THIS year in Jerusalem!!!!

Hey ya'all!!! I haven't been able to post in a while but I have had an amazing week that I am DYING to blog about!!! I need to start with yom kippur in Jerusalem! Wow I can't even begin to describe what an amazing experience it was. Everyone says that Jerusalem is the place to be for yom kippur and this week I found out why...
My friends and I arrived to Jerusalem the night before Erev Yom Kippur so we got to explore while it was still and up and running!!! We stumbled across Ben Yehuda street on accident and literally almost everyone there was speaking English. The crazy thing about Jerusalem is that almost all gap year students live there and its just as common to hear English compared to Hebrew. It's funny because I am now shocked when I hear English instead of being shocked to hear Hebrew back home....
So the next morning my friends and I woke up at around one in the afternoon with absolutely no food in our stomachs. In Israel, every shabbat and holiday means that everything is closed by around 2:30 in the afternoon. Well Yom Kippur is worse. Everything was already closed by the time we got dressed and we were in a desperate frenzy to find food to eat before the fast. We ended up stocking up on food at a gas station which was literally the only thing open... After that we ate lunch and eventually had a terrific meal before the fast began. I ate so much I literally thought I was going to explode.
On Yom Kippur, the girls and I rocked our orthodox chic clothes to shul! I was suoer excited for this because I don't belong to a temple back home and it was super special to go to shul in Jerusalem. Although the service was veeery long and it was hard for me to follow along due to lack of knowledge, I am happy that I went. After shul and a nap, a bunch of my friends and I made our way to the Kotel for the break fast!!!! After fastinf for the whole day we walked from where I was satying to the Kotel. My friends and I were able to walk in the streets due to the fact that NO cars were around whatsoever. The traffic lights don't even work on Yom Kippur!!!!! We were completely alone in the streets other than the occassional kids playing in the street. I have to say that the reason why I loved this walk so much was that I really felt connected to this holiday and all of its traditions. The fact that literally all of Israel was shut off for this day made me feel so proud that us as Jews really take our religion seriously and that our whole country unites on this day to atone for our sins.
Once we got to the kotel I was the happiest girl on Earth. The place was PACKED. Honestly the whole atmosphere was amazing and we met up with a bunch of other yearcoursers! I made my way to the wall and said a few prayers for my cousin as well as making some resolutions for the new year. Soon after that the shofar was blown and it was time to break the fast. There were tables giving out free food and drinks and there were people singing and dancing everywhere I turned. I literally couldn't think of one place I would have rather been.
Right now I am blogging from my parents' best friend's house I cam to visit his family and its been great!!! His son took me out to a bar and we had a great time :) Hopefully the rest of the weekend will be great! I'm planning on reuniting with some camp people yayayayyay!!!
:)

Biking in the Negev

Now my dad will be very proud when he reads this because I went on a bike ride with my friends!!! Yes that's right I rode my bike all around the deserts of Arad and we even saw some camels!!!! This was a nice relaxed bike ride with my friends and it was cut a bit short because we didn't want to get lost since we were all girls and didn't have a counselor or anything with us. But it doesn't matter!!! I had lots of fun and I was thinking of my dad the whole time :) I love you Aba!!!

Our Trip to Sderot

I can honestly say that my favorite time in year course is the end of the week... The way our program works is that we have day trips on Thursdays (which means no volunteering yay!) and then after that our weekend begins!!!! So nice to start my weekend a day earlier even though Sunday is a work day :)

This Thursday we had our first "Siyur"!!!! We went to visit a town named Sderot. This town is located in the negev and is neighboring the gaza strip. For those who don't know, the gaza strip used to be occupied with Israelis and there was a huge Jewish community of farmers living there.... Then in 2005, the Israeli government decided to relocate all of these Jews living in Gaza and give all of the land "back" to the Palestinians. Ever since then it's been cities like Sderot, Beer Sheva and many others that have paid the price.

Being in Sderot was one of the hardest things I've ever dealt with. When we first got to Sderot the tour guide gave us a little introduction and background on the city. On of the first things he told us is that THOUSANDS of rockets are fired into Sderot every year and that the last rocket launched into the city was only two days ago!!! Another scary thing he told us is that the previous day Arab terrorists were killed by the Israeli government and the people of Sderot were expecting a retaliation.... How scary is that?!   Every single house/apartment building etc has a bomb shelter. The people of Sderot are used to this terror and have adapted it into their day to day lives. Some might even say that the 15 second warning they have to find shelter is "routine".

