Nativers' Blogs
Jordana Gilman
Rochester, New York
A few things made today so much better than any day so far in good old Yeruru:
1. Mold Cleaning!!!! Some angel swept in and out of my apartment while I was gone and made the place so much more livable than I ever thought possible.
2. First day of work!!!! It's hard. Like really hard. I teach at a secular high school and I have the worst students I've ever seen in my life. The teachers have no control. No one has any control. It's crazy. All the same, I really feel like I made connections today with about three students, and I am bound and determined to make myself useful and make a difference in their lives. I love, love, love to have a purpose in life.
3. Baking!!!! Miri and Becky baked, Debbie and Rachel and friends made peanut butter cups, sugar and chocolate flowed freely in the apartment kitchen all afternoon. What a delight to come home to!
4. Grocery Shopping!!!! I went by myself and the store was almost empty. I shopped with a clear head and the goal of health in mind, and I didn't worry as much as usual about price because I knew I just needed to get some real food. I feel much better about my eating situation (although the stove is still broken...hmmm).
5. Hebrew Lesson!!!! So the truth comes out-as much as I may procrastinate or complain about schoolwork, I am really just a student at heart. I feel so much better about myself when my mind is soaking up anything new and there hadn't been much structure to my learning for the last month and a half (that's allowing for the "you learn something new every day" thing, because I wasn't in school, but I guess I was still learning. Especially when Debbie was a tour guide at the Forum, even though she forgot about Caesar's grave). The lesson was a big challenge because all levels were together and I am at the very very bottom. I am going to learn things though!
6. The Parade!!!! Becky started shouting, "there's a light up car! there's a light up car!" and Adina called me from the street. My whole apartment went down to join the festivities for a new Torah. There was a light up car playing really loud dance music and Jewish music and men dancing with a Torah and women dancing behind them and people with cameras and police and all that jazz. It was the best. We danced like madmen for 45 minutes in the main street of Yerucham. It was incredible. We sang, we talked to people, we held hands and ran in circles.
I love this place.
Read more...
1. Mold Cleaning!!!! Some angel swept in and out of my apartment while I was gone and made the place so much more livable than I ever thought possible.
2. First day of work!!!! It's hard. Like really hard. I teach at a secular high school and I have the worst students I've ever seen in my life. The teachers have no control. No one has any control. It's crazy. All the same, I really feel like I made connections today with about three students, and I am bound and determined to make myself useful and make a difference in their lives. I love, love, love to have a purpose in life.
3. Baking!!!! Miri and Becky baked, Debbie and Rachel and friends made peanut butter cups, sugar and chocolate flowed freely in the apartment kitchen all afternoon. What a delight to come home to!
4. Grocery Shopping!!!! I went by myself and the store was almost empty. I shopped with a clear head and the goal of health in mind, and I didn't worry as much as usual about price because I knew I just needed to get some real food. I feel much better about my eating situation (although the stove is still broken...hmmm).
5. Hebrew Lesson!!!! So the truth comes out-as much as I may procrastinate or complain about schoolwork, I am really just a student at heart. I feel so much better about myself when my mind is soaking up anything new and there hadn't been much structure to my learning for the last month and a half (that's allowing for the "you learn something new every day" thing, because I wasn't in school, but I guess I was still learning. Especially when Debbie was a tour guide at the Forum, even though she forgot about Caesar's grave). The lesson was a big challenge because all levels were together and I am at the very very bottom. I am going to learn things though!
6. The Parade!!!! Becky started shouting, "there's a light up car! there's a light up car!" and Adina called me from the street. My whole apartment went down to join the festivities for a new Torah. There was a light up car playing really loud dance music and Jewish music and men dancing with a Torah and women dancing behind them and people with cameras and police and all that jazz. It was the best. We danced like madmen for 45 minutes in the main street of Yerucham. It was incredible. We sang, we talked to people, we held hands and ran in circles.
I love this place.
Read more...
Judah Kerbel
Marietta, Georgia
בס"ד
Before I got a car, I thought that once I start driving and have full access to a car, I'd daven at schul and make minyan there on a regular basis. Needless to say, I didn't end up doing that, with the exception of Wacky Wednesday. Of course, I couldn't make mornings because of school but I thought evening's I'd do that.
Here in Yeruham, I daven as an individual five days a week, since minyanim here take place at around 6 in the morning, and considering how late I go to bed and how late I can wake up, I'm not too down for that. But Yoram did put the challenge before us to start a nightly minyan at the Afikim schul, with hopes that it's something that would stick even after we leave. We convene at nine o'clock every night (minus Shabbat). It is just now that I believe I have learned what it means to commit to a minyan; I literally drop what I'm doing and work my schedule around ma'ariv. We have a core group of Nativers who also do the same, and except when a couple of people have conflicts at the same time, we usually have little problems making a minyan. Because the schul is Orthodox (there are no Conservative in Yeruham), we do not count women, but two-three girls make a regular appearance. I hope more locals will end up joining us, but it's great that every night I fulfill the obligation to daven with a minyan. The Talmud says that one who chooses not to daven with a minyan when one is available is a "bad neighbor." We all have our different reasons for choosing to daven individually, but it's great to fulfill this mitzvah every night.
