Haggling for Geenie pants, bikes and more Ulpan, volunteering assignments, drum circles and Idan Raichel!!

Shalom chaverim! I haven't written for a while and I know that some things I will not include in here because when I started writing bullet points for this blog, I kept resaving so finally Blogger gave up on my procrastination and stopped autosaving. So what you see is what you get, and if I repeat something from last time, too bad! See, I am becoming a fiesty Israeli already. Life is so much easier this way!

This blog is going to be a fast forwarded version of my life for the past 2-2.5 weeks. I want to briefly talk about the Shuk ha Carmel. I don't think I talked about it before. Anna and I decided to go to it a few weeks ago. I really wanted to get geenie pants and a cloth over the shoulder purse. I got 2 pairs of geenie pants for 25 NIS, good deal! So then I found the purse that I wanted. It was orange with little pieces of mirror looking stuff sewn into it. I was able to knock it down from 40 -20 NIS but because of my commitment issues I told the lady that I would walk around to see if I could get a better  deal. She told me that it was her final offer and that she won't give it to me when I come back. I took the chance. She was right, I could not find anything that resembled "my purse". I came back to her and now she was saying that the purse was going for 35NIS even though Anna also heard her say 20NIS. I circled around the stand like a shark and took out 25 shecks and tried to give them to her and she wouldn't take them and shooed me away! I was sad :(  The next day we were going to Jerusalem (I wrote about this in my last blog, just not the Shuk) and I NEEDED that bag for my hipster Jeru outfit. So my friend Julie and I went back to the Shuk. I put on my glasses so that the lady would not recognize me. Julie needed a purse so I made her ask the lady how much it was. She told her 40NIS. I asked the lady how much the other purse was and looked me dead in the eye and asked if I want my purse. She wasn't messing around. I told her, "you rememberd me?!" and she said, "Of course I remember you, you have very unique features, you're like that girl, sex and big city!" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It never ends!

Soooooooo moving on ahead.......

So I finally gave up on walking to the beach for 45 minutes each way and got really jealous of my friends with bicycles, so I grew some cajones (I haven't ridden a bike in 12-14 years, no joke) and decided to go get a bike. I gave my self a price range- I was not going to spend more 200 NIS on a stolen (yes, stolen) bike. After a group meeting, while in Yafo, great area for cheaper (read the previous reason of cheapness) bikes, I set off to find my bike. I returned to the place where my friends got their bikes but it was closed. While standing there, a guy on a bike mumbles something to us in Hebrew, and our friend Jorai, who is half Israeli translates to us that this guy knows of a bike shop and will take us there. The guy literally rode his bike along with us until we got to his shop.
S-K-E-T-C-H-Y! But not shocking. It's literally a bike shed. Wheels, seats, and other bike crap everywhere and yes, assembled bikes as well. My friend Adam right away finds a bike that he likes so he starts riding it around. I try out a few bikes but nothing really strikes my fancy.

A mechanic from shop next door starts talking to us, but at this point he is just background noise to me because I am so focused on buying my transportation. I don't really remember how this happened but suddenly we both bust into a conversation in Spanish and Russian. Pablo is his name and he is from Uruguay. He has lived here forever and has 3 daughters from 3 different women. Wow. So I am basically speaking with him in 3 languages while trying to speak Hebrew. Best time ever. So I asked him if there are any other bike shops where I could spend my mentioned amount and get a bike that will not break the same day. He says yes. Adam buys his first love bike and we set off to the other place.

The place is also in Yafo and it is run by a man who is sitting and doing nothing however, his worker, whose name is Adam is Sudanese. He lets me try out a couple of bikes. The one that I sort of liked was 200 but I wanted to knock it down AND get a basket put on it. I kept whining to him in Hebrew that I want to pay 150 sheks for the bike.

Suddenly, Adam comes back with a bottle of red wine and Pablo asks me "Do you want to talk or do you want to drink?" I obviously respond with 'both!" and Adam, Adam, Jorai and the lazy owner split a bottle of red wine, and just shoot the breeze, but I am still trying to haggle at this point. Two hours later, we finally all have bikes. I ended up paying 160 NIS for it but it was so fun!

After that, the guys and I went to the beach and chilled. I saw a boy and his dad throwing a board into the water and then jumpng on it. For the life of me I cannot remember what it is called. But anyway, the wine gave me liquid confidence and I asked them if I could try it. Well I tried it alright. I jumped on the board and fell on my tachat! AND scene! That was enough for me.

The next day, we had more volunteering tours. I was really excited because one of the places we were visiting was Nofim elementary school. All I knew from this school is that they needed Russian and Spanish speakers to help the kids learn English. We got there and right away the kids that were coming in started asking us who we were and what we were doing there. The vibe was great right away. We then went into a room where the new principal of the school gave us an intense speech of volunteering at the school. "If you don't feel that you should be here so then I ask you not to come back." That was pretty much along the lines of what she said, very powerful. That was my school. I knew it.

Jorai and I decided to go to the bike shop so that I could exchange my U-lock for another, more flexible lock. I didn't have a receipt or anything but I figured the guy would remember me. Jorai needed to get a lock and reflectors too. On the way up our street, I heard a really loud clicking sound and the chain busted!!! AAHHHHHH! I wanted to kill myself. Jorai flipped my bike over and tried to flix the chain with no luck. Then we saw some guy in a smart bike cart coming our way, he looked at what was going on and pulled over and brought his tools over. While Jorai went to go wash his hands, the guy started talking to me and mumbled something in Russian so I got really excited and started speaking to him, he was really happy to hear Russian speech he said. He fixed my bike but he said that I would need to fix the chain. The he gave me some apples and churma(parsimon) from his cart and sent me on my way. Not even 5 wheel rotations later, the damn chains busted AGAIN! So I had to walk my bike to the lock guy and then haggle in Russian to some Chechnyan guy who translated what I needed, however the numbers part I handled myself. Voila. Bike worked again.

It was time for our next volunteer assignment. It was called Mesila. It was an overcrowded day care center for migrant worker kids. The lady warned us that the one we were going to was the worst one of them all. Poor conditions, etc. When we got there, the toddlers pretty much jumped on us. I looked around and pretty much five people were already holding the toddlers. They were literally pulling our hands and begging for attention. It was so intense, I almost started crying. I have never seen so many kids starve for so much attention. If I have time, I will definitely spend a few hours a week there. It touched me. Those kids just need someone to hold them and love them, it's pretty simple.

