First Week in Israel

I have been in this amazing place a whole week and I am just now managing to write.

The last week has been very busy. My group arrived in Ben-Gurion Airport over the course of last Sunday. As we went to leave we all got a wonderful taste of Israeli society. We witnessed our first strike! The luggage handlers went on strike for about an hour, so we were delayed a little.
Eventually we got our stuff. We all then split up to our various locations around Israel. I got to my apartment in Holon and met my roommates. There are six of us living in our apartment. From the American side of the Atlantic there is Jared, Aaron, Scott, and myself. I have known Jared and Aaron for a while through YJ and Scott is a cool guy from the Bay Area in California. We have a Brit in our apartment as well, his name is Jordan. The last person to make up our crew is Aviel. He is a member of the Israeli Scouts (Tzofim) and will live in Holon the whole year. We all get a long very well and generally like hanging out with each other.

Our apartment is surprisingly nice. We live in the poorer side of Holon because we are volunteering and living among the people. As a result, most people on our program have less then wonderful apartments. All of them are livable, but for most of the participants its a large step down from where they live back in the states. Our apartment got the luck of the draw. We have air conditioning, appliances that work, a second floor with a couple extra rooms, and decent furniture. Aviels parents also brought a TV and some extra things for the kitchen. Aaron managed to pack a Gamecube in his luggage and we have been playing Super Smash Brothers whenever we have some down time. Granted our apartment is a little run down, it feels like home and it is still very comfortable.

This last week has been Orientation. We spent most of the days learning about the city we are living in, the places we are volunteering, and how to deal with situations in the apartment and life in general in Israel. Last Wednesday our whole section, about 200 people, went on a Tiyul (camp out). The Tiyul started in a park in Tel Aviv where we did team building exercises. We slept there for the night under a Pseudo Bedouin tent. In the morning we got on buses and went to Ein Gedi nature reserve. I had been there before, but it was still fun to take a dip in the pools. From Ein Gedi we went to Jerusalem to see The Kotel (The Western/Wailing Wall). Following the visit we went to a park for dinner and shoomzing around. A group of us frisbee freaks played some light-up frisbee. Great Fun.

The night life in Israel is great as expected. In the last week, besides last night, I had not gone to bed before 1. There is always something going on! The highlight was Saturday night. After we did havdallah as a group, about fifty of us left for Ramat Gan to see Israel vs. Switzerland. The even though we were late, the game was still intense. Israel was down two in the last five minutes and manged to tie it up. Being surrounded by thousands of Israelis and chanting along with them was something surreal.

After the game, we headed to a club in Tel Aviv. One of the scouts in our section has connections and manged to get every single on of us in. For my first club experience, it was a lot of fun. I won't be clubbing every weekend, but it was a great experience.

Last night a small group of us went to Bat Yam, the neighboring city, and sat on the beach for a couple of hours. I called my friend Allon, who I worked with all summer at camp, and he came and hung out with us. Its a little strange that he worked with me all summer, and now he is a counselor for another section of the program and could potentially be my counselor in 6 months. It really isn't too weird. The relationship between madrichim (counselors) and chanichim (participants) on Year Course is much different then that of camp. Here it acceptable to be friends with your madrichim. Many of my fellow participants felt a little weird around Allon last night once they learned he was a madrich, but they realized it was fine and let down their guard.

Yesterday we got our volunteering assignments. I will be working in a community center called Neiv Arazim. (Arazim 2008!!!!!) I am really excited to get into a routine and have things be less like a camp kind of atmosphere. Because for the last week, that is what it has really felt like.

Everyday I spend here in Israel opens my eyes more. I learn at least a dozen things everyday that I didn't know or experience before in my life. I have learned how to haggle with cab drives, how shabbat works in Israel, how nice some Israelis can be, and at the same time how rude some can be, how to cross the street without being plowed by a car or any other motorized vehicle, etc. Just world full of new things. I am so happy to be in Israel and learning. This year promises to be a memorable one.

Here are some pictures of the last week:

Here Are my roommates! From Left to Right: Jared, Aaron, Aviel, Scott, and Jordan

Me at the waterfall in Ein Gedi
Bonnie, Zach, Seth, and Me in Jerusalem. The four of us are all in the same section.