I have nothing to write really. Just want to update this so my family knows I'm alive (we never really talk on the phone). Sukkot just ended here in Israel and its now Shabbat. And on Tuesday night my entire garin went to an amazing concert near the dead sea.

Matisyahu and Balkan Beat Box (and amazing band!! for anyone who doesn't know them please go youtube them PRONTO!)  played and it was really incredible. The stage was set up at a dead end in the middle of a canyon with lights everywhere, people on top of people, dancing and enjoying the amazing show.

Erez, a crazy, hilarious, silly, hippy, smart, foolish, etc. etc. guy on the kibbutz who finished the army and is leaving for china (Israeli travels) in two weeks just came in the caravan and told us about a "mesibat teva" in the middle of the desert that starts at 3 A.M. today. (as in, in 2 hours). It's gonna be trance and lights and crazy, and I think I'm going.

Don't worry Mama, no drugs. Just dancing :)

My First Israeli Wedding

So I went to my first Israeli wedding on Tuesday and it was so freaking great !

I've only been to four weddings in my life, two of which were before I was 10 years old and the other two were religious ceremonies where men and women had to sit separately. I guess you could say this is the first wedding that I went to that I remember and could actually dance with some male cuties !

I went to the affair (what a fancy word) with my friend Yiftach and had been planning my outfit for the past week. As an American, I wanted to wear a pretty dress and heels. But people kept telling me that weddings here are super casual. People wear jeans, and that's considered appropriate apparel.

So I settled on a black dress with high white wedges. The wedding was in Beit Lechem Galil (not Beit Lechem, Beit Lechem) which is a moshav in the north. The place was really, really beautiful. Everything was outside, including the chupa (marriage ceremony).

Funny differences between American and Israeli weddings (besides the fashion):

- In America, after the groom steps on the glass (signifying the couple is now married), the two kiss and everyone is happy and enjoys a lovely, classy exit.
  In Israel, after the groom steps on the glass, a loud, obnoxious song by Baha Men "Who Let the Dogs Out" beings playing and all old people under the chupa rush to find refuge from the dancing newleyweds.

- In America, dogs don't roam around the wedding party
  In Israel, all moshav dogs come and start eating whatever food fell on the floor and take dancers (such as myself) by surprise when they feel some fur while dancing.

Obviously this isn't all Israeli weddings, just the one on a moshav that I went to this week. It was amazing though, and I loved every moment of it.

Yom Kippur

Another Yom Kippur come and gone, and now I don't have to worry about not eating for another year! (or few months, considering tisha ba'av and stuff)

So my Yom Kippur in Israel was not so bad, and I went to Shul a lot more than I expected to. Considering my Kibbutz is so entirely chiloni (secular) and that during the week I get no spiritual/religious stimulation watsoever, I was not expecting anything too great today.

But they hired a Rabbi who came to spend the "chag" on the kibbutz, and had services last night, all day today, and tonight until they blew the shofar (signifying that the fast is over).

Israelis are pretty funny. Usually no one really cares about religion, but today and yesterday the shul was PACKED. literally not enough seats, barely any room to move, all the machzors (prayer books) were taken, etc.

But tomorrow, they're probably going to go back to not doing anything religious. Which is fine (I hope I'm not making a value judgement here) but it was nice to have that bit of tradition I'm used to for the day.

HI DAN ISRAEL!

Happy New Year!

So I spent my first Rosh Hashannah (Jewish new year) in Israel this past week. I went up north (well actually its the center of Israel but from here, the south, central is north) to Even Yehudah and spent the chag with my family.

My sister is also in Israel now so she came, too. We spent Wed- Saturday at my cousins house eating and sleeping and eating and sleeping. Now that I'm back on the kibbutz I'm so used to just sleeping that waking up for ulpan is posing a big(ger) problem (than usual) !

All the girls in my garin are getting our manilas today. Manilias are pretty much all the jobs that we're being offered to do in the army. I'm really nervous to open mine because my kaba (iq score) is low because they gave me the damn test in Hebrew. So I'm fully expecting shitty jobs like being a secretary.

