Sar El II

The second week of Sar El was much different from the first. It rained a lot all week so we didn't go to the outpost too much. We mostly worked in the kitchen. Washing dishes and cutting thousands of tomatoes and cucmbers isn't too exciting but since we were all there doing it together, the time passed pretty quickly.

The third week was back to beautiful weather, so back to the outpost. We finished with the sand and rocks, and then put up camoflouge nets and these like reflective screens. After the week inside it was really nice to see and feel the sun again.  And after the week in the kitchen together we were also much closer as a group.

One other, kind of important,  thing about Sar El was the evening activities. Everyone night we did somthing. Either it was just for fun to get to know each other and play around or it was informative, like about history or about the IDF, or it was about "issues" relevant to Israel now, like Gilad Shalit or the image of Israel in the media. Most nights it was pretty interesting, especially because everyone in our group came from such different backgrounds that people had ideas that you had never heard of, or thought of, before. The last night we finished up with a Purim party and scavenger hunt. By then everyone was comfortable being stupid/silly so it was a lot of fun.

Overall, it was a good experience. Met cool people, did some different stuff, saw more of Israel.

Sar El I

After two weeks of nothing but relaxing and taking it easy, last week I started Sar-El. It's a volunteer program where you go and do some work for the army for 1,2 or 3 weeks. We have uniforms and stay at the base we are working on during the week.  Because we are staying on the base and working with regular soldiers, you also get a feeling for army life, that might be more realistic than Gadna (the week of the army we did during the ulpan).

There's all different kinds of jobs/projects that Sar-El groups do, but our group is young (17-45 yrs old), so we have a lot of physical work. Its a little bit hard to explain what we are doing but basically, we are filling these blocks with sand and using sand bags to make one of the outposts safer (hopefully) for the soldiers working in the bunkers and trenches there.  It feels good to doing some physical work and be outside. This project is also nice because we can see the soldiers we are helping and we can see the progress we make every day, as opposed to Sar-El  groups that are counting bullets or repacking medical kits. My group itself is pretty interesting too. There's 14 of us from all over the world. South Africa, Holland, Germany, Holland, England, Australia, Scotland, and 5 from the US.

By the end of the first week we were all starting to losen up and getting friendlier and getting into the routine of working together, so I'm looking forward to week 2.

Mom in Israel II

It was too hard to keep posting while Mom was here (plus, i think most people that read this were getting her emails about what we were doing anyway).  It was really nice to have her here and show her around. I really should have paid more attention to the tour guides when we took trips with the ulpan or on brithright because we went to a lot of the same places. It was fun though to point out the things that I liked or thought were interesting. It was funny to see the things that I have gotten used to in the past 5 months that were weird and different for her.

Unfortunately for her, she's back in the cold winter weather at work and I'm still here enjoying the sun and relaxing.

Mom in Israel I

Mom's here! It is great to see her. 

The past few days we have been driving all over the north of Israel. First day we went to Rosh HaNikra with my friend from the ulpan to see the grottos. The caves were really cool and the water was so blue there.

Rosh HaNikra

Mom and me at Rosh HaNikra

It was such a nice day that we decided to go take a walk on the beach and watch the sunset.

Then then today we drove around in the Golan Heights a little bit and then went to Tsfat.

Tsfat

Tomorrow we are going to the kibbutz. I think for Mom's whole trip, this is the day I am most looking forward to. I'm excited for her to see where I was all this time and meet some people that she has been hearing about.

London

Last week in London was a lot of fun. We walked around and went to all the major spots.  The last time I was in London we did a lot in like two days. This time I could go back to the places I liked and spend a little more time there and see some new things. The two best parts: The Churchill Museum and seeing Wicked. I was really surprised by the Churchill Museum but it was really interesting and really well done. I would definitely suggest going there. Going to shows is always a treat and it was fun to go to a big musical and I had been wanting to see Wicked for a while.  I haven't had a chance to get the pictures off of my camera but i'll put some up soon.

I had a great time in London but it was amazing how quickly I missed the kibbutz and everyone there. When I got back to Israel last night, I got the warmest homecoming from my friends here. I was really nice. I was only gone for four days but we treated it (and it felt) like I had been away for much longer.

Now on to the next phase of my post-ulpan plan...this afternoon I picked Mom up for the airport. It is great to see her! I'm excited to start doing/seeing stuff with her tomorrow.

It's Over...

It really hasn't sunk in yet that the ulpan is over. It was an amazing five months. Things got a little crazy somtimes but there was no other place I would have rather been. I learned a lot, met a lot of great people. Thanks to everyone who made this experience what it was.  It was definitely not what I expected it to be but I wouldn't change any of it.

I decided not to leave Israel right away, which says a lot how much I have enjoyed my time here so far. Here's the plan for the next couple of months...First I'm taking a quick trip to London with a friend from the ulpan. When he goes home to Brazil, I will come back to Israel. Then, Mom comes the next day to hang out and travel for a week. After that, I have some time to stay with friends and travel around Israel before I do Sar-El for three weeks. (Sar-El is a volunteer program on IDF bases.) Then Purim and packing up and heading back by the beginning of April.

