Our last shabbat in Yerucham was really nice. Friday night we did services all together looking out into the desert. I went to my host family for dinner and then we had a tish. Saturday morning we davened at Afikim and then had lunch together. We had some downtime and then we had a pot luck seudat shlishit for us and for our host families, gan teachers, etc. After we ate, a bunch of us gave mini presentations about our different volunteer places. At night we had a pool party on a nearby kibbutz.
Today we had to finish the packing we started on Friday. It was such a stressful day, but in the end everything worked out and now we're all packed up and ready to head out.
Today I also went to my gan for a little to say goodbye. They made me a cake and the kids and teachers all thanked me and stuff and it was really really nice but sad.
I went to dinner at my second host family's house, and then we had a pancake birthday surprise party for Elli.
That's about it..
I'm not sure if this is going to be my last post... that's so weird. I can't believe the year is almost over.
-Sarah
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Shabbat and Northern Tiyul
Last shabbat I went camping with a bunch of my friends on the beach in Netanya. It was really fun! We went swimming and slept under the stars. It was lovely.
Sunday morning we left for Northern Tiyul. Every day we had two options to choose from but I'm just going to tell you the ones I chose. The first day I went to a museum about pioneers settling on kibbutzim in the north around the 1920's-30's. There was this little old lady actress- you know, the kind who pretend they don't know what electricity is? But it was cute and fun. Then after that we went on a pretty hike. Monday I went on another hike which is when I sprained my ankle. From then on, I didn't hike anymore. Monday afternoon we went to Tzfat, but I just sat and got food with some friends. Tuesday I sat in a field while everyone hiked, then went wine tasting at the Golan winery, then sat on the bus while everyone kayaked down the Jordan River. Luckily, Liora sprained her ankle too so from this point on we did everything together. That night we went to some hot springs. Wednesday we slept in, watched movies, and played on the beach and in the Kinneret (our hostel was on the water) while everyone else did the coolest water hike in the world that Liora and I were so sad that we missed. We did have a fun day though with a delicious feast for lunch. Wednesday night we had a free night in Tiberias so we all went out to dinner for Keren's birthday! Today we had an end of the year meeting and then went to the Sachne Natural Pools. They were beautiful and it was nice swimming there. Then we took a really long bus ride back to Yerucham.
Now I have to pack all of my stuff and get ready to come home. I'm really not looking forward to that (the packing).
-Sarah
Sunday morning we left for Northern Tiyul. Every day we had two options to choose from but I'm just going to tell you the ones I chose. The first day I went to a museum about pioneers settling on kibbutzim in the north around the 1920's-30's. There was this little old lady actress- you know, the kind who pretend they don't know what electricity is? But it was cute and fun. Then after that we went on a pretty hike. Monday I went on another hike which is when I sprained my ankle. From then on, I didn't hike anymore. Monday afternoon we went to Tzfat, but I just sat and got food with some friends. Tuesday I sat in a field while everyone hiked, then went wine tasting at the Golan winery, then sat on the bus while everyone kayaked down the Jordan River. Luckily, Liora sprained her ankle too so from this point on we did everything together. That night we went to some hot springs. Wednesday we slept in, watched movies, and played on the beach and in the Kinneret (our hostel was on the water) while everyone else did the coolest water hike in the world that Liora and I were so sad that we missed. We did have a fun day though with a delicious feast for lunch. Wednesday night we had a free night in Tiberias so we all went out to dinner for Keren's birthday! Today we had an end of the year meeting and then went to the Sachne Natural Pools. They were beautiful and it was nice swimming there. Then we took a really long bus ride back to Yerucham.
Now I have to pack all of my stuff and get ready to come home. I'm really not looking forward to that (the packing).
-Sarah
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The Lovely Month of May
I've been so busy so I haven't written in ages! I'm sorry!
Thursday 4/23:
Eyal and a bunch of Nativers and I went to see a free concert (Balkan Beat Boxer) in Tel Aviv and then we slept on the beach. It was so much fun!!!
