Blog - Aardvark Israel Gap Year Program

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Czech Republic 2014

November 18, 2014 International

Day 1 Did you know that Prague is the defenestration capitol of the world? Do you know what defenestration is? (I didn’t.) Or how about this one… Modern Czechoslovakia was actually created in Pittsburgh, PA (of all places…) in 1918 and then the country split into Czech and Slovakia at ...

Spain 2014

October 28, 2014 International

Day 1 So the day started off slowly as the plane was delayed by an hour, then when we arrived we were told that all the streets in the center of town were closed off due to a demonstration. Luck changed though as we we entered the center if town, ...

France 2014

September 22, 2014 International

Day 1 It has been quite an eventful first day. First I told all of them to get some sleep on Tuesday night. But do they listen to me? No…. So they were a bit tired. They did manage to sleep on the plane and then we were greeted by ...

Holland 2014

May 21, 2014 International

Day 1 Unbelievably we left Israel in rain (in May!) to arrive to Holland in rain. The plane ride and landing was a bit bumpy. Somehow Sivan survived. We were met at the airport by a very tall blond woman who was our driver to the hostel. After storing our ...

Prague 2014

April 9, 2014 International

Day 1 Hello from Prague, We arrived to Prague safe and sound! Even though we didn’t get much sleep at night as the flight left Ben Gurion Airport at 5:20 in the morning, we dropped our bags in our great new rooms and quickly left to explore the city. We ...

Italy 2014

March 4, 2014 International

Day 1 So far we are having an excellent time. Everyone was on time and we made our El Al flight nicely.Alina was able to sleep through the whole thing. We had a nice driver pick us up in the airport and took us straight to our hotel. We have ...

Germany 2014

February 16, 2014 International

Day 1 Berlin is cold! I don’t care what anyone else says, coming from Israel weather to 37 degrees is cold!! Nonetheless out trip so far has been smooth sailing…minus the part where Rachel was detained in our transit stop in Istanbul..because she had a metal fork in her carry-on ...

China 2013

December 22, 2013 International

Day 1 I’m happy to tell you that we arrived in Beijing safe and sound. We were a little tired from the long plane ride (to say the least) but we were lucky to get here on a sunny day and we were extremely excited to explore the city! Chabad ...

Gap year program in israel visits ireland

Ireland 2013

November 24, 2013 International

Day 1 Today was a loooong day. We left Israel on Tuesday evening and after a few hours layover in Istanbul we arrived in Dublin. Our rooms weren’t ready yet so we dropped off our luggage and continued on to lunch. We ate at a traditional Irish restaurant where we ...

Spain 2013

October 24, 2013 International

Day 1 The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain…or so they say. At least for us we had great weather today in Barcelona. But let’s start at the beginning. We all arrived to the airport and I greeted them with chocolate chip cookies to wish them a sweet ...

Jewish population in norway is less than 1500

Norway 2013

October 8, 2013 International

Day 1 Starting the trip off early with a quick layover in Vienna, we arrived in Oslo ready to paint the city red and blue (get it? the colors of the Norway flag). Although we had a momentary scare when we thought Leah’s luggage was lost, it eventually arrived and ...

Germany 2013

July 11, 2013 International

Day 1 Berlin really was a very cool city before those nasty Nazis. We have all seen Cabaret and Schindler’s list so they both cover the entire story…. Today Berlin is back to being really really cool and there are very few Nazis around to spoil the fun. Apparently the ...

Holland 2013

July 11, 2013 International

Day 1 The plane ride was fine and everyone slept as usual. They are staying in the Hans Brinker hostel named for the famous novel Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates (full title: Hans Brinker; or, the Silver Skates: A Story of Life in Holland) by American author Mary Mapes ...

Gap year program in israel visiting czech republic

Czech Republic 2013

July 11, 2013 International

As they arrived at Ben Gurion Airport, before they even checked in their luggage, the group was interrogated by security (don’t be alarmed, Israel is known for tight security). The security officer in charge asked lots of questions about everyone and even left to speak to her supervisor. Admittedly, it ...

Gap year program in israel visiting italy

Italy 2013

July 11, 2013 International

Day 1“siamo arrivati in Italia,” yelled Nicholas as they walked off the plane in Rome.. not really BECAUSE they were too busy running all the way across the airport to board their flight to Venice, which thanks to Al Italia which put the two planes on completely opposite sides of ...

Norway 2012

July 11, 2012 International

Day 1God kveld fra Norge!!! In case you don’t speak Norwegian (and haven’t learned the beauty of google translate) that means, “Good evening from Norway!!!“ Well, I’m not writing this from Norway, but I just got off a skype call with Keith and the group arrived safely and had a ...

China 2012

July 11, 2012 International

Dear Parents, Day 1: Well China is far. Not as far as from the USA/Canada but far nevertheless. But on the way they went to Moscow to switch planes. Hard to believe but Moscow has the old airports like we used to have in Israel when you had to get ...

Spain 2012

July 11, 2012 International

Day 1: I just spoke with Paula and things are going great! Of course she is working with a group of young adults so we need to put things in perspective. Paula’s job was very easy at first. Once at the airport and safely on the plane, all the students ...