Well, it really has been too long. I apologize for my lack of consistency with this blog. I'm trying though...
Since my last update I've gotten new roommates, gone on tons of tiyulim, met everyone's parents, and probably a million more things that I can't think of.
So, my new (now old) roommates are Rachel from Toronto, and Ruthie and Phoebe, who are both from California. We all get along really well. I feel really lucky to have gotten two good room assignments in a row! Hopefully next time we switch, which is in a week, I'll be just as lucky.
We've gone on so many tiyulim in the past month, I would never be able to mention them all. Recently, we went up North to Bellevoir crusader castle and Tsfat. The scenery there was so beautiful. It reminded me of home a little bit. This morning, an orthodox man and his wife and daughter came to talk to us. After he spoke, we went to an orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem, and that was pretty interesting.
Purim! How could I forget! It seems like one of the biggest holidays here. Everyone gets really into it and it's just one big party. My friend and I dressed as Juno and Paulie Bleeker one night, and the next day I dressed as a cow with another one of my friends. We went to a big parade in a city nearby, which was extremely hectic. It was fun though. I ate a hundred humentashen over the course of that week, but it was very worth it.
This past week was Parent's Pilgramage. It was stange to finally meet everyone's parents. Emily's parents came, and it was really nice to see them. Best of all, my parents packed up a suitcase of my stuff to bring with them. So, I got some more clothes, school supplies, and AMERICAN FOOD! I was so happy to have all the foods that I miss from home! During the week, since my parents weren't here, I went out with Emily's family to dinner and other places they went.
Now, it's just a regular week of school. Full week of general studies plus, it's midterm week! I'm not so worried, but I definitley will be spending a lot of my time studying. At the end of this week though, I'll be moving out of my room and packing up for Poland, Pesach, and yam l'yam. I'm really excited, but also kind of nervous, for Poland. I know its going to be a really intense experience, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.
I won't have my computer for the 16-day trip, but I'll update when I get back.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Back home...
After 10 days of non-stop activity, I'm finally back at Tzuba. I'll just start from the beginning:
The first night, we stayed at Masada Youth Hostel. When I envision a hostel, the first thing that comes to mind is Eurotrip, so seeing this hostel was surprising. It was actually really nice, and ended up being nicer even than some of the hotels we stayed in later. So, after relaxing at the hostel, we hiked Mount Masada...at 4 in the morning. Seeing the sun rise above the mountain made it worth while, and the view was beautiful. I even saw some friends from home at the top who were on a trip with their temple. That was a nice surprise.
After descending the mountain, we drove to our next destination: the Dead Sea. We stayed at a hotel right on the beach. The hotel itself had a spa, which included a salt water hot tub...very relaxing. This part of our trip was really leisurely. There were no programs or schedueles really, which was a nice break from the usual structure. Of course I swam in the Dead Sea while I was there. It was so fun! We covered ourselves in mud and then went in the water. It was so cool to be able to float, but that made it pretty hard to swim. I felt so relaxed while I was there. I got a lot of sleep, walked on the beach, and talked with friends.
The relaxing came to an abrupt stop when we got to our next destination, Gadna. Gadna is what high school students in Israel experience in preparation for the army. It's hard to describe Gadna in a way that gives credit to what it is really like, but I'll try. Right when we got off the bus it began, and we were put into a tzevet. My tzevet had 13 girls and we had one mifakedet, or commander. All of the mifakdim and other higher ranked commanders were really stern and serious. We had to run everywhere we went and count each second we were given to do a task. So, if I accomplished nothing else, I learned how to count backwards in hebrew very, very well. Each morning, we woke up around 6 and had 20 minutes to be out of our tents in our uniforms. At night, we went to sleep around 11. We had an hour or so break before bed and breaks from breakfast, lunch and dinner. Over the 5 days of Gadna we did so many things. One day we did field training, where we learned to crawl and camoflauge ourselves. That day I got so many bruises, but it was actually a lot of fun. After we were done in the field we did a masa (I think that is what it's called..) which is like a journey. We walked, and a lot of the time ran, back from the field to the base. We also had a lot of classes with different commanders. The classes were ok, but sometimes it was hard to stay awake. One of the days was all about learning about M16s, and we got to shoot them. That was quite the experience. I was really nervous, but it turned out to not be so bad, although I expect that to be the first and last time I ever shoot an M16, or any other gun for that matter. I'm sure that I'm forgeting something, but I may have blocked it out of my memory. At the end of the 5 days, we had a ceremony at Ben Gurion's grave, which is a beautiful place. They gave out awards, and I was surprised when my name got called for excellence in my tzevet. I got a certificate with my name on it. The whole experience was pretty interesting, to say the least. I don't think I'd ever want to be in any army, considering I don't do well with order and structure, but I am glad that I was able to have that experience.
