Starting a few weeks before Pesach and up until a week ago I had the absolute joy of spending three afternoons a week (at least on the days I wasn't sick or unable to move because of my back) with this incredible adorable little guy, Noah. Playing with Noah brought back great memories of Raphi at that age. We went to the playground and hung around the apartment being silly. Once I got to bring him and his girlfriend (kids these days start young) Eliana to the playground together. Hopefully I'll see Noah in LA in September. Such a treat getting to play with him. This is a picture of him excitingly greeting his friends at his good-bye party.
I finished ulpan. That's right, I made it to the end. It's crazy that with ulpan finishing I'm more or less "done" with the beginning steps of making aliyah. I'm still convinced I have another ten years until my klitah is complete. I'm happy to say I learned a lot and made some good friends. It was comforting being around other people in the same position as me and being taught by teachers who really cared about us. For most of my time there I didn't feel that much of a connection to the place but I think over the next few months I'll really appreciate my time there and the friends I made.
This was taken at the Birthright Mega Event in Latrun. I was there with the Gift of Life Foundation to get more people in the bone marrow donor registry. American college students are so awesome. There were thousands of people there mostly from the US but also from France, Brazil, and India. I met some fellow Bostonians and fellow Terps. It was like a huge summer rock concert. It's great seeing so many people so incredibly excited about being in Israel.Over the next few weeks I get to hang out with a slew of friends visiting from high school and college who will be visiting the country. Can't express how happy I'll be to hang out with them again. Really, really excited about that.
Also have a decent amount of babysitting jobs lined up. I have a short one in a couple weeks and then a six week full time job beginning at the end of June. It will be the first time I will be out of the apartment all day every day. It will also be the earliest I've had to wake up on a daily basis, and really the first time I'll have something in the morning I actually have to come on time to. Should be interesting. The job is for a four year old girl so hopefully I can be paid to do things like go to the zoo.
After that... I'm planning a month-long trip back to the US that will go through Rosh Hashanah. I haven't been in Newton for RH in a few years now. When I get back I'll have a few weeks (mostly taken up by Succot) until I begin a Masters in Education program at Hebrew University. So far I got accepted to the special education program and I'm waiting to hear from the Early Childhood Studies program. I'm hoping that between the Har Tsofim area and central Jerusalem I'll be able to find a sufficient amount of work for when I'm not in class (or trying to understand the material in Hebrew).
I guess I haven't been writing in my blog much lately because I've grown less cynical and more optimistic about my life here. Not to worry-- I still have plenty about the Katamon social scene, but I'm also becoming more accepting of it. In general with work for the summer and school set for the Fall (didn't expect to hear from Hebrew U until July) I'm feeling much better about things. It's been a really long and slow year. As I just told my friend who's making aliyah in a year-- the paperwork is the easy part. It's the packing the month before and the rest of your life after that that's the hard part. But I'm looking forward to toughing it out.
