orientation week

Orientation week has been very stressful, exciting, frustrating, amazing, and exhausting. We are finally starting to settle in though. Today we washed all the floors and cleaned the kitchen and it has finally hit me that we are managing our own apartment! It's very cool. We live on the 6th floor of an apartment building with all Israeli neighbors because they split up all of Americans from year course so we could feel like regular citizens here. We live so close to the beach, it's only a 25 minute walk and it is absolutely beautiful ! We went to the ocean a couple of nights ago and ordered drinks and dinner on the beach, it was very cool. Last night after our initiation we went to the old city and walked to the cotel. It gave me so many flashbacks from the Muss program and i loved how everything there stays exactly the same, and even though I have grown and changed so much in the last couple of years, the old city is left untouched. Just walking through there was so spiritual and beautiful. Touching the cotel again also felt amazing and gave me an instant reconnection with Israel. It made me feel apart of something so whole and wonderful.
We finally got back at midnight.. but the night is still not over! The tzofim(scouts) planned a really cool evening. We had ten minutes to change and then about 50 of us took a bus to a "party".We went in the middle of nowhere to a Kibbutz (my first kibbutz ever!) and walked past a barn full of disgusting smelling cows. It was funny though because everyone was dressed up in heels and nice clothes, and we were walking past a barn. But then we walked further and there was a huge barn made into a club and hundreds of people dancing. We stayed there untill 4.30 in the morning and then only got back into bed by 6. Luckily we got to sleep in today untill 2.30! I have to go and make a salad for a combined shabbat dinner with our whole group. I will update later! Love you mom and dad:)