Well, hello everyone. I know I only posted a couple of days ago, but here's a quick update-of-my-life post. It will be quick because I've not been doing very much for the last week. After the wedding and Jerusalem things slowed down quite a bit. I learned an important lesson last weekend- prepare for Shabbat. I don't mean candles and prayers, I mean groceries. Everything closes early on Friday (if they're even open on Friday) and if you're not prepared with food stuffs you will waste away. Thankfully there is a 24-hour convenience store close my school, and I'm relatively certain the staff there now knows me as the ginger who realllly likes Honey Nut Cheerios.
Shabbat also made it difficult for me to T.C.O.B. (take care of business) the way I had planned to once I found some free time. So, I spent the weekend wallowing in my homesickness (it was bound to happen, right?) and come Sunday (which is the Israeli Monday) I set about my chores. I opened a bank account (I had to sign a few documents that were in Hebrew, but I think I'm okay), finally got a student ID (albeit a temporary one), and ordered a cell phone (thanks for the help, Dad!). The cell phone was probably #1 on my list of priorities, and went a long way towards making me feel like a normal person again. Its not a smartphone, but all I can do is remember all of the times I heard myself say "I really just want a phone that makes calls and sends text messages. That's it." I happen to repel technology, so I'll take my shitty little rented Samsung as a blessing in disguise. At least now I can contact people if I'm on the go. Seriously, how did people live without mobile devices?
Monday was my 27th birthday, and brought with it all sorts of unexpected emotions. My cell phone arrived, so that was great. I did some laundry, cleaned up the apartment, and killed an intruder in the kitchen. Whaaaat? Well, he was big enough to be considered a who, not a what. He was a bee that was, I'm dead serious, the size of a hummingbird- his body was as thick as my middle finger (which I flashed at him as he died a slow death after being hit with my Sperry Topsider). I have never seen a bug that big in my home, and I was trembling for probably ten minutes after the whole ordeal was over.
RIP, dude. Not.
To celebrate my birthday Libbie and I went to a Zumba class at her gym and afterwards hung out and ate pizza- it was exactly what I wanted, just some quality time with a close friend. Zumba was hilarious, I think I burned more calories laughing than I did from actually dancing. I was a little worried that it would be in Hebrew and I would be totally lost- but the only language you need for Zumba is rythym. Which I have in spades, obviously. Libbie and I are going to go to class every Monday for awhile, get really good at the dances, and then unleash our choreographed skillz on some unsuspecting Tel Aviv nightclub. It's going to be fantastic. After class Libbie was talking with a gym employee about coupons or something and a song I loved came on...so I danced while I waited. Apparently some dude at the counter said to them in Hebrew "Gingers. What do you expect?" Vintage. I truly am a second class citizen here.
Thanks, Libbie, for helping me celebrate 27!
Now, I have never been one to lament a birthday- it's a time to celebrate! But 27 feels old to me. Especially when so many of my friends are getting married and having babies. I'm happy with my life choices, I believe that the only way for me to be happy with someone else is if I'm happy with myself first, and this move is a big part of that. However, the other night I was in a taxi and the driver and I were talking about kids and life and he told me that I'm waiting too long to have a family- that 30 is probably the oldest a woman should be before having children. Now, look, I'm fully aware this cab driver is NOT a fertility expert by day, and I'm not actually worried about being able to have children. Now, in that moment, I realized that if I am here for three years like I originally planned, I won't even be done with grad school before I am 30. And in order to pay for grad school (and to achieve my goals) I'm going to have to work for awhile afterwards. Whatever, it got under my skin a little. I'll shake it off, but the point of this blog is to be honest about what I'm experiencing, right? So, there it is. I'm going through some strange quarter-life crisis. Brought on by an Israeli cab driver and the passage of time.
This weekend (aka Thursday night, the Israeli Friday night) I'm going to go out with some new and old friends to drown birthday sorrows and enjoy myself. If you're in Tel Aviv give me a call- the more the merrier!
3 comments:
LOL! "Gingers - what do you expect" I love it
I am glad that you will have food on weekends from now on! Once, in DC, we were cabbing to a work party and the cab driver told me all about myself- how he could tell how high maintenance I was and that I am like so many women he knows, etc... I learned then that cab drivers are probably just bored and we shouldn't listen to most of what they say. I hope you learned the same thing. Good try old man, but life is different these days. We take things day by day and don't put deadlines on ourselves. I'm proud of you for becoming who you want to be and I love you!
Happy belated birthday 2 my most favorite ginger cousin...true u r my only ginger cousin but that doesn't really matter does it? Lol I love u n miss I very much n im so proud n jealous of u! Im going out 2nite n I will make sure that the first toast of the nite goes 2 my beautiful n brave Nenna!
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