The Most Wonderful Time of Year

So it’s officially 2015 and I have yet to write a single post about December, 2014. I’m going to do my best to sum up an amazing month into a semi-condensed post.

In the States, we tend to think December as “Christmas time” or “Christmas season.” As I’m sure you can imagine, things are a bit different in the holy land. Though you can find a Christmas tree here and there if you go out looking for it, most storefronts are decorated with channukiahs and dreidels. For our December bulletin board, my co-teaching fellow and I were a little conflicted as to whether or not we wanted to include a Christmas tree. On one hand, we both agreed that the tree plays a large role in American culture. On the other hand, it can be viewed as a strictly religious symbol. So we did the PC thing to do and covered the board with paper snowflakes instead. We also explained how outside of Israel, dreidels have letters that represent the phrase “a big miracle happened there” as opposed to Israeli ones, which read “a big miracle happened here.” Additionally, I spent way too long drawing Olaf from Frozen but we needed a snowman and I was not going to settle for a printed one. You better believe I laminated that bad boy.

Olaf in the making

Student admiring our work

Finished product

Since it was Hannukah season, our ulpan teacher decided to move one of our Hebrew lessons outside of the classroom and into the kitchen. We spent a class making latkes and attempting to communicate in Hebrew. She also read us an adorable Hebrew children’s Hannukah book. It was still difficult to understand some of the story, but Hila made sure to stop along the way and translate for us. It was a really exciting way for us to kick off the holiday season.

Tasted even better than they looked

Not too long after our latke ulpan class, Masa hosted a leadership summit. The summit was held in Jerusalem from Decemeber 7-11. As explained on the Masa website:

“Masa Israel Leadership Summit is an intensive, five day learning and skill-building seminar for exceptional participants of Masa Israel programs from around the world. The Seminar is designed to provide Masa participants the skills that will help them become strong and active Jewish leaders through learning, leadership training, community service and getting involved in their local communities. By offering them dynamic and interactive programming and a support network of peers from around the world; the Leadership Summit helps prepare Masa participants for active involvement in Jewish life on their return home.” 

It was an AMAZING week – I got to meet so many new and interesting people (like a half-Persian half-Austrian Israeli…what?!) and hear a lot of great lectures. Here are some of the highlights:

Masa-Israel Leadership Summit Gala Event

To kick off the week, Masa hosted a gala on the first night of the summit.  This was basically a bar-mitzvah and to be honest, I didn’t hate it. We all got dolled up and enjoyed a nice sit down dinner followed with some dancing to a live band.

Outdoor Training at Jerusalem Biblical Zoo

The next day, we got to go to the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo and do some team building activities with a group called Ekipo. Ekipo’s tagline is “Playing Seriously.” The group specializes in Outdoor Training, which includes a bunch of really fun physical activities. We got the chance to do a relay race around the zoo (which I have actually never been to) and other silly things. It was loads of fun and really got me excited for the rest of the week.

My group for the duration of the summit

Israel Day – Leading Social Change in Israel

On Israel Day, we had the choice of 6 different “tracks” to choose from.  I chose the social change track (obviously). This was one of my favorite parts of the week. We had the opportunity to follow Yuval Bdolach of Re:Lod, a “mover and shaker” in the Israeli social change scene. We visited the city of Lod, which is a mixed Israeli-Arab city. When we first arrived to the barren/desolate city, Yuval greeted us and said, “Welcome to the best city in Israel!” I realized right then and there that Yuval is just as delusional and optimistic and I am, which got me really excited for the day.

The group and Yuval

See, people are really quick to call Petach Tikva the “shithole” of Israel. I don’t agree with this sentiment at all, as we have everything we could ever want and more here. Visiting Lod, I even questioned how people could call PTK a shithole when places like this exist. Yuval’s idealist energy really reminded me that there is a lot of beauty in even the most seemingly “unbeautiful” places.

The point of Re:Lod is to embrace the co-existence, regentrify the city, and make it the bustling city it once was. Re:Lod employs Israeli students to live in the Lod community and develop activities and programing . I loved the idea of it all, but I had to ask – Once the city is regentrified, what is stopping it from becoming the next Tel Aviv. Yuval smiled when I asked this, and explained that the ultimate goal was not to make Lod into the next Tel Aviv. The ultimate goal is to play on the strengths and assets of the city and make it the best Lod it has the potential to be. 

"All of Us Together" in Arabic and Hebrew - as seen in Lod

In our host groups, we were asked to reflect on the day. Here are my notes from it:

            LOVED the day, felt so at peace and in my element. Incredible idealist energy. Loved the team element, working together for a common cause. Being one with the community members of Lod. I’ve always believed everyone has something to offer, I loved that they’re using energy to rebuild and refocus Lod’s strengths as opposed to making it something its not.

I abuse the word “love,” I know.

How to Dunk with Your Feet on the Ground with Tamir Goodman

Oh. My. God. Where do I even start with this? Tamir Goodman, also known as the “Jewish Jordan” is an American-born basketball player who eventually made aliyah.

