A CHANGE IN LOD

There has definitely been a drastic change. Maybe not everyone feels it, but I sure do. I feel the warmth, the excitement, the desire to be who we've been fighting to be. It feels more acceptable to just finally do. Be who we should be, according to our own standards, having arrived at this conclusion on our own.
Each girl has taken great strides in her awareness and personal growth.
There's one scene that happens very rarely that at that exact moment I know that everything it took to get to this stage in my life was worthwhile. And that is...

It's Friday night. The meal has long since concluded. The Rabbi and his wife have farbrengened with us far into the night on various topics of our interest. And then as the last girls begin to clear out, a few of us collect at the back of the room.
Something addressed during the farbrengen isn't sitting right with one of us. Often, myself.
What's beautiful about all of this is that for the following couple of hours, we will sit there and just encourage one another, allay eachother's fears and offer insite.

We learn from one another.
That is what seminary comes down to.
And that is what I love.

UKRAINE

Hey!
I just got back from what will probably be the most uplifting trip in my life. My school went to Ukraine, after raffles and sponsorships, etc, and we came back a different kind of school. The trip united us...awwwwww...
But really, it was very cool. It was inspiring to finally visit the graves, shuls, and towns of the great Chassidic leaders who have made it possible for us to be as learned in Judaism as we are today. If not for their teachings, simple people like ourselves (women too) would not have the opportunity to acquire knowledge through learning. Think about it, they've made our lives rich with meaning and have infused their wisdoms within each of us in as wattered-down as we need it.
We visited a few mass grave sites where hundreds of thousands of Jews are buried. We even experienced a bit of the death march while tromping through the biting wind and snow to reach one such grave. We sang songs, told stories...inspiring stuff.
But believe me, we were VERY happy when the plane once again touched ground in the LOD airport, only a 25 min ride from our dorm.

It's good to be back, and hopefully we'll continue our lives with what we acquired in Ukraine (minus the outhouses and corruption).