I am writing now from a coin operated Laundromat (the only Laundromat) in Arad, Israel. Arad is a very small town, roughly 45 minutes east of Be’er Sheva in the south of Israel. Seeing that Arad is a desert town, there is rarely ever rain (we haven’t seen any so far) and the weather is almost identical every day: HOT! It cools down slightly at night, but I have yet to wear long pants or long sleeves of any kind here. The population here is fairly diverse; I would estimate that 80% of Arad’s residents are Russian, and there is also a Charedi Yeshiva (a place of study for the ultra religious Jews who wear only black and white and get paid by the government to study Jewish texts all day because they believe that this studying will bring the moshiach, and therefore they are helping Israel more than anyone). This is an extremely controversial topic of debate in Israel. Arad is also home to an Ethiopian absorption center, and about 75 crazy American teenagers living on their own for the first time…my apartment has only received one noise complaint so far. Arad is mostly residential and made up of many apartment buildings (most of which are low-income housing) but there is also a small center consisting of two banks, a grocery store, several falafel/shawarma restaurants, a few convenience stores, and two bars (essential). There is no need for buses within Arad because you can walk anywhere in a matter of minutes, but the central bus station has buses to Be’er Sheva, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Eilat.
My whole trip began on the flight from JFK airport in New York. This is where I reunited with some of my friends from the past, and began to make new friends with whom I will be spending the next year. We played cards in the airport after saying our final goodbyes to crying parents (mothers) and going through security. Once we boarded the plane, it was clear that the passengers who were surrounding our clump of about 45 eighteen year olds leaving home would not have the most relaxing 12 hours. We were not too crazy but we woke up our fair share of strangers from talking too loudly or knocking into people when we got up to go visit other friends. When we landed at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, we were greeted by our counselors and we boarded buses according to our section. The two hour drive down to Arad was another bonding session, and a time to sleep before greeting the exciting city described above! Our total travel time was about 15 hours, but I think it was worth it. When I arrived at my apartment on 58 Ben Yair St. (the last apartment building on one of the main streets) I was happy to find out that I already knew 4 of my 5 apartment mates. Two guys are friends from camp (from Dallas and New Jersey), two are friends who I met during Year Course orientation in March (from South Carolina and Tennessee), and the last one is a kid who I didn’t know (from Maryland), but we all get along extremely well. Since I was the first one up to the apartment I snagged the only single room which is nice for sleeping but we almost always hang out together in the living room when we are in the apartment.
I have been here for just over a month, and I have already done so many amazing and interesting things. The first week we had an orientation during which we had to go to the ulpan (intensive Hebrew language class) building where our counselors had all sorts of sessions planned for us with topics ranging from getting to know our surroundings, to alcohol awareness. Some of these lessons were worthwhile, but I think that many were a waste of time. After the first week of getting to know the other 75ish kids on my section, we began our volunteering. I am working with a great group of 7 other Year Course kids at Tel Arad. Tel Arad is a national park located just outside of Arad. This is an extraordinarily historically significant site, yet there are very few tourists since not many people know about it and there is still a great deal of restoration work to be completed. An ancient city and temple have been dug up at this location which date back thousands of years. This place is mentioned in the Torah, and is believed to be the closest point to the Promised Land that Moses ever reached. The temple was the only known temple outside of Jerusalem, and was partially destroyed in the 8th century BCE. Our work has been restoring walls of the city by mixing mortar each morning and filling the walls with mortar and rocks to give support. This work is really cool because we know how important this site is and how much our input matters, but also because we are working with stones that have not been touched in thousands of years. Our boss is a really interesting American man who served as a paratrooper in the Israeli army before returning to the states to be a police officer for 30 years (5 of which he spent in undercover narcotics). This work is starting to get a little repetitive, but it helps that we only work Sunday through Wednesday.
Volunteering does occupy most of our time, but it is definitely not all that we do. On Thursdays we have a little meeting with our counselors about current events and random information that we need to know and then we go on a short trip. So far we have been on two desert walks. I wouldn’t necessarily call them hikes, but they were really neat and we saw some very cool views and things. Last week we went to a Bedouin woman’s tent outside of Be’er Sheva where she talked about her life and their village. We then drove to an Arab shuk (outdoor market) in Be’er Sheva, but they didn’t really have anything worth buying…unless I was looking for women’s or baby clothing.
During the first week, most nights consisted of partying (not too much of course) and heading to one of the bars in the center of town. While this was fun, it grew old very quickly. At this point, if we have enough energy to do anything after a long day of work (I get picked up by a van at 8 and I get home around 4) we usually either go to a friend’s apartment to relax or watch a movie, or occasionally walk around outside exploring.
I have also taken a couple really awesome trips. The first weekend, some Israelis planned a huge party in Tel Aviv for all of Year Course and other programs, so many of my friends and I decided to go. After our trip on Thursday, we walked to the bus station and caught a bus to Tel Aviv. It was pretty hectic since we weren’t sure if we would all fit on the bus, but everything worked out and after about 2 hours we arrived at the central bus station in Tel Aviv. This was my first time at this station, and it was nothing like I expected. This is not just a platform for buses, it is essentially a giant mall…that also happens to have buses arriving and departing all the time. There are 7 floors filled with restaurants, all kinds of stores and kiosks, arcades, and really anything you wouldn’t expect a bus station to have. Anyway, after we got to Tel Aviv, we traveled to Bat Yam (a suburb of Tel Aviv) where we stayed for two nights with some friends on another section of Year Course. That night, we met up with some other people and headed out to my first real club experience in Israel. It was a lot of fun, and everyone was dancing and having a good time, but the club was pretty small. Afterwards we went back to the apartment where I was staying with all of my apartment mates and went to sleep. The next day was probably one of the best days yet. We woke up rather early and decided that we had a whole day before another party that night so we should take advantage of being near a huge city. We first went to Tel Aviv’s famous Shuk Hacarmel, and walked around for an hour or two exploring every stand and eating lunch. After the shuk, we returned to the apartment and headed out to the beach. Bat Yam is famous for its beaches, and let me tell you, the beach was just as incredible as everyone says! It wasn’t too crowded but there were a bunch of people. Since it costs money to sit on the chairs (which take up most of the beach itself) we threw our stuff on the ground and ran into the water. This was no Massachusetts water, this water was perfect! It was warm and clear and just great. We stayed in the water for about a half hour until we had to go home. We decided to save money and be adventurous by walking home, and with the help from about 20 people who all gave us different directions, we made it back to the apartment in 2 hours (supposedly the walk is only supposed to take 45 minutes). Despite the walk taking way too long, this was really the point where I realized I was on Year Course. I had gotten up one day and decided to travel across the country with a few friends to explore a city that we didn’t know too well; it was an incredibly empowering feeling. When we walked in the door, we were pleasantly surprised by a delicious Shabbat dinner waiting for us that had been prepared by a few people we were staying with, so we ate and got ready to go. Tonight was going to be the night of the main party, but we heard that most people weren’t going anymore so we split up. Some people went to a bar/restaurant on the beach in Tel Aviv while some friends and I went to another friend’s house in Neve Tzedek (a very nice part of Tel Aviv, also the city’s first neighborhood) and met up with a lot of other year coursers. The night was a lot of fun, and the next day we returned to the beach before heading back home to Arad.
This was only my first weekend trip, but I will post again soon about my High Holiday experiences. Thanks for reading! Please feel free to share this blog anyone who you think might be interested!
Shana Tova,
Aaron
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