Guess who? ^_^

This post has to be short. I've got so many things to do... now that I'm home!!! ^_^ At last!

I'm so happy.

But I do miss Israel a bit. ~,~

(Don't worry, you'll get the stories of my adventures all in good time. ^_~)

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu

Adieu, to you, and you and you and you!

My family and I are leaving tonight for our trip. It's so hard to believe. After months, weeks, days of waiting, a new adventure is about to begin. I do believe we have everything we need for us to start our journey. I'm excited! ^_^ But... I'm also a little nervous about the big unknown out there.

I'm familiar with the fact that we'll be road-tripping to New York. (I love taking road-trips. They're just the best. ^_^) Our flight is at JFK airport, and instead of Annette and I having to fly twice, we're going to drive with our parents and Adam to the NYC, and once we take off, they can keep going on to Boston, Mass. It's more convenient that way. Then they'll come pick us up after our 10 days are over, and we'll all come home, so we'll all have a mini-vacation, I guess.

What I'm really nervous about is what will happen when my sister and I say goodbye to our family and get on the plane to Israel. I have little to no clue what will happen next. Will we meet the people we'll be traveling with at the airport? Will I sit next to my twin Annette, or next to strangers on the plane? Will everyone be friendly? And when we get there, what is the very first thing we will do on the agenda? (I have a whole itinerary for the trip, but it's a bit vague. I think I might enjoy the first day, though, because it seems to involve rafting along the River Jordan, hiking, ice-breakers in the evening at dinner to start conversation, and things like that.)

The thing I'll really miss, though, is that I don't think I'll be able to blog throughout my entire trip. I will just have to take careful notes of the awesome things I do along the way, and remember to tell lots of stories when I get back.

I won't be leaving for several hours, so there's still plenty of time to shoot me a comment and wish me "Bon Voyage!" if you want to.

^__^ See you in two weeks! I miss you already. ^__^

Happy Mother's Day! I love you!

How on earth do you manage to

Accomplish what you do every day?

Please, what is our secret?

Preparing tasty, healthy snacks and

Yummy meals for all of us,

Mending and patching clothes, keeping

Order and neatness where we live,

Teaching us valuable life lessons,

House-cleaning and so much more.

Everything you do around here is honestly,

Really appreciated a lot. You are a

Special person. Very special. You

Deserve all the happiness

A person can possibly get. Oh,

Yes, you most certainly do.

In honor of this wonderful holiday,

Let us shower you with praise

Over and over and over again. You are

Valuable beyond reasonable description,

Even for a writer such as myself.

Yesterday you were loved, but

Only half as much as today. Wait

Until tomorrow comes along, though!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the acrostic poem that I wrote especially for my mom on Mother's Day. ^_^ When she read the handmade cards that my siblings, my dad and I made for her, she got emotional and had a few tears in her eyes as she read each one.

I actually had another paragraph in the card that is an acrostic of her name, but the poem works well without it. I figure this poem can now refer to anyone in the world's mother (anyone who is a writer, that is).

We love you, moms of the world!!! ^_~

Crash course in Hebrew

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but in just another week, Annette and I are going to be traveling again. We'll both be going to Israel on the Taglit Birthright program, a guided tour that lasts 10 days. I'll be traveling in a group full of my peers, jewish young adults from 18 to 22 years old, from all across the US and other countries.

I'm extremely excited for this trip. I've only been to Israel twice in my life (once in 2000 and the other in 2007), but this will be the first time without my parents or my younger brother Adam. I'll be hiking, camping, riding camels, floating in the Dead Sea, and eating lots of pita and falafel. ^_^ I hope I make some good friends and pick up a good amount of the Hebrew language.

Speaking of Hebrew, my siblings and I found a great way to get a crash course on Israel's native tongue. Yesterday we found a translated version of The Lion King on YouTube, entirely in Hebrew. It is really an amazing experience, hearing a beloved Disney classic that we know inside and out with new ears. ^_^ One appreciates the story and the animation even more. The voices were matched up really well to the characters, and the translated words go pretty nicely with their mouth movements. Not all the time, but still.

Let me show you what I mean:

There's even a whole YouTube channel (right here) that has entire Disney movies all translated into Hebrew! Beauty and the Beast, Monster's Inc, Alice in Wonderland, even Enchanted, which came out recently. I don't know a lot of conversational Hebrew, but it's so much fun when I recognize the words I do know.

You should try watching a beloved animated movie in a foreign language. It's really mind-blowing. And if you have to see it in a different language, why not make it Hebrew? ^_^

Also, here's a link to a hilarious Daffy cartoon spoken in Hebrew, Duck Amuck.