That day when we came back, I got the idea to Google Russian restaurants in the TLV area and maybe I could go and find a job there. It would be way easier than trying to find a job in an Israeli place, at least for now only because my ivrit is caha-caha. I Googled and found a place that Ben and I had passed many times on the way to the beach. It was called Baba Yaga. I took a deep breate and dialed the number. A man answered and I asked if we could speak in Russian. His name was Sasha and he was the manager of the restaurant. He told me to come in the next day and speak with him, I was stoked! (I didn't end up coming in because we had the Sukkha building party the next day and it was hard to be back by the time everyone would come to our house to build and learn Hebrew. Ben and skyped day and he invited me to his sister's house for Sukkhot. I was excited. I wanted to see him and his family - it's been longer than usual since I have seen him!

The next day everyone came over to build the Sukkha for Sukkot, which is a celebration of fruit harvest. You build the Sukkha out of palm branches and tarps and you decorate and then eat inside the Sukkha. I like it. It was a complete balagan because 3 Hebrew groups were now at our house, all 26 people, plus our madrichim and morim and randoms. Wow. Let's just say we were all glad it was over when everyone left! Whew!

The next day was erev Sukkot (night of Sukkot). Ben informed me that he would get me at 2:30 which was WAY too early because we had a five hour Ulpan class until 1:30 and it was all the way in Yafo; 20 minute bike ride from Kiryat Shalom where we live. Oh well, I was going to make it happen. After we survived the 5 hour language class, I hauled ass home, actually to the bakery next door so that I could buy some baklava for the dinner. When I got home I realized that I was missing my bike keys and house keys but thank g-d I realized that I left them at the bakery, and thankfully my friend Anna was still there so she got them for me. I was freaking out. By the time I got home I thought that I only had like 10 minutes to get ready, but Ben called and said that he was going to be there in 45 minutes, WHEW AGAIN!

He came to get me and we were now on the way to get his sava (grandma). I was sort of nervous, don't really know why. He left me in the car while he went to get her. I seriously waited in the car for 20 minutes. I thought that he left his car and ditched me. Hahaha. I wouldn't be surprised. Anyway, he finally came down with the savta. I said hi to her when she got in but she didn't hear me so Ben had to introduce her to me and then she apologized for not seeing me. She was adorable. She of course asked if I was his chavera (girlfriend) and he gave the default explanation. She wished me luck and happiness anyway. We got to his house and his family was not even ready. I thought the dinner was going to be earlier in the day but apparently it wasn't starting until 8PM. I am so glad that I got picked up like 5 hours before, oh well, I was thankful. We finally got to his sisters and I got introduced to more people. Some of them spoke English and some of them did not, but I am now so used to these circumstances so it didn't matter. We all gathered into the Sukkha to say prayer for the holiday and the wine and then it was game time, I mean dinner time. It was a great and delicious dinner. It was set up buffet style. I ate everything. Mamash taim - very delicious. I had really good conversation with some people from the party. I was starting to get sick though so I was really tired and feeling lo tov (no good). We went home and I just passed out and slept all day the next day.

I literally ended up going upstairs at like 5PM when Ben's mom started to make dinner. More food, yes. Too bad I wasn't hungry at all and just wanted to die. We ate and then she gave me some food to take home. So Jewish. I love it. I literally ate that food for like a week straight. It was rice, kabobs and chicken and potato salad. So not Israeli but oh well! Thank you Rachel!

The next day, Anna and Adam and I went to the beach. We went late but it was so nice. We lay there for a bit and swam a little. Anna and I noticed that there was a kite surfer getting ready to go do him things. We started watching him. He was literally flying. We were standing there breathless. We both said at the same time that it was our next sport. We started stalking him and made a pact that as soon as he was done we would go and talk to him and see if we could get lessons. We was in the water forever. While waiting, we started hearing drums and saw a group of Buddhist Krishnas walking on the tayelet (boardwalk) and beating their drums. We all walked over there and Anna started dancing to the beat with the Krishnas. I could have sworn she was going to run away with them. When they were done, so was the kite surfer! We picked up all our stuff and ran over like groupies to talk to him. We was so cool! He gave us his email address and said that he is at the beach a few times a week and maybe he could teach us. Wooooooow! After we were done, I realized that Baba Yaga was in that area so I came in to meet Sasha and apologize for not coming in last time. He was there, very laid back so we scheduled a new day for me to come in. It was a good day!

The next day, was the day of our 1st beach BBQ. Anna and I wanted to get some excercise beforehand so we rode to the beach and along the boardwalk and also picked up some things for the party. When we came back and we only had an hour to get ready and head back to the beach. We had a great outcome for the BBQ. We divided up the things for each house to bring. We were in charge of the meat so we brought veggie burgers and then other houses brought the alcohol and pitas and hummus. GREAT SUCCESS! It was a lot of fun.

After the BBQ a group of us decided to go to a house party in the city. We all rode our bikes into the center.

The house party was on a rooftop. While there weren't that many stories, the view was still incredible! We met some Americans and Israelis. All were very cool. We realized that it was almost midnight and our friend Nancy did not come on a bike so we had to get her on the bus before she turned into a pumpkin. We ran through the city and finally at 11:58 PM we got to the bus stop. Thank god there was another bus coming. When the bus finally got there, we tried asking if we could put our bikes on the bus and go too but the driver said no. So were off, biking across the city! Which is really not big, it's just intimidating thinking about it. Good times!

I ended up getting sick so I couldn't come into the restaurant again. I felt like an ass for flaking but I literally could not get out of bed. It was so annoying. I haven't had a fever in so long. So glad that it was in another country. But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger right? Anyway, that whole day was shot I didn't do anything.

I got better the next day and rode by bike to Ulpan. It felt so good to be moving again. After I got back, I called Sasha. He didn't return my call for a few hours and when he finally did, I had given up on him at that point. He told me to come in at 6. So I got ready and went over there. He was cool. He said that he had a strong affinity for Taglit people, because he was not living with a girl from Taglit who had made Aliyah. It was a cute love story. Anyway, to make the long story short, he told me that because I don't speak Hebrew, I cannot come near a table, however, he would start me out as a bartender so that I could make drinks for the servers. They don't get tipped out at that place so the bartenders make 30 NIS hour, which is roughly $8/hr. Money that I don't have so it's better than nothing. He told me to come in for an "audition" the next day.

