Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

Well, Mary Oliver (from whom I borrowed the quote above), I will tell you this much -- my Egypt adventure may have come to naught for this weekend, but it certainly doesn't mean I'm going to mope around!  I have just over a month left in Israel, and I'm doing my best to make the most of my remaining weeks in the Middle East.  Who knows when I'll be back here?  I want to pack in as much as I can NOW!

Today I departed for my internship and, just like every week, spending four hours with children brightened my day about a million shades.  I can't believe I only have two more weeks with them :( Then I came home, had lunch, and took a nap!  I slept poorly last night as I tried to figure out how to deal with the Egypt debacle, so a nap was absolutely refreshing.  Tonight will be devoted to trying to finish up some more of next week's reading...shabbat shalom to me :P Tomorrow, however, an adventure is in store!  To counteract homesickness, bad luck with planning, and a host of other negative feelings, we've decided to spend the day with Green Olive Tours in Bethlehem and Ramallah.  You may recall the incredible tour I took with them to Hebron -- I am so excited to have a similar experience now :)

So, what will I do with my one wild and precious life in my remaining time here?  WELL.  I'm glad you asked.  Next week will be quite busy!  On Thursday I've got a full-day field trip for my Biblical Israel class visiting a wide variety of sites.  Friday I'll head straight out from my internship for Egypt take two with Charlotte and Sandy, and we'll return to Jerusalem in the wee hours of Sunday.  The next weekend after that I'm hoping to join Green Olive once again for a tour of Nablus, Sebastia, and Jenin, followed by a field trip on Sunday to Masada, Ein Gedi, and Qumran with my Second Temple Judaism class, and a six-hour seminar at Yad Vashem with my Holocaust class on Monday.

But then the fun really begins -- around 5:30 on Tuesday morning, my parents will arrive in Israel!  Our tentative schedule is as follows:

Tuesday -- relax, visit, wander downtown, visit the shuk, etc...low-key day.

Wednesday -- I'm in class all day, so I'm sending them on adventures, probably to Yad Vashem and somewhere else.

Thursday -- after my Hebrew oral exam first thing in the morning, we'll take off for a road trip to the north!  Thursday will be spent in the Haifa area, exact activity TBD.  Suggestions welcome!

Friday -- we'll visit Akko, an old crusader city, and hopefully join a local family for Shabbat dinner.

Saturday -- after spending the day in Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee, we're hoping to find a midnight Christmas Eve service, one of my favourites of the church calendar.

Sunday -- Christmas will be spent exploring some of the famous sites of Jesus' life -- probably Capernaum, Tabgha, the Mount of Beatitudes, and the like.

Monday -- I sadly have class all day once again, but I'm sending M&D out with Green Olive for a tour of Bethlehem and Hebron.

Tuesday -- we're planning a sunrise hike of Masada, a trip to the Ein Gedi nature preserve, and a float in the Dead Sea.  (Then a nap!)

Wednesday -- for their last day in Israel, we're planning to explore the Old City and the surrounding area.

After that I've got three reading days, two days of finals, three days to write my last final paper, and then 30 hours of airports and airplanes until I reach Oakland! 

And now, if I want to be able to fully enjoy all these adventures, I need to keep getting ahead on work -- time to keep trucking away at my INSANE amount of reading for next week.  Of 505 pages, I've made it through 352 so far!

A quick update on the summer job situation -- thanks for all the good vibes, I got a second interview and will be hearing back in the next couple of weeks!  If I wind up not getting the job, I think I've found a really good alternative.  It's a win-win, I think :D