The First of the Lasts

Just finished up my last Shabbat dinner in Israel, and yesterday was my last day of my internship--can you believe it?

Before beginning my last day, though, the Stark family (holla, at you Sarah, ily) and Atara were arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport, and, in addition to it being my last day, it was Sarah's birthday!! The Morris family woke up super early to decorate the Stark household and cook a delicious breakfast. I set my alarm for 6 AM... Then sat for an hour and a half due to the delayed plane. I basically fell asleep sitting up--

waiting like

After a lovely surprise (and an amazing gift of some trashy magazines from Sarah), I went in for my final day of Institute for Counter-Terrorism research on Thursday, slightly nostalgic. I put on a sad face, exhibiting my nostalgia and reluctance to leave....

But the sadness was a front.

To be honest, I was just so excited to wrap up this amazing experience, check off my accomplishment, and kick back to relax with the family (and two very special visitors arriving tomorrow!!!).

They're the best, you guys. I have so much fun with them. I honestly don't know what I'm gonna do without them once I leave.

I woke up this morning to a quiet house.

I honestly thought they might have abandoned me. I felt like Sid the sloth.

But it turns out everyone was just really jetlagged and sleeping in. So I wasn't left alone, thank God.

I spent the day preparing Shabbat food with Esther, watching Orit dance and perform for us, and preparing flower bouquets. Shabbat dinner was delicious and lovely; I even told some really hilarious jokes that people almost giggled at. I'm kinda almost part of the fam (:

Tomorrow is my last Israeli Shabbat, which about kills me inside. No more fresh hallah, which tbh is the best bread in the world.

No more Hebrew prayers--I mean, do I understand the words? Of course not, but I basically know the rhythms now.

No more benching and candles. SO SAD. 

But I'll probs end up going back to Harvard Hillel and celebrating Shabbat with everyone and I'll end up being a better Jew than all of them. I'll be like, "um excuse me did you wash? Then why are you speaking before we break hallah. Ignorant. Ugh."

The traditions have become so comfortable and homey to me, as has Israel. I plan on spending this last Shabbat really reflecting on the amazing times I've had in this beautiful country and the fulfilling relationships I've formed.

Shabbat Shalom, dear friends,

Aubrey

They're Baaaaack

Yes!!! It's true!!! My family is back!!!!

I woke up at 4 AM to the first blaring house alarm of the day--but I was actually EXCITED. I heard Orit begin her yells of joy, and it put the hugest smile on my face. Then I went straight back to sleep.

I woke up at a godlier hour, put on some clothes then ran straight upstairs to greet those I'd missed so much. And I arrived upon a terrifying but wonderful sight. After being completely alone for five or so days, coming upon a scene of frantic unpacking was like--

But in the most wondrous way possible, I promise. I finally had people around!!! And--almost as amazing as the company--

Food in the oven?!

Snacks on the table!???!

It was like I hadn't yet woken up and was still in a beautiful, beautiful dream.

Orit presented me with all of the "gifts" she'd "purchased" for me in America--including an opened bag of chips and some items from my own room that I have definitely had for years. But I made sure to thank her profusely anyway for her generosity. 

I went to work for my second to last day, but honestly you can only look at the dozens and dozens of splintered terrorist groups that announce themselves on Facebook for a few hours til you wanna barf. Why?

So around one, I figured--

And stuffed my face trying to make my worries disappear. While that, of course, wasn't completely successful, the much needed sustenance sufficiently carried me through the rest of the afternoon. I got on the bus around 5 to get back home to my lovely, crowded, loud, bustling home.

I was put in charge of Orit and Akiva for the night while the older Morrises went to parties and weddings. At first when they asked me to babysit, I was like--

Then I realized that a schedule of sleeping, Army Wives, and reading Hillary Clinton's Hard Choices wasn't exactly super pressing. So I had a wonderful night chatting with Akiva about his trip and his future and his beliefs while frantically loading cartoons on an iPad for a restless Orit and watching her dance and sing.

Around 10 or so, we retreated upstairs into the master bedroom to start settling into sleep. So relaxing... I started to drift off.

Then.

The house alarm went off. 

NBD, though, right? Because it was obviously just the Morris parents coming home.

Only the alarm didn't go off. Akiva and I looked at eachother slightly panicked and he whispered, "that's the house alarm." 

We crept to the master bedroom door, peeked out as the alarm continued to blare, and came to the conclusion that a murderer had entered the household.

*in my head*

I surreptitiously locked the master bedroom door, and Akiva and I crept back to the bed. I paused Orit's TV show and as she started to whine, I very sternly and rationally told her, "ORIT THERE IS SOMEONE IN THE HOUSE AND WE NEED TO BE QUIET." I probably scarred her for life, but she definitely got silent.