Friday 4/24-Saturday 4/25:
I spent shabbat with my friend Emily at Tovik and Shimon's. All 3 of their sons were home which was a lot of fun, and they just got Rockband, so we played a lot of that. It was a lovely, relaxing weekend, with wonderful food.
Sunday 4/26-Monday 4/27:
Regular gan days... except Monday night was Erev Yom HaZikaron, so we had a really moving ceremony for that. The countrywide siren went off at 8 p.m. Also Sunday night Jake and I went to see Boaz Kaplan's band perform in Sde Boker. They played Balkan music and it was really lively and fun!
Tuesday 4/28:
We went to Har Herzl in Jerusalem for a ceremony for Yom HaZikaron. There were thousands and thousands of people there, and they gave out flowers to put on the graves. A bunch of famous politicians spoke and they said some prayers. I spent most of my time at the graves of Michael Levin and Tal Berdugo, my friend Daniel's cousin who died. After that, we went back to Agron for a session and then we moved into Yom Ha'Atzmaut!! I went out to dinner with Todd Zeff at Caffit, and then we went to services at Shirah Hadasha, and the transition from sad to extremely happy was so interesting. It was such a fun night! I met up with my friends and we walked around the center of the city going from free concert to free concert, and we ended the night at a huge Israeli dance fest. Wow. I can't really even explain how amazing it was.
Wednesday 4/29:
Nativ-wide BBQ. So much fun!!! There was also this live museum near Ben Yehuda of Israel's history that was really cool. Then we went back to Yerucham and all crashed because we were exhausted.
Thursday 4/30:
Regular gan day. After gan I hung out in Be'er Sheva for a little and then went to Jerusalem to hang out for the night.
Friday 5/1-Saturday 5/2:
Spent shabbat with Ashley and Keren at Arik and Yael's. It was really great. We went for a walk around the area on Saturday which was really nice.
Sunday 5/3-Monday 5/4:
Regular gan days.
Tuesday 5/5-today:
Israel advocacy seminar with the David Project. It was actually really fun, and I definitely learned a lot. I've also been working on the yearbook a lot which was due today so it could be printed in time, but we got it done!!
So that's about all. I might have forgotten some stuff so I'll try and think really hard and add things in if necessary. This is probably my second to last post. Weird.
-Sarah
Thursday 4/23:
Eyal and a bunch of Nativers and I went to see a free concert (Balkan Beat Boxer) in Tel Aviv and then we slept on the beach. It was so much fun!!!
Friday 4/24-Saturday 4/25:
I spent shabbat with my friend Emily at Tovik and Shimon's. All 3 of their sons were home which was a lot of fun, and they just got Rockband, so we played a lot of that. It was a lovely, relaxing weekend, with wonderful food.
Sunday 4/26-Monday 4/27:
Regular gan days... except Monday night was Erev Yom HaZikaron, so we had a really moving ceremony for that. The countrywide siren went off at 8 p.m. Also Sunday night Jake and I went to see Boaz Kaplan's band perform in Sde Boker. They played Balkan music and it was really lively and fun!
Tuesday 4/28:
We went to Har Herzl in Jerusalem for a ceremony for Yom HaZikaron. There were thousands and thousands of people there, and they gave out flowers to put on the graves. A bunch of famous politicians spoke and they said some prayers. I spent most of my time at the graves of Michael Levin and Tal Berdugo, my friend Daniel's cousin who died. After that, we went back to Agron for a session and then we moved into Yom Ha'Atzmaut!! I went out to dinner with Todd Zeff at Caffit, and then we went to services at Shirah Hadasha, and the transition from sad to extremely happy was so interesting. It was such a fun night! I met up with my friends and we walked around the center of the city going from free concert to free concert, and we ended the night at a huge Israeli dance fest. Wow. I can't really even explain how amazing it was.
Wednesday 4/29:
Nativ-wide BBQ. So much fun!!! There was also this live museum near Ben Yehuda of Israel's history that was really cool. Then we went back to Yerucham and all crashed because we were exhausted.
Thursday 4/30:
Regular gan day. After gan I hung out in Be'er Sheva for a little and then went to Jerusalem to hang out for the night.
