(Note: This blog picks up where a previous post at Show Me the Shawarma left off. If you want a recap of the past three months, head over there and check it out! Aren’t crossovers fun?)
So now that our time in Ashkelon has come to a close, what’s next for your intrepid St. Louisans? Well, I can’t speak for Andi, even though my sources tell me she is currently vacationing on the beaches of Haifa before beginning Pardes in Jerusalem in two weeks. As for me, as of tomorrow I am beginning an army program called Sar-El. We will be living on an army base meant for paratroopers, and doing volunteer work there during the week. Mainly, we’ll be packing bags and cleaning guns. From what I hear, it’s actually pretty fun, and hopefully I’ll learn a good amount about the army. We also get kicked off the base during weekends, so hopefully we’ll have some more adventures in Tel Aviv/Jerusalem/Eilat/somewhere fun!
After Sar-El I start a two-week vacation, and my entire family is coming to visit. My parents have never been to Israel, so we’re doing the whole tour. Some places I’ve been to, some I haven’t, so it’ll be interesting. More importantly, it’ll be great to see my parents, brother, and sister-in-law, as I haven’t seen them in months and won’t again until the program ends. Needless to say, I’m pretty excited.
The group seems to be splitting into three categories: Those whose families are coming to Israel, those who are traveling abroad (destinations include Turkey, Germany, and even London), and those headed back to the U.S. In any case, I’m looking forward to seeing my family!
After vacation, we are reuniting in Jerusalem on Jan. 3rd for Part II orientation. Following that day, we are headed up to Yokne’am! We’ve got our apartment, which is fully furnished, although we’ll see what that means. Pictures include a microwave, which is a step up from the toaster oven we have now. Also, I’ll have my own room – even if the picture seems to have a couch/futon and not a bed. Actually, the couch is pretty common here, and can sort of turn into a bed. Also, it actually looks a little more comfortable than Andi’s bed in the other room! Haha, I win! I mean…
We’ll fill ya’ll in on our volunteering more when we get there, but the two main locations are an elementary school and a youth center. At the school, we’ll be working with kids who are a little behind on their English and need more one-on-one time. Also, Andi’s adoptive mom is the principal and my adoptive mom is the assistant principal, so there you go! At the youth center, we’ll be doing anything from playing music to planning events. The main job is to come up with things to attract kids to come. There’s also a chance I’ll be coaching baseball – on my application I guess I put that I liked baseball, which apparently qualifies me to coach. Should be, uh, interesting…
So there it is – the next few weeks layed out for you. I’m losing my Internet connection and computer while on Sar-El, so I’ll try and get something up afterwards as soon as I can. In the meantime, happy holidays and see you in Yokne’am!
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