Cairo, Midterms, Turkey Day, and more...

Hello, dear readers!  Not too much to report, but I thought I'd share a quick post with some recent news and discoveries.

First, some potentially very bad news:  as you may have heard in the news over the last couple of days, violence and rioting have broken out in Cairo, which puts Charlotte's and my trip in jeopardy.  We're keeping an eye on the news, but we'll have to make a decision pretty soon one way or the other.  Keep your fingers crossed that the situation calms down soon!

Anyone who's friends with me on Facebook has seen that it is MIDTERMS WEEK here at the Rothberg International School!  Woo.  I turned in my first midterm essay a week ago, had my Islam midterm yesterday (man, he asked the most RANDOM questions), and took my Hebrew midterm this morning.  My Holocaust midterm essays are due this afternoon and are pretty much done -- I'm planning on looking over them once more before handing them in.  After that, I have an oral exam in Hebrew on Thursday and my last essays (for my Judaism class) are due next Wednesday, so I've got a little time to work on those.  Four down, two to go!

After it seemed that I had finally recovered from the cold I got in September right around Rosh HaShana, last night I noticed that my throat was sore.  I chugged a liter of water and went to bed early in hopes that sleep would be the cure, but alas, it hadn't disappeared this morning!  Various friends have already prescribed orange juice, zinc supplements, and keeping my core warm.  I am also self-prescribing sleep (I hope), plenty of fluids, and chicken soup!  Plus I'm making chili today or tomorrow...maybe the spiciness will clear this thing out of my system!

One of my favourite holidays is this week:  Thanksgiving.  I realized I've only ever spent Thanksgiving at my Nana's house in Vermont or at my parents' house.  I have never had a Thanksgiving without either my sister or my parents.  I'm still trying to decide how to celebrate; the international school is having a black-tie dinner followed by a concert and dance party, which doesn't really scream "Thanksgiving" to me, but I don't have an oven to make my own Thanksgiving-y foods.  The other thing I'm sad to be far away for is my four-year anniversary, which falls the day after Thanksgiving this year.  I hope that despite my sadness at being far from home that I will be able to remember to be thankful for my wonderful and loving family and for four wonderful years with Ian.

I'd also like to share a quote from one of my Holocaust readings which is discussing the Jewish question in Britain.  It comes from the Balfour Declaration, which facilitated the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine:  "[N]othing shall be done which may prejudice the civil or religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."  Boy, that one went REAL well, didn't it.  You know, I was talking to my friend Arielle about this yesterday...for about the first two months here, we simply enjoyed being in this country because everything was novel and new.  Now that we have learned more, EVERYTHING we see is loaded with politics.  It's inescapable.  I am still (mostly) enjoying my time here, but sometimes I just want to get away from the politics.

While parts of me feel ready to be done with my time here, recently another part of me has begun to realize that going back to Mount Holyoke won't be as easy as I want it to be.  What I want -- what we all want when we try to "go back home again" -- is to just slip right back in, to pick up where I left off.  But that's simply impossible; I've changed so much, and life at Mount Holyoke has moved on without me.  I feel like I won't really notice just how much I've changed until I'm trying to fit back into my old life.  But, as my sister and mother pointed out, it's good to be realizing this now rather than be utterly shocked by it when I'm back at MHC.  And as my dear friend Rachel reminded me, even though things will be different, I will still have homes with those I love:  with my stage crew family, with the Project: Theatre board, with my favourite professors, with the incredible women of Chorale.  No, it won't be exactly the same, but I can and will be a part of those things again.

Now, with 6.5 hours remaining before my last class, I am going to resume reading and listening to the Indigo Girls (and my inner debate about whether I should stay on campus or go back to my apartment!).  Yom tov, kulam!  Good day, everyone!