Well, being in Israel has been amazing so far, but always difficult. The cultural differences, expectations that were not met in one way or another and missing everything I know in the US have been pulling me away from my experiences here. This past week and a half or so I have realized what I have always known about myself: I think too much.
So, I let go of my insecurities and expectations and started to just let myself have fun in every way. Guess what? I am MUCH happier. In realizing that my internship on the Kfar is MY internship and I can do with it as I will, I have had a new perspective. I work on what I want, when I want and how I want...what a concept! When am I ever going to have this freedom again? Certainly not when I am in law school or a lawyer!
But what this blog is really about is what I found when I relaxed and let life happen. Last weekend I decided to stay in Jerusalem for the weekend after a concert that my group attended. It was Idon Raichel and it was AMAZING! After the concert I ended up sticking with one of my roommates on the Kfar, Amy, and going out that night. Jerusalem has a GREAT nightlife...which is surprising for such a "holy" city! The next day we wondered around the beautiful new city before going to the Old City to a hostel to stay. The hostel we stayed in treats you like you are staying with family and sets you up with local families for Shabbat dinner and lunch who all welcome you like you were their extended family. It was a very powerful experience and I enjoyed it very much. For Kabbalat Shabbat (the friday evening service), we davened (prayed) at the Kotel ("the Western Wall") with a group of women who were studying at a local Yeshiva. Unlike the other times I had gone, this time everyone sang and danced on the women's side and it was a great time! In the past I have always found the women's side so solemn while the men's side prays loudly and sings and all. It was so great to be surrounded by other women my age there who were dancing and signing and joyous!
This week on the Kfar we have been preparing for Purim. Every group makes a video clip for Purim to the same song that is chosen by the principal of the school. Our group decided to be a part and make our own as well so making that has been fun. It is a competition so I will let you know if we win! We have also been helping make decorations for the dining hall, which they are decorating tonight! Purim is so so so soon, I am VERY excited! The Kfar has a party all night long for the kids and staff and it is supposed to be VERY fun! It is amazing how I am realizing what wonderful place the Kfar is for these children, with each age group like big brothers to the younger and such loving and caring staff to provide a family for the students. It is like camp, to be honest! Just another place in Israel where you feel like everyone is family!
But the most special experience this week of all was meeting my cousin, Tamar Goldfarb, who lives in the SAME town as I do. She is the granddaughter of my great grandfather's half sister Leah, which makes her my 2nd cousin once removed (I know it is distant, but those who know me know about my "family circle" and how organized my family is...) I was very nervous to call her but I should not have been because she is SUCH a wonderful woman and was SO happy to meet me. She told me a story about my great grandfather that was so special. She told me she settled in Ramat HaSharon because she did her army service on the base in that town. My great grandfather Sidney came to Israel while she was serving there and she went all the way to Tel Aviv (which was not as easy to do back then) to meet him at his hotel and see him. She told me that when she met him on that visit he offered to pay for her to move to the US and go to university there. She turned him down because she was in the army and she had a boyfriend and she loved Israel, she could not think of the US or of university! So when she finished her story I was just blown away and I told her, "you know that Sidney is my great grandfather, right?" and she said "I thought so...you complete the circle, I have always thought about how he offered me that and I turned it down because everyone was mad at me for that..." It was a VERY special moment.
Well, Tami and I went and picked up her granddaughter who is named Eden and beautiful! Her daughter is pregnant and due any day so it was good to take Eden off her hands. We played in the park and watched TV and talked at her home, which is literally a ten minutes walk from where I live! She video-skyped her father so we could see one another. He was so sweet and when he saw me he said "You are such a beautiful woman, you are in my family?!" which was so cute! All in all, it just reminded me of what I realized in Jerusalem: this is a country of family. Everyone invites you to their home whether they have known you for 5 minutes or 50 years. This visit was very special though, to meet a 2nd cousin who was so kind and welcoming!
Anyway, I want to get outside...it is like 85 degrees right now!
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