Sacrifices, Seders and Artifacts

So I didn't get around to updating mid-week as planned, so I have lots to write about and in hopes of not forgetting anything, I'm just going to do a day-by-day report of break so far:

Sunday (17.4) - Beth called and asked if I wanted to go to the Samaritan Passover sacrifice with them. I was half-asleep, so I was sure I heard her wrong but I said yes anyways. (See, Meg, I am listening to you and saying yes to everything - whether or not I actually hear what I am being invited to do!) But we did indeed go to the Samaritan Passover sacrifice at Mount Gerizim. The Samaritans trace their genealogy back to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, defeated by the Assyrians in 722 BCE. Mount Gerizim was where their temple was, pretty much from the beginning. Today, there are fewer than 1,000 Samaritans left (the figures I saw/heard were 600 and 750). They are the only ones who still sacrifice lambs for Pesach (Passover), and the ceremony begins at sundown the day before Pesach begins. [Pesach began at sundown on Monday; the ceremony began at sundown on Sunday.] It was an interesting experience, and pictures will be up on facebook later today. Basically, all non-Samaritans (except some photographers) had to remain outside the temple complex, either in the stands or around the fences surrounding the complex. We sat on the bottom row of the stands, in the right corner, so basically we couldn't really see anything. The stands, as my pictures demonstrate, were also separated from the temple complex by a chain fence. I couldn't really understand what was going on, as everything was in Hebrew, and I couldn't tell who was who. Thankfully, I did not see them kill or skin the lambs, although I was able to see some of the headless, skinless lambs after they had been skewered to be roasted. We left at that point, as it was already past the baby's bedtime and we were an hour from Jerusalem. It is not something I would want to go to again, but I am glad I had the chance to go. The people in the stands were not very polite, and the mood in the stands was not all that holy. I felt more like a spectator than a participant or observer of a sacred rite. That part was frustrating, because the annual sacrifice is clearly a sacred rite, dating back to Moses, and that sanctity was disrupted for me by crowds straining to see and people yelling for those in front to sit down. Nevertheless, it was still nice to experience the religious traditions of another people of the Holy Land.

Monday (18.4) - Pesach officially began at sundown. The seder I attended was actually rather short; it started around 7pm and I was home by 12:30am. We skipped and/or summarized many parts because they wanted the children to experience as much of the seder as possible before they fell asleep. (Unlike many seders, no one tried to keep the children up through it all!) I had never been to a seder before, so I didn't always know what was going on, but I really enjoyed it. There were 14 of us: the host couple; their daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren; two other relatives of the hosts (cousins or neice/nephew...not sure); a guy doing a gap year before college (as was the male relative); two young people who had recently made aliyah; and myself and another Rothberg (undergrad) student. The food was good, and there was so much of it! Appetizers, soup, two kinds of potatoes, two kinds of meats, couscous, at least two vegetables, fruit, and two different cakes for dessert! Lots of singing, too - both traditional Pesach songs and some written by various family members. We also incorporated some feminist elements to the seder. The seder plate included all the traditional items plus an orange. Apparently back when women were not allowed to lead synagogue (I'm not sure if they meant lead anything or just to be a rabbi), there was a saying that women belonged up front like an orange belonged on a seder plate. So, of course, women started including oranges on their seder plates. Also, in addition to the Elijah cup, we had a Miriam cup. It is traditional to have an empty chair and a wine cup for Elijah; but instead of pouring Elijah his own cup, we passed the cup around and we all poured some of our wine (or in my case, grape juice) into it. We did the same with the Miriam cup, but with water. It is a means of recognizing the importance of Miriam in the Exodus story (after all, she did kinda help keep Moses alive!). Another tradition is hiding a piece of matza for the children to find. Whoever finds it gets a prize, but of course, like every good grandmother, our host had a gift for each grandchild - and each of us young people! All in all, it was a wonderful evening.

Tuesday (19.4) - First day of Pesach. Pretty much everything was closed, and I didn't really do a whole lot, other than reading for classes. Also took a walk around French Hill (the neighborhood the kfar is in).

Wednesday (20.4) - Another low key day.

