I have been at AMHSI for four days now, but it feels like a lifetime. As with any life, there has been highs and lows of the trip so far.

The lows are that I am scared that I will not be caught up with my school work and thus my grade will drop when I return home. Also, the food in the חדר אוכל (dining room) is not particularly my favorite, but I can get over it.

Although there are these few negative parts, the incredible, unforgettable memories that I have made so far compensate for them entirely. I have made an amazing group of friends who are each so quirky and individual that it makes me what to learn more about who they are. In addition, we have so much freedom and mobility on campus which allows us to truly become immersed in Israeli culture. For example, last night my friends and I went to get sushi for dinner. There was nothing special about it (except for the amazing sweet potato tempura), but the fact that it was a very meaningless act made it all the more meaningful. There wasn’t the fuss that comes with tourism or the analytical mindset that comes with studying the Tanakh. There was just me and my friends and Israel existing.

Since I have come here, I have gone through this series of highs and lows, but I also see how this is a part of assimilation. When entering a new culture, there is always the fear of the unknown. Yet, even in the four short days I have been here, the foreign has slowly become familiar and I can tell that the trend will continue until the familiar becomes family then home.

I have already seen glimpses of this idealistic future. They come in the most random of times – when everything seems serene despite the actual events occurring. When we went to the Tel Gazer and I looked out into the vast land, populated with majestic trees blowing in the wind and delicately eroded stones, I knew that this was the land which Moses once traveled. I felt a deeper connection to my people and to myself. When I celebrated Hanukkah with all the Alexander Muss High students tonight, despite the blaring music and the frenzied dancing, I felt an overwhelming sense of calmness. I was in tune, not just with my surrounding, but with every single other soul in that room. It is moments like these which prove to me that we, the December session of AMHSI, have the potential to be family, and I am so excited to see where that potential takes us.