Great two days!

01/22/2014

Yesterday I went on a Tiyul (field trip) to Shem Olam, the beach, and then a cemetery in Haifa. In Shem Olam we met with a Rabbi who told us some amazing stories and showed us some artifacts from the holocaust. We then had lunch there and took a bus to a place where we met an amazing old man (Forgive me I forget his name) who lived in Israel and he told us his amazing stories from when he was a little boy. 

The Beach was beautiful we sat and he told us how Jewish immigrants used to come in at this port right off the very beach we were sitting/standing on. You can see in one of the pictures what is left of that port.. 

The First two above are pictures of Israel I took from the bus ride :)

 The Alexander River ^

 Loved the beach :) 

In this picture you can see what is left of the port ^

Beautiful :)

At the cemetery he showed us his aunts grave who died in the Patria disaster. Patria was a ship carring 1800 refugees, the Haganah planted a bomb in the ship to try and prevent it from leaving Haifa but it was miscalculated and the explosion sunk the ship in less than 16 minutes. His aunt died with many children whose graves we also saw. It was a very sad but powerful story that this man was able to tell us. At the end he and the Rabbi noted that the majority of the graves didn't have any rocks on them (to show respect & that they were remembered) because the majority of them were younger and were the last of their lines. Again, a very said but powerful story. We may see and hear about a lot of the bigger bombings/events and what not but many lives were lost in the smaller ones that happened but no one is teaching about them so they are forgotten :(

A picture of the Patria as it sank. November 25th, 1940 killing around 267 people.

01/23/2014

Today Brett had a Tiyul but it was all hiking so he stayed behind. So I decided to miss my classes and we went to Yad Vashem instead :) The museum was so big we didn't even finish it and we arrived there probably around 11am and left maybe around 2:30-3ish. We decided instead of rushing it all we'll just go back one day and do the stuff we didn't see. It was free so it would only cost us a train ride :)

Trying to get a little of the landscape in the back ground lol didn't work :-P

 Walking up to Yad Vashem

The view after you exit the Museum :)

 The Pillar of Heros (Top and bottom picture)

This picture was as we left. It's a quote from one of the Prophets, Ezekiel

Motzei Shabbos, a new phone, & the Shuk!

January  18th-20th

So Saturday night, Motzei Shabbos Brett and I (and a friend of

his living in the Yeshiva) went to the Central Bus station :) It was so awesome to get out of the house and do something other than learn. We really just walked around and window shopped. Brett though got to try something new for dinner, it was a Shawarma! He actually liked it too :) It was kind of like a gyro but not Greek... Here's a picture! 

So last night we decided we really needed to get a phone and asap! So we went to Davidka Street to get a phone. We finally have one! We have unlimited but can't text to the states which really sucks & we got a flip phone because it was one of the cheapest options. Weird having a flip phone again :) We then walked to the shuk because it was only a block or two away from the phone store we went too. Brett got to experience it a little & I could tell he liked it as a guy was screaming out for everyone to get bananas from his corner or spot (whatever you want to call it :) ) He also got a huge donut for only 3 NIS  which is less than a $1 in the US. He was loving that! 

So here are some pictures we took while at the shuk (we forgot to take some when we were in the real craziness that is the shuk but this is from like the train station area) 

& One of us on the train :) 

On Wednesday I have a field trip! So expect a new update (& lots of pics) probably on Thursday of Friday before shabbos :)

Another day in Israel J

So Brett and I didn’t feel to well yesterday and sort of played hooky. We slept in and then ran some errands (went to the Pharmacy to ask about medications and went to the market).  I sadly missed a little field trip visiting children with special needs. But we have another trip (this one is all day) next Wednesday to Shem Olam/Haifa Museum. So, I am excited about that. Tomorrow is Tu B’Shvat and we have a Seder at school tomorrow & I get to plant trees at MRC (Midreshet Rachel V’Chaya) so I’m kind of excited about that.

School is going well. I’m still struggling a little bit with my Hebrew but Brett says that I have improved immensely since we arrived. I think I have for the most part. I’m just moving a little bit slower than the other students because they all came in with the ability to at least read (I really only knew a few letters when I first got here). I’m actually going to join a chavriuta program on Monday nights that is actually more a tutoring program where I can get some help from FFB girls with my Hebrew.

Here are two pictures we took on our walk back from the Pharmacy yesterday:

 Har Nof from the street

Picture Post!

Here is the Yeshiva we are living at :) Shapell's / Darche Noam

& Our first cooked meal in our new apartment!

Dessert! Baked apple!

The street we live on. Walking back from the market.

& Finally, us before our first Shabbos in Israel! We ate Friday night at the Yeshiva and had lunch on Saturday in our apartment.

 

Now it's time to go back to school in the A.M 

24th Birthday in Israel

What an unexpected amazing day. My 2nd day of classes was much better than yesterdays. I was also surprised to gather into one of the classrooms for an "announcement' and they all sang me Happy Birthday :) My neighbor also made me gluten free cookies! It was all so amazing. After only being at the school for 2 days and how welcome & at home they've made me feel.

Here's the card they made me and all signed :) 

Had a few other pictures to post but my phone is being weird so can't today. Sorry :( Hopefully on Friday Brett and I can get out and site see a little bit. Anyways, time for bed!

Day Four

First Day in Israel

Our 5 hour layover in Turkey was so long! Other than that it went well. A little boring because we had to conserve our batteries on our phones/computers so we could get on them in Israel before we get adapters to charge them. We're just happy to have all the traveling over with! :)

We arrived at Darche Noam/Shappels college around 2am this morning. We were supposed to start classes today but ended up sleeping in. We also took a walk down to the post office to covert our US dollars into Shekels and then went to the market. Which didn't go as great as I had hoped since we couldn't read the products to make sure they were both Kosher & Gluten free. Thankfully we will be receiving some  help from a few people with that. 

Here is a picture of us in our new apartment on our first day here :) 

Day One - JFK

Day One:

Flight Delayed 4 Hours & Snowed in at JFK :)

So after a morning of packing and making last minute preparations before our trip to New York, we get delayed at West Palm Beach airport for about 4 hours. Luckily our flight didn't get canceled! B'H we made it safely. It's 19 degrees out (but feels like 3) and were snowed in until morning. We tried to get a hotel but nothing was available of course because of the blizzard and the many canceled flights. 

So far it's been quite an experience! We've been awake for about 20 hours straight now and it's only 1:30 a.m. 

Figured this would be a good time to start this blog. It's been a while since I have kept up with one but I am going to try my best to keep this one updated as often as possible :)