it's such a perfect day, i'm glad i spent it with you.

its been a minute. sorry, i've been real busy. TWO lovely days ago, we went to the elderly center
at 8:30AM because zvi and naama were bringing potential donors from america to check out what we're doing with the program. we came in just in time to help clean up breakfast before we started aerobics and DANCE TIME. before dancetime however, we took the old folks on a walk around the premises. it was nice. yolanda, my walking partner, had 11 children. once we got back, i started making a beaded chamsa, and then... DANCE TIME. we just heard the music, and ran inside. the dance teacher lady gave us all hand-clapper thingys and we all just went wild. i was snapping photos of the old folks dancing and we all just had a blast. i got really good photos that day. also, the donors (husband and wife) that zvi brought in from NY were really inspirational, nice people. they have just started all these programs together for youth education and things that are really making an impact in the jewish community, or any community really. they made me think of uncle robert and aunt andi, and also that two people (even one) actually can make a difference if they care enough and take action to make those plans real. after the old folks center, al, jen, and i went to the 'yesh' (meaning 'there is') market for jen's party that night. these high school kids were interviewing people about the election on video (in hebrew of course). they were really funny with a fake microphone and everything, so that have footage of me acting like an idiot. probably. oh well. anyway, i got home with enough time to get ready for work.

at work, it was pretty quiet since coach was off for the night so i got to call aunt andi and uncle robert right before the funeral of his mom (whom we called grandma alice). it was nice that i got to talk to them and pay my respects. that was nice. also, i really felt like getting some coaching from marissa, but i forgot her number. i'll call her this week. after work, i came home to dressed up and dancing alli and jennifer. so i ran into our room and threw on a dress that alice had picked out for me. its one of those that shows off all my good parts, but in a classy way. so i got all geared up for the party, which went really well. there were some weird boy issues. and we'll say unexpected rejection was a word for the evening. before i went to bed, i felt like talking to a boy that knows me very well. i called josh but he didn't answer, then i called jeremy and had a lovely convo about what he's doing in CT. miss that guy. anyway, i woke up the next morning to another stomach attack. i really need to just stick to beer. even if i don't have more than 2 drinks, it'll kill my ability to function as a normal human being besides the intervals when i am not vomiting my lining. sorry to be descriptive. it's just stupid. i really don't drink very often at all, and when i do, i don't do it to get shithoused. but for some reason, my body hates me. so i get to figure that out. so i spent the next morning in misery and in and out of the bathroom. i finally just laid on my bed and thought maybe my stomach is just upset because i am stressed and not relaxed, i can't keep anything down. my dad had the same problem. so i tried laying on my back and relaxing my stomach muscles. that seemed to work and i wondered what it would be like if i just relaxed my stomach muscles. why did i started tensing them in the first place? maybe to suck in my belly? who knows. bad habit. BUUUUUUUUT, i also decided that i will stop thinking internally and focus my attention on other people and things to raise my self-awarness in a productive way. so that's cool i guess.

my stomach finally felt better after my experiment, so i got ready and we all went out to the sub-kuch for a pub crawl in tel-aviv (mine, an o'douls worthy night) for rayna, eric, and jennifer's birthdays. we all hung out for a while, and i even got to wake up david to talk to john-o on the phone. i also met some cool guys. one aussie, one mexican, and one arkansasian. they seemed interesting and work at the same agricultural center that we do, so i gave them our info to we can hang out with them some other time. it got to be around 11PM then everyone besides rayna, alice, and i wanted to leave. chico invited us to go to a house party in natanya, but we didn't have a ride until daniel gave p his seat so we could all go. chico drove with us and his friend yitzhak kind of far. but when we got there it was all worth it. the neighborhood was beautiful and not even a 2 minute walk from the mediterranean. we arrived and met chico's friends who all live in this house and play in a band together. we met eran, roni, and a couple of other guys. its great, because as soon as we walk in, i see a bass guitar plugged in surrounded by two classicals. i've never been so happy. we just drank coffee and jammed for a while. radiohead, beatles, other shit. it was great to play bass again. and the people were so sweet. eran is a joke, the singer of the band and really funny. roni is part of the crew too, but he is a painter and actually creates paintings on photoshop in real time while listening to the band play their songs. he showed me and i was really impressed. he never undoes or revises anything. just beautiful colorful sketches. we hung out and jammed and talked for a while and it got late, so we crashed there. this morning, we all woke up expecting to leave after having a wonderful beautiful hilarious chat while people watching from the stairs of the house, but our gracious hosts offered for us to stay for breakfast that they bought and prepared for all of us outside on their little patio thing. we all went back to the house after breakfast and jammed some more on bass and guitar before going to take a walk on the beach. we did so with the dogs and i have great photos of this day. we were just stationed on one part of the beach, when jet skiers decide to say hi. one of the pack, however, thinks its a great idea to splash us. by splash, i mean i'm running in slow motion and my back feels like its hit by fuckin' 'splash water falls' from six flags. so i'm soaked, more than rayna or alice. i'd been wanting to go swimming this whole time, but i was so wet that i just said fuck it and dove into the sea, headfirst. it was pretty sweet for a minute, but then i realized how fucking unfortunate it was that i'd be riding home in a car in soaking wet clothes. luckily we chilled at the beach long enough for me to dry out a bit. and to see horses running down the shore, and to see a puppy fight an ant, and see the ant almost win. we returned to the house and jammed even more, while i got to watch roni make a painting while we played. it was the most amazing thing i'd ever seen. just so precise but fluid. really beautiful stuff. and eran played, perfect day by lou reed. today really was a perfect day. we said our goodbyes and exchanged information, vowing to hang out again soon, before chico drove us to the central station where we caught a sheruit home.

once home, we had about 1 hour to get ready before orna came to pick us up for the bar mitzvah party. it was really cute how excited everyone was. we thanked her so much for inviting us and she said that it was a given since we are part of their family now. that made me really happy. she picked us up early, so alice and i helped her put candy on the tables for the dinner. the place where the party's being held is this amazing outdoor/indoor establishment with beautiful lights and a little pond with ducks. we waited until people arrived by playing wii and guitar hero, which i haven't played in ages. it was really fun. we watched a video eran made, which was devastating for him (he was overing his face the whole time). but hilarious. we ate good food and played good games. it was really low-key and lovely and sweet. orna took us home afterwards and we packed for our trip tomorrow to hike, ride camels, and dea-sea float. so excited. but tired. al and i had some good convos tonight about the world and whether what we're doing here is actually making a difference. and how people are inherently selfish (mine mine mine---the main problem for israel. such a smal, special place that everyone wants it), but that the solution to rectify this behaviour is so simple that people just don't do it. ANYWAY, i'm sorry it took so long and that it's mainly a laundry list of shit that i did. but i'm tired. and i love you.

love,

sally