Hannukah break...Christmas break...

As per the title of this post, I've been given absurd amounts of vacation during the month of December. First, Ben Yakir, like most Israeli schools or youth villages, closed for a week-long vacation during Hannukah. And so, two weeks ago, the boys from the village all went home (or in many cases, where home situations are difficult, to some relative's or friend's house instead), and the four of us yearcoursers who work there were given a week of freedom. This week, I am suddenly off again for the Yearcourse winter break.

It's funny, now that I think about it, this concept of so much vacation. There was a time not so long ago, in fact for the majority of my life up until this very past summer, when I absolutely relished any sort of break. School was never that bad, but the opportunity to relax at home or hang out with friends worry-free was always a welcome alternative. Snow-days, especially, or any surprise days off of any sort, were some of the most exciting times of my childhood. Waking up at 7:00 only to watch "Gann Academy" scroll by underneath a bundled-up CBS newscaster was always a thrill, and falling back asleep after were some of the best sleeps I've ever had. And everything outside was white...and my bed was so warm...
Anyways, the point of my reminiscing being this: vacation from school was and always will be a wonderful thing. I'm realizing now that vacation from my volunteering, from something I really enjoy, is entirely different. As nice as it is to see my friends, and of course to see my family, it's really hard being away from the village. It's hard being away from the routine, from the other volunteers and madrichim there, and mostly, from the boys. I find myself thinking about them so often, wanting to talk about a certain boy or incident to someone who relates, finding it frustrating that the full extent of my experience is and might always be impossible to share with the outside world. I carry around my digital camera with me while I'm away so I can glance quickly at pictures of them, and show them to everyone I happen to be with at the moment, whether they really care to see or not. I realize now that being not-so-happy when vacation comes is different, of course, but definitely a positive thing. It's real proof, I suppose, of satisfaction with the routine and with the "job" (though I hardly see it as a job...) and it's something that I should probably look to achieve while I study in college and pursue a career after. If I can find a job where I'm happier (or at least as happy) while working than while on break, than I've made a good choice.

Among the more memorable/valuable times I've had so far at Ben Yakir was this past Thursday afternoon, before I left for this vacation. Dorit had suggested that I spend some time in the library that afternoon, and help whoever wanted with some English. Afternoons had been really slow, seeing as my group (being in high school a few villages over) doesn't get back from school until four or five. So I was hoping that I would feel a bit more productive in the library. It happened that that day it was pouring rain, which meant that tons of boys skipped their outdoor electives and crowded the library. At first I was unsure that anyone would come up to me with any sort of questions, but slowly they started to. I sat there amongst a crowd of boys of all ages with my notebook and some English flash cards from the internet, writing silly sentences in English and having them translate, correcting their broken grammar, and showing them numbers and letters. It was a bit difficult, having to balance my attention between all of them and juggle so many different levels of English (to switch from reading a book with a seventh grader to learning the alphabet with a ninth grader), but I managed for nearly two hours and left after feeling giddy and accomplished. What was especially rewarding about the experience, I think, was seeing their eagerness. This wasn't their homework, or a mandatory study period. They genuinely wanted to learn. So much so that they'd get angry if I was focusing too much attention on one boy and their own questions weren't being answered quickly enough. We were laughing, of course, for a lot of it; it's difficult to hang out with these boys and not laugh. But in the end, they were serious about learning as much English as they could. I think I'll spend more time in the library, and maybe I'll learn to be more organized about it...

But back to vacation. My Hannukah break was spent visiting friends in Israel and seeing some family. And shopping. I stayed at Pam's Rishon apartment for a few nights, and spent those days in Tel Aviv, shopping of course, as well as sitting with Pam on the Tayelet for maybe four hours waiting for EG and Nathan to show up. Unfortunately at one point we sat next to an old sketchy man who stared at us for a while and then started following us when we walked away. So we sprinted down the street and took refuge in a KFC, where we watched three episodes of the Office and one episode of Seinfeld on my iPod. EG and Nathan did finally show up, and we caught up for a little before going back to Pam's apartment. Fun times in Tel Aviv. I then traveled to Jerusalem, where I stayed with Chanania (a cousin), and at the bayit (Nat's apartment-- where they refuse to turn on the heat and I might have frozen if not for my sleeping bag). I also found time to see Yamit, Viva, and Navah, so that was all good. That weekend I went down to Mamshit, a "bedouin" tourist site down near Dimona, with some yearcourse friends. Ben Degani and Harold are volunteering there so we decided to visit their very secluded location and tried out living in the desert for a weekend. I put "bedouin" in quotes, because while we did get to ride camels (SUCH absurd animals!), and eat inside a tent, we didn't get to really interact with any true bedouins and the place was so designed for tourists that the experience was hardly close to authentic. But it was a fun time nonetheless, and I did get some great photos of the sunset in the Negev, as well as a close-up video of a camel chewing its cud. Gooood stuff.

