Yes, I still exist.

I know, I know, I've been promising an update forever. In fact, I have one, about half-written, saved on my computer. But it's so hard to sit down and sift through everything I've been doing and try and pick out the things I think my readers would be interested in. And if I wrote EVERYTHING, well, you'd be sitting at your computer reading for a long time.

So in a tribute to my inability to think coherent, well-put-together thoughts, I now present you with "Nehama's observations on Kibbutz Ein Tzurim, intercity bus systems, and Israel(that small little country)." Enjoy!

-I work in Gan Tzivoni on Kibbutz Ein Tzurim. It is the Israeli equivalent of kindergarten, although the ages range from preschool to kindergarten, with 4.5-6 year old kids. There are 6 teachers there (and myself), with 4-5 of them there each day, in addition to sheirut leumi (national service) girls and aides in and out all day. With all these teachers, you'd think the 30 kids would be getting some pretty good lovin' but for some reason, almost every single teacher is more of a janitor than that warm comfy huggable teacher we all (hopefully) had when we were five. And as for that janitor bit, I am DEFINITELY included in that number, perhaps even more so than the others.

Hi, my name is Nehama Rogozen, and I am a reincarnated neat freak. Last night I had a dream that I hadn't scrubbed one plate well enough before putting it in the dishwasher, and, gasp, it came out DIRTY! And then I had another dream where I used a broom when I should have used a sponga!

I think my main problem is the fact that I clean ALL day long, and yet, nothing is clean. Everything LOOKS clean, but is any of it sanitary?

I did catch one girl blowing her nose on her bookbag when we ran out of tissues (actually, toilet paper).

-So, spongaing. It's what I do for the majority of my six hours at work each day. I STILL don't understand the mechanics of it. It's basically a squeegee but depending on the amount of water, food, or dirt on the floor, it can become 8 million different tools. And when you add a big rag on top to make it a mop, ooh, baby, it gets difficult.


How DO they keep that mop on there? I managed to keep it on there for about 3 or 4 whole seconds today and then I just gave up, planted the sponga on top of the rag and sort of pushed it around until there were no big dangerous puddles of water on the floor.

(By the way, none of this probably made sense to you unless you've seen an Israeli floor being washed.)

-Ein Tzurim. It means stream of rocks. I see no streams. I see no rocks.

-I do see cows. By that, I mean that I smell them. Actually, on a day-to-day basis, I pretty much get used to the smell and then it's fine. But everytime I return from traveling somewhere, my nose has to get readjusted. It;s somewhat painful.

-Speaking of traveling-I have by now, spent dozens of hours sitting on Egged buses, and hundreds of shekels for the privilege of doing so. It would be a lot more pleasant if the English and Hebrew websites were more accurate and if the routes listed all the places along the way that they stopped. And if buses were more frequent, and on time. And if the bus stop on the outside of kibbutz weren't so far away. And if it didn't cost a ridiculous 7.60 shekels to get to Kastina (where you get the bus to Be'er Sheva).

I do know that when I'm back in America in just a couple short months, I'll miss Egged. But my sore butt doesn't tell me that often.

-Reflections on Israel: This country is meshugah (crazy). I don't think it's possible to put it anymore simply.

Maybe I'll compile a book called "Only in Israel," with stories from people about their encounters with Israelis. The last sentence of each story with be "Only in Israel, rak b'yisrael."
Any contributions?