International
Ethiopia 2020
International Ethiopia 2020 Dear Parents – Shalom from Ben Gurion Airport! Following an early wake-up and making our way through the airport, all 30 of us are now just one-step from boarding! We all are very excited to start our trip exploring the history and...
China 2019
International China 2019 - Day One Dear Parents, The group had an amazing (and exhausting) first day in China. After long lines at Ben Gurion airport and quite a wait to get through security, the group was off and away. The flight was uneventful, making it a great...
Czech Republic 2019
International Czech Republic - Day 1 Shalom parents! We just got back to the hotel after packed and an incredible day! Michal and I are enjoying spending this time with your children and seeing the excitement on their faces at every turn. We can hardly believe how...
Spain 2019
International On our way! Shalom from Ben Gurion airport!After an all-nighter and all airport arrangements, we are on the plane ready for departure.We all are tired (some of students even took a short nap at the gate 🤣) but very excited to start our trip and...
DC & NYC 2019
International International Blog Plus Program Shalom Parents, As I write this email, our lovely Plus Program students are on their way to a new adventure in the USA. As you know, our first stop is Washington D.C. and we are sure that it is going to be a blast....
Germany 2019
International Germany 2019 - Day One Dear Parents, Guten Abend aus Berlin! Good evening from Berlin! After a wonderful and exhausting first day in Germany, everyone is back at the hotel, probably already sound asleep as I write this. Our day started at 3:00 am as we...
Italy 2019
International Italy 2019 - Day OneDear Parents,We started our day way before the sun came up, heading to the airport for a 5:50 am flight to Venice. Upon landing in Venice, we were energized by our arrival in Italy. Now, usually you don’t think of the taxi to or...
Nepal Cultural Exchange 2019
International Nepal - Day 1 Shalom to everyone! Well, it feels like we have already been going for about 3 days, but the first day of our Nepal Cultural Exchange has finally come to an end! Yesterday we began at 6pm (Israel time), with a pretty easy check-in at Ben...
Ethiopia 2019
International Ethiopia 2019 - On our way! Shalom from Ben Gurion airport!After all the airport arrangements, we are one step from boarding.We all are very excited to start our trip and explore the history and culture of Ethiopia. We will be in touch soon,Shay-El ...
China 2018
International China 2018 - Day One Dear Parents, The group had an amazing (and exhausting) first day in China. After long lines at Ben Gurion airport and quite a wait to get through security, the group was off and away. The flight was uneventful, making it a great...
Czech Republic 2018
International Shalom from Ben Gurion airport! After waking up early and working our way through the airport, we are now just one-step away from boarding. We all are tired but very excited to start our trip and explore the history and the culture of the Czech...
Spain 2018
International Spain 2018 - We're on our way... Dear Parents (mine included ☺), As you'll see in the attached photo, we are at the airport waiting for our flight. (I think Justin has found the most comfortable place to crash for now - on the golf cart!)...
NYC 2018
International NYC 2018 - Day 1 Dear Parents, We landed this morning and headed to our hotel in Manhattan. After checking in and settling, we went for a very American lunch at Shake Shack. Our first site for the day was The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met, as it is...
Italy 2018
International Italy 2018 - Day 1 Dear Parents, Hello from Italy! For those of you that don't know me, my name is Eyal and I’m the community manager from Aardvark Tel Aviv. I’m leading the Italy trip along with Dorin, an amazing Madricha from Jerusalem. We’ve just...
Berlin 2018
International Berlin 2018 - Day 1 Hello everyone, Our first day in Berlin has just ended and we are tired but extremely happy. After a long night with very little sleep, we landed in Berlin this morning. We were picked up at the airport, left our bags in the...
Nepal 2018
International Nepal 2018 - Day 1 Shalom to everyone! It already feels like we have been here for about 3 days but the first day of our Nepal Cultural Exchange has finally ended! We started yesterday at 6pm (Israel time), with a pretty easy check-in at Ben Gurion...
Ethiopia 2018
International Ethiopia 2018 - Day 1: After two flights, a few hours of waiting at passport control and almost missing our flight, we all arrived at Gondar safe and sound. As soon as you arrive in the city, you are struck by what a beautiful place it is. Sunday...
China 2017
International China 2017 - Day 1 Dear Parents, The group had an amazing (and exhausting) first day in China. After long queues at Ben Gurion airport and quite a wait to get through security, the group was off and away. The flight was uneventful, which of course means...
Czech Republic 2017
International Czech Republic - Days 1 & 2 Dear Parents, We just got back to the hotel after another incredible day! Charlie and I are enjoying spending time with your children and seeing the excitement on their faces at every turn. We can hardly believe how much...
Spain 2017
International Spain 2017 - Day 1 Shalom from the end of an exciting, smooth, enjoyable and exhausting first day of our trip to Spain. From the minute the students alighted the buses (all on time and to their credit, very early in the morning at 5am!) things ran...
Washington DC 2017
International Washington DC - Here We Come! Dear Parents and Students, Did you know that in Washington DC there is a street named for every letter of the alphabet with the exception of "J Street"? (There's a joke in there for those who are familiar with American...