Which is not why I came to Israel. I'm nervous, and pishy.

Lots of stuff to update on.. but I'm a bit distracted right now because I'm listening to a shiur (lesson) by this Rabbi about Rosh Hashannah (the Jewish new year thats coming up this week). The kibbutz I'm living on is so secular, and I'm used to much more - and to be honest, I really miss being (more) observant. So I do little things like listen to Rabbi's teachings. DON'T WORRY MOM I WILL NOT FLIP OUT AND WEAR ONLY SKIRTS

I like boys too much :)

So I just had a wonderful weekend up north in Yokenam Moshava at my friend Yiftach's house. I know Yiftach from last summer when he was part of the Israeli mishlachat (delegation) to Ramah Canada- the camp I was working at. He was on my staff and we became good friends very quickly.

I went up north and stayed at his (beautiful) house. I went with my friend and roommate Talia, which made the 4 hour journey much easier. The weekend was so much fun- Yiftach celebrated his 22 birthday on Saturday and although he technically lives on a moshava (much different than a kibbutz- more privatized, etc.), the social life between he and his friends on the moshava are much like that found on a kibbutz. In other words, all his friends were chill and fun and we all had a great time hanging out all weekend.

Not to mention we went to a beautiful beach twice!

One very interesting thing that happened while we were up there: someone was making a toast to Yiftach in honor of his birthday. Had the toast been in the US, I really believe that the speech would have been quite lighthearted and silly. If not, I'm not sure it would have compared to what these boys said.

In the middle of a party, while everyone was laughing and talking and getting drunker and drunker, the boys all raised their glasses and made a toast that Gilad Shalit (the Israeli soldier that has been held captive in Gaza for the past 5 years) should come home.

Imagine that! I've yet to see a group of American (drunk) teenagers taking the time to toast to the soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan. Then again, I don't drink so I wouldn't really have seen any toast at all.

Time to sleep, I'm super tired.

Tzav Rishon

So I'm officially in the IDF database!

This past Monday my entire garin (the group of kids I'm living with that are also joining the army- we're not all joining the same units though) had tzav rishon. That literally translates into "first step" but in real English it would mean something like "first summons". Pretty much its just when we all go and get poked and prodded by doctors and do physical tests and written tests and putz around until they give us our profile (the number out of 97) and our kaba (the number out of 56)

So we get there and woopdie doo, theres no air-conditioning. That's right. Over 50 kids in a room in Be'er Sheva and no AC. ONe by one kids are getting called into this room. I'm obviously nervous so I whip out my Harry Potter (number 4) and started reading about the Yule Ball and how Harry wishes he went with Cho but he went with Pavarti instead!

Anyways, I get called into the room and sit with a soldier. She starts asking me all the questions - "are your parents still together" "how many siblings" "whats your address" etc. etc. It took a freaking year, but eventually we moved on to the Hebrew test which was her showing me a sentence, me reading it and saying what it meant. I also had to write sentences that she would dictate- all of which were level 90897653 and most Israelis wouldn't even understand.

Apparently I scored high enough on that to take the psichotechni (test that all incoming soldiers have to take to show their intelligence) in Hebrew. EVERYONE ELSE took it in English, even the kids who have perfect Hebrew and sound completely Israeli. I was literally THE only one who took it in Hebrew and didn't understand why... I mean legit I barely freaking speak the language.

So everyone else who was taking it in English finished in about 20 minutes but my test was like the freaking SAT so it took about 1.5 hours. Turns out my best friend and roommate Talia took it in Hebrew also. We were both totally freaking out because here we are, getting judged on the same level as everyone else (the score affects your profile which in turn affects the jobs you can get as a soldier) but we had the test about 89764 times harder in a language that is by no means our mother tongue!

