Preparing for a Journey

This post was written before my trip, but I was not able to post it until now.

Hello again!

So it has been about a week since my last post, and again I cannot believe how fast this is going by.  This past week has been pretty “normal.” And when I say “normal,” it is obviously not so normal that I am going to school in Israel. With that said, the next couple weeks are going to be very crazy (fun) and busy.

Today we had a half-day tiyul (field trip) to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. We saw the Dead Sea Scrolls, Second Temple Model, and of course the Ahava sculpture (picture to come soon). The weather was perfect for a Jewish History class outside. When we returned to Kibbutz Tzuba, we had lunch then general studies classes.

We have also begun to pack up our rooms because we are switching rooms soon and are about to embark on a 12-day trip. I am very sad to switch rooms because I love my roommates and I feel like we are all starting to settle in. On the bright side, I will hopefully get another set of amazing roommates and/or get to know other people better. At 3AM on Thursday, we will wake up to climb Masada for the sunrise. I am sure it will be an amazing experience after we get over the drowsiness. We will then have Jewish History class on Masada. After that, we will go to the Dead Sea, Ein Gedi, Gadna, and Eilat. Gadna is a five day basic training program for the Israeli Army (IDF) that all Israelis take part in during High School so they can learn what it is like in the army (if you don’t know, all Israelis must join the army at age eighteen). We will be taking part of the same training program that the Israelis have and will be at the base with other Israelis. It will be a very intense and challenging program. I am both nervous and excited for it, but mostly excited. After leaving the army base, we will head to Eilat which one of the most southern cities in Israel. While in Eilat, we will snorkel, hang out at the beach, and RELAX. I am clearly very excited for this break after Gadna and many long tiring (and fun) school days.

If for whatever reason you would like my address, it is:

Sadie Hurwitz

NFTY EIE High School in Israel

Kibbutz Tzuba

M.P. Judean Hills 90870

Israel

I hope you all are doing well, and thanks again for reading my blog!

L’hitraot,

Sadie