CamBROdia

So, I've made it to Cambodia! I has a wonderful time in Koh Phi Phi, but honestly, it smelled kind of weird and was too tourist-y.

I did have a lot of fun snorkeling though. Our shark trip was cancelled, so instead of that we spent the afternoon snorkeling around and venturing into the island where the Leonardo DiCaprio movie "the Beach" was filmed. I haven't seen it, but from what I've been told its a pretty strange movie. We enjoyed seafood that evening before packing up for our next transition. 

And now I find myself here, in Siem Reap Cambodia. I'm very excited for the day tomorrow, so if you'll please excuse me, I am off to bed

As always,

Julia Rose

Hello & Goodbye to Chiang Mai

So, the Internet in Thailand is not so awesome, so I apologize for the wait. But here's my first blog post!!

Day 1: a good 48 hours of flights. I met all my campers! Jacob S (who was also on Classic Italy with me last year!), Alena G, Collier R, Hannah S, Cristina I, Helena T, Jessica RW, Niha K, Gonzalo E, Francesca R, and Julianne K. Luckily, I got a really great group. Also all of our flights went perfectly well, which is awesome. When the group arrived in Bangkok we met the lead counselors Jordan and Lydia. They're pretty cool too. As a group we flew to Chiang Mai and then drove to our accommodations. 

Day 2: our activities for the day were jungle cooking and visiting some pretty amazing temples. 

In jungle cooking, we literally made our meal. Pork salad, grilled chicken, Nam-Prik (which is like Thai salsa), steamed/cooked mushrooms in banana leaves, and other things and sticky rice (which is present at almost every meal). It was quite delicious and I took some really artsy photos. At one point, Julianne and I snuck away to explore a bit, and we ended up milking an angry goat. It's a lot harder than it looks my friends. 

After lunch we traveled into Chiang Mai and I got to visit my first Buddhist temples! The first one was Wat Doi Suthep. The legend of this temple in particular is that a expensive white Elephant belonging to a king was set free with a piece of Buddha. This elephant traveled through the jungle and let a roar out at the top and died. This prompted the king to build a beautiful temple in that spot. Everything is lined with gold, I'll post photos as soon as I can. 

Wat Chedi Luang was the name of the second temple we visited that day. It's super bedazzled, I kind of want to copy it for my new wall paper in my room. Very very beautiful.

Then we spoke with a monk, he began every response to a question with "Well, you know..." And that slightly bothered me, but otherwise was very interesting. They don't eat after noon, which I could never do. So I guess becoming a monk isn't in my future, plus I'm a girl and I don't really want to shave my head and eyebrows, but whatever. 

We finished the day the Sunday walking street market. I bought a tie-dye shirt. "#awesome" (-Lydia said that..her and Alena are helping me type this blog post aloud."

I also bought a silver ring for my collection and stretchy pants. The total for the end of the day was about 500 baht. Which equates to $16.66. Everything is really cheap here and it's awesome. Then we went to bed.

Day 3: Rock climbing and repelling. I was excited because I already knew how to tie all the important knots on my harness. One concern I had though was that they didn't use stopper knots there, for the extra security, so, hmmmm. I still had one anyway. 

It was a real mountain, not a fake rock wall. Which is surprisingly challenging. But, I handled like a pro of course. What else would you expect from me? 

The next thing I did not handle as well was repelling. I've repelled before, but it was maybe like 10 feet, at least. That day, I repelled about 120 feet, so it was a little different. Also in the times I have repelled before, I had the wall right there. It was just me, in the air, like 100 feet up. Pretty scary. 

That evening we had a barbecue, sort of American themed. Which was quite pleasant. We also played Mafia, but I don't want to talk about it.

Day 4: our busiest day yet! We began the morning a little grocery market for 15 minutes, it was cool, but everyone was itching to get to our next activity.

Elephants. Yes my friends, elephants. We did not ride them though. We actually learned about how abused these poor creatures are when they're forced to perform in shows and give rides. The place we spent the morning at was a refuge for 35 previously mistreated elephants. There was all really cute baby to, but we weren't allowed to touch it. Unless we wanted to get trampled by its mom and her friends.

Right after that we went zip lining through the jungle. I took my camera up into the trees with me (although my father would not approve--sorry daddy!) and snapped some pretty sweet photos. Hooray!

We then went to the night Bazaar. Which was awesome and had knock off everything. Ray bans, beats headphones, Gucci, you name it. HMU (hit me up)  if you want me to hook you up. 

Days 5,6,7 and half of 8 were community service days! We completed part of an addition to a kindergarten in an obscure village 4 hours outside of Chiang Mai. Lydia says it was near the highest mountain in Thailand. We stayed in the homes of local villagers without a real bathroom or shower. And yet, we all survived. I stayed in a home with Helena, Jessica, and Cristina. It just happened to be the nicest one in the village. We could close our windows and had a nice big room to ourselves. 

I actually had a lot of fun on this volunteering trip. I got to paint a lot of murals and interact with local children. We didn't finish the addition, but we really did do a lot. I'm proud of us no matter what. 

Day 8: yesterday. A travel day my friends. We left Chiang Mai for Phuket. Took two cars, two planes, and a boat to get to our hotel on Koh Phi Phi.  I got a little sunburned, but I still look good.

And then today, day 9, we're snorkeling! The rest of the group is actually scuba diving, but Lydia, Alena, and I are not. And that's what gave me the perfect window of time to write this post, we're in an area where there are just too many boats for us. But it seems like in a few minutes, it will be our turn! So that's all for now folks!

