Yom Hazikaron, Hom Ha'atzmaut...4 sprained ankles and 2 sprained wrists

Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut

Yom Hazikaron is Israel's Memorial Day, however it is nothing like America's Memorial Day. For the evening of Yom Hazikaron, the Karmiel track had a special ceremony in honor of the soldiers who had fallen. The next day, we went to Jerusalem to Har Herzl (Mt. Herzl) to visit the cemetery of the soldiers who had fallen whilst fighting for Israel (from the war of 1948 til today). It was a very interesting experience to see all the soldiers, families of the fallen soldiers, and people just like us crowded heavily around a cemetery interacting in different ways. There was the crying at certain grave sites and what not. Then there was the somewhat friendly greetings from one person to another at the grave site next to one similar to previously mentioned (i.e. crying). After the ceremony, Nativ started heading out to do our own programming and I ran into my friend, Simon, with whom I went to high school with. Once we finally left the cemetery, had our programming, and were told what time the buses were leaving the next day but come to the barbecue or else you'd be missing out, we were on our own to experience the transition from one of the saddest days of the year to one of the happiest days of the year. As I walked around for the rest of the afternoon before going to shul, I noticed people setting up for Yom Ha’atzmaut. It was still Yom Hazikaron, but I didn’t feel the vibe of Yom Hazikaron the way I thought I would. People were still doing normal activities as if it was any other day. After I went to shul, I saw the change. People were singing in the streets, there was music playing, and people were wishing each other a שמח חג (Happy Holiday). My friend, Becca, and I went out for dinner then joined in to the festivities. The next day, I woke up, got dressed, and helped prepare for the barbecue. The barbecue was a lot of fun. Yossi told us that every year, Nativers have never been able to finish all the food. Nativ 30 accepted the challenge and completed the task with smiles and barbecue sauces on our faces. Then we went back to Karmiel.

Sprained ankles

The second to last week of Nativ is Northern Tiyul. This tiyul is more about having fun than bonding with the group. Sunday, I chose the easy hike option. We all went to a Druz village for lunch and hospitality then the easy hike went on a tour of Old City Akko. I really had a lot of fun. On Monday, I chose the hard hike option. We started at the Yiron winery for a wine tasting then went to hike Nahal Amud. While this hike started out very fun and exciting, it didn’t end that way. I ended up with 2 sprained ankles. Tuesday, I went on the easy hike. Originally, we were supposed to go to the Banyas nature reserve, but because of the storm the previous night, trees were falling and the park was closed. Plan B was to go cable car-ing, but for the same reason, it was closed. So we ended up going to a different hike. I wasn’t supposed to be hiking, but the driver was stupid and didn’t drop those who shouldn’t be hiking to a resting area. After the hike, we went rafting/kayaking in the Jordan River. There, I ran into my friend, Josh, from home who decided to go on Birthright. I was so surprised to see him. After kayaking (and hurting my ankle again), we went to the hotel, changed, and went to Tiberias for a free evening. I had so much fun. Becca, Gill, Daniel and I decided to go for Chinese food. We spent most of the time there eating, discussing how to pronounce Szechwan and talking about life. Wednesday, I went on the easy hike. This time however, I was dropped off at a rest stop while the rest of the group went on the hike. Once everyone got back, we went to the Golan winery for a wine tasting. After the wine tasting, we went back to the hotel, changed and headed out for the Hamat Gader hot springs. 

You are probably wondering where the other 2 sprained ankles and wrists are. They belong to 3 people. 2 sprained ankles belong to me, 2 belong to my friend, Max. 1 sprained wrist belongs to my friend, Gill and the other sprained wrist belongs to my friend, Ben. There you go.

