I’ve been living in Israel for a little over a month and I can’t believe how fast it’s gone by! So much has happened and I’ve been really happy with how everything is turning out. For those that don’t know I am living in Bat Yam, a city just below Tel Aviv. I’m teaching English in an elementary school which has been fun despite the challenges that come with teaching a foreign language.
The day after I arrived in Israel I went to a 3 day conference outside Jerusalem with the rest of the teaching fellows. That same week we had our first Shabbat with all the people in our program’s city. September is jam packed with Jewish holidays so we didn’t do much teaching. Apparently many people have been trying to get school to start in October here in Israel. We had a long weekend off for Rosh Hashana which was relaxing. I attended a dinner at my teacher’s house which was so nice. After Rosh Hashana we took a 2 day trip to the northern part of Israel where we explored Tzfat and the Golan Heights. The following week we had 2 days off for Yom Kippur. It was a magical experience seeing the roads free of cars and everyone walking or biking in the middle of the street. The last week of September we had off for Sukkot. Although my apartment didn’t build a sukkah, it was really fun seeing the different ones around town. Myself and 3 of my roommates took a trip up to Haifa where we visited the famous Bahai Gardens and went up to Acco.
Although it’s been nice having a lot of time off I’m definitely ready to get into a routine and steady schedule.
