Feasting and Beasting...

So I can't believe I haven't written in so long - and I'm so full of thoughts, or so I say. I'm trying not to feel the pressure of the bloggage - but I thought I'd be a lot more diligent (hence, the meaning of my own name "Emily"). So, I've been time consumed lately with various things that shall remain nameless...but one thing at work that keeps me going is the Feast, which is worth mentioning becuase it will be my excuse for not writing for the next month!


Yippee. Or scary. For those of you that don't know, the ICEJ where I work celebrates a Jewish holiday, the Feast of Tabernacles, or Succot, and hosts a very, very large international conference where thousands from around the world gather here in Jerusalem. We, a mere core staff of 50, plus the help of loads of volunteers that come in to work selflessly for weeks or months on end , run this monster. Can you believe? And every year I wonder, "how the heck does this happen?" And yet, every year, it does... and has been for the past 25 years!

I run the sales booth. It's large. So here I am in my office, coordinating volunteers, figuring out random things from time, bus and lunch schedules to how to work a cash register in Hebrew (and how to train my little old volunteers on this) and then putting together some 'special deals' this year... Just a lot of usual business. From here on, the Embassy has one sole focus and one main goal..it's kind of what we live for from year to year and it comes so quickly - then it's HERE - and then just like that, it's gone, disappeared into the wind, and we are left reeling in the aftermath. Mine particularly is boxes. Boxes and boxes and boxes of everything you can imagine, dumped into one room and waiting for me to come stare at them and wish they'd all go away - oh, I mean, organize and sort through and unpack, etc.

Hmm. Anyway. This will be my life from here to the end of October. So far away it seems, but it will go so fast. In fact, this will be my 3rd Feast already! This, to me, is major, because after doing my first one I said to myself (and probably also to everyone around me :) that I will never do this again. So that's why I'm here today. Makes sense. God really has a sense of humor.

But I have to admit there are a LOT of great times and funny stories that we get out of it. I mean, it can't go down without something going awry somewhere. And believe me, it happens and is hysterical. Plus you get to meet people from everywhere, make new friends, stretch in the ways of patience and control... :) things like this.

Thrilling. I'll definitely talk more as time goes on.