Parent Trip (part 2) and Poland

Hey everybody I'm back from Poland and am at William and Gali's house for Pesach. I am going to continue where I left off last time so here it goes. Even though we had to wake up extremely early to climb Masada, it was still a nice trip. We arrived at the top in time to see the sun rise. It was awesome. I could not believe that we complained about this. We left after about 4 hours and went back to our hotel so that we could change and go to the dead sea for a float.
I had been to the dead sea once before but I didn't remember what it had been like so it was basically a new experience for me. The day before I had fallen and cut myself pretty badly. Only when I got in did I remember that. It hurt so badly, but I wanted to stay in, so I picked my feet up and floated for another five min. I got out and our מדריחים brought over a big bucket of dead sea mud. Everyone got out of the water and put the mud all over themselves. No one could tell who was who with all of the mud on. After ten min of the mud I decided to wash it off and get changed. The rest of the day we were allowed to do what we wanted and nothing else really happened. We left that hotel after a day and then we headed to גדנה (army training).
We arrived at an army base in the Negev and the minute we got off the bus the commanders were making us run. We had to run to get in lines, run to get our stuff, and that was all we did. After Gadna I had to write an essay on Gadna so I am going to paste it in so I don't have to retell the whole thing. Here it is:

Gadna
The time for Gadna had finally arrived after weeks of waiting. I ran off the bus wondering how hard it would be and how much I would get out of it. At camp we had done a day of army training but nothing like the real thing. The air was cool and refreshing but sand was hitting us so hard it felt like we were being attacked by a herd of Killer Bees. The weather should not have been like this in the desert. As soon as that thought popped in my head it started to rain. What a way to start Gadna training.

Rip. The sound of two pairs of pants and a shirt ripping. Plop. The sound of pants falling off. Every boy in the bathroom changing into their uniforms had something wrong with them. Some clothes were so tight that they were walking like Frankenstein. Two minutes left and nothing fit anyone. Buttons were flying everywhere like the Chicago Air Show. The time was going down and a group of six boys came waddling out of the bathroom in ripped and baggy clothes. No buttons, ripped, and baggy, the Uniforms were as comfy as a warm bed in the winter.

Running to get in line as fast as a cheetah chasing its prey just to get the first meal. Arriving in line for a nice meal, and plop. Something gray and dirty was looking back a me. I couldn't believe that this is what the army ate. At least I thought that I could get some bread. So I went over to the bag and felt something as hard as stone. The bread was stale and moldy as well. This was the first experience I had with the army and just because of the food I never want to go back there again.

For days we had been hearing about the journey that we would have to take in the middle of our training. Five kilometers both ways throughout the hot desert. That day arrived and we started to prepare. Filling up jerry cans, packing food, and hiding our valuables were an essential part of the journey. We needed everything to go perfectly. It was six in the morning and we were off. Running and jumping over ditches to make it safe to the training field. When we got there we all realized that it had been a worthless trip because we could have done the same thing back at the base. This was just another worthless part of an otherwise awesome Gadna experience.

Gadna had its highs and its lows, but all in all it was a good experience to have. Throughout Gadna I got closer to a lot of people of EIE in my sevet and also accomplished some things that I did not think I could do. I had been looking forward to Gadna from the moment that I arrived in Israel and it made EIE feel like it is and always will be a part of me.

So that was basically my Gadna experience. After Gadna we headed to Eilat for a few days for some rest before going back to Tzuba and school. What we thought would be rest was defininetly not. everyday we would go into the desert and go on a six mile hike. The one good thing came when we got to repel down the side of a cliff. That was cool. We arrived back at Tzuba and had school for a few days and then it was time for the parents pilgrimage. Everyones Parents were coming to Tzuba for about a week and a half. Normal school days were happening while the parents were here. Each kid is allowed to miss one day of school with a parent so I got to go out of school and go to Tel Aviv with my mom for a day. It was nice. The Parents left and we were on our way to Poland for about a week.
Poland was an interesting experience because you don't know what to think about it. Do you want to have fun or just make it a sad trip. Other questions arose like that when our JH class met the first day to discuss what we were going to do. The first day we went to a jewish cemetary in Warsaw and just rested the rest of the day because our flight had gotten in that morning. The second day we went to the Warsaw ghetto and saw the ghetto wall and what everything was like for the Jews during the שוע and what happened to it. Then we went to Majdonik. this was the first time that most of us had actually seen a camp where millions had died. We learned about one girl who had came to this camp and survived the war but her reletives did not. The next day was an easy day of walking around Lublin. It was a nice day with not much to do. After that we took a five hour bus ride to Awschits. It was wierd to see how they turned it into a museum, but then we went to the second camp and it was just the way that it was at the end of the war. It was kind of freaky. We left Poland that day and arrive at Israel on Friday morning. We didn't have to do anything for two days.
Saturday night came and we all went to a Matisyahoo concert. It was awesome to see him in Concert. Someone from our group even got pulled up on stage and danced with him for a while. Then it came time to say goodbye to everyone and go to our host houses for Pesach. Here I am now so thats about it. I will try and write as soon as possible.
Bye.
Micah

