The Last

Dear All,

I am almost at the end of what I would like to call part one of my Israeli adventures. I am saying part one because I intend to make it back to this Kibbutz before too long… This is the first day of our final performances also. The show is absolutely colossal! It is two hours in length and the most cardio-vascular intensive performance I’ve been involved in! We have four performances followed by loads of clean up and final goodbyes. Thursday evening, I’m headed to Tel Aviv to catch my 1am flight and then I’ll be back in NYC by 5:40am on Friday morning! New York, here I come!!!

Though these past few weeks have been filled with lots of ‘lasts,’ they’ve also been filled with many firsts. Last weekend, I took a trip to the next kibbutz over – a mere 30-minute walk – to the top of an ancient fort/ruin and watched the sun go down over the Mediterranean. You could see for miles in every direction; it was absolutely gorgeous. Following that, I went to Shabbat dinner at Ophra’s house. Ophra works costumes for KCDC and has been around the kibbutz for ages. Her house is an amazing collection of unique odds and ends that have been acquired over time. Among other things, I noticed that she had a music stand set up with a book of flute and piano duets by Handel! So after telling her that I played piano, we set up a date to play together. Yesterday – a week later – we finally got into the studios together to play. I had such a nice time! She has a really sweet tone and I managed to keep up by sight-reading things.  I just went to the office to try to photocopy the rest of the book so that we can try to find another time to play before I leave. Again, too bad we just started playing now and not several months ago. Better late than never, though!

Yesterday morning, we had a run and a half of the show  (we didn’t have to do it full out) followed by warm – up class and then two shows virtually back to back. I was relatively confident that I wouldn’t be able to make it through the second show, but by some miracle, I did! I can’t say it was my strongest run in the world, and half-way through I thought I was actually going to vomit, but I did it! I fell into bed last night after eating a hardy meal and passed out for 10 hours - which could have easily turned into 12 if I had had the time…

…July 1 – I never got around to finishing that last post. The last few days on the kibbutz were a total whirlwind. I’ll try to summarize the past events since I last touched my blog post:

The second evening of performances went quite well. It is absolutely amazing how quickly my stamina improved. I was able to make it through both shows and not feel completely dead. The last show, which was my hard show, went better than I thought. I didn’t make any errors in the choreography and for the first time I completely let go and enjoyed myself. Though I do enjoy doing KCDC repertoire, I often find myself thinking that it’s like little kids and spinach. You may not want to eat it and rarely do you have fun doing so, but it’s the best thing for you and so you should eat it with gusto. So I through myself into the rep, but didn’t lose myself in it until the last two performances where I caught myself actually having lots of fun! I spent so much time working and stressing about choreography and how I looked performing the material and would the artistic director see me and was I on the right counts in the right spacing…but when it came to the final shows and I knew that I had worked as hard as I could and would and that it was my last chance to dance with my friends, I had a ball. It wasn’t the greatest technical performance, but my enthusiasm for the show was enough to make me very happy! What an accomplishment!

We then spent the last few days wrapping things up. Two nights ago, we had a final potluck dinner. It was odd to have spent so many hours together in the studio or casually hanging out in our apartment complex and suddenly all gather to celebrate the end in a formal setting. It initially made me quite uncomfortable and I wished we were all around a camp fire in our pajamas. That being said, though, our final dinner was phenomenal. There was food for days! We celebrated our leaders and our time together. A few of my friends made a really beautiful video for the artistic director, Mika, and the administrator/our surrogate mother, Roni. We enjoyed that, had a final brief improvisation jam in our high heels and then gathered in a circle for one last time to say a few parting words. I surprised myself by turning into a waterfall of tears as soon as people started speaking. I cried so much that I was actually unable to compose myself long enough to say anything in our closing circle. I did, however, spend a lot of time nodding my head in the affirmative…

I am glad that after our dinner I had a day virtually to myself on the kibbutz. In the morning, Elleka and I moved out of our room and in the early afternoon the majority of my friends left for Haifa leaving me to my thoughts. At first this made me even more upset, but then I realized it was quite fitting. In many ways, I ended my journey as I came. I was one of the first to arrive and though it was quiet and very empty feeling, it gave me time to find my bearings. I spent my time hanging in the café and with kibbutz friends and accompanying Roni to the pool to watch her kids swim, share thoughts and gossip for one last time.