The next day, I got a call from a number I didn't recognize. When I called it back, it turned out to be a guy named Eitan, a friend of Kimberly's. He called to invite me to a concert....of....Idan Raichel. An amazing Israeli artist. Ben actually gave me his CD the night before I left Israel and my family and friends will back me up when I say that I listened to that CD for pretty much three months before I came back to Israel. It was meant to be. Problem: I had to be at BY that night and didn't know what time I was getting out of there and it was also my friend's birthday celebration that night. I politely declined the invitation but was so bothered by it because I so badly wanted to go!!!!!!! When I got home from the beach, Eitan called again and I decided that I NEEDED to go and would figure everything else out later.

I got ready to go to work and went to the bus stop and then realized because it was yet another holiday, Simcha Torah, the busses stopped running. So I walked a little bit and caught a cab. When I got to the restaurant everyone introduced themselves in Russian. It was super weird. I haven't been around Russian young adults in like ever. A couple of people in Tucson and Phoenix here and there but not 15-20 of them! The job is ok, mostly opening champagne and pouring wine and making coffee. Really easy. I wasn't really feeling it. I think I finally got my closuse to the restaurant business. Being out of it for 2 years and realizing that I came to Israel to actually make a difference and do worthless stuff really came to play.

I told Sasha I had to be out by nine so I left and changed and Eitan came and got me and we went to the concert. I was getting so pumped!!!!! I am not even a fan of concerts but this was a completely different feeling. I have a really strong conncetion with the music of this person. It was really easy to talk to Eitan, meeting him for the first time. He was super cool! We met up with a couple of his friends and walked into the concert hall. It was an opera hall and we literally had the best seats in the house. We were about 18th row, dead center. He later told me that the lady who throws these concerts had given him the tickets. Yes and YES! I have never in my life enjoyed anything more. The songs were amazing. He uses different instuments and different languages. His project consists of like 15 people if not more, from other countries with different skillsets. MEULE!!!
I was in a trance for 2 1/2 hours, I am not even joking. Just talking about it gives me goose bumps. And the lyrics themselves, so deep and meaningful, oh man! You get the idea.

The next day, I was exhausted so we just chilled for the majority of the day and then decided to go out for sushi. I don't know why but the thought of sushi in Israel does not really appeal to me at all! Although I was finally ready to test it out! We sat outside and the night was great!

The sushi was ok. I miss RA, I'm not going to lie. After dinner we went to the Port and just walked around. That is one of my favorite areas. Restaurants and bars on the water. Can it get better than that?? No. Good night.

The next day, Nancy and I finally got ourselves together and went to the Shuk (market) near our house. It was so cheap and productive! Definitely going back there again. After the shuk, I biked down to the beach, put in my iPod and did some valuable alone time. I got to the beach and just sat there for a good hour. It was so amazing. I never get alone time these days so I really appreciate when I can get it. So thank you to my dear friend Kimberly, she told me that every Friday there is a drum concert at sunset at Chinky beach. I biked down there to get a good spot. The drummers were starting up and the sun was beginning to set. It's a bunch amateur drummers, using different drumming instruments, and even though there is a balagan of sounds, it starts sounding so good together. I stood on a rock and noticed that a couple of guys started taking pictures of me and the sunset behind me with theit SLRs.

Very flattering. Not going to lie. Anna and Jodie met me there as the music began to get louder and the beat started to make more and more sense. Anna and I let loose on the dancefloor where more people were getting crazyt. It was such a release and so fun! I can't wait to do it again!!!

Mitnadevet - Female volunteer

Mah kore? What's up? I know it hasn't been long since I last wrote but I am up at 5AM, I just got back from Jerusalem. I am trying to tire myself out so that I can stay up late tomorrow and sleep in late the next morning to be able to fast for Yom Kippur. My first fast ever. Might as well be in Israel, right?

So where did I leave off? Oh yes, we were starting Ulpan and volunteer touring the day after my last blog. On Sunday, we all went to meet at the Shapira Community Center, which was in our neighborhood. The community service track met up and we once again went over all the expectations and questions for the volunteering sessions. We did a little bit more teambuilding, which is pretty much redundant at this point but whatever. After a few hours of the session we had a two hour break and then we were supposed to go to Yafo for our first Ulpan lesson.

Sooooo I haven't seen Hebrew for about 16 years. When we moved to the states I went to a Hebrew school; I was exposed to two languages, English and Hebrew, based on some common sense that I had back in the day, I chose the one that was a little bit higher on the priority list. Basically, as far as the Hebrew goes, I was starting from scratch. I put myself in the beginner class because that is where I belong, however, I am picking it up quickly, so far the language is not that bad. Conjugating is pretty good and because Ben has been teaching me a lot, I feel good about some vocab. Basically, hakol sababa. Everything is cool. If you know that term, you're set in Israel. Memorize this term!!

In addition to Ulpan, which is at night, we have been touring the volunteer places. We are covering about 3-4 a day. Back at the Kibbutz, we were given a packet of 23 volunteer assignments and we checked off the ones that we were interested in visiting. I checked off about 12 and I have seen about 4-5 so far. The one that I like the most so far is the Food Distribution Center. It is basically a food bank, also they create hot lunches for the kids in day care and ship out 700 boxes of food a month, and the boxes are filled with 2 weeks worth of food. I am sure that I can use my process improvement skills and make that bank run more efficiently. Maybe Amex wasn't a complete waste of time. Roberto -  you should be proud of me :) My roomie Lisa is also interested in doing this assignment, so together we will kick some butt. There is another couple of places that seemed pretty cool. One is called ARDC, they need translators, mostly French and Spanish to help out with refugee and asylum seeker issues. The other one is an assignment which is called Brit Olam, where you assist pregnant refugee women deal with pregnancy or abortion. In most cases they don't speak Hebrew or English so it is VERY hard for them, especially being pregnant in a foreign country. That is where we would step in - people always love when they have something to lean on.

On Wednesday we went into the city to get my friend's nose pierced. I am not going to lie but the idea has been crossing my mind for about 6 years now. Don't be surprised if I come back with a piercing, but I guess I am old enough to make those decisions now. Ha ha. Anyway, after that, Ben met up with us and we walked around Dizengoff, a very ritzy part of TLV. Then we went to some bars and called it a night.

