Yam l'yam- yea, I'm tough.

Thursday 4/15:
Went to the falafel place for volunteering. Two crazy ladies work there. Got ready for Jeru, Katie, Jessica and I went to Be'er Sheva together. We went on a bathroom hunt at the bus station which was pretty exciting and then Jessica and I went to Jeru.
Saw a bunch of friends, fun.

Friday 4/16:
Went to Jenene's. Laura was sick :(. I worked some on school stuff, ate, napped, ate, and worked some more. Read some of the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it's so good.

Saturday 4:17
Did some laundry and some hanging out. Ate lunch with the fam and then worked on my paper more. Went to Malcha with Jenene and Laura. Worked more, spoke to Ben, sleep.

Sunday 4/18:
Woke up early. Jenene dropped me off by the CBS and I walked to Katie's. It was a really pretty walk since it was nice out and it was early for most people to be out. I found some wireless and talked to Ben for a while. Slept for a while then walked to Beit Ar El to work on my paper. We went to a ceremony for Yom Hazikaron on Emek Refaim. I hardly understood any of it. Went back to Katie's, book, sleep.

Monday 4/19:
Mad dash to get to Har Hertzl. There was a bus coming from Arad that we wanted to get on but we had to run to the bus station and almost missed it. When we got there our group handed out water, candles, and flowers. There was a short ceremony and then people could stay for an optional tour. Saw a bunch of marchers. Took a bus to Katie's afterwards. We walked to Beit Ar El. Shevet and Shalem had davening together and then Shevet went out to dinner together. We got a ton of food. Walked to Katie's afterwards and then to town. Saw some more marchers. Hung out with a bunch of people, saw old high school friends out and about.

Tuesday 4/20:
Went to Beit Ar El for a Yom Haatzmaut Barbeque. Walked with some of my friends and Mike to Mamilla. They had these crazy performers there reenacting every generation of zionist history. It was packed. Went to the kotel. Saw more marchers. Went back to Katie's, wanted to go out and see Joshey and other people but just went to sleep.

Wednesday 4/21:
Walked from Katie's to the CBS super early. Somehow made it there in half an hour even though I thought I got lost. Took a bus to Be'er Sheva. Took a bus to Arad. Went to lunch and learn. Cleaned out the freezer with Julia, washed the floors, bleached the tub. Had a peula and an Ulpan review class.

Thursday 4/22:
Siyyur to army bases in the South. Met with lone soldiers and did a shooting simulation that was very similar to duck hunt. We were trying to figure out Yam l'yam but did not know how we were going to manage it. We heard there was rain and that if we stayed outside we would die and other wonderful things. We were dropped in Be'er Sheva so we went to the train station to get a train to Neharia. It wasn't open, so we had some general freaking out (random: there are pigeons fighting on my window right now) until a random guy came up to us and said look here's a free shuttle to another train station. So we get on that bus and then end up about an hour away, and our train is about to leave. People there tell us to buy our tickets on the train so we say okay and get on. No one comes to make us buy a ticket so we think they'll check us when we have to stop in Haifa. Nope. I know this is bad but we really weren't trying to get out of paying, we just didn't know how. So long story short we get to Neharia for free to Achzeev Beach for 6 shek each. We were trying to find the actual beach, the cab we took didn't take us up to it and it was dark. This car came by and these two guys, Avi and Gil I think, showed us this really great spot on the beach and helped us carry our stuff there. So we get settled and go to bed on the beach.

Friday 4/23:
We wake up early and get our stuff together and start. We had to walk a bit before we got on the dry river bed that you're supposed to follow on the trail. We got to a regular road that we just had to follow for a while. Stopped to eat and discussed where we had to make it by the end of the day. Kept walking until lunch, when we realized it was unlikely that we get as far as we wanted. The path got harder and people started to whine. Finally we got to somewhere we could stay for the night, a placed called Avrim. We tried to find water for a while but the settlement didn't make much sense. We ended up filling our bottles in a restaurant outside of it, and they told us we could sleep behind their place. And, they were making something with chocolate batter and they let us lick the dough :). Spoke to my mom. Monica, Katie, and I tried to find a Mekolet to get some stuff and met up with some people doing Yam l'yam the other direction. They said there was no way we could finish in 3 days unless we cut part of the trip and rearranged things. So we decided to do that. Bed by 8:30.

Saturday 4/24:
Tried to get everyone up at 4:30, failed. We walked up this road for a while and it was actually really hard. Eventually got to a place where we could either walk through or around this town. We thought it was an Arab town and decided to walk through it since it looked fine and we were a big group. Interestingly enough we see a bunch of religious Jews walking around and realize it is not an Arab town after all. We get back on the actual trail and start getting lost. At different points there were tons of pretty flowers, though this is true of most of the hike. Might get days confused sometimes. At one point the trail was between a wild cow and her babies, so we had to wait around until they moved. Frustrating and funny. We got near the campsite that we wanted for the night and some girls from a religious town nearby helped us get water. Walked a little bit to the campsite. There was a big group there on their way out, they gave us bread, pita, challah, techina, cheese, and rice. It was amazing.
We meet some guys doing Shveil Yisroel and they say that couldn't get to the Kinneret tomorrow so we definitely wouldn't be able to. They say take an extra day. The guy who told us this was named Yaniv.

