Friday, April 30, 2004
And thus ends Caryn's Year in Israel.
Yes, it's true. I've returned to the States, land of light switches outside the bathroom, where Sunday is not a weekday, and where (amazingly enough) most people don't speak Hebrew, all things I'm slowly adjusting to.
I haven't quite settled in, as I'm spending the next 6 weeks running across various cities and states like a madwoman until I head off to Kutz Camp for another fabulous summer. So for the moment I'm hanging out with the various branches of my family (note: to add to the madness, my mom moved out of her house while I was gone, so now my stuff is officially in 3 different places. Right, 'cause that's not annoying.), trying to adjust back to this time zone (have you noticed that it's before 7 am when I'm writing this? Yeah...), beginning to look for jobs, and, oh yeah, officially graduating from college. How the hell did that happen?!?
My last weeks in Israel were really wonderful. Zoe returned to Naomi 9 with the great news that she'd been accepted to cantorial school, so she (lucky girl) gets to spend all of next year in Jerusalem as well. She's very excited, and more than a little nervous, but we're all very proud of her. I managed to squeeze in as much Hebrew learning as possible, going to Ulpan up until a week before I left. 600 Detroiters arrived on April 19 and invaded Jerusalem wearing UM/MSU clothes, bright yellow trip hats, and nametags - it was hillarious and heart-warming all at the same time. It felt great to have that many tourists from my hometown, and I think they know how much their presence was appreciated. My dad arrived about halfway through their trip, and my last shabbat in Israel was split between a fabulous Friday night dinner with my roommates and 5 other very fun people and Saturday with my dad and the Detroiters at the David Citadel Hotel.
3 important holidays came just before I left...first, on April 19, was Yom HaShoah, the official day of rememberance for the victims and heroes of the Holocaust. At 10am, there was a one-minute memorial siren during which all activity in the country stopped. Everyone stood silently wherever they were - in classrooms, on the street, in stores - even busses stopped and all of the passengers stood in the aisle. It gave me the chills, and was a very powerful experience.
A week after Yom HaShoah was Yom HaZikaron, the memorial day for fallen soldiers. Two sirens marked this day, one to officially begin the holiday at 8pm on Sunday night and one at 11am. The one during the day was two minutes, and similar to Yom HaShoah, all action throughout the country stops. Jaimee even saw a woman pause mid-step while walking down the street. It's a very important day in Israel, as everyone spends some time in the army and nearly every family has at least one relative who died while serving.
And now I'm home...I kind of like this blogging thing, though, so I think I might keep up with this and the website :)
More updates on the job search soon...l'hitraot
Yes, it's true. I've returned to the States, land of light switches outside the bathroom, where Sunday is not a weekday, and where (amazingly enough) most people don't speak Hebrew, all things I'm slowly adjusting to.
I haven't quite settled in, as I'm spending the next 6 weeks running across various cities and states like a madwoman until I head off to Kutz Camp for another fabulous summer. So for the moment I'm hanging out with the various branches of my family (note: to add to the madness, my mom moved out of her house while I was gone, so now my stuff is officially in 3 different places. Right, 'cause that's not annoying.), trying to adjust back to this time zone (have you noticed that it's before 7 am when I'm writing this? Yeah...), beginning to look for jobs, and, oh yeah, officially graduating from college. How the hell did that happen?!?
My last weeks in Israel were really wonderful. Zoe returned to Naomi 9 with the great news that she'd been accepted to cantorial school, so she (lucky girl) gets to spend all of next year in Jerusalem as well. She's very excited, and more than a little nervous, but we're all very proud of her. I managed to squeeze in as much Hebrew learning as possible, going to Ulpan up until a week before I left. 600 Detroiters arrived on April 19 and invaded Jerusalem wearing UM/MSU clothes, bright yellow trip hats, and nametags - it was hillarious and heart-warming all at the same time. It felt great to have that many tourists from my hometown, and I think they know how much their presence was appreciated. My dad arrived about halfway through their trip, and my last shabbat in Israel was split between a fabulous Friday night dinner with my roommates and 5 other very fun people and Saturday with my dad and the Detroiters at the David Citadel Hotel.
3 important holidays came just before I left...first, on April 19, was Yom HaShoah, the official day of rememberance for the victims and heroes of the Holocaust. At 10am, there was a one-minute memorial siren during which all activity in the country stopped. Everyone stood silently wherever they were - in classrooms, on the street, in stores - even busses stopped and all of the passengers stood in the aisle. It gave me the chills, and was a very powerful experience.
A week after Yom HaShoah was Yom HaZikaron, the memorial day for fallen soldiers. Two sirens marked this day, one to officially begin the holiday at 8pm on Sunday night and one at 11am. The one during the day was two minutes, and similar to Yom HaShoah, all action throughout the country stops. Jaimee even saw a woman pause mid-step while walking down the street. It's a very important day in Israel, as everyone spends some time in the army and nearly every family has at least one relative who died while serving.
And now I'm home...I kind of like this blogging thing, though, so I think I might keep up with this and the website :)
More updates on the job search soon...l'hitraot
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Well, kids (is anyone actually still reading this after all this time??), the adventure is slowly coming to an end. Two weeks from tonight my overstuffed suitcases and I will be coming back to the good ol' US of A. My landing in Detroit will be followed by a whirlwind of activity, including two graduations (first Adam's, then mine), a week in Boston, 5 days in Wisconsin, some time in Memphis...and then I go to camp for two months. At least it'll all distract me from the fact that I have no job :)
But that's still in the future - let me update you on the past couple of weeks:
-Pesach (that's "Passover" for you English-speaking folk) has come and gone around here (I just ate my first non-matzah breakfast in over a week...majorly good times). I spent a few days before the holiday and seder with my family at Nordyia. It was incredibly relaxing (and productive, thank goodness - I spent hours on my laptop) and a great way to welcome spring to Israel.
-Once my family went to spend their holiday up north, I came back here to hang out and enjoy having a big apartment all to myself for a few days. Food shopping during pesach was an experience: according to Jewish law, even seeing leavened food products during the holiday is forbidden, so the food stores that stay open cover most of their shelves with paper, and only leave the ones with kosher-for-passover products in view. It's pretty funny to walk through aisles that only have a few shelves of available food.
-Speaking of spring, it's GORGEOUS here now. Beautifully sunny every day, temps in the 70s and 80s...if it snows when I go back to Michigan, I'll cry.
-Jaimee and Helayne came back from the Ukraine with great stories. What's your opinion on the cossacks? Don't ask their translator...
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. See you all stateside pretty soon :)
But that's still in the future - let me update you on the past couple of weeks:
-Pesach (that's "Passover" for you English-speaking folk) has come and gone around here (I just ate my first non-matzah breakfast in over a week...majorly good times). I spent a few days before the holiday and seder with my family at Nordyia. It was incredibly relaxing (and productive, thank goodness - I spent hours on my laptop) and a great way to welcome spring to Israel.
-Once my family went to spend their holiday up north, I came back here to hang out and enjoy having a big apartment all to myself for a few days. Food shopping during pesach was an experience: according to Jewish law, even seeing leavened food products during the holiday is forbidden, so the food stores that stay open cover most of their shelves with paper, and only leave the ones with kosher-for-passover products in view. It's pretty funny to walk through aisles that only have a few shelves of available food.
-Speaking of spring, it's GORGEOUS here now. Beautifully sunny every day, temps in the 70s and 80s...if it snows when I go back to Michigan, I'll cry.
-Jaimee and Helayne came back from the Ukraine with great stories. What's your opinion on the cossacks? Don't ask their translator...
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. See you all stateside pretty soon :)
