his goal in life was to be an echo

o mashu cazeh (or something like this). i'll start with the important stuff, and fill in the backwards backwards. got it?

so the biggest thing that happened yesterday was that my mom left to go back to the states. or last night actually. i thought i might cry because i don't know when i'll see her again. and in truth it was really nice to have her here, all aggravations and annoyances included. even the embarrassing stuff carried a nostalgic tinge to it. i was proud of her. wanted to show her off. after finally getting her in a cab, laughing through it, we got to the airport with 15 minutes to say goodbye. i stood with her in the airport line and after a few minor power struggles and more laughs i finally had to leave her. we hugged, and i told her that i had grown a new appreciation for her and that she was much cooler than i thought. this seemed to have taken her aback just a bit. it was lovely. she of course told me how proud she is of me and that i should call lisette to discuss my africa plans because lisette always gives me good advice. which is true. so we hugged a whole lot and kissed and i wished her a safe flight and to call me once she lands in jersey and again once she gets home. i will miss her. she's a great lady and i'm proud to have sprung from her uterus. k, moving on...

so the last time i left you, mom and i hopped in a sheruit to tel aviv and then another to get to her hotel from the central station. when we got on, there was only one other guy and he happened to be from alabama (made alliyah for a girl, she dumped him now he may be moving to florida with another one). then 5 guys (one basketball coach and 4 dancers/djs that just got back from dubai) from new york hopped on (the driver tried to greet them with a hearty "what's up my nigga?". that did NOT go over well. caused a lot of tension at first.) then, another guy that i didn't notice before whom i assumed was ethiopian was a really tall tenor saxophone player that has been in israel for 30 years. it was a cool time. i want to make a short film bout that sheruit ride. anyway, mom and i got back to her hotel and i crashed and burned.

the next morning we got picked up for our tour. i did realize something interesting, i asked mom if she wanted to read my book and she said that she only wanted to read something 'light'. i realized that i am not exactly like her and that i am my own person. we are very similar in lots of ways, but lalala. i was pretty grumpy for the first part of the day, but i got some cool photos at the places we saw and we met a really nice friendly british couple. so i warmed up a bit. we went to a lookout point, drove past some really cool churches that i'd never seen, went to the old city and the shuk, went through the muslim and christian quarters of the old city which was sweet since i'd never been. the church of the holy sepulcre is amazing. got some cool pictures there too. i'm proud of myself. i'm getting stronger. plus, we ate hummus. then mom and i sipped out on the rest of the tour to meet her cousin, rusty, and his daughter and granddaughter. my relatives too obviously. so we went to this amazing vegetarian restaurant called village green near kikat zion. so delicious. we all had a lovely chat and took some photos. i got my ear talked off about really depressing things, but i listened carefully. it was a good lesson. i don't listen enough.

anyway, after dinner, mom and i wanted to do some shopping, so we got a reccommendaton from rusty to go to geula street. so we took a cab there. if you want to know my idea of a NOT good time, go to geula street. it's a street designated solely for orthodox clothing, wares, items, food, everything. basically blander than the amish. but i digress. plus i was real tired. and grumpy. actually i just typed 'frumpy' and erased it, but it was probably true too.

anyway, we caught a cab back to the bus station and waited in a sheruit for what seemed like days while the drive stood outside and yelled, "TELAVIVTELAVIVTELAVIV!" over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over... you get the point.

we finally got back to tel aviv and parted ways. came home and hung with the roomies for a while and i realized that if i don't constrict myself to the thoughts in my body and preconceived notions i have about myself, i could do a lot more. just be open to whatever happens. david (german buddy) stayed over and we each cuddled up in our own blankets and curled up, falling asleep to sigur ros. woke up and went to sharet for tutoring. we were on time, but had to leave early for our VISA meeting, which was a bummer because i really like the kids there. i think they were a little disappointed.

on the way back home, alli and i walked through an apartment parking lot like we always do. but this time, there was a man throwing things away in the dumpster, but left a few rugs on a fence. so, being the natural scavengers that alice and i are, we decided to stuff these rugs in our backpacks and see what we could do with them at home. we started to walk away when the man started to call us in hebrew, so of course we did the only thing you can do in that situation: completely ignore him and walk faster. we weren't trying to steal anything, we genuinely had no idea this man did not want these rugs. we didn't do anything wrong, but our bodies disagreed with our moral stance on the matter. we just kept walking faster and faster while the man kept getting louder and harder to ignore. all of a sudden he comes up from behind and approaches us in hebrew. we stop and pretend not to know what he's saying. he grabs al's backpack and takes the rugs back. we die of embarrassment and walk home quickly. once we recovered from this episode, we walked to the ramla mall/central bus station (same building, mind you, which also houses the government offices) to handle our visa stuff. blah blah blah, i did it. my visa officially now expires january 19, 2009 unless i extend it further. which i'll have to pay for. whatevskies. anyway, after the meeting naama and i talked about my schedule in the food court over some mcdonald's fries. yeah, mcdonalds then alice and i found the flea market in ramla that everyone raves about. we scored big time. it was just like the yaffo market but i had no idea that the wednesday shuk (the big cool traveling one) was so awesome. we both grabbed some cool shit before making one amazing dress shop stop before making it home.

