I know it’s been a while, and I don’t really have a good excuse, so I’m not going to even bother making one up! =) Anyways, I’m living the dream here in Yerucham, and its awesome
Yerucham:
Last semester, while in Jerusalem, I would tell people that I was living in Yerucham the second semester; I would almost always get the same reaction… “UGH… YERUCHAM? Why? Its so gross”… Needless to say, it got me really nervous to come. But after living here for a month, I can honestly tell you it is one of my favorite cities in all of Israel. It’s small (only 10,000 people) and has one major road. No bars, 2 pizza places, and zero Laundromats. With the exception of one pizza place, which closes at 11, the town basically shuts down by 8:30 PM. It’s a place where everyone knows everyone, and is actually pretty religious. We live right across the street from a synagogue (that we go to everyday for the nightly service, Ma’ariv). It’s a small little town that welcomes everyone and enjoys seeing new faces. When we first came, we (Nativ) stuck out like a sore thumb, but everyone who saw us introduced themselves and welcomed us into their lives. It really is amazing how hospitable the city is! My friend Michael Gelb once said, “Drive to the middle of nowhere, then go another half hour… you’ll wind up in Yerucham”. This past week and a half, Yerucham has been in a heat wave, and the temperature has been well over 90-95, and it is excruciatingly hot, especially without an air conditioner in our apartment! Here is the Wikipedia page for Yerucham!
Apartment:
I live at 1004 Rambam Street, apartment 11 with 6 other guys. I included a video tour of our apartment.
Our apartment is a lot of fun, and a great place to relax. Since the video, we’ve gotten a new couch, but its still the same set up! It’s really weird living on our own, buying our own food, preparing it and cleaning it up. There is a strong sense of independence and it is a big change, but one we’re all embracing. Since I can’t really cook, I usually help out with the clean up. It’s a good balance between everyone in the apartment.
Work:
So, while living here in Yerucham, I have two jobs. My first job, is working in a pre-school (Gan). Now, this job has a lot of ups and downs. In the classroom there are 23 kids, who are all SUPER CUTE and really fun, but I specifically work with 3 kids. These three kids, Yonatan, Avial and Maor, have been diagnosed with ADHD, and are all best friends. It is my job to keep them occupied while the rest of the class is busy being good little 4 year olds. As cute as they are, they are tough, especially when the three of them are together. There are days that I have been bitten (literally), had my hair pulled out (they like the face I make when they grab my leg hair and yank), had sand and other objects (phones and shoes and more) thrown at my head. I won’t lie. It’s very difficult to stay positive in a hard environment, but the teachers (ganenets) are actually amazing. Though they don’t speak English, we still are able to communicate through basic Hebrew (my Hebrew is improving!) One of the ganenets is actually my host mom! But I’ll talk about that later!
My Bite Marks
I have also been volunteering with Magen David Adom. It’s been harder to get shifts in because the hours don’t always agree with my Gan job. So far, I’ve only worked 3 shifts, but I have had my share of action! On my first shift, I got called to a car accident, where the car was totaled after rolling over 4 times. When we got to the scene, it was really brutal, and I thought there would for sure be casualties, but, thankfully, only one person was injured, and it wasn’t too serious! I took her blood pressure (160/100) and helped her hand stop bleeding. She probably needed stitches, but I don’t know what happened to her after we dropped her off at the hospital. It was really cool to be involved in the action. The next (half) shift I went to, there were exactly 0 calls, so it was basically me chilling in the MDA station. My last shift started at 3 PM on Shabbat. I decided that I was with working on Shabbas because someone needed to do it, and it’s a good place to relax, read a book and learn how to play Shesh-Besh (Backgammon). That 8-hour shift saw us get 4 calls(ish), which is a lot for Yerucham. Side note: because Yerucham is kinda in the middle of nowhere, the nearest hospital is in Be’er Sheva, which is about 30 minutes away when you’re driving 160 KM/H (over 100 MPH!), so it is a long process to get a call, treat them, take them to the hospital, deal with the paperwork and come back home. The first call, a man called to complain about chest pains, so we took him to the hospital and dropped him off. As we drove back through the street (not streets) of Yerucham, we saw a woman pass out on the side of the street (good timing, right?!). So we pulled over and the driver knew her (everyone knows everyone in Yerucham) and knew she was a diabetic. The reason she fainted was because her BS was 27, which is really low. So we treated her in the street, and by the time her BS was up, her family showed up and they took her to the hospital. So the driver and I went back to the station. We got a call a little while later for a reported stabbing in the next town over (5 miles away!) but by the time we got there, the guy ran away. So we went on another call in the city, which was transporting an elderly man to the hospital, which was uneventful. The driver for all three of my shifts is a man named Yanai, who speaks great English, and is really cool too! This is also a great place to transition to my next topic, because Yanai is also my host dad!
Host Family:
So, as you already know, I work in the Gan with my host mom, Ya’arit, and with Yanai at Magen David Adom. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that they are some of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. My Yerucham experience would be completely different without them, and I feel so lucky to have such a close relationship with them. They’ve invited me to their house for dinner multiple times [which of course I accepted=)], invited me to go to see Avatar in 3D with them (which hasn’t worked out yet) and allow me to come and hang whenever I want. They have 2 kids, a 4-year-old daughter named Noa, and a 1-year-old son named Levi. They both are adorable! Yanai works on his computer as a web site designer when he's not working with MDA, so he downloads a lot of TV shows and movies (its legal here!!!!) and he’s shared so much with me! He got me hooked on the show “How I Met Your Mother” and has given me so many movies and other TV shows. He really is amazing, and I think the world of him and his family! They truly are amazing.
Anyways…
That’s all for now, but here are some picture and videos to keep you entertained!
Here's a video of my roommate Ethan Singing
and here is my friend Lainie being tricked by my amazing Magic skillz
Alright! I hope you enjoyed!
Update you soon!!Seth
