli yafah v'gam porachat. Mi banah u'mi bantah? Kulanu b'yachad!"