Anachnu B' Yisrael.Ayn Baayot.

Anachnu b'Yisrael. Ayn Baayot.

We are in Israel. There are no problems.

This is the mantra for our trip, or my trip at least. Remember how I talked about about having no expectations? I kinda lied. I thought Israel would be a desert. Instead, our campus is dripping with hibiscus, lantana, and wildflowers, and there are fruit trees dotting (if not overtaking) every landscape I view from the bus window. Israel is beautiful. Our campus, Alexander Muss High School in Israel, is beautiful. This school serves as a local high school for the nearby town of Hod Ha'Sharon, a boarding school for Israelis, and a home for about ten other programs like Weber's-there are even a group of Budakhan warriors staying here. The feeling of being surrounded by youth is a little unnerving. I guess this is what college will be like, but it's hard to describe-there's such a different vibe here. It's relaxed and energetic at the same time.

So we got in on Monday after a lovely twelve or so hour flight in which an Israeli woman with a baby got into a screaming fight with the flight attendant, who threatened to stop the plane and kick her off because she was apparently illegally housing her baby in a basinet during turbulence. Yep, my first taste of Israel. Anyway, once we arrived we settled into our dorms, which are very nice. For those of you who don't know, I went to a semester school called the Outdoor Academy for 3 months during the first semester of my sophomore year, and that meant three months of living in a wooden cabin with no air conditioning or heat. Muss is definitely a step up. For all the worried relatives out there (mainly my parents), the food is also good. I eat hummus, cucumbers, raw peppers, and cottage cheese for every meal. I'm happy.

There are about 85 other kids from JDS in Maryland who do this three month program with us, and they arrived the day after we did at 5 a.m. from a harrowing week in Poland. Our first day together consisted of orientation session after orientation session and occasional dozing off, but everyone quickly woke up after a delicious dinner of traditional Israeli food and the most intense dance party I have ever experienced. These kids are a lot of fun; I think we make a great group.

The next day we took a quick tour of Hod Ha'Sharon, which is pretty cute. In the afternoon we took our first Tiyul, which means trip, to Tel Gezer. We took a short walk to the top of a hill with an incredible view and also stopped by Solomon's Gate. Everywhere we went was also blanketed with yellow wildflowers, a definite plus.
Today we went to Har Gilboa and Sachne. Well, we climbed down Har Gilboa, which was slippery but a lot of fun-thank you REI for my wonderful new hiking boots. A lot happened in the Jezriel valley below (and the view was amazing) including the stories of a bunch of famous battles which I am not going to list at the moment. After we went to Sachne, some famous hot springs.
That's about it. Tomorrow we go to Jerusalem for Shabbat, and I can't wait. Israel so far is an amazing country, and I've only seen...3 places? Well, another update next week!

p.s.- first real shwarma today (: