We Had Kind Of Gotten Used To Having You Around...

In three hours the shuttle is coming to pick me up for the ride to the airport in Tel Aviv. My flight to London leaves at 7:25 p.m. and by 4:30 p.m. (ten-hour time difference notwithstanding) I will be landing in San Francisco.

I went to Eli and Rahel's today to have Rosh Chodesh coffee, eat after-school lunch, and say my farewells. "This is sad," Eli said. "We had kind of gotten used to having you around." I had kind of gotten used to being around too.

L'hitraot, Jerusalem...next stop, Berkeley. My roommates and I shared an amazing dinner together tonight and then stayed up very late talking. Even when the dishes had been cleared and the lights turned off we stood in the dark of the dining room not wanting to say goodbye. "You know, I am just going to say goodnight like every other night," I decided aloud. "The only difference is that in the morning you will wake up and instead of me being asleep in the salon, I will be buckled in tight and heading north towards London." "Oh, but come on," said Eva. "Of course it is not the same."

No it isn't, but not much this year is the same for me. One girl, one year, one world--my journey as a professional volunteer continues. So now, like my housemates who are already sleeping, I will turn off the lights and lie down in my sofa bed (photos forthcoming!) and try to rest. At 3 I will wake up and at 4 I will leave, and then when the alarm clocks start going off in the morning everyone else will get up out of bed and head to the kitchen for breakfast and everything here will be mostly the same, except that I will not be around.

I will be gone away somewhere, again.