Why do I have to title all of these things?

I can't believe I haven't blogged in weeks! Basically, I've tried about 50 times, but every time I start, I get distracted, say I'll finish it tomorrow, and by the time I get around to it again, everything I'd written before needs to be re-written and deleted. This time, hopefully, I'll be able to get through and actually talk about what's going on here without getting to away from myself.

We only have 25 more days left in Arad! In some ways, I am very excited and in some ways, that's ridiculous. I'm dying to leave Arad for the more interesting, busy life in J-ru, but at the same time, knowing that my 3-month mark is coming up is slightly scary. That means Year Course is almost 1/3 of the way over! Time flew like crazy! I feel a little guilty that a part of me is happy that I'm that much closer to seeing everyone, but at the same time, I feel very accomplished. This is the longest I've ever been away from home and I'm really loving it! I have great friends, I'm having fun, I'm on my own, it's a really really incredible thing. Still can't wait to see everyone in June, but at least now I'm not counting down all the way through! ;)

What has happened since I left Marva...

I'm now volunteering at Abir's Ranch just outside of Arad and I LOVE IT! I'm working with horses, chickens, and other lovely farm critters, planting, plowing, moving hay bales, the works. In a sad way, it's like "farmville" real world! In all seriousness though, I really do love it. It's nice to be exhausted at the end of the day because I actually did something instead of just being tired from sitting around all the time. Today, I did a "horse car wash" where we hosed and soaped all the horses and got soaked and had a blast! It was great.

Last week, a small group of us went up to the Rabin Peace Rally in memory of Yitzak Rabin's assassination. For those who don't know, Rabin was a prime minister of Israel who was shot by a radical Israeli in 1995, publicizing the conflicting views within Israel. It was the equivalent to JFK's assassination (at least in the affect it had on the people), and it's now remembered every year on November 4th as a move towards peace and stability in this troubled land. Unfortunately for us, much of the inspiration was lost in out inability to speak hebrew, but the music brought everything together. At 10:00 when everyone in Rabin square started singing Shir La Shalom, you felt the history of a people scoop you up and carry you back through years of struggle for a Jewish Nation. Even with little language understanding, I was so moved by how connected I felt to every stranger in that square. Looking around during Hatikvah, I was not at all surprised at the lack of dry eyes. It was a beautiful night.

I think that's all for now folks! Life is pretty relaxed right now, but I'll try to update more often anyways.

Love you all!

Rachel