The Last Week

So this was the final week and boy am I happy. It was a good week. I got a little drunk Tuesday, finished classes on Thursday and finally got to go to the Kotel on a Friday night. Those days were the highlights of this week. Tuesday night I was at Arielle's finishing a project and when I got home my roommates were all drinking. They asked me to join and I said why not. I took a few shots and every time I took a shot they sung havanagila it was kind of funny. I got a bit drunk wondered a bit around campus and then went to sleep.

Now Thursday was a crazy night. There was no drinking, but the night was still crazy. So after classes Arielle and I headed to Tel Aviv, we first started on Rothschild and got to Tut binana L`chi smoothie that was suppose to be a Hebrew transliteration, most of that I think you got. For those who didn't get it, it was strawberry, banana, leeches smoothie. It was so delicious. Then we made our way over to the dread place and got hair wraps, mine is so cool its rainbow colors!! :) After that we met up with everyone at some burger place and had a nice dinner. I shared a platter of burgers with 3 other people. It was very tasty. Once we were done we went to Max Brenner's and got some chocolate desserts. I got fondue with some people. It was past 12 at this point and I was really tired, so Rose decided to go home with me. We walked a bit and ended up taking a taxi to the Bus Station to pick up a sherut (taxi-bus) and within 1 hour and 20 minutes we were in Jerusalem. We took a taxi back home and as soon as I got home I started doing laundry. I was quite awake since I slept a bit on the sherut. While my laundry was going I took a shower and got ready for bed. I went to my laundry once I was ready and I saw someone's clothes where still in the dryer, but they were dry so I folded the clothes and left a note saying that I really needed the dryer. Then I put my clothes and went to bed, it was 4:30 I think. I woke up at 7 got my clothes from the dryer went back to bed and woke up at 11 am. 12:30 Arielle and I went to the Art Shuk in Jerusalem and it is not nearly as cool as the one in Tel Aviv. Later on we went to the kotel. Going to the kotel was an amazing experience we got to hear soldiers singing. They were singing going to the kotel and they were singing when they got to the kotel. I remember hearing the men sing Am Yisroel Chai and the women were singing salaam. It was really cool. So many people were there, different kinds of people. It was very unique to me. That night we got set up with a family and had dinner at this nice family's house in the old city. By 12 we left and were on our way home. It was a great experience. Today, I finished cleaning and packing, and I'm ready for the plane ride. Lets get this show on the road. Well first lets have 2 days with all of year course and then I'll be home ;)

Weekend with my cousin and her family

So yesterday I met up with my cousin's husband Josh as the shuk early in the morning. He got his groceries, I got a shirt fixed and we were off to meet Liott and their baby Eliyah at their house. We stayed there a bit a left around 11:30 to go to the zoo. It was so much fun. There were so many different animals, I have pictures to post. Later on during dinner we watched 127 hours it was really intense and at times hard to watch. Today we didn't do much we chilled and Liott took me home, but before I came home she stopped at a gas station and filled the car with gas (duh) but she also got me and herself a shoko b`sakit [chocolate in a bag]. I love shoko b`sakit! I got home and now I'm just chillen in my room. Only 10 days till I'm home.TIMON!!PUMBA!!

Herzliya

This weekend was pretty adventurous. The weekend started on Thursday for me, my friend Amit came over and we chilled for a while. I showed him around campus a bit and then he went home. The next day I left early to go to the shuk and I got a new skirt! Its really cool looking. I also got a pita and pumpkin seeds to snack on for the bus ride. After the shuk I went to the bus station and got on the 947 bus to Haifa, but I took it to Ra`nana. Then I switched to the 29 bus and I arrived in Herzliya where Jack picked me up to go to the Retirement home. We got there and Priscilla had lunch prepared and we sat down talked for a bit and then we all took naps. After I took nap Jack and I went to shul and we came back in time for dinner. Dinner was so good. They had chicken noodle soup, my favorite!!

