eight weeks into the program...

i think i still have more to write about Eilat...that will become a separate post later.

last week::

monday: we had an israeli food event, ran by our program coordinator, Oshra. we made fresh-squeezed orange juice, falafel, tahini, spruced up some hummus with oil and paprika, israeli salad (which is mostly tomatoes and cucumber, with mint and other things), fruit salad, whipped cream and i think that's it?
it was delicious. unfortunately none of us really remember what ingredients we used and the recipies, but we're hoping to get copies soon.

wednesday: took a day trip to Haifa. we went there to go to the Bahaii Gardens. we had a great, long, lunch then went to the gardens. unfortunately, we'd missed the tour and were only allowed to go to a small portion of the gardens. it was still a nice day trip and through the program, we already have a trip to the gardens planned. we went because some of the people leave today for the states, and they hadn't been yet.

thursday: our group and the group in gaton (including the girl i know from home) went on a hike to klil--lead by our program. it was only about a two mile hike, down into a valley, but given our stop to make tea, eat snacks, talk about different plants and places, it took about four hours. it was a really nice hike.

i spent last weekend trying to upload photos to the Oranim website. no such luck. the internet was horrible, it was slow uploading and would cut-out at times. anyway, i'm gonna send my pictures (via disk with my program coordinator) to the Oranim main office, for someone there to upload. so i'll be sure to keep everyone posted.

yesterday, i went into Naharyia (the nearby city) to get bagel toast with some friends. Bagel Toast is like a panini sandwich---I had mine with cream cheese, mushrooms, peppers, tomato, cucumber, pesto...it was delicious. then we just walked around the city, i also bought some delicious patties and pastries from a bakery.

today, my roommate and the four other people who joined our group recently after living in Ramle, are leaving for the states. we're supposed to be getting two new people, one girl (to be my new roommate) and a boy. they should be arriving sometime tonight. i don't know anything about them.

okay, time to go back to work. on mondays i start later because the kids get out of school later (i don't know why....they just do).

thanks to everyone that posts comments. i'll try to update more soon.

bed bug.

I will give a proper Eilat/daily life update soon. In the meantime, I've attempted to respond to some questions/comments I've received and tell you about last night's horrible bedfellow.

Eilat is a large city located at the most southern point of Israel. Egypt and Jordan can be seen from Eilat. It was a fun, but short, weekend--full of some amazing hikes. I'm still working out the kinks in my volunteering. I also don't think I'm being utilized to the best of my abilities. I'm finding that in order to be better utilized I really need to just tell them where I want to volunteer...so I'm seeing if there are any 'new' opportunities before, or if, I decide to head back to the high school (where I seemed to be of better use). Meanwhile, my Hebrew is thankfully improving--but I still have a long way to go. I feel healthy and well. The cold and rainy weather has started again. This is already, and continues to be predicted as, a horrible Israeli winter.

Only other news to report is of my the centipede that was in my bed last night. Shortly after getting into bed I felt something crawling on me. I hesitated for a few seconds thinking it maybe was my hair or blanket brushing against me, but soon jumped up, turned on the light, and found that there had been a centipede crawling on me. Needless to say I was completely grossed out and creeped out, so I called for reinforcements. By the way, this centipede was five-six inches. My roommate and an Israeli friend from the Kibbutz came to my rescue. We tore apart my bedding and looked everywhere, which isn't very much considering my room is extremely clean and organized (and small). I'm sure we spent about 45 minutes looking and not finding the centipede--I was starting to look foolish, the little girl who cried spider. As I finally decided to give up and go to bed, I took my sweatshirt off of the radiator--which was previously laying on my bed--and shook it out. Sure enough the centipede flew from the sweatshirt onto the floor.

