Israeli Fall

Ok so yes, it has been a while. Lets go over some highlights of the past month and a bit:

Halloween! Some boys in the International School hosted a party in their apartment. Most of the International school went, and there were a few Israelis too. It was so cool to be celebrating Halloween in Israel with a bunch of Europeans and Israelis. My Danish housemate Sara and I found Haifa University basketball uniforms in our apartment so we wore those and looked awesome.

USA elections!! So exciting. We watching on a big screen from 2am to 7am. The Europeans all seemed to be Obama supporters, as were most of the Americans and Israelis. Sara was really excited and made a Barack My World sign and bought champagne which we all drank after the West Coast results finally came in. Obama’s election made a huge difference in how I feel being an American abroad. Suddenly it is ok to be proud of my country, and proud of my nationality. I am very excited to see what Obama will do, and am also excited to celebrate his inauguration on January 20th, the same day I turn 21.

Classes!! Classes are going ok. Contemporary Israel, my only real class besides Hebrew is great. Our teacher knows EVERYTHING, so I have been getting a great overview of Israeli history. We are just past independence right now, and moving onto the 6 Day War next week. I wrote a paper on Revisionist Zionism vs. Labor Zionism which was actually pretty interesting. My Hebrew class is unfortunately turning into a big disappointment. Our teacher is not good at all, and I don’t feel like I’m learning anything. The learning Hebrew part of being in Israel is turning mostly into a failure as far as speaking is concerned. But my understanding has improved and I do think in Hebrew sometimes if that counts.

Internship!! Mostly boring but will be great on my resume. My long term project is to look up all the Jewish museums and all of the Art museums in the world so we can tell them what we have in out collection in case they want to borrow. Intermittently while working on this, they let me stuff envelopes. But, good to listen to Hebrew being spoken for many hours each day.


Volunteering!! I am now volunteering once a week working with Arab girls who have graduated from high school and are now doing national service working in Arab schools. I help them with their English through having discussions about identity and issues in Israeli society. It has been really interesting so far, definitely breaking down stereotypes. These girls have strong ideals about equality, and being successful. They want to continue their studies and some want to be doctors. Yesterday we talked briefly about women's right and one of them said they thought women should be treated "with magnificent." They are very inspiring. Working with them is definitely one of my greatest experiences here.

Thanksgiving!! About 10 of us all collaborated to have Thanksgiving. All important foods were represented. There was plenty of food for all, and the Americans all had a great time in the days leading up to it trying to explain the meaning of Thanksgiving to the Europeans.

Traveling!! Last weekend Josh and I went to Jerusalem for two nights and had a lovely time. We walked around the old city on Saturday and saw Miriam for breakfast on Sunday. Saturday night we went to a restaurant called Eucalyptus where we were served by the head chef and the food was amazing. I highly recommend going there if you are in Jerusalem. This coming weekend a bunch of us are heading down to Eilat and then to Jordan to see Petra. Organizing a trip for 7 people was a bit annoying, but it all is finally working out. I am excited to finally see Petra after hearing about how amazing it is.

I can’t believe I will be going home in about a month. I am still trying to spend a few days in London, but Virgin Atlantic is making this complicated. Israel has been a wonderful experience, but I am looking forward to being back in the States with my family and friends. I hope everyone is doing well and had good Thanksgivings!!

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