I suppose I have quite a few updates since I've posted last... July was a sort of transition month for me... I knew I would be heading to the states, and I had just returned from an amazing time in Romania, so I wasn't terribly active... I did, however, visit a Sudanese Refugee Center at the end of month and it gave me a renewed sense of blessing.  These people have so much joy and thanksgiving in their hearts, even though they have nothing.  Most of them are living in Israel illegally or on temporary visas, and cannot even work, and because they've been to Israel, the hostile Islamic Combatants in Sudan will execute them upon their return, so they are truly homeless.  It really impacted me.  

That evening, we invited the director over to our home for a mixer with some of the donors of the project, and we had so much fun... I'll post some photos below of the mixer, but I won't post pictures of the refugees for security reasons.  
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One of the many perks of living in the Holyland is having visits from friends from the past.  One such example is my friend from elementary school Sharona.  Sharona has been living in Washington DC and was accepted to be a research assistant at the Moshe Dayan Center this summer... which just happens to be at my school!  It was so neat when we realized that we were going to be reunited... I haven't seen her in 15 years, although we have been friends on facebook.  I have some photos of her first week here, but I was able to introduce her to everyone and she has really adjusted well!  A girl named Lisa also was on her program with her, and the funny thing is that Lisa studies in the same department I graduated from at Indiana Wesleyan!  What a small world.

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The Wachtler Girls... Well... About the Wachtlers - I met Jalene (Yael) in Jerusalem last year, and she felt like God wanted her to return to Israel.  She and her sister Jennifer took a big leap of faith, and arrived a couple of weeks ago without return tickets!  They want to stay long term.  I was able to introduce them to several key people and they are having so much fun!  
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Lilah Levan is a celebration in Tel Aviv celebrating the cities admission to the Architectural Hall of Fame for it's unique architectural style: Bauhaus, but really it was just an excuse to party.  It was an evening of white - many people dressed in white - and an evening of history - there were people dressed in gowns and tuxedos waltzing among other things. People stayed up all night celebrating in the streets.  I went to a friend's birthday party and then went with a friend Stephanie downtown to see what all the action was about... We had a great time, and we met up with our friends Ariel and Chaim!  Check out the pics.  Afterwards, we got some frozen yogurt - and I decided to put on a little skit.  Check out the video!

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PARTY WEEKEND! 05/25/2009
 

I have to be honest, I did absolutely nothing this weekend except for clean and party!  Thursday was Yom haStudent - or Student Day at the University.  They pulled out the stops, bands, activities, food, everything.  It was great fun.  I got back at 3 in the morning from that.

Friday, one of our friends, Sigalit, had her 30th birthday party.  She lives in a penthouse overlooking the whole city and has an AMAZING patio that takes up most of the roof of the building.  Her family is Jewish from India and she threw a Bollywood-themed birthday... I'll let the pics speak for themselves.
Shabbat was our turn.  Omer, Luke and I decided to throw a Channukat haBeit - which means housewarming party.  We planned a Sushi party, but didn't have the ability to pull it off...  So about 5 girls came and cooked all afternoon so we would be ready by 8pm. It cost us about $300 to buy all the supplies - OUCH!  But, it was worth it... PEOPLE LOVED IT!!! And everyone loves our apartment - which makes me very happy, because entertaining is one of my favorite things to do.  I've got pics from that too!
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I decided, because I am so close, to celebrate my Golden Birthday (turning 25 on the 25th) by visiting the city of gold: Jerusalem.  I had a wonderful time visiting the old city, followed by a time of prayer at the Kotel - the Western Wall.  Then I took a bus with the Ultra-Orthodox and rode to King David Street.  I photographed everything with my name on it.  Then I had dinner at the King David Hotel - Israel's finest and most famous hotel.  Afterward, I returned to Tel Aviv and met up with some friends to go Salsa dancing for my birthday.  It was lots of fun!

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A family-friend from Sacramento, Yvonne Turner, is teaching english in Bet Jala (near Bethlehem) in the West Bank.  She arrived on Tuesday, and we planned to get together in Jerusalem after she arrived.  Well, today was the day, and we had a fabulous time.  We met at the Damascus gate, and we walked all over the Old City.  We even passed by the entrance to the Temple Mount and asked the guards if we could take a picture of the Dome of the Rock.  They said it was fine... SO... we did!  Afterward, we walked to the Western Wall, and I was able to pray briefly at the wall... Then we enjoyed a mediocre shwarma at a restaurant in the Jewish Quarter.  It was a great day, and it was so nice to have an friend from Sacramento in Israel with me.  

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Tonight I'm going to a dinner party in honor of Tzachi and Sarah.  Tzachi (my roommate) proposed to Sarah, and she accepted.  They are getting married in June but wanted to celeb

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New Years Party 01/05/2009
 

I took part in a really nice, yet paradigm-shifting New Year's Party.  First we were with probably over 100 young adults at the Congregation for a Pizza Party and singing with the live band.  It was alot of fun, and afterward, several of us went to a restaurant/tavern for some more fellowship.  I didn't get back until 3:45am... needless to say, I didn't make it to class in time, but it was worth it.  We had a fun time - and the best part is we all remember it!

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