rain.

Hello all. :)

All is well with me. The weather in Israel has gone down hill. This involves a ton of rain for the next few days which just ends up becoming a disgusting mess. Yucky.

I got to go on a really fun adventure the other day with the Partnership 2000 that I have been lucky enough to be a part of since I've been here. This time it was special because a group of people from the Jewish community in Youngstown were present along with the mayor of Youngstown and his wife and also some other important people from home. I attended a meeting with the mayor of the nearby city of Acco in which the key to Youngstown was given to the mayor. It was all very cool and exciting. We also toured around the city and had quite an exciting day.

My favorite stop was probably the Strauss Company factory. Here, they make many of the great dairy products that are found here in Israel. (My favorite would be their puddings called Milki.) We were given a tour around the factory and we had to wear hair nets and white lab-like coats. It was quite interesting to see the processes the products go through in order to get on the grocery store shelves. My favorite part was the taste-testing room at the end of the tour. :)

This is the Strauss Co. logo. They are actually opening a plant up

in Richmond, VA in order to reach the American market more thoroughly. Their main presence in the States now is their hummus, Sabra (below), which I'm sure you've seen in the grocery store.

So that was definitely a fun adventure and it also included a trip to a local college and a delicious dinner to top everything off. I'm really very thankful for the Partnership to include me in all these fun trips because I'm getting to see many things that I would not be able to if I went on my own.

Oh in other news...I got my camera fixed! I'm so excited so I took some random pictures today at school. They aren't all that great but I'll post them anyways. Enjoy...

Alex, Veronika, and Mike enjoying the delicious/cheap sandwiches at the school cafe. Alex didn't want this taken and that's why her face is hidden. haha

Veronika drawing for a student in the 7th grade. If the students do their work, she rewards them with a drawing.

And of course, you know me and my love of small dogs! This one wandered into the 7th grade and I went crazy. You can obviously tell from my facial expression that I'm in love.

All for now. I hope all is well in the States and I miss everyone tons and tons.

let the new year begin...

hello! I hope everyone has had a good first week of 2010. I think I have, all the weeks here are really starting to run together at this point. I'm loving it still, but I'm definitely more than excited that the end date is slowly but surely approaching.

Yesterday, instead of volunteering, a few of us chose to go on a day trip to places around the North. Honestly though, I'm not even really sure all the places we went and were lectured on but it was a nice break from volunteering. For some odd reason, I was so tired and was basically a walking zombie the whole day. It was fun, but I definitely crawled into bed at about 7:30 last night with every intention of getting up and going to the pub later but instead, woke up at about 9:15 this morning. I feel like a new person so I guess I really needed that. It was quite the epic nap.

Also, I was very stupid last week when I managed to drop my camera (last year's birthday gift) and break the lens. So I now have to steal pictures from friends. Major bummer.

Jackie, me, a girl from another group that was along for the day, and Emily on a train at one of the stops on the day trip.

A beautiful view from a short hike we took.

While on a watch tower looking at some beautiful views of Israel and its borders, a group of Israeli soldiers came by below us. We had a fun time watching them to say the least...

We also visited the site of an ancient Roman city that was built over 2,000 years ago. It was an absolutely beautiful day to be outside and walking around. It was probably close to 75 degrees. The ruins were spectacular and quite the site to behold.

So on a different note, I have started to make a few decisions about what's going to happen when I return to the States in under 2 months. I have decided on Pittsburgh (get excited Phil and Deb!) because I have a few friends there and it is close to home. It is also far enough away that I feel like I'm going somewhere different because I barely know the city at all. This is very exciting for me actually. Now, I am working on the job search. Grad school is still in the cards but I think I'm going to wait awhile until that actually happens.

That will do it for now.

Much love,

Sara

2010!

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! It is officially a new decade and I know it'll be a good one. Also, I have been here now for a little over 3 months, which is literally insane. Time sure knows how to fly by when you don't pay close attention to it.

The same as usualy has been happening lately. Still going to volunteer at the high school and I'm still really loving it. Last weekend was interesting actually. I traveled to Rechasim to visit the Branse's. They are cousins from my mother's side of the family and the father and mother moved to Israel many years ago where they decided to become observant Jews and raise their family here. I had never met them before and the experience itself was very interesting for me. I have never been to a real observant Shabbot before. There are many rules that are followed which include not turning on or off lights or tearing toilet paper.

Overall, it was a great experience in which I was able to meet family and have an amazing learning opportunity as well. I really loved Freyda too, she is 21 and lives in Jerusalem but came home for the weekend for Shabbot.

The Branse's and me! (Definitely not the best picture of me...)

So the rest of the week was a good one and last night was a ton of fun celebrating the New Year with my fellow Americans and our Israeli friends at the Pub. We all got dolled up and just had a great time. Apparently, New Year's is not that big of a deal here because everyone celebrates Rosh Hashana - the Jewish new year in September.

Happy January and I will be home soon! I love it here but boy do I miss home. Expecially you mom! (I thought you might like that shout out.)

Love.