…and a happy new year!

aha! back again.

since we left off, life has been densely packed with emotional upheaval and ruminations/germination of thoughts of future thoughts…all well and good, I assure you. Biggest headline: I met my family. No, scratch that; bigger headline: I LOVE THEM! for all of you who have facebook, you will see some photographic evidence of said relatives. I got picked up from the bus stop by my dad’s first cousin, Uri, and the resemblance was so shocking that i started crying my eyes out on the spot. poor guy; he must’ve thought i was nutso. anyway we went back to his house to hang out with his lovely wife, Danna (whose sweetness and warm, welcoming maternal hug prompted another outburst of waterworks—though she was much more comfortable with it, thankfully), and layla, their adorable doggie (who happened to be on her period and was outfitted with a slightly less-than-ingenious diaper contraption with a maxi pad…watching her lick herself and fuss with it provided hours of entertainment). their 13 yr old son, Nadav, was much like my brother Yan in his aloof wandering about in his territory between the computer and his guitar, and, conveniently for him, his english was not so great so he was exempt from exchanging more than a few words. it was soon a big homecoming, as more and more people began to trickle in; David (my dad’s other first cousin) arrived straight from the airport—he had graciously agreed to transport some of my forsaken clothes from home, as well as a much-craved jar of peanut butter..and a note to all weary travelers: do NOT attempt to smuggle peanut butter across international borders. the germans will undoubtedly get you.

uri’s brother, Natan, arrived with his girls: Gefen, 16, Arbel, 12, and Netta, 7. All of them bubbly and chatty and incredibly curious about their new cousin who somehow appeared out of nowhere (the little one looked at me as though i’d come from the moon!). Uri’s two older kids, Yoni, (25, artist, studying architecture), and Tamar, (23, singer/dancer/actress) were the final addition to the party—all together, it was like stepping into a whirlwind of hugs and hellos and who are yous, and laughter and incredulity, and more laughter yet. we sat down for a big meal, and afterwards rushed off to synagogue for shabbat services. my favorite part was when the rabbi asked everyone to please turn off all cell phones and pagers, and an old lady’s phone inevitably rang in the middle of it anyway—and she started talking right there!! reform shul is definitely in a league of its own. the next day we lazed around after another morning service, and i went to my grandmother’s brother, mordechai,’s house, where he showed me old pictures of the family. my grandma had something like 10 siblings; each one of them has a story, and i will not go into detail as i’m sure my family tree is of little interest to anyone aside from my own family, but needless to say mordechai wrote a book about it and it’s a darn good thing. i will say that his first impression of me was that i looked like his sister, esther. i had never heard of her before (some of the other siblings’ names were familiar to me), and it turns out she was the only one of the clan who died in the war before they all came to israel; an edict ordering all jewish women to be turned in was issued, and her husband handed her over (i’m not sure if it was to the germans, or russians, or austro-hungarians…you’ll have to read the book). they don’t know what happened to her afterwards; it was eerie to look at a blurry mirror-image of myself through the window of time (as mordechai was correct in stating the similarity). anyway that was intense, and after the bar-mitzvah party (a nice big dinner at a restaurant right on the beach), i went to tel aviv with yoni and tamar and talked for hours over beer and edamames. overall, the weekend was brilliant, and i intend to visit them again very soon.

phew. ok so that was dense, sorry, there’s just so much to say about it, and the whole experience really floored me.

afterwards we had a week of class, and then rosh hashana came along to usher in a new year in the jewish calendar. we spent 4 days in the old city, and thankfully the rotting smell had dissipated substantially since my last visit in the heat of the summer, though it was no less claustrophobic. we shared our living quarters with the families of 3 of our staff, which totalled 6 parents and 11 shrieking, wild kids—you do the math. shabbat was less than restful, but i had a nice time hanging out by the western wall, watching the myriad of people flow by, and pondering the meaning of israel, judaism, god, and everything else. i still can’t figure this place out, but it’s ok, i’m slowly getting used to it existing as a strange phenomenon (in my own life, and the world)…

we’re back to a shadow of a routine now, with classes more or less on schedule, and more holidays approaching…our school is at the top of a forested hill, and i shortcut through a dance company’s complex to get up there; seeing the dancers every day was too much for me, and i went in and befriended the director of the company, and have begun to badger him about getting a modern dance class started for people like me (with no background but a burning to bust out some moves). he said he’d work on it…i’m keeping my fingers crossed that by my return in january i will have something fun to do!! i am also gearing up for my move, which will take place oct.8th, from my cushy apartment to shared dormitories at another school’s campus…a bit scary, but i think it will be a good change. this week also marks the booking of my ticket to sri lanka, and another big headline: it is a return ticket to israel. yup. big decision. don’t quite know exactly what i’ll be doing at that point, but i want to be here, with my friends and with my cousins—the rest will sort itself out. this is the Land of Idealism, and things here are governed by a different process than elsewhere. i have no substantiated worry that if i show up here (once again) with my bag on my back and not a clue in the world, i will not be taken care of. 

so. there you have it. until the next never-ending outpouring of my life…shana tova!