Friday 5/1-Saturday 5/2:
Spent shabbat with Ashley and Keren at Arik and Yael's. It was really great. We went for a walk around the area on Saturday which was really nice.
Sunday 5/3-Monday 5/4:
Regular gan days.
Tuesday 5/5-today:
Israel advocacy seminar with the David Project. It was actually really fun, and I definitely learned a lot. I've also been working on the yearbook a lot which was due today so it could be printed in time, but we got it done!!
So that's about all. I might have forgotten some stuff so I'll try and think really hard and add things in if necessary. This is probably my second to last post. Weird.
-Sarah
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Rememberence Day)
Sunday and Monday were normal work days, and then Monday night was the start of Yom HaShoah. There was a ceremony for all the people in Yerucham that we went to. There were a few speakers, a few people who sang, and a small play about a Righteous Gentile named Wanda who lives in Yerucham. At the end they presented Wanda with an award for her heroism. After the ceremony we watched a movie about the Holocaust called The Counterfeiter. It was in German with English subtitles, and I think it won an Oscar for best foreign film at some point within the past few years.
Tuesday morning we did a normal Shacharit and then read Megilat HaShoah, a piece written by Rabbis in the Conservative Movement in an effort to unite Jews all over the world on Yom HaShoah. After that we went to another ceremony at the religious elementary school in Yerucham called Kol Ya'akov. At 10 a.m. a nation-wide siren sounded for 2 minutes in commemoration of Yom HaShoah. It was really, really powerful. The rest of the ceremony included some singing and poetry reading. After that we did an activity where we looked at some art and poems written by Jews in concentration camps, and then we had to either draw or own picture or write something. We had a break for lunch, and then visited a small museaum in Yerucham talking about WWII heroes. A few different people who were involved in WWII in some way spoke to us. It was kind of annoying because they spoke in Russian and their translators were not that good at English, but it was still really interesting. After that we got on a bus and met up with the rest of Nativ at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai. The Kibbutz is named after Mordechai Analewitz, and there is a giant statue of him there that we learned about in art history at Hebrew U last semester. The ceremony at Yad Mordechai was extraordinary. They sang a bunch of songs, all powerful and amazing. There was an interprative dance that was so moving. There were a few speakers who spoke in Hebrew which was a little hard to understand, but it was okay. The way it was set up was there was a giant stage in front of a tell, and at the top was the statue. On the tell there were little signs of different countries in Europe where Jews lived, and there were probably 60 Israeli soldiers standing up there. Towards the end, they blew a shofar and then there were these firework/sparkler type things that went off and it was really powerful. Then the Israeli soldiers marched back out all holding Israeli flags and then we all sang Hatikva, which was so moving. Then they lit a candle by the name of each country, and then they lit the words "Lizkor v'Lihakir" which means "Remember and Remind", so you could read the words when they were on fire. It was truly amazing.
Yesterday I took a day off of work (we're allowed to have 3 all semester) and went into Jerusalem with a few friends. It was a really, really fun day.
That's about it!
-Sarah
Tuesday morning we did a normal Shacharit and then read Megilat HaShoah, a piece written by Rabbis in the Conservative Movement in an effort to unite Jews all over the world on Yom HaShoah. After that we went to another ceremony at the religious elementary school in Yerucham called Kol Ya'akov. At 10 a.m. a nation-wide siren sounded for 2 minutes in commemoration of Yom HaShoah. It was really, really powerful. The rest of the ceremony included some singing and poetry reading. After that we did an activity where we looked at some art and poems written by Jews in concentration camps, and then we had to either draw or own picture or write something. We had a break for lunch, and then visited a small museaum in Yerucham talking about WWII heroes. A few different people who were involved in WWII in some way spoke to us. It was kind of annoying because they spoke in Russian and their translators were not that good at English, but it was still really interesting. After that we got on a bus and met up with the rest of Nativ at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai. The Kibbutz is named after Mordechai Analewitz, and there is a giant statue of him there that we learned about in art history at Hebrew U last semester. The ceremony at Yad Mordechai was extraordinary. They sang a bunch of songs, all powerful and amazing. There was an interprative dance that was so moving. There were a few speakers who spoke in Hebrew which was a little hard to understand, but it was okay. The way it was set up was there was a giant stage in front of a tell, and at the top was the statue. On the tell there were little signs of different countries in Europe where Jews lived, and there were probably 60 Israeli soldiers standing up there. Towards the end, they blew a shofar and then there were these firework/sparkler type things that went off and it was really powerful. Then the Israeli soldiers marched back out all holding Israeli flags and then we all sang Hatikva, which was so moving. Then they lit a candle by the name of each country, and then they lit the words "Lizkor v'Lihakir" which means "Remember and Remind", so you could read the words when they were on fire. It was truly amazing.
