Had
such a great weekend. And now (while Marc is at school) I'm sitting in the lobby my my
hostel using their free wireless and waiting for them to kick me out! So here's the update on the past few days...
Wednesday, June 25
Last day of my
Shorashim Birthright trip, Sh-18-271. After an emotional goodbye, I got a ride from the airport to
Pardes so I could drop off my bag with Aunt Gail (Marc's been staying with them in Kfar Adumim, near
Ma'ale Adumim) before Marc & I headed out to look at an apartment. The apartment was great, but unfortunately not the right location so it didn't work out. We went to grab some lunch, Aunt Gail drove us back to Kfar Adumim, and I passed out, couldn't keep my eyes open no matter how hard I tried!
Thursday, June 26Went up to
Hebrew U with Marc in the am, and sat in the cafeteria with my laptop for hours while he was in class. Ran into a kid from my Hilel trip last summer whose also doing ulpan at Hebrew U, so that was kinda fun...
After class Marc & I went to Emek, had lunch & continued the apartment hunt. This one was in a great location, however the apartment was a bit shady (more specifically, the appliances were a bit shady), so again a no go. We walked around for awhile, and watched the Jerusalem gay pride parade. Some crazy intense security, they kept asking Marc for his passport. This woman was carrying an awesome sign. It said: "Anu ohavim et kol yeledenu!" meaning, "We love all our children!"
Had dinner downtown (sushi) with Marc's cousin Judy and her husband Oren, then back to Kfar Adumim.
Friday, June 27 Marc & I slept in a bit, then headed in to Jerusalem to check in to our hostel. Lunch downtown, a pre-Shbbas trip to the shuk, then down to the kotel for services and to meet up with Jeff Seidel. While waiting by the kotel, ran into my couisn, Izzy Rudolph! I love Jerusalem.... So anyways, Jeff Seidel paired us up with this lovely couple, delicious meal with tons of vegetarian dishes (as well as meat for the meat eaters!)
Saturday, June 28Walked over to Sari's for lunch, stopping on the way to sit in the park for a bit. Lunch was great, picnic-style at
Merkaz Hamagshimim where Sari's living (and where I stayed a few years ago, back when Samara was living there).
Nice relaxing afternoon back at the hostel, evening services at the Kotel, then downtown to play amongst the ridiculous amount of Birthright groups (I can't escape it!!). Ran into a former Young Judaea kid of mine, as well as Loni Roth!! So fun...
That, of course, brings us to now:
Sunday, June 29Gonna head downtown, get something to eat, hopefuly meet up with a friend from home, Elana. Marc'll be done with class in a couple hourse, he'll come meet me, and we're hopefully meeting up with my friend Carmi this evening. Nice full days :)
BTW, for those of you who want to hear Marc's side of things, here's his
blog.
I'm sitting in the lobby of my hostel, (Jaffa Gate Hostel, in the Old City) as Shabbat is about to start. My group left a few days ago, and Marc & I have just been enjoying our time together. I have
such an amazing group this time. My groups have all been good, however this one was really something special. Pretty amazing how much they got out of the trip, especially since it was a bit shorter than normal...
In a true stalker-like move, Marc and I spotted
Jeff Seidel across the street when we were downtown today, and asked him to set us up with a Shabbat dinner. We're supposed to meet him at the Kotel tonight. No idea who we'll get paired with, but I'm excited. And then for Shabbas lunch we'll be at Sari's, so fun.
I'm totally loving this hostel. Homey with just the right amount of sketchiness--love it. Didn't realize how much I missed my backpacking adventure till we got here!!! Lots of random people staying here, most are not Jewish, most are not Americans, but most are super friendly--LOVE it!!!!
Shabbat Shalom!!! :)
I'm engaged!!!!!!
How it happened:Went down to Atlanta on Wednesday evening, to spend the weekend with Marc's family before heading to Israel. On Thursday, Marc & I went to meet his sister, Jill, for lunch, and she supposedly had this work meeting thing. So we said hi to her then went into the room on the restaurant where the function supposedly was, and there were rose petals all over the table & roses & balloons, and before I could even figure out what was going on, he was down on one knee asking me to marry him! I called my mom to tell my parents, and as I was trying to describe the ring to her she was like "Why don't you just show me?" and I looked up & there she was! Her & my Dad both were down here, along with Katie. They've known for months! Amazing that nobody told me...
The ring:I've always said that ring isn't important to me and that's not what's important about getting engaged,
however Marc did an amazing job; the ring is gorgeous.
What's Next:Right now Marc & I are sitting in the Atlanta airport, waiting for our flight to New York. Going to Israel late tonight/early in the morning. I'm staffing another
Shorashim Birthright trip, and Marc starts ulpan at
Hebrew U before starting the
Pardes Educators Program in September. I'll be in and out of the States/Israel over the summer, then in Israel for the year starting in October. My number in Israel (for now), is 054-209-3076 (calling from the States it would be 011-972-54-209-3076)
:)
