Factious Caution

This is a shehechiyanu moment. I am writing my post in America for the first time.

It's not 1 or 2 am, and it's not in the middle of a boring class, and it's not in the twelve minutes I have between making dinner and eating it. It's in my house, on my kitchen floor, to be exact, while shirking my Pesach-cleaning and cooking duties. 

So, after that intro, let us go back seven days to last Tuesday, where I was still in Israel. To tell you the truth, last week is a little bit of a blur. I cleaned my room, which is always an adventure. Found a cornflake in my closet and devised a bunch of scenarios to how it got there, ranging from the "I was really mad at my C++ homework, so I threw the thing closest to me (a cornflake on the desk) into the closet" to the "I was practicing my aim so I could join the WNBA, and I aimed my cornflake into my roommate's closet, but I'm not a great shot, so it landed in my closet" to the "I put that cornflake there six months ago when I first came to my dorm, and I wanted to see how often I would clean my closet" to the "I thought the cornflake needed a warm and comfortable home during the long months of winter, so I put it right there atop my sweaters to cuddle with through the snow and sleet and hail." 

To be honest, who knows how it got there, but it was fun to make up the stories. 

Shabbos was so many funs. Two friends and I went to Tzivie's. I know what you're thinking: Are her parents masochists or something? Why would they ever invite me more than once?

And the answer: I pay them really well. And I'm a good actress. 

It was a great Shabbos. On Erev Shabbos, we were treated to a beautiful piano performance by our very own Shana Aleph. And then began the holy Sabbath. With much laughter, Torah, jokes, and good food, the night flew by.

There were many dad jokes thrown about. I wish I could relay them all now, but alas, my memory is not as good as it used to be. 

For Shabbos day, we ate by Mrs. Smiles, one of DB's teachers. She has a library in her house. I was in heaven, surrounded by so many beautiful books.

In the middle of the meal, Mrs. Smiles and her daughter got into an intense debate about Eliezer and Lavan. Mrs. Smiles picks up a sefer from the shelf and starts reading through it, while her daughter goes to get her notes. She comes back into the room with a veritable textbook and starts rifling through them. It was a beautiful scene. 

Then, we went to visit another dira-mate who lives in RBS. Got to meet her fam-jam and eat some surprisingly delicious almond-date things. 

So Shabbos went by, and then back to the dorms, we went. We had a shtickle melave malka and a nice kumzitz with some guitar-playing. I made my sixth bag of pasta in under two weeks. 

Sunday was a busy day. We were flying out Monday morning, so Shana Aleph and I went out for many hours, getting coroina tested (if tested means getting your nose tapped by a swab), going to the koisel, packing (yes, I packed the night before my flight in about twenty minutes), doing bedikas chametz (needed to make sure no other cornflakes had made their home in my room), and saying goodbye to everyone. 

We got to the airport at 2:00 am. Our flight was scheduled for 6:00. I don't want to go into details. It will suffice to say that we made it to our gate at 5:45. The lines were insanity. It was a good thing I was with a friend, otherwise I might have fallen asleep on the floor of the airport. 

We had some interesting conversations while waiting. We spoke about my brother being more fashion conscious than I will ever be, except I was so tired that I kept on saying factious caution. 

Finally, we got onto our plane, got our seats, talked about the really adorable little kid sitting across from us, and promptly fell asleep. We were so tired that we didn't even eat the delicious and nutritious (read: barely edible) meal they gave to us. 

Our next flight was boarding as we landed. We ran off the first plane and through security. Baruch Hashem, we made it. So did the aforementioned adorable little kid and his family. 

That next flight to DC was a little longer. Slept for some of it, played trivia and crosswords and sudoku, and watched an animal documentary. 

After landing in DC around 2:30, we go through security and got our baggage by 3:10. It was insanely fast. 

I met Shana Aleph's mom and very tall younger brother before my grandparents and Barrel picked me up. 

Then we drove to Potomac, where my father drove Barrel and me home. That was a fun car ride. We spoke about some Gemara and Toirah and Avodah Zara and all good, practical things. 

And then I was home. 

Today, I did some homework, procrastinated other homework, helped clean a bit, and took a nap. My friend got engaged, which is so many excitings. 

And now, I'm gonna sign off, 'cause I'm tired and jet-lagged. So long y'all. 

Toodles from Hoodles!