Day Seven - 29/7/2009

Tisha B'Av. Yeurgh.

Am in the Cheder Ochel, setting up dinner and waiting for the final meal before the fast. I'm going to look upon the opportunity to fast in crazy heat as a positive and interesting experience, because, to be frummy about it, it's further infliction - I'm guessing the ancestors also had to cope with crazy heat, while the Temple was falling...

On Friday night we adopted a baby kitten that wouldn't leave us alone. I named her 'Rina', because it means 'Joy' or something similar, and our kitten was far from that: skanky, close to death, with a strange 'mew' that was actually closer to a scratchy growl and an eye that looked rather infected. But, since she wouldn't leave us alone, we began feeding her (at first with some leftovers we skanked from Shabbat lunch, then some other stuff) and by this time, she has come to follow us around. So now, Boston girl and I are her new mummies, and her uncle/father (can a kitten, or anyone for that matter, have 3 parents?) is New York guy.

Stuff in the Mitbach has worsened - the manager, 'A', hates me after I attempted to clean everything myself, so when I had a nosebleed (the combined effect both of attempting to adjust to the heat, and also the withdrawals of not getting sufficient tea. It happenes every time) and opted to go and wait it out in the loo, 'A' went nuts at me.

Also, another member of the kitchen tzevet, 'Y', has taken a great dislike to me. he told 'B', my only friend amongst the tzevet, in Hebrew infront of me, that I reminded him of an ugly film actress in this film where she tries - and succeeds - in seducing all the men around her, and that according to him, because I talk to all the mitnadvim - male and female - and also the male workers (what, am I meant to ask what I should be doing by clicks and sign languages? Is that what's considered untnziut now?), I'm trying to seduce all of them too. Then he levelled the accusation that yesterday, i seduced Boston girl to help me in stealing two bottles of fizzy drinks, which in actual fact had been given to the mitnadvim - in full view of everyone - by a kibbutznik who had wandered into the kitchen after an event, looking to dispose of the unused bottles.

Needless to say, I was incredibly upset, and have yet to receive any form of apology from 'Y'. Thief, Liar, Seductress... In a way, it was refreshing, because I've been called a lot of stuff before, but I can honestly say that's the first time anyone's said that stuff.

On top of this, I managed, somehow, to get a huge spider bite on my foot, which got infected and has turned my foot black. How this happened, I do not know, as I am terrified of spiders, and feel sick to my stomach that one of them could have not only bitten me, but that their poison could be at this moment spreading throuhg my foot and putting me in so much pain... Euurggghhh.

I had to see an emergency doctor (at the cost of 450 shek) and now have to take antibiotics, and rub foot ointment into The Bite. Yeeuuuughhhh.
In addition, my mum finally phoned me, for the first time since I got here, and didn't say anything about missing me, oh no. Instead, she had a massive go about my overdraft, of all things. And apparantly I am possibly the only arachnophobe who is silly enough to get bitten - unkowingly, it has to be admitted - by that which she is most afraid of. Psssshhht indeed!