Once again, I feel as if I need to apologize for waiting so long to post again. I have definitely had a couple of very exciting days. This past Wedneday, I visited Youngstown's sister city called Akko. I was given a tour of some very cool attractions in the area by a woman named Heidi who is connected to the Jewish Federation in Youngstown. We visited a small Holocaust museam that was up north near where I'm staying, which was absolutely amazing. There was a seperate children's museum in which I was completely blown away with the design of the exhibits. I have never seen something so thought provoking and unique in my life. When I told the director of my program about this she told me she will take the whole group there soon so everyone will have a chance to see it.

We also went to many other fun and exciting places in which the Youngstown Jewish Federation is lucky to be a part of. We went to a small store in the old city of Akko in which people with disabilites work in order to help them learn their way around a business. (I may have made a few purchases here as well). Also, we went to an all Arab high school in which the coolest project ever is has been taking place for the past 5 years. This project is call the Tri-Wizard Project (this is after Harry Potter, in which excited me more than it should have). This involves a group of hand chosen Israeli Arab students, Israel Jewish students, and a group of students in the U.S. that are of all religions. These students meet (the American students do this over the internet) and they discuss what is going on in Israel between the Arabs and Jews and how although they have differences, the bottom line is that they are all human. We were able to speak with some of the students and they had such amazing things to say about the program and eachother.

We also were taken to a place where people with disabilites learn how to live on their own (called Wings), this is also affiliated with the store that I mentioned above. We then ended the tour with a place that is available to the youth in Akko as a place to come after school. This was an amazing building and furnished in a way that was so fun and colorful. I loved it.

All in all, this was an amazing day that I will not be forgetting while here in Israel.

This is me and a couple of Youngstowners as we pointed at the Youngstown Federation name on the plaque outside the youth center in Akko.

This sign was hung in the Children's section of the Holocaust museum and it tells about the Book Sharing Project that happened between Israeli and American students. Notice W.S. Guy...that would be my middle school!

This past weekend was also very fun too. We kept ourselves busy in the nearby city of Nahariya and at the local kibbtuz pub. A few friends and I went out to dinner on Saturday night to get out and enjoy some good food. We had plans to get Chinese food but since it was Shabbot, we completely forgot that most of the restaurants would not be open. We ended up at a place that was a bit pricey but very delicious that was open instead.

This is Dan and me. We make fun of Dan a lot because he looks quite a bit like Harry Potter. That's my second reference to Harry Potter in this post....probably not so good for an almost 23 year old. Oh well...

So last night after volunteering at the high school, a few of us got on a coach bus and went to Jerusalem for a MASA event concert. MASA is the Israeli program that provides the money for the programs here in Israel. Besides the fact that the bus ride each way was about 3 hours, the concert was quite enjoyable. It was an Israeli band that had a fusion of other languages too. It was definitely interesting because I had never heard the music before, let alone even begin to understand what was being sung. It was cool though because the concert hall that this took place in held over 3,000 people, and every single seat was filled. There were Jewish people my age there from all over the world. Pretty insane actually.

The group of us from Yehiam that went to Jerusalem!

So yea, that's pretty much it for now. I'm still loving evey bit of this experience and am still so in awe that I'm actually here. I promise I will try and update the blog more often.

Much love.

amazing...

Wow. So I don't have any new pictures to post or anything but I just wanted to report on my first really full day of volunteering. It was absolutely amazing...

I was in a different class for every period of the day with a different English teacher. The classes were at all different levels of English and I ended up in 8th, 9th, 11th, and 12th grades. I think my favorite was the 8th and 12th grades actually. The 8th grade students were an intermediate class of English and they were so intrigued with me and surrounded me with questions about myself and where I'm from. The 12th grade was more advanced level of English (obviously) where I was able to give more individual help to a couple students that I was sitting near. One actually spent this past summer working as a camp counselor at the Louisville JCC! The same exact job I worked just 5 summers ago! Oh and it was quite embarressing when the lesson was adverbs and I had trouble figuring a couple of them out....

So we took the school bus back home at 3 and now I'm going to take it easy after my long full day at high school...

and we finally started...

