January 29th:
I didn’t anticipate being needed in the office much today. All I had left to do was transfer the files from my laptop onto the company server. Roy wasn’t in the office yet, Maxim was taking the day off, and Inna was out of the country, so it was just me and Andrei. I finished getting the last of the files in order and transferring them by around 10AM. I shook Andrei’s hand and wished him well.
Before leaving, I also told him I would be more than happy to go out to lunch with him and Roy this afternoon. However, Roy doesn’t have a set eating schedule, he only eats when he has the chance, so I figured it would be a long shot. They gave me a call around 2:30PM, but only to ask for the location of the summary document I had been writing for them. That was it. Out like a lamb, I guess.
I wish them well!
The experience I gained while working there is something for which I’m eternally grateful to Inna, my coworkers, and especially Leah from Destination Israel: she worked very hard to find me that internship. I now have a position in renewable energy listed on my resume, something I can use to (hopefully) land a full-time job in the field in which I’m most passionate!!
After I got back from work, I went straight to bed. I was still sick, after all. A party was planned for that evening for a member of the October session, but since I was still fighting my mystery illness, I decided to sit it out.
January 30th:
Over the last few days, I had been suffering from fatigue and achiness, and it was getting worse. Today I settled on a diagnosis:
The flu. Again.
The symptoms fit, though the timing was crazy. Before coming here, I hadn’t had the flu since 2006 (and don’t even remember having it before then). Now, I get it twice in the span of one month?! Jeez.
I did, however, go to dinner with Oliver, Rebecca, and Daniel. Being in one’s own head when sick tends to make the symptoms feel worse than they are. Plus, I wasn’t particularly contagious–I didn’t have a running nose, and wasn’t coughing or sneezing–so I figured it would be safe to join them. I think I made the right choice! Getting out definitely helped a bit, at least for the evening.
Tonight was also a “prom” that Levinsky was putting on in the basement of their building. (“They have a basement?” I remember thinking.) In anticipation, people had been posting their high school prom photos on the WhatsApp thread throughout the day. Adorable!
I wasn’t planning on going due to my illness, but my energy level fluctuated throughout the day, and during a high point, I learned that Adina and Amy were going together and invited me to join! I figured this event might be similar to Secret Shlomo in that it might be a good bonding experience, so I dressed up nicely, gave my flu the finger, took an Advil, and rode the bus to Levinsky with Yas. (The others would join us separately.)
Once at Levinsky, we took the elevator downstairs—the prom was on the -5 floor! The elevator doors opened, and we were greeted by a candle-lit hallway. Very romantic! We followed the candles to a parking garage adorned with the Levinsky Christmas lights, chairs, and a couple of odd decorative items the Levinsky folks have picked up over these five months–an old poster and a pair of mannequin legs. (I said they were odd, didn’t I?)
No one else was down there yet, though, so we took the elevator up to Levinsky proper, and found everyone dressed up and in good spirits! My dates were also there:
We hung out in Levinsky for around a half hour before Mason herded us downstairs. (Good thing, too, as I think most would have otherwise been content to stay upstairs! Levinsky’s thinking: “This was going to be a special party, dammit! Not just another gathering at Levinsky!”)
We continued the party in the basement, with more people slowly trickling in. There were a few mixers, but I only had the non-alcoholic parts, since alcohol is pretty much the opposite of a flu remedy. A decent number of the October session folks joined us as well, and we had a great time talking and taking prom photos:
My energy level dropped pretty quickly around an hour in, so I had to say goodbye to my dates, catch a cab back to Lunz, and go to bed. Still, it was worth it!
Aaron In Israel 