Our friend from the Kibbutz says it is called a Nadal and, noticing the yellow on it's back, warned me this kind is poisonous. (They took it outside and killed it.) Tonight at dinner with my host family I asked them about the Nadal. Orr, the dad, said that the poisonous ones around here aren't nearly as poisonous as those located in southern Israel (don't ask me why). He said that you would know if you got bit, it would hurt, and upon protocol you'd want to go to the hospital. He said that basically it'd hurt but the poison could affect your heart and put you at risk for a stroke (thus the necessity to go to the hospital).

So anyway, that was disgusting. Just to reiterate, I am fine and was definitely not bit. The consensus is that it probably crawled in while our front door was open. (That or the little baby centipede I saw crawling around inside a few weeks ago grew into the five inch monstrosity that I saw.) Nobody thinks there are more in my place/bedroom.

That's all for now. Time for me to go to bed.

4am wake-up call

Tomorrow morning we have a 4:15am wake-up call. We're headed to Eilat for the weekend and our bus leaves at 4:45am. We'll be spending the weekend hiking, sight seeing, relaxing by the beach, etc. Look for updates around Monday or Tuesday.

This past week has been cold and rainy. My roommate and I have spent the week, when not volunteering, curled up in our beds--staying away from the outside. The one time we did leave the room was for a pancake meal at the pub. Once a week at the pub the Israeli's arrange a communal meal, bbq or something. The pub is about four minutes walking from my room. There is usually a good turn-out of the young Israeli's on the kibbbutz and the people from my program. Well this week they made pancakes. There was chocolate sauce, maple syrup, ice cream, nuts, candies, etc. to top the pancakes with. It was amazing

Anyway, the rain leaked into our kitchen from the roof and the wall in our bedroom also has water damage (but no water leaked in, on the floor, like it did in the kitchen). Thankfully a man came promptly to fix this. They will have to come one more time to fix the water damage on the wall, to prevent, and clear, mold. Also this week, our refrigerator broke- it too was leaking on the floor of the kitchen. Thankfully this too is already fixed.

This week I continued to work at the after school center. It is okay there. I can't mediate problems with the kids, or understand them, or discipline them, because of my lack of Hebrew. There have been several problems this week, with kids not listening and fighting and I feel useless. I enjoy it but want to figure out a way to split my week working there and at the high school.

Tonight I went to my host families house for the second time. We had a nice, light, dinner with ice cream for dessert. The kids were cute but they are all either sick or getting over being sick, so I was kind of happy to be out of there. But I had a nice time, I enjoy the company of the dad, Orr, his English is very good and he's a good conversationalist.

Oh, I'll hopefully have a website for you to see pictures. Oranim is giving me access codes to upload pictures for my group. I don't know any details yet but when I do I'll share them.

Okay, nothing else new here. I was feeling a little sniffly this week but I am feeling better now. I should go to bed because we will wake up in a few hours.

rainy rainy cold rainy

friday: slept slept slept. it was a very rainy and cold thursday night & friday. for a bit i worked on a 1000 piece puzzle we've started. other than that, i really slept most of the day. some of the participants from my trip combined forces with people on the kibbutz to throw a halloween party friday night. there was candy, spider webs, americans and israelis in costume (i didn't dress up)..it was like the real deal.

yesterday i slept a lot, seeing as its still cold and rainy. for dinner i went to Tarshika, an arabic village near here and got a schnitzle sandwich. quite delicious and has proven to be tasty left overs as well.

this morning our hike to klil was post poned for the second time due to rain. i will go to work in the afterschool program in a few minutes. i believe we start our hebrew lessons again tonight. tomorrow night we'll have a lecture about minorities in israel.

i'm enjoying my time here. the weekends are slow but i've never been one to complain about laying around. i'm going to try to work it out so i can spend some days in the high school and some days working in the afterschool program--this might not work, trying to split the week, but i'm at least hoping to look at the schedules and try.