New York 2017
International New York 2017 - Day One Dear Parents, Shalom from New York City!!! After arriving at JFK airport, we began our day in the United States with a Breakfast of Champions at Dunkin Donuts. In Israel we think that we have the market cornered on sufganiyuot,...
Netherlands 2017
International Netherlands - Day 1 Dear Parents, We have all safely arrived in the wonderful city of Amsterdam! We reached our hotel, which is very well located close to public transportation and cool sites, and it is extremely comfortable. Once everyone was ready, we...
Germany 2017
International Germany 2017 - Day One On are first day in Germany, we began our visit with a surprise, snow, a very pleasant surprise indeed. While we did not expect it, the students were happy to have a first-hand experience of the European winter. After lunch, the...
Nepal 2017
International Nepal 2017 Nepal - Day 1 Namaste 🙏, We arrived to Kathmandu around midday and after airport bureaucracy, our adventure started. We met Gal in the airport, the Tevel b'Tzedek Director in Nepal and also Simon Kaye, my good friend who is a graduate...
Ethiopia 2017
International Ethiopia 2017 Day One Shalom parents, After 2 flights, few hours of waiting in security lines and one missing bag (that came back to us a few hours later - Don't worry..) I can say that we all arrived safe and sound to Gondar which is an amazing looking...
China 2016
International China 2016 Day One Dear Parents, Nee Hao! 致以诚挚的问候土豚！(Greetings from Aardvark!) Thanks to the Great FireWall of China, the students and Adi do not have full internet access this week. So in order to share their adventures with you Adi will be sending me...
Germany 2016
International Germany 2016 Day 1: The group arrived in Germany this morning safe and sound after an uneventful flight. After heading through passport control they made their way to the tourist Information desk where they picked up unlimited ride transportation tickets...
Italy 2016
International Italy 2016 Day 1: If I had to sum up this day in two words, they would be wonderful and exhausting! We started our day way before the sun came up, heading to the airport for a 6:00 am flight to Venice. We all slept on the plane (and on the floor in the...
Ethiopia 2016
International Ethiopia 2016 Day 1: We all arrived safe and sound to Gondar which is an amazing looking city. We got a taste of Ethiopia a little earlier than expected. After our arrival to Addis Ababa the receptionist who was supposed to welcome us in immigration, and...
China 2015
International China 2015 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 feel lucky to get here on a sunny day and extremely excited to explore the city! Our first day...
Czech Republic 2015
International Czech Republic 2015 Day 1: Greetings from Prague! Today was a wonderful day despite it starting out before the sun was even up. We all met at the airport at 5:15 am and after making our way to duty free, we had breakfast together at Aroma where the...
Spain 2015
International Spain 2015 Day 1: Bienvenido a Espanya! We got to our hotel which is located three minutes from la rambles, the center of the city. We stored our luggage, Jade changed her sweatpants to jeans, and we headed out to start our trip! First we went to casa...
France 2015
International France 2015 Day 1: Our first day in Paris was great! The flight went smoothly and when we arrived to Charles de Gaulle Airport, we were met by a driver who took us to our hotel which is located in the trendy, artsy Montmartre neighborhood. The hotel is...
Holland 2015
International Holland 2015 Day 1: Despite some rain today, the group had a great time on their first day in Holland. After an uneventful flight, they arrived at the apartment and everyone was impressed! It’s in a very nice neighborhood, very near to public...
Germany 2015
International Germany 2015 Day 1: The group arrived in Germany this morning safe and sound after an uneventful flight. After heading through passport control they made their way to the Tourist Information desk where they picked up unlimited ride transportation tickets...
Italy 2015
International Italy 2015 Day 1: The day started for us at 3:30 AM at Ben Gurion Airport. We boarded the flight as scheduled at 5:50 AM and landing in Venice, Italy at 8:45 AM. Upon departing the airport in Venice we hopped onto our private water taxi that took us to...
Ethiopia 2015
International Ethiopia 2015 Day: 1 Today was a day that will live in the memories of your kids for the rest of their lives. We landed in Gondar, a tiny airport in Northern Gondar, met our guide, driver and Dejene Hodes (graduate of the program and now running heritage...
China 2014
International China 2014 Day 1: Nee Hao! 致以诚挚的问候土豚！(Greetings from Aardvark!) The overnight flight was smooth and everyone pretty much slept through most of it. The first thing your kids will probably tell you about China is that it’s cold! Very cold! Although...
Czech Republic 2014
International Czech Republic 2014 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...
Spain 2014
International Spain 2014 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...
France 2014
International France 2014 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 our drivers...
Holland 2014
International Holland 2014 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....
Prague 2014
International Prague 2014 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...
Italy 2014
International Italy 2014 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
International Germany 2014 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...
China 2013
International China 2013 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...
Ireland 2013
International Ireland 2013 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...
Spain 2013
International Spain 2013 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...
Norway 2013
International Norway 2013 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...
Germany 2013
International Germany 2013 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...
Holland 2013
International Holland 2013 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...
Czech Republic 2013
International Czech Republic 2013 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...
Italy 2013
International Italy 2013 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...
Norway 2012
International Norway 2012 Day 1 God 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...
China 2012
International China 2012 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...
Spain 2012
International Spain 2012 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...
