Rain, Rain (DON'T) Go Away!

“The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

So, as you can probably guess from the title of this blog and the quote from above, IT’S RAINING IN JERUSALEM!

The raining all started on Thursday night, when we were about to start an NBA game. Since we went to the Idan Raichal Concert on Sunday, we needed a make up date, so we picked Thursday to be good day. The entire day was cool, and a little breezy… I kinda had a feeling it was going to rain! Right as the NBA tipped off, it started to come down, at a relatively hard drizzle. I was on the court at the time, and was not sure if I wanted to be running around on a slippery court, but we decided that it wasn’t raining too hard, so we would played it out! About 3 minutes into the game, it started to DOWNPOUR! It was crazy! All of the players in the game were having so much fun, that we didn’t want to stop, so we didn’t! By the end of the second game I played, I was completely soaked! It was the most fun I’ve had playing in the basketball league, and our team improved our record to 5-1! At the moment, I am second in the league for rebounds, with 10.2 rebounds per game!

After NBA, the rain stopped, and everyone went back, showered, and got dressed up to go out for the night! It was a Nativer’s birthday (Adina Allen), so we were going to go out to a classy bar, instead of the gross party bars that we normally spend our Thursday nights at. It was a lot of fun, and about halfway through the night, it started to downpour again! It was so exciting! I love running and playing in the rain and it’s so fun to do in Israel! The only problem with this is that Jerusalem stone gets incredibly slippery when wet! So while I was running around, I slipped, fell, and got really dirty. Thanks to Jordana Gilman and her quick camera work, you can see me on the wet Jerusalem stone!

After the exciting night in the streets of Jerusalem, we went back to base, and fell asleep! The next morning, I woke up around 11:15, feeling really hungry! So, Parritz (my roommate), Gabe Ciuraru, and I went to “Babbets”, a waffle house off of Ben Yehuda Street. I have heard incredible things about it, and it totally exceeded my high expectations! It was the most incredible breakfast I’ve eaten in Israel. You get two waffles, and you get to choose your toppings. I got one waffle with a cinnamon cream cheese on top (sounds gross, I know, but it was FANTASTIC!) and the other with vanilla crème base, and chocolate drizzled over. It was just so incredible.

While in Babbets, enjoying our delicious breakfast. The beautiful weather that we had walking there disappeared and it was (surprise!) pouring, once again! Normally, I would love to run in the rain, but this was a different situation. Because it was beautiful when we left (literally not a cloud in the sky), I was wearing my Naot sandals, basketball shorts and a t-shirt. The end looked nowhere in sight, so we decided to run home, as fast as possible! It was crazy, because it’s about 10 minutes away from Beit Nativ, and we (once again) got soaked! I wound up taking off my nice leather sandals, and hid them under my shirt, allowing me to run barefoot through the park. It was crazy!

And, of course, the moment we got back to base, the rain began to slow, and eventually come to a complete stop. Go figure! =) Adina just woke up from her party night, and was walking downstairs when Parritz and I got back. She took this picture of us, showing how drenched we really were! We’re so wet that you can’t even tell that my shirt is actually light gray, not dark!

Since It stopped raining, and I was already soaked, I decided it would be a fun idea to play in the massive puddle right outside of the building! The puddle (almost a lake!) went up above my ankles!

(As I write this blog entry during a 4-hour break between classes, I just got an email saying that my Talmud class was canceled! Yay! Too bad I have a class afterwards, or I could go back to base at 11 AM! At least I get a 6-hour break!)

Something that is amazing about Israel is how different peoples attitudes are towards the rain. While back in the states, I sometimes get annoyed and frustrated with it. But, here in Israel, it’s completely different! I never have seen people so grateful to have it rain! At the beginning of the Amidah, the silent personal prayer, we say “"mashiva ha-ruach u-morid ha-gashem," that God has great power in allowing it to rain. Events get canceled, the streets become flooded, you get unexpectedly drenched, and people are SOO happy. It’s absolutely incredible. There is currently a severe water shortage in Israel, and the rain does wonders for the country. As Elkana, the Nativ assistant director, says, “Remember that in Israel, we never complain when it rains!”

Friday night, I went with Miles to a synagogue called “Yikar” which is a Carlebach synagogue about 20 minutes away. It was actually a really fun service, as the melodies were upbeat and uplifting! It was a great way to bring in Shabbat. The reason Miles and I were there was because we met up with Lital Casper afterwards! Lital was the CHUSY Region Shliach for two years while I was in USY. She was brought to Chicago to raise Israel Awareness and help out with programming and spend time with kids! Throughout my years in USY, She and I got really close and have stayed close friends since we first meet in December of 2006, at International Convention In Boston. Lital invited Miles and I back to her house for Shabbat dinner with her family! We ate dinner with her Mom, her 2 Sisters, her brother-in-law and her boyfriend. Her family was soo nice, spoke incredible English (what a relief!) and extremely welcoming. Her boyfriend, Ari Rosenberg, who grew up about 20 minutes from me and went to Glenbrook North. I’ve meet him a couple of times, and he’s so awesome! It was so great to see Lital and I know that I’ll see much more of her, because she is studying law at Hebrew U! The law building is literally right next door to the international school, so we’ll have lunch dates together! After dinner, Miles and I made the 40-minute walk home, through drizzles. It was really nice, and I love spending time with him. He’s such a great and interesting person! Miles was in CHUSY, even though he lives in Madison, so I’ve known him for many years now!

Last night, I stayed up until 3 AM watching the Packers-Vikings game. Miles, Gabe Ciuraru and I are Packers fans, even though Gabe is from Minnesota, and I am Chicago, we are strong Pack Fans! Unfortunately, Parritz, Nadav and Cookie are from Minnesota and are hardcore Vikings fans. It was an exciting game to watch, even though the packers lost.

Ok… that’s all for now! I’ll leave you with some pictures for you to enjoy!

At the girls football game, where the boys were not allowed in! Standing next to me, is my Madrich (staff), Noah

Chilling at the Idan Raichal Concert

Me in my Magen David Adom (MDA) uniform

Room 622-207 Love

Facial Hair update

MUCH LOVE!