One packed weeeeeek (even the word is packed...)

Let us start with Thursday night. Immediately after our tests, we went down to the negev. We went to a "Bedouin" tent. The quotes are because it was not a real experience but a tourist attraction. It was nice anyway. We had a gigantic feast in the dining tent catered by Bedouin hospitality. The Bedouin were real, it is just that they were running a tourist attraction. They made pita for us (there is nothing better in this world than homemade, fresh pita), as well as some other rice and meat dish that I would fail in trying to describe. It was quite tasty though. At the same time, we met the birthright trip for this season. They were mostly nice and fairly impressed that we spoke Hebrew better than they did (not very hard...). We had a nice campfire, complete with pringles, oreos, vafflim, and mooshi (marshmallows flavored like strawberry). I finally got to go to bed. Yes, I was complaining about my bed time The next day was camel ride extravaganza. I have ridden camels plenty of times before in my life. I didn't feel that it was necessary for my well-being. Actually, I forgot my correct shoes... I was wearing crocs. Yea, crocs. I thought I had packed real shoes...How did that happen? Anyway, I didn't go camelling. Instead, I walked with Sam (Participant) and Shira (Madricha/J-Hist teacher) and we talked. It was much nicer than camelling.

Moving on, we went to Kibbutz Yahel for that night. They have a pomelo orchard (the largest in Israel). If you are wondering what that is, it is a citrus fruit bigger than a grapefruit and much tastier. A wonderful fruit, let me tell you. Anyway, we picked pomelo and ate a few also. We also had a little meeting with some of the kibbutz teens regarding growing up in the negev desert, the arava valley, and Kibbutz Yahel in particular. That was nice. One of the girls was locked out of her hotel room and tried the window. She fell and smashed two of her toes. She later claimed that a flower pot fell on her foot. We also went to Eilat for some shopping and R/R.
The next morning we had services and I gave a d'var torah on Joseph and how his story of being in Egypt is related to us and being about to go stateside. We then went for some hiking.

We did hiking for four days. Lots of fun of course. Of note, there was a forecast for rain one night. You may know that rain and desert are an odd combination. Apparently, when it rains in the negev, it FLOODS. We were supposed to sleep in a riverbed that night. We were evacuated. We slept at a field school instead (they teach people how to be guides for touring and hiking etc there). It didn't rain though....When we were driving back north when we had finished, it started raining. It actually started pouring to be more accurate. And flooding. It was somewhat scary. I said the she'he'chiyanu (a prayer said to commemorate a special time). Very interesting. Not only was it flooding in the desert, but it was snowing in Jerusalem. We spent about two hours trying to get through the traffic of Jerusalem. Again I said she'he'chiyanu. I had never before that moment experienced snow in Israel. It was very nice. Amazing and other great stuff.

I came back and checked my email. I got an email from a Yoel Fogelman. Apparently, he has read my blog and is going to be a madrich (counselor) next semester. The following is our correspondence:

Hi,
My name is Yoel and I’m going to be a Madrich in the next NFTY EIE semester.
I found your blog (“YOMAN YISRAEL SHEL TAL”) on Google and read through it all. It was fascinating for me as an Israeli to read about your experience and it’s a relief for me as a future Madrich to get to know a little more about what to expect (I’m a little nervous).
I would appreciate it if you could find the time to give me some advice from your experience about things you think the Madrichim should change from the previous semester and things you think should be kept.
Yoel Fogelman
yoelfogelman@yahoo.com

I responded:
Hi,

I would not mind at all if you called me. My number is 052-653-8063. I am really pleasantly surprised that you found my blog on google. I was worried that it was not able to be found because I tried searching for it and didn't find it. I will be here with EIE until Jan 1. Feel free to call me until then. I would love to help you out.

-Tal


So he called me and we had a nice conversation. I am not so sure if I helped him out at all, but it is possible.

The name of this post is a bit of a pun. As you can see, I did have a packed week, but we are also packing. Very saddening. Magically, I think that somehow all my stuff (aside from perhaps a pair of sandals) will fit.

Finally, we got our "unofficial" transcripts. You will be quite surprised to read my semester grades...

Israel: Land, Culture, and People (Honors) (aka J-Hist on my blog): 100

Hebrew (Honors): 90

AP Calc AB: 95

English: 91

AP Physics C: 90

Latin 4: 97

Phys Ed: A

Are you surprised? I certainly was.