March 22, 2005

Hello to all!  It has been 4 days since my 28th birthday, and I am in a contemplative state.. perfect timing to write another long-overdue website update. :)  I had a wonderful birthday week, starting with escaping to Jerusalem as fast as my little car could take me, on Tuesday after classes were over.  I spent most of Wednesday at a spa with a good friend of mine, the mother of a family I am very close with in Jerusalem.  We lounged around, alternating from jacuzzi to sauna to pool to laying outside on the grass.  It was heavenly.. topped off by a much-needed massage.  Then we took a nice drive and had a picnic on top of a mountain, overlooking the hills of Jerusalem.  It was really beautiful and I will try to put some pictures up on the site as soon as I can.  (Yeah, that'll be REAL soon!) :)

Then, on Thursday night, I went out with a bunch of friends to a comedy show and then dinner at a cute little restaurant called Caffit (yes, the same one where the would-be terrorist stood outside and then decided not to go in -- and yes, the security is much stronger now).  It was great fun to have a lot of my friends together, as most had not met each other before.. so a fun psychological analysis ensued, at least in my head. :)  We had a grand ol' time, and I even had half of a strawberry daquiri, my alcohol content for the year.  It was tough to get it down, and everyone made fun of me, but a good experiment nonetheless. :)

On Friday, my actual birthday, I slept in and then spent some time at the shuk in Jerusalem, my hands-down-favorite place to be in the world.  I soaked in the sights and felt pains of nostalgia for Jerusalem stronger than they've ever been.  I've decided I want to spend the summer in Jerusalem and I'm starting to think about how to make that work financially.  It turns out I will need to be there so often just because of my thesis work, which will start in earnest this summer, that it doesn't make sense to commute multiple times a week.  But I am also feeling the need to be there for emotional reasons.. I just don't think I can stand a full summer in Be'er Sheva with no classes and no real reason to be here.  My heart is in Jerusalem, and my heart IS Jerusalem, and there it shall stay..

Anyway, so later Friday I went to dinner at the family's place, and they gave me a cake and 2 really beautiful mugs (1 for me to keep, and 1 to stay at their place for me to use every week, which is really sweet).  It was a great night and I really enjoyed myself.

In other news, things are going well in school and life in general.  I'm feeling a bit less motivated than I did during the first semester, which I suppose comes with the territory.. my professors also seem to be expecting more of me all of a sudden, which comes in the form of directly accusing me of not speaking enough and asking me point-blank what I have to say about a given matter.  It's not fun.  I suppose they feel that my Hebrew has gotten to the point where I need to get off my duff and stop staring blankly ahead like a bump on a log and actually participate in class.  Where do they get off?!?!? :)  Anyway, so that has made class a little more stressful.. although I will admit that my comprehension has improved tremendously.  I tend to find that I will realize only after the fact that I just understood everything that was said, with much less active concentration than I used to have to use.  It is nice to see the improvement in at least one area.. although I still find speaking and expressing myself effectively infinitely difficult.

In any case, life is good.  The thesis is coming along swimmingly.. I should be turning in the final proposal by the end of this month, and I've been meeting regularly with the main psychologist at the bus company.  I found out that the company is actually quite secretive and has never allowed any other requests for studies to be done there, so I feel very grateful that I managed to get in.  This will truly be the first study of its kind, which is so exciting for me.

As for the male situation, about which many of you have requested information, things are limping along.  He is out of the army and we have been seeing each other regularly, although both of our lives are exceedingly complicated and we're finding it difficult to forge a common path between them.  He is in an especially difficult place, as he is not yet sure where he will go to school (here or in the US) and he is having trouble finding a good job right now.  It's a pretty common thing -- I have friends here who love being here more than life itself, and would do anything to stay, but just haven't been able to find enough income to support themselves.  It's terribly sad to see them go, especially when there are so many people here who try aliyah and then leave because they just can't hack it and they decide America is easier.  I'm realizing more and more how easy I've had it, and how painless and smooth my aliyah has been.  I have the support of a lot of you to thank for that, by the way.

Anyway, so things are progressing on the relationship front, albeit slowly.  We are both very much enchanted by each other's company, but we are also both psychologically-minded (perhaps too much so) and we are very concerned with not making the same mistakes we have in the past and not ruining what we are building.  So we are taking it slow and trying to enjoy the ride. :)  There are days that I am quite certain that I have met the love of my life, and other days that I am frustrated with the external circumstances keeping us from realizing it.  So we shall see.. in any case, it is keeping life interesting. :)

As far as trips to the States, which all of you have been asking about no less often, I am currently formulating plans to come to Providence sometime during the summer.  I'm figuring August just because it will give me a chance to get a break from the sweltering Israel summer heat, but I'm very flexible.  I'm thinking something like two weeks, so I will be able to get over to Mass and down to NY as well, so those of you who are there, and you know who you are, start penciling me in!

And that is, more or less, the latest.  I hope you all are doing well, and I think of you often.  Thank you to all who called, messaged, or emailed on my birthday -- I hope to be in touch with you shortly in a more personal way.

In any case, the latest articles are up on the site, so feel free to catch up.  Here's the last one, which is written about my friend Dudu, whose picture is also up on the site.