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Anyone still read this?

Might start updating it randomly... :)

Sukkot!

I cannot beleive how crazy things have been over the past few weeks. With the holidays and work time is flying!

I am working non-stop, which is good. I am working, so I am happy.

Sukkot starts tomorrow night and I had forgotten how amazing Jerusalem is this time of year. Almost every home has a sukkah, they are in the yard, on the balcony, on the sidewalk, infront of the pizza place, infront of the bus station - everywhere! People pile into the bus and try not to get poked with someones Lulav, it's really cool. Heading to my family out in Hashmoniam for the first day of Chag. I'm sure it will be insane, but hey, thats where all my friends are going so why not?

Anyways, wishing you a chag Samayach, shana tova.


It's good to be back.

Happy New Year!

Time to party like it's 5769!


My father wanted me to write a blog, so here it is.

I spend Rosh Hashana out in Modiin at Moshe's place with friends. Really great time. Lots of great food....

TOmorrow, thursday, I have one day of work- then it's the weekend. Soon we will be off for Yom Kippur... then Sukkot... really we are off most of this month with the holidays. Crazy.

Woek is good - I am working for a birthright provider doing registration and stuff. It;s good. Been there for 2 months now. Really great people, I am enjoying myself. Lot's of ex-pats from Canada there, though they are all from Montreal...

That's about all. I am waiting to find out if I am going to be moving again or not - they might sell my apartment (which is wonderful) and if they do I might have to move...again. We shall see. One of the buyers would let me live there - so let's hope that he gets it... I can't move again!


Alright folks - it's late.

Shana tova - have a very happy year!

Nikki

I know I know...

Been really bad at this lately....

Well my dad was here, so you can check out our adventures on his site, www.stangreenspan.com there you will find lots of pictures of various adventures that we had while he was here...


A funny Jerusalem moment happened on Monday. I was riding the bus to a friends place (incidentally the 13 bus, the one that has been his twice by bull-dozers) We were stopped right in front of a construction site in bumper to bumper traffic. This little old lady who was a fellow passenger on my bus said "Don't worry, there are no bull-dozers in sight!" We all laughed. Welcome to Jerusalem where we have to laugh about the past and move forward. Many of you wont see the humour in it, but it's part of the challenge of living here - being able to laugh - no matter how hard it is.

I'll try to add more soon...

The rest of the week!

It’s been a busy week.

This week, as I mentioned earlier, I went to the main memorial ceremony for the victims of the Holocaust. It was at Yad Vashem, the national Holocaust Memorial. The Prime Minster was there, the President, The Governor General of Australia and all sorts of other dignitaries. When the PM was giving his address it took him nearly a minute to welcome all the guest of honor – I was just distinguished audience. This year, as Israel is celebrating her 60th, it was a special ceremony. They honored survivors who made a real impact on the created of the modern state of Israel. You can go to the Yad Vashem website to see who they are – it was pretty amazing. It was freezing though.

I’ve included a few pictures, though I was pretty far back. I took a few of my former Hillel students that are here as I thought they would really enjoy this type of ceremony. My friend Sarah also joined us - which was also nice.

The official "logo" if you will of the evening. You cant see it, but on the persons arm is their "number."

This is Sarah and I with our ticket in to the ceremony.
Shoshi and Rafi - Hillel@York Students

Little guy in the middle is Ehud Olmert, the Prime Minister of the State of Israel. You can also see the memorial torch that was lit. (It was actually Lit by Tommy Lapid. Lapid in hebrew means Torch. How funny was it that he got to do it... Tommy Torch! It's only natural....)

The next day at 10 am, my friend Sarah had me meet her in the shook as we stood at attention for a moment of silence for those that were murdered in the Shoah. A siren goes throughout the whole country and a good majority of people stop and observe it. People get out of their cars and stand at attention. The shuk stopped. A place that is always the hustle and bustle of the city froze to honor the victims. It’s a pretty moving thing. We have another one next week as we remember those soldiers and victims of terror that have died.

After that, I then spent the day with my good friend Dr. Avi Rose as we ran through the city catching up and getting some errands done. Today, Friday, I am having a friend of mine over for dinner. I met Alex a few years ago while staffing USY on Wheels, he also made aliyah and just finished his stint in the army. He is off to India next week for a much-deserved holiday. Gila, my roommate, will also be joining us. Should be a nice dinner. I just finished cooking a roast (mmmm)

As many of you know, I do most – if not all, of my shopping in the shuk. Nissim, the butcher, made sure to give me a nice cut of meat (which smells AMAZING) and one of my usual stores where I pick up odds and ends for the apt invited me in for a cup of tea. Unfortunately I had to get home to start cooking, but it was very sweet of him. It’s nice having stores where people actually remember you. They must see 100’s of people over the week yet still remember you and want to know how you are. It’s a nice feeling….