Thursday (21.4) - Went to the Bible Land Museum and the Botanical Garden, both of which were free for Pesach, with my friend Rebekah. The museum contains artifacts from periods and areas relating to the Bible (go figure!). It's not a very big place - we saw everything in about an hour and a half - but I was impressed with the quality of the artifacts. Some of it was even better preserved than what they have next door at the Israel Museum. After we finished at the museum, since it was nice out, we decided to walk down to the garden, which took a little while to find.There are two Hebrew U campuses in Jerusalem; Mount Scopus, the original campus and the one where the international school is located, and Givat Ram, which was built after 1948, when the original campus was inaccessible due to the outcome of the 1948 war. Both schools have botanical gardens. At Mount Scopus, our garden contains plants from all over Israel. The garden at Givat Ram, however, contains plants from all over the world and is huge. It was pretty, and Rebekah and I felt at home when we wandered into the section with plants from North America!

Friday (22.4) - The lovely miss Becky (Annie's little sister) joined us for the weekend. Becky made aliyah after high school and has been here almost two years now. The three of us had a laundry party - what else do you do on a Friday night when everything is closed for Shabbat? Other than that, I just did more homework.

Saturday (23.4) - More homework. And dinner with Annie and Becky. After Shabbat ended, we caught a bus to the center of town and ate at Spaghettis, a kosher restaurant that is also kosher for Pesach (כשר לפסח). So for the first (and probably last) time in my life, I had noodles (Alfredo) without hametz (literally, "the dough"). I am glad I went and experienced such cuisine, but it's not something I am hoping to repeat. The noodles were an interesting texture and were kinda chewy, but I got two meals out of them. Another staple during Pesach is, of course, matza. Apparently, there is some sort of unwritten rule that only non-Jews actually like matza (probably because we are not forced to eat it every year and can supplement it with other hametz-y foods). So, of course, I do indeed enjoy matza and ended up buying a 2.5 kg (~5.4 lbs) box of it at the store.

Today (24.4) - Easter! I figured since I am normally a heathen and don't go to church (other than Christmas Day), I should at least go on Easter. I went with Beth's family to St. George's Cathedral, an Episcopal Church. I had never been to an Episcopal (or Anglican) church before (at least not that I can recall), so that in itself made it an interesting experience. The bishop was there, along with several priests and a couple of what appeared to be priests-in-training (seminary students?). For Easter, they combine their English and Arabic speaking congregations. All the songs and responses were done simultaneously in English and Arabic, but it seemed like the majority of the liturgy (meaning the priests' parts) was done in Arabic. The Gospel and the sermon were both done first in Arabic and then in English. The first lesson was only done in Arabic - I don't even know what it was. I would have preferred it if the sermon was treated more like a translation - a sentence or two in Arabic, then in English. I'm an adult and even I had a hard time sitting through a sermon in a language I didn't understand! The poor little kids were all restless and there were lots of dirty looks being cast, but what can you expect? I'm sure they didn't even understand the sermon in their language. They also use a lot of incense, so I have had a headache pretty much all day. But it was a nice worship celebration.

I think that's pretty much it. I feel like I haven't gotten nearly enough accomplished, considering break is more than half over, but I am at least enjoying my break some.

Quick Update

I am on break until May. For some reason, even though Pesach doesn't begin until Monday evening, Pesach break started Thursday. Not that I am complaining, just seemed strange to have an entire week of class minus one day.

The desert trip was cancelled. :(

Decided to go on a mini-adventure Thursday. Went to the market and Ben Yehuda. Bought a kilo of strawberries (1 kg = 2.2 lbs...were gone in less than 30 hours...), potatoes, candied almonds, challah, a couple treats and a few souvenirs. And then I decided to get a focaccia for "take away" (as they call "to go" here) from Focaccia Bar, which is pretty much my favorite restaurant here. Spent entirely too much money but had a good time. I needed to get out of the Hebrew U bubble, even just for a few hours.

All in all, it's been a pretty low-key week. Only been on break a few days and already have been ridiculously productive. I will have 4-5 final papers to write after classes end (due between July 16 and August 16), so I am trying to get a jumpstart on those. And I bought the Bet (second level) Hebrew textbook before break started, so maybe I will start to teach myself more Hebrew. My Hebrew class is going soooo slow, which I probably shouldn't complain about since most other kids are complaining about how fast their classes are going. So for my own mental well-being, I need to work ahead.

Not much else to report. Spring is in full gear here, which means my allergies are wreaking havoc on me. Had a couple breakdowns earlier this week, mainly because break has started and many of my friends have left for home or to travel abroad and I am here with no real plans. But I am doing better, at least for the moment. I am hoping to make some day trips and maybe visit a few places around Jerusalem I haven't been to yet. Trying to make the most of the time I have left in Israel and reminding myself I will be home before I know it!

