Where to start? So much has happened since my last update. I have moved out of Rehovot thus ending the second and largest part of OTZMA, spent a week gallivanting around and exploring Jerusalem, travelled to Amsterdam with two of my good guy friends, and started my last part of OTZMA which includes interning in Jerusalem. So, let me start from the beginning...
The End of Part II – Full Time Volunteering in Rehovot
Saying goodbye to Rehovot was hard. I fell in love with the small city and with the kids I volunteered with every day, especially those at the Matnas (community center). When I did finally say goodbye, the kids were quite upset and asked me multiple times to stay with them and not move to Jerusalem. It was really touching to see how much of an impact I had on the kids and how much they cared. It was definitely a great end to a huge piece of my experience on OTZMA.
The Start of Vacation – Exploring Jerusalem
After Part II, I had a two-week vacation for Passover. The first week I spent living at a friend’s apartment in Jerusalem and just wandering around and getting to know the city. Every day I went on long walks to familiarize myself with the different areas. I walked to the shuk (large, cheap market), the central bus station, explored ben yehudah street (main shopping street), got lost in the old city (a must for everyone who lives in Jerusalem), and much more. Needless to say, I now have a great sense of the city despite my terrible sense of direction.
In addition, I spent the time reconnecting with friends that I had not seen as much as I wanted. For one, I saw Reut (my old tour guide) a few times. For those of you who know her (aka my family and campers), you know how much she means to me and how incredible she is as a person. One night we grabbed a beer at a local bar and another night I had dinner at her place with her and her boyfriend. It was really nice to see her and catch up after such a long time.
The Second Half of Vacation – Amsterdam
Amsterdam was nothing less than incredible. I have always wanted to see a city with canals as I think they are beautiful, and man was I not let down. I loved walking around the city and I thought it was just so incredible. I travelled with two of the boys from OTZMA and we had a great time. We saw a lot of sites including the Van Gough Museum, a science museum (guess whose choice that was?), the botanical gardens, the Anne Frank House, went on a canal cruise and more. We did a lot of walking and saw a lot of the city. Overall, it was an incredible trip and something I am so happy to have done.
The Final Part of OTZMA – Interning in Jerusalem
Last Sunday, I moved into my new apartment in Jerusalem in the K’far Studentim (the student’s village). We live in the apartments for the Hebrew University students in a part of Jerusalem called Mount Scopus. While it is a little farther outside of the city then I would like (about a 40 minute bus ride), it is a really nice apartment. There are 5 bedrooms with a living room, kitchen, two bathrooms, and a shower. That means I once again have my own bedroom, so I really cannot complain. Plus, the apartment is really nice so I am excited to be living there, despite the commute.
After moving in on Sunday, I started work on Monday. Since I decided to do an internship completely outside of engineering (I really do want a break from it this year), I chose to have two internships, which is uncommon. In fact I am the only OTZMAnik with two internships. My schedule is as follows:
Sunday – Jerusalem Open House - 10:00 - 4:00
Monday - Botanical Gardens - 10:30-2:30
Tuesday - Jerusalem Open House - 10:00 - 4:00
Wednesday - Botanical Gardens - 10:30 - 2:30
Thursday - Jerusalem Open House - 10:00 - 4:00
With the buses to and from work it ends up keeping me quite busy (the botanical gardens is about 20 minutes farther than the Jerusalem Open House). At the Jerusalem Open House, which is the only gay center in Jerusalem, I am running the events for the English Speakers Group (which meets every other week) and doing some fundraising. Even though I have just started I can tell I am going to really enjoy my time there. I have met a lot of interesting people and am really excited to work for such a great organization. The reason I am so passionate about the organization is because someone from the Jerusalem Open House came to The University of Michigan to speak about its start and its existence back when I was a senior in college. I remember the event was during midterms and I had to really convince myself that I needed a break from studying and that I had to go to the speaker in order to stay sane and do something I wanted that was not studying. I even decided to go alone as to really just give myself a break from studying for midterms and do something for myself. Well, needless to say the speaker was incredible and really moved me. Not to mention, I met Abby at that event and over two years later she is still a huge part of my life.
At the botanical gardens I am doing mostly weeding, with some planting. So far I have worked mainly in the Australian section of the gardens which is cool because it is right next to the soon to open butterfly center. While the work is mainly solitary and quiet, I do it in a beautiful surrounding and it allows me to be outside getting my hands dirty (something I really wanted from my time in Jerusalem).
