Thoughts on Year Course 11-12

  It’s hard to end a nine-month program, when I have just had the time of my life, lived on my own, experienced a new country, and grown so much as a person. When I think back on the challenges of this year, they were outweighed immensely by the incredible things I did and accomplished; Rwanda, fundraising for Leket Israel, living on my own, planning yam le yam, Shvil Yisrael, making best friends, living on Kibbutz, and so much more. This year I was given the unique opportunity to have a year to simply to live, learn, and explore the Jewish state and my self, and I can honestly say that I have no regrets, and that I lived everyday here to its fullest.

  I think that I have changed quite a bit since the first day of Year Course. And I don’t mean that I look different, but after going through the journey that I have just gone through, your mindset and outlook on life changes. I am more cultured, more independent, have more confident in myself, and can honestly stand by personal beliefs and ideals. For example, after thinking about it for a long time, I decided while living on Kibbutz to become a vegetarian; something that maybe wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t had the to think, grow, and try new things.

  Thanks so much to everyone who helped me through this year, and supported me in every possible way from abroad and in Israel. This blog was a lot of fun, so thanks for reading!

 I know I will be back in Israel soon, and not just to hike and a have a great, but because this is the land of the Jewish people: my home.


  Thanks, good bye, see you soon, and Shalom,

Alex

And the hummusandbeyond hummus of the year goes to...

…..HUMMUS HACARMEL! Yep, this awesome place in the Tel-Aviv Shuk gets my vote. I probably went there about 400 times this year, and everyone who I took there was blown away. The location is great, and so is there steaming bowl of hot flowing chickpea. It’s just so dam consistent. So yeah, Hummus Hacarmel: Congrats. 

It's not over until I say it's over!

  Karas, Kats, Gilbert, and I stumbled out of bed on Friday morning after an exhilarating Avicii concert, and headed up North. When we arrived at the national park, The Yehudia water hike itself was actually closed because of falling rocks, but that didn’t stop us from sneaking passed the rangers to find a gorgeous waterfall (AKA paradise). We spent the afternoon swimming, then headed back to our campsite for Kabbalat Shabbat. Karas can speak Hebrew better than most Israelis, and somehow got us into the park for free, because he volunteered in Tel-Arad, an excavation site he volunteered at.

 We spent the night telling stories from the year, and eating out pitot and fruit salad.

 We woke up to find that Jacob had been bitten by 3,000 masqitos. After making sure Jacob was still alive, we started our hike up Wadi Tsavitan. In the fist half hour we found a huge waterfall. I also found a twenty-foot cliff to jump off of. It was fun. We finished our day swimming in the Kinneret, and then headed back to Arad for our final party. It was a great weekend, and a great way to continue living it up in this beautiful country we call home. 

The boys

Exploring

 Welcome to paradise

At this point in my jump I was flailing like a frog

...but luckily I regained control (perfect form and entry; I received a nine out of ten from the judges).

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