Sukkot

All right, I've given into peer pressure.
No, not THAT kind of peer pressure; the intense kind from your parents when they beg you to update your blog.
I guess I'll start from chol hamoed. 
Just my luck, I couldn't sleep on Sunday morning, before I went to the kotel for birkat kohanim. So I was up early anyway. We left around 7 am, and it was already crowded and hot by the time we got there. Lucky for us, we got front row spots on the plaza behind the men, and even got a chair to stand on. It was really awesome to see all the taleisim and lulavim everywhere, and the sudden quiet that descended when they actually began the blessing. For mussaf, when they did it again, my friend tapped me on the shoulder and said, "turn around." I did, and it was absolutely unbelievable.'tens of thousands of people were crammed into the plaza, and they were spilling onto surrounding staircases and rooftops. Something to see. Don't even get me started on how hard it was to get a bus back.
In the afternoon, we went with school to the beach in Ashdod. A separate swimming beach! It was really beautiful. 
On monday I went to an art festival in town with my friend and her sister called and asked us if we wanted a job in the old city for 40 shekel an hour. (we quickly agreed.) when we got there, we saw a gorgeous mansion overlooking the kotel. But we didn't have time to look; they immediately put us to work in the kitchen. From 2:30 pm until 10:30 pm we chopped vegetables and washed dishes and served and cleared food at a dinner party for the family's friends and also for lots of soldiers which they frequently have over for meals. This family has a full time kitchen staff. Sounds nice.
For the second days of yom tov I was in rechavya which is a neighborhood in Jerusalem practically across from the president and prime minister's house at my friend's somewhat distant relatives: an old hungarian holocaust survivor and her incapacitated daughter who uses a wheel chair. It was interesting. Almost everything they served us was "fresh and delicious," they claimed. I was getting suspicious of the "fresh and delicious challah, the best challah you can buy!" which was completely tasteless and fortified with a rubbery and thin crust. Boy do I miss mom's whole grain challah. I finally learned that their definition of the word "fresh" consisted of anything that was bought or made within the past 3 to 4 days. They begged us to eat. It was a trap. When they asked us if we liked it, and we said yes, "then you'll have some more!" was their answer. (but we're stuffed!) how they assumed we were starving 2 hours after a huge meal is beyond me. But then again, I don't understand most Israelis. And I suppose being offered lots of food is better than being starved. And I got to sleep a lot there. Oh-and I went to rabbi berel wein's shul on shabbas! We also raveled at the beautiful Inbal hotel on shemini atzeres and went shul hopping on simchad Torah. Unbelievable. I miss SEHC. at least there, the women aren't segregated into a stuffy and cramped womens section to sit back and watch the men dance. Not that simchas torah is ever fun for women, bt this was pretty sad. Oh well. There are other redeeming factors here.