Saturday we went to Shul. There was a celebration for a couple that is going to get married this month. There was a lovely kiddush following the service. Afterwards we went back and we had lunch in dining room. The people we sat with had also had a guest from Yearcourse. It was such a coincident. We're on different sections but we knew each other from Kuma. After lunch we hung out and walked around Herzliya a few times we got lost but found our way back, no worries. It was so much fun, somehow we got to the mall in Herzliya. The mall there is so big!! When I got back I got my stuff and Jack and Priscilla took me to the Marina where we saw big boats. It was so cool, there was this one yacht that looked like a little house. It had a room with a lamp and a window with blinds it was so cute. We also got some ice cream that was really delicious. After that they took me to Ra`nana and I took the bus to go home. This week should be busy. We'll see.

Yom Ha`atzmaut

Erev Yom Ha`atzmaut I drank a bit with my friends and we left to go to downtown Jerusalem. We went to Ben Yehuda, which was so crazy, people were selling light up rings, blow up hammers with the Israeli flag on it and a bunch of things like that. Alissa and I didn't stay to long it was a bit much for us and we were both really tired. Also there were kids with shaving cream bottle spraying the shaving cream. On the bus that Alissa and I took there was a whole line of shaving cream on the windows. We got back and I chilled at her place for a while and then headed back to take a shower and go to sleep. The following day there was a bbq on Beit Ar-el, the campus. We ate, some played frisbee, me and my friends just chilled and listened to Rachel's radio and painted our nails. Following this bbq Laina and I went to her cousins and ate at another bbq. It was so good. They had way more food then they had on campus. It was a potluck bbq. They also had the best wings, which I got hungry for later. We left went home and did our own thing. Later on Orelia and I order New Deli and I get chicken wings again, I absolutely love chicken wings. Anyways, it takes them a while because they messed up the phone number but it was okay. They got here and the guard wasn't there to let anyone in, I got the food from outside the gate and waited for the guard to get back. At one point I tried climbing over the fence, but I ended up falling it was really funny actually. I'm a little scraped up, but I'll be fine. :) I loved Yom Ha`atzmaut, hopefully I can come back to Israel for this holiday again!

This Weekend + Yom Hazikaron

This past Friday Elana and I went down to the Kibbutz for a visit. When we arrived our friend Tova wasn't there yet to greet us, which was fine, because we dropped our stuff off in front of her room and hung out with the volunteers. Finally Tova came and I gave her a huge hug and helped her get her stuff to bring to her room. After that I changed into my swim suite and headed to the pool. It was so hot out that day and the pool was so nice I loved it. I stayed in the shallow though. That night Elana and I went to Erica's (our host mom from when we lived on the kibbutz) and had drinks and cookies with her and then we went to services. Following services was dinner and then sleepy time. The next day I woke up and 10 and went to Saturday morning services, followed by kiddush with chips and cookies and wine. Once that ended I got Elana and we went to lunch and brought back lunch for Tova because she still wasn't feeling well. Not to long later I went back to the pool and actually went into the deep water!!! I swam!!!! It was awesome, I think I might try to be a deep swimmer this summer at camp. That night we went to Pub which wasn't a whole lot of fun, but it was alright. Sunday we got up early and left at 7:30 a.m. to get back to Jerusalem. I sat next to a really cute Israeli Soldier, Yoav. He started to talk to me because he noticed that I came from Kibbutz Ketura and asked me if I was a volunteer and it just led us to a long and good conversation. He is from Kibbutz Yotvateh, which is not far from Ketura. We got home and Elana and I weren't feeling well. I didn't go to classes or the ceremony for Yom Hazikaron. But today I felt a lot better and I got to go to Mt. Herzl again where a lot of people were and a few of us went to small tekkes ( ceremony) there were these brothers that had crazy mustaches that spoke and did a few prayers. We came back to and had a peula about specific soldiers that have fallen and what their story was. All were really interesting. Tonight I'm going out and I will talk about it tomorrow. I almost forgot to mention I met up with Alaina from 2nd grade. I saw her once and we got each others numbers and met up again, its so crazy we haven't really seen each other since 2nd grade.