Yesterday I took a day off of work (we're allowed to have 3 all semester) and went into Jerusalem with a few friends. It was a really, really fun day.
That's about it!
-Sarah
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Pesach Break!
I just got back from 10 amazing days of Pesach break, so now I'll tell you all about it!
Two Wednesdays ago, the 8th of April, I took a bus with a bunch of other Nativers to Jerusalem. My friends Josh and Lilli's families came to Israel for Pesach and rented an apartment, so they invited a bunch of Nativers including to Seder at their apartment. It was weird to be without my family, and they did some things differently than I'm used to, but Seder really was a lot of fun. And they asked me "who knows 13" and I knew it in Hebrew (I told Josh I'd been practicing). Wednesday night I slept over at Lilli's with a bunch of other girls. Thursday I woke up, went to Kedem for shul, came back and ate lunch at Lilli's, and hung out with friends for the rest of the day. My friend Dani's parents took me out to dinner at a kosher for passover Italian restaurant where I was able to get pizza and pasta! So cool! Thursday night I slept at Josh's apartment. Friday I woke up and Josh's dad made us matzoh brie (yum). Then I went with my friend Becca to a friend of hers for Shabbat which was a lot of fun. They had a bunch of their extended family over which included a really cute little 2 month old baby girl. I am also now reading a Hebrew book that they lent me: James and the Giant Peach/ ג'מס והאפרסק הענקי. So far I have read 6 chapters and I understand it pretty well.
Saturday night I met up with 3 friends, Keren, Liora, and Sara in the bus station in Jerusalem and we took a midnight bus to Eilat! The bus was SO crowded. It was impossible to sleep because it was so, so loud. There were about 10 people laying on the floor of the bus for an almost 5 hour ride! We got to Eilat at 4:30 a.m. and we weren't able to check into our hotel yet- although we did drop our bags off in luggage storage- (Keren's dad got us a really nice hotel room) so we sat on the beach and played Taboo and just hung out. Around 9 we went to the hotel and even though our room wasn't ready, we were able to hang out by the hotel pool. Needless to say, we all fell right to sleep in the hot sun for hours (don't worry, I wore plenty of sunscreen the whole time). Around 3 we were finally able to check into our room, and then we got lunch (cold cuts on matzoh). Then we took a nap and went out to dinner at Burger's Bar! I got chicken on a kosher for passover roll. We were all still really tired, so we went to sleep kind of early. Monday we spent the day laying by the pool and a tiny bit at the beach (there is no sand or seashells, just rocks. But I collected some really pretty rocks). We ate dinner at Cafe Hillel (again, k for p sandwiches) and then went to see an amazing show called WOW! There were all kinds of really cool magic/contortionist/acrobatic/dance acts. It was sooooooooo cool! Then we went to a bar called Three Monkeys. I drank half a liter of apple juice (woo hoo party hard!!). But there was a live salsa band which was really, really fun. Tuesday we spent a few final hours by the pool (I forgot to mention that there was a realllllly fun water slide by the pool!), ate lunch, and then got on a bus back to Jerusalem. Even though the bus makes a rest stop half way, by the time we got to be about an hour outside of Jerusalem I had to go to the bathroom so badly that I contemplated trying to go in a bottle. It was horrible.
