Balancing Sundays

It's that time again. Sunday night. In less than an hour it will technically be Monday morning and a start to another work week. Another fresh start. Another stressful week.


This week was another new start for me. On Monday I started my new job with College Champittet. I am teaching preschool, third, fourth and fifth grade. It is all very exciting, this new job. It is my first REAL teaching position and I am so happy. I am also more busy than I have ever been. Last year, I tutored 6-9 hours a week, worked online 20-30 hours a week, and spent 15-20 hours a week earning my masters. This year, I work 28 hours a week in school as well. Sometimes I worry, where will that time come from? I can't work 90 hours a week, I would be exhausted and burned-out. Something has to give. It can't continue that way. 

I read the blog of a teacher of mine from 9 years ago when I attended boarding school. She is raising her first child and her blog is elegant and well written (she was my English teacher after all). Something she said really struck me -

Find the balance between the effort and the ease…


This is something I feel I may have a problem with. Like my teacher, Kerry, I have no problem with the effort part of that saying. I like to work hard and do things well. I like to have a good finished product. I like a job well done. I like to have a finger in every pot, say yes to every opportunity, try everything. The problem is if I put all this effort into a million things then I am out of time and exhausted and good at none of them. I know this, and still I seem unable to make the hard choices that would make my life easier. I need to find the balance between the effort and the ease.


Ease is a very hard concept for me. I do not do well when I am not busy. Last year I was busy working and doing school work. This year, I am busy with much of the same, just even more on my plate than before. Every now and then I have a free hour and I am at a complete loss. What should I do with this relaxing, free time? Then I think I should have planned in a run or a guitar session. Things never seem to come or happen easily. 


Actually that last statement is a bit false. One of the most stable and wonderful things I have at this moment is my relationship with my husband. That comes with ease and it is something we must both strive not to take for granted. It feels so normal and right to be with Paul I rarely even think about the fact that we are married. We just ARE. I have to embrace this and be thankful for the time we get together (the very little bits between my work and his).

So where is my balance? On this Sunday night I am taking some time for myself. I am writing, and then going to do a bit of reading before calling it a night. I got to chat to my parents. I wrote thank you notes. I went for a long run (16K) and finished without stopping. I cooked me and Paul a healthy, delicious dinner. The house has been cleaned top to bottom. It is difficult, but balance is such a necessary factor in our daily lives. I just have to keep making the effort to find that balance. 

The Best Day

View from our hostel

Yesterday I took a day off of work. I start teaching on Monday (and I am VERY excited!) but I thought since the summer was almost over I might as well. I had a friend who I traveled with on Birthright Israel who was passing through Switzerland for 2 days. I figured I might as well go and meet him to explore for a day. So I woke up at 6 (!) and took a 2 hour train to Interlaken where I met up with Jake. He hopped on the train and we continued on. Another hour later and we were on a Gondola on our way up to Gimmelwald. We checked into a hostel with the most beautiful view I have ever seen. And at this point it was only 10am. We dropped our things, made a new friend, and started on a trail towards the ice caves.

I need to stop here and talk a little bit about the person who came with us. His name is Trent and he is Australian. He is also the quietest Australian and one of the quietest people I have ever met. We also nicknamed him the Mountain Goat. He is the fastest hiker I have ever met. I mean I think I am in shape, but I felt like I had never been on a hike before, let alone take a walk. I was huffing and puffing and picking up the back. Luckily Jake wasn't doing much better so I didn't feel completely useless.

Meadow near ice caves

So we hiked and hiked. We hiked in a beautiful canyon along a ranging river for about an hour. Mostly up hill but some downhill also. Finally, the canyon just opening up into a beautiful meadow surrounded by sheer cliffs with waterfalls spurting from the walls. It was just breathtaking and I stood there with my mouth open, looking all around. Scenes like that no picture can ever capture (which is good because I forgot my camera). We continued through the meadow and up to the ice caves. 

Entry to the large ice cave

The ice caves turned out to be natural openings under the glacier that was into the valley. They were like nothing I have ever seen before - so wide and tall a car could have driven through! We went inside and the temperature dropped immediately. It is such a strange feeling to be completely surrounded by ice. After some wandering and playing on ice, and soaking wet from the water dripping from the ceiling, we came out. There were three large waterfalls nearby another opening, so we headed toward those.