The Final Part of OTZMA – My Life in Jerusalem
In addition to interning, I am really enjoying living in Jerusalem. Over the past 8 months I have made quite a few friends on other programs. Most of my friends are HUC students (Reform Rabbinical students whose first year of school is in Jerusalem) and Pardes students (a Jewish studies program located in Jerusalem). While both programs end at the end of May, it is really nice to be living near so many of my new friends for this month. Plus, they have been showing me the secret gems of Jerusalem like the Iraqi section of the shuk (a WAY cheaper section of the shuk), great bars, incredible restaurants including the best hummus in town, etc. Further, I am going to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaoot (Israel Independence Day) with them at a Barbeque one of the HUC students is hosting on for the holiday. My roommate Lauren and I are bringing a tofu quinoa dish that we hope goes over well!
Overall, I cannot complain. My life is incredible and only seems to be getting better. Hope all is well back at home too.
Miss you all.
Jenn
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
OTZMA -- The Life Changing Experience
One summer when working at camp, I was sitting with an older staff who I had grown up with and always admired for his outgoing personality and strong connection to the Jewish World. It was the beginning of the summer and we were catching up about our lives outside of camp. I'm not sure what I was telling him, but he started telling me about the life changing year he had just had abroad on a program called OTZMA. At the time I just kind of thought it was cool that he had such an amazing year. I didn't think much more of it as I knew my path...graduate college, get my masters, get my PhD, go work in Industry, go work as a Professor, and of course raise a family along the way. However when I later realized that I wanted to take a year off to make sure I didn't burn myself out as a student in what would be close to a decade in Universities, I began to think back to that conversation. Was his experience really as life changing as he said? I didn't doubt it as many of the Jewish and Israel experiences I had up to that point in my life were life changing. So after much research, I signed up for OTZMA and was ready to embark on MY life changing experience.
When I got to Jerusalem on the first day of the program back in August, many people were talking about how they had also heard OTZMA was life changing and that they were excited to see what that really meant for them. However, we were all a little apprehensive of the idea. We figured it might be like a really good movie. The more people that tell you a movie is the best movie of the year and is just so mind blowing, the more likely you are to be let down as your expectations are just too high. Like many of my OTZMAnikim, I was nervous my expectations were set to high. However, we OTZMAnikim were ready to find out for own.
As the year began we all started to get comfortable with each other and in the country. We were having an amazing time and were really enjoying the experience, but many of us were still unsure about the 'life changing' aspect of OTZMA. However, as we hit Part II of OTZMA and moved in smaller groups all across the country (as you know, I moved to Rehovot), many of my friends started to have their 'ahhh' moment. For one of my friends it was during a closing session of a really meaningful educational seminar where she realized how she wanted to incorporate her degree in child psychology into her growing questions of why the Ethiopian immigrants, Israeli children, and American children all differed so much in their upbringing. For another friend it was when we were talking about Israel Advocacy with a foreign correspondent and a Foreign Journalist that she realized her degree in Public Relations would be used to do Israel Advocacy work when she returned to the states. For a third friend, we were at a Building Future Leadership conference when he realized he wanted to create a yearlong program for kids who just graduated high school and wanted to spend a year in Israel before college and that his program would focus entirely on Israel Advocacy. As my friends started to have these life changing 'ahhh' moments where OTZMA literally changed the course of their life, I was still waiting for mine. Don't get me wrong, I was having the most amazing experience and have loved OTZMA, but I wasn't sure OTZMA was life changing. I figured maybe I would need to look back on OTZMA after finishing the year to see the real life changing effect.
However, little did I know that was not correct at all. A few weeks ago, I had my life changing 'ahhh' moment. Jerry Silverman, the CEO of the Jewish Federations was visiting Israel and asked specifically to speak to OTZMA. I don't know what I expected of the breakfast meeting, but what I got was so much more than I could have ever known. He did not lecture us but instead he asked us what our end dream was for life. He did not want the typical answer of "I want to work at a job I love and provide for a family", but instead for us to really think outside the box. One girl said, "I want to start a yoga studio that works with Palestians and Israelis and helps bridge the gap through Yoga". Another girl said, "I want to find a way to teach gender studies to elementary school kids before they start having any bias". He never asked how we wanted to get where we were going as that is clearly an unanswerable question for many, if not all, of us. However he did point us towards organizations that either could help us with our dream or have been working towards similar goals already.