Sorry I haven't updated in so long! The internet in our rooms has been down and has left the 13 of us with one computer to use in the common room.

Actually, a lot has happened in the past few days. We have received 5 new additions to our group from another program. They will be staying with us on the kibbutz for a month. Also, I have met and spent a wonderful evening with my host family. They are absolutely amazing! It is a young couple, Eyal and Pnina, and they have 2 daughters, Shachah and Shir (meaning Eagle and Song) who are 7 and 4. They invited me over to dinner on Thursday night and I had the best time. They cooked dinner (a traditional Israeli meal, of course) and we also spent time talking and getting to know one another. The parents speak english very well but the two girls speak none whatsoever. I still had a great time with them while playing teacher and telling me the Hebrew word for just about everything in their apartment. I was surprised too when the 4 of them showed up at the common room the next night with a delicious meal for me. I hope I get to see lots of them on my stay here!

Thursday marked the last day of our long non-stop days of ulpan (hebrew lessons) for now. We will continue to have them, but only twice a week for a couple of hours from now on.

The tiny ulpan room (and Emily!)

Where's Waldo in Hebrew (Aifo Affie?)

Yesterday morning we woke up and were driven to the neighboring kibbutz to see a very intersting and eye catching dance performance. The kibbutz next door is actually a "dance" kibbtuz and there are a group of Americans who are staying there too but to dance, not to volunteer like we are.

Today was actually quite an exciting day as well. I have not had a dull moment yet....which is saying a lot actually. We had to be up and ready by 10 to 8 this morning to drive to the local high school. Here we were given a tour and then assigned to a certain classroom to give this new experience a try. Myself and another girl, Veronica, were assigned to a classroom of about 5 students that basically spoke no english. This was quite an interesting experience and I can be honest and say that I cannot wait to return tomorrow morning. And the coolest part by far...we get to take the school bus to and from. haha

Me in a maze...I think? hahah.

Veronica in front of a lovely peacock statue on the high school campus.

So I'm thinking that's about all for right now. We are currently doing an extensive cleaning of the common room because some people have quite the problem of cleaning up after themselves....great.

Until next time...

just for fun...

This is Pie. She has become the official dog of our group. No one knows who her owners are. She wanders in to our area just about everyday to say hi. She passed out next to my bed the other night and it made me smile. Here is the documentation.

Enjoy.

She also happens to remind me a ton of Juno. I miss Juno soooo much.

just lovin' this...

Shalom!

So we have had today and yesterday off from Hebrew lessons (Woot!). In Israel, the weekend is considered to be Friday and Saturday, because of Shabbot, and the work week begins again on Sunday. So overall, it has been a fantastic week with very fun days but I am so antsy to begin the volunteer work.

Yesterday, a group of us got a taxi to the nearby city to have a fun day on the town. Most of the stores close down pretty early because of Shabbot so we just kind of walked around for a bit and then went and checked out the beach for a while too. It was way fun and I was finally able to get an actual cup of coffee in this country at a fun coffee place called Aroma. Oh, it was so delicious.

Aroma!

Arron (the Brit), Jackie (my roomie), Emily, and Elana on the beach!

The girls on the beach.

We also went to the local pub last night as well and had a bit of fun...

Today was fun as well. We hit up Banana Beach again and had a good time soaking up the sun. It is so weird that we are well into October and it still feels like summer. The Israeli's keep telling us to just wait, it'll get cold. Their definition of cold and ours is quite different though. I did quite a bit of reading and listening to the iPod on the beach and also got way too excited for my own good when I spotted a family with a dog that looked way too much like Mandy. So of course, I had to go over and ask for a picture.

I'm pretty sure we will be having a meeting soon to discuss our options for the volunteer work that will be started the beginning of next week. I'm pretty sure I will probably be teaching English in the local high school and I also want to ask if I could help with event planning of some sort here on the Kibbutz. Since there is that giant fortress/castle here on the grounds, many weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, and even parties take place right here. So that could definitly be fun...

That's all for now...I think. :)

it's all coming back to me now...