(blast that Gittleman and Schechter for teaching me to read and write well)

So the soldier who is in charge of our garin and lives with us on the kibbutz came up to Talia and I today and told us that the office called her and said that we each did well on our tests. Not amazing, not to our "highest potential", but we did well. Well enough for Talia to be a moshakit-tash (social worker for the army) which is what she wants to do. She told us that it wasn't fair that we had to take it in Hebrew and the army is now saying we have the option to take it again in English and potentially raise our scores and profiles.

Here's the catch: we have to write a letter of appeal, translate it to Hebrew, send it back to the office and then wait for the next day we can go in to retake the test. That's not really so bad. The thing is that all of this waiting may push back our enlistment date because the whole process will be delayed. Meaning, the entire garin will be enlisting around november and Talia and I might be stuck on the kibbutz with nothing to do until February just because this FREAKING army can't get their shit straight.

Then again we might be able to take the test right away. Who knows?

The other thing is: there is a "yom me-ah" which all girls go to and get evaluated by specialists. Its a good thing, it can raise your profile a lot and totally cancel out the test grade. Pretty much the specialists see how well you work with electronics, other people, the Hebrew language, etc. etc.

I don't really know what to do. Any suggestions?

Jerusalem

I never know how to start these things. Maybe "dear diary" ? Or, "to whom it may concern" ? And who does this concern anyway??

Well, I'm back from a very interesting weekend in Jerusalem. I left the kibbutz on thursday afternoon and got my little toosh on a bus from be'er sheva to tachanat merkazit (central bus station) in Yerushalayim. The bus ride was actually incredibly interesting. Thursday afternoon is when all the soldiers get to go home for Shabbat so getting on a bus is a freaking shit show. I'll explain it like someone throwing $10 and everyone going nuts to get it.

Luckily, my charm and good looks scored me a seat on the bus. Others weren't so lucky- they had to sit in the aisles (Israel really doesn't care about safety hazards). So a lot of soldiers were sitting in the aisle and I felt really guilty because HELLOOO KAVOD! (respect). I asked (a not ugly looking) soldier next to me on the floor if he wanted my seat, cause in NY if you see a soldier you get the hell up!

Anyway, he said no, but we got to talking and it turned out that he had been living in gush katif (a Jewish settlement in Gaza) and was evacuated in the 2005 evacuation of gaza operation. It was so interesting to meet someone who was really directly impacted by that government decision. 

I got to Jerusalem which looked exactly as I left it. I reached the dorms of Hebrew U where I got to see a lot a LOT of friends: Michelle Cimbol, Talya Frankel, Sam Perelgut, Liz Traison, Noa Orzy etc. (shout out to everyoneee xoxox) <-- I do love them, but thats me making fun of the jap vernacular

The weekend was lots of fun, just a whole bunch of parties and laughing and silliness. I'm so happy I finally got to spend a really nice and observant Shabbat. The reason I went to Jerusalem was for my friend Michael Chaikoff's brother's bar mitzvah, which was at the Inbal Hotel near Yemin Moshe and it was sooo beautiful. They had me for Friday night (5 course) dinner and I got to sit next to Ellen (mama Chaikoff) who is absolutely the best ever. 

Saturday morning we went to shul in Yemin Moshe, and then sweat our asses off as we walked back to Talya's sisters apartment. I also got to see my Rabbi's wife Shevy, who I'm in love with, and my friend Esther. We met them at their friends GORGEOUS penthouse apartment in Jerusalem.

Anyway, back to the desert wishing it was okay to walk around naked (its so hot)

<3 (thats a heart)

Family Reunion

First off, let me say that I GAVE BLOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY! I am no longer a giving-blood virgin.

And now back to things that matter: This past shabbat we met our kibbutz families, which are people from the kibbutz (families actually) that "adopt" us in order to make us feel more at home. They're supposed to host us and take us in as one of their own, feed us, buy things we need for us, etc.

We played this cute "marco polo" type game where all the families got the name of the kid that they're hosting and all the kids got the name of the family thats hosting them. We all met in a field and started yelling the name written on our paper until we found each other.