I may try to update mid-week, about my first Pesach Seder!!

Food and Hebrewness

So I am finally healthy, or at least as healthy as I get. My complete inability to sleep in Israel (at least without the aid of Tyledol PM) persists. At this point I think it is safe to say that my body has rejected Israel.

All in all, it was a pretty atypical week, though it felt like every other week. I had my Hebrew midterm on Tuesday, and, if I may say so, I kicked butt. I have been craving Focaccia like crazy, so Kristin and I indulged on Wednesday, and then the lovely Ms. Becky (Annie's sister) decided to grace us with her presence Thursday evening. We had Burger's Bar (or rather Annie, Becky and Kristin did and I just stole half their fries!) while Annie gave us a detailed account of her whirlwind tour of PhD schools in the States.

Friday I went to Ein Kerem with Ayana, my language buddy. The pictures are already posted on Facebook; if you're not on FB and you want to see them, let me know and I will send you the link. Ein Kerem is Hebrew for "spring of the vineyard" and according to tradition, it was the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth, parents of John the Baptist, and where Mary visited when both women were pregnant. We visited the spring, over which a mosque was built, and the Church of the Visitation, commemorating the aforementioned event. Elizabeth was also said to have hidden in the mountains with John during the "Slaughter of the Innocents" - a tradition with which I was not familiar. I thought the "slaughter" was limited to Bethlehem. Anyways, after we saw the church, Ayana really wanted ice cream and who was I to deny her that?

Ayana dropped me off back at the kfar around 6pm, which gave me plenty of time to prepare for synagogue, which doesn't start until 7pm now, thanks to the time change last week. Annie accompanied me, and we ended up having Shabbat dinner with the rabbi and her family. Pesach (Passover) is coming up, so I had asked if there were people in the congregation who were hosting international students for the seder. In the process, the rabbi invited us to Shabbat dinner. They have 3 little girls, the oldest of whom is no more than 9 or 10 (if that). It is a truly bilingual (Hebrew and English) household, and all of them switched back and forth in the same conversation. The youngest, who is 2, uses both in the same sentence, but that is to be expected. Having Shabbat dinner with a rabbi's family was a different experience, as was having it in a home with young children. I had a good time, and the food was delicious!

When I had asked about seder, I originally asked the person who had made the announcements, and he in turn called the rabbi over. She asked me something - I believe it was if I was an international student - and I answered "yes", but in Hebrew - it's become almost an automatic thing to say yes or no (along with other random words) in Hebrew. But since I answered in Hebrew, she responded in Hebrew. I just looked at her and said, "I have no idea what you just said," which made everyone - including Annie and the announcer-guy - burst out laughing. The man thought maybe she didn't realize she switched to Hebrew, but she said she did, that it was because I said ken (yes). I guess that will teach me from throwing Hebrew around! I do try to use it as much as I can when I am out - I can request a non-smoking table and ask for 300 grams of cheese at the deli in Hebrew - but my vocabulary is still rather limited. I tried to order in Hebrew at the ice cream shop, but the guy lost patience with me immediately and was like "I do speak English." Oh well.

But anyways. I will be attending a Pesach seder, at the home of a couple who moved here from the US 30+ years ago. They are hosting some other students/young people and their daughter's (I think) family, including three children under nine. Jon is supposed to be hosting a seder but not on the first night of Pesach, so hopefully I will celebrate Pesach for the first time twice - and in Jerusalem! I am also supposed to go on a "trip to the desert" Thursday-Friday this week, although if more people don't sign up tomorrow it may be cancelled. :(

Randomness

So today I thought I would post some random reflections on living in Israel.

1. I'm an Old Maid

When I moved to Israel, I suddenly became an old maid. Back home, I didn't really give much thought to being a 24-year-old single female. In fact, I rather enjoyed it. I could focus on my studies and hang out with my friends - and when I decided I wanted to study at Hebrew U, I didn't have to convince a guy that moving halfway around the world was what was best for me and my vocational goals. But once I arrived here in Israel, I discovered that everyone is married. Okay, not really, but there is an overwhelming number of girls my age (and younger) who are married. Perhaps it is just more noticeable when a large percentage of the population are religious, which translates into head coverings for married females. Not to mention the abundance of pregnant women and small children. Walking through Hebrew U, I pass dozens of pregnant women and even several strollers each day. I can't imagine how they do it. I had a hard enough time juggling a boyfriend and school some days, let alone an entire family!