The three waterfalls

The journey up to the waterfalls was easy - slippery loose rocks but at least it wasn't too wet. A few minutes later we were standing against a wall with waterfalls on either side of us. I went to a rock to get my friend to take a picture and slipped - you forget how slippery they can be! Luckily I just landed on the rock and ended up with a slightly bruised hand. I returned to the wall to just enjoy the beauty. The wind started picking up and one of the waterfalls was spraying all of its water on us. In a few minutes we were soaked! We picked our way one by one down the hill of rocks to the sunshine. We found some rocks and laid out to dry (on the glacier!).

The rock of death!

It was getting later in the afternoon and we were hungry. After a short walk back on the same trail we had arrived in, we spotted a cave a short ways up another hill. After a 5 minute hike we were in a shallow cave. The walls framed the cliffs and the meadow, and the cave was full of butterflies. They landed on our heads and feet and fluttered near our food. It was almost unbelievable having such a beautiful lunch (of bread, turkey and cheese!).

Once again we were on the move, this time to a waterfall. Now the "path" to this waterfall is more like a shallow cliff scramble. The rock was smooth and weathered, with cracks here and there to put your feet in. There were also some trees and plants that had broken through the bedrock and were always in the place we needed to go. After 15 minutes of a 60 degree incline, we made it to our first waterfall. After changing into bathing suits, our Mountain Goat climbed down into the water. This waterfall/river area is hard to describe. There is no dirt or soil because the small river runs right in the bedrock. There are smaller rocks in the bed of the stream, but you can think of it more like a slide, made out of one big bedrock, that the water runs through. The first waterfall we went under had a small cave behind it. When I say small I mean that I could just curl up my body into the little alcove. I don't think the boys fit so the just stuck their heads in. The next waterfall we scrambled another 5 minutes up another 60 degree incline. That waterfall was much taller, falling from 30 feet above, and gave a great massage. We spent another hour or so scrambling on these rocks, into shallow pools and slide like streams, then napped/chilled in the sunshine to dry. It felt like paradise.

The last few hours of the day, Jake and I hiked up to the nearby "town" of Murren. It had a little grocery store where we bought some fruit and found a bench to eat and chat. Within 10 minutes a thunderstorm had moved in and we were getting drenched. We ran to the gondola station and got down quickly and dry.


The rest of the night passed like all the others in hostels. We had dinner, beer, and made friends with all the travelers. As the storm thundered on, a full rainbow appeared in the sky and we all stopped to admire it and take pictures. It's not often you get a full rainbow and a view like the one we had.

Rainbow!

It was funny with people asking me, "How long is your trip?" and I had to respond that I live in Switzerland and I was just taking a day off. I certainly don't sound Swiss, so that always confuses people. Either way, it was a great, relaxing night.


I forgot how amazing Switzerland can be, if you don't spend your time dealing with Swiss people. There are so many beautiful places to visit and travel to and with the trains it is all very easy. 

A Melange of Thoughts

So, it's been a while. I keep meaning to write but there is no focus to my writing. So I put it off and put it off. And I have a million other things to do. What have I been doing, you ask?

• Writing the kindergarten curriculum for Forest Trail Academy
• Prepping for my classes (Year 3 history, science, art, English, Year 4 & 5 Advanced English, Preschool English immersion)
• Writing graduate papers
• Running
• Cleaning
• Wash 
• Rinse
• Repeat

Let's be fair here and mention I took mucho vacation this summer. But that is why I am a teacher! I GET the vacation. But not with multiple jobs- I am always working.

So looking ahead. Tomorrow should be a great day. I am taking advantage of the fact that I live in Switzerland and that a friend is passing through to go for a day-long hike. It should be a good day. I am staying the night on a mountain hostel then coming back Friday for new teacher orientation. Phew. I am tired. Are you tired?

I have been thinking lots of things lately. Most of it is a melange (is that an English word?). First, I think about the role technology plays in our life. Sometimes I curse it - my computer seems to control me - and other times I love it - like when I get to skype my friends and family. 

I have also been thinking that maybe I have taken on too much. Is anyone in this crowd of 3 who reads this blog surprised? I am not. I KNOW I take on too much and I continue to do it. I am a consistent over-achiever and I can't stop myself. Plus I love all of my opportunities right now. Which one would I say no to? It would be too difficult to say.

Next, I am thinking about planning. Not a single plan, but planning in general. As much as I try to plan my life, we really have no idea. Will I be here for 1 year? For 4? Will I go to America? England? Scotland? Netherlands? Canada? I have to be honest and say I have no idea. We will go where jobs take us. So why plan, and then end up disappointed when the plans don't turn out? Better to go where the wind blows and take each opportunity as it comes.

