Avigayil's Adventures

Hello, friends, family, and other forms of humanoids.

It's been quite a week. Much has happened since I last wrote. Where do I even begin? 

Well, let me just start off by saying that I have pretty cool dira mates. 

Funny Story Time: I needed to go to the mikveh to tovel my cutlery. You see, I am an adult now, and I need to buy and tovel my own dishes. Scary stuff. 

In America—and by America, I mean Richmond, because that's the only mikveh I've ever been to—they have these helpful baskets that you can put your dishes in so they won't drop. And even if something manages to get past the basket, they have these grabber things that I thought were only for pregnant women who can't bend down. (Bracha, I'm looking at you.) But in Israel, they have this funny thing with mikvehs. That is, mikvehs consist of simply water. No helpful baskets. And no helpful grabby things. 

And so, it's a whole situation to drop your dish in the water and, half a second later, grab it before it sinks to the bottom and is lost to the little fishies who make their home in the pots and pans that people drop. 

That was all just a prelude to the real story. 

So I'm at the mikveh with my friend Avigayil. First went the frying pans and the pot, with no major issues, and then it was time for the cutlery. After making sure that there were no eligible bachelors to witness our humiliation, we dropped one fork into the water, snatched it up before it sank, and breathed a sigh of relief. Then one more. Then another. 

And then, it happened. A fork sank the bottom. We laughed it off and continued with the spoons. Three made it out of the water. One didn't. And then the knives came. I only had three knives, and I needed them all. So I was extra careful. But one still made its way to the bottom. It was a cute little table setting there at the bottom of the mikveh.

After trying unsuccessfully to bring up the cutlery with the frying pan, my friend—blessed be her soul—dove into the mikveh to grab the wayward knife. And I mean dove. With her legs flailing out and half of her face in the water—and let me tell you, that water was about as clean as the toilets on an airplane, or better yet, a Greyhound bus—she grabbed that knife. She didn't fall in, though that would have made the whole experience that much funnier. 

At the end of the ordeal, she looked like she had just taken a shower when only half of the showerhead had been working. It was really funny. 

Needless to say, I have pretty awesome friends. Baruch Hashem. 

What else, what else? I've started classes. Some are pretty simple, at least so far, but some are really hard. There's this one class called digital systems. We've only had two classes, and already my brain hurts. But it's also sort of fun and rewarding when I finally understand what's happening. Yes, 2 times 9 is 27 in base 56. Doesn't that make so much sense?

In addition to classes, I've also begun working in a chug. No, don't read that like "chug". I mean like an after-school tutoring thingy. I teach little boys and girls how to read English. Isn't this exciting? The kids happen to be really cute, and they enjoy making fun of how little Hebrew I know. I'm so glad I can be such entertainment to these little humans. 

On Thursday, I went to the kotel. And because it was Rosh Chodesh, I didn't even need to tear kriah. Not like any of my shirts are worth saving or anything (except for the ones that Bracha got me, obviously), but it was still nice to go when I didn't have to rip. 

In other news, on Friday, I got my third vaccine. Finally. Now, according to some, I will grow a tail, or my children will. Oh, well. Tails are cool. I'll take the risk. 

This past Shabbos I went with Faiga, another famed Bnos Abby alumnus, to Rabbi Kass and Rebbetzin Gottlieb for Shabbos. The meals were full of Torah and deep discussions with some humor mixed in. And we met a woman who worked for the FBI as a translator. She couldn't tell us more details than that or else she would have had to kill us. And I like being alive even more than I like drama, which I know is sometimes hard to believe. 

And now, I'm going to eat dinner. Except I have to make it before I eat it. And I'm lazy. This is a really hard life. I feel like I'm just going to end up eating cookies. If I gain 40 pounds, then this is why. 

All right. My hands are tired and my brain hurts. I'm going to sign off now. Miss you all. 

Toodles from Hoodles!