Kibbutzin' it up!

I'm sorry I've been so long in posting a new entry. After all my impassioned entries about the war, my boring everyday life doesn't seem so blog-worthy. Regardless, I'm going get back into the blogging, starting now.

First, I visited Jerusalem last weekend. A friend of mine from college is in Israel for the semester, and so I went to visit him and his friends in J-town. It was so wonderful to see a friend I've known for so long. We went Israeli dancing and shuk-shopping, and then to Shabbat dinner with his family friends. I really clicked with some of his friends who are studying at Hebrew U this semester. I'm excited that I now have so many friends to visit all over Israel. They're all planning to come visit me on the Kibbutz, as I assured them the rockets have stopped hitting Be'er Sheva.

I've been studying a lot of Hebrew lately (5 hours of class every other day will do that to ya...) and I'm still working in the Laundry. I've gotten used to my job. It's relaxing to listen to music and fold clothes all day, and we've got the best hours on the Kibbutz. This has given me loads of free time to study, read, and work on my college apps. I just submitted the commonapp, which is majorly exciting. I still have two more supplements to finish, but I'm nearly done applying. I don't know what I'll do when I don't have the apps to work on in my free time.

In other news, I broke up with my Israeli boyfriend yesterday. We only got to see each other every other week anyway, and we are at very different places in our lives. I felt like he was getting too clingy and attached, and I wanted to end it before he invested too much. Being as he's quite a bit older than me, I expected him to handle it maturely. I was not so lucky. After over an hour of phone conversation, he said he'd call me back later. Later that night, a friend on the Kibbutz called me to tell me he was here. Apparently, he'd walked all over the Kibbutz, crying and asking people where I was (So everyone knows, and everyone thinks I'm dating a crazy person). We talked for another two hours and I carefully explained to him that while I liked him, the relationship had gotten difficult and strained and I felt like it was best that we end it. He responded by accusing me of making the decision by myself and saying that I couldn't break up with him because I was his only friend/family. I pointed out that he had lived here all his life and lived with his family. Not knowing what more to say, I told him that I wasn't going to change my mind, and that I hoped he'd be gone by morning as I had work. I found him waiting outside my door. He basically refused to leave. I wasn't worried for my safety, I just really didn't want to deal with him anymore. I really had nothing more to say. I've never experienced a break up where the other person just completely won't accept it like that. I told him that if he really cared about me or respected me, he'd leave. He did. He's been calling my cell phone non-stop, and while I try not to hurt his feelings, he's not getting the message. He's turned into a bit of a psycho, which is creepy, but I feel safe on the Kibbutz. He's not welcome back here and I don't intend to talk to him anymore. He showed his true colors the past 24 hours, and it's not pretty. He's very needy and juvenile, and I really think some time alone will be good for him. I don't know what else to say.

Talking about it today, I started to get frustrated and worked up. He had talked to everyone on the Kibbutz, including my boss at work and all my friends. I had wanted to handle things privately, but he wouldn't allow that. In venting my frustrations, my close friend Ryan suggested I go for a run. I did. After I ran, I did a full cheer work out, including all the stretches, ab exercises, jumps, and kicks. It felt amazing. I'm sure I'll be super sore tomorrow. While I have lost a lot of fitness and endurance, I seem to have maintained my flexibility. I'm going to start running around the Kibbutz daily. I hope to be able to run around the whole kibbutz without walking at all, and be able to do a full split by the end of my time here. At least something positive has come from the ashes of my crazy break-up!

OH! When my Hebrew gets better, I may start working in the Kindergarten here. Exciting!