At 7:30 in the evening, Tessa – the girl I traveled to Israel with – and I got in a taxi, said our last goodbyes and made the trek down to Tel Aviv. I honestly couldn’t think of a better travel companion than Tessa! I remember the two of us being so shy and tentative when we first arrived. Though we lived in the same building, we never really spent any time together. I watched her grow immensely, however and I felt myself change. She is the sweetest and most thoughtful girl. It was so fitting and felt so right to share the last leg of my journey with her. We have both grown so much and it really was a pleasure to be with her.

Here I am now, in the last hour of my flight. Leaving is so bittersweet. I cannot articulate how beside myself I was to leave such a magical place. Every experience I’ve had has been meaningful and beneficial in some way. I made the most amazing group of friends, was dancing to the best of my ability always and was consistently exceedingly happy. Now that the program is over, however, part of me knows that it is not the place I am meant to be. Though I am worried about being completely overwhelmed by my return to the city, I know I have plenty of doors that are open to me in New York. The other part of me knows that I will be back to Israel for what is hopefully an extended period of time.

I met so many inspirational characters: Roni, who was a surrogate mother to us all, who organized our lives and told us unabashedly which end was supposed to be up. Renana, who changed the way I dance and gave me insight on how I could view the world. Yuko who was the most caring and beautiful person with the largest of hearts and helped me to see the simple beauty in things; Sharon - whose mind and body works in the most amazing ways; Ophra, who I only really knew for a little bit, but is fabulous in her own right as an artist, musician and person; And most certainly Mika – insightful, honest, brutal and truly amazing; she is truly the most phenomenal artistic director I have ever met!

Thank you to every one of my friends and advisors. This has been the best journey I’ve ever taken! I will be back!

With love, Marissa  

Nearing the End

We’re nearing the end, folks! We just finished a crazy week which included four shows of student choreography, Shavuot, final feedback meetings, extra rehearsals and one last trip to Tel Aviv. It was quite a whirlwind and I’m sure that that pace will not slow until the end of the program. There’s less than 3 weeks to go!

The shows went really well! Tech went quickly and while there wasn’t enough time – in my humble opinion – to really find the right lighting and experiment with certain technical elements, I think every piece really rose to its full potential. With the help of my pilates teacher and friend, Renana, I think I was able to bring my solo to fruition and was quite happy with the theatricality that I managed to showcase. I am hoping to expand it and bring it to NYC. My group piece went extremely well! My dancers got progressively funnier and funnier and by the end of the shows, they really brought the piece to another level. I was extremely pleased!

Here are the links to the two pieces:

Poor Boy (group piece): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwMBmmRZaUk

Foreword (solo): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-40UVIEeog&feature=related

I had one close call in the evening between the first and second day of shows. Due to lack of sleep and a technical mishap, I was very disappointed after one performance and went stomping from my house to the café to grab a beer and cool off before I went to bed. I decided to walk on slightly uncharted territory and rolled my foot rather violently on a pinecone. It hurt a lot at the moment, but I was able to walk from the rest of the way to the café and then back to my house. The real trouble came at about 1:30 in the morning when I awoke due to a throbbing pain in my foot. It wasn’t swollen, but I was unable to put any weight on it at all. I ended up hopping around my room and building trying to find out of anyone was awake. Unfortunately I was alone and quite scared. I ended up icing it, massaging it and elevating it and then went to bed. In the morning I went to the PT who told me that I would be able to dance; I had sprained the outer part of my foot and it wasn’t that bad. He did a little electrotherapy and gave it a good massage and I was 70% back to normal. By the evening I was a little frightened, but still ready to dance and then by the time that I went on for my solo, I was so concentrated, warmed and ready that I completely forgot about my foot and performed better than I think I ever have! Amazing! Sadly I didn’t get that time on video, but you have to trust me it was pretty fabity fab!

My dancers performing my piece "Poor Boy" during the Shavuot festivities

I was lucky enough to have my piece selected to be performed at the Kibbutz Shavuot festival/celebration. There is an annual performance on the main lawn in the kibbutz every year for Shavuot that includes lots of white flowers and dances by the women and children. The kibbutznicks take the opportunity to showcase all of the agricultural activity that happens in and around the kibbutz. There were heaps of avocados and bananas and baby chicks among other things. They also celebrate all the new members of the kibbutz by inviting all the babies born in the last year to be brought in front of the community. Very cute!