Sunday 4/25:
Wanted to get out 5:30, of course did not. The trail was pretty hard and kind of scary at times. We spent a lot of the morning walking through fields of thorns. Not too fun in short shorts. We were making pretty good time in the morning when we stopped for lunch. Some people who had slept in the same area as us told us we could make the Kineret by the end of the day, so I wanted to try for it but the girls wanted to sleep at the Kibbutsz. Lunch took forever. We started walking again but someone felt sick so we had to stop. Yaniv and his friends passed us. We finally got moving again but we were going really slowly and started to get scared we were going to get stuck out there past dark. People going the other way started bringing messages from Yaniv to call him, he was prolly worried it was taking us so long. One of the girls said she had to stop and I said we can't we have no time so everyone started yelling and I started screaming and crying and telling them what a bunch of weak miserable brats they were all being. Afterwards people calmed down and said sorry, but I didn't, because I meant what I said. We got to the Kibbutz and used a real bathroom. Saw ourselves for the first time in a while, yucks. A woman asked us if we wanted to camp in front of her house and use her bathroom. Most of us were all for it, except apparently Yaniv and his buddies went to the Kineret. We were only 3 km away. But it was already also most too dark outside to walk and getting a ride felt like cheating. So we stayed. The woman offered us her shower but we knew we'd be home the next day so we didn't use it. Funny, she prolly just thought we were really dirty. I called Ben and Julia to tell them we weren't dead and I went to sleep. Ooh,also called Gavriel to wish him a happy birfday but his phone was off.

Monday 4/26:
Woke everyone up at 5, still didn't end up getting out until after 6. A dog followed us out of the Kibbutz. We thought he would turn back eventually but he just kept walking with us. We got off the road and onto the trail and walked past some fields. People wanted to stop at 10 to 8 so we stopped for a bit. I just wanted to get to the Kineret already. We got onto another road and got to the point where we thought we'd be at the beach. There was a private beach area that looked like you had to pay to get in. We walked in and convinced them we just wanted to finish our hike and we'd be out in five minutes. We got to the water when a few people in our group decided they didn't like this beach enough so we had to find another one. Ugh. So we got to the promenade in Tevaria and went to that beach and it was fun and great to be finally semi clean. We ceremoniously poured out our waterbottles from one Sea to the next. We went to the bus station and took a bus to Jeru, then a bus to Be'er Sheva, then to Arad. I got a call from Eli, my volunteering madrich,wanting to know why I hadn't come in today. I explained and he said okay to work it out with the people at the store. So, as soon as I got off the bus I walked to the store but it was already closed. SO I went to the last five minutes of Ulpan and it was really fun 'cuz I just talked about the hike. Went home and showered and found something to eat, then sleep, in a bed!

Tuesday 4/27;
Volunteering. Was a little worried about having to explain my absence but when I got there they really didn't care. Work wasn't too bad. I had a shwarma at around 11, and they tried to make me eat more all day but I just wasn't hungry again. I stayed until 3:30 and I took a double fried shnitzel home. I went to Orly's so we could catch up. We napped some and then went to the ATM together. We had an adventure where we met a cat with no nose and found a cool health food store and an interesting clothing shop. Also we stopped at the bakery. Orly was coming to my place for dinner so she brought dessert. We had stuffed peppers, Katie did all the cooking so I got to be lazy. Dinner was yums. Set out to watch Tru Blood with Orly but it didn't want to work. Spoke with my mom which was nice and soon after fell asleep.

Wedneseday 4/28:
Woke up 20 minutes before Lunch and Learn, as opposed to the few hours before that I had hoped to get some work and tanning in. Was not pleased. Went to Lunch and Learn with Orly. My body pulled a rude trick on me involving woman things and I was unequipped to deal with the issue there so I pretty much walked out of the class and went home. On my way this woman stopped me and said there was an unclaimed bag on the corner and could I call the cops notify them? (Most everyone reading this probably knowns, but this a commonly done thing in this country.) So I say sure and she calls them since I didn't trust my hebrew for that and she thanks me, saying I'm the only one who stopped and cared. I went home and started working on my paper, Orly lent me her computer. Orly came by after and kept me company. I was really in a state from annoying body stuff. I made "period stew", AKA, I stacked brownies and peanut butter together and put the whole mess in the microwave for a while. Packed my stuff for a Section 1 overnight night hike/camping thing. We met at the mall and took a bus to Sde Boker. The marva kids are on field week and we knew they were right there. Orly wanted to find her boyfriend Adam but we weren't really allowed. We ate foods and made a fire and stayed up too late laughing too loud. Fun.

Thursday 4/29:
Woke up pretty early. Orly went to see Adam at 5 something since I guess that'swhen they get up but then she came back. We started to pack up our stuff and had lots of giggles. I love that girl. We saw the Marva kids, which is cool, I just don't really like most of them. Eventually we got foooods. I didn't know I like cariot until today. We were supposed to make food for lunch later on. And when I say make, I mean put sandwhiches together from a bunch of stuff they put out for us. Yea, we had catered camping. Ha. There was a goat head in one of the trees by where we were camping. Not normal. The yam l'yam girls ate the avacado that Monica had hidden in my bag the first day of our hike. We went to the beach, chof nitzanim where I was at for Boombamella. It was soo nice. The waves were crazy but me and Orly went in anyway and got our butts kickced by the ocean. Ouch. I was laying on the sand for a bit, I even made a sand pillow, when my friends half buried me without my consent. Not that I fought them off really. I tried halva to see if I started liking it. I do. I went up to Ale and we made up, quick and painless like. We made our way back to Arad. I've been working on my Tanach final on the book of Job. It's finished basically but I want someone to check it before I send it in. Orly's friend is in Arad visiting. I'm supposed to hang out with them later. We'll see. Shevet weekend starts tomorrow morning and ends Sunday.

I'll tell you about Shevet weekend later :)