Aliyah countdown....

So do you know what's weird? I flew home from Israel on Janurary 14th and that is the last time I will have to fly back to the states to live. Because in less than 4 weeks, I will be the newest immigrant to the state of Israel.

That's kinda mind-blowing.

It's been a crazy month of January. Not only did I have to get all 40 of my participants ready for the trip (I staff birthright trips) but then I also had to pack a bag of stuff to leave in the country with my best friend until I come back in February.

Then, I had to pack my own bag because I needed clothes for the 10 days, plus stuff I could wear in Florida for my other vacation after Eretz Y'Israel. (Land of Israel-for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about). Not to mention the fact that I had to deal with the looming part of not making any money for a solid 3 weeks. My bank account is not happy.

So we finally made it through El Al security which is like the Jewish inquisition times 4, and landed on the 3rd of January. I now had 40 bleary-eyed, some cranky from lack of sleep and movement on the plane, 18-23 year olds to deal with and tour around the whole country in 10 days. Talk about a job.

We went from North to South and East to West (minus Gaza and West Bank of course). We had shabbat in Tel Aviv and Yerushalayim (Jerusalem). We partied in Eilat and the Golan Heights. We saw Israel's only ski resort- Mount Hermon and dipped in hot springs in Ha Godar. We slept in Kibbutzim, hotels with cranky personnel, drank till we were stupid and woke up at 6 or 7am everyday. Slept in our bus for 4 hours on the way to our camel rides and stayed in a Bedouin tent under a million stars. Climbed Massada at the ass-crack of dawn and watched the sun rise to the tune of Rocky Balboa's theme song. Floated in the Dead Sea and swam in Red Sea. Bargained for Hookahs and shooed away Tzedekahmongers at the Kotel (Wailing Wall).

And all for......free.

That's right! You heard me. Free. All because we're Jewish. There's the nifty deal between the state of Israel, Jewish federations and companies, and some really rich philanthropists where if you meet certain criteria, you can get a free 10 day trip, and all you have to do is participate in all the activities and you get this amazing trip. So me being all cool and being an alumni, I now get to staff these trips and tour around unsuspecting college students for the most sleep-deprived best 10 days of their lives up until now. It's not a bad gig. Plus, I get to fly back and forth to Israel twice a year for free. Yee haw.


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So anyways...I make aliyah (which literally means "to ascend") on February 19th. I'll be living in Ra'anana which is about 25 minutes outside of Tel-Aviv. Apparently it's a very Anglo city but also one of the cleanest and best cities according to all my Israeli friends. I myself have never been there, I quite literally picked it off the map because my shaliach (immigration counselor) said that it was a nice area, had a medical ulpan and was in between the two cities my friends lived in. It could be a slum for all I know...but that's how I roll.

I'll be doing ulpan (language training) for the first 5 months at the absorption center I'll be staying at (kind of like a dorm) and then the next 5 months I'll be at the fire academy. This should be fun...according to the academy there are only 15 women paid firefighters in the whole country. Of 6 million people. Yeah....if I wasn't a minority now...well I sure as hell will be then. :) I'm used to it by now I guess.

Then maybe somewhere in between, I'll be working for Magen David Adom (Red Cross-ie: ambulances iie: EMT work) as well. Wish me luck.

And....I think I'm done. Enjoy reading about my life. I'll be sure to keep you posted. It's gonna be a crazy ride the next few months.

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