One week into my AMHSI journey, I am kind of surprised about my feelings so far. The first week was a little rough with a combination of jet lag, so many new people and learning how to live in a campus environment. Now that we’re quickly moving into tiyulim (field trips) and normal school days, my experience is already getting so much better. I think that being busier has helped me make bonds with more people and have my mind off of home. I’ve made a lot of new friends, learned a lot of new things and love living in the dorms. As for the core class and living classroom, I am surprisingly really enjoying it. (I say surprisingly because I’ve never been a huge fan of history.) Yossi, my teacher, makes class really interesting and fun with his quirky interests and funny twists on classic biblical stories. He makes me really like class and want to learn more each day.

On top of learning in the classroom for core, yesterday, we took our first tiyul! We went to Tel Gezer which is the site of where Abraham was set to sacrifice Isaac, his son, to God. We got to see first hand the places that we have been learning about in class and almost experience the way things would have been 4000 years ago. Being able to do this makes learning and comprehending this history much easier as well as more meaningful. At the tel, we walked around, seeing the sacrifice sites and the entrance gates to the old cities. It was really cool to be able to experience the history in real life. Also, when we learn about Israel’s history, it feels like learning about myself and my history rather than random people in my history classes at home. Overall, I’m extremely happy that I decided to come on AMHSI. Living in a new environment with new people has been amazing. It is allowing me to work on my independence and people skills. However, being away from home is different than I expected. When I go to camp for seven weeks over the summer, I never really miss home but on this trip I am a little homesick. It’s weird knowing that my family and friends are still in normal, everyday life. I definitely miss my family and friends but I love my new friends here too! I’m having so much fun and I’m super excited to see everything that the upcoming weeks bring!