Anyways, I will head back to the shuk later to pick up anything that I have forgotten. Should be a great meal, I’m excited. Here’s the menu (just to make you hungry!)

Humus
Spicy Carrot Salad
Yerushalmi Kugel (it’s a sweet Jerusalem Kugel and amazing)
Roast potatoes (made by Gila)
Salad
Chicken Stir Fry
Mustard Roast
Chocolate Éclairs for dessert.


Should be a good time

Next week I have a few possibly work related things to check out – so that should be a good thing. Think good thoughts! I will also head out to visit a few friends on their moshav.

Alright – back to getting ready for Shabbat

Shabbat shalom!

Pictures!

I decided to share with you some fun photos here.

This is from the past few days when I went to Tel Aviv with some friends of mine and then to the kotel with another friend of mine. The first ones are of the sunset over the Medeterainian. That's me in one of the shots. My friend Michelle got ahold of my camera and decided to take one of me standing the water. The water was really warm (and I kept getting attacked by the garbage that is in the water.... uggghhh... Regardless it was really nice. At this point is started to get really really cold. However... we were out of Jerusalem, and that is what matters....Enjoy the photos :)


















Here are my friends Michelle, Sarah and I on the beach in Tel Aviv. It was a fun day. We got to Tel Aviv around 330. Went to Shenkin Street (which is the "trendy/cool" street) then walked over the beach. Here we are showing off their purchases (and my free gift for just being special and with them)










So, I very very rarely go to the Kotel. It's just one of those things that I don't do. I find the kotel very touristy and disney-esq. It's really hard to get close (as the women are actually violent) and you are berated by beggars and the modesty police (who normally aim to pick a fight with me.) HOWEVER. I decided to try again (as I went last week and it was waaaay to busy) as I had tzedakah money (charity) that I was specifically told to give at the Kotel. So I went with my very good friend Yannah (Yannah and I lived together at one point - she owns Shanti- the insane orange cat that used to terrorize the apartment...) ANYWAYS. Yannah and I always seem to go to the Kotel together, so we did. After finally getting there, we managed to actually get up the kotel. I delivered a slew of "kotel letters" that I had been given and the Tzedakah money that I had. We naturally decided to take the obligatory us at the kotel photos. Leaving we decided to walk out through the Arab Quarter. After dodging a tractor (true story) we finally got out and walked through the new MALL that exists. YES there is a MALL right next to the old city. However, there is a MAC make-up store there.... which could be a bad thing... Anyways, here are some pictures so enjoy. I will try to keep adding more as I take them.

Tonight I will be at the nationally televised Yom HaShoah tekes (Holocaust Remembrance ceremony.)
The President and the Prime Minister will be there, so I will bring my camera in hopes of getting a few shots. It's a pretty moving ceremony and is broadcast all over the country. I went a few years ago and I am glad to go again this year. More on that tomorrow...

On my side, the job hunt continues and I am sure something will come up soon - I'm looking, the whole world seems to know that I am looking so something will work out... always does!

Be in touch and leave a message!

Canada has what is known as monopoly money. It’s colorful and bright. Recently they started putting brail on it so all could know what denomination it is.

America has green money; though lately, they’ve been adding some color to it.

Israel now has plastic money. That’s right. Yesterday I got a new 20 sheckle bill and it’s plastic. You can’t rip it. Heck, you can go swimming with it and throw it in the laundry (now you can really launder money) and it still won’t fall apart. The new 20-shekel bill is made of a polypropylene polymer. If you go to the ha’aretz article () you can read all about it. It’s plastic. It even has a little window on it. Cute.

So what am I up too?

Well Pessach was nice. I spent most of it sick with a sinus infection that would not go away. This past Sunday I decided I needed to get out of Jerusalem and went to Tel Aviv. After a long Sherut there (where I was stuffed in the back seat with someone practically on my lap) we headed to Shenkin street then to the beach. It was nice to just sit and play in the sea. I didn’t actually go swimming, but it was nice to just sit on the beach and not be in Jerusalem. Ask anyone that lives in the Holy City – sometimes you just need to get out. So I did. Went with a few friends of mine and it was just nice to leave for a bit.

Hmm… Nothing else of exciting…
On Wednesday night I am going to the official Yom Hashoah Ceremony at Yad Vashem. This is the big ceremony – the Prime Minister will be there, dignitaries, Shoah Survivors and a limited amount of people from the public. I was able to get in as I got an email about it. I am taking 2 students from Toronto that are here. Thought they would enjoy it before they head back there to finish up school (look at that, no longer employed by Hillel yet still fighting the good fight….) I’ll write more about that after it happens. I went a few years ago and it was really cool, so I am glad that I get to go again.

Also, still looking for a job… Taking it easy though, really going to go full force next week, so this week, in essence is my last week of nothingness…


Leave me a post, amuse me. I need to be amused. J

Nikki