This past weekend and yom hashoah

Friday night I went to the great shul in Jerusalem with my friends Yasmin and Laina. It was a great service. They leaders sang so well. When we got back we made dinner and hung out for a bit. The next day Yasmin and I went to a different shul called Yedidya Synagogue. Both shuls were Orthodox. I enjoy orthodox services since I grew up in one. After shul we went to a host family for lunch and it was an interesting experience as Yasmin puts it. It was a family of 5 daughters. One was out of the army, two were in high school, and the other two are twins about to be 5 years old they were the cutest. One of the high schoolers had a few breakdowns and the other one entertained the twins the most. When we left the house I ran into my friend from camp who the scout this past summer. His name is Amit. I'm suppose to see him on Thursday, we'll see if that happens. I might be leaving for the kibbutz that day. Anyways later we had havdalah at Elana's apartment and we did a bit of Rikud (dancing), which was a lot of fun. That sums up my weekend.

Today was Yom Hashoah. And section 2 was lucky enough to attend the ceremony at Yad Vashem. The ceremony included Shimon Peres and Bibi Netanyahu. Who both spoke. Also there were six survivors that lit 6 torches in memory of the 6 million and there were video clips of each them telling a bit of their story. It was a really good ceremony as well as very interesting.

This week is the start of the new month and so many things will happen within this month and I plan on blogging about all of it.

Masada,& Ein Gedi- spring break part 2

Monday night Elana and I arrive in Ein Gedi kibbutz. We know that there is a guest house and so we walked all the way through the kibbutz and eventually we find it. We go to the reception and ask if we could get a taxi and the guy there orders a taxi for us which cost us 150 sheks since its was so late. We arrive at the Masada hostel and we encounter the guard. We tell him our names and he looks to see which room we were given, he can't find it. Elana tells him that we just need a room we for sure booked this hostel and we're tired. So he gives us a key to a room, but he doesn't know if the room is clean or not. We were at the point it didn't matter. So we go to our room and it is trashed, but we're to tired to care at 12:30 am. We went to sleep and at 4:30 am we woke up and went to hike the snake path to Masada. It was awesome, we saw the sun rise and everything. We are at Masada walking around, enjoying the beautiful history and all there is to offer. 2 hours after we got up we got on the cable car. We went back to the hostel, packed up and went to talk to the front desk about checking out and about the room. We complain and those complaints got us to pay less then half for the room which was great. After Masada we left for Ein Gedi, we checked into the youth hostel and went to the dead sea. I loved it, I floated in the dead sea for the first time. We came back to the hostel watched a couple italian movies on t.v. and then went to sleep and woke up the next day at 5:30 am to catch a bus at 6 so Elana was able to go to her intern. The rest of the day was laid back and then today was sports day. Three friends and I took advantage of being in Tel Aviv and we went shopping and chilled there for a while. Laina and I chilled at the beach till Arielle came back from France. Then we got back to Jerusalem and that my friends leads me to now. I am so tired, but if anything cool or interesting happens this weekend I will let you know here are some pics from break.

Masada Ein Gedi

Haifa- spring break part 1

This past Wednesday Elana and I left for Haifa. After checking in to the hostel we decided to walk around the area a bit. We went into a mall on Ben Gurion street we took some pics of some cool grafitti pictures. Here are a few of the pictures I took that day:

Thursday we went to a couple museums. We went to a Japanese art museum which was pretty fun. Got to see some ninja swords and such. And another museum of some Jewish artist I forgot his name. After that we went to a festival and also visited the zoo. Here are some pictures from that day:

Friday our friend Davita came to be with us. Elana and I were going to start our day at the Bahai Gardens going on the English tour, but it was rained out. Instead we walked in the rain, jumped in some puddles, and went to cafe and waited for Davita to call telling us she arrived. When she called we left the cafe and went back to the hostel and met up with Davita and together we went to the opening of the gardens we didn't get to see much but we got some cool pics of flowers and the building. Oh and while Elana was taking pictures with my camera, Davita and I were saying hi to random people that drove by it was really funny. We left the place already at this point and we were sitting near the street just waving it was a lot of fun, we put some smiles on peoples faces. Here is the building and some flowers:

Our Last day, Saturday we didn't do much we were going to try to go on the English tour again, but once again it got rained out. So we walked around chilled ate some oranges and headed back to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Here are some extra pics.