I calmly told Akiva to call his parents and ask what we should do next. Then put my hand on Orit to reassure her.

On the outside:

On the inside:

Akiva breathlessly asked his parents what we should do now that we'd locked the door and protected ourselves from the murderer/thief. He suddenly took a huge sigh of relief and hung up. "Nava just got home."

Sure enough, Nava had arrived and didn't feel like turning off the code, so she'd just let it keep going.

"Hahaha were you scared??!!" She asked.

"Me?? OMG no not even a little!!"

as a single tear rolls down my cheek

That was honestly all the excitement I could handle for a single night. The Morris family might be dealing with jet lag, but I have the much more difficult task of relearning how to interact with other human beings. Just in time for my final day of work tomorrow--wahoo!! Well, I am now going to sleep. because as the best babysitter in the history of ever, I quite think I deserve it.

Toodaloo my loves,

Aubrey

PS In case you feel like you're the only person on the planet reading this humble lil blog, I promise you're not. Here are some of your fellow humans (slash maybe dogs? that'd be my dream, a literate canine choosing to read my blog) that have joined you (just over the last week!) in accompanying me on my journey. Love you all!

United States	170
United Kingdom	47
Netherlands	34
Romania	23
India	14
Australia	11
Germany	11
Honduras	10
Israel	9
Canada	6

Straddling Two Continents

As my time in Israel winds down (leaving next week!!! WOW!), I find myself increasingly attempting to manage my affairs both here and in the US. Here, I'm handling last minute projects that are being assigned when my wandering thoughts reduce my office knowledge to--

Cleaning the house in preparation for the return of the fam--

And making last-minute visits to friends in the neighborhood and saying goodbye to the flow of exiting interns. I watch all my American-bound friends leaving like--

KIDDING.

Meanwhile, half of my brain is focused on everything I'll have to deal with upon my own return to Boston. Studying for the LSAT and looking at my practice scores like--

Participating in virtual club meetings over Skype and email in which all the other participants are super prepared and I try to act intelligent like--

Not to mention packing (LOL), figuring out rooming situations back at school, attempting to figure out how I'm going to get to my hotel room the first night I get back since the dorms don't open until 12 hours after I land--yeah. When I found out about that, I was like--

Regardless, I've made a pact with myself to savor these next couple of weeks and prepare myself adequately for the insane semester I have ahead of me. But that doesn't mean I don't have time for "Army Wives" (season 6 now).

OBSESSED

Life is good, guys!!! And while I'm being stretched into the splits trying to keep my feet in two places at once... I'm enjoying the wrapping-up of this crazy adventure and the anticipation of beginning a new school year.

Yippee!

Aubrey Noelle

Just the Usual Quarter-Life Crisis

Ughhhhhhh guyyyyyys. I don't wanna anymore. I'm getting those late-summer blues, exacerbated even further by my solitude and my lack of ability to make mature decisions about my future. Seriously, I am paralyzed a few times a day by the thought,

Honestly, one-liners about my days sound like PSA's for parents who are concerned about their dead-end teenagers.

Like, "Was tonight was the first night in 5 days that your child ate a dinner not consisting of cupcakes, and it was leftover Chinese food from lunch that she ate cold because she was too lazy to heat it up?"

I wish I could go back to school with the extra twenty pounds and the valid excuse of,

But that probs won't fly.

Or, "Has your daughter watched forty episodes of Army Wives in the last two weeks?" (PS Troxy forever.)

And yes, they're each forty minutes long, and no, I don't wanna do that math.

I sit at work, and I'm like,

Because being a responsible "adult" that works for 24 hours a week is, like, really really hard, you guys.

My mom is reading this right now like

"Where did I go wrong?"

But it's not all bad. I mean, I study for the LSAT for at least an hour a day--

*me imagining law school*

I've finished my paper, and I should be finishing up another major project tomorrow.

But I still feel like a little kid! When I describe myself and my summer to other people, like "Yeah I work for the Institute for Counter-Terrorism and I traveled to the Middle East all by myself to study insurgency and I go to Harvard," they probs think I'm like legit or something. I feel like correcting their assumptions like, "no but sometimes I nap in the middle of the day not because I'm tired but because I have nothing else to do. And out of the last twenty-four hours, I've spent five of them watching John Stewart clips just because, and I laugh out loud at them so often that I think my host sister thinks I'm insane. And sometimes I literally skip to the bus because walking seems too ordinary."

Is this how adults feel? Like children that have all of a sudden been given crazy responsibilities they're expected to deal with? Or like ten-year-olds that inhabit these weird, old bodies that make people call them "ma'am"??? I'm not ready for adulthood or maturity, how is it possible that I start my junior year of college in three weeks? Jeez.

