To-do

OY. i feel like i have a million and one things left to do, and all i want to do is sleep until i leave.
The current to-do list:
-figure out my plug situation, aka how many things i'm bringing that need to be plugged in and therefore need converters
-write out a timeline of dates that things are due
-call eye doctor, insurance company, maybe the dentist
-send emails to a few daycares to see if any would be interested in hiring me over the summer
-make a packing list
-inventory all my OTC drugs and such and decide which i need to stock up on to bring and which i can buy there, and figure out how to get my prescription while i'm there
-clean my room so that i can find everything i need once i actually start packing
-figure out the details of the pre-orientation phone call
-figure out the details of getting my israel cell phone before i leave

-SLEEP.

i feel like there should be more things on the list. but it's still pretty daunting. 16 days. yikes.

oh and now there's this whole war situation. which is not making my parents or my concerned friends very happy. however, my israeli friend Avi who is in Jerusalem wrote me this:
Things are a bit tense here - but not because we feel threatened in Jerusalem (don't worry about that, J-lem is still far away) but just because Israel is so small and everyone knows SOMEONE in the areas being hit.. And now they're calling up reserve duty, so I have some friends on call... But in general, Israel is more or less supporting this attack. I mean, we obviously don't want war, but after 8 years of being rocketed, including during so-called "cease-fires", it's about time. There are still people very much against it though, of course, so there's kind of a split... I just hope that whatever happens, it won't continue much longer. But Barak and Olmert - or should I say, the Israeli people - won't let this become another version of the second Lebanon War... (I hope). But in any case, people are talking about it, but you guys will be safe here in Jerusalem.

:-D

Testing 1, 2, 3

So i leave for Israel in like, days. well, weeks. three weeks from today. I FINALLY got housing settled today, will be in one of the "normal" dorms on-campus, HALLELUJAH. and hopefully will have a super-cool roommate if they honor our request, this girl named Emily who i was talking about alternative living arrangements with before we got this latest offer. She seems awesome.
So now that i finally have housing, it's time to start freaking out about WHAT TO PACK. Five months. twoish suitcases. rainy and cold weather, possible snow. then later, warm warm warm weather. Yes, my mom is planning to come over at some point and can bring me stuff then, but what if i want to go somewhere warm before that? so i need warm stuff. and cold stuff. and wet stuff. and ZOMG it took like a million trips and around 6 hours to pack up all the shit i had in my room at UMass, and there's no way in hell i can bring even half of that with me.
Luckily i have friends with experience who will hopefully guide me.
Then the plans are to head to CT to my grandparents' house on like the 11th; on the 12th we're heading to Newark and staying in a hotel for a night, and then i'm leaving on a jet plane on the 13th and arriving in Israel at 6:40am their time on the 14th.

YIKES.
Anyways, this blog will be solely Israel-related stuff, preparation anxiety, etc, then hopefully if not a daily then a weekly update on my doings at school. LJ will stay for personal life stuff but some posts may be cross-posted, i guess. We'll see.

I'll update again in a few days...