Vacation, waiting, training, talking, produce, eating, and suggestions

Hey! It's been a while...I've slipped into vacation mode lately while I am still waiting to hear from the Kibbutz Program Center. I registered last week when I arrived and they said it could take 2-10 days.... thanks for narrowing it down. Oh, and then at the end of our conversation they throw in last minute that it might be as long as 2 weeks because they have a lot of applicants. So, we went from maybe a couple days to possibly 2 weeks. At this point, I'm afraid the 2 week estimate is more likely considering it's been over a week already. I check in about every 2 days but they don't really give you answer's. They reach for the stack of applications, find the one with your name on it, look at it again as if they are reviewing your skills and like they've never read it before, then say, "well, come back in a few days, still no openings. You can leave your luggage with us if you'd like. We will store it until you're called." The lady did actually asked me if I had a tractor license. Theirs a kibbutz looking for a tractor driver. Being honest, I replied, "a tractor license?, no I don't, but I can get one...". She laughed. Even if there is a language barrier sometimes,  I clearly understood that.

So I've just been hanging out at the beach. I guess that's not so bad though. The water is warm and the weather has been hot. Too hot and humid! I usually try to stay at Daniels place in the A/C or in the water between 12-3pm. The first few nights the weather cooled down in the even drastically, but now its just super humid!!! I sweat just sitting....that's not right.

Daniel and I decided to start training for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. We each bought some goggles and are motivated to beat Michael Phelps record of winning 8 olympic gold medals. Although his wingspan is probably longer then Daniel and mine put together, we are highly motivated to compete. We have officially trained twice so far this week. We roll out of bed at the crack of dawn, or I guess, closer to about 8:30 and head down to the beach. We don't need an olympic training facility or a hall of fame coach. Daniel played a year or two of water polo so we're good, he knows the strokes. The first day we wanted to start slow so we only swam about 500m (I really don't have any idea how far we swam). After the swim we headed home to eat about 18 lbs of potatoes (Daniel loves potatoes in the morning) and a couple eggs. We accidently rested for 2 days and hit the water again Wednesday morning. Even more motivated then the first swim. We only swam about 100m wednesday because there were millions of tiny dead jelly fish and they were freakin' us out. Come to find out it's their mating season so we actually didn't want to disturb anyone so we headed home. Again, for 18lbs of potatoes and chocolate milk in a bag.

I'll keep you update on our training schedule. Keep an eye out in 2012, you may see us, actually, maybe not. We might be swimming too fast....

Clearly, there's not a whole lot going on lately. It's been nice hanging out with Daniel, catching up on the last 6 years we spent in different countries. It's been amazing to see how much more mature Daniel is. We talk a lot about work, girlfriends, family, and he likes to present all his brilliant business ideas. One for example is the Gaza Stip-Club. I'm not sure how the locals would accept it, but either way they make for good conversations, brainstorming, and marketing plans.

The food so a far has been amazing. The produce and fresh fruit are by the far the best I've had. Everything is full a flavor. The tomatoes and cucumbers are my favorite thus far. The falafel is very tasty (pite bread stuff with hummus, fried eggplant poppers, tomatoes, pickles, onions, more hummus, some kind of sauce, and more hummus). They will fill your belly for a long time! Other then that, I've had some great pasta dishes, pizza, wonderful salads, lots of pita and hummus, and schnitzel (basically just a huge chicken finger).

One new experience I enjoyed happened last night. We were headed to dinner and Daniels buddy, Daniel 2, invited us over for a BBQ. He won some lottery that gave him 400NIS (appox $100) of coupons for this particular brand of food here. He bought a ton of sausage, hotdogs (kosher of course), pita bread, and hummus. We headed over to his house and 2 other guys came by as well. We hung out in his bedroom, which felt like a sauna, playing the game Risk. Everyone here is so, "military/take over or protect our land" minded, so they enjoy playing Risk (it's a board game, you have an army and you try to conquer as many continents as possible). Finally at about 11pm the food was ready and we all shoved-face. Pita bread, hummus, and sausage links that are inhaled at 11pm at night sit like a brick in your belly. But what are you gonna do...There's nothing better then sitting around with 5 guys in a small bedroom, feels like your in a sauna, stuffing yourself with bread, hummus, and meat, while trying to take over the world with little plastic soldiers, and half the time I didn't even know what was going on because their plotting their take-over's and alliances in hebrew...w.t.f.? I thought the US and Israel already had a solid alliance...maybe not so much anymore (and not necessarily just in the game of Risk).

I hate to break it to you, but I don't have any clever wise words today...ha. I've just been hanging out, enjoying my vacation for now. I have had a lot of time to think about what the heck my plan will be when I decide to come home and I'll open my forum to suggestions. I know I want to go back to school and earn my Master's Degree, but I can't decide on a program. I want to stay in the Environmental field, maybe along the lines of Sustainability programs. If you know of an interesting program or school to check out, please share. I also think about my career. What in the world am I going to be? I think a tea-cup, firefighter, the president, a tree, and an astronaut are out of the question at this point. If anyone has any suggestions, my ears are all yours. Or even if you want to just go ahead and set me up with a job, I'll accept that to.

Tonight we are picking Daniels mom up from the army base where she has been volunteering for the last 2 weeks. We have all been invited to another BBQ (probably more pita, hummus, and meat), and then who know's what after.

I apologize for the random blabbering at some points...If anything exciting happens I will be sure to share it with you. Oh, the elections in Lebanon seem to be a positive victory in the minds of most Israeli's so that's good news. 

I hope you are doing well and life is good. Remember to throw out those suggestions on school and jobs if they come to mind.

Talk to you next time.