I'm paired up with a family that I already kind of knew. They have a daughter named Nofar who just got out of the army about a month ago and sometimes comes with us to the pool. She's really fun, and I'm excited that she's my sister =) The parents are olim (immigrants) from argentina but they've been in Israel for so long that they speak, read, etc. fluently.

They also have two other sons, but one is married and lives off the kibbutz and the other lives with his girlfriend and lives off the kibbutz, too. The middle brother is super attractive but I guess thats considered incest these days.

ANYWHO! that's it.

round the kibbutz

Netafim - the drip irrigation company of the Kibbutz

nothing too exciting to report.. life on a kibbutz is awesome (interesting, special, definitely worth it), but its not so exciting.

The other day we went to the #1 money making thing the kibbutz has: netafim. its a drip irrigation company that they started YEARS ago and tried to implement in desserts around the world. they make mad money through this, and have also managed to turn a legit desert into a beautiful green oh-ah-zeeees (thats how you say "oasis" in hebrew). they have businesses all over the world including mexico, australia, south africa, etc. we went to the factory which was huge and I was playing with all the plastic thingies that are used to make the irrigation dropletes in the tubes.

then yesterday we went on a little tour around the kibbutz to see how they make their living and to get familiar with our surroundings. We went to the refet (cow place.. smells like shit) and everybody was freaking out and trying to touch the utters. I mean, nipples are fun, but not THAT fun.

After that we went to the 2nd biggest money making thing the kibbutz has: chochova (jojoba). they grow the beans and have a place where they squeeze and process them to get all this awesome oil thats used in makeup and cosmetic products worldwide. the guy who showed us around gave us a free sample and I applied it to my super dry legs. maybe now they'll finally hydrate

cheers from the desert !

Kibbutz Hatzerim

Shabbat :)

Before I get into my first Shabbat on the Kibbutz, let me just say that the air conditioner is a two faced friend. It's a life saver but also makes you freeze your a$$ off at night when my silly roommates insist that we keep it blasting.

Now that I've effectively complained about something thats not worth complaining about, let me post the song I'm listening to which is AMAZING (and not a new song, but still worth listening to) and talk about Shabbat!

song: Chalomot Shel Acherim by Idan Raichel.

Shabbat: so our madrich (counselor type person) told us that for Shabbat we need to wear something thats nice.. so silly me I put on a dress while all the other kibbutzniks were wearing jeans and a semi-nice shirt. Oh, Israel.

After a small kiddush and candle lighting ceremony we had dinner. To be honest, I really missed doing something extra special for Shabbat, like Kabbalat Shabbat (Friday night songs/services). I know Israel is mostly non-religious and I wasn't expecting anything when I got to the Kibbutz but still, I missed it. So after we partied with the kibutznik kids that just got back from the army for the weekend (lots of fun, the kids are great and have lots to help us and share with about the army) I got back to the room and played some Shabbat songs, but it wasn't the same.

anyways this computer is burning my lap and its 2 AM. I told Oren (a friend from the garin) that I'd run with him at 7 in the morning (gotta get ready for basic training!) but I don't think thats happening.

<3

The Tekes

Sabra plant


Garin Tzabar (literally, the “Sabra seeds,” or the “Sabra unit”), is the program that is facilitating the process that will lead to my enlistment in the Israeli Army in late November. Garin Tzabar is a program run by Israel’s major youth movement (Tzofim) that places groups of new immigrants on Kibbutzim, where they live together for three months before individually serving in the army for a minimum of two years.

For those of you who don't know, tekes means "ceremony" and I'll be using that word A LOT cause Israelis are obsessed with ceremonies. They have one for everything.. when people get married, bar mitzvahed (haha okay thats my attempt at a bad joke). But seriously, everything here is a tekes.