We finally got to Jerusalem and I went to the bathroom in an alley right next to where the bus dropped us off. Then we took a cab to Agron. Nativ got us free rooms and meals at Agron for chag. Wednesday I went to shul at Kedem again and then ate lunch at Agron and then just napped and hung out with friends for the rest of the day. Wednesday night after chag ended I broke Passover on an ice cream cone (with chocolate and cheesecake ice cream in it) and then went back to Yerucham just for the night. Thursday Jake and I went to Ashkelon to visit my friend Felix from camp. It was a lot of fun! He is a tugboat operator, so he took us down to the marina where he works and showed us the boats and everything, and also took us out for a really nice Italian dinner. Friday Jake and I baked white and dark chocolate chip cookies to bring with us to Arik and Yael's for Shabbat. Misha also came. It was a lot of fun! Today they took us on a 3 hour hike in their backyard (their backyard IS the desert- so cool!). Then Arik brought us back to Yerucham, and that's about it!
Everyone gets back from break tonight and we all go back to work tomorrow.
Shavua tov!
-Sarah
Two Wednesdays ago, the 8th of April, I took a bus with a bunch of other Nativers to Jerusalem. My friends Josh and Lilli's families came to Israel for Pesach and rented an apartment, so they invited a bunch of Nativers including to Seder at their apartment. It was weird to be without my family, and they did some things differently than I'm used to, but Seder really was a lot of fun. And they asked me "who knows 13" and I knew it in Hebrew (I told Josh I'd been practicing). Wednesday night I slept over at Lilli's with a bunch of other girls. Thursday I woke up, went to Kedem for shul, came back and ate lunch at Lilli's, and hung out with friends for the rest of the day. My friend Dani's parents took me out to dinner at a kosher for passover Italian restaurant where I was able to get pizza and pasta! So cool! Thursday night I slept at Josh's apartment. Friday I woke up and Josh's dad made us matzoh brie (yum). Then I went with my friend Becca to a friend of hers for Shabbat which was a lot of fun. They had a bunch of their extended family over which included a really cute little 2 month old baby girl. I am also now reading a Hebrew book that they lent me: James and the Giant Peach/ ג'מס והאפרסק הענקי. So far I have read 6 chapters and I understand it pretty well.
Saturday night I met up with 3 friends, Keren, Liora, and Sara in the bus station in Jerusalem and we took a midnight bus to Eilat! The bus was SO crowded. It was impossible to sleep because it was so, so loud. There were about 10 people laying on the floor of the bus for an almost 5 hour ride! We got to Eilat at 4:30 a.m. and we weren't able to check into our hotel yet- although we did drop our bags off in luggage storage- (Keren's dad got us a really nice hotel room) so we sat on the beach and played Taboo and just hung out. Around 9 we went to the hotel and even though our room wasn't ready, we were able to hang out by the hotel pool. Needless to say, we all fell right to sleep in the hot sun for hours (don't worry, I wore plenty of sunscreen the whole time). Around 3 we were finally able to check into our room, and then we got lunch (cold cuts on matzoh). Then we took a nap and went out to dinner at Burger's Bar! I got chicken on a kosher for passover roll. We were all still really tired, so we went to sleep kind of early. Monday we spent the day laying by the pool and a tiny bit at the beach (there is no sand or seashells, just rocks. But I collected some really pretty rocks). We ate dinner at Cafe Hillel (again, k for p sandwiches) and then went to see an amazing show called WOW! There were all kinds of really cool magic/contortionist/acrobatic/dance acts. It was sooooooooo cool! Then we went to a bar called Three Monkeys. I drank half a liter of apple juice (woo hoo party hard!!). But there was a live salsa band which was really, really fun. Tuesday we spent a few final hours by the pool (I forgot to mention that there was a realllllly fun water slide by the pool!), ate lunch, and then got on a bus back to Jerusalem. Even though the bus makes a rest stop half way, by the time we got to be about an hour outside of Jerusalem I had to go to the bathroom so badly that I contemplated trying to go in a bottle. It was horrible.