The Jewish Jordan on a Sports Illustrated Cover

As explained on Wikipedia:

“After averaging 35.4 points per game for the Talmudical Academy of Baltimore, in 11th grade he was ranked the 25th-best high school player in the country. Goodman received a scholarship to the University of Maryland. The team's schedule of practices and games meant having to play on Friday nights and Saturdays, against the rules of Orthodox Judaism, so he declined Maryland's offer and accepted a scholarship from nearby Towson University. Goodman then moved to Israel and signing a 3-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2002.”

Tamir Goodman is probably one of the best people I’ve ever had the honor of meeting. He is genuinely one of the most positive people and is extremely inspiring. During the summit, Goodman used his experience on the court to give us tips on great practical life lessons. In short:

1. Lay-Up – Give everything your 100%. With a lay-up, if you don’t go through with the shot 100%, the other team can easily block your lay-up. Effort always pays off.
2. Free Throw – Free throws represent a sense of comfort for basketball players. During a free throw, it’s just you and the basket. Goodman explained that it’s important to have a strong identity and sense of self. When life gets hard, don’t run away and try to be someone you’re not, but rather return to your baseline and your roots.
3.  Listening – Listen to the opportunities you are given as opposed to the ones you don’t have. Work with what you’ve got.
4. Paying attention – During the last couple of minutes of a game, things stop being about you and you begin to pay attention to your surroundings – the clock, the score, the people. Remember that not everything’s about yourself, it’s important to be concerned about everyone else.

Israel Experience girls w/ Tamir Goodman

This is so so cheesy but Goodman could genuinely not have a more appropriate last name. He just exudes SO much positivity. He believes in the good in others and doing good as well, which is refreshing. “Everyone is so special,” Goodman began. “Use your specific blessings – your life is incredible.” Everyone in the room was so inspired and moved by Tamir. His speech was without a doubt my favorite part of the summit.

All in all, the summit was a really great experience. Something I struggled with, though, was that I felt as if most of the participants in the summit believed that being a leader means you have the most important thing to say and always need to be vocal. I think there’s a lot of beauty and strength in teamwork and silent leadership. The ability to listen to others is such a big part of being a good “leader” and I felt as though I was pretty much alone on that belief. Other than that, I had a good time during the summit and I was really happy to be in Jerusalem for the week.

Yom HaMoreh

Yom HaMoreh – or Teacher Day- is a national holiday that happened to be the day before we broke for the Hannukah vacation. If you’ve read ANY of my posts, you know I’m pretty obsessed with my host teacher Rosi. My co-fellow Josh and I knew we had to do something special for Rosi on this day, so we gathered some of Rosi’s students in secret and had them write notes of appreciation to her. Josh and I also made her a little “relaxation” pack since the woman never sleeps. The pack included fuzzy socks, incense, and a mug. 

Our final gift to Rosi was a pinterest inspired poster, where we had multiple students hold up different letters and spell out “We <3 you Rosi!” It ended up turning out really well and Rosi was very surprised by the gifts. Pretty sure she even teared up a little.  We were so happy to do something for someone we admire so much and were glad it was received so well.

A rose given to us by the students

Sorry this wasn’t as condensed as I wanted it to be but that’s all for now. Next post will be about Hannukah break and I promise I won’t make you wait as long for it! 

Giving Thanks

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t get homesick too often. That being said, I was a little nervous about how I’d feel about missing out on Thanksgiving with my family.

My Thanksgiving was far from traditional (think peanut noodles and hummus), but it was a great evening. We did a potluck dinner at one of the ITF apartments in PTK, where everyone brought a dish to feed approximately 20 people. Before coming to Israel, I had been a pescatarian for 7 years, and I decided to begin eating meat and poultry again because I didn’t want to miss out on any new delicacies while abroad (as you can tell food plays a large role in my life).  This would have been the first Thanksgiving where I’d be able to indulge in Turkey, but PLOT TWIST we ended up having a strictly dairy/parve meal because some of the Fellows keep Kosher. This made for a very carb heavy yet delicious meal.

In true Thanksgiving fashion, I thought I’d share just a few of the many things I am thankful for in particular this year.

I’m thankful for Facetime

How else would I be able to spend the holiday with a few of my favorites that are 7,000+ miles away?

I’m thankful for my Petah Tikva family

These crazy kids filled any sort of void I could’ve had from spending the holiday without my family.

I’m thankful for my Israeli school family

My co-fellow, my students, and my incredible host teacher Rosi have helped make my experience in Israel exponentially greater than I could ever imagine.

Speaking of my school family, lots of fun things have been happening with teaching. For starters, my co-fellow Josh and I created our first bulletin board, which we hope to use to bring awareness of American culture to our students. Our November board was adorned with Thanksgiving décor – think hand turkeys, cornucopias, and statements of what my co-fellow and I are thankful for. 

Additionally, our 4^th grade students finally got to debut their “Sam and Ann” performance. I wish I had permission to share pictures or videos of the students because they were amazingly precious and did an INCREDIBLE job! I could not stop gleaming throughout their entire performance and in that moment I realized I am 100% going to be a stage mom when I grow up.