Mom I found two places in Haifa with your name. Also Santa was in town. And aren't those chickens funny?

First few days of Break

So Thursday I hung out with my friend from home, Fallon. We had dinner at the bus station. And we went back the next day with another friend Daniel Kotsias. After we ate we headed to Ben Yehuda. I got my mom shoes and I got a charm for my phone that says Chava but in Hebrew. After that we all left to go to our respective places. I went home. I spent shabbat in Jerusalem and just chilled, I went running Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It was great, I got bored so I just went running/walking. Monday I went to Tel Aviv for a bit to see my friend from camp, Ofek, we chilled for a while and then I came back to Jerusalem and I got ready to go the seder. I went to Maya's Aunt, Hilary's house for the seder. It was great, great food, great time, great people. I enjoyed it. Then today I chilled with another friend that I met at camp, Andrew, and we chilled in his apt along with his roommate Alex.

Jerusalem, if I forget you, then my right hand forgets what its suppose to do

Great song, right? So this week we had Hadassah day. It was a good day. We went to Ammunition hill and learned about Jerusalem and the 6 day war. We went there to learn also how Mt. Scopus was always in Israel's control. The first hadassah hospital on Mt. Scopus. We got to there later on. We got to hear from a few speakers and about why hadassah hospital has served such a big role in their life.

Also, this week was the end of mid semester so I had huge exam on Thursday. I pretty sure I got a B or an A on it. I studied for the exam for the first time without a huge packet to fill out. Oh, and I got to make a pita at volunteering which was fun and tasty. Thats about it. Now onto spring break.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

So Thursday was great! All of yearcourse came together in Jerusalem. We did a freeze for Awareness of Gilad Shalit's captivity. He's been captive for five years so we froze for five minutes. It was amazing. heres the site to watch it on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSNHGmFlnCY

Friday Elana came over and so did Gabe. <-- from home. He's on aardvark. We watched Batman Begins, (such a great movie :D) and ate Wacky Mac, (best food ever).

Saturday Harry, Elana and I went to the Israel Museum it was a lot of fun. But trying to get there was a bit difficult, we got lost several times. At least this time I was with p

eople ;). Here are some pictures

Last Week

So last week had two really interesting days. Last Sunday I went to volunteering. I volunteer at a farm which I will bring up later. So after volunteering I was planning on going to the shuk with Elana to get a snack. I get on the bus and I end up on Ben Yehuda, I know if its on Ben Yehuda then it isn't going to the shuk, so I get off. I call Elana and I tell her I don't know where I am or how to get to the shuk she keeps telling me that I can do it, she believes in me and corny stuff like that. It was funny. I keep walking a certain direction and then I ask a random lady how to get to the shuk, she tells me to go straight and turn left I say thank you and I go. I turn left and keep walking and I feel like I'm going nowhere.I'm getting kind of nervous at this point. Finally I reach the market Elana is unable to come so I buy the things and come home. Success, but barely. Next day is Monday and we have a seminar it was a holocaust seminar it was great we got to learn more about the holocaust I enjoyed it because I was able to relate better being that I went to Poland and have been to the concentration camps. And after that experience I was able to imagine stories a bit better that we got to hear. Anyways I get lost on this day too kind of. After the seminar I meet Hannah. I get on the bus to go to Mamilla and I miss the stop. I get off at the next stop and I ran to get to Mamilla. I get there I find her, we chill and soon enough we're on Ben Yehudah, we chill some more and then she has to go. So I say to myself, "hey why not go back to Mamillah?" Well some how I made my way back, but I couldn't find the bus stop to get back. I'm walking, I'm walking, and thankfully I run into more yearcoursers a couple being my roommates. I join them because they are also heading home. So I was able to take a bus and not walk all the way which was great. I think both days I got really lucky, but my roommate Natalie thinks I shouldn't go anywhere without another person, she is probably right. What are you going to do? At least now I know my way around better. Back to volunteering. I don't like it. I work at a farm and I sweep the outside, I clean the inside of the main building (I'm back to cleaning the merkaz like I did on the kibbutz, but not really) and I do whatever I'm told. Well yesterday I was given the job to do the compost. Oh, my, goodness I couldn't stand it. It smelled so bad and it was hot and smokey.....ewww. So I do it for a while and then I go to my boss and I tell him I can't do it anymore so he makes me weed, that was okay. I saw a lot of weird bugs, I guess that's kind of cool? Today I didn't get much sleep and so I was tired and he was getting mad at me for being tired. So I asked if I could go home since I also wasn't feeling well either. I told him I would get more sleep and work harder on the rest of the days. He said I better or else I should look for anoher volunteering place. I mean he has a point, but I'm volunteering. I had one bad day. But to end on a positive note the goat there had to babies. And they are so cute. I love the animals there, so I will work harder, because the animals are worth it to see.