As always, 

Julia Rose

You didn't even get the chance to miss me! Lets go hang out in Thailand! ADVENTURES

Here we are friends...three weeks after I arrive home from my nine months abroad, and I'm off again.
This time on the wonderful amazing Travel for Teens trip to Thailand!
But before I get to that, I want to mention how much I really do miss Israel.
Towards the end I struggled, part of me wanted to be home so badly, but part of me never wanted to leave. Israel will always have a piece of my heart, and I can't wait to go back. Shout out to those people in charge: Ido, Miri, Gal, Gal, Kate, Betty, and all my wonderful teachers. And I'll never forget my section 2 favorites, or any of the other friends I've made. This year would not be the same without each and every person I've met and come to truly know and love. You know who you are!

Anyway, enough of the emotional crap! Lets go over what I'll be doing in Thailand! I'm including various links to various websites, but I'll try to give my own summary of each place I'll be at!
The dates I'll be there are from June 28, 2013 to July 14, 2013.
Friday, June 28; Day 1: The flights. I'm flying out to LAX, where I will meet my fabulous campers. Then as a group we will fly through Tai Pei/Taiwan in China at 1:35 AM. Which is so funny, because my little brother Fisher just returned yesterday from China. He even took after his sister and blogged while he was there, how cute! But we don't spend much time at all in Tai Pei (which is actually an island off the coast of China), before we hop on our plane to Bangkok!
Saturday, June 29; Day 2: We arrive in Bangkok at around 11:35 AM, Thailand at last! But we're not quite finished with planes yet. The group then has an additional connecting flight to Chiang Mai! We finally arrive at 4:00 PM after a very very very long day of travel. Luckily, the rest of the night is really just time to recuperate after probably more than 24 hours of traveling.
While you imagine me sleeping, let me tell you about Chaing Mai! Built in 1296, Chaing Mai currently has a population of 200,000 people, and is the second largest city in Thailand. 700m north of Bangkok, Chaing Mai is a cool hip university town known as 'the rose of the north'
Sunday, June 30; Day 3: A jam packed day! We visit the Elephant Nature Park (which is exactly what it sounds like) and go zip lining all before lunch, you can bet I'll have my camera EXTRA charged that day. That evening we get to explore the Bazaar, which I've read is quite the sight to see!
Monday, July 1; Day 4: We spend the day at the Crazy Horse Buttress. Which is nothing what it sounds like it would be, its actually a rock climbing experience. Basically, it covers a large portion of what I did in my Outdoor Ed class senior year: climbing, caving, and rappelling (you should be jealous of that, because that was my gym class. While you ran laps around a circle and played flag football, I was kayaking, skateboarding, and climbing stuff. Shout-out to Colegrove, that was an awesome class). We do that all day, before returning to our hotel and having a relaxing BBQ. Hooray!
 Tuesday, July 2; Day 5:  We kick the day off with a jungle cooking lesson, followed by an adventure to Wat Chedi Laung. Which is this really cool Buddhist temple from the 14th century. After that we go to the walking street market to finish the day!
Wednesday, July 3; Day 6: Finally, the first day of volunteering! The project our group will be focused on is developing a school in a remote village. I'm sure many amazing stories and photos will come from this day, I'm so excited!
Thursday, July 4, Friday, July 5, and Saturday, July 6 are all community service days as well! These are days 7 through 9!
Sunday, July 7; Day 10: We get up nice and early to leave Chiang Mai. We get two more flights to Bangkok and then from Bangkok to Phuket. If you think we're done there...you're wrong! Then our group takes a ferry to Kho Phi Phi!  Koh Phi Phi is a collection of six small islands, which look absolutely beautiful!
Monday, July 8; Day 11: The group goes scuba diving! I, alas, do not. If you were previously unaware, I have asthma. While I normally wouldn't let that stop me, I just don't think I use my inhalers enough to be sure I'll be fine. Its a bummer, but I can always come back, right? :) After the group goes scuba diving, we get a tour of an island called Phi Phi Ley, where the movie The Beach  with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed! I've never seen that movie, but thats still cool.
Tuesday, July 9; Day 12: Get psyched, I'm going swimming with SHARKS! Which I did previously in Fiji, but I'm still so excited to do again! We then get a lovely sunset tour of the island on a longboat. I can just smell the photo opportunities.
Wednesday, July 10; Day 13: I get to travel to Angkor Wat! Which is actually a Buddhist place of worship in Cambodia! My cousin Jessica spent time there! So maybe it will become some sort of family trend, I wouldn't mind that. After that wonderful experience, we meet the rest of the group in Kanchanaburi. It has a lot of cool WWII history and cool scenic things.
Thursday, July 11; Day 14: In the morning, we will visit Hellfire Pass. A forced labor camp that was once run by the Japanese army. I actually remember reading a little bit about this place while at the Genocide Museum back in Rwanda, so what I do know of it, isn't very good. After that the group has the option of either going Lawa Cave or to the Tiger Temple. I personally think I'm going to the tiger place, how could I not? But we'll see of course.
Friday, July 12; Day 15: SHOUT-OUT TO MY CHOIR OPERA PEEPS: because this is where my one night in Bangkok begins. Actually, its two nights in Bangkok. But regardless I'll just be picturing Joey D walking around a bunch of frozen people singing/talking the solo. And the choreography by Rae L. good times. And because many of you won't get this reference, don't worry about it.
Saturday, July 13; Day 16: The day before this and this day as well will be spent exploring the amazing city of Bangkok. Then at night we have our final dinner, sadness!
Sunday, July 14; Day 17: Our flight leaves Bangkok at 3:15 and before I even know it, I'll be back in America.
This trip is going to be a whirlwind of color and culture. I'm more than excited! Of course, I'm not as excited for the weather that is making out to be in 100s range for the next two weeks.
This is more than just an adventure, its THE adventure! I've been dying to go to Thailand, expect many stories, many photos, and at least one blog post.
As always,
Julia Rose

Nine months later....

