The Queen of Carrot Flowers

So now I'm home. It feels very strange to be back. The truth is, for all its flaws and imperfections and things I didn't love, the trip was a pretty major life experience for me, and it's weird that I've done something so huge and now I'm back and things here are the same they always were. I guess I'm supposed to have some nice little concluding statement about what the trip meant to me and what I got out of it and the impact it's going to have on my life, but the truth is I don't really know any of that stuff. I think it gave me an appreciation for the daily struggle that Israel faces, and it gave me an even greater sense of pride in being Jewish and those are important things. I know that I still have a lot to think about.

Yesterday I saw my family and Rachel and Gabriella and I almost cried from joy. It's so nice to be home.

Four days.

ONLY 3 WEEKS UNTIL I TOUCH SWEET AMERICAN SOIL ONCE MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH DEAR GOD AM I EXCITED TO RETURN TO MY HOMELAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On a sad note, a moment of silence for the sudden and unexpected passing of Adam G. Levin's livejournal. We knew you for too short a time.

Ok so I've made the decision that will irrevocably determine every moment and event of my life from this point on forever and ever as long as I live...it looks like I will be part of the University of Maryland class of 2010. Unless it takes me like 7 years to make it through college (which is entirely possible due to my hardcore partying and drug consumption), in which case I would be part of the class of...um, I'm not sure, I can't really add. Which is probably why I didn't get into Tufts. They can go fuck their big fat jumbo elephant. Not that I'm bitter. No seriously. I actually don't care. I like crabs. And the Chesapeake Bay.

But anyway, yeah, go Terps.

Long story short: 1.5 kilos of pot, I'm 18, Negev is hot, Golan Heights is the scene. Aren't you impressed with my rhyming skills?

I'm seeing Ms. Martha Nudel in approximately 1 hour. I wish I could see everyone from home, I miss you all so much. Adam, please don't shave your beard, per Rachel Gutman's request. And mine.

Happy Passover everyone, think of me at the annual Levin-Nudel-Gutman-Fields seder! Tell Ivy and Donald and Jason I say hi!

It seems kind of pointless to update this since what I'm about to say I've already said to pretty much everyone who reads this journal, but I'll say it anyway. So far I'm disappointed with the trip. It has a very school-like atmosphere. I wasn't expecting it to be like JDS Jewish History all over again. The trips that we've taken have been rather disappointing. Much of the time I'm bored. Also, the teaching style is really not effective. Either we have incredibly long and boring lectures, or we have very manipulative discussions. For example, we saw a Crusader fortress and while we were there the teacher sat us down and asked us whether we would come and help Israel when the country was in a time of need. And it was so obvious that there was a right answer and a wrong answer, and people were saying yes of course, I would come to Israel to help, and I was just so fed up I had to call people on it. I was like, it's really easy for us to sit here while Israel is in a pretty stable period and say, oh yes we would come if terrorism got really bad or Iran decided to nuke Israel or something, but when it comes right down to it, I don't really believe that any one who said yes would actually come here. So I'm not so crazy about the learning part. And it's fun being with my friends, and I've become closer with some people that I wasn't so close with in school, but I don't think that I'm developing any great new bonds with people. I've always kind of felt like the whole "you'll bond with all these new people and make a bunch of new friends" thing was a load of shit. I mean, I've been at this school for 12 years, and I have these friends for certain reasons, and I'm not friends with other people for certain reasons, and I don't think that 3 months in Israel will really change all that. I've also been very homesick and missing my family and friends back home. At this point I'm just wondering why everyone has always come back and said that it was a life-changing experience. I don't think that anyone here really feels that way, at least not yet. I think that part of it is that JDS really makes you believe that this is the only and best way to experience Israel, and there has been so much hype about this trip from the earliest days at JDS, so there is a lot of pressure for it to be amazing and life-changing. I think that people don't want to come back and say, it was okay, not amazing. People want to say that it changed their lives and made them different people, because if they don't then they feel like it was a waste. I don't know. I just hope it gets better.

In a few hours I will get on a plane and fly across an ocean and land in a place I have never been before. I am excited and anxious and terrified all at once. I will update as often as I can. I'm expecting lots of emails (and you can expect emails in return!). I'll see you all when I get back.

I leave you with the words of the immortal Jerry Springer: Take care of yourselves, and each other.

XO,
SNL

I just found out that I got into Michigan.

Oh, decisions.

The Blizzard refuses to accept my offer of facebook friendship. This upsets me greatly.

Another thing that upsets me greatly is saying goodbye to people I love.

Hm. Well. Lots and lots has happened in the 4-day livejournal update drought. Por ejemplo, I made the trek up to the frozen tundra that they call Michigan to see the university of said frozen tundra. Which was fun. I guess. Yay for awkward JDS encounters! It's strangely comforting to know that they continue even when JDS is over. I think it somehow becomes more acceptable to acknowledge that you went to school with someone for 775457 years once you're no longer at the school. Also, Rachel's sorority sister told me that I'll need to start drinking once I get to college. Thanks for the sound advice, call me up when you need a liver transplant. Um. Last night I went over to G-ella's house for a partay. Which consisted of me, G-ella and Rachel Simone Gutman. Rachel baked a lovely cake with chocolate frosting that said "Happy Sala Day" on it in red. Because apparently it was Sala Day. Although, I mean let's be honest, isn't every day Sala Day? I took a picture. And Gabriella gave me The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which I've been wanting to read for a while now. And a mix CD. It really hit me that I'm going to miss them a lot when I'm away. They make me laugh.

Also, I'm worried that my newly blossomed relationship with Rachel Simone will not be able to survive the long distance. And that she will find someone else to satisfy her bosom-heaving needs. And then my life will be over.