How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard

Year Course. Nine months of happiness, joy, independence, difficulties, adventures, and memories. As I am writing this blog post at home as a Year Course alum, I feel as if I have woken up from a dream. How is it possible that all of these memories that I have in my head actually happened? I lived in three incredible cities, went to bars and clubs in Tel Aviv, went on breathtaking hikes, made a difference through my volunteering AND to top it all off, I got a year's worth of college credit! I am so blessed to have been a part of this program and a part of Section 3 (the best section). When I think about last year and how I was having trouble deciding between Year Course and college, I can't believe I ever had any doubts. Year Course was the best decision I could have made. College will always be there for me and I am going this fall. I have become so independent and so happy and I owe it all to my amazing experiences in Israel. Year Course, Thanks for everything, I am going to miss you <3

 

Yearcourse Closing Ceremonies!

As I was sitting in my seat at the Begin Center in Jerusalem, I was thinking about nine months ago when I was sitting in the Beit Ar-El lawn for Opening Ceremonies. I swear, I can remember everything about that night. How nervous I was, all my hopes and fears for the upcoming year. And just like that, it's over. After all of Year Course spent two days together as a treat for the end of Year Course, it was time to say goodbye. The ceremony was very well done with many speeches from year coursers and it was even led by a few of our own. We watched videos and reminisced. It really was a well done ceremony. All of our teachers came and it was great to see everyone! A few friends and I got extremely close to a staff member and she told us that we were the higlight of her Aliyah experience! As year course was claimed "over", all of the crying began and counselors literally had to pull people apart in order to get them on the buses to go to the airport. After a crazy few days, all of year course was at the airport trying to check in and when we finally did, we were on our way home.

Year Course Final Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuAcOC9b6cA

 

 

 



Goodbye Bat Yam... :(

Wow! Bat Yam has been one crazy ride. From amazing volunteering, to being a 10 min walk to the beach, to being just a bus ride into Tel Aviv, it is safe to say that I had an amazing three months! Something that I also loved about this semester was location. Every weekend, my friends and I hopped on a train and explored something new even though sometimes we felt that there was so much left to do and not enough time to do it! From camping in Sde Boker to camping at the Kineret, I saw a lot of beautiful sights this semester. I also went to a crazy music festival in the forest which will be an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I basically lived on the beach because there is nothing like Tel Aviv beaches. I spent countless Friday mornings at the Tel Aviv shuk enjoying the amazing atmosphere. Bat Yam has been so incredibly fun with so much to do. Oh, and I can never forget the scouts that lived with us! These are eleven amazing kids who inspired us everyday. They are such hard workers and genuinely great people. I now have eleven new homes whenever I come and visit :)
Looking back, I have no regrets on the Bat Yam semester. I really feel as if I gave it my all and explored so many new things. It was a perfect way to end a perfect year and I miss it already.

Goodbye Save a Child's Heart and Fat Meir Soup Kitchen

As I mentioned before, my volunteering in Bat Yam was at two places. Twice a week, I was volunteering with kids from all over the world who were in Israel to get heart surgery and once a week, I was making sandwiches for the lower class of Bat Yam. Pretty cool right? :)
My last day at Fat Meir was pretty emotional. Even though I was there only once a week, Meir really took a liking to me and was sad to see me go. He even took down my number and email incase he ever comes to LA!
Save a Child's Heart was really where the magic happened. I am absolutely honored to have had the chance to work here. I have made friends of all ages from countries like Burundi, Ethiopia, Romania, Zanzibar, Tanzania and many more. I have learned to communicate without using words and I have fallen in love with these kids. Every time a kid went into surgery, my heart would ache until I knew they were ok. Every time a kid went home, I had to put my selfish needs aside and be happy that they would be going home and seeing their families as healthy kids.  Save a Child's Heart changed my life. I know it sounds cliche but it really is true. I learned so much from these kids and gained so much from this experience. Thanks for everything SACH!

Yearcourse Prom: Oscar Night!

The scouts on our program planned an incredible night for us where different people were awarded different titles such as "cutest couple", "biggest JAP, "never seen sober" etc. It was such a fun night to get dressed up and have a date and enjoy myself with my section. I received the title "Most likely to be seen with a scout" because I love them a little too much! This was a really nice and perfect for our last week of yearcourse!

How cute is my date? :)

Visiting my Volunteering and MASA Closing Ceremony!

In Arad, I made really great connections through my volunteering. I loved the kids, the other volunteers, and of course the teacher that I worked with. Unfortunately, other than my trip with my dad, I hadn't gone back to see my kids.  So I decided to take a free day and go visit them. It was a total surprise and seeing their faces when they saw me walk through the door made the annoying trek to Arad worth it! I got to see my first two classes (8th grade and 9th grade). I had to miss my favorite class (7th grade) due to a mandatory ceremony in Jerusalem for the end of Israel programs. I am so happy to have gone and see these amazing kids. They gave me so much love and it really showed me that I made a difference. The teacher always tells me that they still talk about me and when I came, I saw that he was not exaggerating. Also, seeing ninth grade boys show some emotion is pretty rare.... I'll miss them!

