Purim!

Wednesday was Ta'anit Esther, the fast that commemorates the fast that the Jews fasted in Shushan during the story of Purim.  Since we were fasting, we didn't have a regular day of learning. In the morning we had a few elective classes and then we had the afternoon off.  I spent some time in the Bet Midrash hanging out with my friends Sarah, Chani, and Sharona.  We learned some stuff about the Megillah and then we learned about different blessings on food.  After that I took a nap for a couple of hours until the fast was over.  Over the course of a few days we had a sort of secret santa game. Each person had their person that they were supposed to give mishloach manot to on Purim.  Before Purim we were supposed to give them a hint to who we were and a little gift with it.  I had Yael and since she likes coffee, I bought her coffee to break the fast and I wrote a little note with some hints to who I was.  The person who had me was Gabrielle and her note was really creative and it took me a little while but in the end I figured out that it was her.
In most parts of the world and Israel, Purim starts the night after Ta'anit Esther and continues the next day but in Jerusalem, it is a day later.  Wednesday night wasn't Purim for us in Jerusalem but it was in most of the rest of the country.  That night, half the girls went to Rav Shames's house and half of us went to Rav Milston.  I went to Rav Milston and we just hung out and sang songs.  It's nice to go meet teachers in their home towns because you really get to know them a little bit better.

Thursday wasn't Purim for us but most of us dressed up anyway.  I dressed up like a clown which was easy enough for me since I do medical clowning every Tuesday. http://sarasisraelexperience.blogspot.com/2011/11/kedma-medical-clowns.html We all went to different volunteering places.  I went to a children's home called Aleh .  Aleh is a home for very low functioning children ages 3 months- 30 years old.  These kids are all in wheel chairs, they don't speak, and only some of them respond to speech or touch.  It was similar to medical clowning but much harder.  First we had a dance party where they put on music and we would take their hands and dance with them or move their wheel chairs to the beat of the music.  Then we did an art project with them.  We would put stickers on their fingers and then move their hand so they would put the sticker on the paper.  It was hard work but really worth it when we got one of them to smile or give some kind of response.
After we finished volunteering, we ate lunch, and then I began to make my main Purim costume.  Basically, in Jerusalem they just built a light rail train.  We use it a lot because it's quite convenient for us but it isn't very helpful for most people.  Anyway, the place that people from Harova go the most is the Central Bust Station which is five stops away from our stop.  At each stop, there is an automatic announcer that announces the stop in Hebrew, English, and Arabic.  Most Harova girls know these six stops in all three languages in the voice of the announcer.  The funniest one is the stop Ha- davidka because it's the same in all three languages so it just says the same thing three times.  Anyway, so I was the Ha-davidka train stop.  I had to go through a lot of explanation to explain that, but everyone in Jerusalem who saw me thought it was very funny and I got lots of funny comments from random people on the street.
That night we had megillah reading and then the event everyone had been preparing for, the wedding.  Let me explain about the wedding. On Monday, they announced to us that Purim night we will be having a mock wedding where every girl will be playing a different character.  They gave out invitations to each person that said what they were playing.  There was the bride and groom and their parents and siblings and grandparents and aunts and uncles.  People were waiters, bridesmaids, wedding crashers, and a bunch of other fun stuff.  I was the groom and the bride was my friend Gila.  Everyone dressed up for their part on Purim night and after megillah reading we had the wedding.  We actually played out the whole wedding.  It was really funny seeing everyone dressed up to go to the wedding.  The wedding ended pretty late and I was exhausted afterwards, after all I had just gotten married.

The next morning I put on my Ha- Davidka costume and went to megillah reading.  Afterwards, I gave mishloach manot to Yael and then took lots of pictures with everyone in their costumes.  Since it was only like 9:30 in the morning we had breakfast, but it was an amazing breakfast.  They gave us pancakes, french toast, bagels, and a whole bunch of other stuff.  Then we watched a really funny video that my friend Jane made and by then it was almost time for Shabbat.  I went to my Rabbi, Rav Yonatan for Shabbat.  He has five kids- four boys and a girl, and he has a foster child, a 3 year old girl.  They are such a nice family and I had a really good time. After Shabbat, I met up with one of my rabbis from high school.  It was really nice to see a familiar face from Brooklyn, especially, one of my high school teachers.  It's been one really crazy week.  Shalom V'lehitraot!