Israeli Environment and My first Hostel

So its been a while since my last post and a lot has happened.  We have gone on two educations days since my last post and plenty of other adventures as well.
Our second education day was about Israel and the environment.  Our first stop of the day was to an agriculture college in Rehovote.  Unfortunately I struggled to stay awake seeing as it was 8 in the morning and I felt like i was back in a college lecture.   I did come away with the knowledge that Israel is on the forefront of GMO (genetically modified organisms).  It was funny to me because I had heard such bad things about GMO's in my classes at UConn but the people at the university seemed to believe that it would be the future and the only way to sustain some of the plant life that we rely on.  I also thought it was interesting the way the Israeli agriculture deals with pest.  They refrain from using chemical products and try to use natural ways the deal, like using good bugs to eat the bad bugs that destroy the plants.  I had taken some places that touched on some of these ideas at UConn so it was weird to be sitting in a college like classroom in Israel hearing other solutions to a global problem.
We were all super excited about our next stop of the day. We had been told to bring our licenses so that we could test drive cars. Normally that wouldn't be so exciting but we were getting to the close to the 2 month mark with out driving a car!!! So these weren't any ordinary cars we got to test drive they were electric cars.  There is a company called Better Places that has formulated a plan to make electric cars a real and affordable option for drivers in Israel.  The cars are going to be released in 2011 and there is a plan for the whole country of where they are going to put charging stations and stations to get the battery changed when the driver goes on a long trip.  We watched a movie that Better Places had put together explaining their plans.  In my mind it seemed a little unrealistic.  But then I thought it over and because Israel is such a small country it might have a chance at really working.  The cars that we got to drive looked exactly like a normal car, the only difference was that when you accelerated the car didn't make any noise!! I have to say the driving was a little anti-climactic since we only got to drive for about two minutes.  I hope that their plan is successful because it would be great if the idea could be brought to the United states.

We were told to get off the bus for lunch and all of us were a little skeptical seeing as we had just arrived at a dump.  As it turns out we did each at a little cafe at the dump.  An educational center had been built to inform students and groups like our about this particular area.  It is starting to become clearer that Israel is at the forefront of many different forefronts.  At this dump site they are working on different recycling strategies.  And to be fair it isn't actually a dump site any more the garbage is jut brought there before it is brought to its final resting place in a land fill.  This site used to be where all the garbage from the Tel Aviv area was brought but a huge garbage mountain had formed and was causing many problems so they covered the garbage with dirt and grass and made a real mountain out of it.  In true Israeli fashion this mountain and the surrounding land is going to be turned into a central park. The land is in a very valuable area and many people wanted to build homes there but the government decided that it will become a big park that will have shopping, restaurants and a man made lake.   We ended our day doing an activity with our madrichim about the desire to build a high speed train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the impact that it would have on the environment.
It was a long education day and all I wanted to do when I got home was to take a shower so that I no longer smelled like garbage.
That weekend Whitney and I had planned on going to Tel Aviv for Thursday night.  Our plans to stay at our friends house fell through.  It ended up working well that two other girls from our program wanted to join our excursion so we decided to get a room in a hostel.  We decided to get the room at 1:15 pm on Thursday when we were planning on going to Tel Aviv a few hours later.  Not to suprising that most of the hostels were booked. But we found a room.  This was my first real hostel experience and the place was not that nice.  Whitney told me that she had stayed in worse places which made me feel a little bit better, but it was an interesting place to stay that's for sure!

First Education Day in the Negev!

This week we had our first education day that OTZMA sets up for us.  We were going to spend the day learning about the Negev. We left Ashkelon at 7am and drove to our first stop in Be'er Sheva.  One of Israels major universities is located in Be'er Sheva it was put there to attract more Israelis to this city in the desert. We went to visit one of the more needy neighborhoods. A group of 30 Israelis after the army decided that they all wanted to live together in a kibbutz style after the army but instead of living on a kibbutz they created what is called a Kehillat.  Of of the 30 members live in the same apartment together and share meals together through out the week.  They chose this area in Be'er Sheva to help the community that was living there.  The participate in different kind of social action in the neighborhood while do their own studies and jobs.  One of the big projects this group invested in was the building of a cafe.  They hire teens from the neighborhood to give them a place to go after school and make some money.  They raised the money to build the cafe and the plan is to allow the staff of kids from the neighborhood to take over the running of the cafe some day.

