Jet Lag

A word about jet lag.

It sucks.

I know, that's two words, and maybe, just maybe, at another time, I'd humor your quibbling, but not now.

Local time is 7:19 am. My body, since our arrival, has made it perfectly clear that refuses to adjust to Israel time and will continue to do so til about 5 minutes after we land in Newark. THough I dozed last evening at around 10:00 for a few minutes, I stayed up until 11:00 and headed off to bed. I fell asleep and then woke at 2am and that was it until I allowed myself the time between 6 and 7am. And that's it.

My schedule in the states has me go to sleep at between 10:30 and 11 and wake (on a work day) between 5:30 and 6. That would translate to about 3:45PM and 10:45 PM. THough I sleep fitfully, I sleep. And yet, over the last 3 days, my sleep schedule has translated to "awake 5AM to Sunday and sleep only when it is least convenient, in minute multiples of 7, no greater than 7".

The combination of jet lag and insomnia (heretofore to be known as "annoying") exacerbated by unfamiliar sounds, temperature changes, a diet of foods which my gut has never dealt with before and constantly having to convert currency and other values so that I have any idea what is going on, has made it so that I don't really know what day it is, and think I might even care. I start to hear things, and think things that make no sense to a sharp, waking mind. Should we buy a paint stripper to get rid of the snow awaiting our return? If I fall asleep now will I give myself enough rest or will I feel even worse? Why is the government taking flash pictures of me with a camera hidden in the wall heater?

It is raining now but even were it not, I would be walking around in a fog. The typos in these posts? Sleep deprivation. My general sense of unease? Prompted by a constant confusion over what time it is. My lack of fashion sense is still just me being me.

And to top it all off, we are still dealing with things back home, so we are still trying to keep track of "what time is it wherever" and this forces me to do math. Uncool. So if you see me, realize that I am having trouble recalling words, names, concepts and some other stuff I can't think of. I am enjoying the stay and, unfortunately, getting a full 28 hours out of every day.