Random Musings at the Random Hour of 8:57pm (or should I say 20:57)

Hello boys and girls!

I'm in much better humor today because last night,  I received my bag with the ulpan materials back. This required a trip to Tel Aviv and ended up costing me about $60, which on balance, might not seem worth it. However, starting over with notes, homework, etc. would be such a pain and also in the bag was my 'Anneni' prayer book, which has great sentimental value. So I guess G-d really did answer my prayers since my items have been restored!

Since I'm sure you're dying to know what I had for dinner (I would be), I just finished eating some Chinese chicken I purchased at a local store. One great benefit of Israel is that the take-out ends up costing the same amount as cooking it yourself. So I saved myself alot of time and actually had meat on a Wednesday night. This is quite the accomplishment since there is an approximately 0.5% chance I would bother cooking chicken during the week. The meat was cold since there is no microwave in the sublet but like I told you before, I'm an odd nut to crack and I don't mind that at all. In fact, cold poultry raises fond memories of bleary Sunday mornings, post Hell Raising Saturday Nights, when I woke up at some odd hour and craved nothing but cold chicken, pizza or lasagna.

And now I will seamlessly segue into my still-very-much-alive-and-kicking apartment search. I have about 10,614 brokers on the case and have seen a very interesting assortment of dwellings, among them: An amazing two-bedroom that I was dying to take but doesn't really seem available (tease!), one ramshackle cottage that would be perfect for a would-be unabomber, and one really adorable studio that is just too small for a home office (and is also in a private house with a yippy dog - dealbreaker). I really need to find something soon - keep your fingers crossed.

In a few minutes, a friend of a friend who is a computer specialist is coming over to evaluate my laptop, which has been ill with a stuffy nose and a bad cough. Poor thing, it is only 7% charged at the very most and shuts down suddenly after about 10 minutes of use. Hopefully, Computer Dude will administer electronic Sudafed and chicken soup and my laptop will be back in fighting form.

I looked at a few gyms today because I feel like The Biggest Lump in the Middle East. Normally I exercise about 4 times a week at the very least, but since I got here, jogging has gone out the window and all I do is walk (which does nothing, in my opinion). I MUST get back into it!! I keep staring at myself critically in the mirror to see if my size has changed. So far it appears that it has not, but I'm seriously thinking of posting Before and After close-up pictures on this blog and hearing your opinions (I am a vain masochist).

Being that it is Wednesday night in Izzy, there is one day before the weekend! Against my better judgement, I am going on a shabbaton. I am pretty sure it will be nothing like NCSY, but committing to spending time with a group for a fixed amount of time in a random place is always a risk. Still, it should be good fun and a new chavaya (experience).

There are some very vocal cats in the street outside who seem like they're having themselves a grand old time. I love hearing a good hiss and meow and there is certainly no shortage of cats in Israel. Rowr!!

Computer Dude is coming any minute (unless he is operating on Israeli time, which means that I have a good 2 hours), so I must go powder my nose. Please sit back in your easy chairs, enjoy smoking your pipe by the fireplace and have yourself a lovely evening (of Masterpiece Theater).