The next day, Thursday the 16th, we met at the Central Bus Station and took a bus to Jerusalem. We were going to do the Slichot tour - which means forgiveness and repentment (chuva). A tour guide greeted us and took us around the Old City Jerusalem. It was gorgeous and packed with soooo many people. Makes sense because Yom Kippur is one of the biggest holidays in Israel. I learned a new custom - religious Jews take out their sins on chickens and they spin live chickens over their heards. I think it's called Kaparah. GROSS! That made me sick, seriously. We went on top of King David's tomb, a very memorable place for me, and I am sure for the other B-right people. The vibe was different. This was not part of the B-right program, I was once again living in Israel, and even though I was with a large group of people, it felt different.

I started feeling the excitement in the air, and I knew that we were getting closer to the Kotel - Wailing Wall. The tour came to an end at the perfect spot that overlooks the area. As I looked out there, there were thousands of people at the Wall, unimaginable sight that you only see in photos. Here is one to describe what I saw.

At midnight of the 17th, it was Lisa's birthday, so a group of us decided to stay out in Jerusalem and celebrate. The streets were packed! It was so alive! We went down some street that was all pubs and clubs. We picked the one where you get a free hookah when you buy drinks.

We had a great time at the pub and then went dancing. Decided to call it a night when the sun was about to rise. We all fell asleep in the Sheirut and woke up when we pulled up to the bus station. Our friend Anna was supposed to get change back from the driver but he accidentally gave the change to someone else. So our friend Jorai, who is half Israeli and speaks Hebrew pretty well started yelling/speaking to the driver which resulted to the driver chasing us out of the Sheirut and the bus station because he thought we were lying. I am still cracking up just thinking about the situation. Oh Israel. That night/morning, I went to sleep at 7AM. That was the Eve of Yom Kippur -  we all chilled out, until it was time to go to a unique service by the Yeshiva on the rooftop in the central TLV. One of the Israeli soldiers led the way to the rooftop, on the way there he took us through the poorest part of TLV, quite a disturbing sight - people sifting through trash, trying to sell stolen goods, trash everywhere, just very eye opening. Interestingly enough right after we were out of the poor area, we went into one of the richest areas, so it was not surprising at all when Oren, our soldier, told us that there is a lot of tension between those two areas.

The prayer service was pretty cool. I really just went for the ambiance, and nothing else. You could see all of TLV from this place. It was gorgeous. TLV shut down at sundown that day, so the city was completely quiet. Only people on bicycles were on the road. During breaks in the service, we heard nothing but the voices of the kids outside. It was amazing. After the service, we decided to walk around the city. We walked to the boardwalk, kids were riding on the roads, people were walking in the middle of the street. It was so awesome! We all took a picture with a bunch of us sitting in the middle of the road under a street light. Oh by the way, at that point, we were already fasting. I was already hungry. It was reverse psychology.

We walked to Ben Yehuda - one of my favorite streets. People were sitting in the middle of the street, praying and just hanging out. RIDICULOUS!!!! Walked straight to the boardwalk and onto the beach. There were 7 of us walking around and me, Anna, Adam and Jorai decided to go night swimming. So we got to down to our undergarments and ran into the water. First time for everything I guess! The water was amazing! We stayed in there for about 20 minutes and then it got cold so we all scattered into our own places on the beach and changed. Of course, there is no such thing as a dark spot on the TLV beach because the lights from the city are so strong, oh well!

We started walking toward Yafo on the boardwalk and then we ran into our two other roomies, on their bikes. I took one of their bikes for a joyride and realized how interesting it will be for me to get on my own bike, for the first time in like 12 years! No joke! We parted ways and continued walking until we saw a playground with the coolest swing EVER! Instead of vertical, usual swinging, it was made up of a long thick beam that was made out of rope and it was swinging sideways. Adam, Dyana and I jumped on and then seconds later, 3 kids jumped onto the swing! It was so cute! They were screaming in Hebrew and I only understood parts of it. They had been screaming menduza, which we later found out that shmenduza means fatso. They were from the Phillipines but you could tell that they weren't born here by the way they were speaking Hebrew; their rrrrrrr's  rolled differently. I got off the swing because my arms started hurting and I overheard a conversation in Spanish. Ahhhhh music to my ears! I asked the lady where she was from and she turned out to be Columbian who has been here for 22 years and her friends were Chilean. Random, but cool to use the Spanish!

We left the park and continued to walk home. Since we were walking through a more mixed population of Arabs and Jews, we saw a couple of cars on the road, which made me mad! Not mad for the diversity but mad that we couldn't peacefully walk in the middle of the street anymore. When we got home and I tried to stay up pretty late so that I could sleep in late through the fast.

I woke up at like 12:30PM, which was probably the latest that I have slept in. My friends were watching SATC in the living room and were claiming that it was getting them through the fast. We all just chilled the rest of the day. We were planning on making our break fast meal. The day before the stores closed we got mango, watermellon, plums, apples, bananas and Challah and eggs. We were going to make french toast and fruit salad. The thought of that was making my mouth water. The fast was supposed to be broken at 6:15PM on Sept 18th, but I broke it with a Jelly Belly at 6:07, no big deal, this was my first fast and I would say I did pretty damn well! We divided into teams and started making the food.

We brought everything out to the terrace and had an amazing meal together. After the meal, our roomie Leah brought our her guitar and we sang for a good hour. It was so much fun! What a great way to celebrate a holiday, especially for me! Gamar chatima tova! May you have a good year and be inscribed in the book of G-d. No I did not become religious but it is a cultural thing here so it pays to know this!

The first days in Kiryat Shalom in Tel Aviv!

I ended my last blog with the end of our stay in Kibbutz Ketura, an amazing experience. The next day, Tuesday, Sept 7th, bright and early, we packed up all of our stuff and got on the bus back to TA. So many things were going through my head.....what is the apartment going to be like? What's it going to be like living with strangers for 5 months? Ulpan, volunteering, beach, meeting new people, Hebrew, beach, getting around, shopping, groceries, beach, and did I mention BEACH?????

Four hours of non stop thoughts and we were back in Yafo where we left the rest of our stuff. We had to go in and get our suitcases because the Tel Aviv people were now being driven to the S. TA apartments. The living arrangements were divided into the following: 10 people in the big hourse on Israel Guri and 5 people in the smaller apartment on HaShofar (street names). Guess which house I was assigned to? The big house. Obviously.