Another real upsetting part of Sderot was visiting the playground..... In the same shot you can see the playground which is such an innocent place for little children to have fun and a bomb shelter disguised as a huge cement caterpillar. This is so sad that these innocent little kids have to live in fear and in danger just because of their address... It was all very emotional for me to see...  

All in all, I am so happy we went on this trip. I wouldn't understand the extremity of the situation unless I saw it for my own eyes. If anyone reading this ever goes to Israel I highly suggest taking a tour of this city. Not to be corny but it really helps you appreciate the safety of your own life and not to take any moment for granted. I am so thankful for my opportunity to visit Sderot with my year course family<3

Right after our visit to Sderot we went to visit a lady who used to live in Gaza before she was "thrown out" seven years ago. Her story was so heartbreaking and so beautiful at the same time. She told us all about how she made aliyah to Israel from New York 30 years ago until now when she is living far away from her home praying everyday that someday she will return to Gaza. This was the perfect continuation to our time at Sderot and I'm so grateful i got to hear her story. I wish this woman all the best and I hope that eve if she never returns to Gaza, that she will find happiness in her new home.

After how great this trip was, I'm super excited for the next ones to come!!

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!!!!!

WOW....
This weekend was amazing... My friend Sarah and I went to Netanya, Israel to go visit my grandparents and lets just say that I left that house five pounds heavier..... It was so amazing to see my family and it made me finally realize that I'm in Israel!!!! Before I saw them it didn't feel like home<3 Aside from my grandparents I went to hang out with my second family. They have five beautiful daughters and one of them is a year older than me so we're pretty close and always hang out whenever I'm in town!!! She and her friends took Sarah and I to this fun club on the Tel Aviv pier called "Octopus".  I thought the club itself was amazing but sadly there were way to many creepy arsim :(((((. I'm still getting used to getting home at 4 in the morning when my curfew back home was 12 heheheh.

After that night Sarah and I explored Netanya and bought a bunch of cute cheap clothes! :) Also we spent Rosh Hashannah with my family at my aunt's house. I was so happy to see my aunt and my cousins. I have a 28 year old cousin named Ori and a 26 year old cousin named Tslil. Tslil was in a car accident five years ago that ruined her life forever. Some stupid idiot was driving drunk and ran into her car and the brain damage she suffered ruined her forever. I think about her everyday and I'm so happy to be in Israel so that I can visit her a lot more than usual. The only silver lining to this accident is that it brought us closer together and now I know never to take anyone for granted. This amazing girl is working at her recovery everyday and she is my hero for. She is so smart and so motivated that I know one day she will walk again... I love you so much Tslil<3

On a lighter note, monday night was the Afrojack concert!!!!
We were afroJACKED! He didn't even show up!!! To be honest though, I couldn't tell the difference the other DJs that were playing music were just as sick. This concert literally had at least 20,000 people there if not more!!!! All of my friends were there and I even ran into two guys from my high school that moved to Israel to go to the army!!! What a small world! It was literally the best night ever I just danced my heart away with all my old friends and some new ones ;) The only bad thing was all the secondhand smoking... i HATE cigarettes!!!!!!!
My friends and I stayed in a hostel that night and spent the whole next day on the beach in Tel Aviv and it was absolute HEAVEN. I even got to see Becca who was my CIT advisor and she's my favvvv :)  I was so happy to see her!!!!

Now I am back in Arad and I just got home from teaching at the middle school! Thank god it's already Wednesday which makes it a short week :))) Well I need to go grocery shopping we have NO food!!!!
xoxoxoxo

Recap on my first week of Yearcourse!!!

WOW... that is all I can say now that my first real week here in Israel has come to a close... this week has been full of ups and downs and I can't say truthfully that I have not felt homesick. But, I know that I am still getting accustomed to everything here and that eventually I will know exactly where to go for any situation from shopping to clubbing.

Throughout the whole week I have been working at the elementary school three days a week and at the middle/high school two days a week! It has been so fun to work with these kids and teach them English. When I tell them I'm from California, their eyes go wide in jealousy and immediately make me tell them all about America! So adorable!!! Unfortunately not all my "students" are easy to deal with I have to teach fourteen year olds the alphabet and most of the kids at that age don't really care what I have to say. But on the other side my seventh graders hug me everyday that I see them and always tell me how happy they are to see me. An amazing perk to my job is that school gets out at 1:30 here because sunday is not a weekend day here!!!!! I love being done so early in the day because that way I get to make lunch and nap for a long day ahead.

