Bittersweet days!

Well, dear readers, the "lasts" have begun.  Yesterday and today were my last days at my beloved internship!  Yesterday I came in for an extra day to help get the kids into costume for their Christmas nativity play, and then I stayed to take some pictures and video -- they were SO CUTE.  I don't want to put them here or on my Facebook since I don't know the school's policy about putting the children's images online, but feel free to ask to see them sometime.  You won't be sorry :) Afterward I went into the Old City to do a little more Christmas shopping.  I had to pick up one last thing for Dad before he comes, and while I was at it I got Ian's last present and something for my roomie!  Today I had a ball playing, laughing, and taking pictures of and with the kids!  I got lots of wonderful hugs and goodbyes from kids and teachers alike -- I will miss them all so much!

I might get a little behind in my blogging over the next couple of weeks, so consider yourselves forewarned.  I'll try and finish writing about my last few adventures before I fly home!  Tomorrow Arielle and I are going on another Green Olive tour to Nablus, Sebastia, and Jenin.  I've heard amazing things about Nablus, so I'm really looking forward to it.  Sunday I've got an all-day field trip to Masada, Ein Gedi, and Qumran -- should be amazing!  Monday after my Hebrew final exam, I've got a six-hour seminar at Yad Vashem for my Holocaust class.  And then, lo and behold, M&D arrive on Tuesday morning!  So many adventures planned...Haifa, Akko, Nazareth and the Galilee for Christmas, Masada (third trip for me!), and of course, the Old City.

In the meantime, I've finally finished all the reading for the semester, and yet somehow I'm already beginning to feel finals stress -- I think because I'm losing so much work time while I'm adventuring with M&D.  I'm doing my best to remind myself that I can spend car rides, bus rides, and evenings working on my papers.  Fortunately, most things in Israel (except restaurants and the club scene) die down after five, so evenings will be quiet.  I'm also glad that my Hebrew class ends earlier than the others -- my final exam is on Monday and my oral exam is on Thursday, so that'll be one class down and four to go!  Unfortunately, most of my finals are jam-packed into two days.  I have a book report due on the last day of class (12/27), then three finals and a paper due on January 1st and 2nd, and my last paper is due 1/5.  I wish it was spread out a tad more!  But, my goal is to get the final papers in decent shape before M&D leave on the 29th -- then I'll have the last few days to focus on studying.  Plus, if I get my last paper done before January 5th, I'll have a few days free of finals stress before going home!

Three weeks from right now I'll be in Newark airport waiting for my flight to Phoenix, where I will catch a flight to Oakland and return to San Jose.  I think today was my first "last," but there will be many more to come.  In a way it will be sad to leave here; as one of my friends wrote on her blog, I've made a few friends who are more than temporary study-abroad friends, and it will be very hard to say goodbye to them.  But I'm also ready to spend a few weeks with my parents and Ian in San Jose -- and with my KITCHEN!  So much cooking will happen.  And I'm finally starting to feel ready to go back to Mount Holyoke.  I know it won't be the same, but I'm prepared to jump back in and see how the pieces will fit together now.  I've also applied for an internship in Northampton that has nothing to do with anything in my current MHC life -- I'd love some more good vibes, y'all really helped me out last time ;]

And now, it's time to sign off -- I'm going to try and get some Hebrew studying done and get through a chapter or two of my book report.  Much love to you all!