Purim and sad note about today

Purim is absolutely the craziest holiday in Israel. All over. The holiday was Sunday and Monday, but for me it started on Wednesday. Wednesday Elana and I went to Ben Yehuda street to find more stuff for our costumes. She chose to be Snow White and I chose to be Ariel the Little Mermaid. We went to Ben Yehuda and there were so many people already dressed up. We saw a girl as Pocahontas and my friend decided to comment on her outfit, which was right on for the part, and she told us her friend made it for her, how cool is that? So we bought a couple scarves and left to go home. The next day, Thursday, we had a party. It was called Purimfest. It was a complete blow. We all went and not everyone got in. People were wasted, I was slightly drunk, and they were pushing and shoving to get in. Elana and I gave up and we took a taxi home. It was fun for a bit chillen with people, but that was about it. It was a waste of 40 sheks. Oh by the way, people gotten water shpritz at them because they were pushing and shoving. I found it to be hilarious because the people shpritzing the water were the staff from the club. That night ended quickly.
Friday comes and I go with Arielle to her cousins house for dinner. We take a bus and totally leave Jerusalem by accident. Then we switch buses finally kind of know where we are and she finally calls her cousin and asks for directions. We get there we have dinner and her cousin tells us how to get back walking, because she keeps shabbat so we did to well for that night. We get to Emek Rafaim street and I know the street kind of but I felt lost and I was freaking out and Arielle was totally calm. Finally towards the end of the street, it becomes familiar and I'm finally okay and we get home safely. I chill at her place for a bit then go home.
Saturday, we chilled for most of the day and then we headed to Tel Aviv. This time we took a bus and I was in charge of where we were going and we ended up in the Train station. So we decided we were equal. Finally we get to Florentine after taking a Shirut (mini bus) and there is a party all over that area. It was on the street and people were going crazy it was so much fun music is playing at every corner. People have the craziest costumes. It was so much fun. We stayed in Bat Yam and the next day we headed to Holon were there was a purim parade. Again so crazy. Streets closed off little kids running around in awesome costumes. Teenagers with their friends also in crazy costumes. Popcorn and cotton candy stands on every corner. Music playing. It was great. We left Holon and went to the bus station and head back to Jerusalem to hear the Megillah reading. We get back thinking that we're missing the reading, but we still had an hour. Which was great. Arielle and Laina decided not to go, but I went and everyone kept asking me what I was I just told them that I was a hippie, because my shirt was hippie-ish. After the Megillah reading I changed into a Pirate somewhat costume. We went to the old city, but nothing was going on there. So we left and went to the shuk. That was where the party was at. Again loud music, a guy was playing the drums people were dancing on tables, and having a good time. It was so crazy. One group was dressed as the Alice in Wonderland characters it was so cool. A couple by the drum circle where dressed as Homer and Marge Simpson, it was awesome. Before I knew I was home and asleep. Last day of the Purim extravaganza arrives. Its Monday and we have planned activities with Year Course. In the morning we went to be with kids that had disabilities and we were with them to hear once again the Megillah reading. After the reading they put on music and we danced tried to put smiles on their faces. We got them outside and we wheeled them in chairs. I think that we did a really good job. The coordinator there was so pleased with us. It was a great experience. After that was over the Madrichim tell us to go on the bus and go the next activity which to search for them in their weird costumes. Well not all of us went. Elana and I went to the shuk got food left came home, got home and we both slept from 2:30-6 pm. It was the best nap ever. Oh and that day my excuse was I was a kibbutznik since I was wearing my kibbutz ketura shirt. And that wraps up my purim.
On a sad note:
There were several bombs today. One happened to be at the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem. A bomb was placed in a bag next a telephone pole and blew up when a 74 bus was passing. I take that bus and my friends do to, but none of us are hurt we are all safe. And hopefully those that were hurt, I hope they are in good hands and they are getting the attention they need. For those that have left us, I hope their families are doing okay and my heart is with them.