Passover Seder

This Pesach, I went to my first ever Yemenite Seder. It was the first time I ever ate Yemenite food. I take a cab to my aunt's sister's house in Karmiel. Once I get dropped off, I find out that he dropped me off at the wrong place because he didn't quite understand me. Eventually, I get to the right place. Not too long after I arrive, we leave for Moshav Elyakim (where my aunt's parents live). I meet the rest of the family and we sit down to begin the seder. It was a slight culture shock. During the actual seder, the men and women were not sitting together. During the meal, we were drinking wine instead of grape juice (which we were using for the 4 cups) and men and women could sit together. I knew it was a Sephardi Seder, but that still surprised me a little bit, especially as I was putting rice on my plate. Well all I can say now is: "Kitniyot". After the meal, women and men separated again and we finished the seder. The family (that didn't grow up speaking English) attempted speaking to me in English so I would feel comfortable while I was speaking in Hebrew to improve my speaking skills. It was an interesting mix to say the least. Once the seder was over, the family left, and the dishes were done, I went to sleep. The next morning, I wake up, get dressed and have a Yemenite breakfast. I ate a Yemenite dish called Fatoot which was quite tasty and I also had a dish that was described to me as Matzah French Toast. Not as good as the fatoot. Throughout the day, extended family came by and I learned that another one of my aunt's sisters lives in Karmiel also and teaches at the religious high school that I used to work at. She told me there were 3 American boys there whom she would ask if they knew who I was (which they do because they're on my program). At one point, my cousins and I took a walk around the moshav and talked for a bit about the army and when we were each going to visit each other. We chilled around for the rest of the day then once chag was over, my oldest cousin (who's a sergeant in the army) and his father (yes Dad, that would be your oldest brother) drove me back to Karmiel.

Closed Shabbat on Kibbutz Channaton

This weekend was a closed weekend. The Karmiel track went to Kibbutz Channaton. We arrived Friday and found out there was another group there who were doing this hollistic type process in silence for 10 days which meant we couldn't be very loud. We went to our rooms and about an hour later, we had a program about what type of leader we are. We took- what I would call- a leadership personality survey which, once we added up the scores, showed us what kind of leader we are. There were four types of leadership personalities: Directors, Supporters, Creators, and Analyzers. My leadership personality type was: survey says: Creator. What a surprise, right mom?

About Creators...
Effective Traits: imaginative, creative, visionary, idealistic, enthusiastic, innovative
Ineffective Traits: unrealistic, unreliable, inconsistent, hasty, impulsive, impatient, fragmented
Possible Majors: Art, English, Design, Hospitality, Travel, Theater, Communications
Possible Careers: Writer, Politician, Travel agent, Hotel manager, Cartoonist, Musician, Composer, Artist, Journalist, Craftsperson, Florist, Costume designer, Sales, Scientist

We then split up into personality groups and had to design something and be able to market it to the kids of Nativ 31. It was a fun experience to do this. After this activity, we got ready and had Kabbalat Shabbat. After Kab-Shab, I went to a shiyur (lesson) on the parsha of the week. We had an interesting discussion. After the shiyur, we went to dinner. Saturday morning, we had davening and then lunch. After lunch we had free time. I sat in the sun for a bit. After free time, we had a tour of the kibbutz. After the tour, we had mincha, dinner, ma'ariv/havdallah. After that, we had about 5 minutes to get on the bus and head back to Karmiel

חג פורים שמח

For the holiday of Purim, Nativ came together and went to Ma’ale Chamisha, right outside of Jerusalem. We spent Shabbas there with Jules Gutin and Rabbi Elise Wineck, head of Koach. We had discussion groups with our staff and with our guests. The first session I chose was with Maya. This discussion was about having a small Jewish population on campus and how to deal with the challenges we may face next year. The second session I attended was with Adir. His discussion group dealt with the topic of drinking on Purim and what it has become today. When dinner and the discussion groups were over, I went to bed. Saturday morning we davened shacharit. After shacharit, we made Kiddush and went to our third discussion group. This time I chose Elkana’s group. This dealt with empathy and compassion towards other and how it helps you become a good leader. After the discussion groups ended, we had lunch, then free time. Because Purim began on Motze Shabbat, ma’ariv and megillah reading had to be tied together. We all got changed into our costumes to end Shabbas and start Purim. I, of course, dressed up as none other than the fabulous Tinker Bell. Little did I know that the American staff members were all being characters from Peter Pan. Adir naturally was Peter Pan, Sherman was the evil Captain Hook, and Maya was Tinker Bell. I challenged her to a Tinker Bell duel. When we saw each other, I knew I immediately won. Maya looked nothing like Tinker Bell. I even did my hair correctly. We ended ma’ariv and went straight into Megillah reading. During this time, we were all admiring each other’s costumes. After Megillah reading, we had dinner then a dance/karaoke party. It was a lot of fun. Gill and I signed up to do karaoke together. We chose Rotze Banot. (It’s a Hebrew song which means “want girls”.