Props for the skit - I spent way too much time on these bad boys

In Rosi news, the woman’s still a mensch (I’ve been told I should stop using “saint” because it’s not a very Jewish concept. Whatever).  I spent 3 out of 5 days of the week at Rosi’s house. Is there such thing as feeling too at home? Probably. But she doesn’t seem to mind. My first day at Rosi’s house is actually kind of a funny story. To preface the story, I am having things sent to Rosi’s address while I live here because I don’t really have access to my apartment’s mailbox.

SO, I got a call from the Israeli postal service saying that they had a package from my mother that they wanted to deliver to me. They asked me to wait at home (read: Rosi’s home) from 12-3 PM so I could be there to receive the package. That’s kind of a wide range of time so I was a little annoyed that I’d have to sit and wait, but worse things could happen. The real kicker, though, was the man on the telephone’s parting words. “You will have to pay 505 shekels for tax in cash or credit card. Thanks.”

505 SHEKELS?! I still don’t have a firm grasp of the dollar to shekel exchange rate (in my defense it fluctuates) but I knew it was a ridiculous amount. At the current exchange rate, it comes out to a little over $126 dollars. I could not fathom how a package that contained about $30 dollars worth of product could be so heavily taxed, so I decided to call my mom to discuss how silly that was.

Probably what I looked like when I found out I needed to pay 505 NIS

Long story short- I discovered that my mom declared that the contents of the package were worth a bit more than they actually were because she was concerned that otherwise they would not take special care of the package and make sure that it arrived to Petah Tikva. Safe to say we have since learned our lesson for the next package. The deliverer ended up coming a little past 2 PM, but it was torrentially downpouring outside so Rosi told me to wait for her to return from a meeting so she could give me a ride home. I ended up staying at her house till 10 PM that night, only leaving after having dinner and watching TV with her family. Rosi even suggested I just sleep over since she lives so close to school, but I had to decline considering I didn’t have a change of clothing or any of my work materials. 

Friday after work, Josh and I made our way over to Rosi’s house for lunch. Rosi, her husband, and her youngest son Eyal sat with Josh and me and enjoyed probably the spiciest shakshuka all of us have ever devoured. Over lunch, Rosi invited Josh and I back to her house for Shabbat breakfast the next day and we of course had to oblige.  Volunteering 101: A humble stipend means you never turn down free food. So on Saturday, for the third time in 5 days, I returned to Rosi’s house to enjoy a quintessential Israeli Shabbat brunch, filled with challah and jachnun. Then I was in a bit of a food coma so I took a nap on her sofa. Typing this out is making realize that I probably am getting a bitttttt too comfortable. As the kids say, “Sorry I’m not sorry.” 

Because when you find a Pharaoh hat, it'd be a sin to not try it on

Playing Catch-Up pt 4

It has been a while since I’ve been able to sit down and write, and as you can imagine a lot has happened in the interim. Let’s play catch up. Apologies if this isn’t a coherent blog post – there’s a lot to cover so feel to pick and choose to read what interests you! I've broken it up into 4 different posts.

In the Classroom (Present)

Overall, being in the classroom has been incredible. I have been learning a LOT of Hebrew from my students and have faced a lot of challenges. I’ve certainly hit my fair share of speed bumps – there was a day when one sixth-grade class COMPLETELY ate me alive to the point where I felt helpless, but after some hyperventilating to my mother on the phone post-class, I was able to remove myself from the situation and use it as a learning experience. Education is never easy, but it is always rewarding. 

I have been able to create bonds with a lot of students- including one 5^th grader who sits in the back of the classroom during English class. He rarely participated in class and constantly drew funky little creatures all over his English books. The creatures are actually fantastic- I will have to get a picture to share next time. Anyway, I decided to invest a little extra time in this student, and the return on investment has been immeasurable. This student is now consistently the first to raise his hand and answer a question and the first to volunteer for little competitions. With 7 months left in the program, I cannot wait to see just how much more he will grow by the end of June. 

Another fellow and I have been working on a skit with one of our 4^th grade classes. The skit, appropriately titled “Sam and Ann,” tells the Hansel-and-Gretel-like story of Sam and Ann. The students are so excited to perform the skit for their classmates and potentially the entire school! I really look forward to the days when I get to work with my 4^th graders – I’ve told my co-fellow that their class gives me life (whereas the sixth graders take days off of my life…). 

We also have come up for a few school-wide initiatives so that all students (not just the ones we work with) can reap the benefits of having fellows at their school. For example, we will begin doing a weekly morning greeting on the PA system in English. As a reward, one student a week will be able to read the greeting. We think this will be a great way to get the kids hearing English in a consistent manner. I can’t wait to share more student work on my blog as the year progresses! 

Student Gardening in an Agricultural Ecology Class 

Student's English Test - Ain't Nobody Got Time for Spaces

Students Voting in a Very Democratic Class Rep Election