Little recap of this past week/weekend...

On Wednesday (2/13/13) was a huge deal for everyone.  It was our first, big, Jewish History test.  The night before, everyone was cramming.  Being around everyone complaining and freaking out about it, kind of made me freak out and become really anxious.  I knew that to get rid of that feeling, I had to go to a quiet area, aka my room, and study on my own, which is exactly what I did.  Instead of following the pack, and staying up late, I decided to go to sleep early and and wake up early to finish going over my notes.  That was probably the best decision I could have made.  The morning of the test I felt more relaxed than I did the night before.  Once I finished my test, I took a huge sigh of relief.  

Thursday (2/14/13), Valentine's Day.  It was a normal school day, except for the first hour of Jewish History.  My class and the other class, that is at the same time as ours, mixed together and had a debate.  One side represented the Israelites who wanted to go back to Israel, their homeland, and the other side represented the Israelites who wanted to stay in Babylon.  It was a pretty entertaining and heated debate.  After we finished the debate, we had a little "feast" of pastries and drinks.  Later that night, we went to the mall in Jerusalem.  Before we boarded the buses, my friend Ryan, being funny, got a couple of us little bags of heart shaped chocolate.  We were all his valentines.  At the mall I got a bunch of stuff from H&M (which is much much better in Israel, than in the states), and from this Israeli store called Hoodies.  The clothes and scarves from Hoodies are unbelievably soft and comfy.  I know that is one store I will deff be buying more stuff from :)

Friday (2/15/13), it's Shabbat!  In the morning, a bunch of us left at 8:30am and went to a soup kitchen.  While we were there we didn't exactly work in the kitchen, per say, but we still did charity.  What we did, was take baby and children clothes from storage and fold them nicely to put into boxes to be brought to donate to those who are in need of clothes.  We were there for about an hour or so, and then headed back to the kibbutz.  Between getting back to the kibbutz and getting picked up to go to my cousins, I just relaxed and hung out with some friends.  Then around 2pm, Carly Fromm and I got picked up by my cousin David and were on our way to Kochav Yair (the town where my cousins live), which is near Tel Aviv.  It was about an hour drive, but since I was exhausted from my busy week, I slept in the car, which made the car ride seem much shorter than it was.  That night, Carly, Aura (cousin), and I went to Shoul (Temple) for a little bit.  After Shoul, we went back to the house for a wonderful, home-made Shabbos dinner.  I was definitely pleasantly plump, after that meal, since I scarfed down so much food.  After dinner, Aura, Carly, and I went to this place called Beit Akiva.  Beit Akiva is like a youth lounge where Aura and her friends hang out.  Carly and I got to meet a bunch of Aura's friends, some of them I had already known.  We were there for a little less than an hour, since all three of us were exhausted.  

Sunday (2/16/13), Aura's Hebrew birthday!  The three of us were typical teenagers and slept until noon.  Once we woke up, we had really good chocolate mousse cake for breakfast, as a treat, since it was Aura's Hebrew Birthday.  After breakfast, we just hung around the house for a bit, since we couldn't go outside because it was raining pretty heavily.  Then around 2pm, we all had Shabbos lunch.  Again, I stuffed my face, and was pleasantly plump after.  After lunch, the three of us took a solid four hour nap, which brought us to dinner, when we woke up.  Before we ate, we had Havdalah, which is the concluding prayers for Shabbat.  After having a light dinner, David and Aura drove Carly and I back to the kibbutz.  I truly enjoyed being with my cousins, even though I missed my friends at the kibbutz, since I have been with them all day everyday.  However, one of the perks of being off the kibbutz is that I was able to sleep and do laundry! Cousin Suri and David were super nice to let Carly and me use their washing and drying machines.  I can say with confidence that I had an awesome weekend.  

In the upcoming week, we have three trips, including one to Masada and the Dead Sea.  I am super excited for all of them, especially Purim this weekend!  Stay tuned for some more blurbs about my exciting days at Kibbutz Tzuba. 

So some of you have been asking about what my typical day is so I am going to tell you starting from the minute I wake up. Right now, I am currently sitting in the cafe/Belmont Hotel lobby.  This is one of the places on the kibbutz that has the best wifi and where I can do my homework.  So here is my schedule...

7:00 am- Wake up.  At this time, the madrichim (counselors) come around to every room and wake us up.  Personally, I like to be up before the madrichim come to wake us up, so I set my alarm for 6:50 am.  This gives me time to lay in bed for a little bit, and really wake myself up, before I have to drag myself to breakfast. 

7:45 am- Breakfast.  We all eat in the Chadar Ochel, the dinning hall, which we share with the residents who live on the kibbutz all year.  The only downside to that, is finding a place to sit, since it gets really crowded.  They have a lot of options to eat, such as hummus, pita, eggs, salad, vegetables, etc.  It's absolutely delicious! 

8:15 am- Jewish History class.  This is by far my toughest class.  It is a 3 hour class, fun-packed with teachings from over 4000 years of Jewish history.  It's definitely going to take some time to get used the long class time, but I already have a bit, so I know that I will be okay.  I usually am not a fan of history class, but this class is the exception.  I am starting to become more interested in the specific history of Israel and Judaism, because it is a topic that I don't talk/ learn about often.  

11:15 am- Hebrew Class.  So far, this is my favorite class.  I absolutely love my teacher, Ella.  Just like me, she doesn't like homework or tests.  The other cool thing about her and this class is that, we are going to go out of our classroom, such as the Belmont Hotel, to interact with the Israelis and to practice the hebrew we learn in class.  So far, we have learned some phrases like "How are you?" and "Where are you from?"  I am really proud of myself because Hebrew is a really challenging language to learn and I am doing really well.  I can't wait until I can start to hold a conversation.

1:05pm-7:15 pm- General Studies. This is the time that I have all of the classes that I would take at home.  These classes include: Physics, English, Algebra II Trig, Spanish 4H, and US History.  I truly like all of my teachers, and love the fact that the classes are no more than ten kids.  In these settings, I feel that I will succeed with flying colors.  

7:15 pm- Dinner time.  Right after my seventh period class, my friends and I run to the dinning hall, to make sure that we get food before the dinning hall closes.  The food is absolutely delicious, which usually makes me even more hungry, but I know that once I get there, I will be satisfied.  

7:45 pm- Group time.  This is when our groups meet for a few minutes to talk about the upcoming events in the days/weeks to come.  

8:00 pm-11:00 pm- Free time.  During these three hours, is when we all get our homework and studying done.