We finally got to Jerusalem and I went to the bathroom in an alley right next to where the bus dropped us off. Then we took a cab to Agron. Nativ got us free rooms and meals at Agron for chag. Wednesday I went to shul at Kedem again and then ate lunch at Agron and then just napped and hung out with friends for the rest of the day. Wednesday night after chag ended I broke Passover on an ice cream cone (with chocolate and cheesecake ice cream in it) and then went back to Yerucham just for the night. Thursday Jake and I went to Ashkelon to visit my friend Felix from camp. It was a lot of fun! He is a tugboat operator, so he took us down to the marina where he works and showed us the boats and everything, and also took us out for a really nice Italian dinner. Friday Jake and I baked white and dark chocolate chip cookies to bring with us to Arik and Yael's for Shabbat. Misha also came. It was a lot of fun! Today they took us on a 3 hour hike in their backyard (their backyard IS the desert- so cool!). Then Arik brought us back to Yerucham, and that's about it!
Everyone gets back from break tonight and we all go back to work tomorrow.
Shavua tov!
-Sarah
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Chag Sameach (almost!)
Sorry I haven't written in a while. There isn't SO much going on now that I need to write every day, so I just let a bunch of time go by and then write it all at once. I'll start with last week:
Monday 3/30:
Regular Gan- last day of Gan before Pesach vacation
Tuesday 3/31:
Yom Nativ: Yom Water
We started off the day davening and having some discussions about water in Israel (or the lack thereof) down by the Yerucham lake. Then we got on a bus, drove past a water processing plant in Dimona, ate lunch on the bus, and went to the beach in Ashkelon. It was a beautiful and really fun day!!
Wednesday 4/1: APRIL FOOL'S DAY
My apartment pranked one of the boys apartments and it was silly. We took all of their shoelaces out of their shoes, tied forks and spoons to the ends and hung them from the curtain rod. We put all of their pillows and blankets on one bed and switched some of their drawers around. The other boys apartment also put a dead rat in their freezer. They were very mad, and I had to re-lace all of their shoes. I also had to volunteer this day. It was kind of like JRA. We packaged fruits and vegetables and then delivered them to needy people all over Yerucham. It was fun.
Thursday 4/2:
I don't even remember. Sorry.
Friday/Saturday 4/3-4:
Went to Be'er Sheva for Shabbat to visit some other Nativers. It was really, really nice. We ate and slept and watched movies and did yoga. It was relaxing and fun.
Sunday 4/5:
Spent the day around Yerucham doing nothing, then at 5:30 I helped clean Afikim, the synagogue near our apartments. It was fun but I got really wet because we had to clean the windows and floors.
Monday 4/6:
Volunteered. They told us we were gardening. It was actually manual labor: weed whacking. It was fun though because I was with a bunch of friends.
TODAY!:
Yom Nativ. We finished cleaning and making our apartments Kosher for Passover. Then we did an activity where each apartment had to make their own creative seder plate and write a song about Passover. They were funny. Then I went and hung out in Be'er Sheva for a few hours, and now I'm back!!
Chag Sameach tomorrow!!
-Sarah
Monday 3/30:
Regular Gan- last day of Gan before Pesach vacation
Tuesday 3/31:
Yom Nativ: Yom Water
We started off the day davening and having some discussions about water in Israel (or the lack thereof) down by the Yerucham lake. Then we got on a bus, drove past a water processing plant in Dimona, ate lunch on the bus, and went to the beach in Ashkelon. It was a beautiful and really fun day!!
Wednesday 4/1: APRIL FOOL'S DAY
My apartment pranked one of the boys apartments and it was silly. We took all of their shoelaces out of their shoes, tied forks and spoons to the ends and hung them from the curtain rod. We put all of their pillows and blankets on one bed and switched some of their drawers around. The other boys apartment also put a dead rat in their freezer. They were very mad, and I had to re-lace all of their shoes. I also had to volunteer this day. It was kind of like JRA. We packaged fruits and vegetables and then delivered them to needy people all over Yerucham. It was fun.
Thursday 4/2:
I don't even remember. Sorry.
Friday/Saturday 4/3-4:
Went to Be'er Sheva for Shabbat to visit some other Nativers. It was really, really nice. We ate and slept and watched movies and did yoga. It was relaxing and fun.
