My first week in Israel has been 7 days of emotion and excitement. I have had a great time meeting new people and exploring the town of Hod HaSharon. I was little homesick the first day or two. I was very dehydrated and did not have a good start. Once I immersed myself back into the group I immediately made new friends and felt a lot less homesick. We went on our first Tiyul to Tel Gezer. The city of carrots was a very fun and interesting trip. We had a very scenic 40 minute bus ride on the way there. The last 5 minutes of the bus ride was spent on a dirt road going uphill. We got to see a few of Israel’s 7 natural fruits on the way. My Jewish Studies teacher Aubrey got off the bus and picked us some fresh dates right off of the bush and they tasted great. This first shabbat was relaxed and nice. We had a short 1 hour service and a a nice dinner with everyone. Then Aubrey told us a great story and we had Oneg and late lights out. I took this shabbat as an opportunity to start one of my goals for the trip. I want to make many friends and become close with both boys, girls, and our Madrichim. During our Oneg I started conversation with a few kids and am now friends with a few of them. I hope to create at least one or two really close friends that I stay in touch with for a while after the trip. I have already found a small ‘group’ of guys that I really like. We have gone into town a few times together. I feel that our free time is going to be a great time to get closer to your friends. While going into town I have figured some of the food places that I really like. The smoothie place called Moshikos is very good but just a little too expensive to get more than once or twice a week. I have tried Shawarma for the first time and it was awesome. I put hummus and salad in it. I have found that the food here has a lot more pieces and is really flavorful. I also had Falafel at ‘the best place in town’. It was very good and super cheap. I payed 5 shekels=$1.39 for Falafel in pita. Although most of the shop owners know pretty good English, one of my goals is to learn some Hebrew. I want to be able to read the signs and some of the menus at shops and be able to order in Hebrew or maybe have a simple conversation with someone. My last goal for this amazing trip is to fall in love with Israel and really be able to call this place my second home. I am already loving it here. The Israelis are so open and most are very nice. The food is great and the weather is nice. So far, I love it here at Alexander Muss HIgh School in Israel.