I love this country

Happy Israeli Independence Day! Actually today was Memorial Day for all the soldiers who died fighting for Israel, which was sad. I saw part of the ceremonies today in Jerusalem while I was cleaning the apartment like a good little roommate. I'm lucky enough that I don't know anyone who died in the wars in Israel, but pretty much everyone else in Israel has a brother, an uncle, or a friend who died. It's a pretty emotional day, obviously. What I think is great though, is that at sundown on Memorial Day, Independence Day begins and the partying starts. People take to the streets, drink, sing, dance, and celebrate the country they love so much. It's hard, for those families who have lost members in war, to cease mourning when the sun sets and put on their happy faces, but I actually like that it's this way. It's like we as a people are saying, "Enough. We grieved, and it won't ever really end, but enough for now. Let's turn to happier things." And then we party.

So that's what I did. I got all dressed up in blue and white and went out with friends. We had a couple drinks (delicious delicious margaritas and, for some of the guys, beers the size of my head or possibly my forearm), met up with other friends, and went to the open air market for a party. It was insane! There was this moment though, when I was dancing with two friends and we had our arms around each other and we were jumping up and down, and this group of people in front of us, who were doing the same thing but moving in a circle, saw us and opened their arms to us. In a moment, we were enveloped in this group of people we didn't know, dancing and laughing and I just looked up, smiling, and thought, "Thanks."