The pre-holiday grind

Greetings dear humans who have been reading these updates. I will be the first to admit I have been avoiding writing this week. I have found that sometimes processing is difficult, and I don’t always realize I’m in a hard place emotionally until I look back. And sometimes, it’s nice to pretend everything is okay. But I have also realized how much processing helps me grow and adjust. It takes time and energy, but if we don’t look at where we have been, how can we figure out where we should be going or what we should be doing? Anyway, here’s to my recap (:

This school week was a short one with the holidays quickly approaching. I am so far behind on studying, so school looked like holding on and gritting my teeth to get through Tuesday. We had a few quizzes and long days from 8-6, but we made it!!! I even got a little studying done haha.

My Monday adventure was tracking down a package I ordered from Amazon. I had been informed Israel’s mailing/delivery service is a bit of a mess and they weren’t wrong (: I had ordered a book called First Aid; it basically provides a framework for everything I need to know for the first big standardized test to become a doctor. I thought I arranged for it to be delivered to the school, but I was notified via text message that it had arrived at a random little convenient store. The message was in Hebrew and there wasn’t exactly an address. I thought I knew where it was, so I showed up very confidently and asked for my package. Thankfully, the girl behind the counter knew some English and was kind enough to give me the correct address. When I arrived at the designated location, I was much less confident, and rightfully so haha. I asked about packages and was simply pointed in a direction. I wasn’t sure if this meant I was in the right place, but I wandered in that direction and just when I was about to reevaluate, I found a room full of packages. It was pretty disorganized. As I entered, I discovered another room where a girl stood waiting and another guy sifted through packages. Unfortunately, this girl didn’t speak English but I showed her the message and she attempted to help me. She really wanted to give me a package for someone named Dina (I have no clue why haha). When she left to run another errand, I managed to find the single amazon package in the room, and Bingo! It was mine (: I had no clue what to do next, but by this time there were other customers looking for their packages who translated, “to the cashier!” I thanked them all and managed to leave with my package. Phew, success. Another guy who left at the same time as me wasn’t so lucky, his package was nowhere to be found.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/.premium-how-many-packages-don-t-get-delivered-israel-post-won-t-say-1.7215194

The title of this article says it all haha "How many packages don't get delivered? Israeli post won't say"

Tuesday felt like the longest day. It didn’t have the best beginning. While Sammy and I waited for the bus, (it was atleast 10 minutes late) there was a man there who asked if we had any masks. We didn’t, so we helped tie his spare t-shirt on as a mask. It seemed harmless enough until he wouldn’t stop telling Sammy how beautiful she was and asking if she had a boyfriend. When she assured him she had a boyfriend, he decided I could also be included in the beautiful category. I was so thankful when the bus arrived and was packed, effectively separating us from this uncomfortable man.

One of the girls in my class, Sydney, had joined the school volleyball team, and gave me the contact info for the basketball coach. I messaged him Tuesday afternoon and he welcomed me to practice that evening at 7! Wow, talk about a fast turnaround! I was nervous I would make an absolute fool of myself, but also excited to play basketball and be immersed in some Hebrew. I quickly realized how long it has been since I have been to an organized practice that included conditioning and drills. I have been running a couple times a week, but it didn’t do much to prepare me haha, I am quite out of shape. Only 5 other girls showed up, but the craziest part was I already knew one! My mind was blown! I had talked to her on the phone before moving to Israel about housing because she had kindly offered to help me find something if needed. She was incredibly nice and also really good at basketball (: The practice was almost entirely in Hebrew, but my partner for most of the drills was the sweetest and made sure I knew what was going on. She also told me we needed to slow down a little bit because she is pregnant!!, but this was great news for my out of shape self haha. As it turns out, basketball is a universal language for the most part (: especially when it is demonstrated beforehand. There were many moments I would hang back and watch first, but it was truly so fun. I do know the Hebrew word for run (very important haha) and the coach would sometimes include the word “sprint!”, so I never missed out on that hahaha ;) From my understanding, I won’t be able to play in most of the games because I’m not Israeli, but it’s about much more than the games. Hopefully I can go to more practices in the future, because I was the best kind of tired afterwards.

The best part about having an 8 hour time difference is how I can actually make good use of waking up way before everyone else. When I wake up at 4:30, its only 8:30pm back home, the perfect time for phone calls on weekdays (: I don’t think I woke up quite that early Wednesday, but I got to talk to the sweetest friend for a few hours before meeting up with Caroline for a morning run. As always, it as a walk-run mix (especially with my extra basketball soreness haha) but it was wonderful. Wednesday was the day before Yom Kippur (more on that later), so I went to the grocery store and produce store near my apartment and stocked up on everything I would need for the next few days. I can tell the grocery store trips are getting easier, and it brings me so much joy.

It turned out to be a much more productive day than I expected. I somehow bought a guitar even though it’s been ages since I have played. I negotiated a lower price over Facebook Marketplace, and I had actually decided I didn’t really want it. However, I reasoned if I could get the seller to deliver, I would buy it. When I asked about delivery, they said (in Hebrew of course), “you want a discount and a delivery? haha you are funmy”. I told them if it wasn’t okay, then fine. They were quick to say they just thought it was funny and said they would be there shortly. Negotiator Betsy at your service ;) I discovered they spoke no English, so I stumbled through a few super basic Hebrew phrases and completed the exchange. Even more exciting news is, I BOUGHT A BIKE!!!!!!!! I didn’t know how much joy it would bring me until I was riding it back from the seller. It wasn’t the best deal I had seen, but it was good enough for me (:

As I am writing this, I realize how few photos I took of the beginning of the week. So I will include this very important side note so you can have at least one photo hahaha. Lauren and I have been on a smoothie grind. We bought some bananas and other fruit, and it has been quite refreshing and delicious (: Mine have been very green haha, looks healthier than chocolate don’t you think? ;)

I want to try and keep my posts a little shorter haha, and I want to explain some things about Yom Kippur, so I think I’ll give you a break here. Reading this, you could maybe convince yourself everything is good and I’m just here having one glorious adventure after another. While I am having so many adventures and there is always joy to be found, there are also mornings when it is all I can do to get out of bed and get ready for the day. There are sleepless nights and moments of helplessness. If you are feeling any of these emotions, just know you aren’t alone. And I love you. And it’s okay to feel that way. You don’t need to have it all together or figured out. It’s in the middle of the mess that I sometimes realize what joy really looks like and what is most important. So hang in there and if you need someone to talk to, give me a call. I miss you and have probably been meaning to call you anyway ;)

(P.S. I promise there will be more photos in the next post haha)