So..I guess this is it guys...my final post from Israel.
WHAT?
I leave Israel on June 4th, 2013 at 1:00 AM. I'll arrive in JFK at 5:40 AM of the same day. I have to go through customs and recheck my bags for an 8:30 AM flight back to Chicago. And finally, at 10:19 AM, I'll be home. It sounds so simple that way.
But its so much more than that. I'm closing the door on this chapter of my life. Next is Thailand and then Tulane and who knows what else? But I've had those ups and downs this year, sometimes I just wanted to go home. But I stuck around. I think that makes me a stronger person, right?
I'll probably have more closing remarks when I actually get home. I'll give those and details on my Thailand trip in a week or two.
I just really can't believe it.
I keep having these flashes of memories from my first few weeks in Israel. Sitting in the Michala (where we took classes in Bat Yam) on our first few days, getting talked at while we sat there sweating. I didn't really know anyone. I know I've come so far from there, its insane.
Here are some things I can do now:
1. Take the public bus
2. Make pasta
3. Make an Israeli breakfast
4. Ask how much something costs in Hebrew
5. Get myself from one part of the country to another by myself via train or really long bus ride.
6. Navigate through a country where I REALLY don't speak the language and still be confident to get to my destination.
7. Go to the clinic and get days off without really being sick
8. Go grocery shopping
9. How to hitchhike
But that's only a few.
For now, I'm kind of sick of goodbye blogging.
So...
as always,
Julia Rose

I accidently abandoned my blog temporarily.

Oops! And suddenly I'm just a few days away from this amazing year coming to an end. I can't believe it! I've been so busy with my classes that my blog took a back seat. Sorry guys!
So here's what I've been up to:
I. My classes
        A. Ulpan
                1. I still suck at Hebrew, so there's not much to share. My teacher Mirav is super nice though, even though I'm kind of behind
        B. Power of Persuasion
                1. with my cool teacher Zeev! This class is an Israel advocacy class. I'm actually really glad I'm taking this class, ice never been confronted about Israel or being Jewish or anything, but now I can hold my own in a debate, especially ignorant ones. So that's pretty neat.
       C. Beresheet
                1. We discuss the stories in the book of Genesis in a way I never really thought to. My teacher Rob Kahn can always bring up something I never thought of, which requires me to use my critical thinking skills to kind of figure out what's going on.
       D. The Comparative Religions of Jerusalem
                1. My teacher is Benjy, who was also one of e chaperones on my Poland trip. Our class has been studying the three main religions and how they manifest in Jerusalem. We go on trips all over the city to religious landmarks to learn about that religion. Most recently we traveled to the actual Temple Mount. We weren't allowed inside the Dome of the Rock, but it is beautiful. You can't really see how intricate the designs and how bright the colors are. It's also really interesting to see the other places I've been in the city from the point everyone looks at. When you look at Jerusalem, you're eyes go to this big gold thing, suddenly I was looking at the city from that gold thing. Awesome, right?
       E.Anthropology
                1. I love this class. I really do. On the one hand, my teacher Avi Rose is fantastic, he makes the class so fun, but on the other hand we learn the most amazing things. The way our class works is that we might spend the morning with a PowerPoint about a certain Jewish culture, and then travel around Jerusalem to a landmark of that culture. We enjoy the food and the art and the music. On that note: I seriously recommend the Moroccan museum in Jerusalem, it is absolutely beautiful. I can't wait to post photos.
                2. Something I really really enjoyed as well in this class was a family tree project. We had to trace our roots back to our great grandparents. I later learned that we only had to write down their names, but I took it a few steps further. I traced my family tree back to when each descendent arrived in America. I've always been curious to know "what I am" you know? I used to say Russian, Romanian, Ukrainian, and Polish, and I had no knowledge of any Holocaust experiences within my family. Then I discovered that I am actually part German, which I got a little excited about. I never would've expected to very very very very distantly be German of all things, I like that. Now you may be wondering how distantly am I German? It can't be more than two generations, right? Another freaking awesome discovery I made was that my last name has been in America since 1843, literally 100 years before WWII and the Holocaust. Which is amazing, because many Jews who immigrated to America at that time, converted to Christianity when the anti-Semitic tension began to rise. But here i am, Julia Rose, a nice Jewish girl, with two Jewish parents, four Jewish grandparents, eight Jewish great-grandparents, sixteen Jewish great-great- grandparents (and so on and so fourth). Also the majority of those people were all born in America.
II. Other various excursion
       A. I'm particularly thinking of my trip to Eilat with all of my roommates and a bunch of other people. It was a celebration for the wonderful Isabelle M's birthday and I had so much fun. I've never been to Eilat before, it is so beautiful!! The Red Sea is absolutely lovely, and even just walking around there it's so fun! I wish we had more than a weekend, but I'm most definitely returning as soon as I come back to Israel.
       B. Yom Haatsmaoot! Israeli Independence Day! I fantastic party that goes all night in the streets. It's basically better than the Fourth of July because you can really feel the joy and pride everyone has in this country. I think in America we take for granted our existence, and how if America goes to war, we don't worry if the US will exist afterwards. There is a little bit of celebration in each day here, but it just fills the country with music and excitement on that day.
       C. I went to an Infected Mushroom concert! Which is an Israeli trance band. It was outside and I had fun, and now I really like them. I also went to a MASA closing ceremony the other night, and the Voca People were there! Go look them up on youtube! They're an Israeli based A Capella group, but way better than anyone ever on the Sing Off.
III. What's next for Julia Rosie
       A. While I'm still in Israel I will continue my classes here in Jerusalem. I'm trying to make the most of the remainder of my time here. I love everyone here, but I do miss my friends and family at home. (shout out to Vanessa, Plummer (congrats on your new twitter (my idea)), Caroline W, Matt, Brian, Hayley, Mike, Estie, and Emma!)
       B. I'm working on getting my photos up soon. Sorry haha
       C. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I have orientation for the fantastic and amazing Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana on June 19-20th. Crazy crazy crazy! I couldn't be more excited! (Shout out to my friends on that Tulane freshman Facebook page, wooooo)
       D. Mark it in your calenders: June 28 I'm headed to Thailand! So you can expect a number of blog posts and plenty of photos! I've been dying to go! If you were previously unaware, I'm CITing for a second summer with Travel for Teens, the best travel program ever. Honestly. There would be no way on Earth I could've ever spent 9 months abroad if it weren't for TFT, those are the people who sparked my interest and passion in travel and photography. So also, if any TFT staff are reading, thank you! I literally only have this blog because of the experiences I've had with TFT. Actually I could have this blog, it would just be really uninteresting and lame and I wouldn't have any cool stories or photos to share. I'm so stoked for my 5th summer!!!
       E. What will happen to my blog? Great question friend. I'm not quite sure. I might write a post about my fears and schedule, then an update over Winter Break? Another at the end of the year? I'm starting to look into what I might want to do next summer, but nothing is set in stone. Of course I want to travel, but no promises. I would gladly accept any recommendations.
       I'm also hoping to maybe visit Year Course friends around the country, but I haven't told my parents, and since they're finding out now it's probably a no. But do not fret, I will find a way. I've also been thinking about doing s trip within America and blog about that. I seen the Eiffel Tower and the Colosseum, but I've never been to Mount Rushmore or the Grand Canyon. So we'll see.
I seriously can't believe how close I am to going home. I never could've imagined half of the things I've seen and done in the past year. I'm one lucky girl, thanks Mom and Dad.
Anyway, everyone stay excellent! 
As Always,
Julia Rosiee