I also took a final trip to Tel Aviv this past weekend. I didn’t do anything too eventful beyond hanging out with friends and visiting the café I’ve been meaning to visit for months. It was so excruciatingly hot and oppressive that I ended up leaving earlier than planned and collapsed on the ride home. I slept a record 12 hours (something I haven’t done since I got here). It was much needed!

Today we got casting for our final show! I am in everything except for one small part, which means that I will be dancing for about an hour and a half straight! Wish me luck. We are performing the shows twice a day! There is one small section which we rehearsed today in which I literally feel like I’m having an asthma attack post execution. I decided it’s time to try to improve my cardio, so after rehearsal I went on a short run. Let’s see if I can make any improvements before we go up in 2 weeks! Dunno about that one…

Well, that’s all for now. I’m going to go unwind before I tuck myself into bed. Sending love to you all and I will see you very sooooooonnnnnn

Summer Is Here!

Dear all,

It is officially summer in Eretz Yisrael! I took my first dip in the Medeterranean yesterday afternoon, got my first real tan, am completely covered in bug bites and I can’t stop sweating. For now, I am loving it, but I am sure in a few weeks time I will be ready for air conditioned rooms and arctic temperatures again.

In other exciting news, we are one week away from our first big show! Tomorrow we have a run-through of all the pieces to determine an order and so that we can finalize special technical aspects of our show. My group piece is (and has been) done and should be pretty funny. Though it’s silly, it feels like a completed, cohesive story, and I’m proud of it! I am most excited to show my solo. Originally I saw it in my head as a piece all in white, but with the help of my pilates teacher and friend Renana, we’ve slowly turned my piece into a crazy vision in red. I will now have a balloon chandelier hanging from the ceiling and will be wearing a red corset and short petticoat. I finished sewing my costume yesterday and am super stoked to get it on-stage! Renana has also helped me with my hair sculpture (I want to call it a sculpture because it really is very exciting looking!) A few days ago, the two of us sat in the café and played hairdresser for over an hour. I really wish you could have all joined in the fun. It was very amusing!

I also discovered this week that you can find a load of piano sheet music online for free. Obviously it is only the music that is considered public domain. Thankfully, the music I enjoyed playing most would be that of Chopin and Beethoven! I found the music at 11pm on Thursday night and even though I was completely exhausted and already in my pjs, I was so excited by the prospect of playing music that I put my clothes back on and snuck into the studios to play the piano. I cannot tell you how much I’ve missed it! My friends now want me to play for the final dinner or something, so I am going to try to work up a Chopin nocturne or something.

Besides the exciting things that have been happening for me this week, these past few days have actually be particularly rough for me. I think I am getting ready to come home. Seeing as I am done with auditions here and am mentally preparing to jump full-force back into my life at home the prospect of having to wait to start my New York life is making me quite antsy. Besides that, I’m not quite enchanted by some of the modern classes we have here. These modern classes have been the toughest part of my day recently. I have found myself to be particularly stubborn in class and fighting to keep my usual positive attitude going…

Other than that, everything is going beautifully! I’ve become the absolute master of making Challah! Wish you could have tasted one of my four perfect loaves from this past Shabbat. Okay – off to do a few things before bed. Lots and lots of love to you all. Happy Spring and Graduations etc, Marissa

2 Weeks 'Til Showtime, 6 Weeks 'Til Home!

Well, all – I never thought I’d say this, but we’re almost one month out and I am excited about coming home. I have realized that while this place is absolutely phenomenal in many ways, once this program is over, it won’t seem as much like Paradise as it currently does. I have loved this isolated and quiet life, this program, and my friends. It has been a really great opportunity for me to focus on my dancing and reconnect to myself and to my thoughts.  I have recently rediscovered, however, that where I really thrive is in a city where there is always something new to explore and be a part of.  Oddly, I also crave the anonymity that a city provides. I like that I can be surrounded by friends at one moment, but then choose to go into a café and disappear into my own bubble and thoughts. Here, as much as I love everyone, I don’t feel that I can find time totally to myself and it has recently be making me a little crazy! Despite these things, however, I will be really sad to leave this place. I have had so many good times here…

This past week was full and hard! At the end of this week, we go into tech week for our choreography show “Nitzotzot” (which means sparkles in Hebrew). At the top of this past week, we had showings throughout the day. During the evenings, choreographers would scramble to find time in the studios so that they could implement their corrections. There was quite a bit of head butting between choreographers due to shared dancers and lack of space, but so it goes. This is why I get super organized from the get go. At the end of this week, we’ll be ready for show time!