Finally, I went to see the fireworks in Geneva last weekend. They were absolutely amazing, better than most American 4th of July celebrations. But between these amazing beautiful displays of light, I could hear the ducks and swans (and babies!) squacking and quacking for dear life. They were frightened out of their minds. What were these incredibly loud sounds? Was their world falling to pieces? I know they are just animals, but I felt terrible for them anyways. Then I started thinking about all the things in life that we do - they might be pretty and flashy - that cause a frightening or disrupting bang in someone else's life. The worst part is we never even know it so we can't fix it. Just something to think about.

Now it's late (as always) and I've got an early train to Grimmelwald. Until next time...

Conclusion of Birthright, NY, Homr

I am sitting backwards on a train traveling from Basel to Bern. From there, I will get to pick up all 5 of my bags and change to a train that ends in Lausanne. It is a long end to a long few months of travel. I feel like I have been on the go and living out of my suitcase from the end of May when I headed to America for the wedding. Now I have had the adventure of going to Israel and it was amazing. I will not give a very detailed account of our last four days because for one,  am exhausted, and for two I couldn’t describe all of it – we just saw and did too much. I will point out some of my highlights and thoughts along the way.

It has been a long time since I have done a group trip somewhere, especially with people my own age. Sure it was a wide range (18-26) and I was on the upper edge of that range, but it was sure an experience. There are definitely people that went on that trip that I want to see again. So with that in mind, after Jerusalem we headed to the desert with our Israel soldiers. We stopped first at an overlook of the Dead Sea and miles of sand dunes. Beautiful.  Next we arrived at the Bedouin tents to learn a bit about their culture and old ways. Finally they let us ride camels out into the desert. It was a bit scary getting on, and a bumpy ride, but definitely something I will remember. We were only on the camels for about 20 minutes but that was enough time for me. We later had a bonfire, learned some pop songs (in Hebrew!) from our soldiers, performed our songs then finally slept. The next morning was the hike to Massada!

We woke up at 4:15 to head out for Massada. A stomach bug had been going around and I had it. I didn’t feel great, but I did the best I could. We made it up to the top of Massada for sunrise and my camera battery died. This is the problem with camping – no outlets! We then got a tour of Massada from our amazing guide Negev. If you don’t know about Massada you should look into it, it is a very interesting place. We finally hiked back down and headed out towards our next mini hike which took us to a waterfall. It was the first time I had been cool in a week, and it felt great. As usual we were hurried along to our next destination, the DEAD SEA!

This is something that is on my bucket list. I have always wanted to visit the Dead Sea and I was actually going! The Dead Sea is shrinking every year. The water that feeds into the Dead Sea is decreasing every year as people upstream use more and more. When the resort was first built, it was right next to the water. When we visited you had to ten minute shuttle to get to the water (or walk for 15-20 minutes in scorching heat). Once you get to the shore the sand is burning hot, and under the water there is no sand, only salt deposits that are sharp and cutting. You have to be careful because you don’t want to get a cut. Salty water stings, but the Dead Sea water kills. The water is full of minerals and, well, salt of course. It almost felt like baby oil and made my skin feel so soft. It was like nothing I had ever experienced. It wasn’t just salty, it was… I don’t even know the taste: terrible, gross, disgusting. This was just another reason to not end up with the water in your mouth. It made the Pacific taste like fresh water! My friend Marisa and I floated for half an hour or so, but the water was not refreshing and cool. It was like a hot salty, smelly bath. But it was still amazing to float. I am not a floater. I ALWAYS sink and for the first time I couldn’t stop floating. I tried to put my feet on the ground and I just flipped over to my stomach. It was ridiculous but a lot of fun. Out time eventually ran out so we headed to the mudbaths, rinsed with sulfur water, salt water and finally freshwater then showered and headed out. We said goodbye to our soliders and our bus started driving even deeper into the Desert. We were in the heart of the Negev. Unlike the touristy Bedouin tents, there was only one other group near us at these campsites. We were given permission to wander away and find a quiet place to sleep under the stars. We were exhausted and after a quick campfire I headed to bed. The sky was incredible. The stars filled the sky and in each one I saw planets, galaxies, a whole universe. It took me a while to sleep, and even when I did I kept waking up to stare at the sky. I eventually woke up right before sunrise, grabbed a few photos and got ready for that morning’s hike. It was another beautiful little trek up a medium rocky ridge with a few good rock climbing areas. It was nice just to be in nature without a ton of people. Next thing we knew we were back on the bus heading to Tel Aviv. It was a long drive, and we were all thankful that Israel is a small country.

