Back in America (Sept 30-October 28)

I left New Zealand for Los Angeles on September 30 and arrived in LA on September 30. Almost basically gained a whole day. A friend I worked with at CheeburgerCheeburger in Little Rock a few years back just moved to the area and kindly let me crash on her couch. It was a bit bizarre to see her again since it's been so long. I got to meet her boyfriend and her loving puppy. We went to the dog beach and later she made dinner. Soon after, I fell asleep. It was too bad we didn't get more time to hang out, but I'm happy I got to see her again.


The next morning I had an appointment with the Jewish Agency. I was trying to keep my cool and not be nervous, but the moment I pulled into the parking garage, I came unglued and started crying. I don't know how to explain why that happened, but I think it might've been because if the meeting didn't go well and I wasn't accepted to make Aliyah, I wouldn't know what to do. I didn't have a back-up plan. I get nervous when I'm speaking to people, especially when it's something personal, and started getting teary eyed during the interview process. I left there feeling like everything went well, but wouldn't feel okay about anything until I got something official.


After the meeting, I headed to the car rental place to drop off my rental and meet Yael. It has been 7 months since we have seen each other. Oh, man. I can't tell you how great it was to see her face and get a hug from her. We drove down to San Diego where she lives and made a short detour to Chipotle so I could get a burrito that I took 5 bites of and couldn't possibly finish. We went to a hookah bar and her sister joined us. We basically spent the whole day and well into the night chatting. She says I give the best goat-skis (coskies) ever so I did that all night. That probably sounds weird, don't worry yourself with that detail.

The next morning, we had to get up a bit early because another Masa gal was coming into town. Jamie, Yael, and I went back to the house before going to the beach. We ate at this little restaurant on the boardwalk and then basically took a nap on the beach. We went to a hookah bar in the Gaslamp District and chatted for a very long time. Jamie really needed a cannoli and so we went to Little Italy and got one. When we got back to Yael's we got in the hot tub and then had to call it a night.

On Saturday, Jamie and I were leaving Yael and going to San Bernadino for Taste of Chaos (concert). Before we made our way to the venue, we went to the Airbnb I had chosen in Pomona. We roll up to this place and I immediately realized I had picked a sketchy area to stay. Thank G-d Jamie was with me or else I'd be really uncomfortable. We left our computers in the car, but took our suitcases in this TINY room meant for one person. The guy who greeted us was nice, but kind of gave off an "overly nice" vibe. It also didn't help that he asked if I was Jamie's MOTHER. REALLY?! Anyway, we get to the concert and as we are walking to the entrance, Finch was playing. Happily, I (we) arrived before they played my favorite song "What It Is To Burn." Next was Story Of The Year. When they were done, we went off to explore the venue and I got food. I knew we would soon be in the pit and eventually at the front (because a show just isn't a show unless you are at the front), and once you are there, you don't leave. All American Rejects played and I was immediately taken back to my senior year of high school and the drives I would take to a neighboring town. The rest of the bands that played were great, but I was so ready for The Used. It was the first time in a very long time that I didn't have my phone or camera out and just enjoyed myself. I did take a couple of shots during one of the songs that's probably my least favorite, but for the most part I was 17 again and loving every moment of their set. 10 years ago, I went to the first Taste of Chaos and got to "meet and greet" The Used and My Chemical Romance. That was so much fun and I'm so happy that 10 years later I can still go and enjoy them. They were the last band for the night so we made our way home with a stop for Del Taco on the way back to sketch-ville. We then realized that the sheets had not been changed so we laid down towels on the bed barely meant for 1 and I covered up with a sweater. I was exhausted so I was better able to sleep than Jamie which sucked for her, but was good in a way because she was sensitive to what was happening outside our room. I woke up and she was telling me someone has been outside our room rattling keys for a while and about that time it sounded like someone was putting their key in our door! I leaped out of the bed and put my hand to the door just as they were opening it! They mumbled "sorry" and left. This was at 2:30am…wtf. We should've left then and there, but where else were we going to go and we had to be up at 5am for the airport anyway. I managed to get a tiny bit of shut eye after moving our suitcases against the door so at least if someone tried to get in again, it'd be a bit more difficult and we'd wake up ready to mess them up. Ha ha.

5am finally rolled around and we couldn't get out of that place quickly enough. We both had early flights…me to Las Vegas and her to Minnesota. It was sad saying bye after only getting barely two days with her, but I'm so happy that we had even that. I miss these girls like crazy. I arrived in Las Vegas and my best friend picked me up…I had enough time to shower and change before we went to Temple for Pizza in the Hut (it was a thing for a youth group to eat in the sukkah and talk about sukkot). I got to make my rounds and see a few people that I hadn't seen in a long time so that was nice.