We dropped off the smaller apartment people first and saw the sketchy area that they were living in and braced ourseIves and started wondering if it would have been better if we stayed on the Kibbutz! (Joking, sort of....) But then again, we all had to remind ourselves that we did not come here to stay at the Ritz Carlton, we came here to volunteer and that came with the territory. When we got to our house, it felt like I was on the Real World. Each room had the person(s) name on it who was going to be living there. We checked downstairs and our names were not there, so we went upstairs and found our room which seemed to very small but the plus side of this situation is that our doors open directly into the patio, which is SIIIICK! So, we made a slightly negative situation into a great situation! It's all about attitude, you see?

So about the house - after we heaved all of our crap to the second floor, we were ready to die and there is no such thing as the centralized AC in this house. I hate that I am spoiled by AZ. No AC is blasphemy to me, especually because I am used to the "dry" heat and can't deal with this thing called humidity, and my hair can't either, but I have given up on that the first time I was here in Israel! Anyway, the place has potential, let's just say that. We live right above a store owned by two guys from Samarkant, and our recruiting person told us if we speak Russian to them they will love us forever. So, after we toured around the neighborhood, I went in there and said hello. They were ok....maybe they will get nicer when they get used to seeing us around. Ten new people living above you is always a nice surprise! Back to the house - so it is definitely a drastic change from going from a nice apartment in PHX in Phoenix to a southside, sort of gross apartment....But I need to focus....think not Ritz, think not Ritz....it will be ok. So there are 8 bedrooms in this place. Two rooms are being shared and then 6 (now 5) people are living by themselves, which makes a grand total of 10 people! Two kitchens, 3 bathrooms, don't ask me which ones are functioning....ha ha ha. I am getting used to it, let's just say that.

The neighborhood is super conservative. So you always see people walking around with head scarves and who are fully clothed in 90 degree weather. We were told to be mindful of noise after certain hours and make friends with the neighbors because they will watch out for us if something happens. Good advice that will go a long way, I hope. Especially when we get bikes! The first night was sort of rough, not going to lie. There was no motivation to unpack nor clean, nor really do anything in this awful heat, but day by day we are all getting used to it. The good part is that for the most part that the people are cool so that makes it much easier. The heat is the worst part because I can't sleep in it but I will manage. I have running water, electricity and a roof over my head, everything else will work itself out. I came here for the experience and that I will get.....

The next day was the Erev Rosh Hashana (the eve of the Jewish New Year.) My roomate and I were paired up with a host family that is part of Beit Daniel and BINA, the hierarchy that funds our Tikkun Olam projects and volunteering. We talked to Tamar, our hostess and were invited for a 630 dinner. We decided to not waste any time that day and go to the beach. The walk was about 40 minutes but well worth it and we both agreed that with bikes the ride will be a joke and great exercise as well! On the way to the beach we stopped at a book store and I bought a phrase book, which is divided up into many different categories and situations. I have been reading it every day, very amusing! Anyway, when we got to the beach, the water was incredible and teal and clean just like I left it. Because we went through Yafo to get to the beach we had to go a little north but ran into the water at the first opportunity that we had. It was so warm! Ahhhh! We got out of the water and walked on the boardwalk for a little bit. We saw a photo shoot on the way, she was beautiful but had way too much make up on for the beach. Lisa and I decided to go sit on the rocks and watch the water crash against them, one of my favorite things to do. We chilled for a bit and headed back to get ready for dinner.

Because it was a holiday, the busses were not running so we had to take a Sheirut, which is a service taxi, sort of like a shuttle/ride share. They cost six shekels which is nothing and take different routes around the city. Some people from the house were going to services near our area so we all jumped on the Sheirut and in our broken Hebrew told the driver where we needed to go.

We all got off at the same stop, wished each other Shana Tova and parted ways. Our host family was not too far from Beit Daniel, about a ten minute walk. We got to the alley of houses and found the house and rang the doorbell. No one came. Interesting. A girl walked by and gave us a look and said something in Hebrew to which I answered, ani lo medaberet ivrit, at medaberet anglit? ( I don't speak Hebrew, do you speak English?) to which she said yes and asked if we were looking for her parents house because it was right next door. Aaaaand it began!

Tamar got the door and we were greeted by a huge dog and two little ones. The big almost knocked me over and you know how I am about animals.....I grow to like them I suppose. The house was gorgeous, it was 3 stories, lots of artwork from all around the world, family photos, glass design, beautiful kitchen and dining room. We started helping Tamar with last minute things for dinner. She was already so welcoming and amazing. Her first language was German and then when she was five she moved to Israel. Her and her husband lived in the Artzot Habrit (US) for 20 years so that is why her English was so amazing. They have three kids, two daughters and a son. They all started piling in with their significant others and families. The house was full and we were all starving a ready to EAT! We said the prayer for Rosh Hashana, the wine and then the Challah and it was game time! The food and conversation did not stop. Oren, the oldest son, also a huge smartass, happened to sit next to me. He asked me what we were doing at his parents' house. I explained, maybe not so well, that we were living in Israel and volunteering and were paired up with a host family to celebrate Rosh Hashana. This he twisted into thinking that we were volunteering for his family and that really confused him because his family happens to be the top 1% of highest earning families in Israel. Wow. That was hilarious. He spent the majority of his life in Canada so English was his first language, so he didn't waste any time giving us a hard time. The rest of the evening was great. I think I ate about 8 lbs of food AND she gave us some schnitzel and cake to take home like a typical Jewish mother. The girls were amazing. They all gave us there contact info and we are planning to meet up with them soon. We also took a family photo which turned out great. I promise I will upload pics soon! Seriously. The dad drove us home and we called it a night. What a great start to a new year!

The next day I had made plans to celebrate Jewish New Year's day with my real family in Israel. My cousin Michal and her husband Golan picked me up and we were off to Ida's (dad's cousin's) house 20 minutes outside of Jeru (Jerusalem). The drive was gorgeous. We were at a higher elevation so the surroundings included more pine trees and overall greenery, if that's even a word! It was a beautiful. The temperature was lower too because we were higher up. On the way there Golan informed me to be ready because Ida's house was like a museum. When we pulled up, I realized he wasn't exxagerating. The only thing that was missing from the front of the house were two lions and a fountain. The house is sort of built on a hit and has three stories, one prettier than the other. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, but my dad would really appreciate the design. Actually anyone would. Igal (Ida's son) came shortly after us. His English is probably the best out of the whole family, not including Aaron (Doba's (dad's cousin's son)). We chatted for a bit until  the rest of the family got there. Aaron and his wife and kids were visiting Israel from Canada. They moved away about 2.5 years ago. Shiri, his wife is gorgeous and just overall a pleasure to talk to. Shahar, is 7 and is gorgeous and Tomer is 3, I think, and a huge troublemaker, but so cute so it's hard to not get sucked into his shenanigans! We all talked, ate, played with the kids and had a great dinner. It was hard for me though, there were three languages being spoken at the house but none of them at the same time. There are only a few people that speak/understand all three. I had an epiphany that quite possibly, many years from now, my family will be exactly the same. That freaked me out and validated how important language is.

