Changeover time

I'm writing now from Matan's family's apartment in Herzeliyah, where his dad generously offered to host me and a few friends for this changeover vacation period. The apartment is spacious and comfortable (not to mention absolutely gorgeous), and located in the new area of Herzeliyah Pituach, right by the tayelet and the mall. Our window is a view of the yachts, sea, and sunset, and Pam, Arielle, and I had trouble putting our cameras down yesterday evening. Our time here so far has included fancy dinners of sushi, all-you-can-eat meat at Papagaio (We even convinced Pam, the pickiest eater I know, to sample nearly every piece!), and a Yehuda Policker concert (where we were by far the youngest people in the crowd), all courtesy to Matan's dad. In less than a half an hour, I'm scheduled for a professional massage, and then maybe I'll go take a dip in the pool. Life is not bad here. My only complaint is that we came too late--it's a bit too chilly to go swimming at the beach. We'll at least go later to sit on the sand and bask in the beauty that is Herzeliyah and vacation. Paid-for, luxurious vacation. ;)

This week marks the end of our Jerusalem study period, and the beginning of our "Israel Experience" period. After spending days anazlyzing each of the thirty volunteer options and locations, we each made our top-ten lists and then left the rest for the counselors to determine. My first choice was Ben Yakir, an Ethiopian Youth village, and I found out the other week that I was indeed assigned to it. I know very little about what my next three months will be like.

What I do know:
-I'll be working there with just three other girls from yearcourse: Aliza Belcourt, Becca Abelman, and Arielle Miller
-I'll be living at the youth village, which I imagine to have similar facilities and a similar design as an American boarding school.
-The village consists of boys from grades 7 through 12, 80 percent of them Ethiopian. I'm not entirely sure whether they themselves are new olim, or whether they are children of new olim. Either way, the school serves to help ease the integration into Israeli society.
-I imagine I'll be playing some sort of madricha role. According to Sara Davidoff, who worked there last year, I'll be assigned to a group of boys and I'll be with them for most of the day. They don't know any English, so hopefully my Hebrew will improve.
-I'm expecting it to be hard at the beginning. I've been told that the Ethiopian community tends to be somewhat closed-off, introverted, and seeing as I am not 100 percent comfortable with my Hebrew it might take some time to connect with the kids. But I've also heard that after they get to know you, they tend to cling to you and really start to open up. I'm hoping the experience will be rewarding.
-I see the next three months as a sort of break from my program, and a taste of something really Israel. Or really a part of Israel. I won't be seeing much of yearcourse participants or counselors, except for on my free weekends, which might only be every other week. Then, after three months, we'll all be reunited in yearcourse apartments in Bat Yam or Holon (near Tel Aviv), volunteering some place around that area.


****Massage time, gotta run...***

Back from the massage. One hour of utter relaxation. Ahhhh....

It's nice that I'm away from the hostel for at least these few days. The place right now is way over-crowded, with kids from every section staying there until we move to our third trimester locations. With four people to a room (sometimes five, if the fifth decides he was assigned to roommates that snore too loudly, or are too messy...), it's a hectic, hectic time. To add to it all, everyone at the hostel is still on a sort-of lockdown, as the Israeli terror alert rises during the Annapolis Conference. Lockdown, meaning we're supposed to avoid public transportation and open public spaces. Meanwhile, in my eyes the conference has little promise, seeing as Livni and Qurei weren't even able to agree on a basic statement coming into the few days in Washington. The best I hope for is that it won't spark a third intifada... Well, who knows. Maybe some progress is miraculously possible?


I think I'll go relax some more, maybe read a bit or walk to the beach, before we're taken out to another gormet meat dinner tonight.