i had to get to tel aviv to see mom off, and david was getting ready to go to the sub kuch so we shared a sheruit. it was actually a very sweet ride. he asked me to play the postal service on my ipod and we both listened. the sunset streaked scenery was slowly streaming past our windows as we listened, occasionally catching a smile from the other. when we arrived, he asked me if i also thought that it was an oddly refreshing and relaxing moment. i did. we parted ways and i walked, tripped, and searched unsuccessfully for a sheruit all the way back to mom's hotel. finally got to her, and i watched TV while i nagged her to get ready so we could go do the souvenier shopping she wanted us to do. we FINALLY got her packed and ready, then we went down to say goodbye to her jam friends from the pizza joint downstairs and shopped a little bit before meeting the cab that took us to the airport and would take me back to ramla afterwards.

i already described the goodbye. i found out today after speaking with her, that she had read her ticket wrong and should've stayed for an extra day, which is a bummer. but it was nice to talk to her. she's safe and sound. i need to make her a list of all the reasons i'm proud of her. got dropped off by a very nice cab driver. i sat in the front (after being kicked out of, and then let back in the front due to random inspections...) and we had a nice chat. alice and i spoke to a very good friend of ours, who will be henceforth known as angelo.

this morning, we went to the elderly center and we brought the camera that karen is letting us use to get footage for the segment we're making about ISC and what we're doing here. i spent most of my time knitting (denise did a lot of work on the scarf she started for my mom last week and so i picked up where she left off). i'm really getting the hang of it i think. so i spent my time working on the scarf and getting pimped out, by denise, to her grandson (whom i've found out is my age). after i stupidly answered her question as to whether or not i have a boyfriend in the negative, she basically rings him and hands me the phone since she can't speak english. we ask each other a few questions and i realize pretty quickly that there is a reason why grandmothers in israel must resort to pimping out their grandsons. and the worst part about the whole scenario is how persistent they are. he pulled every trick out of the book to hang out tonight. its like, 'look man, no thanks m'kay?' when i turned down his request for my number, instead getting his, denise looked in her number book to find it since i'd given it to her earlier. ayayay. yentas. we finished up the day dancing with the oldies, after which, al and i headed to the mall again to pick up a prescription for her, then grabbing a half falafel from gadi's place before booking it home so al would be able to get her whistle before coaching soccer at sharet. apparently this whistle is a necessary accessory. whew say that ten times fast...

when i got home, i spent a few hours picking photos for a photo book i want to make chronicling my time here. i'm real excited about it. i skyped some friends and got to speak to shmiffany and jojo and andy (whom i love very much) and wish them a happy thanksgiving. after she finished coaching for the night, al called me and invited me along with buffy and jen, to the indian restaurant for our own thanksgiving dinner. we all took turns expressing what we are thankful for. i am thankful that mom came and for all the lessons i'm learning about myself and others. and we ate delicious food as well. full and happy, we all walked home and have been listening to music and talking and knitting. well i've been knitting. and i got to talk to josh, donna, mom, dad, eddie, and joan. the last three are in florida for thanksgiving. i asked everyone what they were thankful for. i called gammy, but no answer. i am also thankful for all of the experiences i'm having here, and the lessons i'm learning from myself and others. i am also thankful that i get to sleep in my bed for an extended period of time. we were supposed to sleep in the sub kuch tonight, but luckily al and i both agreed that it would be nicer to sleep at home. it's going to be a long weekend. tomorrow, we're going to the yaffo market with david and then to natanya with eran. can't fucking wait. i also noticed that when i make a mistake while knitting, i get stressed out. but it's ok that the scarf isn't perfect. it's imperfections are what make it unique. i should remember that.

OH, and naama brought alice and i the vid cam from oranim so we can film our documentary! woo.

AND i emailed dad al and i's passport stuff so we can go to petra and jordan right before new year's eve.

AAAAAND that's al folks...

goodnight...

love,

sally