Blog - Aardvark Israel Gap Year Program

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Student of the Week – Caroline Emma Press

May 17, 2022 Student of the Week

My name is Caroline Emma Press, and I’m from New York City. It has been a dream of mine to live in Israel since I was younger. I’ve spent a lot of time here throughout the years and always felt a deep connection to it. It has always felt like ...

5 Reasons to Take a Gap Year – Rachel Katz

May 15, 2022 Student Blog

Independence – Before I came to Israel, I didn’t realize how dependent I was on everyone else around me. While I can get around in a few places, I always needed someone else to lead me. I was scared to come here because I thought I’d be sort of dropped ...

Money, Money, Money – Rachel Katz

May 15, 2022 Student Blog

Before I came on Aardvark, I never really had to think too much about my own money. While I have worked over the years, I am fortunate that my parents have usually always supplied money when I needed it and most days I either ate dinner with them or I ...

Yom Hashoah

May 15, 2022 Student Blog

As someone who came to Israel from a very small town in Pennsylvania, I did not have much experience with true Holocaust remembrance, which I know is sad, but I did have a good education on it from my family along with Hebrew school. I knew coming to Israel that ...

Cultural Differences in Shopping – Rachel Katz

May 15, 2022 Student Blog

One of the first adjustments I made to Israel was the differences in shopping. Specifically grocery shopping. I was so used to my entire life going to one specific grocery store and one other store, where we could just buy everything we needed in one place. For example, in America, ...

Almost Done – Rachel Katz

May 15, 2022 Student Blog

As I am writing this, currently it’s April 22, and we have just about a month left on Aardvark. It’s a crazy thought that soon enough I’ll be on a plane to go home, and I’ll be saying goodbye to all the friends that have become a family to me ...

Weekly Updates – May 12, 2022

May 12, 2022 Weekly Updates

Shalom Parents and Students! Do you recognize the man in the middle-right of the picture, the one with the tie? Yup, you are not mistaken, it is the president of Israel, Mr. Issac Herzog! Our Jerusalem community met the president in his house for an official visit. What have the ...

Student of the Week – Jaime Esquenazi

May 12, 2022 Student of the Week

My name is Jaime Esquenazi and I’m from Miami, Florida. I chose to go on a gap year because the pandemic started before college and I decided that I should take a year to meet new people and have new experiences in Israel rather than go to school online. I ...

Student of the Week – Jesse Mills

May 8, 2022 Student of the Week

My name is Jesse Morgan Mills. I chose to come on a gap year because I felt that I needed a change of pace. I heard about Aardvark Israel from Sophie Harris, a family friend, and thought the internship part of the program sounded perfect. I came into the program ...

The roof is on fire! Just kidding, it's our levontin community!

Weekly Updates – May 4, 2022

May 4, 2022 Weekly Updates

Shalom Parents and Students, and Happy Independence Day! Our beloved country is celebrating its 74th birthday (we wouldn’t give it a day over 73!) and our students celebrated in various ways, although not before they learned and heard the stories of fallen soldiers and victims of terror, as part of ...

Weekly Updates – April 28, 2022

April 28, 2022 Weekly Updates

Shalom Parents and Students! We are back from our Passover vacation! Did you miss us? Because we sure missed everyone 🙂 Our students have returned, and are back in their internship and volunteering routines. Want to see what our students have been up to since they got back? Scroll down ...

Amazing Accidental Archaeological Discoveries

April 24, 2022 The Uniqueness of Israel

A huge number of archaeological digs are going on in Israel at any given time and they often turn up amazing finds. However, sometimes, truly astonishing finds are made purely by accident, such as the Dead Sea scrolls that were found by Bedouin shepherds in the 1940s. Far more recently, ...

Israel’s Biblical Hikes

April 24, 2022 The Uniqueness of Israel

Perhaps one of the most amazing things about spending time in Israel is the ability to visit locations where significant events happened in the bible. While on your gap year you are sure to go on many hikes and many of which will have biblical roots and routes. For example, ...

Student of the Week – Nina Elvin

April 13, 2022 Student of the Week

I decided to take a gap year in lieu of the 4th year of high school because I wanted the chance, to see the world and have new experiences before starting college. I chose to come on Aardvark Israel because of the unique internship opportunities and the international representation among ...

Amsterdam Cookies

April 13, 2022 Spotlight! Internships and Volunteering

AMS Cookies is an incredible experience with an amazing vibe and lots of different variety of work including rolling the cookies, working at the till, making boxes, and the marketing part of the work trying to boost their social media. I really enjoy working there and I look forward to ...

Joel schapira and zeke having a special treat after a busy day!

Weekly Updates – April 14, 2022

April 13, 2022 Weekly Updates

Shalom Parents and Students! This has become a habit, so here is our Israeli weather report! This week was pretty cloudy in Israel. No rain, but cloudy weather indeed, with some sunshine here and there, and higher temperatures on some days. Scroll down to see what our students have been ...

Student of the Week – Grant Titlebaum

April 13, 2022 Student of the Week

“My name is Grant Titlebaum and I am from a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio called Solon. I chose to go on a gap year to mature and better myself. Also, back home is kind of a bubble for me. All my family and friends live around me. I work close ...

Student of the Week – Safy Irwin

April 8, 2022 Student of the Week

I chose to go on a gap year because I wanted to volunteer with MADA (Israeli Emergency Services). I did lots of research to find the correct programme for me as I didn’t want to just come to Israel for 5 weeks for MADA, I also wanted to explore Israel ...

Selah students at king david hotel in jerusalem

Weekly Updates – April 7, 2022

April 7, 2022 Weekly Updates

Shalom Parents and Students! Ok, it’s officially here – Summer! This week has been extremely hot, not that we are bothered by it after all the rain we had just a few weeks ago! So every day with sunshine is welcome. How did our students spend the first days of ...

Student of the Week – Alex Guy Sandler

April 6, 2022 Student of the Week

I chose to go on a gap year because after spending two years in lockdown, I realised I wasn’t ready yet to begin university. I needed more time to experience more, develop and understand myself. Aardvark was a natural choice, a program where you get back everything that you put ...