Full Israel Experience

Since we are here for just two months to discover Israel completely, I have set some goals for myself to achieve so I can have the full Israel experience! The first goal I set was to go to everything with an open mind. From trying new foods to doing a hike that puts me out of my comfort zone, I will go in with an open mind so I don’t either miss out on something that I will regret once I get home, or I will learn that I enjoy something that I didn’t think I did before the trip. Another goal I have is to live in the moment. This applies with everything, except time management of course, so I can fully enjoy everything this program has to offer. This means when I am doing an activity or even on a trip outside of school, I will try to enjoy the moment to its fullest, rather than thinking of home or another fun activity later. The next goal I set is to gain more knowledge in responsibility. As a 15, almost 16, year old you don’t get many opportunities like this where you have to take care of yourself, manage your time without parents telling you to do stuff, and handle money on your own for this amount of time. I am expecting, along with just setting this goal, I will mature, even more than now, by managing all of this well. These are the goals that I have set so I can live AMHSI to the fullest!

What I’ve Done This Week

This week we did the second tiyul of the September Muss Program. In this we started with Mt. Gilboa. We drove to the top of Mt. Gilboa early in the morning. Once we arrived we had a class in the shade. We learned about the Pilegesh on Giva. After the lesson we started the “easier” part of the hike down. As we finished that part, Benji gave us a lesson about the winemaking on the top of the mountain, and how this is a Kibbutz land. After Benji’s (The other teacher for Israeli Studies) lesson, we did the “hard” part of the hike. This was a steep downhill, “hike” where we had to take our time. Once this was finished we went on the bus to head to a fresh swimming spring to cool off. This place was beautiful, clean, and refreshing. After this we went to a youth hostel for the night. The next day we woke up, then went straight to a hiking trail in Jerusalem. This was an easy hike in a nice agricultural terrace area where I rolled my ankle. Even though this hurt throughout the rest of the tiyul, I didn’t let it figuratively slow me down! We went to the city of David after and did a lesson and underground water cave path. After this we had our first D.O.T.S (Dinner On The Streets) in Jerusalem where me and my friend Elan went to a shawarma place and walked around shops. This has been my favorite Tiyul yet!