That night when I got dropped off, Ben came over and me, him and a couple of people from the house went out to northern TA to the beach area. It was sooooo pretty all lit up, I think my favorite part is night time TA and how beautiful the lights look and their contrast with the Med Sea on the other side. We went to a bar that we went to during the time when some of us extended on B-right. Yes, the one with the bad songs, as some of you remember! This time it was actually better. After that bar we went out to the beach and went to a beach bar where we drank and smoked Nargila (Hookah). It was a perfect evening! I looked at my clock and it was 4AM! Wow. Time flies when you're having fun! When Ben dropped me off, he invited me to his house for Shabbat dinner, which was the next day. I couldn't say no to pigging out three days in a row!

On Friday, a bunch of girls from both house decided to take a field trip down to Ben Yehuda St, one of famous beach streets in TA. Everything was pretty much closed for the holiday but the beach is never closed, so we went down there. It was packed! Amazing as always. We roramed around the quieter city for a few hours and then went home.

Ben picked me and took me to Ra'anana to his house. At this point, I feel sort of like a part of this Israeli family, even though we all barely speak the same language. It really helps with the learning because I am forced to improvise in Hebrew. Ben and I went outside to the patio, which is gorgeous by the way, in its own simple way. Then his mom came out there and he decided to leave to leave and it was game time. We talked about Russian and family back home and then his dad and his brother came out and I got stuck in the middle of pure ivrit. But I notice that because I know certain verbs and nouns I am able to pick up the context of many sentences. Maybe not so much reciprocate but that is still better than nothing!

We sat down to eat and the meal was AMAZING! Salad with tahini (tHina) Rice, kabobs, steak. For desert cake, and a salad of watermellon, pomagranite and leechy. Basically I could not stop eating as I predicted. But I don't feel bad about being a pig because I walk about 6 miles a day. No joke. It's pretty awesome. I couldn't believe how amazing Shabbat was, given the fact that there was a bunch translation and language barriers going on. I loved it. I hope to be back soon.

The next day was Saturday, which is Israel's Sunday, which means that the day after that was a work day and we had our first Ulpan (Hebrew) class and volunteering sessions (more FAQ's, etc). Ben and I went to the TA beach. One of my favorite places. I am sure I might have mentioned it maybe a couple thousand times. We spent all day in the water. It was amazing like always. We got hungry and he called one of his friends to see about a good place to eat. His friend told him Yafo. It didn't seem far when we looked at Yafo which on the southern coast of TA. We debated taking the car but then decided to walk. As we walked, we saw soooo many people out on the lawn. They were Arabs. They were celebrating the end of Ramadan. People grilling and smoking nargilah, kids playing, people swimming, music playing, it was very festive! We walked by a monument and something was written in Russian and Hebrew. I came closer to read what it was. It was a monument that was dedicated to a terror act that took place in a night club about 10 years ago and mostly Russians were killed. Ben told me. Right next to it on the lawn, in Russian it said "Eto nash dom - This is our house" and Ben told me that the Hebrew next to it said, "We will never stop dancing." That almost made me cry and the reality of where I now live rushed over me. But I wasn't scared, I was proud to be there.

The walk to Yafo was neverending but it was so VIBRANT! So many people trying to get, really the continuation of the end of Ramadan or so I think. It reminded me of Nogales or Rocky Pointe. People yelling from all different directions to buy their produce, music blaring from cars and restarants and people everywhere, just enjoying life. I loved it, I was soaking it up, every minute of it. Ben kept asking where this place was and no one really knew but they all kept telling us to go ahead. Kadima, yaseshar (straight). When we finally found the place I wasn't even that hungry anymore, typical, and the food was ok. The walk there was definitely way more enjoyable than the food but oh well. Anyway, my feet felt like they were about to fall off but we had about 3 miles left of a walk. I wasn't joking when I said I walk about 6-7 miles a day!

We started walking, walked more and then walked more. TA was once again lit in its amazingness. You will never hear the end of this just to let you know. On the way through town, Ben put his arm around me and for the first time in Israel, I felt like I was actually living there and not a tourist. It's times like these that confirm that I made the right decision. I feel like I am alive when I am here and even though life is not as convenient as it was back in the US, I enjoy it so much more. Ani osa chaim - I am enjoying life. After we got to the genereal area of the boardwalk, we went down to the beach again and just sat there for a good hour. It never gets old! This was a great way to end the free time and unwind for Ulpan and volunteering. Stay tuned, more coming soon!

L'hitraot!

Start of the program in Kibbutz Ketura

Boker tov - Good morning. I want to apologize for the random timing of my blogs and the possible spelling errors. I am trying to catch up but it's hard because every day there are random time slots to write and because of the amount of things that I see, it's hard to write everything down, so hopefully you're not really confused thus far.

Aaaaaanyway, on Thursday, the day after Noa's party, Ben went to drop me off at Beit Daniel, a meeting spot for the Bina sponsored program, Tikkun Olam  - which means, repair the world, fitting right? Getting all my suitcases out of the car was a complete balagan, which in Russian and Hebrew means complete chaos. We finally wheeled my stuff into the room where a couple of Tikkun Olamers were already sitting. When I stumbled into the room, a girl jumped up and said, "aaaand that's Anna!" I facebook chatted a girl right before the trip and felt at ease because I felt like I knew someone from the prog before it even started.

More people started piling in and then the room was full. A few minutes later, our madrichim (guides) and volunteer coordinators, as well as some members of the center, came in and made some speeches to us and welcomed us. After the speeches, we started doing some ice breaker activities and then had lunch which was obviously falafel, hummus, salads, the usual yet very amazing staple to the Israeli diet. After the bonding time, we took all of our stuff and loaded in onto the bus which took us to Jaffa to drop off everything that we weren't going to take to the Kibbutz and then we were on our way.