Parent Trip (part 1)

Since this is the first time that I am writing in a while I should probably catch you guys up on some of the things that have happended starting with the Dead Sea. We arrived at the Dead Sea and got settled into our rooms ready for a great two weeks off of school ready to just relax, but the next day we were told that we were going to wake up at 3:00 am to go and climb Masada. We were really mad at that. On our first real day off of school they were going to make us wake up extremley early to climb a mountain. How restful that was. Sorry you guys but I have to go I will continue this blog later today or tomorrow. Bye.

Writing

Hey. Sorry I haven't written in a while, but I have been busy with some homework, Tiyuls, and Soccer. Usually I would be in my room about an hour before rooms in to write a blog entry, but I just recently found a soccer game that starts at 8:15 and ends at 11:00 so naturally I'm playing the for the full time. So, the last time that I wrote I was already for the Superbowl and waiting for the Bears to win. That was a mistake. The first 14 seconds were the best part of the entire game. So since the Superbowl we have gone on Tiyuls to Tel Gezer and the Old City. During both trips it was raining the whole time so we didn't get to go and crawl in the wet caves. It was still fun though and we also had the chance to go out to Jerusalem for lunch. The Falafel was amazing. The only problem is i keep forgetting my camera so I still haven't taken any pictures.
Classes have really started now and it is definitely easier than at New Trier, but it lasts so much longer. When I'm not in class I am playing basketball or soccer near my room with some other people on EIE when we don't have homework. Yesterday a person from the IDF came and talked to us about our Gadna experience that will be taking place in a few weeks. I can't wait for the Gadna training. I only have 5 minutes until my next class so I will end this here. Hopefully I will be able to write in a few days. Bye.

The Work Begins

Yesturday we went on a Tzdukah Teul to pick fruits for the people under the bread line as they caled it. After we stopped at Rahaov for lunch. After walking aroun a bit I found this Falafel place. I decided to get one. It was huge. It came with Chipim and humus and israeli salad. It was so good. Also I realized that the pop has real rugar in it so I couldn't pass on up. Overal it was a pretty good day. Today is Thursday and its the first day of our classes. We had to get up at 6:30 to go to breakfast and get to the Zoola (lounge) for our hebrew placement. I ended up in the second highest group along with two other kids from Chlutzim. We have hebrew everyday for 2 hours, which makes up the the 2 day a week english. We just spoke today and tried to get used to speaking in hebrew. Jewish History was next and nobody realizd how long this was. For the 3 hours we spent in JH all we did was get to know each other and have Amy (the teacher) tell us what the class is going to be like and what we would cover. Also yet another teacher of mine that does not like homework. It is so awsome all but 2 of my 6 teachers do not beleave or like homework. We got our General Studies class schedual:
Period 1: English (Sunday and Monday)
Period 2: Free (Lunch)
Period 3: Free
Period 4: Biology
Period 5: Algebra 2
Period 6: Economics
I couldn't beleave how much free time I had because I have no free time at New Trier. I had no idea what to do with it all. I found some people playing Frisbee so I joined in for a little bit until class started. In English class we discovered that we won't have to read an novels over this entire trip. I was so excited! We ended our class by getting a short survey about ourselves. So far it was an easy day. I left for lunch and some nice potato soup and humus. After my Free periods I had Biology which was extremley easy. All we did was talk about nothing and the period ended. In math we sarted right away to see what we had just learned. We did a worksheet and we got some actual work done. Nobody had taken Economics before so we started at the very begginng, which was a very good place to start. We discovered our teacher will give us more then 2 two to do each 20 minute homwork assignment. It rocked! We had diiner which was the first non meat meal of pasta. Dinner ended and we headed for services and Odaot (anouncments). We had some free time of which we playd a mini game of football and decided to go to bed for th nught. I'll end this Blog here and right a new one after Shabbot at the Kotel.
Bye.
Micah

