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I was talking with Dani recently about blogs and she was wondering if I would continue mine. I had figured I wouldn't as I was no longer traveling and that had been the point of this blog. However, I realized that I could then do a reverse-travel blog and that I could write this blog for all of the people that I met while I was traveling, ones who are curious about what I'm up to now that I'm "home" (there will be more discussion on this topic later). So from now on, this blog will be more about everyday life, updated when I feel like it and geared towards people not in the US or New England area.

Let's see, I last wrote in the end of May, just before the end of classes. A lot has happened since then, but to keep this entry from being too long, I'll give the highlights. Classes ended. It wasn't too sad. Finals were a bit of a drag, but less-so than at Mount Holyoke, so really not too painful. To get a little political, being in Israel for the Gaza Flotilla "incident" was very very interesting, and yes I stayed out of trouble/riots/protests/rallies. I ended up doing one of my final papers about the Flotilla, not about what happened or who was right, but about the role that media played in the perception of what happened, regardless of what actually did happen.

Packing was a bit of a chore, aided by the wonderful super Dani and her organizational skills. That and her, Sara, Merav and Anna's insistence that I throw away clothing that was torn, too old, ugly, and unfashionable. They kept me from over-packing my bags and kept me under the weight limit, a truly impressive feat. We hung out my last night, and it was just wonderful. I'd been pushing myself, keeping busy and doing anything I could to distract myself from the fact that I was leaving, and it worked. I had a great last night, surrounded by amazing friends who even helped me bring all my stuff to the bus stop to be picked up. I had a minor fright when the sherut was late in picking me up, but it did and I was off to the airport. I arrived in plenty of time to pass through security, check my bags, pass through real security, have the zatar taken away (oops), and watch Friends reruns on the free WiFi at Ben Gurion. My flights were uneventful, I slept a bit, and finally I landed safe and sound with all my bags and smelling like planes to the delight of my parents.

A few days of jetlag and disorientation later, I started my job. Two days later, I quit. Long story short, it was not for me. It was a canvassing job in Boston and it was exhausting. I was out of the house for 12 hours a day, and it just wasn't worth the effort for the money and lack of learning experience, and pressure to raise money. So I cut my losses and went back to the job hunt. It went much much better than I ever hoped. I managed to find another three jobs, for a total of four, two which pay and two which are for the experience.

Job number 1 is to help out around the house of my cousins, Susan and Yosef. I clean, do laundry, take care of kids, run errands, whatever is needed. They're wonderful and I like helping them so much, so I'd say it's my favorite job thus far.

Job number 2 is where I currently am, in Littleton, working for a cellphone software company. A friend of mine from contra dancing told me they needed someone to help test out games on cell phones, so here I am. It's quite easy, absurdly flexible, and I get to mess around with different handsets all day. Oh and it's air conditioned, which in the past three weeks has been very nice as many days were over 90F.

Job number 3 is research, one that I got while still in Israel. I am helping a professor at Framingham State research grassroots elections in the New England area, and my specific elections took place in Brattleboro. I think my parents have already decided to make a day trip up there just to "help" my research efforts, aka they want to visit the co-op and shop around town, which is fine by me. I haven't done too much research yet, I'm a bit behind, but it's all about analyzing media and how it plays into politics, something I've become very interested in as of late in case that wasn't obvious.

The last and final job is also research, but this time for a political campaign in Massachusetts. Mike Lake is running for state auditor in the September primary and I'm going to help out with the research that the campaign needs. I haven't begun yet, though I think I'll be starting this week.

When I'm off the clock, I've been seeing a lot of friends, dancing and reading. Some friends I haven't seen since graduation and it's been nice to reconnect, and happily not as awkward as I thought it would be.

The first few days back from Israel were quite hard, though, but over all the transition has gone a lot better than I thought, which is a relief cause I really thought I was going to be miserable. Every now and then I'll have a day or two of really missing it and wishing I was going back in the fall, but I'm just trying to take it one day at a time and that seems to be working. One thing that has made it a whole lot easier to readjust has been talking with friends from Israel, it's helped me to feel like it wasn't all just a dream. When I was still reacquainting myself with my town and the area it felt familiar but like it was from a past life. Then once I was immersed in this life again, it felt like everything in Israel had been a dream, or happened years ago. This made it particularly difficult to get my two final papers done, I had to constantly think about Israel and the life that I had made there, but no longer had there. A bit heartbreaking at times, I've got to say, but luckily that is all over with.

I think that's just about it for what's been going on in my life, and since I don't really see many monumental changes coming up in the near future, I'll probably change this blog into daily/weekly musings, just for my own amusement (ha ha) and yours.

So welcome back and let the adventures continue!
-Kate


P.S. I decided to start a separate blog instead of making entries private, so message me if you would like the URL.

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