I have been crazy busy since I last blogged. We have gone to Sataf, Nachal David, the City of David, the Kotel, and so many more amazing places. I also have been very busy with school work. I am taking all the classes that I would be taking at home plus Hebrew and ICC.
ICC (Israel Core Course) is the most amazing class ever. My teacher Betsalel's motto for the class is that "Israel is our classroom". Wherever we go we take our notebooks and learn about the history of the area. We are currently learning about Herod-a king who was appointed by the Romans. He built a castle on Masada and we get the pleasure of climbing the hardest path on Masada on Tuesday. Pleasure meaning I am not the most athletic person ever so this may be interesting.
TRY went as a group to the Kotel for the first time last Monday. The experience itself was indescribable. I did not feel as much a connection to the wall as I did to the people. While the woman's side of the wall is one fourth the size of the men side-which I was not very happy about, I did like the fact that all the woman were so close, both physically and mentally. On one side of me there was a woman praying silently and crying to herself. I had to restrain myself from interrupting her prayers to give her a hug. On the other side of me there was a bride. You could see how happy she was by the glow on her face. I could feel her excitement and happiness and so did everyone around me.
One of my favorite tiyulim so far was when we went to Ein Gedi. The view from the top of the mountain was breathtaking. You could see the Dead Sea and just barely the mountains in Jordan. While we were there we reenacted the story of David and Goliath. I was Goliath-and yes I was very intimidating. Climbing was exhausting but worth it, because after the hike we stopped at a waterfall and got to swim in it's pool.
I could go on about the tiyulim forever as each and everyone has been so much fun, but what might be even better then the tiyulim is just getting to know everyone one the program better.
From my teachers to my madrichim (counselors) to my fellow TRY-ers everyone I have met has been wonderful.
Classes are a bit like they are at home, just with a lot more freedom. Some days I will be sitting in a classroom all day and be taking notes. Other days my English class will go outside to play ukelele and write haiku's. The nice thing about classes is that my largest class has seven people in it so you really get to know your teachers well.
My madrichim are all really nice-even when they get mad at me for being late to everything. Unfortunately my skills of waking up in the morning have not gotten any better so I am often late to breakfast.
It's OK though because I have ten boxes of protein bars under my bed .I also have nutella, peanut butter, bread, chocolate, ramen, apples, cucumbers, etc. in my room or in the fridge. Don't even get me started on falafel or shawarma or the pastries that you can find on almost any street, because they are all delicious and I will never stop talking about them.
Friends. Where to begin. Lets just say that everyone on the program is amazing. We pray together. We eat together. On our free nights we go shopping together. During free periods during the school day make a quick trip to the grocery store. We all try to fit in naps where ever we can-which is not very often. We avoid all the cats (those who don't know Israel should know that there are cats EVERYWHERE. It's like squirrels in Minnesota.) We get lost in Jerusalem without any phones. We try to stay out past curfew just to watch a few more youtube videos together.
It's currently 12:36AM and I still have not packed for my tiyul tomorrow. Oops! Till next time!
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| The entire group on the monster slide! |
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| The hike at Ein Gedi |
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| My fabulous job as Goliath |
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| My ICC class at Ein Gdi |
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| Israeli Museum |
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