Israel: Round II

Okay, it has definitely been a little while since my last post. My sincere apologize for that. Basically what happened is that things dramatically slowed down, in terms of work, IGF, social life, etc. Here is a brief breakdown-

Work: literally had no work, was just sitting in the office needlessly loosing my mind. You can imagine how frustrating this is when you/your parents are paying so much money for a supposedly unique experience.....right. The reason for this is a combination of things. My boss, although extremely sweet and caring aboutme, does not have enough time/idea of what to do with me. The beurocracy of the government doesn't help either, as there is a lot of discord and lack of unified vision between departments. After much consulation with Tamar (IGF director) and my parents, and with enough insistence on my part- hopefully this will change. Keep your fingers crossed

IGF: well, I guess when the internship aspect isn't going so well, its easy enough to get disenchanted with the program as a whole. I'm not giving up yet though!

Social Life: mmm...this aspect is still in the works. To anyone wondering - no - i am not close with anyone from my program. It's also a bit challenging because I haven't really found a community to be part of. For example, while i was studying in Oxford, I came upon the Chabad - which is how I ended up meeting some really great people, participating in events, and so on. Here, I haven't been able to find anything of the sort. So, either I get lucky and meet a great group of people, or keep sticking my nose in places it may or may not belong. It's really a matter of continuing to put myself out there. Granted, it's a bit harder to do when the weather is crap and all you want to do is stay under the covers. But persistence is the name of the game when it comes to Israel.

That's the general idea. In other news, as some of you may already know, yesterday I got back to Israel after a week long trip back home to CA. Oh my goodness, I can't even tell you how wonderful it was to be home. In my bed, driving around familiar neighborhoods, hot showers, family, friends, and genuine hugs and kisses. It was a much needed trip. The only bad part about the trip was that it ended all too quickly. Part of me couldn't help but dabble with the idea of staying home and forfeiting this whole IGF project. Yet, my friends empathized and encouraged me to continue and my family suggested a number of possible steps I can take to ensure that my experience here reaches its full potential (and doesn't become another waste of time/money). So, here I am, back in the Holy Land trying to keep that positive energy flowing.

In fact, I was ready to return to Israel with a 'go-getter' attitude, but of course, things don't always work out as planned. During my 4 hour stop over in London Heathrow Airport, my stomach really began hurting, and continued throughout the 4.5 hour flight to IL. To make a long story short - I ended up at a 24 hour emergency clinic in Jerusalem (suitecase and all)with the diagnosis of a stomach virus and an IV in my arm. oi! I got home in the middle of the night, exhausted and pretty demoralized. There was also a Tiyul which started today which I skipped. I may/may not miss the remainder of the Tiyul as well. UGH!!! Maybe this is the country's way of rejecting my presence. Maybe, it's just another challenge that is meant to help me grow and become that much better of a person. In any case - it kind of sucks (but makes for interesting blog writting) haha. I swear, I only attract the most ridiculous situations (especially when in Israel)!

So that pretty much covers everything. We'll see how things go from this point forward. In short, I'm going to give this whole thing another go- be aggressive, demanding, and outgoing. If, after all of that, things STILL don't work out - then I can say that I gave it a fair shot and come home. I need to make up some kind of mantra to keep me going. Maybe something like "Israel Israel, it's a balagan, but I am determined to make it fun" haha.

Israel round two: here i come!