Kids Waiting for Us at school

Our next stop of the day was to a school in Segev Shalom Bedouin Village.  When we arrived all of the kids were outside and really excited to see us.  They all stood on either side of us as we walked into the building it was like we were putting on a parade for them. We went inside and talked to the principal of the school about what they educate the students on and the culture of the Bedouins.  The Bedouins are a muslim society they live in tents that are much more long term then they used to be.  In the school they teach about the religion and the culture of the people.  The children are taught three languages in school Arabic, Hebrew and English.  These kids live in underdeveloped part of Israel, the land is not taken care of properly and can be quite a difficult place for them to live.  The Bedouins are considered Israeli citizens the males serve in the army.  These communities are living in the desert and are very secluded from major society this doesn't allow for money to come into the community.  It is difficult for the men to find jobs and they must travel to Be'er Sheva for any possibility of making a decent amount of money.  The principal also told us a few stories about the beliefs of the Bedouins and the transitions that they have made to keep up with an always changing technological society around them. 

Whit and I on the playground

We then stopped for a quick picnic in the town of Yerucham.  Two of the participants of OTZMA will be living there starting at the beginning of November.  We stopped at a playground that of course none of us could resist going to.  It was a chance for us to stretch our legs in between stops and we definitely made the most of it.  I would say most of the us were running all over the playground like a bunch of elementary school students!
After lunch we went to David Ben-Gurion's desert home.  There we disucssed his accomplishments in the country of Israel.  On the tour we were also informed that Ben- Gurion had a special intrest in the Negev. He knew that the desert encompassed most of the countries land and that it was extremely important that it was settled.  He spent a great deal of time living in the Negev and shining a positive light on living there.  It was written in his will that the house become a museum. It was really interesting to walk through it was a big time warp with separate bedrooms for him and his wife.

Goats being milked

Sunset in the Negev

Our last stop of the day was at a goat farm.  A family started the farm about 7 years ago.  The family started with 50 goats and now it is a booming farm.  They make their own goat cheese.  They told us a little bit about the farm and got to see them milk the goats.  We got to interact with goats and walk around the farm a bit.  The sun was setting as we walked around the farm and being in the desert it was so beautiful. The best part was that we got to taste the goat cheese!!! It was delicious and it tasted even better knowing that it was made right there.  We got to try three different kinds!
After that we got back on the bus to head back to Ashkelon.  The rest of my week consisted of Hebrew and volunteering.  
We had a super fun weekend in Ashkelon and I am headed off to my next education day tomorrow!

Sukkot break and My first trip to Tel Aviv!!

I think that it is interesting that I am given a vacation from the program that has felt like its a constant vacation.  My first few days of vacation I went with my roomate Whitney to visit her host family in Emek Hefer, which is a kibbutz close to Netanya.  It was a relaxing two days.  Our first night there the kids on the kibbutz were putting on a show for sukkot.  We went with the family to watch the show it was really cute, but unfortunately I was confused most of the time since the show was completely in Hebrew! Her family took us to the beach and it was beautiful! It was a very hot day so we didn't stay that long but it was nice to go for a swim.

Whitney and I in Eilat

We returned from Emek Hefer and had a few days before we were leaving to go to Eilat.  We just hung out in Ashquelon went to the beach and just spent more time relaxing.

On Monday the ten of us going to Eilat piled into a taxi and headed south.  The ride took about four hours for us to get down there.  We got two hotel rooms for the ten of us so we had to sneak two people in. Our hotel was a five minute walk to the beach! I had never been to Eilat and the scenery of all the mountains looked fake like a movie set! We took a walk around the area but it was so hot that a few of us decided to walk back to the hotel and take a dip.  That night we got our first taste of Eilat night life and it was a lot of fun.  On our third day in Eliat me and three other people on the trip walked down to the beach and decided to take part in some water activities.  We spent the afternoon jet skiing, tubing and paddle boating.  The hole day was a blast!
After a nice vacation it was time to get serious with Hebrew.  We had a full week of Hebrew classes and by Thursday I wasn't sure if my brain could take in any more Hebrew! We learn so much in each class that it is vital to study in the evenings.  On Tuesday I went to my first day of volunteering.  For my volunteering in Ashkelon I will be working in a thrift store for underprivileged teenagers. The thrift store was created by a local youth group and teens must be given permission to shop there.  On Tuesday I went to the store for the first time to help clean up and get the store ready to be opened.  The store was really nice and it was clear that a lot of hard work had gone into creating the store.

Sunset in Tel Aviv

I was ready for the weekend when it came.  We spent Thursday night in Ashkelon but me and Whitney woke up and got ready to catch the bus to Tel Aviv.  The bus only took an hour and was very inexpensive.  We were with one of Whitney's friends from her high school youth group and we were going to stay with another friend from the youth group as well.  We got to the central bus station in Tel Aviv and had to take another bus to the friends apartment.  We got off the bus in front of Tel Aviv's big open air markets (shuk).  On our walk to the apartment there were so many people out and about shopping that it was hard to walk with out bumping into any one.  It was amazing to see that the street became nearly empty as shabbat began.  We took a walk to the beach and wondered over to a drum circle that forms outside of a drum store.  There were people playing the drums and people dancing to the music it was a lot of fun to see. We were on the beach when the sun set and it was beautiful.  We went out to a nice dinner that night at place recommended to us called King George.  We spent Saturday laying on the beach and going swimming.  It was a great way to spend the day.  We headed back to Ashkelon that night.
Ready to start a new week full of learning Hebrew.