Here you go Dad! ...sorta

So my father really wants me to blog about Poland. But there's just SO much to blog about, so I'm still working on it. But I wanted to update the world with my current activities.
I've settled in for my last three months in Jerusalem, no more traveling outside the country for me until June 3.
My family came and we had a great time and did lots of things and stuff. I had almost forgotten what it was like to be in my family dynamic, but do not fear, I've been reminded. It was really nice to see everyone though, I miss them a lot.
Since then classes have started, Spring Break has ended, and Game of Thrones has begun (Down with the False King). Here are the classes I'm taking (sorry if the information is minimal, I've only had each class once):
1. Ulpan aka Hebrew Class with Mirav.
----yeah I still suck at Hebrew, but hopefully I'll improve because I get an hour and a half of it every day (aside from Monday)
2. Comparative Monotheistic Religions of Jerusalem with Benji, which is the Siyur class.
----Mondays only. So yesterday we went to Mt. Scopus and the Mt. of Olives, I'll tell you about that momentarily.
3. Finding myself through the Tanakh or something, I'm not sure of the actual physical name of the class, but its with Rob
----Actually really interesting, I've never actually read the Torah and there's of discussion and such about what certain things mean. Mom you would LOVE it.
4. Power of Persuasion with Avi
----Actually I'm not 110% sure my teacher's name is Avi, but this is an Israel advocacy class.
5. Jewish Culture through Anthropology with Avi
----A different Avi. Its going to be like experiencing and learning about different Jewish cultures in history and around the world. I'm really excited because Avi is absolutely fantastic.
I also was going to take Critiquing Films about the Holocaust, but really just can't. Its all so sad and I just am not in the mood. Which, I know, isn't really ok to drop a class because I'm (as Ali G would say) NIM. But I do have the option to drop one elective, and its my choice. So back off, okay?
But those are my classes for the next eight weeks. I'll be sure to do plenty of interesting blogging, I promise Dad.
OK so as I said earlier, yesterday I went to Mt. Scopus and Mt. of Olives and some other cool places too. The class is called "The Comparative Monotheistic Religions of Jerusalem" so we got on a bus and headed over to Mt. Scopus. If you don't know what that is, let me explain.
הר הצופים aka Har HaTzofim aka the Mountain of the Watchers is a 286 meters above sea level mountain that has always been a bit of a war area for *like* ever. Not in the sense of rockets or bombings but kind of like an army base. The Romans camped out there in 66 AD, and then again in 70 AD and used the mountain as an advantage point against Jeru. Then the Crusaders used in in 1099 for bad things too. After that Mt. Scopus gets almost a 850 year break. During which (specifically in 1918) Hebrew University was founded and it was a fairly successful school by 1947, 1000 students and 200 faculty (which is still smaller than New Trier though--just saying). But then in May of 1948, the Arab-Israeli war broke out, and by the end of it in 1949, Mt. Scopus had gone from a mountain to an island. Until 1967, the mountain itself was under Israeli control, but all of the area surrounding it was considered Jordanian land. And for the millionth time in history, Mt. Scopus became an army base, but this time for Israel. It was returned to mountain-status in 1967 following the 6 Day War.
So yeah we visited. Mt. Scopus is famous for the view of Jerusalem but it was really disappointingly grey out, so my photos are sub-par. But we hit up the university (its so cute and pretty) and had lunch before heading to the Mt. of Olives.
The Mt. of Olives aka Har HaZeitim aka  הר הזיתים is basically like a giant graveyard for Christians and Jews. Menacham Begin is buried there, he was Prime Minister of Israel for a while.
Then we went to two churches, the Church of All Nations and Church of the Sepulchre of Saint Mary. The Church of All Nations is said to be a place where Jesus prayed before being arrested, and the Church of the thing of Saint Mary is believed by some to be the Virgin Mary's tomb. We also saw the Garden of Gethsemane, which also is said to be where Jesus prayed before being arrested. Turns out there are like four different places in the same general area where Jesus prayed before being arrested, so it must've been like a walking prayer, but I don't know.
That's the great part. I don't know much of anything at all about Islam or Christianity, which is why I'm excited to take this class and hopefully be more knowledgeable in my life.
Anyway, I think that's it for now. I'll blog again soon and post about Poland as soon as I can.
As always,
Julia Rose

Check out some sweet pics here!

Um..

So basically, my life has been crazy.

For those of you who don't know, I've returned to Israel, but just as quickly as I've arrived, I'm off once more. 

Poland. 