2. Neither Tourist nor Resident...

As a student studying abroad, I am in this weird position of being neither a tourist nor a resident. Perhaps it's the same for all students studying abroad, I don't know. But at least here in Israel, it seems as if everyone is either a tourist (or a pilgrim) or a resident (Israeli or Palestinian), which, of course, leaves all of us international students out. In my case, my Hebrew is so elementary that I pretty much fall under the category of "tourist" as far as the Israelis are concerned. A few weeks back, we read several articles about pilgrimage for my methodology class, which is what got me really thinking about all of this. My first trip here, I was a tourist. We had a tour guide and a tour bus and we went to all the tourist places, although we also went to some additional, less tourist-y places. But this time around (other than the few weeks my parents were here), I am not a tourist. I have taken up residence, even if I am not a resident. Perhaps I am a "pilgrim," though not in the traditional sense of the word. I am not here to visit all the churches and re-trace Jesus' footsteps, but I am here to deepen my connection with the Divine and to attempt to figure out my life (if that is even possible). For me, the holy is not so much in the pretty churches as it is in the archaeology, the landscape, the language.

3. Israel is on Israel's Time

Literally. Everyone else set their clocks ahead a few weeks ago, but no, not Israel. We waited until Thursday night/Friday morning to "spring forward." They also "fall back" at a different time - I believe it coincides with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. I was told there was likewise a religious reason for the delay in springing forward, but I don't know what that would be. Purim was a couple of weeks ago, and Pesach (Passover) isn't for a couple more weeks. But regardless, while the rest of you have adjusted to the time change, I am suffering through it now. And not too happy about it.

4. 5 Girls, 2 Toilets, 1 Shower = Bad Math

That's right, we are now a full-house. Benni moved in with a friend from Italy, and two undergrads from Chicago moved in shortly afterwards. The girls are nice, but 5 people sharing one apartment feels like cruel and unusual punishment to me. Okay, it's really not that bad, and so far I don't think there has been any issues with the toilets or the shower - or even the kitchen, where we are currently sharing one cooking pot with a broken handle. But I have a feeling this could get pretty old pretty fast, regardless of them being nice. 5 people, and especially 5 girls, in one apartment is just asking for trouble. Really wishing I would have been housed in one of the grad apartments (where they are 2 or 3 bedrooms each) right about now! There was a reason I never joined a sorority!

Okay, that's it for now. Have a lovely week everyone!

Rockets and Bombs and Deaths - Oh My!

It's been a rough week.

After suffering through hives and the prednisone side effects, I ended up back at the clinic on Tuesday with a sinus infection. In the States, I have always had doctors check my nose, throat and ears, but this doctor decided to bypass my nose and ears and to press really hard on my face instead. I have witnesses who claim this is a legit means of diagnosis, but let me tell you, I prefer the less painful approach of looking at my ears and nose! The doc gave me scripts for amoxycillin and codeine - again, never had codeine prescribed for a sinus infection, but the pharmacist acted like it was normal. I only took three of them, one each evening the first three days, and I was amazed at how all the pressure in my head magically disappeared! Of course, instead of getting codeine's drowsiness, I ended up with amoxycillin's insomnia. I really can't win when it comes to side effects.

Of course, the real news of the week was the bombing near the central bus station on Wednesday. I was in class when it happened. Someone from the grad office came and told us the news and did a roll call. We were all in shock. I was actually there the day before, since the clinic is nearby. (Normally I have no reason to go there.) Class continued, but I can't say that I really paid attention after that. I spent the rest of the class checking Google News for updates and emailing my friends and family to let them know what had happened and that I was okay. It was initially reported as a bus bombing, but the bomb was actually on the sidewalk, near some of the bus stops. From what I understand, the blast hit two buses. Over thirty people were injured, and one, a 54-year-old British woman, was killed. That woman was a student at Rothberg and the classmate of one of my roommates. She came to Israel to learn Hebrew so she could translated the Hebrew Bible into one of the African dialects. She had spent 20 years living in west Africa and had already translated the New Testament. It's all so tragic.

Thursday, it was more or less business as usual, although we did learn bomb-related words in Hebrew.

Yesterday, four pipe bombs were found in the possession of several Palestinians at one of the checkpoints.