After we left Gadna, smelly and in need of showers and clean clothes, we arrived at our hotel in Eilat. Everyone got cleaned up and we went out that night to the boardwalk and a mall. The next day, we went the the Red Sea! The beach was really pretty, and the water was really nice. We went snorkeling and I saw so many cool fish. Some were really big, and it was pretty scary when they got close. We just relaxed on the beach for a while, and then we went back to the hotel for Shabbat. The next day, the people who wanted to could go on a hike in the mountains. I decided to go, and I'm glad I did. It wasn't a hard hike. The scenery was beautiful and I learned a lot of history from one of the madrachim. We went back to the hotel, packed our bags, and left for our final part of the trip...
...the bendouin tents! The tents were really cool. They were huge. All 90 girls stayed in one tent together. It was really nice, but very, very rainy. I slept really well, although it seems like I was the only one. The next morning, we woke up and had an amazing breakfast, and it continued to rain...a lot. David Solomon came and told us that the camel riding was canceled! I was so disappointed. They told us that they would try to bring us back there, but I doubt it. Instead, a bedouin man talked to us about their lifestyle. It was really interesting, and I learned a lot of things I never knew before. After that, we got on the bus and went back to Tzuba.
All that in 10 days. I stil can't believe it. Over that time, it seems like EIE has totally changed. I'm friends with people I had never talked to before, and I'm even closer with the friends I already had. Everyone seems really open and friendly towards everyone else. It's hard to explain, but the whole mood and feeling of the program has changed for the better. Although the past 10 days have been an amazing experience, I'm really excited to be back at Tzuba and to stay in one place for a while.
The first night, we stayed at Masada Youth Hostel. When I envision a hostel, the first thing that comes to mind is Eurotrip, so seeing this hostel was surprising. It was actually really nice, and ended up being nicer even than some of the hotels we stayed in later. So, after relaxing at the hostel, we hiked Mount Masada...at 4 in the morning. Seeing the sun rise above the mountain made it worth while, and the view was beautiful. I even saw some friends from home at the top who were on a trip with their temple. That was a nice surprise.
After descending the mountain, we drove to our next destination: the Dead Sea. We stayed at a hotel right on the beach. The hotel itself had a spa, which included a salt water hot tub...very relaxing. This part of our trip was really leisurely. There were no programs or schedueles really, which was a nice break from the usual structure. Of course I swam in the Dead Sea while I was there. It was so fun! We covered ourselves in mud and then went in the water. It was so cool to be able to float, but that made it pretty hard to swim. I felt so relaxed while I was there. I got a lot of sleep, walked on the beach, and talked with friends.
The relaxing came to an abrupt stop when we got to our next destination, Gadna. Gadna is what high school students in Israel experience in preparation for the army. It's hard to describe Gadna in a way that gives credit to what it is really like, but I'll try. Right when we got off the bus it began, and we were put into a tzevet. My tzevet had 13 girls and we had one mifakedet, or commander. All of the mifakdim and other higher ranked commanders were really stern and serious. We had to run everywhere we went and count each second we were given to do a task. So, if I accomplished nothing else, I learned how to count backwards in hebrew very, very well. Each morning, we woke up around 6 and had 20 minutes to be out of our tents in our uniforms. At night, we went to sleep around 11. We had an hour or so break before bed and breaks from breakfast, lunch and dinner. Over the 5 days of Gadna we did so many things. One day we did field training, where we learned to crawl and camoflauge ourselves. That day I got so many bruises, but it was actually a lot of fun. After we were done in the field we did a masa (I think that is what it's called..) which is like a journey. We walked, and a lot of the time ran, back from the field to the base. We also had a lot of classes with different commanders. The classes were ok, but sometimes it was hard to stay awake. One of the days was all about learning about M16s, and we got to shoot them. That was quite the experience. I was really nervous, but it turned out to not be so bad, although I expect that to be the first and last time I ever shoot an M16, or any other gun for that matter. I'm sure that I'm forgeting something, but I may have blocked it out of my memory. At the end of the 5 days, we had a ceremony at Ben Gurion's grave, which is a beautiful place. They gave out awards, and I was surprised when my name got called for excellence in my tzevet. I got a certificate with my name on it. The whole experience was pretty interesting, to say the least. I don't think I'd ever want to be in any army, considering I don't do well with order and structure, but I am glad that I was able to have that experience.
