Year Course Orientation weekend was great! A lot of the time we went over what to expect next year, non of which I was surprised by, and the rest we spent hanging out and getting to know some of the people we would be be with next year. The staff consisted of three YC staff from Israel, Vikki, Ben, and Katie, and the last member was Deena the registrar in the NY office. Kol Ha'Kavod YC staff!
Everyone got along very well throughout the weekend. We spent several hours playing "Jewish Geography" and figured out that the world is a very very small place. The bus ride home was hilarious to say the least. One of the girls, Stephanie, had a Cosmopolitan magazine. I proceeded to read the "Red Hot Read" in the back of the magazine to the whole bus. We then traded off reading a rather
interesting article. There will be YouTube clips very soon. I look forward to seeing a lot of those people I met this weekend while in Israel next year.
Oh! I almost forgot. We also filled out our request for what Israeli Experience we wanted to do. Let me just explain for you non-year-course-literate people. YC, the program in Israel I will be attending, is broken down into three sections, each are about three months long. The sections are: Jerusalem Studies, Community Volunteering, and Israeli Experience. Israeli Experience is the part of the program where participants are spread all over the country doing all kinds of different things. The options include army training, firefighting, working with animals, etc. Here are the choices I requested, I think it is the right order. I can't remember. I'm too tired.
- Kibbutz!
- Marava (Army)
- Airforce
- Special Education
Kibbutz is defiantly first though. And Marava second. I would be thrilled to do either one.
After about 11am today things got really fun.....NOT!
We get to the airport, cool, legit, whatever. I check in, we all say our goodbyes, and everyone is on their way. I ran into Sarah and we both had later flights so we played some mad libs together and ate lunch. Afterwards I went to my gate to catch my flight.
And this is where it all went wrong.
My plane gets delayed. figures. Then it gets more delayed. figures. Turns out after waiting for FOUR HOURS that the flight is canceled. FIGURES. So I think to myself, "Crap, what are my options? Well, I could sleep in the airport, sleep at a hotel, or just switch airlines." Meanwhile my mom is calling me every five minutes and I have had to call camp, where I was headed, to keep them informed. Since the flight was booked solid and there were so many of us displaced it was a mess. I started talking to couple from Appleton when I was waiting in line to get a ticket for the morning. About that time Robin from camp called and told me to get a hotel room and the camp would cover it. THANK YOU! The couple, Nick and Kim, and I found a cheapish hotel and it turns out to be quite nice. Since I'm not eighteen (two weeks!) Kim was nice enough to book the room for me. I owe them a dinner.
This post was really long. But hey, that's what happens when you are by yourself in an airport for hours on end with no one to really talk to. It kind of all built up. I'm going to bed now because I have to be at the airport at 5 :( Can't wait to get to camp tomorrow:)
Some pictures from the weekend:
The beautiful Delaware.
The classic "Stick food that reminds you of Israel in your mouth" game.
I took this picture blindfolded. I'm pretty impressed how it turned out.
Stephanie turned the big 18!
And look who showed up!