As if my quarter-life crisis isn't enough, Michal is leaving me tomorrow to go to Thailand (what a jet-setter) and I'm just watching her pack like 

That means for the next five or so days, I'm going to be all alone.

Which means, more Army Wives, more cupcakes, and more naps. OMG AND BACHELOR IN PARADISE, I JUST REALIZED I HAVE TWO WHOLE NEW EPISODES TO WATCH.

.... I really need to get a hold of my life.

me as my Bachelorette excitement turns to shame

Anyways, guys. Things are good. But I'm getting very excited to see my family then head back to Americaaaaa. ILY USA.

With love and a growing Netflix obsession,

Aubreyyyy

Bomb Coworkers and Beach Bumming

These past two days have deepened my appreciation for the place I'm living this summer and the work I'm lucky enough to dedicate my months to.

Yesterday, one of my fellow coworkers spent her final day at the internship. Luckily, she's a fellow Harvardian AND country music lover (which we discovered due our mutual depression and agony over Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert's divorce, RIP to love), so we bought tickets to attend a Little Big Town Concert together in September! This was the first event of a day that reminded me how awesome my fellow interns are.

All of the interns headed out to a small, very Israeli cafe for lunch... and instead of our usual one hour break, we took two. Oops. We tried to slyly slip back into work without our absence being noticed...

Oh so quiet

And we thought we were super successful until our boss came in and remarked, "yeah I was getting worried, where were all you guys?" Maybe if I'd had practice sneaking out in high school, I would have been better at this. (Translation: parents, I was such a good kid, appreciate me more.)

But the lunch was so fun and hysterical and awesome.

Then, later that night, one of the fellow Californians at the internship (throwin' in that qualifier because #solidarity) threw a get-together at his apartment that was, of course, America-themed, which meant all the red, white, and blue that could be amassed in Tel Aviv. 

We had the funnest time--

And all the Harvard gals gathered for a pic as well--

This internship does remind me of Harvard in a way--I'm surrounded by intellectual, intelligent, and intriguing twenty-somethings that share some of my interests and beliefs but challenge me to think differently and entertain new ideas. Plus, they're just fun!!! It makes me excited to get back to school and to get into the workplace in a few years; to be surrounded by individuals that inspire me and challenge me.

Today was all about recovery from the 3 AM bedtime and long work-week. Nava, Michal, and I spent a few hours on Herzliya Beach, roasting in the sun and relaxing. 

Nava and Michal!

The water was just as warm as the 90 degree air; floating in the sea felt like flying in a way--there was no difference between the air and water. I felt totally in my element. 

My final Shabbat with the family until their departure to America began tonight. I love them so much. Should be a wonderful weekend. 

With love,

Right-at-Home Aubs

Is This Really My Life?

Honestly, there are so many days I wake up, I live through, I savor, and I wonder... "Is this really my life? Could this be possible?"

For example, today. I woke up early to do sun salutations for yoga, which is about the most relaxing way to begin a day and such a loving treat for your body and soul.

I got dressed and stepped out into the 90-degree heat, welcoming the warmth on my skin. I made a promise to myself that after this atrocious winter (I'm still having flashbacks--I'll shiver and chatter my teeth when I think about the horrors of a New England February) that I would never--EVER--claim it was "too hot." Ever. So while everyone else is like--

I'm like--

But to me, the heat and humidity are quite heavenly. After an ordinary attempted kidnapping (two middle-aged men insisted I get in their car, even after I'd refused over ten times--normal), I hopped on the bus to get to work. 

At work, I accomplished my goal for the summer--I finished my paper!!! Well, the first draft at least.

210 footnotes. 10,500 words. 40 pages double-spaced. Over 75 sources. Blood, sweat,, and tears. It's done! At least until I turn it in proudly to my internship director, she glances at it, then goes--

Then, as I walk away dejectedly, I'll hear her mutter--

Classic. But actually, typing out the conclusion felt like such an achievement. I'm proud of myself!

A few hours after getting back home, Michal and I headed to Herzliya Beach to read and watch the sunset.

I mean... it's only my paradise.

Look at this view.

WOW.

We set up our chairs right on the shore where the waves broke. The water was the temperature of a jacuzzi, offsetting the slight chill of a breeze. Then--as if my life couldn't get more perfect--a tiny, few-months-old puppy frolicked past me.

OH

MY

LANTA.

Petting random animals is apparently kind of my thing...

After the puppy romped across the beach, I continued to read and the sun's orange bled into the water.

Heaven. Came back to the house for a lovely meal with the family--Akiva is back from camp!--and then into bed for some relaxation. 

Honestly, life is so good. I'm absolutely blessed. Fulfilling work, stunning beach views, an incredible family, adorable dogs. It's like I'm living in a dream. Is this really my life?