The Wedding and more

As most of you know my brothers wedding was this past week on Thursday. So on Monday we left the kibbutz and went to Arad. We met with the rest of our section and loaded everything on the truck and the buses. Once everything was set we headed to the Dead Sea. That night we stayed at hostel. The following day I left the group to see my parents in Tel Aviv. I haven't seen them in 6 months so I think I had the right to see them and avoid the hike for that day. I was with my parents for the whole day, we went to the shuk and I got a new nose ring and soon enough we went to Jerusalem to unpack my things for the rest of the semester.

The whole week I was with my parents. Finally, Wednesday night comes around and we go to Karen's house for the celebration of Marc and Maya's wedding. It was great I got to see my brother that I haven't seen in so long, I kept hugging him I missed him so much. All of Maya's family was there most of them I knew, but I didn't know her immediate family. That's when I got to meet them. Oh and some of her family friends where there and my neighbors where there two. During this celebration I chilled with my sister, Ariel, who is actually my neighbor I was so happy that she came. By the way Ariel if you reading this let your Dad know that I'm sorry I didn't say happy birthday on Saturday and that I wish him a happy belated birthday. My bad :/

The next day was the wedding day. It was so exciting. We got ready and went downstairs to meet Simmy and others. Then we were off to the wedding. The wedding was at Chavat Allenby on a kibbutz called Netzer Seroni. It was a beautiful place. Everything was set up so pretty. The food was amazing, everyone looked their best. The ceremony was long but good. The best part was my brother breaking the glass. After that it was official. I now have a new sister-in-law. Which I'm really happy about. Maya is awesome and I couldn't be more happy for my big bro. Next is Poland and yes it probably will be a long blog. :)

Last Week of Kibbutz

This was the last week and this was another crazy job week. I got to be with the carpenter for one day I cleaned one of the AIES apartments, I cleaned an empty apartment which was annoying and sandy, and I cleaned the library. Oh and some work in the dining room and laundry. But mainly my jobs this past week was just cleaning places. And being that this is the last week we had to clean our apartment so it could look spotless. That was the hardest part since I have a lot of stuff and I don't know what to do with half of it. Well right now I'm mostly packed. Just now I was searching everywhere for my debit card, I happen to misplace so I had to unpack a bit, no worries I'll be ready for tomorrow. This week is going to be the best my whole family is coming in for my brother's wedding on Thursday and I absolutely can't wait. I'm so excited :) I just wish my Bubbie could come she will be missed :/ Next I'll write all about the wedding. :D

