Monday: Depart from JFK-->Israel

Tuesday: Arrival in Tel Aviv, travel North to the Galilee, opening ceremony on Mt. Arbel, Orientation program, evening cultural program, Overnight at the Kibbutz Afik guest house in the Galilee!

Wednesday: Har Bental (ascend to top of Golan Heights), Water hike in the Jilaboon, experience the city of Tzfat, overnight in the Galilee

Thursday: hike down Mt. Arbel (hike down cliffs, explore ancient caves!), Kinneret: visit graves of famous poet and songwriter, Druze hospitality meal, Travel to Jerusalem, Jerusalem overview at Armon Hanatziv, overnight in jerusalem

Friday: Yad Vashem, Lunch and shopping for Shabbat, Bikur Cholim community service project, Kabbalat Shabbat, overnight in Jerusalem

Saturday: Tfilot, discussion about torah portion, Walking tour of ammunition hill, Discussion about israel in the international media, Havdalah Walking tour of old city of Jerusalem, Westen Wall, Overnight in Jerusalem

Sunday: Meeting with knesset member, travel to tel aviv, independence museum, Yitzchak Rabin square, Travel south to the desert, desert camel trek, bedouin hospitality meal, overnight in Ha'an Hashayarut tents

Monday: Hike through natural cliff formations at Ein Uvdat, Sde Boker, Rappelling in Machtesh Ramon (biggest naturally formed crater in the world), overnight at masada guest house (dead sea)

Tuesday: Sunrise on Masada, Dead Sea (floating and mud!), Travel to Jerusalem, relaxing and shopping in the New City of Jerusalem, Western Wall Tunnells, overnight in Jerusalem

Wednesday: Political overview with David Horovitz, Har Herzl, community service project, cultural program and dinner in Bet Shemesh, Program overview at Armon Hanatziv, Overnight in Jerusalem

Thursday: Early morning released into the arid land of Israel! move into my apartment!!!

woot!!!

So today was spent going thru my books and clothing, and these are the results of paring back my many books to the select "few" im gonna bring to the arid land of israel:

-artscroll siddur

-the art of blessing the day (marge piercy)

-to pray as a jew (donin)

-back to the sources (holtz)

-reform judaism today (borowitz)

-gates of shabbat

-gates of prayer

-renewing the covenant (borowitz)

-gates of repentance

-kol haneshama: shabbat eve

-gates of the home

-on the doorposts of your house

-the book of legends/sefer ha-agadah (bialik/ravinsky)

-Torah/haftorah and commentary (plaut, god)

-the course of modern Jewish history (sachar)

-history of zionism/israel/something like that (sachar)

-a guide to jewish religious practice (klein)

-to be a jew (donin)

-birnbaum siddur

-entering jewish prayer (hammer)

-JPS hebrew-english tanakh

-Genesis (Alter, god)

-Jewish Liturgy and its development (idelson)

-2 hebrew/english dictionaries

-501 hebrew verbs (maybe)

-4 hebrew books

-1 map of jerusalem

-2 travel books

and maybe:

-the five books of miriam (frankel)

-sarah laughed (ochs)

-gates of the seasns

-gates of mitzvah

-the new rabbi (freid)

-studies in the meaning of judaism (borowitz)

-dialogues in time and entropy

-extremely loud and incredibly close (foer)

-other pleasure reading?

I apparantly graduated:

little sp00n (11:06:55 PM): goodnight sweet puffy face

At the grocery store:

Alan: "Em, can you help me look for an avocado?"

Me: "Yeah, in a sec, i wanted to look for something over there" (pointing)

Alan (a minute later, calling over): "Is this an avocado?"

Me: "No, thats a zuccini."

and:

My mom: "I wonder what that's like, being a male model."

My older bro, Josh: "Gay?"