A few days in the life of a Year Course refugee.

Well first off.....
Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans! and happy November 22, 2012 to my non-american readers, because I don't discriminate.
 Before I get to my refugee story, I want to fill y'all in on a few Siyurs we've had that I've neglected to blog about.
1. Channel 2 News, October 24. Basically one of Israel's news channels. It was pretty neat. Honestly, nothing too special. We saw some of the cool equipment that they have there, met the weather guy, talked about hurricane Sandy. Nothing huge. Saw the set of the Israeli Big brother and a sign for the Israeli Voice. Click here for photos!
2. Hebron, November 13. Hebron is in the southern area of the West Bank. Its where the Tomb/Cave of the Patriarchs (where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah are buried). Its home to over 200,000 Palestinians and between 500 and 800 Jewish settlers. Its a really confusing and complicated situation, I recommend going to this website, to read more about the conflict in the West Bank. Click here for photos! Warning: they're really sad.
3. Sderot, November 27. Sderot is less than 1 KM away from Gaza. I actually stood on a big hill and could see Gaza. For over 12 years, Sderot has been under missile fire from Gaza. We saw over 50 rocket pieces, ones that had already been fired. Its some serious stuff. Pictures to come soon! Crazy fun fact: On play grounds and stuff, we saw these giant hollow caterpillar tunnels. They were huge and made of thick cement. They were not only for the children to play in, they were also bomb shelters. Can you believe that? The threat of rockets is so bad in this area, that bomb shelters have been built into children's playgrounds. I also want to mention the fact that the particular play ground we visited was across the street from a synagogue, that had been victim of a direct hit. A synagogue across the street from a playground getting hit by a rocket. Its crazy. I was entirely safe of course.  Holla ceasefire!
Anyway, let me just get to the good stuff. You wanna know what happened to me? Here we go...
....Let me take you back, many, many nights ago.
November 15, 2012: A Thursday, I was hoping to go out. I woke up late, because I don't have volunteering on Thursdays. I pretty much bummed around the majority of the day. I went to Ulpan aka Hebrew, which was actually fun because we had a substitute named Aviv and he's really really funny. You HAD to be there to understand (shout out to my Hebrew Level 1 homiez). This was followed by a short break to get a snack or drink at the shops by the Michalah, before my second class, Israel Update. I don't remember what time or what the exact situation was when I found out that a missile had been launched not too far from Bat Yam. 13.5 kilometers to be exact, which is 8.5 miles. That's pretty close, right? I was a little unnerved about it, I'm not going to lie. I did sneak a couple of peeks at my twitter feed during class (@IDFspokesperson has been my favorite source of information these few days). Gradually as class went on and we went into our weekly sikkum (like a final meeting with our group before the weekend begins) I had made a list of things I would need in case I had to go to a bomb shelter. Fun fact: most buildings and homes in Tel Aviv have bomb shelters built in, kinda cool, right? Well anyway, soon we start receiving texts that dictate our travel restrictions (ex: Do not go anywhere within 40 km of Gaza, not even to travel.). I make it back to the apartment to greet Alec and Rayn. I'm basically in mini-panic mode at this point. I pack up the stuff on my list, and sit in the living room and wait. I was really hoping I was overreacting and I would fall asleep on the couch and wake up in the morning and everything would be fine, it didn't work out that way. No sir, not at all.  Then, we heard distant sirens. I suggested they were in Holon, which is 4.8 km (about 3 miles) from Bat Yam. I'm looking at Alec who's still standing at the open window, when I hear a sound that is nearly indescribable. It was loud, and heavy, and big. A missile. The three of us in the apartment go into basic panic mode part 2, and get ready to head into the stairwell (because my apartment is on the seventh floor, and the siren only gives you 30 seconds to get to a shelter).  Soon enough we received a call from Gabby telling us to pack a bag and that a bus would be at our apartment to pick us up somewhere between 9:00 and 9:30 PM. Eventually we made it to Beit Ar-El. The Young Judaea Jerusalem campus. It was late, I was majorly disheveled from that night's events, so I went straight to bed. Shout out to my TMR friends--thanks again for letting us stay in your apartment girls!! Also hi Estie.
Here's a summary of my activities and major events that happened over the next few days. 
On November 16, I got my ear pierced. And the alarms went off in Jerusalem. Which has never happened before. Everyone was panicked. Now it wasn't just one section in danger, by then it was 2. This was also our second night sleeping at Beit Ar-El apartments.
On November 17, there was virtually nothing to do but bum around, because its Shabbat in Jerusalem. I watched High School Musical with Maddie and Alyx. Our third night in the BAE apartments.
On November 18, Young Judaea wanted to try to give us a "normal" schedule, so we had classes. Zionism and hebrew. Everyone was so exhausted by that point. Then we walked around Jerusalem and sold flowers for 10 NIS to raise money for children in the south. Then I went shopping with Alyx and got more pairs of pants. Because I only brought one to Jerusalem with me and they were starting to smell. That night we slept at other apartments. Apartments where YC used to live, which were really really nice. The apartment I stayed in had three bedrooms, with full size beds, and two balconies. TWO BALCONIES. Crazy.
On November 19, we went to the zoo for an hour. Which was fun! Then hallelujah we drove back to Bat Yam! But only to get more/new clothes. Then we drove up north to sleep in a hostel in Haifa. I watched the movie Training Day with Max, a section 3 madrich.
November 20, 21, and 22 were spent at a food army base place called Tira, where we boxed cans of food into boxed meals for the soldiers in the south. We boxed a lot, but I don't have the exact number...sorry. On Thursday (the 22) we went home to Bat Yam! Just in time for Thanksgiving. My grand feast consisted of edamame and pizza. Yum. I'm really thankful for the ceasefire, I think all of Israel is.
We've been home for a week since then, re-adjusting our remaining days in Bat Yam. My goodness. I can't believe we only have less than two weeks here. Time flies. Next semester I will be living in the north, at Yemin Orde, which is a youth village, which was the outline for the Agahozo Shalom youtgh village in Rwanda.
WHAT IS THAT? You may ask. Great question.
The Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) opened in December 2008 and provides a home to up to 500 teenagers orphaned by the Rwandan Genocide, AIDS, and other causes. ASYV is not just an orphanage nor just a boarding school; but rather the the village is an innovative community in which the youth join together in order to form families of peers. Additionally, at Agahozo-Shalom, the youth receive essential education and support from a network of dedicated staff as the Village was initially designed with the intention of allowing traumatized youth to “dry their tears” (Agahozo) and “live in peace” (Shalom) while restoring the rhythm of life.