I did not speak up at the table. Instead I sat and took in all the dreams of my fellow OTZMAnikim, most of which involved working in the Jewish world or for the Jewish people. Even without speaking up, I did realize something really huge. I realized that I was super confused. While I know I love engineering and I know how passionate I have always been about it, I began to think that maybe I am equally or even more passionate about working in the Jewish world. I began to realize that I shouldn't mitigate the fact that I have always loved working with kids in a Jewish Environment and that I have always loved programming at camp and teaching at school. I am really passionate about being an effective Israel Advocate and about making sure the American Jewry are doing their part to support Israel (an idea that has been largely strengthened because of this year on OTZMA).
While this talk began my confusion, the rest of the day just continued it. Later in the day I met with Americans who were on a trip to Israel because they are on the board of the Jewish Federation or are very involved in the Jewish Federation. During the afternoon I attended a session entitled, "The Israel Engagement Spiral" which talked about how American Jews trips to Israel can often be seen as a journey up a spiral staircase. A recent study showed that before going on a trip to Israel, only 19% of young adult American Jews have a 'high level of attachment' to Israel while 42% of them have a 'low level of attachment' to Israel. Once going on one trip (normally birthright or a teen trip) 34% of Young Adult Americans will have a 'high level of attachment' to Israel and only 17% will have a 'low level of attachment' to Israel. The study continued to show that those with 2 or more trips to Israel are even more firmly attached to Israel. During the session we talked about these statistics and the older visiting adults in the room asked all of the people currently on a long duration Israel trip (like myself) about our stories. They were seriously interested in hearing our past and our current connection to Israel. It was at this point that I realized not only do I love working in the Jewish world, but I am NEEDED. My story needs to be heard and my ideas, having recently been here and learned so much, are a great addition to the table.
At this point in the day, I was glad to be done. My mind was so confused. Was I really considering switching careers and leaving engineering? Did I really want to join my fellow OTZMAnikim who will become the new Jewish leaders and who would be sitting in high powered Jewish positions in a few years? One of the studies I was shown throughout that day stated that 55% of younger Jewish leaders (age 22-40) have spent 4 months in Israel and an addition 40% have spent time in Israel up to 4 months. Did I really want to be part of that statistic?
For the past few weeks all of this has been running through my mind a lot. But I think I have come to a conclusion. OTZMA has changed my life, it has made me realize how much I value being involved in the Jewish world. While I am currently very much in love with engineering (I read a paper written by my soon to be PhD Thesis Advisor at University of Wisconsin and went to an outdoor science museum on a University campus near my house to remind myself), I NEED to be involved in the Jewish world when I return to America. I need to go to University of Wisconsin Hillel and the Madison Jewish Federation and the whatever other local organizations exist and get myself involved. I want to have a strong connection to the Jewish world when I return. While at Michigan I had lots of Jewish friends and celebrated the big Jewish holidays, that is no longer enough for me. I want to get more involved and I want to find a way to give back to the Jewish community. That being said, my generation is expected to switch jobs and careers more than once in our lifetime. So maybe OTZMA helped me find my second career? Just something to think about. If at any point I feel that I want to be more involved than just being a volunteer in the Jewish world, I can be. So thank you OTZMA for my life changing moment. My life will definitely have a different, more Jewish, look because of this year.
When I got to Jerusalem on the first day of the program back in August, many people were talking about how they had also heard OTZMA was life changing and that they were excited to see what that really meant for them. However, we were all a little apprehensive of the idea. We figured it might be like a really good movie. The more people that tell you a movie is the best movie of the year and is just so mind blowing, the more likely you are to be let down as your expectations are just too high. Like many of my OTZMAnikim, I was nervous my expectations were set to high. However, we OTZMAnikim were ready to find out for own.
