Severe Jet Lag

MOVED!

Aannnddd I’m back.

Israel was insane, to say the least. I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere before that had so much build up in my life. While I was floating in the Dead Sea, I had a vivid flashback to my third grade religious school class where we learned about Israel, and I saw pictures of people in the Dead Sea and wondered if I would ever get to go there. Trippy. I will attempt to write a proper description of the trip, if that is even possible. The entire thing is a tired blur of bus rides, lack of sleep, ridiculous amounts of hummus, Israeli soldiers, and 30 minute lectures on King Herold the Great. The high points included visits to the Dead Sea, the Western Wall, Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Museum), some fabulous new friends, and a late night run-in at Ben Gurion Airport with a weirdly sour girl we saw get Bat Mitzvah-ed on the previous shabbat. Overall, it was an extremely positive experience, but my friends and I did come up with a list of problems including some empty promises about lunch and eight too many hotel dinners. I also lost about five pounds due to the hundreds of stairs we encountered, many in the one day that included climbing Masada and a “small hike” around the Ein Gedi oasis. There was also an amusing undercurrent of “You Love Israel” subliminal messaging that became painfully obvious at the Mega (mega mega) Event, where every Birthright participant was in attendance. (I actually ran into Meredith and Felber from camp there, which was random and fun…), but they must know what they are doing, because by the end, I think everyone on the trip felt a lot closer to and a lot stronger about Israel overall. Mission accomplished. I have to recommend the trip to anyone who is eligible to go (18-26 year old Jews, namely…), because really, how can you turn down a free trip anywhere? Plus, to stand in a room full of 5,000 screaming Jews is pretty sweet.

After traveling for 24 hours yesterday (and technically the day before), I crashed around 8 after consuming my weight in un-kosher pepperoni pizza. Today was a day of eating and packing two giant suitcases before I leave for California TOMORROW! Ack! I can’t believe I am leaving tomorrow. I’m heading out on a positive note too: I checked my e-mail yesterday and was sad to find that I hadn’t heard back from any of the companies I’d applied to. Today, I called one of the production companies, since I had their number, and found out they hadn’t recieved my resume. I re-sent it in to the internship coordinator, who I’d spoken to, and five minutes later he e-mailed me back to set up an interview time. About 10 minutes after that, one of the casting offices I’d emailed called me to schedule an interview too! Now I have three interviews, and one internship already set-up. I’m feeling pretty good knowing I can relax and attempt to fix my sleeping schedule over the next few days at my uncle’s house, rather than freaking out about finding an internship.

I like how I thought this would be a short post, since I’m sitting on the floor using my dad’s ancient laptop, but I guess I just had too much to say. Next time I post I’ll be in the sunshine state!

A Great Game of One-Upmanship

MOVED!

Stephanie: I can’t wait to visit, Bonny.
Me: I can’t wait to visit Israel, the homeland of our ancestors!
Stephanie: I can’t wait to go to LA for a week.
Me: I can’t wait to live in LA for four months!
Stephanie: I can’t wait to wear my new black dress.
Me: I can’t wait to sell my own line of black dresses for thousands!
Stephanie: What?
Me: I think I went too far.
Stephanie: Yeah…I can’t wait for egg casserole tomorrow.
Me: (pause) Me either.

Today has been quasi bizarre. It started with me sitting on the couch for several hours, because really, what do I have to get up for? It then segued into me having a nervous breakdown over packing for my trip to Israel – a job for which I was given the advice “Remember, in Israel it can be as cold as 40 degrees and as hot as 80.” How do you pack for that? It then ended with Stephanie and I making playing cards and drinks so we could play a family game of Kings. (High point: The rules dictating that before each drink, the drinker had to stand, quote something [Friends, Mean Girls, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Jerry Seinfeld stand-up – all the Brown family classics] then spin around and drink. Low Point: Some pointed never-have-I-ever rounds led by my dad *shudder*)

Tomorrow, my second nomadic period of the year begins. We’re driving to my grandparent’s house to have Christmas dinner with them. This is the first time, ever, in my entire life that I will be waking up in my own house on Christmas morning. We always go to my grandparents’ house to celebrate with them, since we don’t technically celebrate Christmas in our family. Anyway, we are driving to Baltimore for the night, then Wednesday morning, I’m going to the airport to fly to Boston. There I’m staying the night with my friend Jessica before waking up on Thursday to get on a lovely 12-hour flight to Israel. I’m a little freaked out, as this is the longest flight I’ve ever taken, but hopefully that stash of sleeping pills and the free alcohol I’ve been promised on the plane will knock me out. Or kill me. I should look into that.

After my 10 day trek through the holy land, I will come back for two days, crash, madly pack for the next four months of my life, then jump on a five-hour flight to San Diego with my dad. I will then spend a number of day’s with my mom’s family, hopefully relaxing and getting reacquainted with some kind of time zone slash sleeping schedule.

I don’t know why I do these things to myself. I guess when I signed up to go oversees then study abroad one right after the other, I assumed my family would be living in some sort of real house, and not an apartment and half built half at the same time. I feel completely disorganized and out of sorts. It is very difficult to pack for multiple trips when you aren’t even unpacked in the place you “live.” When I graduate college, I will have lived in at least 10 different places, and that doesn’t count the three different places I lived at camp. I sometimes wonder why I like going to my grandparent’s house so much, but then I realize it is the only place I’ve gone to consistently since I was two years old. At school, I sometimes feel my Uncle David’s house is more of a home to me than where my parents live. I’ve probably slept there more with all the move-ins and move-outs. And I thought I moved a lot as a kid…

Well, I guess all I can say is let the next of many journeys begin, and let everyone have a wonderful holiday and a fabulous New Year! I’ll think of you all when I ring in the New Year seven hours early surrounded by a bunch of Jews.