The First Few Weeks in Israel

A few weeks have gone by since I landed in Israel but it already feels like I have been here for a few months!!

The first week was all about getting to know the group and doing some hiking in the desert.  For our first night we stayed in a Bedouin tent they fed us an excellent dinner and taught us about their lifestyle.  The next morning we got up early to beat the heat and take a hike in Nachal Tamar. The hike was more difficult then I thought it would be but we still had a lot of fun.  There were parts where we had to use latter and roads to get down the hike!! After our hike we got to take a trip to the Dead Sea, we stopped at a resort and got to use their access to the sea and their pool.  It was such a relief to go swimming it was insanely hot at the end of the hike. The dead sea is the most incredible blue color but just like the weather the water was really warm! We were told by our tour guide that the part of the dead sea we were swimming in was man made and being used for its minerals. After the dead sea we went to the kibbutz where we would be spending the night and ate dinner.  We had one more bonding activity before we went to bed.

The next day was another early morning we were told that, that days hike would be easier and we would be hiking to a waterfall.  The hike was in a place called Ein Gedi park.  Most of the hike involved walking through the water to get to the waterfall. It was beautiful when we finally got to the waterfall we all went swimming and stood under the water.  It was definitely nice to get cooled off in the middle of the hike before we headed back to the bus.
That Sunday we went to Ashquelon for the first time to see our new home at Merkaz Klita Beit Canada. We are staying in absorption center for new immigrants most of which are from Ethiopia. Im living with three other girls in my apartment, who I absolutely love. We got a chance to put our stuff in our rooms and then we were expected to come down to the court hard of the center because some of the kids had planned a show.  The little Ethiopian girls did a very cute dance for us and we got a chance to play with the kids for the first time.  The kids are super cute but a little crazy and rambunctious!! 
During our first week in Ashquelon our job was to get some what acquainted with the city.  We found that we were only two blocks from the beach!! It is a 10 minute walk for us to be lying on a beach of the Mediterranean. We took our first trip to the grocery store that week and it was quite an experience.  My lack of hebrew was on full display as I struggled up and down the aisles trying to find what I needed to fill our empty apartment. It was one of the most stressful shopping experiences I have ever had.  Our madrachim took us on a tour to the closest shopping area.  
After our week of getting to know Ashquelon we started Ulpan I was placed in Kitah Alef, which is no surprise since I didn't know how to read or write.  The first day of class was a whirlwind with a lot of vocab being thrown at us and I left leaving extremely overwhelmed.We had only one other day of class that week and then it was Rosh Hashanah.
For Rosh Hashanah I went to Beit Sha'an to meet my adoptive family.  I will be going to see them every so often over the course of my year.  I will be living in Beit Sha'an for the middle 3 months of my program.  The holiday was very nice.  The family was very large and very welcoming.  The language barrier made things a little difficult but many of the family members  spoke english well.  On the day of Rosh Hashanah my host family took me too the natural springs near their house.  It was so beautiful there were a bunch of very big pools and there were tons of people there swimming. It was a great way to spend the holiday! The food was great and we ate so much! 
I headed back to Ashquelon for my first full week of Ulpan and it was a lot to take in but I have learned so much and feel like I'm making significant progress in learning hebrew! We also did some volunteering    during the week with a group called Anosh.  Anosh is a group that helps adults with mental health disorders.  We were asked to help paint and renovate some of the members apartments. It was hard work but we got the job done and got the whole apartment painted!
We spent Yom Kippur in Jerusalem.  The first day we got there we had a day of seminars which included torah yoga!! We were left to do our own thing for services for Friday and Saturday night.  I went with a big group of people went to Hebrew Union College for reform services.  Where services were held there were huge glass windows that provided an amazing view of the old city! It was unreal it definetly added to the meaning of the service being able to look out at something so beautiful.  On Saturday I decided that I would skip services and experience Yom Kippur on the streets of Jerusalem.  I took a walk around the old city and stopped at the Kotel.  The most amazing part of being in Jerusalem of Yom Kippur was that no one drives their cars so everyone walks in the middle of the road and ride around on bikes.  The whole city shuts down and it is so peaceful.  
Im sure there is lots more to come in my new life in Israel!!!