As I said earlier, after visiting the school, I went to Jerusalem to attend the closing ceremonies by MASA which basically  funds every Israel program from all over the world so there were a lot of people there. We heard the Minister of the Economy, Naftali Bennet speak and the chairman of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky. BUT the best part was seeing the Israeli acapella group Voca People perform! They are a group of eight people who dress head to toe in white with red lipstick and act like aliens. They had amazing mash-ups from movies, songs you name it. It was so fun to see them perform and I had never heard of them before this. Thanks for everything MASA! :)

Trip to the Kineret with Section 3!

The scouts on our program organized an amazing trip to the Sea of Galilee (The Kineret) for the night! After a six hour bus ride, we finally arrived to our campsite at 11 pm and immediately started setting up for dinner. We played the usual games that we all know from our youth movements and jew camp such as laptag. So much fun! We had dinner at 1:30 in the morning and stayed up pretty late hanging out. The whole thing kind of reminded me of the overnights that we have at camp which is kind of weird... A few of us decided to sleep right on the beach and we had HORRIBLE neighbors. A few guys came at 3 in the morning and never went to sleep. We fell asleep to their noise and woke up to it at six in the morning.... Yay

After we left the Kineret, we went to do an amazing hike completely in water! I came prepared with my waterproof shoes that were given to me for free and they completely broke! No we know why they were free... It was so fun and so refreshing to swim afterwards!

After that, we went rafting in the Jordan River! I have been there before with my family, but this time was better (sorry family). Just imagine 50 eighteen year olds messing around pushing each other in and swimming around! It was the best time and such a good bonding experience. The whole trip brought us closer together with each other and the scouts. I am so grateful to the scouts for planning this, they did one hell of a job!
Two weeks left......

My last weekend in Netanya :(

So my third to last weekend on yearcourse was the last time I was able to visit my family in Netanya. Before that, I went to a camp friend's birthday party which was pretty much just an excuse to have a camp reunion!

After that, I had a really nice Shabbat dinner with my grandparents just enjoying the time we had left. A few of my friends that also have family in Netanya and I went to Max Brener for dessert. YUM. Then I went shopping with my grandma which is always fun. Netanya, it's been real. You will always be my favorite city in Israel :)

The last holiday in Israel: Shavuot!

I spent my first holiday in Israel (Rosh Hashannah) at an Afrojack concert and my last at Laidback Luke, Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike! Such a fun concert/rave with all of my friends!

The next day was family day! I spent the whole day eating yummy dairy foods like pizza, lasagna and burekas. YUMMM :) Shavuot is just another holiday that you can feel in Israel but I don't usually celbrate at home.

Visit to Wolfson Hospital with Save a Child's Heart

After volunteering for a couple months with Save a Child's Heart, I was given the opportunity to visit the hospital and see what happens behind the scenes. During this visit, I met a doctor from Tanzania who is in Israel for three years to learn how to be a heart surgeon. There are maybe four cardiologists and no heart surgeons in Tanzania so that is amazing that he will be the first one. He unfortunately lost his sister to a heart disease that could have gone away easily with proper care and that inspired him to become a surgeon. I also met an Israeli doctor who is one of the main surgeons. We asked him why he decided to get involved and he said that once he heard about it, he couldn't turn it down. Also, he completely donates his time. If he stopped performing these surgeries, he wouldn't lose any money he would just get a lot of time to be with his friends and family. Lastly, this was the first day I ever met any of the Arab children because none of them live in the house. Some of them can be driven back and forth to the West Bank/Gaza, and some live in a house in Jerusalem run by an Arab-Christian organization. I spoke to a Palestinian woman who helps SACH bring kids from Gaza and the West Bank. She speaks Hebrew, Arabic and English and is extremely sweet. There are currently Palestinian doctors who are now being trained by SACH so that they can perform surgeries independently. However,  none of these doctors will ever talk about this on the news and say a positive word because they are afraid that the consequences will be dangerous.
One of the hardest parts of this visit was the ICU. One of my favorite little girls (Yamarium, 2 years old from Ethiopia) went through surgery and seeing her hooked up to all of these wires and not conscious was very difficult. I gave her mom (sweetest woman) the biggest hug. I hope she is awake and back to her adorable self soon.
I am so blessed to have been able to see this and it made me even more proud to be a part of this organization.

A link to an article about SACH:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4380072,00.html

a picture of the ICU:

Shabbat trip to Akko!

Five friends and I decided to spend Shabbat in Akko which is a nice beach town in northern Israel. We found a cute hostel in the center of the old city and got a room with seven beds meaning that we made a new friend! Immediately after checking in, we explored the shuk and the port. We had dinner at a delicious restaurant with lots of seafood and hummus. Akko is a ton with a lot of Arabs and on our way back to the hostel, we stumbled upon a wedding! The groom and best man were on the shoulders of their friends and were singing and dancing through the streets! So cool! And then, we had baklava for dessert. The food in Akko was actually one of the best parts of the trip...

The next morning was another shuk day (things were actually open) and we took a really fun boat ride around the town! We could see Haifa on one side and Akko on the other. I'm surprised that I actually didn't get seasick. Then, we went to go see the Baha'i Gardens. There is on in Haifa and one in Akko. However, this garden is holier because it is the final resting place of their leader. We started talking to a guard who is from Amsterdam and of the Baha'i faith. He told us about how he is in Israel for the year volunteering at the garden as his own version of year of service (just like us). He also talked to us about his religion and it was really cool to actually learn about the religion and not just know that they have the most beautiful gardens. After that we spent time on the beach relaxing and taking in the beauty around us.

weekends like this make my yearcourse experience THAT much better :)