Like a champ, I continued my walk to ulpan, told my teacher Yael and classmates I wasn't feeling well, but I decided to try sticking it out anyway. At the midway point in the class, we are given a break everyday, and at that point, I went for a short walk outside for some fresh air, but came back in to ask Yael if I could be excused from class. She said that I just needed to speak to Yonit who could give me the permission to leave, and of course she did. I wrote down the homework assignment for the day and left. 11am back in bed, woke up at 3. My entire body was on fire (and this is not anything close to a euphemism). I took my temperature, and although my thermometer is without a full battery, I'm pretty sure my fever was over 100 degrees (yikes!) but still less than 102 (not dead). My back was hurting, I knew I was dehydrated, and I was burning up. Lying in bed. Fan on me. Sheets below my feet. Fan pointed away. Snuggling under my covers. Back and forth for a few more hours. Everyone came to check in on me to see how I was doing; it was very sweet. Marlowe and Suri, my roommates, kept asking if they could bring me tea or anything else. Rachelle found me on Facebook chat and told me she had pareve (non meat) cup-of-soup in her apartment if I wanted it. Josh came by and gave me a website to stream full episodes of Seinfeld to keep me occupied. I had it made! Drifting in and out of sleep, under the covers and over them, online and back offline, I was still in bed since 11am with the only exception of getting up to use the bathroom, and refill my waterbottle in the kitchen sink. Both walks made me feel lightheaded and exhausted.
At about 9pm I called Rachelle to see if she was in the building. There was no way I was walking down to her apartment only to walk back up again. As it was, I could barely get out of bed all day. Thankfully, she came to my rescue and came upstairs, and saw me in all my glory, sitting on my tuchus in bed. She went into my kitchen and put the hot water on, mixed up the soup, and brought it right to me. Rachelle, you are an angel! Danni, my Israeli next-door neighbor, also came in to say hi, because he knows I'm normally out and about being social, so he came to see where I had been. When I told him I had an upset stomach, he put some pita in the toaster and brought it over to me. Danni, you are also an angel! I stayed up until about 11, watching more Seinfeld until I crashed for the night.
Lucky for me, I slept until 10:40am, when the maintenance men came in to look at the blinds in my window (which, of course I had been complaining about for days, and they hadn't come, and now they come). They didn't know I was there nor that I was sick, but I couldn't believe I slept that late on my own. My body was craving this sleep after being so sick. After the maintenance men left, I think I kind of sat around/bummed around for another hour until people started coming back from Ulpan for the day. Josh came by to bring me my homework list; oy, like I even did yesterday night's homework for today? Nice try. Well the ulpan work will just pile up right now because I'm sick and I can't deal with it.
A few hours later, I finally started feeling like myself, about 75% back to normal. A little more energy, not as rumbly a tummy, and clearly well rested. By about 7pm I think I had my Hebrew books open with the audio files queued on my computer, so I could listen to the assigned tracks and attempt to complete two days worth of homework in one night. I was up until about midnight again, after spending a few minutes next door engaging in more Jew chat, but I knew my limit and put myself in bed before it was too late. Eight hours later, I woke up for ulpan refreshed and brand new, back to being me again - HOW FUN! Because, well, it really is fun to be me :)
Ulpan was great again, and Yael was happy to see me back and healthy and with energy. We did some more games, and listening, and self study, and practice. I really enjoy this ulpan thing. I'm learning a lot and if I keep up with the homework, flashcards, studying, and speaking, I will have this down in no time. Feeling very Hebrew inspired, I went to the bagel store after ulpan ended, and ordered my bagels (yes, plural, one was for lunch today, one is for tomorrow) ALL IN HEBREW! The only exception was to ask for the word "cream" in "cream cheese." I said to the clerk, "Aich omrim 'cream cheese' b'ivrit?" "Shemenet, like fat." "Ahhhh, like oil! Shemen!" OK, now I'm ready to order - got one bagel with regular cream cheese and lox, and the other with scallion cream cheese, and sliced cucumbers! When he gave me the total cost at the register "Arba-im v'taysha" (49 shekels), I gave him more than enough money, and he said in English, "Twenty more, please." I gave him a look (as if to say, ummmm no, I gave you enough, are you kidding me) to discover that he had a smile on his face; he was just joking. I said to him, "If anything, I know my numbers, you can't trick me on that!" I think he was impressed that as an American, I ordered everything in Hebrew. So now I have a new friend at the bagel store. I'm a Jew, so having friends at the bagel store is obviously very important.
Everyone is back at the apartment now, a few of us raced to do grocery shopping before they all close again for the fabulous and wonderful holiday of Simchat Torah (where we finish reading the Torah and rewind and start all over again in the same night), and we are preparing for a fun night of synagogue hopping around our neighborhood, hopefully with some singing and dancing (maybe in the street!). Ani ayefah (I am tired); it's time for a nap! Chag sameach again! Happy holiday!
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