Catsup, Ketchup, Catch Up.... Whatever...

That last post took half a week to write, so I already have an update on life. Finals are over and it feels good. I'm still coming back to life (I've been a zombie by the way). This week definitely was the "best of times and the worst of times". The "worst": finals and all the studying that profited me nothing. The "best": Palm Sunday and Bethlehem, Easter weekend, and the studying that did pay off in the end. The first final I don't even want to talk about, and the other two were fine. I actually rocked the last one, it was satisfying. Oh, another part of the worst: we lost our last soccer game, so we are out of the tournament. We only lost by one point. It was sad.

This weekend was the Jewish feast of Purim. We had our own little Purim party here. The Jews dress up in costumes for it, similar to Halloween. We have limited resources here at the JC, so we all got creative with our costumes. We had a bonfire, made banana boats, reenacted the story of Esther, and burned the manuals of the classes we just finished. It was fun and definitely a great way to relieve the stress of the week.

Spring is here and trees are budding everywhere and flowers are springing up all over. Even a few roses have bloomed around the center. Today was Easter Sabbath for us. Lots of students went down to the Garden of Gethsemane between church and dinner. It seemed appropriate. We leave for Galilee in the morning, but before we do, our departure was pushed back so we can go to the sunrise service at the Garden Tomb (enough students protested that they were being deprived of Easter in Jerusalem!). The Galilee field trip is our longest one and spans 11 days, so you'll get a break from these updates for a while. We are all really excited, especially since the weather is nice and warm for good now! It may still be winter where you are, but it's not where I am!

I updated my pictures and added another album, so check 'em out. I really crave Mexican food. Just throwing that out there.