Flush beats a Straight

I need to start making it a habit of writing my blogs when I get back from Ulpan on Sunday nights. My brain is fried by then, so I’m not going to be doing homework anyway. Ok, so last week’s recap:
Wednesday, the 14th, one of the girls in the 2nd year of the program (cohort 10) was having a birthday party at a nearby bar. I stopped by for a bit. There turned out to be a lot of TASPers there, even though we all had to work the next day. I came home at midnight, though, so I could get a full 5 hours of sleep. Woo! Oh, and Israel is becoming more like many places in the States. You can no longer smoke in a bar or place that serves food. So exciting!!!
Thursday, though I was tired, I went to the gym before going home to nap. That made 4 gym visits for the week. The most consistent I’ve been since I got here! After my nap, I joined some people from cohort 10, Mark (graduated, from cohort 9) and some of their friends for some Texas Hold ‘Em with a 60 shekel ($15) buy-in. It was my first time to play and let’s just say I did not have beginner’s luck. I was nervous and folded a lot. I could have won some hands I gave up on too early. I did walk away with money for a load of laundry (not drying), though. I’ll practice my poker face before I go back. I’m sure it’ll look a lot like my ‘I’m trying to be serious even though you are being hilarious’ teacher face. Afterward, Mark and I met up with Nili (cohort 10) for a beer- on Mark, who won more than me!
Friday, I cooked enchiladas for Shabbat dinner. In addition to Allie and Ali, Ali’s friend Aviel and Mark came. This dinner was really for Mark to repay him for the dinner he made the folks staying in the hostel the first few weeks we lived here. It was good, got rave reviews, but tasted more American than Mexican. I think it was because I had to use flour tortillas instead of corn. I never thought it would make that big of a difference, though I don’t think anyone else was able to tell. If you’re wondering what to send me…
Mark and I wanted to go out, but the rest of the group did not. We tried to go to Cerveza to get some affordable American beer, but it was way too crowded. We went to a restaurant called Hashdera 34. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but it has really good food with big portions and both the food and drinks are really cheap. We sat at the bar and had a few beers. This Asian woman, sitting next to Mark, started a conversation with us, in English. She worked there, but her shift was over and she didn’t want to leave. She wasn’t Jewish, just loved the country and has been here for 7 years. She made us a drink on the house and kept telling us to come back, especially on the weekends when she worked. She even asked for my number, I guess so she could let me know when she’d be there. Interesting...
Saturday, Allie, Ali and I actually went out on a school night again, though this time it was university-school. Geneve, Ali’s cousin, and her roommates were having a party at their new apartment. Lots of new Israelis to meet, fun times, left at midnight to get enough sleep to survive the class-filled day to come.
Normally, I don’t write about Sundays. I’m in class all day and there’s not really anything interesting to say. However, this Sunday, something so exciting happened, I was speechless for a moment. I saw my friend, Idan, on campus! Idan lives in J-town and has been commuting to school while he was looking for and finalizing an apartment (he moves in tomorrow!). Our class schedules kind of overlap, so we hadn’t gotten to meet up yet. Now what is so special about Idan, you ask? If it weren’t for him, I would not be here. (I’m sure some of you are reading this and not liking him very much. I miss you, too!) He was the one that told me, at camp- summer 06, about MASA and showed me all the different programs in the organization. When I found TASP, he’s the one that pushed me to do it now & not put it off for a few more years, when I would be “too old,” as he put it, “Who knows what will be going on in your life then. Do it now before it’s too late and you can’t do it.”
Enough back-story, here’s how I was struck speechless: I was walking towards the stairs during the hour between classes and there are a few people walking toward me. It wasn’t until they were almost past me that one didn’t just look familiar, I knew him! Here’s where my brain stopped functioning. I just grabbed his arm and when he spun around, all I could muster was, “I know you!” After the initial shock of randomly being grabbed, he gave me a big hug and I found my voice. He was in the building early, hanging out with a friend. I can’t believe we’ve had a class this close to each other all this time and didn’t know it! I’m going to hang out with him tomorrow. Yea!!!!
Winter has officially started. We always joke that Texas doesn’t have seasons, but compared to Tel Aviv, we do! Fall was 2 weeks of weather that dropped down to 70-80 degrees. Then one day, it started raining. Some days it only rains once, for a few hours, other days, it’s an on/off all day event. With the rain, came the cold. Granted it’s mainly the opinion of a winter-hating Texan, but the Israelis are wearing jackets and winter clothes, too. Being a wet cold doesn’t help either. My feet were wet for most of the day today because of the large, deep, 97% unavoidable puddle outside the bomb shelter/my room at school. Thoughts of fire places, hot chocolate and blankets are dancing through my head…
Oh yeah, and in Hebrew, Carly literally me ‘it’s cold to me’ or ‘I’m cold.’ I forsee hours of winter fun. : \