Even though I am sad that the ulpan is over, I know there's a lot of people I will still see and there's a lot to look forward to in the next two months.

See you soon, Ramat Yohanan Ulpan 77

Tu B'Shevat, Evan, Preparing for the End

It's been a while and it feels like a lot has been going on. There was a couple times I meant to post something but just never got around to it.

So we had Tu B'Shevat...We took a trip to the Golan Heights. We went to Gamla, which is kind of like the Masada of the north.  I really liked it there, there was a little bit of everything...history, nature, a cool memorial .  Then we went to plant some trees with other olim hadashim (new immigrants to Israel). And then we went to Hamat Gader, a hot spring. I had never been to a real, working hot spring before but I was surprised at how huge it was and how it looked like a giant swimming pool. I imagined it to be more natural feeling.

Then I saw Evan in Tel Aviv. It was great to see him. It was fun to hear about his trip and the parts that he liked the best.  It was a quick visit but i'm really glad he came to Israel and that we were able to meet up.

At the ulpan we have been wrapping things up. We had our last days of work and school. Started to pack and clean up our rooms. Prepare for the test. We've been going through all the motions of finishing the program but it didn't hit me until last night, at our final cemermony, that we are really leaving.  I definitely have mixed feelings about it but it is definitely going to be sad to see everyone go their seperate ways.

Jerusalem

This week we went to Jerusalem.  I don't know what my deal was that day but I really didn't pay a lot of attention to the tour guides. I feel kind of bad about it now, like I kind of wasted the opportunity to hear cool things. 


On the way down we stopped at the IDF tank museum. We climbed up on the tanks.  (That's about all I can give you about that.)

First stop in Jerusalem was,  Jabal Mukabbir.  It's high up so it's a nice look out point.  From there we were able to see the dome of the rock and the old city, part of the Israeli West Bank barrier, the dead sea and into Jordan. The part I thought was most interesting was seeing the separation wall. Its one of those things that you know exists and you hear about but when you actually see it you think, "Oh shit, it's real."

You can see the separation wall on the right side of the photo.

After we took some pictures and talked a little bit about what we were looking at, we went to this "time elevator" ride/movie thing about the history of Jerusalem and walked around a little bit.

Then we went to the Kotel (Western Wall, Wailing Wall). We had some time to go to the wall, put in a note, pray, look around, do whatever you wanted to do there. That day there was going to be a ceremony for soldiers who had just finished basic training and were going into Golani, one of the more well known combat units in the IDF. We didn't see the actual ceremony but everything was set up, the new guns were lined up, all the soldiers and their families were there.  It definitely added a different element to being at the wall, especially because soon that will be some of our guys from the ulpan. 

Evan is in Israel on Birthright and was in Jerusalem the same day so we thought we might be able to see each other. Actually, I was arriving to the Kotel area, just as he was leaving that but we weren't able to meet up because of the schedules of our groups.  Kind of weird (and a little frustrating) to be so close but not see each other.  We'll catch up with each other when he is in Tel Aviv though.

From there we went into these tunnels under the Kotel. (This is the part I wish i was paying more attention to.) We walked down along the wall but underground. The wall actual continues several stories below what is now ground level. Down there is supposed to be where the most holy spot is, that we can get to.  One pretty cool thing that the tour guide pointed out is that the Jewish world in the diaspora prays towards Israel, if you are in Israel you pray toward Jerusalem, if you are in Jerusalem you pray toward the Kotel, if you are at the Kotel you pray toward the place that we were standing.

We finished the day walking around on Ben Yehuda Street.

It was a pretty long day, we saw/did a lot of things.
It was fun, but next time I'll pay better attention

Final Test Part I: Oral Test

This morning we had the oral part of the test for the end of the ulpan. We have been preparing for it for weeks, so of course I have been obsessing and worrying about it for about that long. We wrote stories to tell and practiced the questions that they might ask. The silly thing is that while I am nervous and going over my story a million times, this doesn't mean anything. It's not even like I am an olim (someone who moved here), so it's not so so important that I know Hebrew well. But still, I can't help getting worked up.

So, it's test morning and I'm all good until the women giving the test shows up. Now my heart starts racing. The first girl to finish, came running out, jumped on my teacher and was so excited. I think that made me more nervous. Finally its my turn. I walk into the office and it's hot! In case you weren't sweating before, now you will be. They start asking questions. It's going ok but I need to ask them to repeat something. I start to tell my story but I messed up some places, need to go back and say one line again. I leave feeling like eh, it's ok but I could have done better. I had that feeling in my stomach after a test where you start to prepare for the worst and are scared to know the score. 

In a couple minutes though that wore off and i had so much energy. Like bouncing off the walls, running around in circles, talking really fast... Six months without a test (probably the longest of my life), I kind of forgot what it does to your head. 

This afternoon we got our scores.  I'm relieved that it's over and want to forget the story and never think about it again. But now I feel like i have no excuse not to speak Hebrew more...which is good, maybe that's what i needed to get me talking.

Part II: Written Test in two weeks...