-----The title of this post is a joke. It is hug a Jew day, so I decided to crack myself up by using my joke way too many times. On happy occasions, you say Chag Sameach, so its a little play on words. I know, I'm dumb. You don't have to say it.-----
Well the time has come. I am leaving Karmiel tomorrow afternoon. Its been a great 3 months, with an awesome last two weeks. Here's what I did.
Work with Host Dad-
I went to work with my host dad... he is a salesman for imported American baby formula in Arab villages all around the north of Israel. It was really cool to meet lots of arabs in the real world, unlike our usual staged meetings. We were treated everywhere we went with lots of hospitality and friendliness. Everyone I met was very excited to have a chance to practice their English, and only one decided to talk to me about the importance of learning about Palestine. It was a bit of an awkward moment when I heard Palestine, but we had a nice conversation nonetheless. I had lots of fun travelling around the north all day and seeing lots of villages and cities. We got to talk a lot, about his work and other things, and by the end of the day we were very tired.
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| A typical Arab Village House. They start with one level. And as the family grows (children get married) more floors are built and each couple gets a floor. |
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| Cool view while driving. |
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| Afula, one of the Jewish cities that Amir also works in. |
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| More Afula, some grafitti I liked |
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| A Arab village castle. The house in the center was HUGE! |
Paratrooper Ceremony-
Two weekends ago, I went to Jerusalem for a ceremony for a friend of mine from GUCI, Sam Kahn. He made aliyah and was having a ceremony to recieve his gun along with the rest of the new Paratrooper Recruits. It was an incredible ceremony at the kotel with tons of people. We were very proud of him, and after the ceremony we celebrated with some delicious food.
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| Paratrooper Flags with Israeli Flags |
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| His Legal Name in Israel is now Shmuel, so we made a sign |
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| Sam is always serious. |
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| His unit. |
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| Were so proud. |
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| Ori and other people from GUCI came to support, and sport some new winter fashions. |
Tsur Hadassa -
After the ceremony, I spent the rest of the weekend with family friends in Tzur Hadassa, a community right outside of Jerusalem. It was an incredible relaxing weekend. Great shabbat dinner with some of their friends, lots of fun with their two kids, Tehila and Yedidia, and a trip to visit some beautiful mosaics. We were very lucky to see the newly uncovered mosaics, because since then, they have been covered up again to protect the beauty. We also all made our way to Jerusalem saturday night for a Debbie Friedman memorial concert. The concert and havdallah were moving and I ran into tons of people I knew, including my next door neighbor from St. Louis, lots of GUCI friends, and Emily (Bruder) Pearlman, a longtime family friend. The evening was a nice end to a great, busy weekend!
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| Absolutely beautiful nature reserve where we saw the mosaics |
A 360 Stop Motion View of the Surroundings when we saw the mosaics
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| Yedidia was a trooper all day! |
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| The mosaics- well some of them |
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| And some ruins. Its amazing how perfect the columns are. |
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| Wild fennel. |
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| Tehila and a friend in amazement of the horse walking by. |
Last Day in Majd El Krum-
This past week we had our last day at the Arab Elementary school. It was a great day of teaching 6th graders about emotions. We had lots of fun activities with them including face painting. After teaching, the staff at the school thanked us for our work with some delicious falafel all around. Although stressful at times, I was really happy to get to work in the Arab school, because we got to see something that many people don't have the chance to. I now understand more in depth how the arab villages work, and through friendly conversation with some of the teachers, I understand more of why the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is so hard to overcome. The things I learn during this volunteering opportunity will stay with me for life.
Trip to Akko-
For our last wednesday trip, we spent the day in Akko. We had a great guide who taught us a lot of history. We visited a Mosque, a Bathhouse, a Prison where Hagana members were held and some killed before and during the war of Independence. We spent lots of time in the market, ate delicious hummus, saw the beautiful coast, and ended the day meeting with participants of a leadership gap year for Israelis. They are doing lots of things just like us, and we had a chance to meet and talk with them about why we are all doing what we are doing. It was great to meet a group of Israeli teens just like us!
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| We had a beautiful day. |
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| Inside the Al Jazeer mosque... just one man praying. |
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| I was ready to jump in. |
Finishing High School Tutoring-
Today I finished my time at the high school, but the second to last time was really the peak. Our main teacher was sick for the day, so all of a sudden two of us were in charge of a class. We had to give practice english assignments, take role, and it was a crazy situation to be in. Being just one year out of school ourselves, and after the assigned work was done and there was an hour and a half left, we made a decision. We didn't tell the students to leave, but we didn't tell them they had to stay. So eventually all the kids left and we were able to go home early. Don't worry, the teacher was okay with our decision, which just goes to show how much more relaxed the schools in Israel are.
Nazareth-
6 of us took a day trip on Friday to Nazareth. It's a huge tourist town, and so we decided to take a look for ourselves. It is the biggest Arab city in Israel, with a mostly Christian population, and so we had lots of fun visiting churches, the market, mosques, a synagogue, and lots of other holy sites. The biggest, and most beautiful church was the Church of The Annunciation, where Mary was told she would be the mother of Jesus. It was raining all day, so at one point we took a break in a very cool, partially off the beaten path coffee shop. We were the only people there, but as you can see in the pictures, it was a great escape from the rain and reminded Ben and I a little of Dahab, from our trip to Egypt.
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| The beautiful, yet dreary, view that I woke up to |
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| Nazareth |
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| There are beautiful mosaic works all around the Church of The Annunciation |
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| This piece was given by the United States |
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| Some friendly linen salesmen |
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| Our Rainy Day Escape/ Coffee House |
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| Just one part of an amazing spice mill and shop in Nazareth. It's famous. |
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| A bit like Christmas in July, there was a Ramadan sale in February. Ramadan was in the fall. |
Last Saturday With Host Family-
I spent one last official day with my host family, although I plan on coming back to visit. After a little shoe shopping trip with the girls, we had a huge lunch and spent the afternoon talking and watching movies. We had lots of fun, and it was great to leave knowing that I always have a place in Karmiel.
Final Dinners-
Saturday night, we treated Galit to dinner out a a Italian restaurant in Karmiel. It was a nice evening with great food.
Sunday night, we had a banquet dinner with all the people who have made our time in Karmiel so special. It was lots of fun to honor everyone, especially Galit, who has done everything for us over the past three months. We had a chance to say goodbye to all of our families and friends from Karmiel, but with promises of meeting again sometime soon.
So here I am. Sitting in an empty room wrapping up the time in Karmiel. It has been awesome, but I think I am ready to move on. I already miss the city and people who I have become so close with in such a short time, but I know I will return. Tomorrow we pack the bus for Jerusalem, where we will have two seminars.
1. End of Options Seminar- all three options will return to Jerusalem and meet up once again to find closure on the first half of the program. We are all excited to see each other as one group once again, but also excited for...
2. Yachad (Together) Seminar- we will meet the southern hemisphere participants from Australia and S. Africa. We will be spending the rest of our program with them, so we are very excited to welcome new additions to our group.
I will probably not update until I am settled into Machon in a week and a half, so be on the lookout.
Miss you all back home!
-Ethan
