So this past week was basically all parties. On Sunday, I went out with my roommate, our mutual friend (who was also our former roommate) from Switzerland and her sister to Waffle Bar. On Monday, I had dinner with my boyfriend, then met up with my friend Deb from Jerusalem and Nelly from Sweden, and we went to a drag party downtown. On Tuesday, I went for ice cream with my roommates. Wednesday was writing night, but it was just as exciting as a party, so yeah… And Thursday, I went to a Henna party with my boyfriend.
Tonight is Shabbat so maybe I’ll manage to get some rest, unless my boyfriend and I decide to go for a night stroll at the beach after having dinner with my parents… then again, jellyfish are not as visible at night, so we’ll have to take that into consideration as well.
Having a social life is awesome. I realized that if I didn’t go out with my friends after work, all my life would only be work. And sleep. Work, sleep, work, sleep. Life can get really boring if you allow work to take over your life and think you’re too tired to go out after your shift is over. So I don’t allow it to take over my life. Like on Monday, I got home only at 2:00 a.m. and slept for only three hours. I was exhausted on Tuesday and so was my roommate, but we had plans to go to a free concert at the Submarine. So when my roommates and I wanted to go out the next day, instead of saying we’re too tired to do anything and just stay home, we changed our plans to something more simple, and went out for ice cream instead. A nice relaxing night, gave ourselves the opportunity to talk, without having to scream over the loud music or choke on cigarette smoke, or get home at yet another ridiculous hour, or go to sleep with ringing ears and smoke in our hair. Indeed, a social night.
Having a social life is important for my sanity. And as much as I love to sleep, I also need to have a life besides work. I remember how back in the day, my friends and I really had no life. We were too busy with schoolwork to do anything fun. School was our whole life. During the day, we were in class, and at night, we did our homework. On weekends, we studied for exams or worked on major projects. I envied my parents who worked during the day and then came back home and resumed their detachment from reality with TV or miscellaneous social events.
So now that I am working, I choose to indulge after work instead of vegetating. Mostly, I’d spent time with my friends because they’re all in Jerusalem, so proximity is key when you get home from work at 7:00 p.m. and plan to go to sleep at around 10:00 or 11:00 (to wake up the next day at 5:30 a.m.). So hanging out with my family in Southern Israel on a weekday is out of the question because travelling there would take me two hours, back and forth.
This past week, although I partied only in the Holy City, I still crashed pretty late, and woke up borderline-comatose, but pretty goddamn happy with my life. Work to make money to spend it at night and enjoy the company of my friends.
Since today is Friday, I am leaving work at 12:30, and gonna take a nap from 1:15 to 4:00, then shower, pack and go to my parents’ new place in Netanya, where I’ll spend Shabbat. Then I’ll go back home on Saturday night with the record player my parents got me!!!
Next week, I’ll mostly be socializing with my typewriter. Like I said earlier, writing is just as exciting as a party. Only, I need to set up a new time for writing, because I have a wedding on Wednesday. And I need to do some crafts, flyers, maybe a new zine and write some letters… Writing, crafts and culture is also a social life, and very necessary. It’s like neurological exercise. Creating is like bench-pressing. I need to oil up my gray matter, so I don’t get rusty.
Peace, love and random fact of the day: squids have the biggest neuron in all creation. It’s the size of a hair.
