I think I am going to start with the day to day and hope by the end of sharing that I will have processed my thoughts on today's prisoner exchange and be able to articulate how I am feeling as an Israeli, American and human.
So the last 4 weeks my life has been consumed by the once in a lifetime event known as Eli and Yoni's wedding. Eliana is my oldest and dearest friend in Israel and I feel so blessed to have been a part of her and Yoni's wedding and it was such an amazing experience for me, especially since it was my first true Israeli wedding. I have to share some of its phenomenalness.
I should say, I have been a part of this entire wedding experience from being there when she found THE dress, to helping stuff the invitations, to being with her the entire 24 hours before the wedding acting as a shomeret, aka guard, to making sure lipstick was on for pictures. In this country people don't really do the whole wedding party thing so i would say i was an unofficial bridesmaid.
The first picture is Ilana, the other unofficial bridesmaid, Blinder, myself and Hirsh. We have all known each other, and Eliana, for 10 years. It was an awesome reunion. In the middle is Ilana, Eliana and myself. We did NOT plan to be so colorful it just worked out that way. The last photo is Ilana, Rabbi Joe (Eliana's dad) and me. We love this photo and definitely think it belongs framed on his desk. There are SO many more pictures and so much more to say about the wedding and all the events both leading up to it and taking place up to a week after, its too much to even being to write, but the highlight reel includes:
- a 7:00 am visit to the Kotel (Western Wall)
-an Israeli wedding factory from hell where brides and their loved ones are bathed, primped, prodded, dressed, curled, hair sprayed, teased, blown dry, made to cry and worse.
- Hula Hoops
- 7 amazing meals the week after the wedding blessing the newly weds
- one awesome party on the beach
- one of the greatest bands in Israel playing the wedding
- hours upon hours of dancing
- something like 8 shots of whiskey
- countless pictures on facebook
- and THE moment of the night... when Eliana and Yoni saw each other for the first time 3 days at the bedeken, the time when he makes sure she is his bride under the veil, and I swear the glow from each of their faces was so bright and strong it caused a spark. It was BEAUTI
FUL!
The first photo is a the Kotel the morning of the wedding. The Next picture is Eliana with her girlfriends, Emily, Jessica, Eliana, Me, Dori and Ilana. The final photo is of a poet that is a good family friend of Eliana's reciting an AMAZING poem she wrote for the occasion. It was unbelievably special!!
In addition to the wedding insanity work has been insanely busy. July 7th kicked off the summer season where NBN, the organization I have privilege of working for, will welcome something like 2000 new immigrants from North America and the UK coming on 13 different NBN flights. Needless to say, the phone and fax does not stop ringing all day, people are consistently coming in to drop off paperwork, meet with counselors and figure out how they are going to make moving to Israel a success. (To clarify, many people either decide to move to Israel while they are in the country or come on "pilot trips" before they actually move in order to get set up for when they arrive. Therefore, we work with many if the immigrants while they are in the country.)
Last week the first major flight of the summer landed. 220 olim, new immigrants, filled the plane. Probably like 300 people including family members, soldiers, random Israeli's that wanted to welcomed the olim to their new home, and olim from a few years back all went the airport at 5:00 am to be a part of an unforgettable day. It is actually quite indescribable how emotional, moving and powerful the whole thing was, i don't think i could do it justice. Therefore i suggest you watch the next one, or this past one, on the internet. It is all being shown live, but you can watch it after too, and it is something everyone should experience. If your interested go to nbn.org.il and watch a flight ceremony... if you watch the one from July 10 you'll see me!!
In addition to these major things I have been going to the gym, studying prayer with a woman in the Old City (which i am super grateful to have something in Old City that makes me want to go there once a week and take in the amazingness of being present in a place with so much history), trying to have a social life, learning hebrew (which i will begin doing officially soon), and maybe travel out of Jerusalem every once in a while.
Sorry to disappoint, but i am holing off on writing about the prisoner swap. I need more time to process my own thoughts and my thoughts on the country's reaction.
Much Love from the Holy Land.... and K & M, I'm thinking good thoughts and sending LOTS of love your way... Love you guys!!!
