gap year in israel
Gap year in israel - aardvarkisrael
The past week in Israel hasn’t been easy, but ensuring the safety and well-being of the students is our top priority.  We are in constant contact with Masa and other relevant agencies to ensure the safety of all our students.
 
Even with the complexities in Israel, we also had many wonderful highlights this week.
 
On Sunday, we had our last apartment meeting with our counselors to go over the highlights of the year. We shared our craziest stories and our learning experiences. “Thank you for the most amazing year of my life, I’ve learned so much and formed more of an identity. I love you Mom…I know how to make eggs now.” – Lexi Aronin
Gap year in israel - aardvarkisrael
Gap year in israel - aardvarkisrael

For our final Tiyul Tuesday, we went up north and hiked down Mount Arbel. With everything that’s been happening this week, looking back on that tiyul feels like a breath of fresh air. Both communities were together, which meant the students were able to see their counselors from last semester, and it felt full circle as the program begins to come to an end. After hiking down the beautiful mountain, we went to a beach and swam in the Kinneret.

Swam in the kinneret
Swam in the kinneret
Swam in the kinneret
Hiked down mount arbel
Hiked down mount arbel
Hiked down mount arbel
Gap year in israel - aardvarkisrael
Hebrew coffee activity

On Wednesday evening, we participated in a Hebrew coffee activity. We went to a local Israeli coffee house and spent the entire evening speaking Hebrew. We ordered in Hebrew, had conversations in Hebrew, and even laughed about it, all in Hebrew. It was fun to try out what we learned in Ulpan in a real-life environment and gain confidence in speaking Hebrew. After we all enjoyed our café (coffee) and uga (cake), we all left more confident in our ability to speak Hebrew during our day-to-day life in Israel

 
This week in (th)INK! we spent the first part of the session continuing to process the current events, both sharing personal feelings and experiences, as well as looking at the issues in a broader sense.
Then we continued with the topic for the week, an introduction to the holiday of Shavuot, which will begin on Sunday night. We explored some of the hidden and deeper meanings of the holiday which commemorates the revelation at Mount Sinai.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!
Gap year in israel - aardvarkisrael
Next week, we celebrate Shavuot, followed by a two-day trip to the Golan Heights together with the students from Tel Aviv.
 
The Madrich on call is Yotam this weekend. 

Elina will be on call on Sunday and on Monday the Madricha on call is Nitzan.

Have a great weekend,
Natali