I have now been in Israel for just over a week but I already feel so comfortable and settled in. I love all of the people on my trip and we have already become so close. From the time we arrived at the airport, we have had so much fun together and I am so excited to spend the next two months with them. When we arrived at the Alexander Muss High School in Israel, I was so surprised to see how big the campus was and how developed Hod HaSharon was. It is so nice to be able to walk into town and get falafel or smoothies after class, I feel like a local. Also, there is a little shack on Campus called Ofers which has great food too. I like to go there and get a schnitzel pita or bourekas between classes. We spent the first few days getting tours of the area, meeting new people, and just hanging out. I love spending time with everyone talking in the dorms at night or sitting on the lawn and doing homework together during the day.

Our first Shabbat was really special. I haven’t done Shabbat with my family in a long time so it was really nice to dress up and have a nice dinner. Our teacher led us in some prayers and we all celebrated Shabbat together. Our teacher, Yossi, is so funny and he makes every topic so exciting. I came into this experience not expecting to like the core class (Israeli Studies), but it is so much more interesting than I had imagined. Yossi has told us some unbelievable stories that I know will continue to impact me and my connection to Judaism for years to come. The best part about the class is being able to go visit the places we learned about. Our first tiyul was to Tel Gezer where we walked around and did fun activities that made it seem like we were back in biblical times. Our next tiyul was to Mount Gilboa and Jerusalem. It was so much fun! We swam at the beautiful springs of Sachne, hiked down a mountain in Jerusalem, walked through the water tunnels in the City of David, and visited the Kotel. We had the best picnic overlooking Jerusalem because our Madrichim went into town and bought us all of these delicious, fresh Israeli food. My favorite was rugelach and lafa, which is like a giant pita. At night, we stayed in a youth hostel and had the best dinner there! In the hostel, the door of our room had a mezuzah on it which was something I had never seen before in a public hotel. That reminded me of how special it is to be in Israel where being Jewish is not the minority.

This weekend was our first open Shabbat and I spent it at my cousin’s house. It was cool to be able to stay in an Israeli house and see what a typical Shabbat is like for them. The weather has been amazing, and we were even able to go to the beach in Tel Aviv on Saturday!

I am so happy I decided to come to Alexander Muss and give myself the opportunity to see the world in a new way. I had such a fun week here and I am so excited for all of the amazing things to come!