After we left Gadna, smelly and in need of showers and clean clothes, we arrived at our hotel in Eilat. Everyone got cleaned up and we went out that night to the boardwalk and a mall. The next day, we went the the Red Sea! The beach was really pretty, and the water was really nice. We went snorkeling and I saw so many cool fish. Some were really big, and it was pretty scary when they got close. We just relaxed on the beach for a while, and then we went back to the hotel for Shabbat. The next day, the people who wanted to could go on a hike in the mountains. I decided to go, and I'm glad I did. It wasn't a hard hike. The scenery was beautiful and I learned a lot of history from one of the madrachim. We went back to the hotel, packed our bags, and left for our final part of the trip...
...the bendouin tents! The tents were really cool. They were huge. All 90 girls stayed in one tent together. It was really nice, but very, very rainy. I slept really well, although it seems like I was the only one. The next morning, we woke up and had an amazing breakfast, and it continued to rain...a lot. David Solomon came and told us that the camel riding was canceled! I was so disappointed. They told us that they would try to bring us back there, but I doubt it. Instead, a bedouin man talked to us about their lifestyle. It was really interesting, and I learned a lot of things I never knew before. After that, we got on the bus and went back to Tzuba.
All that in 10 days. I stil can't believe it. Over that time, it seems like EIE has totally changed. I'm friends with people I had never talked to before, and I'm even closer with the friends I already had. Everyone seems really open and friendly towards everyone else. It's hard to explain, but the whole mood and feeling of the program has changed for the better. Although the past 10 days have been an amazing experience, I'm really excited to be back at Tzuba and to stay in one place for a while.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Valentine's Day!
Happy Valentine's Day!
The past few days have been really nice here. It's been really hot and sunny. On Friday we had a Jewish History test. I was worried about it but it turned out to not be very hard at all. Saturday was really beautiful and relaxing. That night my friends and I had a toga party. Tonight we went into Jerusalem, but I also had a lot of work to do, so I spent most of my day writing papers and doing homework.
Thursday we leave for Masada, Eilat and Gadna!
I'll update after that.
The past few days have been really nice here. It's been really hot and sunny. On Friday we had a Jewish History test. I was worried about it but it turned out to not be very hard at all. Saturday was really beautiful and relaxing. That night my friends and I had a toga party. Tonight we went into Jerusalem, but I also had a lot of work to do, so I spent most of my day writing papers and doing homework.
Thursday we leave for Masada, Eilat and Gadna!
I'll update after that.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
A little late...
Well, I've finally made a blog after being here for 2 weeks (though it seems like more). So I have a lot to catch you all up on. First of all, the kibbutz is absolutely beautiful! The view of the Judean Hills and Jerusalem are incredible. The weather isn't too bad either ( :
The first few days was spent getting adjusted. We got our rooms, settled in, and went on a tiyul to an archaeological site. Then came the classes. School starts at 8:30 and ends at 7:00. By the end of the day I am SO tired! Some days we go on tiyulim, which are nice breaks from having class. This past weekend I left the kibbutz and went to stay with Carmel, who was the shlicha at TBJ last year. It was so much fun. We went to Tel Aviv (my new favorite city) and I saw the Medditerranean Sea for the first time!
Well, that's all for now.
The first few days was spent getting adjusted. We got our rooms, settled in, and went on a tiyul to an archaeological site. Then came the classes. School starts at 8:30 and ends at 7:00. By the end of the day I am SO tired! Some days we go on tiyulim, which are nice breaks from having class. This past weekend I left the kibbutz and went to stay with Carmel, who was the shlicha at TBJ last year. It was so much fun. We went to Tel Aviv (my new favorite city) and I saw the Medditerranean Sea for the first time!
Well, that's all for now.
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