Shalom, my name is Shlomi Efergan. I’m 18 years old and I come from Ocean City, Maryland. I chose to do a gap year with Aardvark Israel because I felt as if it was the best way to prepare me for my future. Starting next year, I will be joining the Israeli Defence Forces and I believe that spending a year in Israel to get to know the country better and surrounding myself with likeminded people is the best decision I could have made.
The first week of Aardvark was one of the most amazing weeks of my life. Every day was a new adventure. I got to meet some really awesome people from all over the world who all have a love for Israel, and coming from a small beach town, I was one of very few people who shared my passion towards Israel which makes being on Aardvark with so many passionate Jews so special to me.
I am currently living in Jerusalem which so far has been amazing. I’ve spent my time getting closer to my Jewish roots, studying interesting topics such as Zionism and Israeli politics, going on cool trips, and hanging out with my new friends that I can now call family.
I’ve started an internship at a horse farm where I spend my time helping special needs children through therapeutic riding. Back home I work as an actor at a western theme park so by constantly working with horses for shows and such I’ve developed an enormous love for horses which makes my internship so amazing for me.
This semester I am most looking forward to having crazy and amazing experiences, seeing new things and forming great bonds with people.
I’ve only been here for a few weeks now and it’s been amazing. So, I can’t wait to see what adventures I have ahead of me.