Tel Aviv was so much different than the other cities. It is not pretty, there is not beautiful architecture or history. But the people in Tel Aviv are interesting, secular, and mostly young. The night life is crazy even on a Wednesday. We got to see Tel Aviv’s independence hall, learn about the night Israel declared its independence, and walk a bit through the downtown protest regarding rent-control. It is interesting, although I suppose not surprising, that Israel is so much more than it is portrayed on the news. There are so many things happening in Israel, and I am sure in many other countries as well, that we never hear about it because it is not shocking, terrible, news. People in Israel  are just living their lives like everyone else. So when we went out for our first night on the town we were all excited to see the real Tel Aviv. Our soldiers brought us to their favorite bar on the beach, then to a nearby club with great music and dancing. On Wednesday, it was absolutely packed and difficult to push in. But we all got in there and brought our own 45 person party. I had a blast! There was lots of dancing to both American and Israeli music. Before we knew it our time was up and our last night in Israel was over.

Our final day in Israel was long but very interesting. We saw a few more market places, and eventually headed to Jaffa, the old port near Tel Aviv. Jaffa is significant because it used to be the place that Jews first arrived when they headed to Jerusalem. Jews were not welcome in Jaffa as it was an Arab city. Because of this, Tel Aviv was founded in the sand dunes nearby as the Jewish port town. Jaffa is still certainly charming with nice hills and a town filled with winding alleyways, archways, paths and cubbyholes. I wish we could have spent hours there, but we were running out of time in Israel. We had our goodbye dinner and the airport. That was the end of our adventure,  and after arriving at New York we hugged and parted ways.

I am still in awe that the trip was free. Yes, we paid one meal a day, and we had to be in NY, but 10 days of food, accommodation, activities and a roundtrip, nonstop ticket to Tel Aviv from NY is pretty amazing. They didn’t skimp – we did many adventurous things, many interesting experiences. I hope all my Jewish friends are also able to take advantage of this trip, it is so incredible and FREE!

So after all this excitement I got to see my parents in NY. They flew in from Chicago so we could spend a few days together. I was pretty jet-lagged and had some work to do, but it was great just to hang out with them and have them around. Sometimes even if you aren’t doing anything particular it is nice just to be with someone. I like spending time with my parents so although we didn’t do anything particularly exciting, it was so relaxing to just be with them. Again our time together ended too quickly, and now I am almost home.

I am excited that after a taxi, 2 planes, 2 busses, and 2 trains I will finally be home. I have decided not to start work until tomorrow when I am refreshed. Traveling is exhausting! I am thankful that we are not going anywhere big for a while. I need some time to just get back into routine.

I will say that I am definitely excited to get back to Israel someday as from Geneva it is only a 3 hour flight and will cost $160 roundtrip. I will say one thing about Switzerland, it really is in the middle of many interesting places. I would like to go to Egypt too, but at the moment it is not the best idea. That government and system looks ready to collapse any day now.

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Well I’ve got to get my 500 bags together to change trains. Is it nap time yet?

Rememberance

This trip is fantastic- we are doing amazing things everyday. Today was different than the rest. It was not an "extreme" day in the outdoorsy aspect, but in the emotional aspect it was very extreme. Let me start by introducing my friends. In our group we have 40 people coming from 3 countries and 30 states. We come from wide and far to explore our Jewish heritage. This is also the least religious Jewish group I have ever met. It makes them quite interesting.

So today we went to Yom Hashoah, the holocaust remembrance museum. It was very powerful for many of us, as we were armed with a knowledgeable guide and powerful testimonies, pictures, and explanations. 1.5 million children, 6 million Jews total, and countless more minorities were murdered in the holocaust. It was very emotional as we weaved through the museum starting with WWI and ending with the reconstruction of the lives of those who lived.

We also we fortunate enough to hear a holocaust survivor story. He was young during the holocaust, and luck let him live. Really, he told the story of life the holocaust - finding family, a home, love, safety. We tend to think that as soon as someone is liberated they are okay. This is not the case. Many more people suffered because after being released from the concentration camp they had no where to go, nothing to build on, nothing at all.