This past Wednesday and Thursday Sharon Vaisvaser came to the kibbutz to give us the 3^rd of 4 workshops/rehearsals that will culminate in a half-hour piece for our show at the end of June. I love her movement – which is contorted, grotesque and theatrical – but these rehearsal days with her are really testing. The first day we had class at ten followed by rehearsals until 9pm. The second day, we were only in rehearsals until 7:30pm, but by that point, we all felt like our muscles were melting off our bones and our brain was sliding out from our ears. Tough. Day. Despite this, however, the days went pretty fast and if we can all get our stuff together, the piece will look pretty cool. Here’s a link to her dancing. You should check it out because she is absolutely beautiful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLFM6id9Iao

As if my week wasn’t full enough, I decided on Friday to travel to Tel Aviv for yet another (and most likely my last) audition. The exciting thing about this trip was that I saw my first Israeli sunrise! In order to get there on time, we decided to leave the kibbutz at 4:40 in the morning.  What we didn’t take into account, however, is that Nahariyya is not exactly a bustling town and therefore we didn’t consider that there wouldn’t be taxis available at 4:40am. I tried 4 different cab numbers to no avail. Luckily, everyone was in great spirits despite the hour, and we all sat on the steps and laughed hysterically at our fate as we watched the sunrise. By some stroke of luck, or perhaps madness because I think we all would have much rather been in bed, one of our crew decided to try another number again. This time, someone answered and in a fit of fury we ran to meet the taxi at the gate, barely made our train and arrived to the audition on time!

I really dislike mass auditions. It is so impossible to see everybody. Not only that, but most likely in these large things, choreographers are looking for something very specific which the auditionees are usually unaware of.  Unfortunately, I got cut after ballet so I didn’t even get to learn repertoire, which was a bit surprising to me. If I had been able to learn some of their choreography, I would have deemed my excursion worth my while. Sadly, I cannot control things like this, so I would have never known that this was the way it was going to turn out. I strongly believe that if something is meant to be, however, everything will align and one of these cattle calls will work out in my favor. Until then, I will find other ways!

Okay, all! The flies have taken to calling my skin home and it’s getting pretty irritating, so I am going to wrap this up. I have some exciting things brewing back in the city, which I may or may not tell you all about later! These little brewing ideas are part of what are fueling my enthusiasm for coming back to NYC! There are so many exciting things that I can finally take advantage of and I cannot WAIT! I hope you are all well! Please do drop a line to let me know how things are going. Love and miss you all, Marissa

Holidays and Memorial Days

Dearest Friends-

So much has happened since I last wrote, but then again it has also been some weeks since I actually took the time to write… I feel like every other day I am saying Chag Sameach. The spring is full of holidays/memorial days.  First there was Pesach, which I wrote about. Shortly after that was the Holocaust Memorial Day.  There was a televised service at the Ghetto Fighter’s Museum (the Holocaust museum of the north), which we participated in. I couldn’t understand what was being said, but it was a very visually pleasing ceremony.  Technically, there were a lot of faux-pas which made our section a little bit dangerous to perform, but on television, it looked quite cool. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R979p-C5ZO8

A few days later a memorial day for the soldiers who have died for the state of Israel was observed. There was a really touching ceremony for the 4 soldiers who have been lost in the history of the Kibbutz.  The service commenced as the air raid alarms were sounded. I don’t know if any of you have had the unfortunate experience of hearing the things sounded, but it really is terrifying. The alarms are extraordinarily loud and all at slightly different pitches from one another which make your ears feel like they are about to explode. What is really terrifying is how life seems to stop for the minute they are sounded in memory of those lost. Cars stop in the middle of the road and people stop talking and moving all together. Everything is frozen. It’s eerie! The actually ceremony was a compilation of video archives, musical interludes and dance. I choreographed a short dance for a bunch of women. It turned out to be really beautiful and everyone seemed to appreciate it!

The following day was Independence Day.  The evening before there was a huge bonfire as well as fireworks and burning sculptures which were really very epic. If you can, you should try to picture a giant, spinning menorah in flames and firey words zooming through the air on zip-lines. It was crazy! The next day, the Kibbutz smelled like one large BBQ. I went to a BBQ at which I consumed more meat than I have since living here.  As a consequence of my gluttony, I spent at least an hour in bed with a severe stomachache. It was completely worth it, though! We are almost done with holidays. I think we only have Lag B’Omer left and then the state of Israel will be holidayed out!

