It’s hard to believe that it’s only been a week since we arrived in Israel. It’s been great so far; the people are really nice and friendly and my roommates are great. I love being able to just go into town with my friends when I want. The freedom that we’re given is one of the best parts; we’re treated like adults. The town is really nice and the food there is great, especially the smoothie and shawarma places. I’m excited to start going into town for lunch and dinner if I want.

I find our Jewish history class really interesting. Having gone to Jewish day school up until high school, I know a good amount of Jewish history, but it’s been interesting to hear the different interpretations of the stories that I’ve been taught. Every day we discuss the news and it’s really cool that one minute we’re discussing events that are happening in modern times and then, fifteen minutes later, we’re learning about something from two thousand years ago. All of the other general classes are good, and I’m excited to start getting into a routine.

This week we went on our first tiyul to Tel Gezer, an archaeological site. We learned different archaeological terms, looked for pieces of pottery, and even sat at a gate that was commissioned by King Solomon. It was nice to have a chance to get off campus and explore. I’m looking forward to the tiyulim to come.

During this program I really want to become as fluent in Hebrew as possible, make a lot of new friends, and just experience everything that I can. I’ve been learning Hebrew since I was 4, but now that I’m in a public school that doesn’t offer Hebrew, I really want to work on improving it a lot more. I think that the open Shabbats are a good time to practice as well as when we’re just out in town or on tiyulim.

This program gives us the opportunity to meet people not just from the United States, but from all over the world, and I’m excited to continue to get to know the kids throughout the semester. I want to try and branch out more and be able to have a relationship with everyone. I also want to work on just saying yes to everything, to all the experiences and the trips, even if they’re not something that I’m the most excited about. These are opportunities that aren’t going to come twice so I think that it’s important to try everything, even things that I wouldn’t normally try.

Tonight is our first Shabbat and while I’m sad to not be with my family and eating my dad’s challah, I’m excited to experience Shabbat in Israel and to learn about the different traditions that they do here. I’m looking forward to the weeks to come, the friendships that will be made, and the memories and experiences to come.