But first, here's how I feel about my return;

If I was to be honest, I would say that part of me regrets signing up for this trip. I didn't anticipate Rwanda to take such an emotional toll on me. As wonderful as they are, the kids at the village would ask "do you have parents?" just as casually as they would ask my age or where I'm from. I guess I just want to be with my family, I'm so lucky. I knew it would be sad, but on the plane rides home I had to remind myself that these flights weren't leading to Chicago. 

Arriving back in Yemin Orde was hard as well, I hadn't seen any of the chanachim in three weeks, and I left after only being back for two. If anyone from Year Course is reading this, the trip to Rwanda should be a week longer. I would've much rather packed up entirely before leaving and then meeting my section either at the changeover or in Jerusalem. I didn't like being back at first, because I really wasn't doing anything. I even visited Bat Yam for a night and still did nothing. I so badly wanted to be back with the kids. But alas, I was not. 

So now I live in Jerusalem, right? My roommates are Rachel C, Jacky G, Isabelle M, Joanna B, Alexia F, and Mai S. They're a very nice group of girls, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better in our last months in the Holy Land. 

This week was honestly just a blur, a blur of bad internet and unexpected coldness. But I'm slowly adjusting. 

Tonight, I leave for Poland. 

I'm going to try to write a little each night, and post when I can (like any trip, there's no promise of reliable wifi). Earlier I said a part of me regrets signing up for Poland, but I've come to terms with the fact that you can't exactly get excited for a trip like this, you know? I want to go, but at the same time I've never visited a concentration camp or a Jewish ghetto. I'm not looking forward to being sad, and I'll do my best to make my posts as positive as possible.

Wish me luck! 

As always, 

Julia Rose

"Amahoro" means "Love"

Alas, here I sit.
At the end of my last full day in Rwanda.
Wow. How can I even begin to write about the end of this fantastic journey?
First, I want to thank my parents. Mom, Dad, I would not be here without you. I wouldn't even be in Israel without you. Although I was hesitant at first, you guided me towards the choice that was best for me. I miss you so much, and I feel really lucky to have both parents in my life. I'm a really lucky girl in so many ways.
My last few days were, admittedly, rough. I feel myself being pulled in three directions.
I want to stay here with my girls and other kids. Especially since three days ago I started tutoring kids in piano. I met them all in piano class because I thought I needed to learn more, but it turns out I know enough to teach. I wrote out and taught multiple songs; Ode to Joy, a french lullaby, happy birthday, twinkle twinkle little star, and Payphone by Maroon 5. I want to stay and learn more myself and teach as much as I can to these kids.
But I also want to go back to Israel. I miss more convenient food, and my friends, and not having to worry about the water quality. I'm really looking forward to Jerusalem. At Yemin Orde, we don't have a stove or an oven, so all our food is microwaved and toasted. I have a grocery list going of food I need to buy once we move. I'm really looking forward to it. I also want to try more cooking, maybe it will encourage me to try new foods. We all know I need that.
Finally, I want to go home. Home home. Northfield, Illinois. My own bed in my own room, with my family and dogs and Potbelly and Viccinos. (Rice and beans for three weeks has definitely given me plenty of food fantasies.) I miss my friends and the comfort and security I always find at home. It's becoming more and more frustrating to be away.
But I've started something amazing, and I intend on finishing it.
Saying my goodbyes to my girls tonight was hard, and funny at the same time. Several of them fake cried, one almost made me cry, and all one girl said was "We love you long time." So good. They wrote me a letter of love and well wishes, and I just know I have to come back. I fully plan on finding a way.
I know I have a lot more to write about, but I'm just not feelin' the blogging about this place I'm going to miss so much.
As always,
Julia Rose

I hate hippos.

So its about time  I give ya'll an update. Right?
A few days ago (as in February 18) we got up at 6:30 to leave for Akagera National Park.
We kicked off the journey with two flat tires. Awesome. After taking care of that, we make our way to Akagera. Yay two hour car rides. We passed a lot of cows. And cows here are actually pretty weird looking, its something with their backs and their horns. Some of the females have horns, but they curve down and the male horns seemed disproportionately big....Anyway I'm casually watching the cows to make sure none of them are laying down (Jenn G taught me that if a large percentage of cows seen are lying down, it means its going to rain) and I see this weird horse thing. I'm all like, what? Then I realize, its a Zebra! There was a group of about 10 of them, and we stopped for a moment to "oooh" and "ahhh" and take photos like the big group of tourists we are. Then we pressed on.
The park had like a little reception area, just to mark the beginning of the park and our tour thing. One of the guides listed off the animals in the park, ones we would potentially see; giraffes, zebras, and elephants. Although he was quick to add that we would most likely not see the elephants, just because they're so hard to find.
We piled back up into our cars (mine consisted of me, Zohar [who's our madrich, did I mention that?), Eli S, Marnina C, and Jenn G]. Our cars were actually really cool. There were two removable sunroof things, but we were allowed to sit on them. So I spent the majority of this safari on top of our car, rather than in it. I was really hesitant at first, for a plethora of reasons. I put on sunscreen, so my hands were extra slippery and we had to hold on to a bar or the cover to stay on, that was concerning at first. Also it was really bumpy, and I was holding my entire life (my camera) in my hands. So 'twas a little nerve-wracking, until we saw our first animal.
Ironically enough- it was the elephants! We might have been 6 and a half minutes into the safari, and there were wild elephants like 30 feet from us. After a few pictures we pressed on. We ended up seeing more zebras, more elephants, giraffes, warthogs, hippos, and a lot more. I also discovered my serious fear of wild hippos. They could murder you in like five seconds, no mercy. Actually though. You could die. It would kill you.
We were lucky enough to have great weather, and I would say the whole trip was a success!
Yesterday we visited the market in Rubona (the closest village to ASYV), which was nothing special. A lot of avacados and tomatos. The interesting part of this story is on our walk back to Agahozo, we got caught in the pouring rain. POURING. Everyone was soaked, and we didn't even make it back to the village by foot--a bus had to come pick us up. I mean, its been fairly rainy here, but nothing like this! ...thanks for the warm welcome to the Rwandan rainy season mother nature....
Otherwise, I can't believe its my last week in the village. Time has flown so unbelievably fast. Soon I'll be back in Yemin Orde for a week, then the two day all YC sections changeover (which may or may not be at Tel Aviv University?), then I move into my Jerusalem apartment, then I go to Poland for a week (surprise!!), then I have another week back in Jeru and then its spring break and my family is coming and then its April. And at that point I'll only have too months left of Year Course! I'm so glad I did it, but I can't believe its almost over!!! Time flies!
To see some new photos click here!
One thing I am somewhat bummed about, is that I'm missing Purim (which is like the Jewish Halloween) in Israel this weekend. But I mean I guess its ok that I'm like hanging out in Africa and stuff too.

