Fun stories

Happpy Halloween everyone! halloween is pretty much non-existent here although on halloween we found an american bar and got a good taste of home. it was actually a weird feeling having been away from the american culture for so long.

I can't believe it has been 2 months already! We have really become a part of this town. There is a little convenient store around the corner from us, that we go to for just about every little thing and any little thing we need. The man behind the counter knows us well by now. Just the other day my friend was in the store and she realized she didn't have enough money with her, so he said don't worry just pay me tomorrow! Later that evening I asked him if he had any markers I could buy, he said no but he reached into his pocket, took out a marker and told me to bring it back when I was done. Also, just yesterday as we were waiting for the bus from work a woman asked me, does this bus go to tzomat sirkin? (a part of Petach Tikva) and I knew that it did, i I had given this woman advice like a local, and in hebrew! 

We only have 3 more weeks left here. I'm not ready to leave, i really love my roommates and my apartment. More than anything i love my job. The kids at work are amazing. Every day i learn more and more about their backgrounds and why they act the way they act. It's amazing to see the changes in them and the good kids that they really are. Knowing all of their names, playing games with them, serving them dinner because we don't know if they'll have food to eat when they get home, and hugging them goodbye and seeing the smiles on their faces is seriously the most fulfilling thing. A lot of the kids have so many problems and the other madrichot (counselors) and i just remind them that we love them, and that we care about them and that's all we can do. The other day we brought out the box of costumes from the back and all the kids started dressing up and jumping around. It's so great to see the smiles on their faces, you would never know about their situations with the big smiles they carry most of the time. The kids represent such innocence and it's amazing to be a part of their lives. 

This last shabbat, the boys next door and i did our normal shabbat ritual of walking to the park- it's such a pretty park and on shabbat all of the families are there. It's fun to see the kids and their families but it definitely makes me miss home. When i'm there i always think about how these kids will think back to their childhood and think about this park and the shabbats they spent there, like i think about the games of kick-the-can Greg and I played with the friends around the neighborhood. 

The elections are tomorrow and it will be very weird to be over here for them. Tomorrow will be a day for history and i'm going to do everything i can to find a tv and find out who my next president is!

Happy voting everyone! -xoxoSteph

October 28, 2008- Better late then never

HELLO!

So if you can't tell by the title I am starting this blog a bit late but i realized how great an idea it was. So basically I'm going to try and cram 2 months worth of information into one post, hopefully not too long post. 

Here is a copy of the first email i wrote home after about a week of living here. 

Hey fam,

So I thought I’d let you in on what’s been happening this past week. The first 3 days we spent in Givat Hiviva- a little kibbutz in the middle of israel. Orientation was very long and a lot of uncomfortable trying to make friends, you know. I definitely have learned not to be shy. 

On Wednesday we went to our towns, or placements for the first trimester- aka Israel Experience (Petach Tikva for me). Wednesday evening we all had pizza with our madrich (Ohad) and just hung out. In our town we only have 10-year course participants. Names- Stephanie, Nufar, Claire, Lauren, Rachel, Marcie, (boys) Noam, Noah, Mike, Max. Nufar and Noam are from Baltimore and went to Beth Tfiloh ironically. Claire and Lauren are from London, yes England. Rachel is from Tennessee and her best friend from camp Marcie is from Texas. Noah Mike and Max are all from Chicago. We definitely have a diverse town.  Petach Tikva is cute, has things we need, and is also veryyy dull. Whats nice though is that we’re slowly becoming a little family here. Thursday night we even cooked dinner, made the table and had a nice little dinner for 10 in the boys’ apartment. Our Madrich (counselor) Ohad is also great, he really cares about us and is always asking if everything okay or if there’s anything we need to talk about. It’s nice to have an adult who truly cares. Today even he went with Lauren, Noah, and I to our work orientation and showed us the bus system and everything. 

