Hello all!
I know that I haven’t written in a while, so I am going to update you only on my happenings since coming home from Italy. The week that I came home (Beit Nativ), we had an all-Nativ week, which was called “Israel Today Seminar”. This weeklong seminar focused on many different current event issues and areas of modern day Israel.
On Sunday, we had a discussion with an Editor-In-Chief of the Jerusalem Post. It was a really cool experience to hear what he had to say about current issues, as well as talking about his job at the newspaper. After the lecture, we took a 10-minute walk to the Menachem Begin (Pronounced Bayg-in) center, an education facility dedicated to the life and work of Menachem Begin, a former Prime Minister of Israel. Many people believe that Begin was the most successful PM Israel has ever had, as he created the first peace treaty with Egypt, and was the first opposition party to take control of the government. It was really interesting, and learned a lot about a man I that I didn’t know much about! After dinner that night, we had a panel discussion with a bunch of people in the army, (which included 3 Nativ staff). It was interesting to hear about their perspective of Operation Cast Lead, the 2008 Gaza Strip war. It’s really weird to hear people close to my age telling their war stories. It’s amazing to hear their perspective on it. I thought the panel discussion was actually really informative and fun!
On Monday, I went to 2 different science museums, and I was able to play around with the exhibits and other fun stiff. It was like the museum of science and industry back at home, and I love that, so it was a really great morning. After that, we went to a comic museum, which was kinda boring, kinda fun. We looked at political cartoons and other Israeli comics. Comics aren’t really my “thing” so I didn’t get as into it as others, but it was still an experience! After that, we saw an Israeli movie called The Lost Island. It was… interesting… to say the least. It was themed about teenagers, and their… impulses… anyways… we ate dinner at a mall in Tel Aviv and then relaxed the rest of the night.
On Tuesday, I went to the Supreme Court of Israel, which was not as cool as I expected, and I was really bored at that, as well as the discussion that followed. It was a really long an uneventful day. However, at night, we all hoped on a bus, a went to a show in Old Jafo (outside of Tel-Aviv). This show was really special and uniquie because all 15 of the actors and actresses were the “Helen Kellers” of Israel, meaning, they were all Blind AND deaf. It was really amazing, and we all wound up tearing up. It was really moving and its something that I’ll never forget in my life.
The next day, we started our trip down South, where we hiked, went to biblical theme park, stayed in a Bedouin tent, Rode camels, hung out at the beach, watched the super bowl (without commercials), and explored the desert for the week.
On Wednesday, February 10th, we were supposed to go from Eilat to Yerucham, however, in transit, our staff told us we were heading to Be’er Sheva, which made no sense, as we were going north, and then turning around back south. All of us were confused as to why, and upset at the staff, but it turns out they had a good reason. A person from Nativ, who was not on our tiyul was diagnosed with the Mumps. We had to go to the Ministry of Health and get a MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) booster shot. It was an unexpected turn in the day, but hey, you gotta be flexible when you live here in Israel.
So, im going to go now!
I’ll update you on Yerucham life soon!
Peace!
Seth
