This week was pretty normal, it got a little crazy by the end, though. Because of the new month, we were supposed to get money on our stipend card for food, but that didn't happen until Tuesday night, so another week of very very little food. Here is how the week went:
Monday:
Normal school, had a test in Hebrew and I didn't do as well as I had hoped, just means more studying. Monday night was the Tzofim Peula called "Cafe Dilemma." We were divided into tables and had a menu with drink, snack and dilemma options. As a table we had to agree on a snack to order and a dilemma to discuss (the drink we ordered to our personal liking). We also had Israelis come sit with us. It was very interesting to see different options of the Israelis and how different or similar they are to mine. The night ended with having learned more about the conflict in Israel.
Tuesday:
Normal volunteering. Natalie and I talked with a few members there and learned a bit about their life. The first two women we talked to were knitting. One was from Brazil so we tried to speak Spanish with her, too bad my brain can only recall one language at a time (other than mother tongue) and I should be focusing on my Hebrew. We spent most of our time talking to two men, both named Yitzhak. One was a talker, he told us he is from Poland and moved to Israel in '48 after the Holocaust but before the State and has seen every war Israel has gone through. The other member was sitting next to me and didn't talk much. He told us he was in the Palmach, a secret underground army before the State of Israel was created. He also showed us pictures in his wallet. One of the three pictures he had was a small one that looked a bit old. I asked him who was that picture of, he looked down, sniffled then took a moment, "זה אני" he said, "that is me." I then took my wallet out and showed him a picture I have of my brother and I at his prom in 2007.
Tuesday night was the Apartment Challenge. As an apartment, we had the challenge of an egg drop. We had newspaper, some straws and a strip of tape to make a contraption that would prevent and egg from breaking when it was dropped from the roof of a near by building. Even though our apartment didn't win, it was a cute fun bonding experience.
Eyal came over our apartment after dinner to hang out, but we were all so exhausted so we had to reschedule.
Wednesday:
Normal school, we learned we had a test on Monday the 8th, the day I got back from Turkey, I was lucky and got an extension until Wednesday. My teacher for night classes was sick and another class needed the projector for the first 45 minutes of class so we started an hour late then couldn't even finish the movie because class ended.
Eyal told our apartment to stay after class because he had something to talk to us about, I was nervous we were in trouble but couldn't think of what we did. He waited until everyone left then talked to us quietly. His news to us was that we were getting another roommate, not the one that was sick, a different one. A girl who was having a hard time in her other apartment. We were shocked then got very selfish, but looking back I think we had the right to be. We thought the fact that she was moving into our apartment was incredibly unfair for us for a few reasons. One, we had already established a great system for food, cleaning and everything else, but the biggest point we made was the fact that our apartment was not just an apartment for us, we were a family. We had bonded so well then a new addition could disturb that. Of course, if she were to move in we would be very welcoming and making her feel like this is home, but it would be breaking our bond a little bit and not letting us have the last month as an apartment together, and with Noy. And, another apartment wanted her, they were her friends. Its not that we aren't friends with her, but in her apartment its two against two and we were very good friends with the people she was against and it would feel incredibly uncomfortable if they were to come over for dinner or something. Also, why haven't they tried to work out their problems instead of just letting her leave the situation. All the talk about how our apartment is a family and how we only have one more month together got me and Ilyssa crying. Eyal couldn't say anything else because he doesn't have the power to tell us right then and there if she is or isn't moving in so we went to talk to the Zippi, the parent liaison who happen to be at the college for classes. We told her how our apartment is such a family and that a new roommate could disturb that. She told us she will do what she can and we walked home. On the way home, we ranted some more then Eyal called. I put the phone on speaker phone and he told us the girl would not be moving into our apartment. We had just experienced a roller coaster of emotions. Yes, we are incredibly selfish, but our reasoning was, just because we are a great apartment and get along and are mature enough to talk out our problems, doesn't mean we should get a roommate who is having difficulty working out problems in her own apartment. We got home and talked to Noy about it because she found out earlier that day but didn't see us to tell us. It was all settled, our apartment will stay the same for the rest of Bat Yam.
Later on there was a fun bonfire on the beach, we went, had some smores then went to bed. It had been a long night and I have a long weekend coming up....TURKEY!!!!
Stay tuned for my Istanbul post!
Tamar
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