As the year began we all started to get comfortable with each other and in the country. We were having an amazing time and were really enjoying the experience, but many of us were still unsure about the 'life changing' aspect of OTZMA. However, as we hit Part II of OTZMA and moved in smaller groups all across the country (as you know, I moved to Rehovot), many of my friends started to have their 'ahhh' moment. For one of my friends it was during a closing session of a really meaningful educational seminar where she realized how she wanted to incorporate her degree in child psychology into her growing questions of why the Ethiopian immigrants, Israeli children, and American children all differed so much in their upbringing. For another friend it was when we were talking about Israel Advocacy with a foreign correspondent and a Foreign Journalist that she realized her degree in Public Relations would be used to do Israel Advocacy work when she returned to the states. For a third friend, we were at a Building Future Leadership conference when he realized he wanted to create a yearlong program for kids who just graduated high school and wanted to spend a year in Israel before college and that his program would focus entirely on Israel Advocacy. As my friends started to have these life changing 'ahhh' moments where OTZMA literally changed the course of their life, I was still waiting for mine. Don't get me wrong, I was having the most amazing experience and have loved OTZMA, but I wasn't sure OTZMA was life changing. I figured maybe I would need to look back on OTZMA after finishing the year to see the real life changing effect.
However, little did I know that was not correct at all. A few weeks ago, I had my life changing 'ahhh' moment. Jerry Silverman, the CEO of the Jewish Federations was visiting Israel and asked specifically to speak to OTZMA. I don't know what I expected of the breakfast meeting, but what I got was so much more than I could have ever known. He did not lecture us but instead he asked us what our end dream was for life. He did not want the typical answer of "I want to work at a job I love and provide for a family", but instead for us to really think outside the box. One girl said, "I want to start a yoga studio that works with Palestians and Israelis and helps bridge the gap through Yoga". Another girl said, "I want to find a way to teach gender studies to elementary school kids before they start having any bias". He never asked how we wanted to get where we were going as that is clearly an unanswerable question for many, if not all, of us. However he did point us towards organizations that either could help us with our dream or have been working towards similar goals already.
I did not speak up at the table. Instead I sat and took in all the dreams of my fellow OTZMAnikim, most of which involved working in the Jewish world or for the Jewish people. Even without speaking up, I did realize something really huge. I realized that I was super confused. While I know I love engineering and I know how passionate I have always been about it, I began to think that maybe I am equally or even more passionate about working in the Jewish world. I began to realize that I shouldn't mitigate the fact that I have always loved working with kids in a Jewish Environment and that I have always loved programming at camp and teaching at school. I am really passionate about being an effective Israel Advocate and about making sure the American Jewry are doing their part to support Israel (an idea that has been largely strengthened because of this year on OTZMA).
While this talk began my confusion, the rest of the day just continued it. Later in the day I met with Americans who were on a trip to Israel because they are on the board of the Jewish Federation or are very involved in the Jewish Federation. During the afternoon I attended a session entitled, "The Israel Engagement Spiral" which talked about how American Jews trips to Israel can often be seen as a journey up a spiral staircase. A recent study showed that before going on a trip to Israel, only 19% of young adult American Jews have a 'high level of attachment' to Israel while 42% of them have a 'low level of attachment' to Israel. Once going on one trip (normally birthright or a teen trip) 34% of Young Adult Americans will have a 'high level of attachment' to Israel and only 17% will have a 'low level of attachment' to Israel. The study continued to show that those with 2 or more trips to Israel are even more firmly attached to Israel. During the session we talked about these statistics and the older visiting adults in the room asked all of the people currently on a long duration Israel trip (like myself) about our stories. They were seriously interested in hearing our past and our current connection to Israel. It was at this point that I realized not only do I love working in the Jewish world, but I am NEEDED. My story needs to be heard and my ideas, having recently been here and learned so much, are a great addition to the table.
At this point in the day, I was glad to be done. My mind was so confused. Was I really considering switching careers and leaving engineering? Did I really want to join my fellow OTZMAnikim who will become the new Jewish leaders and who would be sitting in high powered Jewish positions in a few years? One of the studies I was shown throughout that day stated that 55% of younger Jewish leaders (age 22-40) have spent 4 months in Israel and an addition 40% have spent time in Israel up to 4 months. Did I really want to be part of that statistic?
For the past few weeks all of this has been running through my mind a lot. But I think I have come to a conclusion. OTZMA has changed my life, it has made me realize how much I value being involved in the Jewish world. While I am currently very much in love with engineering (I read a paper written by my soon to be PhD Thesis Advisor at University of Wisconsin and went to an outdoor science museum on a University campus near my house to remind myself), I NEED to be involved in the Jewish world when I return to America. I need to go to University of Wisconsin Hillel and the Madison Jewish Federation and the whatever other local organizations exist and get myself involved. I want to have a strong connection to the Jewish world when I return. While at Michigan I had lots of Jewish friends and celebrated the big Jewish holidays, that is no longer enough for me. I want to get more involved and I want to find a way to give back to the Jewish community. That being said, my generation is expected to switch jobs and careers more than once in our lifetime. So maybe OTZMA helped me find my second career? Just something to think about. If at any point I feel that I want to be more involved than just being a volunteer in the Jewish world, I can be. So thank you OTZMA for my life changing moment. My life will definitely have a different, more Jewish, look because of this year.