As always,
Julia Rose

"Miryango" means "Family"

I love Rwanda. Basically. 

But first, I want to talk about the Genocide Museum,  called the Kigali Memorial Center. The whole museum is really well done. We saw three exhibits. 

The first one was specific to the Rwandan genocide. It separates the tragedy into three parts; before the genocide, during the genocide, and after the genocide. 

Here's what the Kigali Memorial Centre website says about the exhibit. 

"The first section chronicles the history of Rwanda, the impact of colonialism, the development of divisive ideology and how inpunity led to the escalation of discrimination and persecution.

The second section describes the genocide itself.
The third section deals with the aftermath and indirect long-term consequences of the genocide, its impact on women and children (widows, orphans, HIV, psychological trauma), issues of justice, and the rebuilding of a fair and equitable society."
The second exhibit we walked through was one describing other genocides in the world  (the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, and the Cambodian genocide for a few examples).
The final exhibit we walked through was, in my opinion, the most moving. It was a children's memorial. There would be a big picture of a child, his or her name and age, a favorite food or sport, a best friend, and the cause of death. For example, there was a little boy, 3 years old, who's best friend was his mother and was hacked to death by a machete. It's impossible not to be impacted by these photos, beautiful happy children who are no longer living and who all died in horrific ways. I especially was affected by the fact that some of the kids at ASYV could've been in that exhibit, or they could know someone in it. It's beyond sad. 
After seeing the memorial, I became much more aware of my surroundings, that every adult had experienced this. The thought that someone you see on the street could have killed a dozen people or helplessly watched his entire family die occurred to me. It was especially hard for me to see people with injuries. What unimaginable horrors lie in the story of a scar or a limp. 
But going back to the village after seeing all this, reminded me that Rwanda is recovering and has plenty of hope. The kids here want to stay in Rwanda, rather than move to the States and live there. The plan is to graduate, go to university (perhaps in the states) and return to Rwanda and further the community in Rwanda, make medical and scientific advancements in the name of Rwanda, change and better lives in Rwanda. This is undoubtably a special place.
Let's talk about happier things now. I saw some sweet-ass wild gorillas in the northern part of Rwanda. It was fantastic. F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C! Ten of us signed up to see them, but there's a rule that the gorillas can be exposed to only eight humans for one hour, so we divided ourselves. I was with the ever-so-wonderful Jenn G, Marnina C, Adam G, and Ali G (plus three New Zealand-ers). We left our little hotel at 6:30 AM. We were greeted with some traditional dancing that was "locals supporting the gorillas!" which was super cute. We then had the bumpiest drive of my life half-way up a volcano and then trekked our way to go track some gorillas. When we finally reached the area they were in, our guide stopped us  to tell us that we were close, and just as he was saying that, gorilla noises come out of nowhere. Then we turned around and there was a GIANT male silverback gorilla, just casually chillin' eating some green stuff. We were with them for about an hour, and I got amazing photos that make me giddy. Interesting events that occurred during that hour: 1. One of the gorillas just started like half-charging Marnina and Adam and Ali, and then just stopped when they got out of her way. 2. The male and a female went behind a bush and made some interesting noises, and our guide basically said they were doing the baby making thing. 3. The male ripped some of the longest, loudest farts I've ever experienced. I'm only mentioning these because in the other group, a gorilla basically sat on Maddie's back and smelled her, charged Alex, and threw a tree at them. So maybe our lives weren't as exciting as theirs in the moment, but we did miss the rain. Just as we were getting back into our car it started pouring. It was already really muddy though, but thank goodness we had our two porters (who were hired to carry our stuff), they literally made sure I didn't die and saved me on multiple occasions from certain embarrassment.
Now I'm back in the village, volunteering and hanging out with my family! I love my girls more every day. One of them gave me a valentine yesterday, which I'm obviously keeping forever. 
Don't worry my friends, I'm going to show you my photos, right........ NOW!
That's all for now I suppose. I don't ever want to leave, also that.
As always,
Julia Rose

Mooshaka Mooshaka.