Most of the time in Las Vegas was spent doing my favorite activity- vegging and watching Law and Order: SVU. However, Jess was able to take some time from work to spend time with me and we were able to hang out more than if she wasn't able (to take time off). As a birthday present, she treated me to a show (Penn & Teller) which I didn't realize was a magic show, but it was still really cool. We went out for my favorite lunch and I made myself feel miserable as I stuffed myself with all-you-can-eat sushi at Sushi Mon. $23 for 45 minutes of bliss and misery. We went to another favorite place of mine called Crepe Expectations, which has been featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives." Well, deserving of being on the show as they are amazing…food, service, everything. We went to the movies, first time I've been to a cinema in a while, and watched "The Intern." It was super cute. I was able to go to Simchat Torah service and it was so stressful watching as instead of rolling the Torah straight across the synagogue, they made a circle with it. It turned out fine; it was not dropped or torn which was everybody's main concern. Again, I was able to see people I hadn't seen in a while. After service was over, I went out with a few friends to Cheesecake Factory. It was so nice to see them and get to catch up on life. It's true that no matter how long you go seeing real friends, you'll always be able to pick up as if no time has passed at all. Another night I met with another friend…it's so great to hear that everyone is doing so well. I tell you, though, as great as it is to be able to move around and know that I will always have these people I've met from all walks of life in my life, it does get a bit sad when you only have a short amount of time to spend with them, especially when you don't know when you will see them again. Such is life. Jess and I went to my favorite place, the Container Park in downtown Las Vegas. It's amazing all the changes that have happened down there since I lived in back in 2011 in the hostel. Very hipster though. ;) That night I went to have dinner with my "adopted" sister at my favorite pizza place, Grimaldi's. (Sounds like I have a lot of favorite places, eh?) But seriously, this pizza tops all other pizza ever. I eat it and make "mm, mm, mm" noises nearly the entire time. On Shabbat, I made Jess some fresh challah and lemon chicken, green beans, and potatoes for dinner before heading to temple for Shabbat services. After service, we met up with some friends at a bar. More catching up ensued. The time in Las Vegas was short and sweet, and there were some people I didn't get to see, and hopefully they aren't mad at me… o.O Many thanks go to Jess for being awesome and letting me stay with her and Miss Nala cat.

I headed back to Arkansas after less than a week of being in Las Vegas and my best friend Amber picked me up. Her baby was still up when we arrived at her home. He's no longer the little baby I left. He's a big boy now. Walking and saying some words, totally Mr. Personality. We got to spend time together the next day and my mom came to get me the following day. Time at home is always crazy. Trying to make sure I spend time with everybody..it never feels like enough; uber stressful, but it usually works out. Of course I wish I would've spent more time with everybody and I could've made my stay there longer, but I was just so ready to get to Israel. The basic highlights from my visit, since most days were kind of the same: spend time with family, see my Kimberly and "our" sister who is pregnant and I felt the baby kick(!) and her husband, have lunch with Nick, and probably two of the biggest things happened on the same day- Amber's baby's first birthday party and a friend of mine got married. Since the birthday party was in Little Rock and the wedding was in Bella Vista, I was only able to be at the party for an hour because it's a 3.5 hour drive, but I'm so glad I was able to do both. My friend Chris rode with me and it was the first time I've been with him, the bride, and another friend of ours all together in about 4 years. Unfortunately, when we arrived there had been technical issues with the song the bride was going to walk down the aisle to, but it was lucky for us or else we would've missed it. I was also able to be in town for my youngest (great) nephew's fourth birthday.

This was such a whirlwind of a month. I got to see so many people I haven't seen in a long time. And to be honest, I'm not sure when I'll be able to see them again. But there's Skype, Facebook, FaceTime, Whatsapp, iMessage, etc…so many ways to stay in touch. And while it might be a while before we are in the same place again and that makes me sad, I also know that I'll be doing something I want more than anything which is become a citizen of Israel. It's a moment I've dreamed of for years and now it's coming true. If I take a moment to reflect on these decisions I've made in these past couple of years, I have got to say I am proud of myself. People always tell me it takes courage to do what I've done, and I've always brushed it off like anybody can do it…and they can, but not everybody will. I want something, I make it happen…even if I say to myself more times than I can count "WHAT AM I DOING?!" I almost always answer myself, "Exactly what you want." and that keeps me from freaking out and focused on being happy with my decision.


So now I'm off to make Aliyah. Dreams really do come true.

New Zealand: reflections

Well, I've now been gone almost two months. It's been a hectic time for me as I prepared myself to make Aliyah (move to Israel to become a citizen) and started settling down in Tel Aviv. It seems almost like a lifetime ago and it's been just barely, not even quite 8 weeks. When people ask me how it was, I feel bad. I was just not in a good place to truly open myself up to the experience. I was so occupied with wanting to be somewhere else (Israel) which is why ultimately I decided it was time to leave. Mostly my answer is "It was beautiful" and kind of leave it at that. But there's a bit more to it than that. I had a family that took me in as one of their own, Jewish connections, a job I enjoyed, and then I got to travel around the country. Really, honestly, it wasn't bad; I was just not up for it.