I'm spending this break with my immediate family, who arrived from Boston a few days ago. [ :-) ] So far our vacation has consisted of hiking around Sde Boker with EG's family and a few friends, repelling off a small cliff, eating dinner in a real bedouin tent, and visiting various supermarkets. (If you know my dad, you know that it's difficult, if not impossible, for him to go more than 48 hours without buying some bananas, or other assorted food necessities.) Now we're in Ein Tsurim for the weekend at my aunt and uncles, and tomorrow we're visiting Sufie's air force base. Hopefully I'll see some cool fighter jets, and maybe fly one (joke. but that would be cool...)

Anyways, I'm exhausted, and knowing my family, we're getting an early start tomorrow. So I'll try to get some sleep...

Ben Yakir :)

Last Wednesday evening, after an incredibly hectic day of packing and loading buses and saying temporary goodbyes, Becca, Arielle, Aliza, and I arrived at Ben Yakir, our location for the next three months. We were greeted by one of the seven sherut leumi (national service) girls, an English speaker who was assigned to help us get comfortable. I was pleasantly surprised by our rooms here--they're apartment-ish-style, with mini kitchens, internet access, and a cable TV in each. We unpacked our bags and bags of luggage, and then ventured to the hader ochel for our first Ben Yakir dinner.

That dinner was an experience, to say the least. In one sentence, I have never felt like such a celebrity. We immediately stood out as the new American girls, and it seemed as if all the kids couldn't stop staring and whispering. There was so much excitement and we were right at the center of it all. It was a strange feeling, to be so noticed by everyone like that, but a good one. It was a small but exhilarating glimpse of what was to come, of how much influence we would have here and how much our presence would really be felt. We also got a slightly less exciting glimpse of the food quality (which ranks slightly above edible, if we're lucky), and quickly realized the necessity of our built-in kitchens and small yearcourse food stipend.

We've now been here for nearly a week, and each day has been an entirely new and worthwhile experience in itself; Each day I go to sleep thinking I've accomplished or learned at least something, whether it be about a certain boy's background, about the boys as a community, about the mentality of growing up in a broken home or of trying to integrate into Israeli society after making aliyah from Ethiopia, or Russia, or wherever. It turns out that the village isn't actually an Ethiopian Youth Village, but rather a religious youth village for boys with difficult home situations, and boys that have had trouble in school for one reason or another. It just happens that 80 percent of the kids here are Ethiopian. Most have just made aliyah four or five years ago, and though their Hebrew is for the most part fluent, they still have strong Amharik accents and naturally speak Amharik when they talk to each other. I tried having one of the boys teach me a bit of the language the other day--it didn't work out so well. The words are just so different and so utterly foreign in structure and sound from English words, that it was hard from me to even repeat the phrase "how are you" in something that comes close to resembling Amharik.

The other day, our supervisor here, Dorit, assigned us to our groups. The boys are split up into groups by their age (it's a small village-- around 20 boys in each grade). In the afternoons, we've been hanging out with the boys and helping them with their English (and sometimes math) homework. I was assigned to the 10th and 11th graders, but since they often mix with the kids from the oldest group, I've also gotten to know the 12th graders pretty well. It's a bit of a strange dynamic, the boys being practically my age, if not my age (many of them were held back one or two grades after making aliyah). It's worked out, though, for the most part, because my role isn't actually defined as a "madricha." I'm not expected to discipline them, nor am I supposed to. I'm there to serve as a sort-of "older sister," or just as a friend. An English-speaking, American, female friend. Which is all very rare and exciting to them. Soon, in the mornings, we'll be tutoring English in the middle school. This year, they weren't able to find any English teachers, so I'm excited to really make a contribution. Some of the boys don't even know the English alphabet. We'll really be starting from square one. Meanwhile, we've been learning SO much Hebrew. We're forced to speak it all day, except when speaking to each other, because hardly anyone here can carry on a conversation in English. It's been really good practice and I can feel myself becoming more fluent. I still need to work on my accent, though...

Today, being the first day of Hannukah, was a fun day. In the afternoon, we had a chugim festival, where we were treated to performances of the capoara, Tae Kwan Doe, and Hip Hop classes. Then, after dinner, we had a "sivivonada," which basically consisted of playing dreidel and winning candy. Or losing candy. Or stealing candy from others' bags. So much fun. Becca, Arielle, Aliza, and I came back to our rooms sugar high, and we had ourselves a balloon-filled dance party to some good oldies courtesy of the Backstreet Boys and Five. It was a good time.

I'll post pictures of the boys later. For now, lyla tov. Or boker tov, or whatever.