Volunteering Grandma??
I just wanted to write a blog about one event that really brought my experience in Israel to a whole new level. Being a camp person, I have always thought about the idea of going full circle within an organization/experience. I know that doesn't make much sense, but let me explain. It is no shock to any one reading this blog that camp has been a meaningful and extremely life changing experience for me. When I was a camper all I wanted was to give back to camp by being a staff member. And when I finally became a staff member I worked really hard to make everyone of my campers LOVE camp the way I have always loved it. However, being staff was not enough for me, I wanted to run the Israel trip and be AdStaff (higher level staff) as well in order to really come full circle. While I have not been able to fulfill all those dreams, as a my childhood was only so long, I did get to feel as if I went full circle at camp by being a staff member and leading the Israel trip.
However why tell this story now, here in my Israel blog? Last week I was asked to spend an extra day as a מורה ספורט (PE Coach) in order to assist the head PE Coach at a track and field meet in Tel Aviv. As I have already helped at one of these events, I figured it was the same ordeal. We would go to Tel Aviv and our 50 students would compete in all the typical track and field events (high jump, long jump, running, relay, and shot put). However, when I arrived to the bus I realized there were only 25 students (a seemingly small amount as the students get out of school for the day if they go to the competition). And when we arrived at the field in Tel Aviv, we were the first ones at the event which was even stranger as last time we were the very last school to arrive. This is where the story gets really interesting. When we got their the students were immediately escorted to the center of the field and handed orange pennies that had the word שופט on them, which means "judge". It turns out the students were not there to compete at all, they were there to help run the elementary school track and field meet. Every year DeShalit Middle school is asked to send 25 students to volunteer at an Elementary School Track and Field Meet. My students were in charge of every aspect of the meet, from organizing the elementary students and making sure they were at the right event to actually running the events and recording the scores. I was asked to help with the 'shot put' which for an elementary school student (who is unable to throw an iron ball) is actually throwing a handball as far as possible. I was so impressed by my middle school kids who normally are so wild and rowdy. While I normally cannot get them to sit and listen for 5 minutes to directions, on this day they were organized and running the meet smoothly.
Needless to say, the day was incredible. In a weird way, I felt like a volunteering grandma. My students (who I often refer to as my kids) were volunteering with kids of their own. It was an incredible experience. Not to mention, it was such a beautiful day and I was in a tank top and shorts getting a tan in the middle of March.
While I didn't take any photos of the my 'grandma track meet', I did take photos of my first experience at the track meet where my kids competed. I want to include some of those:
However why tell this story now, here in my Israel blog? Last week I was asked to spend an extra day as a מורה ספורט (PE Coach) in order to assist the head PE Coach at a track and field meet in Tel Aviv. As I have already helped at one of these events, I figured it was the same ordeal. We would go to Tel Aviv and our 50 students would compete in all the typical track and field events (high jump, long jump, running, relay, and shot put). However, when I arrived to the bus I realized there were only 25 students (a seemingly small amount as the students get out of school for the day if they go to the competition). And when we arrived at the field in Tel Aviv, we were the first ones at the event which was even stranger as last time we were the very last school to arrive. This is where the story gets really interesting. When we got their the students were immediately escorted to the center of the field and handed orange pennies that had the word שופט on them, which means "judge". It turns out the students were not there to compete at all, they were there to help run the elementary school track and field meet. Every year DeShalit Middle school is asked to send 25 students to volunteer at an Elementary School Track and Field Meet. My students were in charge of every aspect of the meet, from organizing the elementary students and making sure they were at the right event to actually running the events and recording the scores. I was asked to help with the 'shot put' which for an elementary school student (who is unable to throw an iron ball) is actually throwing a handball as far as possible. I was so impressed by my middle school kids who normally are so wild and rowdy. While I normally cannot get them to sit and listen for 5 minutes to directions, on this day they were organized and running the meet smoothly.