In ASYV, there is a awesome fun thing that happens every Saturday morning, early. Its called Mooshaka Mooshaka. And its running, a lot of running, with 500 Rwandan kids who do this EVERY Saturday. I prefer to say that I only did one Mooshaka, because I honestly can't keep up with them. Hopefully next week will be better.
In other news, I have completed my first week at the village! My goodness! It's been crazy. My favorite thing so far is "family time." Its a group of the students who live together with their "Mama."Its like a live-in advisory. Katie M and I got assigned to a group of 16 year-olds. They are my absolute favorite people. They love asking questions and seeing pictures and they love to laugh and its just so unbelievable how much these girls have for each other and life. Just last night I was with them, and they were speaking in Kinyarwanda. They all started looking at Katie and I, (I had been cracking a few jokes) when Jacky, a lovely girl translating for me, said they were so happy we were there, and that they love it when we're around. My heart just melted. I don't want to leave ever.
I also went to an EP (enrichment program) for the first time! I went to Piano, so it was basically just a piano class. The other EP options are photo editing, sewing, recording (because they have a legit recording studio here), traditional art, guitar, modern art, carpentry, and hospitality. There are so many awesome things to do, I'm just not going to be able to try them all :(
As far as volunteering, I've begun! First, I was with Maddie G and Adam G. We planted trees in the area between the dining hall and the school. If you're unfamiliar with the layout of the village, the school is on top of a really really tall hill. So we trekked up there and got to work. I was so muddy afterwards. And the mud here isn't brown, its red. I did that on two different days. Then yesterday, Marnina C, Alex B, and I were in the kitchen. I met Denee, who works in the kitchen and just has the most infectious smile. We peeled and chopped carrots and cucumbers. Then today I was in the kitchen once again with Marnina, but with Maddie G instead of Alex. For four hours we peeled green beans. Four. Hours. I never want to see another green bean again, but it's on the lunch menu today so I doubt I'll get that wish.
Hmmmm what else happened? Oh I know! I helped teach an english class for people who don't live in the village. There were two classrooms with about 50 people each. Never before in my life have I been in a class with that many people and everyone is paying attention. Not once did we ask them to settle down or stop talking. It's really inspiring how dedicated the people here are to bettering themselves.
We also visited Kigali and went to the Genocide museum. It was intense. It opened my eyes a lot, I realized that every adult I saw survived something unimaginable. I wish I could elaborate more, but I have to run! I'm leaving to see the gorillas today! IM SO EXCITED!!
As always,
Julia Rose

"Akadugudu" means "Village"

I've arrived in Rwanda! At long last! At about 2:00 AM our plane landed at the Kigali International Airport. We had a four hour layover at the Istanbul International Airport at one point. 

The flight had it's good and its bad points. One example of an awesome thing was the movies offered by Turkish Airlines. I could've watched Space Jam. SPACE JAM. Remember? That movie that Michael Jordan did forever ago with like Bugs Bunny. It had 50 pages of movies, with 6 movies on each page. That's 300 movies. I highly recommend it! Also you can call other passengers from your seat for free!

A bad point was the fact that by the time the food service got to the 17th row (my row), they ran out of chicken. So you either had fish or nothing. Then later when I went to pee I saw a flight attendant eating two things of chicken. Maybe its just the malaria pills making me moody, but that ticked me off.

Anyway, we stayed overnight at a cute little hotel. I roomed with Katie M. It wasn't just a room though, it was like a whole villa. Complete with a mini-kitchen and living room area. It also had two bathrooms. One upstairs, one downstairs. Its a bummer I passed out as soon as I got to the room, I hope to fully enjoy that little hotel in the future. 

Okay, the rest of the day. We exchanged money. After that, we could officially "make it rain." The exchange rate between American USD to Rwandan Franc is crazy. One US dollar is 632.327 Rwandan Francs. And we were also only given 2000 bills, needless to say, it was a pretty thick roll of money handed to us. 

Then we went to like a little shopping mall and got sim cards and phones. THEN we went last minute grocery shopping. Its even more impossible to get any other food at ASYV then it is at Yemin Orde. So I stocked up, and we headed to the village. 

IT IS BEAUTIFUL. The internet here is really slow, but I'm really hoping to get my pictures up on my blog and on my Facebook tonight. But who knows? 

I am rooming with the following lovely ladies: Katie M, Jenn G, Marnina C, and Ali G.We superficially unpacked for a half hour before going to this energy presentation happening in the village. Yosef Abramowitz, who's this really big solar energy guy in Israel, is setting up solar panels behind the school of the village which could potentially provide up to 10% of the country's energy. So that was pretty cool. For my fellow YCers--they had a presentation thing on him at the Masa concert, the one who's Sarah Silverman's brother in law. He has a wikipedia page. 

After that I committed myself to blogging and uploading. MAYBE if I'm lucky I can stay on top of this.   Perhaps even blog more than anticipated. Ya'll will just have to wait for the adventures to come! 

SO, I just had dinner, rice and beans as expected. I had to give a mini introduction for the whole group to about 600 kids. So props to New Trier Theatre 1,2,3,4 for constantly reminding me to project and 

enunciate.

The most interesting part of the longest 24 hours of my life happened only a few minutes ago, as we were returning home from dinner we had our first guest in our room: Francisco the lizard. For about 10 minutes, Francisco was viciously chased about our apartment, in multiple attempts to either kill him or evict him permanently. One attempt was in fact successful, with the use of broom sticks and a garbage can. Luckily, Francisco will live to scare Ali another day. And in the meantime we have fashioned a lizard door block out of duck-tape and a paper bag. 

Its going to be an interesting ride my friends. Get psyched.

Also, great news! I have uploaded the majority of my photos here! Be sure to check out the one of the lizard chase :)

As always, 

Julia Rose

6 days?!

So in honor of my upcoming move to Rwanda, I've changed my blog layout to something a bit more fitting.
That's right my friends, in less than one week I will being my Rwandan adventures for 25 days. Before you ask, yes, I am excited.
The Tikun Olam Rwanda Young Judaea group is the following: Ali G, Marnina C, Jen G, Eli S, Katie M, Adam G, Marissa F, Alex B, Maddie G, Genna W, Aliza S and I. Basically the coolest kids ever. You can expect to hear some fun stories about them in the future.
What I'm most excited for is seeing the gorillas! But the whole experience will be cool too...I guess.
And from what I've gathered, life in the Agahozo Youth Village isn't all too different from life at Yemin Orde, so adjusting shouldn't be too hard.
No promises or guarantees about consistent blogging. Wish me luck!
As always,
Julia Rosie

Going places & doing things

So here's just a quick funny story. Last week I went to go hang out with my assigned bitan (like an advisory that lives together), which is 12th grade boys. They're all Ethiopian, ranging from ages seventeen to twenty. They're great guys, and I've become fairly close with them.
So anyway, I went to the bitan. I walk in with a fairly loud "WHADDDDUP BOYZ?" and the immediate response from all of them was "SHHHHHHHHH!" They were crowded around the TV. I walked over to them, expecting to see some football (or as you Americans call it...soccer) program or whatever.
Do you want to guess what these boys were watching?
Hi. Vampire Diaries. Bye.
Tomorrow I'll be spending the day with my bitan. You know, going places & doing things.

