Life in Natzrat Ilit

All of us have been getting used to life in Natzrat Ilit. Every morning we have ulpan until about 12:30-1:00. After that, we spend most of the rest of the day hanging out or going grocery shopping. We don't have cars so each time we grocery shop we can only buy as much as we can carry. Some of the volunteer opportunities have started up. My favorite thing I've done so far was to work at an afterschool center. We hang out with the teenagers there and talk to them and compare what it's like to grow up in the US versus in Israel. The kids that go there like to work on their English and we want to work on our Hebrew so it ends up that they talk to us in English and we respond in Hebrew. Everyone who went to that really enjoyed it and it really helped us all with our Hebrew.
There are a few Israelis staying in the absorption center that we've become friends with. They are there to work in the local schools in a program that seems fairly similar to Teach for America. They are all really nice and a few of them have started to come to ulpan with us in the mornings to help us learn. The way ulpan is structured is that there are three classes and one teacher who spends most of her time with the beginners. The intermediate class, which I'm in, turned out to be a bit of the blind leading the blind. But now that the Israelis have started to come it helps a lot.
By now I've walked into Nazareth a few times. It's much more of a city than Natzrat Ilit. The shwarma there is also bit cheaper and better so people like to go for that. It's a really nice little city. We walked around to check it out and went to see the Church of Ennunciation. I also found a coffee shop with amazing turkish coffee- it's the only thing keeping me going since we don't sleep anymore. Everyone stays up talking and hanging out until late at night.
Last weekend was our first adoptive family weekend. I was set up with a family in Kiryat Malachi in the south, which is Silicon Valley's partnership community. It is also where me and five others will be living for Phase 2 of OTZMA. I was the only one whose adoptive family was in Kiryat Malachi so I was able to check it out for everyone. It is definitely a very small city. There are no malls, no movie theaters, one bar, and a very small shopping center. The city is also very religious so everything closes for Shabbat. On weekend nights, everyone who is not religious and is between the ages of 13-23 goes to one park in the center of the city to hang out. It's a very quiet city and when I went to the park with my adoptive sister, it was really big news that an American was there.
My adoptive family was really nice. There are five kids, but only the youngest, 15 year old Michal, still lives at home. The mother, Devorah is head of the Kiryat Malachi side of the Partnership Community project. But Kiryat Malachi is really far away from Natzrat Ilit so I probably won't be visiting them much until I move down there.
This past weekend, the group arranged to go camping in Tiberias. We found a place where we could sleep out on the beach. We had a bonfire and went swimming in the Kinneret at night. Everyone had a really good time. Then on Saturday morning, we went hiking in a national park called Arbel. It was a really nice hike down a hill. Along the way you can see remains from caves carved out during the Roman period. We're not totally sure, but we think that Jews used to hide and live in the caves there. We spent the afternoon napping and walking around Tiberias and going to the beach. Now, people are starting to get back to Natzrat Ilit to prepare for the beginning of the holidays.

Ethiopian New Year

Yesterday was the Ethiopian New Year. We couldn't totally figure it out but we think it was more in the sense of New Year's Eve than Rosh Hashanah. They put on a show for all the residents in the absorption center- and gave us dinner! It was a lot more spicy than the Ethiopian food I've tried at home which just made it more amazing. After that there was a dance party where they all tried to teach us Ethiopian dancing. For the most part, that was a complete failure although one of them, Avram, told me I was the best one at the dances. This was our first real opportunity to meet the other residents at the absorption center (hamercaz klitah). There were a lot of adorable kids and everyone seems really nice. Most people come to the center in groups. There was a group of Russians who came 2 weeks ago and another who came 2 years ago. There was at least one Ethiopian woman who had been living in the center for 17 years. Everyone was really excited to meet us and honored that we had come to there celebration. I made friends with one Ethiopian boy who wants me to start teaching him English on Sunday. Teaching English seems to be a major activity for Otzmanikim (people on my program). It is a major gateway out of poverty so everyone really wants to learn.

We also made friends with some Israelis living in the center. They are part of a program similar to Teach for America. They work at a local school to help provide stability, be role models, tutor, and to help if there is anything wrong in the students' lives. They told us that there will be refugees from Georgia coming to the center in the near future. All of the political science majors are really excited for that.

This is our first weekend in Natzrat Ilit. A lot of people have decided to stay in the city. We have been so rushed with orientations that we haven't had time to finish unpacking or shopping for the apartments. Tonight everyone who is here is going to have Shabbat dinner together. We all pitched in for food and different people are cooking different parts. We all have to bring our own dishes, silverware, tables and chairs to the dinner because no one room has more than what they need for the people who live there. It should be really entertaining- especially since none of us have really figured out how to cook yet!

We still don't have internet in our rooms. Right now theres about six of us in a gelato shop near the mercaz klitah. We each have our own table so we can each have an outlet. It's a little bit hilarious to see us all shouting across the room to each other- its okay mom we're the only ones here so we're not disturbing anyone.

Coming to Nazrat

Hi Everyone!
So I've now been in Israel for almost a week. We spent the first several days doing orientations and learning more about the program. After that we had a mini-trip (a tiyul). We went spelunking through caves, spent a night in a bedouin tent and did the most intense hike of my life. At some points in the hike, we had to climb up the cliff wall- keep in mind we were in the middle of the desert in summer. I already have a tan from that and at least 7 bruises. It was definitely a lot of fun- I show off my bruises with pride.
We first arrived to Natzrat Ilit yesterday afternoon. Our absorption center is really nice- its up on a hill so we have a great view and a really nice breeze. My apartment has 5 people in it- 2 people in one bedroom, 2 people sleep in the common room and I have a room to myself- I lucked out big time. As soon as I figure out how, I'll put pictures up.
The people on this program all seem amazing. Everyone is really nice, really outgoing and have great personalities. It's really nice to be on a program with older people- its not clicky at all. So far so good!

Getting ready to go!

Tomorrow night I fly to New York to meet everyone on OTZMA. Right now I'm half packing half watching Project Runway and surfing the web. But once I actually start the program, I'll be sure to keep you all updated on how everything is going!