Hello there...
This post is especially close to my heart because I am writing it on Yom Hashoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day....where we remember the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. And today for the first time my grandparents who survived are both no longer with us
זכרונו לברכם.
Normally the day wouldn't feel any different back in New York...I'd be going to work and only remember it was Yom Hashoah because I would have looked at my Chabad calendar where it states that today is the day of remembrance....but today as I walked to work at 10am it was quite different. As I walked from the bustling highway to the overpass (I use to get to the otherside where my office building is located) I heard a siren and thought ok something must have happened somewhere and the cops are going to help out the situation but then I noticed the people on the overpass were stopped looking over the highway so I went to take a look and saw that all the cars were pulled to the side of the road...lights flashing...everyone was out of their cars and all those who were walking stopped to stand in silence to remember this horrible time in Jewish history. This truly touched me...again being in a country where your history is remembered as national holidays really never gets old...each time we have a holiday it still baffles my mind that I am here experiencing these events in my homeland! I then came to work and went on facebook to see a post from a fellow wujie who experienced the same event on her way to work.
Again I can't say it enough and you're probably sick of hearing me say it but I feel truly blessed to be here and especially to call myself a Jew!
Now here's a recap of the past bunch of days since my last post....
Wednesday and Thursday were typical days...work...gym...food and sleep...lol.
Friday however was the start of a wonderful weekend. I got invited by one of my coworkers to a party in the desert in the Negev. She picked me up...we had lunch at her grandma...Iraqi cuisine...amazing!!!! Watched the royal wedding on TV before we left for the party then drove about 2.5 hours south about an hour away from Eilat. We were basically driving in the middle of nowhere until we saw a sign that said party this way (in hebrew of course)...then we proceeded to drive through barren desert terrain until we came to people pitching tents and a larger tent area where people were starting to make food and set up equipment. We then found a spot where we got out and started pitching our tents. Yes I roughed it and stayed in a tent and camped for the first time!!! I'm very proud...lol!
The rest of the evening consisted of eating a ton of amazing food...meat...salads...corn...soup...baked goods...etc....all homemade...and listening to music...some Israeli karaoke and hanging out with amazing people. It boggled my mind as I sat there just trying to take it all in that we were in the middle of the desert but somehow we had the technology to project a computer screen on the side of a mountain....very kool!
It was during this time that I was the most present I had been in a while since coming here...I really took a moment to realize where I was...thinking about how I was in Israel...I was amongst new friends who I consider family...I was in my home country but away from what I called home for 27 years of my life. This was an empowering feeling and made me greatful for these wonderful new experiences I get to experience everyday.
Then at around midnight we went to bed...can't say I had the best sleep..I was in and out of sleep for most of the night...it also proceeded to rain which was fun being in a tent and all...but no worries I didn't get wet...the tent was a wonderful protector...lol. But of course I have to go to the bathroom in the early morning in the middle of the rain....lucky I had my trusty umbrella...so I ventured out to our 5 star bathrooms in the middle of the desert only to find no electricity....so I guess I roughed it a little ;) Then I remembered I had my iPod so I put that on and got a couple hours of sleep.
The next morning we woke up to a wonderful homemade breakfast and some more shmoozing. We then packed up and left. They showed me around their friends moshav where he grows organic peppers that are amazing and then made our way back to Tel Aviv. I got a couple hours of sleep in the car but was looking forward to a nice shower and an early night of sleep. I finally took a shower however never made it to bed early enough...what else is new...lol! The rest of the evening consisted of hanging out with my roommates and booking more of my Greece trip..yay!!!
Sunday was a great work day...I met my boss at the office and then we went to a meeting about the design for the sales office for their new project....very kool....then went to the site of the building that is under construction...was really kool to see the progress that has been made in just 8 weeks...amazing! The rest of the day was smooth sailing and ended with me going grocery shopping and cooking dinner with one of my roommates....yess I am getting the hang of this thing they call cooking :)
The rest of today will be pretty quiet...
I hope you are all able to look at my pictures on facebook so that you are able to see visually my experiences in our homeland!
Love u and miss u all!!!
<3 D
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