4+ weeks in Israel...

last Thursday: we had a lecture about security in the middle east by Ofir (a man who works for Oranim). he talked about the history of Israel, recapping the wars and boundary changes over the years. he talked a bit about the west bank and Gaza strip, mostly discussing history and not very much current affairs.

last weekend was hot and slow. i didn't go anywhere. on Sunday i went with people from my program and international people living in Kibbutz Gaton and in Akko to a huge event in Jerusalem. it was a concert by the Idan Rachel Project for MASA participants. i originally wasn't planning to go but my program coordinator was given an extra ticket. (so i went for free, shh it's a secret) the concert was all right. i enjoyed going but wouldn't have been disappointed if i missed it. although, i did bump into four people i knew! three from the camp alonim (in California) and one who worked at Capital Camps for a few summers (she's from England). so that was exciting and I'll likely meet up with some of them again during my stay here.

this week i did not return to the high school, to work in the English classes. instead I've been working in an after school program here on my kibbutz (my program coordinator runs it). the kids are 6-12 and very cute. I've enjoyed working here, but am still not sure were to settle in for the next few months.

on Monday we had a nighttime program at the yehiam castle. a man from the kibbutz took us on a tour through the castle with lanterns. he'd stop from time to time telling stories of the first pioneers at kibbutz yehiam. following the talk, we had a bonfire with tea and sweet treats. the whole evening was great.

Tuesday we met our new ulpan, Hebrew, teacher. we only spent an hour with her, so i don't an opinion yet. we'll be splitting into two classes for Hebrew lessons. they will start next week.

today we went to the high school to see a memorial assembly created by 10th grade students, for yitzak rabin. (every year the 10th graders organize the assembly) the students were talented- they sang, played instruments, and also had a dance component. overall i found the assembly to lack any emotion towards Rabin and was kind of choppy, as it was made up of a lot of short segments.

on Sunday, we're having a hike to Klil. this hike was scheduled for a few weeks ago, but was postponed due to rain. other than that, my weekend will likely be free.

wednesday, october 21

Monday: went back to the high school. it was okay. i felt useless in some of my classes, either because of lack of Hebrew or because the kids were in advanced English and didn't need my help. in the evening, back at the kibbutz, our group had a lecture from a man who has lived on the kibbutz for 30-40 years. it was interesting but many of the information, about the changes in the kibbutz, weren't new to us.

Tuesday: i worked with the construction man on our kibbutz. i lacquered wooden benches, tables, etc. afterwards, i went to Oshra's house. (our program coordinator, she lives on the kibbutz and has three girls ages 15-12-8) Her refrigerator went out so Jackie, another girl on my program, and i helped oshra move the food into a neighbors fridge and then we went with her to buy another. afterwards, we were headed home for the day when people from the kibbutz invited us to the beach. we went and had a lovely late afternoon swim.

Leaving the beach parking lot, we realized we had a flat tire. we were there about, or over, an hour before the tire was fixed. we knew how to change the tire, but we couldn't get the spare from it's spot- under the bottom of the van. our fourth helper, fourth person we waved down, was finally able to show us which pin to pull to get out the spare tire.

today: i went back to work in the high school. i worked with one 9th grade class, that I've been in before. the kids are very smart and in a pretty high level of English. then i went to a class with 8th grade boys; there were only five of them because they're all, more or less, delinquents. this class was less successful because i was a distraction to the boys. not because of my teaching/helping abilities, or lack there of, but because i was an American girl and they just wanted to ask me questions.

then i went back to a 12th grade class i have been to before. they are in the lowest level of English and are also trouble makers. this class went well as there were nearly the number of teachers to students- which seems to be the key to success with these rowdy boys. (there are five boys in the class)

afterwards i went to a 7th grade class. I'd never been there before and particularly liked it. they in the first year of learning English and, in this class, focus on grammar. i found the kids surprisingly smart considering they are new to the language.

