On happenings in Jerusalem

It's raining here! We may haev finally hit the actual rainy season--it started raining last night and is still going strong today. It will rain hard for an hour or so, break for an hour or so, and then pick up again. It's also just cold. I'm wearing two pairs of socks, long underwear and pajama-type pants, three longsleeved shirts, a sweatshirt, and mittens with the fingers cut off. I'm also drinking hot chocolate. I'm sitting in class right now, actually, but not wanting to pay much attention. I have too much other stuff to do. I'll probably start reading through and editing one of my final papers in a minute, but I just wanted to say hi to y'all back at home.

I have 2 days of class left! Finals are next week already; isn't that insane? It's gone so fast. I am so glad I get to be here for another semester.

I almost forgot! Here's the big news--we think we had an earthquake yesterday! I was in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, for my last day of volunteering with kids (I'll try to get pictures up...) and missed it, but lots of people that were here didn't feel it either. Apparently it was very small, but the bookshelves in the library were shaking, and some people noticed, so they looked at an online seismograph with live readings, and there wasn't one for Israel, but the one in Turkey showed some activity right around the time they felt it here! So, just so y'all know, I have survived my first earthquake and didn't even notice it! How sad is that? I always thought an earthquake would be really exciting or something, but apparently it's not. Bummer.

Well, I better get back to paying attention... or at least pretending to! Love to everyone at home, and happy Thanksgiving! I will be making a pecan pie here, and this afternoon we're peeling potatoes for real mashed potatoes! Usually we get the box kind, which I never eat because they are far too similar in consistency to Cream of Wheat.