On my own...

So many things to say, and so little energy with which to type.  Firstly, I would like to thank my friends back home for their continued love, support, and sarcasm--without which I may never survive.  The more I see of the world, the more I am sure that I have the best friends in the universe.  It's true, end of story.  So, thanks for that.

I think the high of newness is slowly coming down, and while I still am loving my time here, I also appreciate what I've left back home more than ever.  Not just the people, but the sense of independence, the  comfort of mastering one's surroundings, and of course the food.  While Israeli food in general is healthy, fresh and pretty fantastic, Kibbutz food leaves something to be desired.  It's the same food every day, largely vegetarian and entirely bland.  For those of you who know anything about me, you know that I consider food a major life priority.  The repetitive dullness of the food, and the lack of available kitchen within which to cook or bake has left me in a culinary malaise.  Plus, there is no dessert.  Yes, you read me correctly.  No dessert.

All joking aside, this continues to be an educational process.  Patience, tolerance, and censuring of sarcasm and eye-rolling have been my focuses as of late.  You may know the patented Shosh look: "I'm-listening-to-what-you're-saying-only-long-enough-to-form-a-diplomatic-response-explaining-why-you-are-incorrect-and-I-am-right."  Well, this face has been taking a hiatus here.  I'm trying, at least.  I think we all get used to being around people who intrinsically "get us."  Without that, dealing with different people is more challenging and less comfortable.  I know I may state the obvious here, but it's not easy being around people 24/7.  Guards drop, idiosyncrasies reveal themselves, and people get real (I'm only paraphrasing MTV here).  So I'm living, I'm learning, and I hope I'm growing.  Plus, in all honestly, sarcasm doesn't translate well into other languages.  I'm not nearly as funny in Hebrew.  :)

In some ways, I am still very much the same.  I still love playing hostess and social coordinator.  Last night I organized an" Ulpan Girls Night."  I downloaded "Maid of Honor" and gathered the girls together to watch and eat junk food.  We had a blast!  Patrick Dempsey has international appeal.  The girls and I decided to make movie night a weekly tradition.  It's nice to get some time for some female bonding.

There's all sorts of bonding here.  Today during one of our breaks, Maria (Denmark, 22) Nikole (Venezuela, 20) and Etel (Turkey, 22) and I were discussing the different types of college education in our respective countries.  They all balked when they learned the price of Oxy.  It's so much cheaper to study in Israel, even Venezuela.  And apparently, in Denmark the government actually subsidizes your schooling.  I may have invested in the wrong country.

Sadly the breaks don't last forever and it's back to Kita (class) for more Hebrew!  When learning to conjugate the verb "to play (music)" it came out that I sing.  (Or should I say, sung.)  So somehow the mora (teacher) decided that I would sing for the class after lunch.  I have to admit that I did not realize this request at the time as it was done in Hebrew and it went entirely over my head.  It was only when I was sitting at lunch did Maria ask "So what song are you going to sing after break?"  Awkward...

I've never had stage fright, or fear of public speaking.  Yet, for some reason I was really nervous.  Singing on stage is a cathartic experience for me. Singing in a classroom to 19 people staring at you over their notebooks is a nerve-wracking experience.   There I sat, totally flushed in the face, singing a few bars of "On My Own" from Les Mis.  Surreal would be the best word to describe it.  Luckily, I didn't suck.  Not sure if I was on pitch because I was more focused on my left leg shaking.  But, I do remember sounding okay.  I guess I learned to 1) Not practice my Hebrew with true sentences and 2) Learn to speak Hebrew better so as to politely decline in-class performances.  3) Life is just a series of weird situations strung together.  Case in point: Friday night in Haifa.  It was an odd evening....  But the good news is, there are pictures.

It's 12:30 AM for me, so I should stop and head to Bedforshire.  But let me leave you with the adorable pictures of my cousin's scrumptious kittens.  They make me want to pull a Lenny.  (100 points to anyone who gets the literary reference there.)

As always haverim (friends) I miss you!

Latraot!