Back to School!

Miriam and I at Betzlet Beach.

Rosh Shanah was a relaxing few days in Haifa with the WONDERFUL Miriam Levy and her family. Miriam is the mother of a very dear friend of my Dad and Step Mom. I have met her before back in the states when she has come to visit her daughter in Redondo Beach and she always told me if I was ever in Israel to come visit and stay with her. So, I did! She invited me over for a nice new year's dinner and place to rest my keppi. It was awesome to just do nothing and hang out and have a grandma figure here in Israel. I was surrounded by Hebrew and did the best I could at conversing and learning new words. I already have a date to go back this weekend for Yom Kippur :)

The Sea from the Lebanon/Israel border.

 

Finally....the moment we have all been waiting for....

School has started! Yesterday was my first day visiting my school - Shorashim - that I will be at for the rest of the year. It is a 25-30 minute walk from my apartment and the kids are a mix of Israeli's and Russian immigrants. The young ones are adorable and polite and the older ones are animals. Of course, the small amount of English they know includes "Modder Fucker." We're gonna have to work on that. The school is like any other elementary school, very colorful with a very friendly staff. There is even a room where they have small, fury animals (rabbits, hamsters, and an iguana) for the kids to play with and learn about. My teaching partner for the year is my friend Anna. We randomly, and thankfully, got placed together which is awesome. We have a great time picking out which kids will be heart-breakers and which will be serial killers when they grow up. She also knows fluent Russian which helps her communicate with about half of the students. These two days have just been getting to know the school, the teachers, the kids, the way the system works, and observing it all. The kids get a long break for Yom Kippur and Succot so we don't actually start teaching and working with them until October 23. In the meantime, I will be going back to Haifa, then on a cruise to Cyprus! Then even maybe a music festival! Everything is better than I could ask for. 

As I went for a jog along the beach promenade last night, I realized how lucky I am. How much I hope everyone gets experiences similar to mine in their life. I really hope the things I do now will encourage others to do later. There aren't really words to describe how I feel I have grown as a person even in this short month and my predictions for the impact the next year will have. I feel God has blessed me with an amazing pair of eyes that have gotten to see the greatest things and the most amazing parts of the world. It is incredible to be traveling WITH PURPOSE. To be going out, having fun, making friends, but then stepping into a classroom to help improve a child's whole life. An incredible feeling.