Sunday 4/5:
Spent the day around Yerucham doing nothing, then at 5:30 I helped clean Afikim, the synagogue near our apartments. It was fun but I got really wet because we had to clean the windows and floors.
Monday 4/6:
Volunteered. They told us we were gardening. It was actually manual labor: weed whacking. It was fun though because I was with a bunch of friends.
TODAY!:
Yom Nativ. We finished cleaning and making our apartments Kosher for Passover. Then we did an activity where each apartment had to make their own creative seder plate and write a song about Passover. They were funny. Then I went and hung out in Be'er Sheva for a few hours, and now I'm back!!
Chag Sameach tomorrow!!
-Sarah
Sunday, March 29, 2009
It's been one week (since my last blog post)
Monday 3/23:
First day back at gan in a while! It was nice to see my babies again.
Tuesday 3/24:
Yom Nativ- Sderot
We went to a really cool lookout in Sderot where we had a good, clear view of the Gaza Strip. You could really see how close together the houses/buildings were and now I understand how the Gaza Strip is the most densely populated area proportionally in the world. We went to see a new indoor play place JNF is building for the children of Sderot with 5 bomb shelters inside. We ate lunch and walked around the shuk in Sderot, came back to Yerucham and talked about what we saw in Sderot and then called it a day. Sderot was really just a normal town. There has not been a rocket there in over 2 weeks, but whenever there is, it seems like they recover from it really quickly.
Wednesday 3/25:
Gan, left early to go to Jerusalem for the night!
Thursday 3/26:
Jerusalem Half Marathon/10k!
I ran the 10k with a bunch of other Nativ girls and it was so much fun! My goal was under an hour and I ran 56:33, so I was happy. The course had a lot of hills and it was not easy, but I felt accomplished afterward. Everyone did really well! My friends David and Avi ran the half marathon, and Avi came in 2nd place in his age category and won a trophy! Then we all went out to lunch at Sambooki. What a wonderful day!
Shabbat in Yerucham:
I slept in late Friday morning, did Kabbalat Shabbat at the Nativ girl's housr, and then for dinner I went to my host family. It was really nice. Saturday I slept in again, ate lunch with Becky's family at our apartment, and then hung out all day and night until I was ready to go to sleep. I played many rounds of Bananagrams and Taboo and read a lot in The DaVinci Code (SUCH a good book!)
Today:
Gan.
:)
-Sarah
First day back at gan in a while! It was nice to see my babies again.
Tuesday 3/24:
Yom Nativ- Sderot
We went to a really cool lookout in Sderot where we had a good, clear view of the Gaza Strip. You could really see how close together the houses/buildings were and now I understand how the Gaza Strip is the most densely populated area proportionally in the world. We went to see a new indoor play place JNF is building for the children of Sderot with 5 bomb shelters inside. We ate lunch and walked around the shuk in Sderot, came back to Yerucham and talked about what we saw in Sderot and then called it a day. Sderot was really just a normal town. There has not been a rocket there in over 2 weeks, but whenever there is, it seems like they recover from it really quickly.
Wednesday 3/25:
Gan, left early to go to Jerusalem for the night!
Thursday 3/26:
Jerusalem Half Marathon/10k!
I ran the 10k with a bunch of other Nativ girls and it was so much fun! My goal was under an hour and I ran 56:33, so I was happy. The course had a lot of hills and it was not easy, but I felt accomplished afterward. Everyone did really well! My friends David and Avi ran the half marathon, and Avi came in 2nd place in his age category and won a trophy! Then we all went out to lunch at Sambooki. What a wonderful day!
Shabbat in Yerucham:
I slept in late Friday morning, did Kabbalat Shabbat at the Nativ girl's housr, and then for dinner I went to my host family. It was really nice. Saturday I slept in again, ate lunch with Becky's family at our apartment, and then hung out all day and night until I was ready to go to sleep. I played many rounds of Bananagrams and Taboo and read a lot in The DaVinci Code (SUCH a good book!)
Today:
Gan.
:)
-Sarah
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