Awww yeahhh...

...good week!

Tuesday night, I left the apartment shortly after writing and went over to Caf Tet Benovember 22.  I hung out with Cera and Ben Jirik for a while before Ben and I left.  On our way home, we cut through the park and found Nathan, Scott, Chanya, Sasha, Emilie, and a few others drinking.  We saw them from afar, so I suggested to Ben that we sneak up in our most stealth-like fashion (hence I yelled "ENTERING STEALTH MODE" at the top of my lungs [they did not notice]).  We ran from a wall to two separate trees, attempting to hide behind them--each one skinnier than our respective selves.  We then advanced farther up the line to two more thin trees closer to the group, but still they did not notice us.  I and Ben threw our flip-flops at the circled yet scattered group, and happened to miss everyone, which, of course, meant that they still did not notice.  Then Tomer suddenly appeared out of the bushes in a running outfit and yelled "Hey Emilie there are some Arsim throwing things at you...oh, wait, it's just Ittai and Ben."

They still did not notice us.  We walked up, briefly said hi, retrieved our shoes, and returned home.

Wednesday morning I woke up to go to the office for a Garin Tzedek meeting with Michal, Cera, Emilie, Nathan, and Laura--it was brief, but necessary and successful.  I then went for a strange run with Emilie, took a shower, did the dishes, and went to class.

Speaking of class, sometime last week, a girl in my Arab-Israeli conflict class asked Sheldon about the U.N. Partition Plan (Resolution 181, the Partition Plan for Palestine), and he began to talk about it, and then she asked what Israel would have looked like in it.

HOW DO YOU GET THIS FAR INTO A ZIONIST EDUCATION WITHOUT KNOWING, AT THE VERY LEAST, THE GENERAL GIST OF THE PARTITION PLAN?!

I'm pretty sure she only came to the realization that the plan split up the Israeli state into disconnected thirds after he explained it.  Yowza.

Anywho, Wednesday we had class, and then Cera and I went into Tel Aviv to work with the Mohammed family again (as we have practically every night this week).  We made them a new set of memory cards that are kitchen-specific items, and it was a bit harder for them to read and pick up on--but I'm sure they'll get it soon.  After, we went with another group of volunteers, consisting of some of the same from Tuesday but also some different ones, to the family center to have discussions with adults again.  It was pretty sweet, and everyone said they felt satisfied afterwards.  This is what I always envisioned the Garin being: an outlet for people to gain a sense of wholeness and appreciate another culture through extra volunteering--a chance to bond not only with each other but also with Darfuris.

After volunteering, we all went to a party at the Dancing Camel Brewery.  It was a fundraiser for the ARDC (African Refugee Development Center) in Tel Aviv, which has been out of food for a while.  With the money raised from the party, the ARDC sent three African refugee students to college at IDC Herzliya.  It was quite the good time--they had fantastically rich beer, and almost all of the scouts as well as plenty of other section 2 people came out to support the cause.  On the way home, Scott and I were fairly drunk, and were loudly singing Red Hot Chili Peppers songs near the highway.  We took the 140 bus home from Azrielli Towers, along with Nathan and Karin, and managed to beat all of the suckers who had taken the 19.  It was a good night.

Then, today, I woke up and went to volunteering.  This was more or less the same as usual, except for one thing:

There is a girl, Noi, who I have been working with for about a month and a half.  Every time I take her out of class, she just manages to cause trouble and distract the other kids.  About a month ago, I made her a chart that would allow her to know the sounds of English letters based on corresponding Hebrew ones.  I.E.: Aa א, Bb ב, Cc ק, except a bit more complicated.  Anyway, I guess she has been using it and actually studying somehow.  She used to not know how to read at all, but then, today, I went with her and a quiet girl out of the class and she was reading--not too well, but reading nonetheless, and getting a good portion of the words right.  It was fantastic, I don't think I've felt so proud since camp.  This is the sort of thing that makes volunteering at the school worth it, despite how bratty the kids can sometimes be.

After volunteering, I went to lunch with my family, Scott, and Nathan at El Goucho, a South American meat restaurant.  It was delicious, as usual, and it was nice for my parents and siblings to meet Scott and Nathan (as well as vice versa).  I bode them a final goodbye, since they are leaving tomorrow--although I'll see them in a month for Merav's bat mitzvah.  Scott, Nathan, and I then went to the Ulpan to have our bone marrow tested and put into the registry.  Arielle and Karin stayed late in order for us to come, since the drive had started during our lunch, which was nice of them.  It's interesting, apparently, there are thousands of different types of bone marrow, and they are pretty much all used for life-saving procedures.  The extraction of it from your system is supposed to hurt a good deal, but what does it really matter if you're going to save someone's life?  Besides, I also got a card that says I'm in the registry and can be called upon, as well as a lollipop.  Totally worth it.  After this, the 5 of us then went to the Hangar, a clothing store with novelty underwear.  I got a pair of boxer-briefs with a lion on them that looks eerily similar to the Young Judaea lion and says "One Love."

After this, I went back to the apartment, and then over to Adi's for a bit to meet some of her friends and give her my "Year Course Orientation 2009" shirt (which couldn't be uglier).  I then went for a quick run before I had an interview with Robin from CYJ Midwest about next year.  After this, I headed over to the art museum for the opening of the new exhibit--since Simon and Scott work there, they got to bar tend for the grand opening, which was pretty cool.  They were serving free vodka, and the art inside was intriguing, very post-modern stuff.  After this, Nathan, Scott, and I went over to Lizzy's apartment to hang out, and now I am back in the apartment.

I plan on going to Arad tomorrow to meet up with Noah and meet the Sudanese refugee community there, so that I do not enter into the situation in a vacuum without any knowledge or prior acquaintance.  It should be a fun weekend.  I hope you have a good one, take it easy, whoever you are!