I leave for Rwanda in two weeks! and Year Course is half over.
Time flies my friends.
As always,
Julia Rose

Long time no see ya stranger

OK....so maybe I've been avoiding blogging recently. Actually, I know I have been. Just to get to this point of writing after opening a new Internet page, logging on, clicking on my blog, clicking new post) it took me a good half hour. Even while typing that sentence, I had to stop to take off my sweatshirt. Anyway, let me break down how my life has changed since my last post on December 8th, 2012.
December 10th-11th was spent with ALL of year course (which means all three sections) at a fake Bedouin camp (I say fake because it had electricity and heating and was really just a tourist destination.) We went on two hikes, and it was really cold at night. I was really stressed out just from moving, making sure I didn't forget anything, and then bringing my most important items (laptop, camera, cell phone ext..) with me overnight and leave them in a tent with no lock. It was a hot mess, at least for me. On the afternoon of the 11th we set out on a hike and then set out for Arad. Which was more than inconvenient for the other villagers and I because we were moving to Yemin Orde...by Haifa.....151 miles north. So we had to switch transportation vehicles once in Arad, say our goodbyes to the rest of the section, and hit the road. Its a three hour drive. We traveled through the entire country in a day.
December 12th-14th: Were my first days in the village. They were really relaxed because the village was on Hannukah break (which is the Israeli winter-break) so there wasn't much for us to do.
December 14th-December 16th- We packed a weekend bag on Friday afternoon and headed back to Arad for a section Shabbat. Honestly, it was really pointless. I love section 2, but the forced environment we were put in made the weekend pretty dull and boring. Though I did spend the majority of the time with my friend Adi G, who's one of the sweetest girls you'll ever meet I swear, so that did make the weekend a little bit better.
 December 14th-20th- Was a lot of sitting around, but I got assigned to volunteer at the school, which seems like it will be really fun, but I spent that week making English posters, for grammar rules. This week dragged on FOREVER. Mostly because on the 21st, I was going home for winter break, which I couldn't wait for.
December 21st-December 31st: Home. Home. Home. Home. Home. It was too amazing. Just to sleep in my own bed, to go to Walgreens on a Friday night, and to have a dishwasher was beautiful enough. But what was even better than all that, was the time I got to spend with my friends and family. I definitely returned to Israel refreshed and happy and ready to take on the next five months. Also my single wish for home came true. I wanted it to snow so so so badly. I mean, I'm obviously not Christian, but even I felt the magic of the miracle on the morning of December 25th when it softly began to snow. It was a perfect visit home.
January 1st-Jaunuary 3d: More general time in the village, Jacob B joined us (only Ali, Ellie, Nora, Nadav, Ari, Danielle and I were there before break).
January 3d-January 5th: Jacob B and I made our way to Jerusalem where we spent time with our section 3 friends at Beit Ar El (the Jerusalem campus of Year Course). I want to thank Cami and Vanessa and all their roommates for having me and letting me stay in their apartment, and for all the other friends I hung out with this past weekend for showing me a great time. Even though there is absolutely NOTHING to do in Jerusalem on Shabbat, I really had an awesome time.
January 6th: I traveled to Bat Yam by myself, for my second to last Rwanda meeting. Before the meeting started, I had Aroma (which is like a chain resteraunt coffee place...its an Israeli thing, I wouldn't expect you to know..) with the wonderful Adi G and Jenn G before the meeting.  Side note: this trip is coming up SO SO SO soon, I'm getting all excited and nervous and emotional as we get closer. That evening Eli S, Ali, and I (they were also at the meeting, because they are also going to Rwanda!) went back to Yemin Orde to find Jonathan B, who was the last person to arrive at the village. We were greeted with a wonderful surprise: Abby S and Gideon W have joined the village people, we are now a group of 12! I'm so excited for them to join us, because we're still a group of great people at the village. Something a lot of people commented on while I was in Jerusalem was the difference in dynamics our section 2 group of village people compared to previous village people from section 3. We (being the current village people) know each other much better than the last group did, and we were all generally friends, which can only work in our advantage. That's just my opinion.
But today, January 9th, I am blogging. Obviously. I know my parents will comment about how I gave so little detail on my life here at Yemin Orde, but I did that on purpose. What I want to try to turn my blog into is share little stories of what happened to me every other day, rather than saying "in the mornings I worked in the school and bla bla bla bla afternoons." I think my avid blog readers would be much more interested to read an actual experience I had while in the village, instead of just reading about my schedule. Lets start today!
SO, last night, it was SO SO SO windy. Like Eli S told me this morning that some roofs fell off places last night because the wind was so strong. It actually kept me up most of the night. At one point I put on my glasses so I could actually see out the window (ya'll know my terrible eyesight, and if you didn't..now you do!). I was looking out for maybe 20 seconds before I see something suddenly jump up out of the corner of my eye. The wind had also been shaking the door, and I had thought to myself at one point "Hmm..that actually sounds a lot like someone trying to get the door open." So of course when this thing jumps out at me it scares me half to death. For a moment I was sure whoever had been trying to get into our house had come to bang on my window for me to let him in.
Yeah it was just a plastic bag.

I know I need more sleep, ok? I'm working on it.
But yeah, that's all I got for today. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, if you haven't donated to the Agahozo Youth Village (my Rwanda village). Every penny counts, and we have a goal to reach!
http://tikkunolamrwanda2013.causevox.com/

As always,
Julia Rose


P.S. I miss you Jenna!