Peripheral...Ha Kol B'Rosh

Unfortunately, this week did not start off to hot(forgive my pun since I actually had an 101 fever). I woke up Sunday and felt as though my body was a kernel of corn that was in the microwave waiting to pop. I could truly feel my mind slipping away going on vacation for a while however, I could not let this happen since I had my first test in school. After only 4 classes(a total of 6 hours of learning), I had a test in Holocaust about foundational information about the event and the events surrounding it. I was in no mood to study or read the assigned book but I knew I had to pull myself together since class is important to me. I loaded myself up on drugs and pushed my way into cram mood where I would be able to hold onto the information long enough to regurgitate some of it. That took up most of my week but after it was done on Wednesday night, I got a message from Shoshie Askren that she was in town. We got together that Thursday morning for some coffee and catch up. I was actually late to the rendezvous since when I was a block away on Karen Ha-yesod who else decides to drive at that exact moment but Mr. Vice President Joe Biden. Not sure if it was worth the 20 mins on a bus to see him. I got to hear all about her experiences in Thailand and her plans for Grad school. It was a pleasant talk shared between us as friends. I finished the week and got myself ready for the Masa Shabbaton in Arad.

As another perk of being a part of Face-2-Face we get to participate in MASA functions. This weekend was a shabbaton in Arad(Southern desert community in Israel). It consisted of visiting communities(Bedwin, Jewish, kibbutz, urban) in the periphery(not Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) and learning about the different kinds of life they live. The shabbaton had students coming from J-Ru, Tel Aviv, Kibbutz Ketura and Lo Tan, as well as some MASA representatives. It took us to the south to see it first-hand. We met some modern say Bedwins that live in a city not in the desert as nomads herding sheep. We visited Kibbutz Cramim which works together with its Arab neighbors to build more ecologically sound structures. Then in Arad we met the local young adult population which is small to say the least. While there I met a girl named Simone(26 years old a running joke between us) who just graduated from University in Canada with a Masters in Exercise Physiology. She is not here at Lo Tan to study Ecology and basically how to save the world. We had dinner together at a host family and I learned that she is also vegetarian as well as allergic to certain wheat products. We seemed to share a lot in common and really bonded over the 2 day adventure. We hung out at night getting to know each other as well as walked together to the Ethiopian Shul in the morning. We ate lunch at the hotel and then went to an artist quarter to learn about one style of portraying their lives through art. We even got a nice hour walk to the lookout point that reveals the beauty of the desert and on a clear day the mountain of Masada. As a group we took over the program, we did everything together and walked as an elite troop. It was a great bonding time for us to have together since we only see each other once a week and this gave us the opportunity to get to know each other a little better. The shabbaton was long and felt like it was going on forever but eventually we got back to Jerusalem around 11 and I was beat but decided to go hang out with the gang(by now you should know them (Alex,Max,Adam,Michal,Talkia,Danielle,Sarah). We all shared our respective Shabbats which included family up in Zichron Yaakov, Friends in Jerusalem, and camping in Tel Aviv. It was great to be back and feeling as though I learned a lot and could take some of it with me. I got my regular 7 hours of sleep since I had a meeting on Sunday with Yoni Kaplan my academic advisor. Once again another week has gone by and I can hardly believe I am living in Izzy!!