It’s now been one week into my journey through Israel and I could not be happier with how it has gone so far!

It’s now been one week into my journey through Israel and I could not be happier with how it has gone so far! The first days or so were a difficult adjustment to a new country, but once I figured out what worked for me everything started rolling. I think that the staff here did a great job orienting us to the school and our madrichim are amazing. My Israeli studies class has been like no other. Everyone in our class is so engaged and Jacob does an extraordinary job teaching us. The best part of MUSS so far, though, has been traveling around Israel on the tiyuul. When I’m not on campus or wandering around Hod Hasharon with friends, I am visiting places such as Tel Gezer, Mount Gilboa, Sachne Springs, and Jerusalem (among many other sites). Our day in Jerusalem was unreal. In just 24 hours we viewed the entire city from a lookout, went on a nature walk through Sataf, went inside of ancient Canaanite caves, ate the most incredible lunch from the shuk, traveled to the City of David and walked through Hezekiah’s water tunnels, visited the Western Wall, and then finally had dinner of the streets of Ben Yehuda before heading back to campus. I never thought it would be possible to be so immersed in a culture in just a week and a half! Like all journeys, I only want this one to improve as time goes on. Specifically, I would like to manage my time better with my academics. Our Israeli studies class is very rigorous, and sometimes it can be difficult to manage the work from that with your general studies classes from home. Not only do I have eight and a half hours of school a day, but I also want to make time to go out with my friends at night. A more personal goal that I have for myself is to keep an open mind about all that we do. I think that MUSS is a once in a lifetime opportunity and a huge part of it is trying things that I would have never tried before. Some of the activities that we do are very intense/adventurous. However, I think that if I had backed out of these activities I would really regret it–it’s not everyday we have these opportunities! Overall, MUSS has been so amazing and I can’t wait for another week full of adventure!