Homesickness

I wrote a rather lengthy post yesterday explaining how I've been feeling lately - which has been mostly homesick with a few other random emotions mixed in. I told how I ate at this amazing bagel restaurant two nights in a row because they had a type of cream cheese that reminded me of Bethany. I told about the exceptionally fun times I've had recently, which have all been with my amazing friend Mary. It was really long. And I pressed "publish," and then it disappeared into the oblivion of all that is the internet. Very frustrating...very very.



So here I go again...this time leaving out some details and sticking with the bare facts:



- Last weekend I got to spend most of the time with Mary. As always, we had amazing conversation and laughed a lot. She's a wonderful friend, and I am inexpressibly grateful to God for her friendship. She is one of the best question-askers I've ever known, and that may sound like a strange praise-worthy habit, but it demonstrates a curiosity about life in general and the ability to think critically about a whole variety of subjects. She's wonderful, and I'm glad she's my friend.



-Tuesday night I went with Mary and Eylon (Mary's boyfriend) to the restaurant where he works to see an Israeli singer. The style of his music was more Arabic, and it was amazing. I had a great time, though arguably it could have been better if we weren't in the line of sight of the performer. At one point during the evening he referred to our table as a "table of mourning." It was humorous, even more so since Eylon had to translate it for us afterwards, so we were delayed and uninterested. Great job for us.



- Wednesday night I went with Mary and Eylon to Eylon's parent's house for Rosh Hashanah dinner. Let me tell you about the food....first of all, the quantity of food was rather overwhelming. The food was amazing, but there was SO much of it. I was nearly full after the soup and salad...and there was much more to come. Eylon's family was incredibly kind, warm, and generous to open their home and allow two complete strangers to come along with he and Mary (Matt, another TASP intern, also went).



So the hurricane yesterday...it was freaky because nearly everyone in the world that is dear to my heart was in it's direct path. I spent the greater portion of yesterday being completely freaked out and trying to get in touch with everyone in my family. So far, everyone seems to be okay - thankfully. I plan on incorporating the news of the hurricane into my lessons this week with my students. I just looked through a photo essay of the hurricane at foxnews.com, and it was horrifying! The bridge on I-10 was seriously damaged - it just brought it a whole lot closer to home. I'm so grateful to God that everyone is okay, so far. I love you all, I'll write more later about last week (it was my first week of teaching).