Prior to the bombing in Jerusalem, there were already increased tensions between the Israelis and Palestinians. I don't really know anything more than what I read on Google News (and I admit, I don't always check it as often as I should), but apparently Gaza has launched some rockets into Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beer-Sheba. In response to these rockets and the bombing on Wednesday, Israel has launched rockets into Gaza. And of course, Gaza responded to that with more rockets. The Israeli mortar attack killed 9 Palestinians, including 4 civilians - 3 of whom were children, with an additional 19 Palestinians injured. According to one report, there were "no victims" from the over 100 rockets launched by Gaza last week. Israel is threatening a major ground invasion, larger than Operation Cast Lead of 2008.

I don't know why Hamas and Gaza decided to attack Israel, and I don't trust the media to offer an unbiased report of the events. I do not condone violence (even if I am admittedly seemingly obsessed with it) and I do not agree with any of the violence that has occurred over the past week. Six months ago, Israel and Palestine were sitting down to talk about peace. Now they are bombing each other. How is violence going to lead to peace? I understand that the Palestinians are desperate, and honestly, I don't blame them. But are attacks on settlers, rockets and bombings going to solve anything? All it does is give Israel an excuse to retaliate, and let's face it, Israel can do far more damage to Palestine. Gaza managed to launch over 100 rockets without killing any Israelis, military or civilians, but with just one hour of bombing, Israel killed 9, including 3 children. I don't know if Gaza intentionally chose targets that wouldn't result in fatalities or if Israel wanted their bombs to be lethal (although the latter seems likely, since the Israeli defense of the deaths was that they took out 4 known Palestinians militants), but the statistics don't lie: the Israelis are more efficient when it comes to killing their enemy. There is no question about Israel's military prowess. So why is Hamas giving Israel any excuse to attack innocent Palestinians? I don't understand it. And after Wednesday's bombing, and especially since the only fatality was a foreigner, Israel pretty much has the world's support.

Don't get me wrong. What happened on Wednesday was inexcusable. But so was the death of four innocent Palestinians, among whom were three children, at the hands of Israel.

Side Effects of a Day Trip

So it has not been the best week. The prednisone brought the hives under control in no time, but the side effects had me wondering on multiple occasions if the cure wasn't worse than the disease. Insomnia, nausea, lightheadedness, inability to concentrate - you name it, I had it. I even started having side effects of side effects! I spent most of the weekend, in bed, attempting to recover from the prednisone. I never, ever want to be on this stuff again!

Despite feeling more dead than alive most of the week, I actually did a lot more than I normally do. Tuesday was Annie's birthday, so Kristin and I (and Kristin's friend Meg who is visiting) had a mini-surprise party for her. She had class until 8pm, so we couldn't go out, but we made chocolate-covered strawberries and spent some quality time together. We celebrated more officially on Thursday, when we (the four of us plus Jon) had dinner at Focaccia Bar, which is one of our favs. We had a grand ol' time, although I did have to duck out after a couple of hours because I was having major side effect issues and needed fresh air.

Today I went on a day trip with some of the other grad students to the north, to Akko, Kibbutz Yagur and Daliat el-Carmel. It was a lovely day and so nice to get away from campus and from Jerusalem. At Akko, we saw remains from the old city, from the Crusader and Ottoman periods, along with the British prison where members of the Jewish resistance organizations (Haganah, Irgun and Lehi) were imprisoned. We bought lunch in the Arab market and walked to the Mediterranean via the Templar Tunnels. Akko has an interesting history because in its 4000 years of existence, it has always had a 'mixed' occupancy - even in the glory days of David and Solomon, Akko was never fully defeated by Israel. Apparently Napoleon was also defeated at Akko in 1799, and according to our tour guide, his visit is what sparked modern interest in Israel. (I am sure he contributed to Western interest in the land, but it seemed to be a rather slanted view of history. The tour guide said there was nothing in Israel for all those centuries - which, of course, isn't true - and, of course, it wasn't Israel, it was Palestine. But that's just me.)