So early this morning (and by early I mean at 2 PM) there was a tekes for all of garin tzabar (the program that I"m doing to join the army) at the shmolarsh auditorium in Tel Aviv University. It was awesome to finally see everyone in my garin again... really, so good. There are about 9 garin-eem (groups) and something like 250 kids joining the army from all around the US. I also saw the kid that held my hair back on the plane while I was puking, and picked him a flower in appreciation for his chivalry!

The tekes went on for ages... and everyone was getting really ancy. This one kid, in the middle of two speakers yelled "AD KAMA ZMAAAAAAANNNN" - which pretty much translates into "HOW MUCH LONGER". this would happen- but only in Israel.

what was really amazing is that I ran into two kids from my highschool back in New York. Naomi Spilka and Yechiel Szeinuk (definitely had to look that one up on facebook). They are both a year younger than me and joined the army last year through garin tzabar... so they came to the tekes with their units and didn't know I'd be there and it was a big ol' happy reunion.

We finally got on the bus and arrived at the kibbutz which is AMAZING. seriously. I'm going to live here for ever. In 3 months time when I'm expected to join the army they'll have to pull me out of my air conditioned apartment (YUP. AIR CONDITIONING!). I live in a room with my best friend Talia from Riverdale and we share an apartment with two of our other friends. And we have a kitchen, and wireless internet.

Living in the desert aint bad.

We had a tour of the kibbutz and all the women made us cakes and welcome signs and I love being here and everyone come and visit. OK?!

much love ya'll

Finally Here!!

Sophie's Goodbye Sign!

At JFK, better late than never!

Okay.. let me start by saying that my mother was so kind to buy  me a very nice camera about a year ago.. and it broke (because I got sand in the lens) and I was too lazy to send it in for the free warantee so now I'm stuck with  no camera (I'm sure my mother is gloating now...)

!! I'M IN ISRAEL

These feet are made for walkin' the holy land!

I got on the plane yesterday to find about 50 other kids joining the army. Nefesh b' nefesh was smart enough to seat us all together (probably to help us find our future spouses and create other Jewish kids). They told us not to switch our seats as they would be coming around with important documents to sign, but all of you reading this know me well enough to know that I switched my seat twice and ended up sitting rather far from my original assignment. Whatev, they found me anyway.

The flight was so fun. Obviously I didn't sleep. On my left was a guy named Alon who just graduated from University of Maryland and on my right was a guy named Josh from Colorado. Alon and I watched City of G-d- a crazy movie about Brazil. It was so intense, but good. After that I needed something to cheer me up a little, so I watched the 4th Shrek- which was not intense, and very good =)

I met a lot of cool people on the flight, and there were already 2 that I knew from my garin. I also ran into a kid that I went on Ramah Seminar with almost 3 years ago!! It was so silly to run into eachother- but fun, obviously.

My eye started killing from the dry air and lack of sleeping so I went around bitching to everyone asking for advil .. this girl gave me and also some eye drops. It felt better for about 2 minutes and then I puked twice. This kid Chad held my hair back (poor kid, he probably thought I was super drunk.. which I super wasn't. Then again he's probably used to these shenanigans). I had to throw out the bag with my puke in it and everyone was probably thinking "what a sissy". seriously- I never threw up on a plane before!!

About 30 minutes before we landed everyone started singing and cheering and clapping and the flight attendants had to force us to sit down. There was so much energy- it was so fun!! Walking off the plane we saw Shimon Perez (President of Israel) and he shook all the guys hands and kissed all the girls once on each cheek (what a playerrrr). Then we had an entire greeting commotion of people .. Israelis and soldiers and everyone welcoming us to Israel, passing out free water (wich I chugged), singing and dancing, saying "welcome home"...

My cousin Barry came to greet me which was really nice. aaaaaaaaaaaaaand then we had another tekes (ceremony) where I promptly fell asleep on this woman's shoulder (didn't know her). Whatever! It's Israel.

after taking a cab to even Yehudah where my cousins live, I fell asleep for 21 hours and just woke up. Sure, I feel like a lazy bum, but whatever, It's Israel!