It’s my 1 month anniversary of living, laughing and learning in Israel!!! It’s crazy I’ve been going to school here for a month now.

Week #4 started off with a cemetery adventure. Sounds weird I know, but it was pretty insightful. We visited graves and tombs that significant Rabbis were buried in and what was interesting to see was the social class differences displayed on the tombs inside. We also got to swim in these beautiful natural springs with water that made the color turquoise look dull. It was amazing. I loved it! It was dark, kind of scary and yet exciting,and the second I started to walk down the ladder into the water, I saw a huge school of fish swimming up to me and my friends and I started screaming at the top of our lungs.

It was actually really funny. We were all scared-e-cats and then all jumped in unison around the fish, swam around and made our way into these tiny caves. We screamed, laughed, and splashed so aloud I’m surprised you didn’t hear us from wherever you are reading this.

Too much fun = me becoming very sick the next day. One thing about being here is that I have learned I really have to advocate for myself if anything ever goes wrong.. Constantly!!!! I had to tell my madricha probably 10 times for her to see I was sick so that I could go to the nurse. I had to miss one day of classes which was actually very nice as it was the first time all month that I had a day to literally do nothing. I slept most of the day but I was able to watch tv and just relax. I unfortunately wasn’t getting any better. I had a horrible sore throat and a cold. There was a big trip the next day which marked the beginning of our 4 day trip to Eilat. The Tiyul that day was to go camel riding and then sleep in Bedouin tents in the Negev. I along with 3 of my other friends were still very sick so we had to miss out on that. We stayed on campus which was really weird since nobody else was here. We had the dorms to ourselves, so we continued to catch up on sleep and take as much medication as we could to make sure we could be healthy to meet up with the rest of our group. These two days were probably the first time I truly missed home and my parents. Of course I miss them everyday, but I was especially missing my mom and her chicken soup, as well as the constant meds, vitamins and orange juice she makes me crazy with and wants me take every time I am sick at home. Mom I really missed that. 🩷

The next day the ‘sick squad’ boarded the van and our adventure continued as we drove south 2 hours to reunite with the rest of our group. We met everyone at an Alpaca farm 1 hour outside of Eilat, the most Southern part of Israel. The alpacas were very funny looking, and when one of them spat on my friend, Hadley I almost peed my pants. We were laughing so hard it hurt, and after the grossness set in, all of us ran away from the alpacas and llamas. It was a scene.

Later that day, we drove to Eilat which was really exciting because it was my first time ever going. We were given DOTS which meant we could branch out from our group and have dinner in the town. I met up with a couple of my friends and we explored, shopped around the boutiques, and then spotted a hair braiding kiosk. All
of us were obsessed with these cute shells so Project Hair Braid happened and all of us got shells and braids in our hair. I have to say we looked cute.

Destination Difficult was next. I’m kidding but serious at the same time. The next day we woke up and went on this insanely difficult (at least for me) hike to a point that overlooked Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Sinai. The views at the top were so beautiful and what was even more beautiful was that I felt accomplished. I didn’t quit or die, I made it.

To reward ourselves, we jumped into the Red Sea after our hike. First of all the weather was very cold this day so the water was totally freezing. But putting that aside it was pretty awesome. We were able to see so many different types of fish under the water, and we got an underwater tour of some ancient ruins and saw so many different types of sea animals. I loved it.

It was Shabbat, my FAVORITE day of the week here, and we got to spend it on a kibbutz just outside of Eilat. Staying on a Kibbutz was a really interesting experience. The way of life is just so different from anything that I am used to. We learned about how everything is shared and communal. We talked to a lady who was on the board of the Kibbutz and she shared with us insight into how everything is run. We learned about the different boards and all the responsibilities everyone has to have to keep the Kibbutz up and running. One of the most interesting things I noticed there was the communal laundry service. They don’t own their own laundry machine in their homes, instead there is a communal laundry service where they all basically share clothes. I was really shocked to see that they still do this in modern times. Another thing that stood out was the fact that they don’t own any cars. There are communal cars that they have to manually check out to use. It’s just different then where I come from and when I say different, I don’t mean it’s a bad thing, I just mean different, uncomfortable then what I am used to.

Later that night we were able to meet some other kids who lived on the Kibbutz that were our ages. We watched the boys in our group play soccer with them and all of the girls sat in a huge circle. It was really fun and interesting to learn about how they live their lives culturally. I personally don’t think the Kibbutz life is for me because I value working for what you have and the pride one has when they have accomplished something as well as being able to provide for your family. I’m all about sharing but this way of life isn’t really for me. Overall, my experience was really fun on the Kibbutz I would just not want to live on it.

Our next Tiyul was the most interesting one we have been on. We spent the entire day learning about Christianity and Islam. We went into a Catholic monasetry and spoke with a nun. She taught us about the different values they carry as Christians, and what life is like living in Israel as a Catholic. It was interesting to hear her speak especially when she mentioned October 7th. I was very surprised to learn how supportive the Christians in that particular monastery have been to the Jews since the massacres. Living in America, we are surrounded by many Christians as we technically live in a Christian world. It was interesting to see how the Christians in Israel are considered a minority.

Later we went to an Arab village outside of Jerusalem where we met with a Muslim woman. She welcomed all 50 Jews into the backyard of her house. She began to talk to us about what Islam is and her journey to converting to Islam. She explained some of the values Muslims have and the different traditions they keep. She then started to talk about her views on Israel and what it’s like being an Arab living here. We all got a chance to ask her questions on different opinions she may have on the current war. I have to say it got pretty heated with the way she answered some of the questions but things stayed professional and civil which was positive.

As a Jewish American living in Israel, I am very happy I was able to hear this woman and her views because I value perspectives with logic and it was really good to here different opinions that may not be bad, just not the same as my own.

Anyway I have now been in Israel for a month! The time has flown by so incredibly quick. I’m tired, excited, happy and can’t wait for more memory making experiences. Stay tuned for more adventures next week!

Love,