The ride took 4 hours with a couple of stops made along the way, one in Be'er Sheva, sort of a craphole - hope I don't offend anyone when I say that, but it really is. It's mostly made up of millitary bases. As mentioned, when we made our stop at a gas station, it was filled with a sea of green of IDF soldiers. Oh yes. On the way to the Kibbutz Ketura, we talked to each other and got to know each other better. A large majority of the people in this group are younger, those who are post college but there are some people who are my age as well.

We got to the Kibbutz and a guy named David came up and greeted us. He was in charge of the introduction to the Kibbutz and he ensured that everything was taken care of for our stay. He welcomed us to the Kibbutz and then we had dinner and just layed on the grass and talked to each other. Later on we found out that there was a pub on the Kibbutz so the whole group went out and did some more team building.

The next few days included lots of food, personal talks with the madrichim, pool time and more food and naps. Basically we were vacationing on the Kibbutz. If I didn't mention it enough, they fed us CONSTANTLY. I think the fear of going hungry translates accross all Jewish cultures! We had some activites such as Jewish identity and Zionist presentation, the first showed a breakdown of where each person comes from based on the items they chose that represents their Jewish identity. The latter was a very interesting presentation, because it showed important figures in Israel's history whose lives were shaped into Zionism. David also talked to us about what it was like living on the Kibbutz. He has been there for 14 years, born and raised in New York. With the combination of his and his wife's income, they bring in $400/month. Mind you they don't have to pay for rent or food and no one really leaves the Kibbutz. You earn your life there by mainly picking dates and milking cows. A lot of other duties include working in the cafeteria, doing maintenence around the Kibbutz and other random things that we took for granted while we were there.

I met some cool 18 year old girls at the Kibbutz as well. They are called Garim. Most of them are 18 years old, who have granduated from high school, and are now using this time as a gap year before they go into the millitary and are using their time to volunteer. One of the girls is from Colorado and has been coming here since she was three years old so her Hebrew is awesome, something that made me very jealous. It was good to take myself out of my daily grind of dealing with people my age and see the world from someone's perspective who is younger but will probably see more than me before they get to be MY age. I figure I am using this time to catch up!

My two favorite experiences on the Kibbutz were the following. There was a day when we went on a hike which had a 60 degree inclines. We hiked up a windy rocky mountain until we finally got to the top.
Every time I do this, I realize how much I suck at hiking yet I still love to do it every time. At the top we saw our Kibbutz and many many date trees planted in perfect rows to the left of the Kibbutz. Our madricha, Elin, asked as where we thought Jordan was. Everyone pointed in a different direction, but she point East, past our Kibbutz. We were seeing Jordan from the view point. They said that there are no legal roads that go from Israel to Jordan boarder but there are backroads that are used for human trafficking and probably drug trafficking, so once again, no legal roads. We walked up there right as the sun was setting, so the Jordanian mountains were lit up red, it was gorgeous. We started our descend as it was getting dark. When we got back it was pitch black. OUr next assignments was to get into two groups (volunteer tracks) Jaffa and Tel Aviv and were going to cook dinner for everyone in the group.

My second and actually favorite hike was our done on our last night at the Kibbutz. We were going to the sand dunes, I was curious if we were going to go quading (kidding....sort of....) They warned all the contact wearers to take them out and put glasses on but I like to live life on the edge and decided that glasses did not match my desert attire so I decide to keep them in. We got dropped off literally in the middle of the desert. I took a picture of the empty creepy road. It was out of a movie. You will see. When we all got off the bus, our guide David from the Kibbutz informed us that the various rock formations we were seeing were temples made in the Stone Age. He also informed us that in the Stone Age, more people lived in that area than now....mixed emotions about that. After his little speech, we took off to ascend the mountain of rocks that would lead us into the dunes. We walked for about 20 minutes when all of a sudden we plateued (sp?) and in front of us was sand right out of a movie of the Sahari or the Gobi or whatever....with ripples and all. David started explaining something but no one was listening and I am pretty sure the only throughts that went running through our minds were all the possible ways to get down the hills of sand in front of us. Then he said that he was going to give us 30 minutes of free time to do whatever we wanted, dream come true!!

Some people literally rolled off the hills. Other dug themselves up in sand and if you were with the 4 of us, we started taking jumping pics in front of the sun and in the sand, which created great silhouette shots as well. To each their own but at the end, everyone had their fun. After 30 minutes, we gathered around David again and he gave us our next asssignment. He handed all of pieces of paper which he instructed not to open yet. He then gave us a blank piece of paper as well. He told us that we would each have to go and find a remote spot in the dunes. This would be our time to gather our thoughts and center ourselves. He told us to cherish this experience because this would be the last time in the next 5-10 months where would get this opportunity. He told us to just sit there and enjoy this amazing experience and think about everything that is going on in our lives. He told us that 15 minutes into our meditation sessions he would start singing a song and that is when we would open our pieces of paper and do as instructed - the answers to those questions would be read outloud to the group. Fifteen minutes from that he would sing another song and that is when we would write down on the blank piece of paper anything for ourselves, and these papers would be given to the madrichim and no one would read them.

On ready, set, go, we all scurried away to our own little spots in the dunes. At first I was really distracted, don't really know which what, because, let's be honest, I was in the middle of the Negev desert. But you know me and my ADD, we are international, so it does not matter where we are. I finally got into the zone and my head began to clear. I started going back and thinking what was the route of my return to Israel, why I needed this more than anything else and in awe I realized that I was back and ready to take on new challenges and opportunities that would be meeting me in the future.

I got carried away in thinking of how my life is going to change in the next 5 or more months, the possibilites were endles. My thoughts were interruped by a beautiful song that David started signing. I started following the described process. It was a much needed meditation session that no one gets to lose themselves in, especially not in the surroundings that were in. Amazing. No other wors needed to describe it.

As David sang the second song, which signified that it was time to go, all that we could see now are silhouettes of my peers in the dusk desert. It was a very calming experience. We all descended the dunes and walked for about ten minutes to a campsite where we cooked our own pitas, with the help of the Kibbutz members. The rest of the food was brought, amazing as always. We made our pitas, got our food and went to sit in a big circle on a Bedoin rug under the stars. Phenominal way to end the time at the Kibbutz and get ready for the next chapter! Random intterruption of the evening took place when we heard a loud thunderlike sound which was the same sound I heard when I was in North - IDF practicing dropping bombs. Interesting sound. Welcome to Israel!

My first week in Israel - continued!