The Village provides:
• A safe environment conducive to healing
• Nutritious food, clean water, shelter and clothing
• Comprehensive medical and mental health care
• Quality education that emphasizes the value of critical thinking, practical vocational skills, social responsibility (Tikkun Olam, repairing the world), and emotional growth (Tikkun HaLev, repairing the heart)
• Sustainable social networks for youth without traditional families

As you may or may not know, I will be living at the ASYV for 25 days in February. Exciting, right? The rest of the Rwanda goers and I have set the goal of $5000 to donate to the village. So help me (us, but mostly me) out! Go to our donation website and make a donation. Make sure you write that I sent you there ;). Just kidding. But you can remain anonymous if you want. Honestly, every single penny, dollar, shekel, pound helps this really great cause.
AAAAND, I have some great news! I'll be returning home to Chicago for 10 days! I arrive at O'hare International Airport, at 4:15 PM on December 21st, and I leave on the 31st. I'm so excited to see everyone! Honestly, ask any of my friends here, every five minutes I'm talking about what I can't wait to get back to. But me coming home also provides an opportunity for YOU (yes you, the one who doesn't want enter a credit card number into the computer) to help the ASYV! We've made some awesome T-Shirts that have been selling for 40 NIS, which is only $10.00 AMERICAN DOLLARS. So email me, Facebook me, contact me in some way shape or form! Tell me your size! We have extra small, small, medium, large, and extra large. I will gladly bring YOU home a T-shirt if you tell me to! As many as you want, as long as you have the money when I get to the states. ALSO, if we don't live in the same place, but you want a shirt, talk to me! I'm sure we could figure something out. Whether my mom brings it to you, or I mail it to you. Its for such an amazing cause. I had a meeting about my trip yesterday, and now I'm even more psyched to go. Its really going to be life changing. ahh I can't wait.
So you have two methods of helping out, I'd totally love it if you did both, but I'd still love you a lot if you did at least one. :)

So thats pretty much my life at the moment, also I have bronchitis, so talk to me because I'm bored.
As Always,
Julia Rose

November 15, 2012

There are so many things that need to be said right now, and I'm not really one for serious posts. There are a million things on Facebook, and yet half of my friends don't even know whats going on. Gaza has been hitting Israel with rockets for three years, more than ever this year. And now with the Hamas military leader, Ahmed al-Jabari, has been killed by the IDF, the situation is really getting heated.  
I'm safe at the moment. I was just on the phone with my Dad, and he said a very true statement. "If any army is going to keep you safe, it'll be the Israeli one." the IDF is amazing beyond words. Please keep yourself informed on how they keep me and this state safe. This won't be over tonight.
A rocket hit two miles from where I live. Two miles. I never thought I would actually hear a rocket or bomb go off, and I know I don't ever want to hear one again. But the fact of the matter is, I probably will. 