I have been on the Kibbutz a week tonight! I cannot believe it! Everything is still going well but I am really anxious about getting started on our volunteering work. This won't happen until the week after next, so we still have awhile. The downside of being on this Kibbutz is that we can't really leave it without a car, and the act of getting a car or a ride is very involved. So after awhile of hanging out in the meeting room or just with eachother we all begin to get a bit restless.

We have been having Hebrew lessons for the past 4 days and they are quite intense. They start at 9 and we go until about noon. We then get an hour and a half break for lunch and what not and then return to 3:30. I remember a lot from when I was younger but it's still so much to pack into one day, especially when we are all on different levels. I'm definitely excited to be able to have a conversation with someone in Hebrew soon that involves me saying more than, "I'm Sara and I'm from Ohio. What is your name?"

The Hebrew alphabet. It's pretty crazy, not gonna lie.

So in addition to the excitement that is long hours of Hebrew class, we have also been on a field trip to a street festival in the nearby city of Akko. This festival had some very eccentric street performers that even included a performance that took place in the water and some circus performances as well. The streets were filled with people and it was quite obvious that we looked like a large group of tourists. Still, it was way fun.

Yesterday, we got to visit the Kibbutz museum in which we learned about the start of the Kibbutz and how it has evolved over the years. It was so well put together. I definitely forgot the camera when we did that.

And today, there was actually a renassaince festival that took place at the fortress on the grounds here. There were people in costumes and stilts and lots of arts and crafts to enjoy. And of course, there was delicious pita and hummus to enjoy.

So that's all for now I guess. I'm sorry for the lack of pictures this time. There really is no excuse. I will now bring my camera everywhere from now on.

Here is a fun picture to leave you with. It was when some of us returned from the beach the other day and we toured the fortress while the sun was setting. Just beautiful.

out and about...

Hi all!

Everything has been going great. The group and myself have really been enjoying the Kibbutz and everything it has to offer. Yesterday was the holiday Sukkot and we were able to celebrate with the rest of the community here by being "forced" to sing a hebrew song. This song was performed with the young children children of the Kibbutz during the festivities last night. We had to go on stage and sing our hearts out while being complete embarressed and upstaged by a group of 6 year olds. We definitely had fun doing so though.

After the fun and exciting sukkot we celebrated, we were able to kick back and relax at the local Kibbutz bar. As you can tell...we had fun.

The Israeli beer Goldstar that I am now in love with.

Me with two new friends Emily and Elana!

The two boys in the middle are local Kibbutz boys and the rest are from the group.

Today was also a very fun day. After being able to sleep in as long as we wanted, a group of us decided to find a beach. We called a cab and we were soon our way to Banana Beach about 15 minutes away. The beach was absolutely beautiful and we ate a delicious meal at the beach cafe. We were there until about 5 in which the sun had already started to set and it was getting chilly.

The beautiful Banana Beach.

Enjoying some lunch at the cafe!

We start hebrew lessons tomorrow morning at 9am. I'm looking forward to this because it is getting a little annoying not understanding any of the language.

Until next time...

i'm in israel! finally...

Hooray! I arrived safely and soundly to my destination last night. And I am more than happy to say that it seems great so far. The accomidations are definitely not as nice as I had perhaps invisioned in my mind but oh well. The toilet is in the shower too...awkward but I suppose it will have to work.

I'm also loving the people. There are 12 of us, the oldest is 26 and there is an 18 year old too. This leaves me right in the middle where I am completely content to be. Honestly, everyone seems super nice and they are all here for the same reasons I am.

I basically passed out last night the minute my head hit the bed (I have yet to get a pillow). I'm still not feeling all that rested yet but I'm sure I will after I get more used to the time change. We got up this morning and met in the common area which is right next to our buildings. Here we discussed a few things and got to take a somewhat condensed tour of the kibbutz. It's pretty amazing here and there are fruit trees everywhere (pomegranite, passion, and pecan too!) So we just ate breakfast as we walked around.

This is the fortress/castle that is on the Kibbutz grounds.

Pomegranite trees everywhere!

We have had some free time this afternoon and we used it to shop at the market, make lunch, and we even managed to watch some Israeli children's programming (we couldn't understand it at all but it was funny still.)

We have a meeting later in the day and tonight we will be visiting the local bar! Sounds good to me. :)