MAPMES Beach Party

Yesterday was the big, end of the year, MAPMES party. We had it at Zikim Beach near Ashkelon.

Shoko had never been to the beach before, so I decided to bring him along for the ride. He made it all the way to Be'er Sheva without issue, but as we got closer to the beach, Shoko threw up, which really endeared him to the rest of the group. But they forgave him. Amir also brought his puppy, Pishpesh Chazir (which means Pig Fly, don't ask) and they had a great time running around on the beach.

As soon as we got to the beach, everyone ran to the water. It was almost 6 so we wanted to get the most time in the water as possible before it got dark. I pulled Shoko in the water, but he really hated it and ran back to dry land. We then quickly realized that there were jellyfish everywhere and we ran out also. Luckily I didn't get stung but Yoni got stung right on his face and Erin and Amir got some bad ones.

After we dried off, we set up the grill and started a little BBQ. We hung out, ate, smoked some hookah and just had a really good time. On the ride back to Be'er Sheva, Rachel started to talk about the blockade of Gaza. I interupted her and said the only politics we're allowed to discuss are those involving Uruguay and Paraguay. To which she said, "But I don't know anything about them." A resounding "Exactly" rang out on the bus.

After dinner, I got a call from the Spielmans. They were visiting family at a Kibbutz nearby and wanted to say hi. So they drove over and I got to see them again, but this time Avi, David and Savta were with them.

It was great seeing Avi. It had been over a year and I didn't realize how much I was missing my friends from back home. He even humored me and played with Shoko a little.

Josh had somehow gotten taller.
I finally got home a little after midnight and called my Dad to say Happy Father's Day. I told him that I was in contact with the company that is going to help get Shoko his Green Card, so now maybe he can relax a little bit, or maybe worry about me for a change.

Today, I had lunch with Maura, Beeba, Sara and Liad. Maura is leaving really soon to lead a NFTY trip so this was probably the last time I'm going to to see her here. We had a nice lunch in the cafeteria and joked around a little before I had to get back to work.