But here are a few updates.
-I went home for Pesach, and it was wonderful to see my family, but I was really glad to come back to Israel. I've started thinking of here as home more than where I grew up.
-We went on a beautiful hike up in the Golan, which killed my knees, but was totally worth it. I also got to go swimming in the Kinneret, which is one of my favorite places in the country.
-Yom HaShoah was not as intense as I expected it to be. In the States we always hear about Yom HaShoah in Israel being this incredibly moving day, but really, other than the one-minute siren that went off at 10am, it was just a normal day that happened to be slightly more somber than usual.
-Yom HaZikaron, on the other hand, was an incredibly moving experience. Memorial Day in America always seems to be about barbeques and shopping, but here, it hits close to home for every single person in the country. We began the holiday with a Masa tekkes (ceremony) on Monday night at Ammunition Hill. Through music, videos, and speeches, they presented the stories of seven young people who lost their lives either in the line of duty or in terrorist attacks. Everyone was in tears by the end of it. The next morning (yesterday), we went to volunteer handing out water and flowers at Har Herzl, Israel's military cemetery. Over ten thousand people came to Har Herzl over the course of the day to pay their respects, and at 11am, following a two-minute siren, the national tekkes took place next to Herzl's tomb. I had the opportunity to be at that tekkes, and so I saw Netanyahu speak and saw the whole military routine thing. It was pretty amazing. Everyone was dressed either in white or army green, and there was this spirit that sort of overtook the whole mountain. It was a uniquely Israeli experience.
-Last night, we experienced the bizarre transition from Yom HaZikaron (a sad, somber day of remembrance) to Yom HaAtzmaut (a wild, fun day of celebration). Last night in town there were street parties EVERYWHERE, concerts every few blocks, giant flash mobs of people doing Israeli dancing, and drunken Israelis hitting each other with inflatable hammers (apparently that's a tradition...). It was crazier than Purim! Today, the tradition is to go outside, have a barbeque, and eat meat and drink beer, so we found a grill in our building and we're going to go out later and enjoy the beautiful weather with some meat and beer. :)
-Finally, just a side note, I currently own the world's crappiest computer, which is about 7 by 9 inches, has a TINY little keyboard, and barely works. I call it Edgar Allen Poe, because it's dark and depressing. I am slightly more reachable than I was without a computer, but if I become unreachable again, it's probably because either this thing died or I threw it into a wall.
Happy 63rd Independence Day!
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