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Published: April 29th 2007
Ok....so I wrote this blog on the 23rd and it's now.....the 29th. But who's counting? 😊
Oh come on now. Cell phones are killing bees?
Bees???. Give me a break.
Upon picking up the International Herald Tribune, I came across this ridiculous article. First, people think that talking too much on cell phones are frying their brain cells and it leads to brain cancer. They even made these ridiculous band-aid looking things to attach to your cell phone so that it "blocks" the harmful death rays your cell phone apparently emits.
Now that that crazy fad has passed, the newest harmful thing is that we're actually killing nature's bees. They even quoted Albert Einstein (a great Jewish man by the way) when he said that
"If bees were to disappear, the human race would follow suit four years later because of the important role bees play in pollinating plants."
Yes - and if I woke up this morning and decided to not brush my hair or gargle, the human race would also disappear soon because of my lack of hygeine.
Anyways........................
Today is Yom Ha'zichron(Pardon my horrible spelling of that). Trust me, phonetically spelling out stuff in Hebrew is harder than it looks.
Spelling aside, this holiday is a remberance of the fallen IDF soldiers throughout the history of Israel. We wear white to show not only our solidarity but also the purity of the ceremony. There are ceremonies and memorials all over the country, in all the major cities. Hatikvah (Israel's national anthem) is sung as well as other remberance songs and if you went to the ceremony in my town today, we had little kids
(yeledim) holding bouquets of flowers, singing Hatikvah and placing the flowers on the gravestones. It was very moving.
You also hear the siren ring out across the country and the whole state of Israel just
stops. You wouldn't believe it. Everyone literally stops. Hightways full of cars, busy main streets, small communities, busses, taxis, even pedestrians in the middle of crossing the street. They just stop and stand still, remembering the lives that were lost and what we as a country went through to reach this point. It's beautiful, in that bittersweet way.
is a video to actually see how this takes place.
Last night the siren sounded at 8pm and my staff and I all went out on our balcony and just stood still. We looked down onto the street and saw the other people in offices come out and stand with us.
Today was the same, except I got to share that moment with my roommate and my new found friends in my ulpan. We learned how to read the Hebrew version of our national anthem and sang it out loud together with the yeledim and the sun shining down on us. It was hard not to let a tear slip out.
Tonight and today is the sadness, but tomorrow is Yom Ha'atzmaut. It is our Independance day. Israel will be 59 years old and there are street fairs everywhere. Ra'anana specifically has 6 music stages, dancers and parades all over the city. Most of it is centered in Park Ra'anana which is beautiful by itself. I can't wait to see how the decorations turn out and to see the amount of people who show up.
Just as we do in the States, we BBQ like no one's business here on Yom Ha'atzmaut. Friends and family surround you and you have a grand old ball. Eitan, our friends and I will be on the beach with our kabobs, pitot
, and heaven knows what else. I can't imagine a better day. The weather is GORGEOUS. Yesterday and today are in the high 80's, but a nice wind is blowing. Perfect. I think I'm even developing a tan.
Go me and my pale Irish self. 😊
To end this off, I hope if you are in Israel, you have an amazing Chag Semeach, and if you are back in the states, I hope that only good things come to you this week.
I miss a lot of you. I think of the states often, but this is where I need to be. My heart lies here and pieces of it are with you as well, but I'm happy.
Mommy
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Love You Lots
Cool Blog....MISS YOU!!!!!