Mah nyanim? Well it has officially been one week since my arrival in Israel and I thought I would share with you the experiences of this whole week, continuing from when I landed in TA. Ben picked me up and drove me back to his house where I literally slept for a full workday. Ben got home from work and he asked if I wanted to go get falafel......UM YES PLEASE! We took Ben's three year old niece Alma and went to get falafel.....amazing!!

The next day Ben took the day off and we went to the north to the Golan Heights to go hiking. The drive was beautiful, we passed Lake Kineret, definitely want to come back there. It was straight out of a photograph. I don't have any pictures of the drive but I will make sure to post them when I go back. We went to a place where we had to climb up a raging waterfall. The water felt amazing as we kept climbing. I asked Ben where the water was coming from and he told me to guess. So I said I wouldn't be surprised if there was a huge faucet at the top and he just laughed. When we finally got to the top, my prediction wasn't way off, the water was flying out of a HUGE pipe! Apparently the water is coming from the north from Mt Hermon, and goes through this pipe which creates a waterfall. From the bottom of the mountain no one would have guessed that! On the way down from the waterfall we found some ripe dates and we ate them, that was another exciting part of my day.

We stopped to eat at a restaurant near the place where we went rafting on the Jordan River during our Birthright trip. So many memories came flooding back! This time felt different though, because now I was a local just going up north and eating at a restaurant. Jet lag got to me on the way back and I passed out. I woke up and Ben was saying that we were going to go to the beach in Herzliya to go meet a friend of his. I wasn't going to argue with that! We still had our bathing suits on so we went swimming - the water felt amazing. We watched the sunset which was gorgeous. Will post pics on here or Picassa. Ben's friend came and we all hung out - I told them that they could speak Hebrew in front of me but they wouldn't. I felt bad because I know I was limiting them - more of a reason to learn quickly, right? We stayed on the beach for a few more hours, listened to some guitar music nearby and to the waves crashing into the sand - it couldn't have been a better end to a great day!

The next day, Ben had to work so I stayed home and just read and relaxed. I knew it was going to be an early day because Ben had invited me to come celebrate his niece's (Noa) month birthday at a restaurant in Tel Aviv, an invitation which I definitely accepted. Around noon his dad came home and gave me a sad look because I was sitting in the corner of the couch when he had come in. I didn't mind the solitude because I know that those were my last real few hours left that I wouldn't constantly be in someone's company. He told me that he was sending Ben home which made me laugh. About an hour later, I heard the key jingling and looked up and it was his mom and Alma (niece) that came home. His mom right away offered to make me lunch because she was making it for Alma. For some reason even though his mom barely speaks English I still somehow understand her, possibly through the sign language that people use when they can't communicate on the same level. We had lunch and then Ben came home shortly after and then everyone started getting ready for the party.

The party was in north TA, at the Port, a beautiful strip of restaurants and bars right on the water. Dream come true for an Arizonan or really just about anyone. We walked in and right away a waiter come up to us with a tray of little falafels and champagne! So fitting and quite possibly the best combination of awesomeness I have ever seen. Right away Ben started making his rounds with different sides of the family. As expected everyone thought I was his girlfriend. I was impressed that they were saying that in Hebrew and through their obvious gestures and some familiar words here and there I was able to figure that out. It was funny for me because it was so awkward but I don't really think it seemed to phaze him. There were about 50 peope there and an open bar, it really couldn't be better. Ben told me that he had a couple of Russian people that had married into the family so I had a chance to talk to them and they also asked me if I was his girlfriend and when I said no, started bombarding me with all these great things about him. When the party was coming to an end, everyone got an envelope and threw some money in there and then later on, Ben's dad took the bag out of the box with a slot in it and gave it to Keren, Ben's sister, because she threw the party. This is definitely something that should be implemented in the US, just saying! After everyone left, we went to go closer to the water and just watched the waves crash against the rocks. It was amazing. I finally turned around and saw the bright lights of TA and realized where I was!

The first week in Israel!

On August 25th, with the help of my amazing family, I packed up my past 2 years in Phoenix into two cars and flew to NYC to see all my new friends I made on my Birthright trip. I wanted to fly to NYC not only because the El Al flights leave from there (haha) but because the friends that I made on this amazing trip, were the staple to the experience that made me want to come back and continue learning about this amazing country.

I spent three short days in NYC but got to see everyone that has made such an impact on me on that 21 day trip. My flight was Sunday, August 29th at noon. My cousin offered to take me instead of having me take a shuttle and that made a HUGE difference, rather than being dropped off at the airport by some stranger, to fly off into a distant land, 6,000 miles away!

Jake picked me up at 8AM and we were off to JFK. On the way there I realized that I didn't quite understand what exactly I was getting into and what to expect, so I had a mini panic attack, nothing different that what I have been experiencing for the past month of preparing for my journey. Jake, however, happened to be the best person for the job of calming me down and said all the right things and got me pumped for my adventure.

As he dropped me off at the airport, with my 120lbs of luggage, and as I went through the security interrogation of the El Al Mossad, got my boarding pass and went through security, and I as finally sat down to wait for us to board, I felt an unexpected sense of peace that I have not felt for the longest time. That feeling did not flee as the plane took off......I was going to Israel!!!!!

At JFK, I met a really cool 19-year-old girl, who also fell in love with Israel so she was coming back to do a long term program in Tzfat, in a seminary, a city on hill in North Israel where Kabballah was born. She invited me to celebrated Shabbat with her there and in the old city Jerusalem. Next to me was a beautiful Ethiopian Jew who lived in NYC for 9 years and is now back in Israel, who gave me her email and phone number and said that she will take me out in Tel Aviv and introduce me to her friends. She also works in a call center for the green card lottery......soooooo if I need a job......you never know!

Fast forward 10 hours......the pilot is now saying that we are descending into TA....and now my heart starts pounding again. Thousands of questions run through my head.....am I going to feel the same when I get there? How is it going to be seeing Ben again? What is the program going to be like? How are the people going to be? My head was spinning.......until we landed and it stopped, as if something knocked me out.....we were in Israel and everyone on board was now clapping!

Getting luggage was insane. It was a zoo but now I was finally done and Shaina (seminary friend) and I were now headed towards the area where all the people were greeting the passengers on flight #4. My heart started pounding again as I started looking for Ben.What if he overslept and didn't come? What if he didn't come because he didn't come?? But suddenly, I see him, way in the back, with a big smile on his face. He fumbles with something in his hands as he unravels a piece of paper that says ANNA BANANA! HAHAHA!!! I knew it would be ok from then on. I was ready for this!