When I first started writing in my journal I thought about how easy it was to take a couple of minutes every day, or every other day, to catch up on what has been happening here. It was not until I discovered that last time I wrote was in the middle of September that I realized how difficult it has been to find some time to write. But, alas! I am here sitting in our apartment as David surfs the net and watches ESPN, both of us with way too full bellies from our twenty four hours of fasting. Here goes my attempt to catch everyone who will be reading this up with my life:

David and I had a wonderful time up in Haifa when we visited a friend of mine, Lior, from my Hillel Birthright trip. His family was just as amazing as Tomer’s when we went to Tel Aviv, their house was incredible, and we had such a great time. Lior was our own personal tour guide who showed us Haifa at night, took us for the best sushi we have had since we have been in Israel, amazing dessert, to a Druze village in the morning, and a huge lunch made by Lior’s mom right before David and I left on Saturday evening. We really enjoyed getting to know his family and being around Israel besides Jerusalem. Lior’s house overlooks the water and that was really neat for us especially during both Friday and Saturday’s sunsets.

When we came home from Haifa, the rest of the next week was spent packing for the States. I was privileged enough to go home to Dallas for Ashley’s, my best friend, wedding. It is hard for me to go through all the details of that weekend but like my mom pointed out, everyone that will be reading about this only cares about what I am doing in Israel. However, Ashley was a beautiful bride, she was incredibly calm during the whole thing, and the entire weekend was amazing and wonderful.

I was prepared to arrive back in Israel on Monday night right before Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, by leaving Dallas on Sunday afternoon. When I got to the airport and was about to check in I found out that there was a baggage handler strike in Paris (where my layover was) and that we would have to recheck my bags in Paris before getting on my flight to Israel. It turns out that I would miss my flight to Israel and that the Israeli airline shuts down during the Jewish New year. Thank goodness I found out about this before leaving for Paris and being stuck in a foreign country, with no clothes mind you, for Rosh Hashana. My mom had to come back to the airport to get me and I was reissued a ticket through Zurich leaving on Wednesday afternoon and getting me back to Israel Thursday night. I was a bit bummed at first because I was missing David already and I would not be in Israel for Rosh Hashana, and I would be missing yet another day of school. Oy! So, after a bit of disappointed feelings I was able to enjoy myself in Dallas. I spent Rosh Hashana with my mom and was able to be in Israel just in time for the weekend to try and catch up on jet lag.

It is now Thursday and I am still dealing with jet lag. It has been a week and I hoping that by this weekend I will be feeling better. Yom Kippur began last night, a very important Jewish holiday. It was especially important being here for the holiday. Many Jews fast during this twenty four holiday and so we began our pre-fast dinner at a friend’s house before heading out to services at school. Services both yesterday and today were pretty incredible. They were in this very large room that overlooks the Old City and we were for both sunsets. It was awesome! Something that I felt privileged to experience. I was able really glad to be at services where many of my friends were in the choir and had solos and I enjoyed listening to them “perform” for us. Last night after services, a group of us walked to a very popular street in Jerusalem, Emek Refaim. The street is usually bustling with people, cars, taxis, and amazing restaurants. Last night, though, was quite different. There were thousands of people out in the streets. Most of the people were wearing white (a tradition during this holiday) and were hanging out with friends and family. No street lights were on, no cars were in the streets, and the only other objects besides people and dogs on the streets were kids riding bicycles and parents pushing strollers. It was simply incredible! When walking home, it was silent everywhere. Not a single thing was open. No radio stations were playing and all television stations were turned off. Everyone was experiencing solitude in some way or another.

Now, with Yom Kippur being over for two hours already, I am almost sad to say goodbye to this holiday. We are usually so excited to be eating finally, which I was happy to do. However, I loved the silence. There were no television sets blaring, no honking horns, nothing in the streets, but people walking with their loved ones to celebrate together. After eating entirely too much tonight, I plan on going to bed, so that I can at least dream of the silence I so enjoyed experiencing over the past twenty four hours in Jerusalem.