We're at war ladies and gentlemen. This much is true.


As always,
Julia Rose

hey there stranger (part 1)

I'm an awful blogger. Aren't I? Sorry! October came and went so quickly! I didn't realize until Halloween that I hadn't blogged. So here we go:
I got all messed up the week after my last blog post, because I had three REALLY busy and exciting days. So I'll start with those!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012: 

We visited the Kinneret. Which is in the north, in the Sea of Galilee region. If you would like to see photos, please click here! "What is the Kinneret?" Good question. I'm going to try to explain this as clearly and as simply as I can. The Kinneret was a farm-settlement-type thing that was founded in 1908 by a very small number of pioneer Labor Zionists (like, less than 50). They believed that a Jewish state could only become a reality if people built their lives there in Israel/Palestine, opposed to a political Zionist who believed (at the time) that if the Jewish people advocated to the higher European powers (Britain, Germany, and the Ottoman empire) basically it would happen. So the Labor Zionists were just a little more proactive about making this whole "Jewish State" thing happen. 

We learned about the struggles that these early settlers endured, and specifically the role of women in the Kinneret. They were equal, which is pretty cool. Hana Meisel started the an agriculture school specifically for women. 

I particularly enjoyed learning about Rachel Blewstein. She moved to Palestine and joined the Kinneret when she was 19, where she attended the agricultural school. She was good friends with this guy named Aaron David Gordon, also known as A.D. Gordon, he was just, like, one of the most influential Zionists and the driving force behind Labor Zionism, I mean its casual. She also kind of dated this guy, Zalman Rubshov, who like later became Zalman Shazar, who was the third president of Israel. Which, you know, is pretty cool I guess. However in 1913 she left her beloved Kinneret to study more agriculture things in France. Shortly after WWI broke out and she found herself unable to return to Palestine. She lived in Russia for the entire war and returned home in 1919, but to a settlement not too far from the Kinneret called Degania. At some point before returning to Palestine, she contracted Tuberculosis, which was incurable at the time. Because they didn't want it to spread through the community, Rachel was kicked out. She died in 1931, at the age of 40. She's buried at the Kinneret cemetery, which we also visited. Other important Zionists are buried there as well, but I didn't mention any of them, so why name them now? I'm not going to start explaining those guys, as cool as they are, we still have like three weeks of catching up to do. 

After the learning part, we went on a nice hike on Mt. Arbel, which is over 500 ft above sea level, so that's pretty cool. And that concludes my short summary of Tuesday, October 16, 2012. 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012: 

First we stopped at the Hadassah Neurim Youth Village, and basically just talked to a ton of tourists visiting Israel about Year Course. I'm not going to lie, I worked the room. A very nice woman came up to me after I spoke and made jokes and said I was adorable and introduced herself. It wasn't until the next day I realized that she was Marcie Natan, the national president of Hadassah. So that was kind of super awesome.

After that we went to Nachal Taninim! (Click here for pictures!). To make a long story short, its like a park reserve thing. They have animals in a river and trees, and some other stuff. But honestly it was just a nice pleasant walk that ended at the beach. It was fun, I took a lot of photos, but I didn't learn much. Still a good day. 

Thursday, October 18, 2012:

 I had volunteering that morning, I taught a little bit of English for the first time, and it like worked, they understood A B C and T. I threw T in there because there was a cat walking around the room, who they really didn't like, and so it was a good way to get a real life example of some words. That was totes fun. 

That afternoon we put our cute little Year Course button downs on and headed to Jerusalem. We got off at the International Convention Center for a Hadassah event. 

Now if I were you, I'd be asking, "What's Hadassah? Why were you at an event for it?" 

Well my friends, Hadassah is the Women's Zionist Organization in America, which was founded in 1912, so that means this is the 100th year of Hadassah, a very good reason to celebrate. Year Course was there because Hadassah used to fund a number of Young Judaea camps in the states and they continue to fund Year Course. So we were there to show everyone (because a very large number of women and men traveled to Israel to celebrate) how important Year Course is. And it is important, because without Year Course I would've been at Tulane which was hit by a hurricane right at the beginning of the semester, so thanks Year Course (But in all seriousness, this program is great. Thanks Hadassah!)! Ummm what else? It was basically a concert, and oh yeah, the PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL, Benjamin Netanyahu was there, casuallyy. I got some really great photos of the whole event (click here!).

Ohkay I know I've only covered three days, but I feel like my eyes are going to melt out of my head if I stare at this computer any longer. I'll write a sequel to this post soon (actually soon).

As always,

Julia Rose