This week we’ve been having showings of our pieces for the first of two major performances we will be producing.  The first show is completely comprised of our own choreography. My showings both went really well and I cannot wait to see them on stage. I am really proud of what I am producing.  I will be sure to post links to the final products.

I am kicking off this weekend with a second (of many) epic pizza nights!  Last time we made 4 pies, but tonight I think we’re aiming to make a 5^th! It’s an excellent, hard earned reward. Tomorrow, I am off to Tel Aviv to hopefully enjoy the beach (though it’s supposed to rain) and city life and see a show of independent Israeli choreographers. I have been looking forward to the show for quite a while.  Supposedly a good number of the employees of the train system were fired/arrested so we’ll have to try to find an alternate route to get there.  It’s always an adventure here…

I’m off to the studios again. Sending my love as usual! Hope all is well. Love, Marissa

Ps: For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing my video, you should check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht2BYIEraFQ  It’s clearly nothing serious, but a product of a bored evening/ me sharing my special talents with all of my friends. Enjoy!

Pesach Adventures by Car

Potluck Seder

I am wrapping up my fabulous Pesach vacation with a little rest and relaxation. The past few days off have been full of venturing to new parts of Israel via a tiny rental car approximately the size of a pea. We took to the road on Thursday morning and traveled west of Nahariya towards the Sea of Galilee until we hit the little town of Tsfat. There we visited what used to be the Arab part of town. Today, it is a small artist colony. We wondered through the ancient streets and in and out of small galleries stopping for a brief lunch during which my friend Hali was set up with an apparently wealthy and handsome young man via his Israeli aunt. This hilarious woman played matchmaker using Facebook as her method of introduction. We are all excited for their future wedding and toasted to their happiness.

Tsfat- Artist Colony

Unfortunately, we took too long looking at galleries in Tsfat and were unable to make it to any Synagogues before the whole town closed for Shabbat. So we trekked back to our car and decided to drive an hour south via a route by the Sea of Galilee to the town of Nazareth. Nazareth apparently contained beautiful churches, so we decided it would be worth the extra driving to fit a second town into our day. The drive from Tsfat to Nazareth was honestly the most beautiful drive I have ever made. Though it was quite overcast, the sun managed to spill onto the Sea making it sparkle through the mist. The mountains were also covered with the most beautiful little yellow flowers! I’ll include a photo, though I don’t think my photos do the scenery any justice.

After driving for a little over an hour, we reached Nazareth. Oh, what an unfortunate disappointment Nazareth was. It is a very modern looking, dirty town which was immediately unsatisfactory. We tried to follow a few signs to churches, but managed to find none. The signs all seemed to be totally wrong, so we decided to park to car and traverse the city by foot. We started by following a sign for a church of Mary that pointed uphill. We started walking in the direction indicated and within a city block, the road stopped. There was no church to be found and we were in a completely residential area. On our walk, we were able to see a fantastic church and golden mosque perched high on a hill. So we walked back to our car with the objective to follow the signs – a horrible idea – to these places of worship.

Side of the road Sea of Galilee

As I am sure you can guess, we failed miserably. Just as soon as we started following the signs, all trace of them disappeared. We were left winding through ally-ways that became progressively smaller as we climbed higher. We found some promise, however, when we began to see hoards of tourists heading in one direction. At this point, we decided to find a parking spot and join the masses. Due to the size of the allies, we obviously had some trouble finding a spot. After making it through a herd of senior citizens, I thought we were finally about to find something when I drove around a corner and found myself in the middle of the Shuk or central market place. Everyone in the car found this moment particularly hilarious. One of the vendors, however, looked at us like we were crazy and began to motion at us to get out. Though we had a small car, this proved a difficult task. I managed a slick 72-point turn and eventually got us out of the situation. Nazareth- we all decided – was not meant to be. So we ventured down the hill and made our way back to Nahariyya for a delicious dinner before turning in for the night.

Our tiny car

Day two was just as odd-ball, yet successful as day one. Our original plan was to go on a 4-5 hour water hike in a nature reserve about 1.5 hours away. We were supposed to head out at ten, but realized at 9:45 that the car’s battery died because one of its doors was left open over-night. Joy. So by the time we made it out of the kibbutz, it was already 10:45. We decided to stop at an Arab market on the way to pick up some fruit for our adventure. As soon as we got into the market, it started to downpour and we turned back to the kibbutz. All was not in vain, however, because we managed to take a trip to a phenomenal Druze supermarket where we bought all our groceries for the week.