After the last song was sung, we all went to bed. Sunday was the Purim Parade in Holon. We were also delivering our Mishloach Manot to each other. It was a lot of fun. After the parade, we went to Tel-Aviv for lunch. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel for our final session on Conservative Judaism with Jules. After Jules we had dinner, then we had a theater group come in and improv for us based on stories we told. Monday, we had free time in Jerusalem. I was going to buy a new talis for my mom, but she didn’t give me the money to buy it, so I didn’t. Instead, I went to Ben Yehuda Street to hang out. I bought some poppers for the fun of it. Then a couple of us had a picnic in the park. Then the girls of the picnic decided to go to Tattoo so one girl and I could go get our cartilage pierced. She got a first piercing, I got a second. It actually looks quite nice. I didn’t notice this until much later, but I got a silver ring and the first ring is a purple ring. For all of you USYers reading this, those are the ZOHAR colors. After getting my cartilage pierced, I met up with my friend Yasmin, who I met at the MASA BFL (Building Future Leadership) conference. We walked to the NU store (check it out) and I bought a T-shirt. Every t-shirt purchased goes to a cause of some sort. I bought the shirt donating money to technology in Africa. The story is on the inside of the shirt in both English and Hebrew. After shopping, Yasmin, Ben, Yedidya, and I were sitting at a table on Ben Yehuda just chatting. Later on, I was on my way back to Karmiel. It was a fun experience to see Purim in Israel and Shushan Purim in Jerusalem. Everybody dresses up in an assortment of costumes and have a lot of fun. I am glad I got to be in Israel for Purim.

MASA Leadership Week

This past week I was in Jerusalem for MASA's Leadership Week. It was a lot of fun. My program was the only full program that attended. Other programs in attendance were Young Judea Year Course, Aardvark, Bar-Ilan Israel Experience, Israel By Choice, Neve Yerushalayim, Ofek, Otzma, Real Life Israel, and others. At MASA Leadership Week, I met kids from USA, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Lithuania and other countries. I was in Group 3 (aka BUELLER) and it was a bunch of kids who are going to Maryland next year and some other schools (like me...I'm going to Hofstra University). I went to a discussion group called Personal Communication which helps people with speaking skills and public speaking. I found it very useful. There was a special interest day one of the days. I chose Jewish Peoplehood which I found very useless because it taught me nothing about Jewish Peoplehood. Tuesday, we had 3 hours of free time in Jerusalem. I went to Ben Yehuda Street and met up with my friend, Yisrael. We went shopping for Purim costumes/accessories. Then we went to the shuk, and we met up with our friends Miriam and David. I bought a pair of fuzzy handcuffs, olives, dried avatiach (watermelon), strawberries (6 NIS for a kilo...good price). Candy, Dr. Pepper. I also got my package later that day (I LOVE YOU MOMMY AND DADDY). This package had my Purim costume (Tinker Bell), 3 boxes of Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies, 1 box of Tag-a-Long Girl Scout Cookies, Dr. Pepper flavored chapstick, a pair of Toms shoes, Kosher Kitchen stickers, a new camera (for some much needed pictures), 2 boxes of Cheezits (Did you hear that Robert? My mom sent 2. You're supposed to send me 1), and a couple other things. This weekend is Purim and I'm really excited.
I'll let you know what happens next week

Oh I Just Can't Wait...To Get Back to ATTPAC

Today, my mom messaged me on Skype and told me to call her because one of the house managers, Preston, was there and able to talk for a few minutes. How exciting! As my mom handed over the phone, I spoke to Doug and Preston. They told me they weren't going to get in trouble for talking to me on the job because they knocked my mom unconscious and stole the phone from her. Naturally, I said "good for you." Don't worry Mom, I still love you a lot. I can't wait for the "new" training session I have to go through. How much is actually different? I can't wait to get back for Billy Elliott.

I'm excited for tomorrow night, Monday nights are mine and Ariel's night to make dinner. We decided to make tofu sushi (because Ariel's vegan). It was exciting to go to the Russian market and find the seaweed, sticky rice, wasabi, chopsticks, and sushi rolling mat. It wasn't too expensive either. I'm excited to make sushi tomorrow night

It's a Funny Story Actually...

So as many of you know, one of my greatest passions has been dance. When I got to Israel, I wanted to find a dance studio to volunteer in second semester. Knowing that I'd be going to Karmiel, and knowing that every summer is the National Karmiel Dance Festival, I figured there had to be a dance studio around. I looked and so did my madrichim. Nobody looked hard enough, however. On Thursday, walking back from my teaching job at the high school, I crossed the street and found a dance studio.

I've been here nearly a month and was surprised to see a dance studio across the street from where I teach English.

Funny story, huh?