Moonrise in the Sukkah

I'm sitting in my room, two hours and nineteen minutes left until my first class.  After finding out (blessedly) that I did not have to take the Hebrew placement test this morning, I've been dividing my time between doing laundry, painting my nails, writing some emails, listening to my iTunes, making a delicious turkey sandwich, and deciding, after putting water in the pot to boil, that I actually was not hungry enough to make and eat an entire Osem noodle dish, too.
Some pretty exciting stuff to report on from this weekend.
Daphna invited me to go with her family to the Negev from Friday-Saturday, to a place near Mitzpeh Ramon that calls itself "סוכה במדבר," or "Sukkah in the Desert" (the girls, Michal and Noa, found that name quite funny, seeing as how the English translation of "sukkah" cannot be "sukkah").  I'll be straight with you: after hearing that there would be no running water, and seeing a picture of the "sukkot" online, I was not exactly jumping up and down with excitement as the weekend drew closer.  I took a bus and then the train to Tel Aviv on Friday morning (a satisfying accomplishment), and after a short meal and shmooze with the cousins, we set off for the Negev.
The car ride took about two hours, and as the passing fields outside my window turned from green to brown (and the number of cars on the road turned from many to none), I braced myself for what was sure to be an interesting weekend.  At a homemade sign for "Sukkah in the Desert" with an arrow pointing to the right, we turned off the road and began an extremely slow and bumpy journey to the site (slow, because any speed above "turtle" would have put the car's tires in serious jeopardy).  We drove deeper and deeper into the middle of nowhere--all we could see were sand-colored hills to our front, back and sides--and so grew my sense of foreboding.  But then we reached the sight, and I saw the dogs.
Sukkah in the Desert consisted of a series of several wood- and palm tree leaf- huts for sleeping, a larger hut for eating, two outhouses, a chicken coop, a horse pen (with one beautiful brown horse), a donkey pen (with two very vocal donkeys--did you know that donkeys actually make the "hee-haw" sound?!), and about four or five big, free-roaming dogs: at least two huge, furry white ones, and two brown rhodesian ridgebacks.  As soon as I saw and met the dogs, I knew I'd feel at home; it's amazing how animals can calm a person--at the very least, this person.  The rest fell into place perfectly.
While the sukkahs looked cold and primitive from the outside, the insides were beautifully decorated with colorful sheets and homemade arts and crafts.  They were windproof, had wood stoves to keep the inhabitants warm at night, and were supplied with clean sheets and lots of soft blankets to layer on the mattresses (which were spread out on the floor and surprisingly comfortable).  The couple that runs the place--and lives there year-round--made a vegetarian dinner and breakfast for family-style eating.  The bathrooms were not half-bad (wood shavings kept the smell to a miraculous minimum), and there was a sink with running water to use for teeth brushing.  I spent my time reading Harry Potter (sometimes with Noa, sometimes on my own), talking with my cousins, and hiking with them and the other Israeli family that came on the trip.
Friday night was crisp and clear, with a moon so bright that it seemed almost like a cold, gray sun.  We watched it rise over the side of a hill, which was pretty amazing.  Once it cleared the hill, it provided enough light for us to see everything--short of the words in a book--without flashlights.  That was pretty amazing, too.
Saturday we hiked to the crater above which Mitzpeh Ramon sits, and got back to the sukkahs just in time for the anticipated dust storm to set in.  We bid adieu to the desert, and headed back to Tel Aviv for a quiet evening of Daphna's delicious cooking (shakshooka!), Harry Potter, and some much needed sleep.
Suffice it to say that I pre-judged the Negev and Sukkah in the Desert.  Despite my hesitations, this weekend turned out to be one of my best times here so far: family, nature, Harry Potter--the makings of a great time.  It felt a lot like the huts that my family and I go to in the White Mountains most summers--the same warm, rustic atmosphere that I absolutely love.  (The only thing missing was a guitar--I really need to get on that.)  If I didn't say it enough, thank you so much to Daphna, Zeev, Michal and Noa for having me with them!  I had a wonderful time and I hope to see you guys again soon :)

Going to fold my laundry before class--which I'm determined to make fun, whether it's meant to be or not (I'm talking about both class and laundry folding).
Until next time...