meanwhile, i just got home from playing with kids 6-11 years old in a kibbutz after school program. (Oshra, my program coordinator, runs the program) some of the kids new English, which was very helpful and the others tried teaching me. oshra asked if i want to come everyday and do my volunteering with her, but this would mean not going back to the high school. (the after school program is on our kibbutz) I'm still thinking about what i will do. i really enjoy some of my classes in the high school but find myself bored or frustrated in others.

we haven't started our Hebrew lessons again. they are still looking for a part-time teacher, since we will only have it 1-2 times a week. tomorrow we will have another lecture- this one is about the "security situation in the Middle East". I don't know specifically what this means. I know Ofir, a man who works in the Oranim office and has a law background, will be coming to give the talk. Also, volunteers from Kibbutz Gaton (the nearby dancing kibbutz) will be coming to listen as well.

that is all with me. i am healthy and well. we've had a heatwave the past few days, with temperatures in the mid-90's. thankfully this is breaking and today has been humid/muggy but much cooler.

back to school

saturday: early morning beach trip with my friend on the trip Jackie and her host family. they are health nutty parents with an eleven year old girl. we went to a lovely beach north of our kibbutz, very near to the lebanese border. she, the host mother, fed us brown rice and tuna fish--upset she forgot the seaweed, which, she says, would have tasted delicious and brought the meal together. i enjoyed the rice and tuna (i was so hot and hungry after the hour at the beach that i would've eaten anything).

we returned to our kibbutz and joined our group to an outing at Kibbutz Gaton (a nearby kibbutz that produces medical supplies, i think, and has a huge dance program). we watched a beautiful and innovative modern dance performance. i really enjoyed it. the dancers were part of the company, so they were the teachers not students. the audience, however, was clearly filled with dancers. one of which was a daughter of a family friend of cindy/my dad's. i sought her out for a conversation--she is doing a five month dance program at Gaton and arrived about a month ago. she seems to love her program thus far.

in the evening i went, for the first time, to my host family's house. Maayan and Orr are the parents, with Carmel (she's 6) Gilad (he's 3) and Arabel (she's 14 months). Carmel was very excited for me to come and is anxious for me to quickly learn english. she immediately became my teacher--bringing me things and naming them in hebrew, running me around their apartment to name more things, opening up books and pointing to the pictures, etc. she knows only a few words in english, not enough for a conversation. after a little while, gilad opened up and he too began teaching me by naming things. the parents were very nice and spoke good english. i stayed there for about three hours just talking and playing with the kids.

today we had our first day of volunteering. we went to a high school on Kibbutz Evron. Kibbutz Evron is a kibbutz about fifteen minutes southwest of yehiam. the high school, grades six through twelfth, has students from other kibbutz's and the nearby towns/cities. it used to be that the high school was all, then mostly, children from various kibbutz's but not anymore. now the kids from kibbutz's are the minority.

we toured the school, which is made up of several separate small buildings, all with doors leading to the outside (like a motel, none with indoor hallways). we also saw a bit of the kibbutz, including their dining hall. the dining hall was large and set up like a cafeteria where you get a tray and have a variety of choices then go to the cashier. (we didn't eat, just looked)

the head of the english department is Betsy. she has been living in israel for nearly 25 years and hails from chicago (a northern suburb i believe, she told me which one but i forget). another english teacher is from philadelphia and the other two english teachers we met were from israel. (perhaps there are other english teachers we did not meet, i don't know).

i worked one period in a class with Betsy, alongside another volunteer in my group. she had each of us sit in specific places in the classroom, next to children who usually need help and extra attention. the kids were in 9th grade, so about thirteen years old. there were about 25-30 kids in the class. they were studying past progressive and past simple. thankfully i actually knew a bit about this and was able to help the students with their worksheet. i was not looking forward to teaching english, but it did go much better than i expected. although, i am still doubtful that i will enjoy teaching english nearly everyday for five months. tonight we have a meeting about volunteering and creating a schedule, perhaps a rotation, so we'll see how that goes.