This past few weeks have been hard because I don't get along with my current roommates and the ones I did like went to Haifa to work in a youth village. My friend from home Sarah was volunteering at an army base for the week and I almost cried when she came home because I missed her so much. The whole week I would stay away from my apartment and eat dinner with my friends at their places. I a, currently in the process of apartment switching because I told my madrichim that a switch MUST be made....

To be honest I am completely unimpressed with the staffing I have not felt comforted by any mad rich or other staff member on year course. I know what it takes to be a counselor because I have worked at a sleep away camp for two summers now.. you must have a little thing called EMPATHY. Safe to say the madrichim here don't. Sorry just had to vent a little bit.

Now that the week has come to a close all of the kids on year course have a break for Shabbat and Rosh Hashannah. On Thursday my friends and I missed out on an awesome opportunity to take a party bus to Tel Aviv because logistically it couldn't work out for us. I am a little upset that I missed out but I don't want to have regrets. I still had a lot of fun that night in Arad with all my girls :) Currently my friend Sarah and  are in Netanya at my grandparents house! This makes me feel like I really am in Israel!!!!! My grandparents have been feeding us and spoiling us :) I also got to see really close family friends and one of my cousins took me and Sarah out to a night in Tel Aviv!! We went to this nightclub with tons of "Arsim" (creeps) but whatever it was still a really amazing place!!!!! Lets hope that tonight and the rest of my weekend here in Netanya is just as fun!!!

CANT WAIT FOR AFROJACK ON MONDAY!!!!!!!!!

I'm A Teacher Now!!!!!! :)

 So now that my group and I have been living in Arad for a week now, orientation is over and we have started the actual program!!! YAY! Our purpose in this city is to volunteer and I have been placed as an English teacher in both the elementary school and the junior high school here. I switch between the two schools everyday.
 Yesterday was my first day at the elementary school and I go with my friend from year course Shoshana. The English teacher was named Malka and she was very sweet. the kids were also very sweet and sooooo cute! A few girls told me that I am beautiful and I wanted to cry it was so precious. A boy that I was helping in one of the classes was pretending that he hated me and didn't want my help when his friends were watching. However, when he saw me in the halls after school was over he was calling my name and waving to me and he gave me a hug. It was so great! A weird thing about the schools here is that they have school from Sunday-Friday and they are in school from 8-1:30. I prefer how America does it better I need two days for the weekend. After 1:30 the elementary school provides a tutoring time until 3:30 so Shoshana and I spent those two hours helping kids with homework. I can't wait to go back to the elementary school tomorrow!!
 Today I went to the junior high school which has every grade from 7-12. All the kids were way more outgoing than the younger ones but that also means that the boys were a bit more rowdy.... That's okay I still got to help them a lot and the teacher said I was doing amazing. There are Tzofim Scouts here in Arad also and they also work at the school. One of them even knows my friend who came to my sleep away camp through the Tzofim!!!! What a small world!
 Anyway I am exhausted and I am going to take a nap.... Until next time!!!! :)

Pictures

A picture of my friends and I enjoying the beautiful views of arad with the dead sea and mesada in the background!!!

Shabbat Shalom

So today we had opening ceremony for section three with the dead sea and mesada as our background... SO beautiful!!!!
And I went to the club for the first time :)))
Its three in the morning I better get some sleep.... Zzzz

Welcome to my blog!!!

HI EVERYONE :)
I AM LIVING IN ISRAEL ON A GAP YEAR FOR NINE MONTHS AND I HAVE DECIDED TO WRITE A BLOG SO THAT I CAN REMEMBER ALL OF MY GOOD TIMES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. I AM CURRENTLY LIVING IN ARAD, ISRAEL WHICH IS IN THE DESERT (THE NEGEV). I AM GOING TO BE VOLUNTEERING HERE IN THE ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS HERE IN ARAD TEACHING ENGLISH!
SHABBAT SHALOM EVERYONE IT IS MY FIRST SHABBAT HERE IN ISRAEL AND TODAY THE WHOLE PROGRAM IS PARTICIPATING IN SERVICES SO I AM VERY EXCITED FOR THAT. THE FIRST WEEK HAS BEEN ORIENTATION SO KIND OF BORING BUT YESTERDAY WE WENT TO THE KOTEL AND HAD OPENING CEREMONIES IN JERUSALEM!!!!!! HOW FUN
I AM ROOMING WITH MY CLOSE FRIEND SARAH SCHUGEL WHO I KNOW FROM HOME YOU SHOULD ALL CHECK OUT HER BLOG!!!! ISRAELGETREADYFORSARAH.BLOGSPOT.COM :)
MORE TO COME!! XX