The End of Etgar

Thursday 14 June
Our morning excursion wasn't as successful as we had hoped, and after waiting around for what seemed like ages, we decided to have some breakfast at Timol Shimshom, fulfilling one of Naomis Shnat To Do's. We had an assortment of breads and dips between us, and it was soooo good. Nothing like some pesto and apricot jam in the morning.

Back at the flat we all finished up our packing and took our stuff down to the bus, and waited for Machon to arrive. We reluctnatly got on the bus to our respective cities.
Rebekkah and I sat next to each other and talked nostalgically the entire ride to Haifa. We stopped briefly to eat one and a half ice creams unhealthily quickly and had an Oreo eating competition.

Saying goodbye is not something I'm really good at. When I hugged Alyson I just couldn't do it any more and burst into tears. From then on Niagra Falls was on my face and as I hugged 18 other crying, snotty Shnatties I realised that these were the best friends I could have ever had and that our time together had been far too short. I wiped my eyes on my sleeve, realising it wasn't very absorbent, nor was it helping, but rather just spreading the tear-y, snotty goo farther across my face than necessary. I hugged more people, and everything was a blur of tear-y goodbyes and see you soons' and laughing and sobbing. All of a sudden I was spinning in the air, a huge hug from Dan Rattan, and a giggle erupted from my throat. The sound was unfamiliar. Distantly, I heard Michael telling us to get on the bus and in a flurry of people and more hugs I found myself wedged between Ruthie and Naomi, hugs and more tears. Laughing uncontrollably at the ridiculousness of it all, and shouts that the door was closing with Naomi trapped inside I fell onto my chair, waving frantically out the window, tears running down my face and the rest of my dear southerners fighting for window space.
A splutter of tears and congealed spit in a big group hug in the middle of a bus that now seemed far to big and sad was all that remained. 
We looked around slightly panicked as to where we would be going, and attempted to cheer up but couldn't.

Dinner at Sushime, in Karmiel, with Galit, was a solemn occasion that night.