Needless to say, the day was incredible. In a weird way, I felt like a volunteering grandma. My students (who I often refer to as my kids) were volunteering with kids of their own. It was an incredible experience. Not to mention, it was such a beautiful day and I was in a tank top and shorts getting a tan in the middle of March.
While I didn't take any photos of the my 'grandma track meet', I did take photos of my first experience at the track meet where my kids competed. I want to include some of those:
The awards stand with Israeli Flags
The view of the whole field from the bleachers
The starting line of a girls running competition
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Life in Rehovot...lots of photos :)
So I know it's been forever since I have posted. Once I fell a little behind the thought of catching up became too daunting, so I continued to just ignore my blog. However, this morning I woke up to a beautiful day (in which I could return to wearing shorts and a t-shirt and my chacos). So I decided to make my trip to the shuk (the outdoor fruits and veggies market) a little longer by bringing along my camera and taking pictures of my beautiful city. So, since I am so behind on my blog I should start by telling y'all that I know live in a city/town called Rehovot. It is about 30 minutes outside of Tel Aviv and is a small town with a bigger feel. There are about 130,000 people and one main road with lots of shops/restaurants/bars etc. We have a beautiful 3 bedroom apartment for 4 of us (that means I have my own room :) ) that includes a large living room, a large kitchen, two balconies, a laundry machine, and a piano. I could not be happier with my living situation. And on top of that I volunteer at great places. My schedule is as follows:
Sunday:
12:00-2:00 - walk dogs at the Rehovot SPCA
2:00 - 4:30 - volunteer at a community center after school with 7th graders
Monday:
9:00-1:00 - teach english one on one to middle schools
2:00 - 4:30 - volunteer at a community center after school with 7th graderss
Tuesday:
9:00-1:00 - teach PE class to middle schoolers
2:00 - 4:30 - volunteer at a community center after school with 7th graders
Wednesday:
9:00-1:00 -teach english one on one to middle schoolers
2:00 - 3:30 - volunteer at a community center after school with 7th graders
3:30 -5:00 - walk dogs at the SPCA
Thursday:
9:00-1:00 - teach english one on one to middle schoolers
So that's my life. Most weekends I have been traveling to see friends or having friends here. I also have educational weekends about once a month with my program (our last one centered around the Palestinian conflict). We had 5 days of speakers from all sides of the spectrum which was really nice. I definitely didn't agree with them all, but I have to respect all of the speakers as they were all very well informed and highly educated.
Anyways, the real reason I am writing this blog is to share my pictures from Rehovot and give y'all a little look into my life..
Sunday:
12:00-2:00 - walk dogs at the Rehovot SPCA
2:00 - 4:30 - volunteer at a community center after school with 7th graders
Monday:
9:00-1:00 - teach english one on one to middle schools
2:00 - 4:30 - volunteer at a community center after school with 7th graderss
Tuesday:
9:00-1:00 - teach PE class to middle schoolers
2:00 - 4:30 - volunteer at a community center after school with 7th graders
Wednesday:
9:00-1:00 -teach english one on one to middle schoolers
2:00 - 3:30 - volunteer at a community center after school with 7th graders
3:30 -5:00 - walk dogs at the SPCA
Thursday:
9:00-1:00 - teach english one on one to middle schoolers
So that's my life. Most weekends I have been traveling to see friends or having friends here. I also have educational weekends about once a month with my program (our last one centered around the Palestinian conflict). We had 5 days of speakers from all sides of the spectrum which was really nice. I definitely didn't agree with them all, but I have to respect all of the speakers as they were all very well informed and highly educated.
Anyways, the real reason I am writing this blog is to share my pictures from Rehovot and give y'all a little look into my life..
Lots of spices at the shuk!
HUGE amounts of great and cheap fruit at the shukc
Really fresh pita...comes straight out of the oven
Fresh veggies for about $1/kilo gram
A "sheirut" which is half way between a cab and a bus. Best way of transportation between cities
Lots of Russian in Rehovot
I like this colorful fence :). It puts a smile on my face in the morning.
My street...Neve Alon
Me and the puppy this morning. She kept giving me kisses :)
Some of the kids I work with at the community center...Shiraz, Yaffa, Leen, and Enat
An Israeli taxi, otherwise known as a 'monit'
You thought a dollar store was cheap, this is a shekel store (or a little less than a 25 cent store).
More to come soon...lots of love,
Jennifer
Jennifer
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