I'm Safe, I Swear

                   So, pushing all of those problems from my most recent blog aside, we've got a bigger problem on our hands.  It seems Israel and Gaza aren't using their words and are getting themselves in a war of the sorts.  So I've decided to make this whole thing pretty easy for you so you don't have to go reading 20 million news sites...though to be honest you probably should be anyway.
                 

(Image from internet of Gaza...NOT out my window)

                  In layman's terms Gaza has recently started shooting more and more rockets (They've been shooting rockets for years and years now) into the surrounding areas of Israel.  It got pretty annoying and disruptive since it was harming citizens of Israel.  So Israel was like "awwww HELL NO we're sick of this" and decided to put an end to the rockets.  This was done by bombing and attacking Gaza resulting in the death of Hamas' leader.  Hamas is essentially a terrorist group that is controlling the political standpoint of Gaza.  Well since Hamas isn't exactly a pushover, they too were like "awwww HELL NO, we gonna get ya Israel, you watch out".  Well then Israel decided that if Hamas' wanted war, then they wanted war too and then here we are.

                  Alrighty class, do we all understand now?  That is the real quick, super spark-notes version of what happened in the last day or so in the Middle East.  And as you can probably imagine, things are getting a little bit tense here.  But class, I have another lesson for you all.  Geography.  I do love that you all have been checking up on me and wondering if I'm ok, because I totally totally am, but this then means we have a little catching up to do.

                  This picture above is from the IDF's (Israel army) website and it maps out the range of each type of missile from Gaza.  The lightest pink ring is where the strongest rocket from Gaza can reach.  You see the dot the very closest to the shoreline/eastern border of Israel...yep that's Tel Aviv and contrary to many different Twitter feeds, Tel Aviv is fine.  Thus, I am fine.

                   What's just very interesting is to see my newsfeed on Facebook completely blow up with anything and everything.  I tweeted "Well this week just got interesting #warinIsrael #prayforpeace" and had some backlash.  I've posted a status saying "Well this week just got interesting.  Pray for peace in Israel and Palestine, that no innocent lives are lost and that this all leads to a better situation." and have received many likes.  But being in Israel, having Israeli and Palestinian friends and then people back home have given me a lot to look at on Facebook.  Many Israelis or other Jewish or Israel connected people have put up a status which translates to the equivalent of saying "'Murrrrrica" with that hick/grunt voice.  I also see articles, pictures and random facts from both sides of the issue.  Then there's the occasional picture of a cat.  It's nice to have that cat as a break.

                     Like I've said so many times before, I am very pro-Peace.  So, it is always unsettling to see people praise death of certain people or wish bad things upon one another.  But I not only see this from locals, but from many Americans as well.  It is one thing to stand by your beliefs and a group in times of war, but please don't fall into the category of being ok and delighted by the idea of a group of people "going down".  Death shouldn't be praised in any situation.

                      So please just be completely educated on your stuff before you make a political status, just like I hope you all did before you made Presidential election statuses.  Please also understand that people's lives on both sides of the situation are at stake.  It may be easy to say that you wish death upon one or the other, but I have friends on both sides of this.  And with that, if I ever heard any of them were harmed or in danger, I would break down and cry.  So by the transitive property, do you want to see me cry?  People are people, and innocent people shouldn't have a real target on their backs.  So also take the time to realize these are real people, with real lives.

                       If anything, please pray for peace and keep peace in mind.  All my HOP kiddies, I'll be thinking about every single one of you for the next few days, Palestinian and Israeli.  All of this is something I never could have imagined to have happen while I was here, but I guess this could be just as enlightening as where to find cheap falafel.  But I am alive and well, no one fret.  And if and when anything happens here, this blog is where I'll be.  Shalom Salaam PEACE    

Losing hair...and sleep

           This past weekend, I had the pleasure of spending time with friends who are living in apartments off campus.  They live in the most vibrant places for coffee, cafes, nightlife, and surprisingly a couple streets away from my May.  After having a slumby in one, waking up to walking downstairs and getting coffee then casually going shopping with May in places i'd never been, I had an epiphany.  I need to live off campus.  Now when I say need, I mean dying-to-get-off-campus-or-i'll-cry-for-the-rest-of-my-time-here NEED to get off campus.  I realized after spending just those two days of living an actual life as a local, that my dorm experience is nice and all, but not anything I came to Israel for.
           I came to live a life in an international city with international and worldly people, live something totally different than what I'm used to.  And while living in the dorm is different, it's just about as similar as it would be living in a dorm in the good ol U-S of A.  I finally understood that no matter how hard I try, going to school here is nothing like going to school back home.  People live in their homes, there is no housing-department, no frats, no sports teams, nothing. So what was I trying to do by live here and pretend i'm going to a regular college? Well what did I do when I came home and then quickly left to hang with May, left a note for the roomies.
           I let my most amazing roomies know that, well, I thought it would be beneficial for us to move out and experience this rich life we could have.  Of course, after talking to the office, we need to let the University know if we're moving out by the end of the month.  Sadly, this has taken a toll on my stress level.

           It turns out that after lots of talk and such, if I'm moving out, it might be without Dayna and Nof, but that really hasn't stopped me, just relative talks with the Parentays.  All understandable about an 18 year old who would like to live without the security of school dorms and people she's lived with for about 3 months now.  So at this moment, I'm not only trying to convince my parents to say yes, because the deadline is soon, but I'm looking up apartments.  Yes, something i've never ever done before.  I'm looking at money and financials more than I ever thought I would and the best part is once I tell the University at the end of the month that I'm moving out...there is no going back...and when are apartments logically available for researching for my time frame...yeah not for another 2 months.  So worse case scenario, I might be homeless, but not actually.
           
             Now let's add on some more things I need to essentially do before the end of the month:
           
                      1)  Finish my college app...I'm applying to one other school as a lama lo (why not) approach to life and education.  But in this one application, i've had to write more essays than the 4 applications I did last year.  Plus not to mention that half of the things I wanna do with transcripts and apps, are normally for current high school students.  So stress level is a good 40/100
                   
                      2)  College homework.  Yeah it's not the most fun thing to do.  Especially when it's all reading, but it costs to print so you have to read on the comp...then your eyes get tired. Stress level is 50/100
 
                      3)  Hoping to take another trip into Bethlehem and Jerusalem for the weekend, but this time I'm planning to go with a group of friends, which means trying to figure out where we're going to sleep, transportation, clothings. So add that to everything else. 60/100

                      4)  I've been blessed with roughly two months off in between semesters and during this time I plan to not go home, but go to Europe for as long as I can.  Well, I gotta plan that soon too, because hopefully Dayna is going to come with me and if we can, convince some others to go with.  I mean like my Apartment plan, I plan to go regardless of others joining me, so I need to get all of this planned...just because I plan to visit 15 different countries.  Stress level now 90/100

                      5)  I can't find my blush.  It is an essential piece of makeup in my life.  I wear it everyday and I can not find it ANYWHERE.  Stress level now 95/100

                      6) And now just to throw it out there, i'm cold.  Cold weather finally got to Israel.  And by cold, I mean 68 degrees.  But when you're used to 85 and humid, 68 is the coldest thing ever.  Although, my dignity is still relatively there.  Most Israelis are completely bundled with scarfs and jackets, but I only had a thin long sleeve shirt on!  But yeah stress level is now at full capacity! 100/100.

             So, if any random Israelis read this and know someone who would love to let 3 girls rent an apartment from February to June, please let me know.  If not, I'll accept magic wands. And goldfish, always accepting goldfish.