Anyways, after Akko, we visited Kibbutz Yagur, which is the kibbutz on which our grad student assistant Maya grew up. It is one of the original kibbutzim and played an important role in the foundation of the State of Israel, with several of the Haganah missions being launched from there. It was very interesting to see the kibbutz and to hear how it operates. It is still very much communal, more so than many of the other ones in Israel. Everyone must give all their money to the kibbutz, and each month each family is given an allowance according to the number of people. It is not very much money - not enough to save anything - but their housing, healthcare, schools, etc. are all covered. They also don't own their own cars - the kibbutz owns 100 or so cars and apparently there is some system in place that allows the members to use them. And they have cows! They weren't guernseys, but they still made me :)

Our last stop today was Daliat el-Carmel, a Druze village. Being Druze, from my understanding, is sort of like being Jewish - it is both an ethnicity, in that you are born a Druze, and a religion. However, there is no becoming Druze. The religion originated in the 11th c. as an offshoot of Islam and there was a very short period of time that people were allowed to join. They are an esoteric monotheistic religion whose primary or supreme prophet is Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. They also believe in reincarnation. Other than that, though, there is not much to tell because only the religious Druze are allowed to read their holy books. There are roughly 1 million Druze in the world, about 100,000 or so in Israel. Something interesting about the Druze is that they do not want their own country. They believe in being good citizens of the country in which they live. Which means the Druze here in Israel identify as Israelis (not Arabs or Palestinians), and they serve in the IDF with the Israeli Jews. Apparently it is not uncommon for Druze to stay in the IDF and rise in the ranks, and many Druze could be considered Zionists.

Okay, that is enough of a history lesson for today. There was more that I was going to write about, but it is late and I am exhausted. Pictures from today will hopefully be posted on facebook tomorrow.

Hives, Hebrew & Ham

The highlights of the past week all seem to be "H" oriented.

On Thursday, I rather spontaneously decided to accompany Annie and Kristin on their quest to find an air mattress and bedding. It started out at the bookstore on campus, where Kristin had previous success in locating an air mattress. All we found was 50% off Dr. Seuss in Hebrew for me and 80% off some book on translations for Annie. Of course, I deliberately chose Green Eggs and Ham without thinking about the irony of that particular book being translated into Hebrew. However, the Hebrew title, לא רעב ולא אוהב, means Not Hungry and Don't Like, and throughout the book that is the translation for "green eggs and ham." Alas, Israel has koshorized Dr Seuss! When I return to the States, we can have storytime in Hebrew! [On a related note, a few weeks ago, I was given a Hebrew copy of the New Testament, which made me rather happy.] After Annie and I made our 'elephant' purchases, we tried our luck at the non-bookstore on campus (the name I gave it because both stores are called Academon) but to no avail. So we decided to make an afternoon of it and travel to the Jerusalem Mall, which is about an hour-long bus ride, to try Home Center. Success! We found both an air mattress and bedding for cheap (cheap for Israel AND cheap for the US - that NEVER happens!). And since we were having such a lovely time together (and had no desire to do homework), we extended the shopping trip into dinner at Black Burger, which ended with a victory lava cake for dessert. I don't know that we ever decided what 'victory' we were celebrating, but we're girls, so it's not like we really needed much of an excuse for hot, gooey chocolate goodness.

The major "H" of the week, however, was Hives. Wednesday I noticed some bug bites, which I assumed were mosquito bites as I was rather itchy. Every morning since, I have woken up with more and more bumps, itchier and itchier. They started to hurt and to sting, and sleeping became difficult. Yesterday, I woke up and was all but covered with these red bumps and finally decided they might be more than just mosquito bites. Of course, it was shabbat, so getting to a clinic (the Israeli version of urgent care) was not very ideal, so it had to wait until this morning. The doctor thought it was probably viral and prescribed steroids, since Benadryl (even 2 pills twice a day) wasn't helping. I maintain that it started out as mosquito bites, from which I developed hives. I have never broken out in hives before from mosquito bites, but I have had other allergic reactions to them (mainly ridiculous amounts of swelling). The doctor also wanted to make sure my blood counts were normal (they are), but once again I had a nurse who thought she knew better than me when I tried to tell her that she needed to take it from my hand. I get that normally it is more painful to take blood from a vein in the hand instead of the arm, but that is not the case when the veins in your arm are tiny and they have to dig around to find one. Katie, my friend who was kind enough to accompany me, said the look on the nurse's face was hilarious as she first tried one arm and then the other before finally realizing that I was right and she should take it from my hand. I realize that patients are not always reliable sources of medical information, but when it comes to things like where blood should be drawn, I think we tend to know what is best for our bodies - especially if we specifically request it to be taken from a nonconventional spot like a hand (or in my case, it was actually a vein on the side of my wrist). That probably means we have had some experience having blood drawn and know where it should be taken from! But anyways, the steroids seem to be doing their thing. I am not nearly as itchy (although I am still rather freaky looking), although I am having all sorts of fun side effects!