oh yeah, it's like lightning

the last couple of days have been perty normal-like. went to ulpan, then work, then was SUPPOSED to go to jerusalem to a party being thrown by some of our israeli soldier friends, with alice (alli, al--- she calls me shelly, so i call her alice. it happens). but it was too late and too complicated because of the holiday (another one, sukkot). so we just took the bus into tel aviv and went to an amazing bureka restaurant. then a bar. then crashed at a friend's house. nothing too exciting. but really want to play music. the next day, i found out via alice that we were getting picked up by orna and having sukkot dinner at her house with her and her brother's family. but we sort of dilly-dallied around eating at king george (famous restaurant in tel aviv). it was really yummy. i had a burger. i haven't had a burger in soooooooooo long. plus, the dreamy bartender gave us some free wine. so not too bad. we called orna to see if she could pick us up from tel aviv instead of ramla, but luckily her brother and his family lives in tel aviv, so they picked us up form my friend's place and we drove to orna's in lepid. it was kinda cute and awkward riding with them because we had no idea who they were and vice versa, but we managed. orna's brother works in film production also and produced the movie, the band's visit, about an egyptian band coming to israel. i actually remember previews for this movie and really wanted to see it, so he said he would being me a copy!!! really excited about it. at orna's i ate myself stupid. here's a little sample of the menu:

carrot, yam, onion soup
mushroom tortellini
pesto gnocchi
potatoes au gratin
amazing pine nut salad
cheese bread
chocolate ice cream bites
tiramasu pie
apple pie

yeah, now you know why. after dinner, we just hung out with eran, yarden, and orna's brother's sons, who are both really sweet. actually, the older, yonatan, is going to be doing the same year of service that our israeli volunteer friends are doing before they go to the army. so we talked to them a little about that. we also met elan's mother, who is a pianist, and her boyfriend which is her husband's, who passed away, brother. i dont know either. but everyone was so sweet and i had a lovely time. OH! on the way home orna, yarden, alice and i played this game. it's like fuck-marry-kill, but someone has to give you three names of celebrities and you must decide whether you will marry them, spend a short time on a love boat with them, or just have sex with them. i died when orna was explaining this to me in her accent, right next to yarden, her 15 year old daughter. but we played. my fave combo of the night, which i gave to alice was:

"i'd spend a short period of time on a love boat with bill cosby, marry robin williams, ......

and have sex with steve martin."

and i was done. i basically passed the fuck out once we got home and slept until abou 3PM today. since it is sukkot, we got to sleep in which was nice. then we woke up and watched TV and hung out. smoked a little shisha from the nargilah (hookah). al and i may go to tel aviv tonight. we're still in search of 'our' bar. you know, that one perfect one. ships... talked to a good friend tonight about when i am coming home. plus my dad. i really don't know. i don't want to say i'm coming home on time because i don't know. i really want to go to africa. and india. i am almost afraid to come home, things will either be dramatically different and i'll have a hard time getting back into it (job, music, life, etc.) or everything will be the same and ILL be different. its weird. but anyway, i'm taking it a day at a time.

miss you all. love you dearly.

sally