The opportunity of having Israel as my classroom has been truly amazing. Learning history in the place that it actually happened is something I never thought I would be able to do. When I learn about history at the site it took place, I not only feel connected to the story, but Judaism as a whole as well.

I want to start this journal off by saying that I am having the time of my life right now on this program. I am writing this journal in my room past lights out, which has become a habit because I really believe I write the best late and I can really express myself onto this document and not have anything in my mind, especially school or social circles. This is not only for this journal, but I also do this with my own daily journal and CORE photo journals, which I have to write a couple times a week.

We went to hike Chod Akev on Thursday 2/14/19. This is a picture of my friend Maggie and I on our hike at the top of the mountain. This hike was extremely challenging both mentally and physically. Even though I had some trouble, it was one of the most interesting and fun hikes I have been on because it wasn’t just walking but also included some climbing as well.

I loved this tiyul. In the old city our story was brought to life, and I felt deep pride in my ancestors. I had this voice in my head “you can’t kill us!” I adored the meditation up in the desert. I felt to deeply connected to myself and the earth, and I felt clarity about God. At the hostel, the moon was full, and this clarity I felt, about connection, continued.

What is culture? Is it defined by ethnicity, values, blood, time period or religion? I don’t know if there’s one distinct answer to my open ended question but I do believe that everyone is a combination of multiple cultures. For the past 3 weeks in Israel, I’ve tried to distinguish the “Israeli” culture-- this was much more complex than I expected. People are cultural smoothies, so picking out what makes Israelis different from me due to their lifestyle opposed to what makes them different as an individual person has been a sticky process.

Israel and America could not be more different, but it’s a good different. I came here to experience another culture, Israel’s culture. The difference are noticeable, it’s not like going to another state and seeing little road signs saying welcome to New Jersey instead of Welcome to Pennsylvania, it’s a whole new language.

You always know when your around Israelis because you can hear them. Within my few weeks of being in Israel, several things stick out to me that distinguish Israeli culture from American. One of the things that I’ve experienced here is that people are eager to make conversation with strangers.

Today was a long day. We began with a lesson and then a hike. This image exemplifies the difficulty of the hike and how it was a communal experience, with everyone involved.

Har Gilboa was our first full Tiyul! It was a long day with a lot of activity and adventure which I loved personally.

It’s been weird living in a foreign country! I have traveled outside of the United States before, but I have never experienced being out of my comfort zone for a long period of time before this trip. My first few weeks have been so fun, though!! I think it’s really interesting to observe the differences between Israelis and Americans–there’s definitely a lot of them!

After living in Israel for two weeks now, I can definitely say there are many differences between America and Israel, but overall it is easier than I expected to be an American living here. This may be because I am attending an English speaking school and living with American students.

After being in Israel for a little over two weeks, a few of the cultural differences between Israel and the United States are clear. To start, there is a language barrier between the students at HSI, and the people we interact with in Hod Hasharon. Before arriving on campus, I was told by many people that almost everyone in Israel spoke english. This is why on my first night out in town, I was caught off guard when all of the menus were in Hebrew, and the waiters and waitresses spoke barely any english. After being here for a couple of weeks, it has become much easier to communicate using the few hebrew words that I know, and using hand gestures. I have also found the language barrier to actually be a really good learning experience and its preparing me for other times when I may not speak the native language.

Being an American in Israel is less difficult than I expected. Yes, the language barrier can be challenging, but thanks to Google Translate, that is not a very big issue! I have found that by being in an environment where English is not the main language, it sets me up for success as a world traveler. I am able to work around the language barrier by using hand gestures and the few Hebrew words I know, which allows me to communicate with non-english speakers.

This week has been a whirlwind. I started off the weekend by leaving to spend Shabbat with family friends. It was nice to get away and I took a friend with me, but by Saturday night we were all missing each other and glad to be back in the Hod.

This past week has been so jam packed. We started off the week at a Crusade castle. Here, Christian crusaders lived while trying to win Jerusalem back over from Muslims. Here they did not assimilate but stayed their own. Although we were not able to see a lot of the castle due to construction, the parts that we saw were amazing. It was a pretty big castle with a lot of stone. Next, we went to a hot spring to eat lunch and swim. After that was Tzfat. Tzfat is home to mysticism and kabbalah. There are a lot of art vendors selling beautiful art and jewelry. We met a kabbalist named Avraham. Originally from Michigan, he became enticed by the Kabbalah and decided to move to Israel. Here, he makes beautiful art that explains the kabbalah.

This was a crazy week! It felt like we were hardly on campus yet we covered so much ground as far as Israeli history! We have finally gotten up to the period in history just before and during the time of the establishment of the State of Israel. This week we travelled to different areas of Israel in order to explore what life was like for a Jew during the time of the establishment of the land, and how Jews have continued to live in Israel up to today. Up until now we have traveled to ancient cities like Tzfat and Jerusalem to see what life must have been like during those times. This week we finally have begun to learn about what life is like for the more modern Jew since the establishment of Israel in a more recently founded city, the city of Tel Aviv.

At precisely 3:30 am this Sunday morning we landed back home in Israel, and I could not say I have felt happier. These past two weeks have been quite the experience here on Muss. Two weeks ago, it is hard to believe, was the very week leading up to Purim. Purim in Israel is, to say the least, a party and a half. Before celebrating Purim though, we had a week filled with studies of the Holocaust and the years prior to and following the war for the people and land of Israel. In that week we went to Acco (a prison for many people in the times following the war), Atlit (a pretty beach, and also a deserted British camp where people first came to Israel from Europe during the time of Aliyah Bet), Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Museum of Israel), and heard from numerous speakers about the journey of their lives during the time of the establishment of the modern State of Israel. It was a very interesting week leading up to the big holiday!

Hi!! I realized that you don’t know that much about me. I’m Amy Shugar and I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve lived there my whole life but all of my family lives in Canada. When people first meet me, something they wouldn’t expect from me is that I’m TERRIFIED of birds. I see one and I run the other direction and my friends think it’s hilarious. Where we were today there was a huge cage with a million birds in it and I wouldn’t even go close to it.

I am now almost two weeks into my Israel experience and I could not be having a better time. I have awesome friends, great teachers, fabulous Madrichim, and I love my room and roommates. It really could not get any better. Now being almost three weeks into the experience I have noticed how Israel and the United States are different.

When you come to another country, there are bound to be cultural differences. Here, I have found many things about Israeli culture that differ from the culture in the United States.