I cannot believe that I am only 4 days away from going to Israel.  I feel so fortunate to have been chosen to go on such a life changing trip.  I am so grateful to AMHSI and the Jewish National Fund for sponsoring this program and giving me this enormous opportunity to become a leader and an advocate for Israel.  I have so many feelings and emotions about going to a foreign country that I have never been to for 4 and a half months. I am very nervous and have many worries about what could happen. I try not to think about them, and try to focus on the exciting experiences ahead. I can only imagine how much I am about to learn about Israel. I am so excited to meet the other kids at AMHSI and my teachers. The other three fellows going from Massachusetts that I have already met are really nice and friendly. They are just as excited and nervous as I am. I have never been away from home for this long. I have only been away from home for 2 months. I never really get home sick so I am sure that I will be fine. As I look over the calendar for the upcoming semester filled with all of the things we are going to do, and the places we are going to visit, I get really excited and it makes me want to leave right now. Everyone that I have talked to that has gone to Israel says that I will have the time of my life, and that Israel is the best place in the world. I am really hoping that this trip will be as awesome as everyone is saying that it will be. I have a friend from camp, Sharon, who lives in Hod HaSharon. We have been talking and he can’t wait for me to come. He wants to show me around the town and have me over for Shabbat. This makes me even more excited to go to Israel. The more that I learn about the amazing and unique program, the more excited I am that I get to go. It has been a little stressful unpacking from summer camp this past week and then packing for this trip but packing makes me even more pumped to leave. I am anticipating meeting all of the new kids at the airport in 4 days. I hope I make a bunch of new friends early on in the semester. I hope that I will get better at writing these blogs so that my parents and friends can better understand what I am doing and how I am feeling about the experiences I am having.

It is hard to describe how I feel about going. I feel excited and nervous at the same time. Next time you hear from me I will be in Israel! I can not wait to go!