So much happening!

I have to apologize for my negligence in updating-- life has been very busy here. Yes I'm still in Israel! I will be coming home on December 15, staying in Atlanta until Jan 5, then heading to NYC for a week, and then.... back to Israel. I'll be staying through late April or early May, then coming back to start the summer semester at Georgia Tech (doing my Masters in Health Systems program). That is the current plan.

So, what all has happened since August? Well, my arm has recovered nicely... I did physical therapy for about a month, until I was able to extend it all the way. It still hurts at times, and there's a pretty nasty scar, but other than that everything is just fine.

In September, I was busy with Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkos. I spent Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in the Old City of Jerusalem, right by the Western Wall (Kotel). It was a truly amazing experience, being able to pray and know that every Jew in the world was facing towards the Kotel and saying the same exact prayers, in many different languages. Walking around the Old City on Rosh Hashanah I could hear shofars being blown from many different congregations-- it was an awesome experience. On Yom Kippur I made it through the whole fast this year, for the first time. I felt very uplifted and renewed afterwards.

In October, regular classes resumed again. But, right before, I went camping for a couple of nights with three friends on the Sea of Galilee up north! We were able to borrow tents and sleeping bags from friends. We could see gorgeous mountain ranges across the sea. The first day we went rafting, and then we just hung out, went swimming, and built a huge bonfire to roast marshmallows. It was so much fun, and very relaxing.














Then, this past Sunday through Tuesday, I went on a trip with my school to Eilat, a city on the southern tip of Israel bordering Egypt and Jordan. We did a hike every day, rode camels, went snorkeling on the beach, went to an incredible oceanarium, took a boat cruise, climbed huge sand dunes, and more. Our hotel was right off of the beach so we could walk along boardwalk at night. The oceanarium was right along the beach also, and they had an observation tower that was built on the ocean floor itself about 100 yards or so off the coast. You could get out to it and climb stairs down until you were level with the ocean floor, and look out the windows and see coral reefs and thousands of fish up close in their natural state.