 On Friday we all went to Ein Gedi (all of Section 3) to spend Shabbat. It was nice, I’m adjusting well but it definitely is scary coming to a place like this with no “best friend”, no “security blanket”. This is such a growing experience, sometimes I just think about the fact that I’m here for sooo much longer and absolutely freak out, I hope that when it’s time to leave I won’t want to, but I keep thinking how amazing it will feel when I do leave, how accomplished I will feel.

Late last night we drove back to Petach Tikva and now, we’re here for 3 months. Today Lauren Noah and I went to our new work where we met with our “boss” and talked. Tomorrow we start. It’s a place about 15 minutes from us by bus that they call “Kadima”. We will work everyday (except Fridays and Saturdays) from 1 to 7 (not including traveling time). The place is really interesting and I think will be a great experience. It’s a place for kids to come after school that come from “broken homes”. Some of the kids come from really bad homes, one even had his father murder his mother. As was described to me, it’s a place for these kids to feel comfortable and like normal kids who have Madrichim (councelors) or just plain adults that actually care about them. There, the kids have homework time, they have play time, they are served lunch, dinner. I will be a Madricha for 7^th grade age kids (more or less that age). I can see it being a a great opportunity, I’m mainly worried about my lack of Hebrew, it will be hard for me to communicate with them and be there for them, but what a better way to be forced to learn. I’m tempted to go get my Hebrew-english dictionary and just sit down and read. I’ve definitely been embarrassing myself and speaking as much as I can. 

Please write back. I will continue to write as much as possible but it will take some time for me to settle in. This is the first time I’m truly living away from home (as you know) and I’m all the way here in Israel with no security blanket. I feel like I just went to college on speed haha.  Really though, I need to get used to living alone, well not ALONE, but without a mom and dad to cook for me, and a brother to fight with and help me with my homework. Miss you guys already and can't wait to hear back from you!

MUCH love-Steph

Two months later I can tell you I'm doing amazingly. In a quick overview I will tell you about the past month. For Rosh Hashana I went with my roommate Nufar to visit her family in the Negev. Her family is Sephardic and extremely warm and hospital. For Yom Kippur I went with a friend to the Youth Hostel (the Judaean Youth hostel my program owns) in Jerusalem to visit some friends. During the day some friends and I walked 2 and a half hours to the Kotel- Western Wall, mid-fast. The experience there was so spiritual and amazing, the place was absolutely filled with people and when it came time for break-fast, people were handing out food and drinks. For Sukkot I stayed in Petach Tikva (where I live) and we all hosted friends from other towns and made a really nice dinner, it was really sweet. Simcha Torah was definitely the most adventurous of my trips this past month. Me and 3 girls and the guys next door decided with Erev Simcha Torah approaching to jump on a bus to Tzvat. When we got there we had no place to sleep (we brought a tent in case) and no food. We ended up staying at a cheap hostel for the night. That evening we went to a random synagogue and sang and danced with israelis until we were out of breath, and then we sang and danced some more. After we realized we had no plans for food we walked to another synagogue where we were told they were giving out food. As we got there we realized we were too late. We began walking slowly back to our hostel hanging out heads and woman stopped us on the street and asked what we were doing and where we were eating. Needless to say she invited us into her home for dinner. It was a truly amazing experience, I had never felt such warmth from a random stranger, the conversation was good, the food was GREAT, and it was a fantastic evening. 

Now for the fun part here are a few pictures for the past 2 months- 

Greg and I the morning of my departure in New York

The 10 of us living in Petach Tikva and our Madrich, Ohad

Break-Fast at the kotel as Yom Kippur comes to an end

My friend Jamie and I at the Kotel 

Some friends and i at the Kineret for a music festival

A picture my friend took of myself, still on the Kineret

Me, Claire and some of the kids painting at work

Anways, This post is getting a little long, it's getting late here, and i have work tomorrow. I will try and add in some random old stories in my future posts that way I can continue to catch you all up. 

MUCH love-Steph