I think some of the highlights from my time in Auckland was cooking for the family, going to the museum with Bonnie (August 1), exploring Rangitoto with Andy (July 23), going to Piha with Ari (August 2), having my first Shabbat dinner at the Bloksberg home, Shabbat dinners at Aviad and Yaira's home, going to work and acting silly, and exploring Auckland.


My favorite thing about the 19 days of traveling was Hot Water Beach (September 9). My next favorite is a tie between the fancy dress party (September 18) and Queenstown (September 22). The worst part of my trip was getting bedbugs (September 11). GROSS. Other highlights would include getting to meet friends of Suz and zorbing in Rotorua (September 12), seeing glow worms (even though it wasn't what I imagined it would be as there weren't very many (September 10), going to Hobbiton and the Tamaki Village (September 11), and making friends along the way. Those friends were mostly English and the way they asked questions rubbed off on me. I've since stopped with asking questions the way they did.


I'm really glad that I at least gave it a shot, even if it wasn't a genuine shot. It let me know that I can do anything if I really want to…especially give living in another country a chance (without a program, I mean.) If I could do it there, I could do it in Israel. And if I can do it in Israel, then I can pretty much do it anywhere else. I had to learn to rely on myself more if I wanted to get anything done. My 25 year old self is slightly annoyed my present self. I wanted to live in London so badly back in 2011, but I thought it would be too hard and I'd fail; so after doing some research on how to get a visa (and being told that it was next to impossible) I gave up on that dream. Ultimately, the course I chose to take has been a wild ride.


A part of me wishes I would've been in the right mindset to truly enjoy the opportunities New Zealand had to offer, but I'm also happy to be back in Tel Aviv. It's where my heart is, and I knew that I would never be able to shake off the feeling of regret if I didn't venture out to New Zealand. I am glad I went and got to learn more about myself.

New Zealand: week 16- September 25-30

Friday, September 25
I'm glad a few of the people from my bus were also leaving and going the same way as me or else I'd be sad…and even worse- sad with strangers. We made a couple of stops on our way to Lake Tekapo, one of them was a view of Mt Cook. Very pretty. Our hostel had a very beautiful view of the lake. At one point, you could see the snow covered mountains in the distance, but when we made a trip into town, the clouds had started to roll in and over the mountain. It was really cool. We had dinner and basically had a really lazy evening.

Saturday, September 26
We headed into Christchurch, a city that was heavily damaged by earthquakes a few years back. The damage is still apparent especially since it doesn't seem like it's really gotten it's life back yet. When we arrived at our hostel, there was a sign outside for a Holocaust Exhibit. I was pretty stoked about checking it out since that's a part of history that really intrigues me; however, I decided to put it off until the next day because the others wanted to walk around. We walked through a very nice garden/park…flowers everywhere…and you guessed it. Daffodils! After walking around, we worked up a small appetite and ventured to get some sushi. One of my friends hadn't had sushi before so it was interesting for him. Then we went to the ReSTART Mall which is a bunch of stores made out of shipping containers, much like the Container Park in Las Vegas, if you've ever been there. We went back to the hostel and bummed around until we went out to have Thai for dinner. In the spirit of trying new things, I took a very small bite of a friend's meal which consisted of green curry. Now, if you know me, you know I LOATH curry. Mostly because the smell makes me ill. With that said, I was surprised that I actually kind of, maybe just a little bit, sorta liked that bite. I think it was because it had coconut in it and that took some of the grossness away. When we got back to the hostel for the night, we watched a really awful movie called "The Spectacular Now."

Sunday, September 27
I woke up in time to say bye to the two from my group that was continuing on their journey and also stopped by the other hostel to say bye to another girl from the group since I was leaving in the afternoon. I took a short walk in the same park as yesterday before going back to finally check out the Shoah Exhibit. Unfortunately, it wasn't working. Our best guess was it was down because of the time change. It's now spring in New Zealand so that means it's time to "spring forward" with time. Disappointment city. Oh and let me not forget to mention that yesterday I was actually overdrawn on my bank account! I had just enough money in the savings to cover the overdraft in checking. Oh, my! I went to the airport to catch my flight back to Auckland. Suz picked me up and it seemed as though I missed so much during the time I was gone. A baby born, a minor car wreck happened, two of the girls moving back in, etc. It felt good to be back...my how I've missed milos with them ;)

Monday, September 28
I met up with Ari for lunch and convinced him to come have dinner with us since I had a real hankering to cook something for the family. Time to start sorting and packing!

Tuesday, September 29
Met with Ari again for lunch before heading to Sal's to say bye to the ones who were working. I miss those kids. For my last New Zealand meal, we had fish and chips.

Wednesday, September 30

One last lunch with Ari before I leave. Suz got off early from work and Emerald came home from her grandparents' house. Last minute stuff and some time spent with them before heading to the airport. All the girls, minus Jas, were there to see me off. I tell ya. I was fortunate to have those 5 souls in my life. I can't thank them enough for opening their home and family to me. I'm going to miss them terribly. I'm grateful for everyone I met and the experiences that I had.

The fam got me this really nice Pandora bracelet with a kiwi charm...how sweet is that?!

Love you guys!