After a quick lunch we went to Mt. Herzal, the military cemetery attached to the holocaust museum. It showed the fighting and courage and vision of the people to create a Jewish state. Do I believe that Israel always makes the right choices? No, of course not. Do I always agree with them? No I sure don't. But after the museum I realize how important it is to have a place that accepts Jews, no matter what. After the holocaust only Great Britain and another country in South America who strived to give people hope.

Today was very heavy, but important. Why do we remember? Why are we still fighting? This is what we should always ask ourselves here in Israel.

Israel Days 1-3

July 20, 2011

It has been an eventful 3 (three already?!) days here on my birthright trip. I will do  quick overview of the last few days then go into detail about my favorite parts.

So I showed up to the airport on July 16, a few minutes late – it takes a LONG time to get across NY to JFK! Then I met a few people from my trip and checked in. After through security and a few beers I was making new friends. There are 40 people on my trip, and it is not easy to keep track of their names. We ended up in the waiting area and the loading for the plane was 2 hours late. They made us go back through security again, then finally onto the plane. By this time I was exhausted because I was still on Swiss time and my body was telling me that it was 3:30am. After a lot of sleeping, movie watching, more sleeping, we finally touched down in Israel about 2pm the next day. Somehow, the airlines (Delta! Yuck!) managed not to lose my bags and we all got our stamps to welcome us into Israel. We dropped our things on the bus, exchanged our money, and did a little intro session with an Amazing Israel representative. He told us a little bit about the birthright gift, and it is pretty incredible. Birthright sends 30,000 Jews every year to Israel. It has an alumni base of over 500,000. They are looking to increase funding for next year. Each participant costs around 5K. Where do they get the money, you ask? 1/3 of it is funded by the Israeli government, and every year it is the first piece of funding that is passed by parliament. Another 1/3 comes from generous individual donors around the U.S. and Israel. The final 1/3 comes from local Jewish communities. If you grew up in L.A., they ask the local Jewish community there to donate. It is a pretty big thing. After learning more about birthright, the dos and don’ts of the trip, safety, etc. we were introduced to our personal safety and medic. He is with us at all times with a HUGE first aid kit, and a rifle, just in case. We also have a large air-conditioned bus and bus driver that is always on the bus (to make sure no one wanders in or around it). The rest of the first day was driving up north the Galiee area and the city of Tiberias, checking in, picking rooms, dinner, and then the m&m get to know you game. By this time I knew about 40% of people’s names. It is not easy in such a big group! Finally it was bedtime and my room slept quite soundly.

Morning came early on June 20^th with multiple wake-up calls at 5:45, 5:55, and finally my alarm at 6am. We had breakfast at 6:30 (when I accidentally ate a bowl of cream cheese that looked and tasted a lot like Greek yogurt) then hopped on our bus and headed out. We were off for our big hike, and we needed to get there before the heat wave. The hike was great – we went from the top of a canyon, down, and across the river. Then we passed some of the most beautiful rock formations, waterfalls with rainbows, pools, streams, plants, fish and more. There were several times when you needed both hands to hold onto the metal bars that were handholds in order to make it around a cliff corner. It was definitely an adventure. At one point we put all of our stuff in waterproof bags (that’s me!) or just brought our stuff into the water. We had to jump in by a waterfall and swim through the deep pools to get to the other side. We had even brought our own lifeguard! We felt refreshed after that swim and finished the hike, returning to the cliff side that we had started at. We ended up further down the river but we had gone up as much as we went down. I forgot how much I love hiking!

Next on our itinerary was a trip to see the Syrian border. We learned more about the war in 1978(?), also known as Yom Kippur war because Syria and Egypt attacked Israal on the Jewish holiday, the highest holiday, of Yom Kippur. After that history, they pointed out the border and discussed the fortifications. I still think the DMZ is more fortified, but they claimed differently. Apparently now that I have an Israeli stamp in my passport I can’t go into Syria. Oh, shucks.

Our final stop of the day was the Golan Winery just south of the lookout point to Syria. We got an over view of the winery, a few wine tastings, and one of the most interesting guides ever. His ear hair was longer that my pinky toe and he smelled his wine in the best way. He tut-tut-tutted us whenever he suggested something we shouldn’t do. He was hilarious and I want to take him back with me! We finished the tour and I bought some wine to bring home, and then headed back to our hotel to rest. Next up is dinner and a cultural program.

