My Birthday! :) Part 1

I had an excellent birthday!  I first woke up my mom singing "happy birthday" on the phone.  Then I got to speak to each of my brothers.  I didn't get to talk to Stephanie because she was asleep :(.  Finally I got out of bed and my roommates had decorated the house with birthday signs.  It was really cute, one roommate made me coffee, one made me breakfast, and the other made me awesome cookies.  I felt really loved and almost at home :).

After a nice quick morning we went to our last day at Seminar Hakibutzim.  It wasn't our last day for the year, but the last day before we go visit our school placements.  It was a somewhat longish morning.  Lunch was nice and chill.  We received presents! We each got a new Masa backpack.  I am quite a back pack lover, so I was very excited to get a new backpack on my birthday.  The first part of the afternoon our group had to split between the other two groups.  I realized once I walked into the classroom I picked the class that did not have the people I get along with in it.  Oh well, it was a quick activity.  Then we were able to rejoin our "normal" group.

We had one of the best seminars together.  We each were given 15 minutes to plan and prep a lesson.  Then we shared each lesson with the group.  I really enjoyed this activity, because it was the most realistic hands on practice we had.  I loved listening to what different people had created.  It was especially interesting to listen to the people without an education background.  I think it will be very interesting to keep in touch throughout the year to share ideas, triumphs, and tribulations.

After a wonderful lesson, our last activity was the ultimate.  We sat in a circle and each person received a lined piece of paper.  The instruction was the write one sentence about something you learned or hope for each person in the group.  It resulted in a really nice activity, and beautiful letters for everyone.  When are class was over we headed for the bus.  Somehow of all the days...we missed the first bus.  The next bus took about 20-30 minutes to arrive...then we found traffic.  It was the longest bus ride ever!  We finally got home at 8pm.  I was a little bummed about getting home so late on my birthday.

One of my roommates and I grabbed a quick shawrma right off the bus.  We had a nice leisurely walk back to our house.  A quick change of backpack, and we were off to the moshav.  I knew I wouldn't have energy to celebrate with many people after a day of school, and especially since we arrived home so late.

It was a really nice walk to the moshav.  Then two more roommates walked over.  May, Ela, me, and three roommates watched a movie.  We also had the best cake ever!  May's mom is an incredible cake maker... for Brian's birthday she told me the cake was the taste of more, because you eat it and want more.  Mine was the taste more and more!  So amazingly tasty!  I was really touched that I got such a great cake.  May's mom also told my roommates she will be making a cake for each of their birthdays this year.  One of my roommates who hadn't yet been to the moshav, expressed how nice it was to be in a home.  It was one of the first times I had realized another reason I love going to the moshav.  I really feel at home there and part of a family.  It is a really nice change of pace once in a while.

After the best cake, and ok movie.  The four of us decided to walk home from the moshav.  It was a beautiful walk home.  The stars were amazing.  I love going for late night walks, and it was excellent to be with some of my roommates :).  All in all it was an excellent start to my 25th year :)