Birthday Week

So I know I missed two weeks of posting, but there was nothing to write about except that I was mainly working in the dining room. Nothing exciting was happening. This week was exciting, my birthday was this past Tuesday and it was the best birthday since the time I went to Wisconsin a few years ago. So on my birthday I hung out with friends and who ever wasn't hanging out with me was making dinner for my birthday. They told me about it, but also tried to kind of keep it a secret it was interesting. At 7 pm my best friend Elana comes to get me we head over to the bomb shelter and she yells something so everyone knows we're coming down, it was a code phrase that I don't remember, and we go down. When we got down my friends threw balloons at me and said happy birthday. It was cute. And the dinner was amazing. We had wacky mac, potatoes, fruit salad, cake. All my favorites ;) I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Icky week

This past week started off great. I was ready to have the many jobs that I have and I felt good. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday go well. Then comes Wednesday, I'm feeling a bit tired, but it's no big deal. I met my boss Judy and she told me my job and said I could work at a slow pace since I looked tired and worked from 9-12 and there's nothing to do once I clean the apartments. I come back after I finished and she offers me to go home and sleep, but I didn't want to, because I knew I should be working. It was a good offer though. I go and have lunch, after lunch I went to work in the laundry room. I didn't do much, but I did what I was told. While I was there I was talking to Elana and Rose about how I was feeling kind of weird. I got a huge headache, my throat was starting to hurt, I was getting cold. Well, by that time we realized I was coming down with something. I had to wear layers to get to dinner. So, the next day my madrich took me to the clalit (the clinic) I was told I have strep throat. Now I'm on Penicillin and I'm still not feeling 100% but if I still feel icky I think I'm going to go back to clalit. I took Thursday and Friday and Today I was working again. I like working.

Whats has been on my mind....

So many people say "I don't believe in Gd" or "I don't believe in Religion." For me I'm not sure if I believe in Gd or not but I know that your not suppose to write his name in vain and since I was taught that in elementary school I still don't. But I do believe in Religion. Right now I'm reading Night by Elie Wiesel. Which takes place during the holocaust. I also read it freshman year. I was just thinking how if back then you didn't believe in Gd or you didn't believe in Religion it wouldn't matter. Your Jewish because it was what you were born into. Doesn't matter what you believe really the Religion you are is the Religion you are.
I believe in Religion because it brings people together, it unifies them. I love going every Friday to services, not to pray but to sing, to sing with others that want to sing to. Sure what I'm singing is a prayer, but it's more then a prayer. There's a volunteer here named Rafeal he's from Brazil and he doesn't speak Hebrew and all of the prayers are in Hebrew, he can't read it either, but he remembers the prayers from home and is able to sing along. No matter were your from as a Jew we're all singing the same prayer. Whether its transliterated in English, or in Portuguese, or whatever the language may be, its all the same. Believe what you want, but it probably won't matter to me. What matters to me is being with others and singing

Busy week with many jobs

So in the beginning of living here on the Kibbutz I got to work in clothing and I got to fold sort and put away clothes. My job(s) has changed. This past week I was given about 4 jobs. One of my jobs is helping this guy named Sebastian who is the carpenter. I go to houses and places on the kibbutz with him and put together shelves, closets things in that department. Sometimes I help him cut the wood and stuff of that sort. I was with him for 2 days last week and I'm with him for one day this week.
My next job is cleaning 2 faculty apartments for AIES. AIES stands for Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. Its a research group that teaches students about the environment and more. If you are interested in knowing about the group go to www.arava.org. When I went to work for the Arava I was introduced to a women named Judy and she told me all about AIES, but all I'm doing is cleaning 2 apts that staff comes in and out of. The staff that stays in the apts teaches for a day or two. I'm in there about twice a week.
The third job I have is dining room/chadar ochel. I help clean the whole place after meals, clean the machine that cleans the dishes and serve food. Well there's more jobs then that in the dining room, but that's all I've done. I like the people I'm working with there so I enjoy it. I'll be in there a few times this week.
Also I'm in the Mercaz/Center where everything goes on and I clean that almost every morning. Normally my madrich is there to help me, but I had that job when I was in clothing, which I'm doing again this week again. I'm back once again in clothing. I like it, because I know that I'm doing a good job. I enjoy folding clothes, its weird, I know. So as you can see, I'm a bit all over the place, but I enjoy it. In the beginning of last week I was a bit stressed and freaking out, but now I'm enjoying it. And I feel relieved, you know why? I feel relieved because I'm going to Illinois State next year and I'm so excited. :)
By the way, I really hope the bears win today. It would be nice to see the bears win the superbowl too.

