Shalom!

Yesterday marked the end of my first week in Israel so in the interest of keeping a promise made to friends, family and myself before I came, I am currently sitting in my sweltering room and trying to remember everything that I have experienced thus far. Thankfully I have the schedules for both the Opening Seminar and the first week in front of me so I won't have to rely fully on my own memory. So let's begin at the beginning. After enduring slight delays, getting hot tea poured in my lap by a flight attendant and a stopover in Istanbul I arrived in Tel Aviv a little worse for the wear but still very excited to get to the Israel Experience offices in Jerusalem and meet the other participants. On the suggestion of the program coordinators I took a Sherut (10 person shared taxi) from the airport to Jerusalem and arrived at the offices for check in. Once everyone had arrived and stored their luggage, we had an opening ceremony overlooking Jerusalem and drove to Ein Gedi (a desert oasis located west of the Dead Sea) where we would spend the next four days playing ice breaker games and getting an overview of the program. The next morning we set out for a hike in the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve that included beautiful views of the desert, waterfalls, and a dip in the pools for those of us without 1st and 2nd degree burns (ie not me). I hear it was very refreshing. That evening we celebrated our first Shabbat together and reflected on everything that lay ahead. Here I'll be skipping ahead a little to Sunday when we left Ein Gedi and finally got to see our apartments for the first time. Though I absolutely love the people I will be living with (especially my roommate Amanda!) I was initially taken aback by the state of the apartment upon arrival. It was dirty, messy, and it was clear that last year's participants had just left a bunch of random crap that they did not feel like dealing with. Luckily, my roommates were down for an intense cleaning party which definitely improved the apartment's livability and reduced the likelihood of an impending meltdown on my part. Since then we have gotten our bus passes, met one of last year's fellows who will be mentoring us, gone to a movie, had one on ones with our madricha (counselor), gone out to bars for the first time and participated in a giant scavenger hunt. I was also able to reconnect with one of the soldiers that was on my Birthright trip who just so happens to live in the same city as me! Today I went to the school I will be teaching at and met the head teacher who is both fluent in English and super nice. On Sunday, we have a trip to Zichron (a town located at the southern end of the Carmel mountain range overlooking the Mediterranean Sea) where we will tour a winery and go to the beach. I'm sure I have left out a ton of things that I have also done in the last week but since you probably stopped reading 10 sentences ago I will stop here and catch you next time. Thanks for following along on this journey!