Sunset at Rosh Hanikra

Cave at Rosh Hanikra

After a siesta, the clouds parted and it was absolutely gorgeous outside! So a few of us hopped into the car and made a short drive up to the Lebanese border to see some costal caves at Rosh Hanikra. It was absolutely beautiful! When you were on the top of the cliff you could see for miles and miles souh! We also got the chance to walk inside the caves and watch a little informational movie. It was a solid end to the car adventures for the day. Post sunset, we all drove home and made a massive sushi dinner - I think we made about 15 rolls of the stuff – and then dyed my hair red! Surprise!

Red hair!

Our final half-day, we checked out a small kibbutz/village between Ga’aton and Nahariyya that contains a little B&B, some local organic foods, a small goat-cheese factory and a little French café. Ruby and I had a delicious ham, cheese and mushroom crepe (first time I’ve really seen ham around here!) and then continued to town where we returned the car and lounged on the beach for a few hours before heading home!

Woohoo! So here I am attempting to be a vegetable before the dancing resumes. I’ve had a lovely vacation! Chag Sameach everyone! I hope you had tremendous Seders. I’m off to eat some food and enjoy the sunshine. Sending love as always, Marissa

Pesach Israeli Style

Last night, I went to the program organizer’s best friend’s house for a massive Seder.  I think it was hands down the most exciting Seder I’ve ever been to. The grandmother and grandfather have 6 grown children who each have 3 kids of their own who span from ages 8 to 22. Most everyone in the family was present and was crammed around two small tables.  From the moment I entered the house, everyone was shouting and laughing and dancing around.

To commence the evening’s festivities, the grandfather walked to the head of the table, poured himself a glass of wine and shouted the first blessing. It seemed like no one was listening, but as he finished the last words of the brucha, everyone shouted ‘Amen!’ and the epic Seder began! There were enough Haggadot for everyone and as soon as they were passed out, the speed-reading of the Seder began. You had to be on your toes because as soon as someone finished reading a section of the Hagaddah, a different name would be shouted and that person had to continue reading. Occasionally, the Seder was interrupted by one of the son’s who would butt in by beating his drum and then there would be a few minutes of ruckus song. At one point, the youngest girl, Shirai, began the typical four questions by shouting “Mah!” at the top of her lungs, at which point her father picked up the drum and everyone joined in singing the rest of the questions at the top of their lungs. It was crazy time in the house, but it was so much fun.

Celery, salt water, wine, matzo, maror, charoset and many blessing were almost literally thrown around the table while the story of Passover was being sped through. There was laughing and clapping and loads of merriment. When we reached the halfway point of the Seder, the books were shoved in a corner and the food was put on the table. There was enough food for nearly 3 times the amount of people present. There were easily 10 different types of salads from your traditional potato salad to baba ganoush to Swiss chard salad to pickled veggies. Then there was the meat. There was what I believed to be matzo stuffed with liver, fall off the bone lamb with veggies, chicken stuffed with some other type of meat, potato knish type things with ground beef inside… I was told I needed to try everything, so I did. (Worry not, I dressed appropriately in a billowy dress and had preemptively taken a Gas-X and an anti-acid. So besides being completely stuffed, I felt excellent!)

After dinner, the plates were cleared quickly by a few of the women, while everyone else lounged on couches or the floor. Within 15 minutes, half the kitchen was cleaned and cleared and the desert was presented. The women insisted that I have every desert on the table. I obliged and they watched me eat. Post consumption and at the beginning of what is bound to be a week-long food coma, the drum was brought out again and thus commenced a dance party. We sang traditional Passover songs and then the women danced in a circle in the small part of the kitchen that had been cleared. It was so much fun!

Smadar, the woman who brought be to the Seder, brought me home after that and said I was welcomed at any time. I will certainly be taking them up on that offer and will be making them something delicious as a thank you. I decided upon arriving home that my next Seder is going to be modeled after that one. Obviously, I will be translating it into an English version, but it’ll be just as chaotic and full of love and craziness as that one!  You are all welcomed to my crazy Israeli-style Seder next year. What wonderful people they all are and what a phenomenal Israeli experience! I wish I had pictures and videos to show you!

I hope you all had lovely Seders and are enjoying full bellies! Sending lots of spring love, Marissa