The Work Begins

Yesturday we went on a Tzdukah Teul to pick fruits for the people under the bread line as they caled it. After we stopped at Rahaov for lunch. After walking aroun a bit I found this Falafel place. I decided to get one. It was huge. It came with Chipim and humus and israeli salad. It was so good. Also I realized that the pop has real rugar in it so I couldn't pass on up. Overal it was a pretty good day. Today is Thursday and its the first day of our classes. We had to get up at 6:30 to go to breakfast and get to the Zoola (lounge) for our hebrew placement. I ended up in the second highest group along with two other kids from Chlutzim. We have hebrew everyday for 2 hours, which makes up the the 2 day a week english. We just spoke today and tried to get used to speaking in hebrew. Jewish History was next and nobody realizd how long this was. For the 3 hours we spent in JH all we did was get to know each other and have Amy (the teacher) tell us what the class is going to be like and what we would cover. Also yet another teacher of mine that does not like homework. It is so awsome all but 2 of my 6 teachers do not beleave or like homework. We got our General Studies class schedual:
Period 1: English (Sunday and Monday)
Period 2: Free (Lunch)
Period 3: Free
Period 4: Biology
Period 5: Algebra 2
Period 6: Economics
I couldn't beleave how much free time I had because I have no free time at New Trier. I had no idea what to do with it all. I found some people playing Frisbee so I joined in for a little bit until class started. In English class we discovered that we won't have to read an novels over this entire trip. I was so excited! We ended our class by getting a short survey about ourselves. So far it was an easy day. I left for lunch and some nice potato soup and humus. After my Free periods I had Biology which was extremley easy. All we did was talk about nothing and the period ended. In math we sarted right away to see what we had just learned. We did a worksheet and we got some actual work done. Nobody had taken Economics before so we started at the very begginng, which was a very good place to start. We discovered our teacher will give us more then 2 two to do each 20 minute homwork assignment. It rocked! We had diiner which was the first non meat meal of pasta. Dinner ended and we headed for services and Odaot (anouncments). We had some free time of which we playd a mini game of football and decided to go to bed for th nught. I'll end this Blog here and right a new one after Shabbot at the Kotel.
Bye.
Micah

Orietations

Today was thae first day on Kibbutz Tzuba and it was a long one. I woke up at 7:00 am got dressed and headed out to breakfast. I was expecting a decent breakfast, but al they had to eat was some cheese and yogurt along with some bread. So me and some other people got finished with breakfast early and we headed down to Bellmont (the hotel lobby) and sat in these comfy chairs while more people were filing in. Next we had orientations for Tifilah for an hour of this guy called Baruch talking about each prayer. It was one of the most boring things I have ever listened too. After thT orientation we had an orientation about going in and out of the Kibbutz on Teuls (trips) and with family. We can go out any shabbot except for the first and last ones, but people can stop by anyday and just see us. It was 12:00 by then and we headed to another lunch of schnitzel and rice. Finnally we had some free time so we went over to the soccer field but the kibbutznicks said that we couldn't use it and that it was only for people that lived there. We were all pretty mad at this but we couldn't do anything about it so we decided to play some basketball instead. We played for about 20 minutes and we had to meet for even more orientations. We met for Jewish History and Hebrew orientations. JH is all taught by Americans, and for Hebrew we just took a test for our placement. We have been taking hebrew tests every year at camp and at school so most people wer pretty sick of it but what could you do. The taest ended and we got a 10 minute break and we were back for the General Studies classes. I found out that we only have english 2 days a week and we get a free period the rest of the time. That is awsome! Also for science the teacher doesn't beleave in homework our tests so I am a happy man. Math and Economics weren't dicused much so I don't know what to expect yet. After the orientation we went to dinner. Guess what it was. Yep, schnitzel and rice again, but it was still good so oh well. We finished the day with an orientation about safty and what we are going to do tomorrow. Since we don' start classes until Thursday we are doing a Tzhedukuh project off the kibbutz and eating lunch out. That will be pretty fun and our first real chance to see Israel outside of Tzuba. I am finishing this blog now and will probably right again within the next few days.
Bye.
Micah

Night Before

It's Thursday the night before I go to New York and i stil have to pack lot of things. this post is just to test out the blog for when I am in Israel. i will try to update this once a week. bye