So you may be wondering – does amazing Israel have an ulterior motive? They have already told us that they want Jews to feel connected to Israel, but they want to make us informed and more knowledgeable about here. They did tell us, however, that this is NOT a vacation. This is an adventure, a journey, a learning experience. We are not spending 10 days on a beach getting drunk. We have jammed-packed adventure filled days, and we need to take advantage of it. After all, it is a free gift. I agree, I am taking advantage of every moment. It is fantastic! And no, I am not fanatically Jewish yet – no one on my trip is. But I make no promises in a few days (just kidding!).

NY Life

After a short stop at home, I have arrived at my next destination – New York. I got here the evening before last on the most comfortable transatlantic flight ever. I was upgraded for FREE. We had buckets of leg room, leg and foot rests, and those big, ear-covering, noise-cancelling headphones to use. It felt like business class, and was quick and enjoyable. I guess that’s what happens when you only fly to NY and not LA.

So I arrived in NY, not refreshed, but not cramped, hot and grumpy either. I grabbed a cab (typical NY) to my hostel in Brooklyn. The hostel was small and quiet, which is exactly what I wanted. I nearly fell into bed I was so tired. I woke up the next morning on my own at 6am, fresh and ready for the day. I called Paul to chat (it was, after all, noon in Switzerland). He was STILL asleep! That made me feel at least I hadn’t conformed to NY time too badly, if I was in Switzerland that Sunday, I probably would have been sleeping too. After a quick chat, we said goodbye and I started working. I wanted to get as much work done as possible before I fly out again.

Despite all my work, I did make it out into NY City yesterday. I have only been to NY once before, back when I was in college. We saw all the touristy things like the bridges, the statue of liberty, empire state building, central park, and the met. This time I got off the subway about 10 blocks from my destination so I could just walk around, see the real city. I have come to the conclusion that NY is NOT a place I want to live. It is VERY dirty, and smells quite bad. People leave there trash everywhere and the smells just come up off the street to attack you, like rotten eggs and dirty socks. Another part of NY I could do without is all the noise. Saturday night it sounded like there was a party outside of my dorm room. People were yelling, horns were beeping, music was playing. I understand it was 12:30 on Saturday and most people were just starting their party, but I needed to sleep! Maybe I am spoiled in Switzerland. It is very quiet after ten pm, and the streets are clean and smell free. I don’t know if this is a product of the people who live there, or of the government that hushes people who are loud and cleans up after the messy ones.

Despite not wanting to live here, NYC is sure interesting to visit. There is some very interesting graffiti in Brooklyn, the kind that belongs in an art museum. The people who are here dress the weirdest I have ever seen. They wear things I would not be caught dead in outside of my house. Actually, I wouldn’t be caught dead OWNING these pieces of clothing. I know I am not exactly fashion savvy, and my idea of going crazy is… well… jeans and a slightly more interesting t-shirt. I have seen people here wearing jeans cut off around the bikini line, ridiculously high shoes, tons of flower patterned dresses of all shapes and sizes, shorts and skirts that are 2 inches too short. Does this mean Switzerland is very conservative, while NY is very risky? Or a little bit of both? I will have to discuss this with my parents when they come to meet me after the trip.

Speaking of the trip, I leave today! I have been so excited for this ever since I was notified that I was given a place. It seemed like it took forever to get to this place, but it also took a moment. Isn’t that funny how time moves like that sometimes? Well all my bags are packed, with the exception of the clothes I need to wear today. The clothes I am wearing on the plane are the same ones from when I travelled here on Saturday and wore around NY yesterday. They definitely  need a good washing, so I got my clothes together and headed down to the local Laundromat. Despite the fact that a yelp commenter claimed they were open 24 hours, I have just walked six blocks to find them very decidedly closed. Until 7am. Oh did I mention I woke up at 5:30? I am starting to like waking early. So here I am, sitting at a bagel shop in Brooklyn. I am eating a delicious everything bagel with plain cream cheese. I forgot how much I love bagels and cream cheese. I know they really aren’t so good for me so I guess I should be grateful that I can’t buy them in Switzerland.

But again, I get sidetracked. So I leave today but my clothes are all dirty. I plan to head to the Laundromat and quickly do my small load. Head back to the hostel, get some more work done, then at noon I have to check out. I don’t need to be at the airport until 3:30, so I am not sure what I should do for those three hours. I certainly don’t want to walk around NYC in this heat with massive backpack on my back. Either way, this evening I will be on my way to Israel. On a Delta flight (ew). But still, going to Israel will be fantastic. I promise to update my blog whenever I have internet. Now I’ve got 15 more minutes before the Laundromat opens so I will finish my yummy bagel and head out. Life is pretty good J