Okay, first I have to apologize that I haven’t posted in almost 3 weeks. My avoidance to writing these blogs is apparent, as I really don’t want this year to end. If I don’t write about the final weeks that mean the end isn’t near, right?!
The first weekend in June, Noam, Anna, hope, Hannah, and I all stayed in Beit She’an and we had a last weekend together. We ordered sushi and just had a really great time. We continued to have more English days that were extremely successful! Last weekend, Noam, Anna, hope, and I went to Tel Aviv for the pride parade. It was my first one! It was so much fun! We rented an airbnb and on Friday we walked to the parade and had so much fun stopping along the way and joining different street parties. Once we got to the beach (where the parade was) and set up our spots and stayed there. At one point once we had finished watching the parade we walked with the parade and became a part of it! Saturday morning we went to south Tel Aviv where Hope had some friends and we had a brunch party.
On Sunday, we had a closing activity with all of our host families. We went mega-karting and then out for dinner. It was so much fun! I’ve done go-karting before-but never like this! We had to wear helmets and be buckled in! These go-karts go up to 50 km (30 mph) so safety is first. The track was twisty and it was actually behind the mall (tzim center) in Beit She’an. I didn’t even know this place existed! A hidden gem! I drove two rounds and my times put me in first place! I even got a gold medal. It was pretty cool. After the racing, everyone went to this Israeli BBQ restaurant for dinner.
Last Tuesday was Ram Bam’s 6th grade graduation, so Hannah and Limor (host teacher) invited me to come, so I went! It was a really cool two hour performance that the girls (there are only 8 of them) wrote and directed this play about how they and their families came to Israel. After the ceremony, we went to dinner in Beit HaShita. Thursday we had our final English Day, it was so successful!
On Friday, we left to go even more up north to Nahariya. We had a closing seminar with Tlalim. There was a hike and then after the hike we went to Rosh HaNikra. However, instead of doing the hike a group of us decided we didn’t want to do it so instead we went to a coffee shop, had lunch and it was great. We were given tasks to do for the seminar so we did do some work in between the coffee drinking. Today there is a closing Masa Gala event in Jerusalem. Everything is coming to an end. It’s really unbelievable that 297 days ago I was getting ready to come to Israel. I blinked and now it’s almost over. This year has been filled with highs and lows. It has been a year of self-discovery, trials, triumphs, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
In 14 days I come home. I’m nervous, anxious, and excited all in one. I’ve started to plan stuff for this summer so I can be excited to come home and do these things instead of being sad about leaving.
Since I don’t really want to make myself more sad, I’ve made a list.
Things about Israel I’ll miss:
- hummus, sorry to all my kids
- my kids, they have all warmed their way into my heart and I will never forget them
- my host teacher
- good falafel
- going for my daily groceries and having Yossi (the cashier) always greeting me with the only English he knows “Hello, how are you?”
- being able to haggle about prices of my groceries at the shuk
- walking around town and seeing all of my students
- everything, basically everything, this list could go on and on!
Things I won’t miss:
- waiting for buses, they are never on time and with the heat it’s unbearable
- the heat
- the beeping, oh the beeping
- seeing cats instead of squirrels
see you all state side very soon!
Read more from Erica’s blog – Erica’s Journey
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