Life Is Like A Fish Spa

Being back at work after being in Israel for two weeks is not easy! The trip was amazing, and it's been so fun sharing my experiences with  coworkers. Reflecting back on my two weeks in this beautiful country has led me to sum up a somewhat hilarious and random common thread to the trip: fish! Let me explain...

First encounter with fish was our delicious dinner in Tiberias. Look how yummy!

Next fish encounter: snorkeling in Eilat.  We saw so many beautiful fish and sea creatures! It was also a hilarious moment because the hair covering that I was wearing while snorkeling fell off, so I quickly dunked under the water to put it back on! I had unfortunately left the usual hair covering I wear when I go swimming in the hotel where we stayed in Tiberias, so I tried a new one that clearly did not work!

Fish encounter number three: Fish spa! I have never head of this, but apparently some of my friends have. What is a fish spa? You put your feet in a tank of fish, and the fish "clean" your feet by eating your dead skin. My initial reaction was, "That's SO gross! No way!" But, by the third time we saw it, we gave in and tried it. This is our feet in the fish spa:

And, in the end, our feet felt so smooth and nice! We were so happy we did it! Okay, corny alert! But I'm always looking for meanings of things in my life. So, from the fish spa, I learned: Life is like a fish spa. Sometimes we have to get our feet wet in order to see the rewards.

And, how appropriate that fish was the theme of our trip. In Judaism, it is customary to eat fish on Friday night for many reasons. One of my favorite reasons is because fish don't have eyelids, so they never close their eyes. This can be compared to G-d, whose eyes are always watching out for us.

Of course, I bought tons of new head coverings in Israel that I'm so excited about! One of my new favorites is a yellow hat that I'm especially excited to wear to work. Every Friday at work is school spirit day. I SO appreciate not having to think about what to wear to work on Fridays.  I just wear one of the school's shirts that I've bough from the student store, and I'm good to go! Since once of our school colors is yellow, the hat is perfect for my Friday outfit! 

There are definitely benefits to being back at work. It's good to see my students again. I'm very aware that some students come to see me to get out of being in class. I can tell when students are trying to stall going back to class. This week, a student asked me, "So, what are you doing for Chanukah next year?" I laughed, told him it is still almost a year away, and wrote him a pass back to class.

I will be the first to admit that change is hard for me. But, I'm going to try to internalize my lesson from the fish spa and get my feet wet!

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