3rd week of shvil

This past week of shvil was all about nature and group bonding. The best day was when we had to switch shoes with the person we knew the least about. Yoash our guide told us that we didn't have to wear the shoes on our feet, and some shoes for some people were a bit too small. When I say too small I mean it, my friend Helene picked me and Elana the 2 smallest people in the group, with the smallest shoes. So it was pretty funny when she tried to try on one of our shoes. she ended up holding them if I remember correctly. I wore one of her shoes and one of my friend harry's shoe. Both of the shoes were to big so it was kinda fun walking in them. After we gave each other our shoes back we got to switch backpacks and hats with each other. My madrich, Eyal, took my backpack and hat while I got my friend Seth's backpack and hat. After we switched we decided to act like each other according to whose backpack and hat we were wearing it was so fun/funny. That was the best part of the week here's a pic of the guide, the medic/guard, and Helene after we switched backpacks. The medic on the left has Zach Snyder's backpack and hat, the guide has Zach Zimmerman's hat and backpack and Helene is wearing our guide's hat and backpack. Wow that's confusing.

2nd Week of Shvil

So I forgot to blog about the 2nd week of the hike that I was on. I actually wrote this blog in my journal in the beginning of the 3rd and last week of the hike. Anyways the 2nd week of shvil was great. We got to view a lot of nature of course, but more then that we got to learn about the palmach which was the underground army before Israel was independent. We followed a bit of their foot steps and we got to learn about it along the way. Besides learning about the palmach we learned about how bad the industrial life is interrupting with nature. Towards the end of the second day we came across a conveyor belt transported goods from the dead sea to dimona. It was a bit sad to see that while hiking. There was also a lot of trash everywhere that we couldn't clean up. We see trash we throw it away, but there was absolutely to much and some of it was to big. Once we got past all the industrial stuff it was great. There was a lot of team building activities we got to do. Yoash the guide had us pair off ask each other specific questions, so we got to know each other a bit better. Also, he gave us alone time, which didn't work out so well for me because I felt an urge to talk to someone. Besides that the week was great. here are some pictures.

Winter Break

A lot of stuff happened over winter break! I stayed with my friend Rose and her family from Saturday night to Tuesday morning. During those days we went to the City of David where we walked in a water cave, which was really awesome. Also we went to the Israel Museum, if you ever visit Israel and your staying in Jerusalem go there. The artwork the archeological artifacts and everything else is amazing. I finally got to see this sculpture on the left. I knew it existed I just didn't know where. On Tuesday I met up with Elana. We went to see my brother Louis in the morning and had breakfast with him. After that we headed to Tel Aviv and browsed Dizengoff mall. We were at the mall for awhile finally we get a call from our madrich (counselor) and he tells us where he lives and we go to his house and we helped him make dinner for everyone who was coming. He had a party for our section a couple families came and a lot of year coursers came to. We didn't stay for the party. Instead we went to go meet up with my co-counselor from this past summer Yael. we sat in Rabin Square and just talked it was really nice seeing her. Soon enough we went back to Eyal's. The party was still going on and Elana and me were exhausted. So once people were leaving we went to sleep. The next day we went back into Tel Aviv I got my nose re-pierced, because it closed up and we got to have breakfast at Max Brenners. That was the best breakfast ever. We headed back to the kibbutz after our day was over and now we are getting ready to leave to go on our second week of shvil. Oh, and my new years eve was a bit boring I stayed on the kibbutz and chilled with everyone. There was a nice bonfire going on and many people got drunk, but I didn't. I have to go. Can't wait to talk more about shvil.