ShnUpdate - Savyon 04.10.18
This week has been a week of loss. Loss due to the amount of time spent on the toilet due to food poisoning (Nathan, Michael L and Michael S), loss of hair (Michael L and me) and the sad realisation of how little time we have left together (Michael S, Michael L, Jess, Tahlia, Nathan, Sal and me).
This last week has mostly been taken up by chofesh. Sal and Jess went to Rishon LeZion to stay with their friends from habonim dror for 2 days and just hung out with everyone,went to the beach and had a really nice break. Then they spent 2 days in Jaffa, went to the beach and markets and met some cool people at the hostel that they were staying at. Then went to Tel Aviv and stayed with Nathan’s cousin and went out for birthday celebrations with Tahlia.
This last for Nathan week was the second part of a 2 week long holiday with his Mum. They started the week in Haifa, staying in the german colony. Lots of good food was eaten and it was a great opportunity for his Mom to meet the rest of the shnatties. The Shnatties loved this as she took them out for dinner and a shnattie never passes up free food. He also went with my mom to the Haifa art musuem which was a cool modern exhibit on consumerism.
They then went to Jerusalem, which was a nice trip down memory lane as he got to show his mom, all the places he loved in Jerusalem, as well as showing her the view of Beit shmuel. They both went to the Israel museum where they saw the dead sea scrolls which were incredible! -Nathan “If you are reading this mom, Love ya.”. Tahlia spent her chofesh seeing her mum which was super exciting!!!! They toured around Israel, got to spend a lot of time in gift shops and left the Shnatties a delicious bad of dried mangoes- Heaven. Tahlia also turned big 19 last week, leaving me as the only 18 year old left in the flat.
After already taking a few weeks off to spend with my mum over the last month, I took this chofesh as time to relax in Haifa for a few days, seeing a few friends from around here. I finished off my chofesh at our Habonim friend’s house in Rishon LeZion and also going out with a few of the shnatties for Tahlia’s birthday.
The Michaels found themselves sitting down at lunch the day before Chofesh with not a plan in sight. The very second they came to that realisation they decided 16 hours from then they would walk out of the front door and start yam l' yam (A famous hike in Israel). They had all of their equipment ready and went to bed early for a 4 am departure. Michael “It was 4 am and my alarm goes off, I looked to my left and Michael wasn’t in bed. I got myself ready and walked into the toilet to brush my teeth when I found Michael hunched over the toilet throwing up”. Fast track a few days and the Michaels have found themselves in the ashram desert running mud building workshop at a Buddhist meditation and psy trance festival. After 4 days of mud building, yoga, meditation and doofing, the Michael’s headed out to Tel Aviv's night life for a restful and chill night by comparison to the night time dance parties of Zorba. They caught up with 2 guys from the Green Apprenticeship for the day and prepared to return to Haifa, alas it wasn't that simple. For hashem and google maps had other plans, beggining of the day they consulted google maps and moovit. Both these services agreed that while buses weren't running for simchat Torah the trains were, so they walked 5 kilometres with their bags from the last week in the middle of the days heat and humidity to find google maps and moovit had deceived them! They proceeded to wait 6 hours outside of a train station for their train home. On the way home they stumbled across a simchat Torah party and went in to participate. A sweaty hour later, they held hands and danced with every guy in the synagogue and been given the responsibility of holding the Torah during the dance and proceedings.
Now that we have all returned to the flat, we have been using our time to really be together and make the most of our time left in Israel.
Lots of love Leigh
Leigh
I’ve recently realised how invisible the refugee crisis is to so many Australians who have the privilege of being citizens of our country. So I’ve decided to play my part in raising awareness and funds for refugees, and will be shaving my head next Wednesday to raise money for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC).
There are currently 100 children being detained on Nauru by the Australian government, living in inhumane conditions, with up to 30 children currently suffering life-threatening illness. Your donations would assist the ASRC in giving these children immediate medical aid and would help them advocate for their removal from Nauru. My goal is to raise $700 by doing this! Every dollar that you can give will make a difference, so please, if you can, donate (by clicking on the link below)!!
Thanks so much!!
Michael L
Alongside Leigh, I will be shaving myself head to toe excluding my eye brows unless someone is willing to front a lot of money for menslink. Menslink is an organisation that operates in Canberra providing at risk men with support and at risk teens with mentoring to get them through adversity they may face in an environment where they aren't met with the stigma facing men about speaking about their feelings and mental health. Suicide is the leading killer of young men in Australia resulting in approximately 5 deaths per day and over 100 attempts. I hope the money raised from this will allow menslink to expand across Australia especially into rural areas where young men are even more at risk of depression and substance abuse.