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Before I got a car, I thought that once I start driving and have full access to a car, I'd daven at schul and make minyan there on a regular basis. Needless to say, I didn't end up doing that, with the exception of Wacky Wednesday. Of course, I couldn't make mornings because of school but I thought evening's I'd do that.
Here in Yeruham, I daven as an individual five days a week, since minyanim here take place at around 6 in the morning, and considering how late I go to bed and how late I can wake up, I'm not too down for that. But Yoram did put the challenge before us to start a nightly minyan at the Afikim schul, with hopes that it's something that would stick even after we leave. We convene at nine o'clock every night (minus Shabbat). It is just now that I believe I have learned what it means to commit to a minyan; I literally drop what I'm doing and work my schedule around ma'ariv. We have a core group of Nativers who also do the same, and except when a couple of people have conflicts at the same time, we usually have little problems making a minyan. Because the schul is Orthodox (there are no Conservative in Yeruham), we do not count women, but two-three girls make a regular appearance. I hope more locals will end up joining us, but it's great that every night I fulfill the obligation to daven with a minyan. The Talmud says that one who chooses not to daven with a minyan when one is available is a "bad neighbor." We all have our different reasons for choosing to daven individually, but it's great to fulfill this mitzvah every night.
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Seffi Kogen
Fair Lawn, New Jersey
Every Tuesday we have Yom Nativ. On the first one, the staff and Yossi explained to us what that meant. There would be several Yemei Nativ during the duration of Nativ, but not as many as we would expect because of Tuesdays when we would be away from Yerucham (Leadership week, Northern Tiyul, Pesach, Israel Advocacy Week, etc.) We were then asked to all suggest ideas for possible Yemei Nativ. After we had a very sizeable list of ideas, we began weeding them out and combining similar ones. We ended up with a list of about 12 and we needed to vote that down to 6. My fellow Nativers, over the course of the voting process, managed to remove every suggested Yom Nativ with inherent educational value, leaving only the ones that sounded fun, but would undoubtedly be diluted with forced, unnatural learning. We then wrote our top three choices for which of the days we’d want to plan, and the staff divided us into groups.
Four days a week, from 8:30-3:30, LeeAnn and I work at Gan Alon with 3-year-old cuties. We get lunch for free in the middle of the day. I enjoy what I’m doing, but the days feel very long and I come home exhausted.
We did lots of things in preparation for Purim in my gan, and not so many things as Nativers. I did, however, go over to the girls' apartment one night to teach them how to make hamantashen. We all had fun, even though I got frustrated with Rachel's (and everyone else's) "eat the dough" baking style. The hamantashen turned out great and they were a delicious snack, but they didn't last very long.
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Joshua Sacks
Deerfield, Illinois
We arrive in Yerucham. I'm in an apartment with Joey and Tyler (roommates) and Eric, Kowler and Reuben (apartmentmates). We cook our own food: last week's dinners included chicken fried rice, baked mac and cheese, breakfast for dinner aka waffels, french toast and omelets, and schnitzel. We also make lunch for ourselves. I usually make some grilled cheese (or as tyler likes to call it, grilled chai. don't ask me why.) or some sandwich. pretty basic.
I volunteer at an elementary school 4 days a week, Sunday-Thursday excluding Tuesday (Yom Nativ.) Yom Nativ is similar to erev nativ but its all day instead of just at night. and "we plan it" which means the staff tells us we plan it but in reality they change anything they dont like. its really cool but that last part makes it kind of lame. Anyway, I work different times each day, but my work day roughly goes from around 8:30-1:30. I never work all the way through, no more than 4 classes/day and each class is 45 minutes long. Sunday, for example, I work from 11-1:30. OK, so then I come back home, Joey is usually back by then, and Tyler either doesnt have work cause he only works twice/week at the yeshiva and we hang out for a little bit. Joey goes on a run, and I go on a bike ride. He gets back before me, takes a shower, then I get back, take a shower (because we're both afternoon shower-ers now. Most people are either evening or morning, but were afternoon. because we can!) Then, we usually will go to the park with a blanket and meet up with some people or just sit. Joey reads and I either read/play guitar/write music. That goes until around 4:30. We go back home, and just do nothing til arund 5:30 when Tyler gets home and says "what are we doing for dinner????" well we always forget about dinner, so then we go to the supersol grocery store and buy dinner. from around 6-7:30 is making/eating dinner. 9 is Ma'ariv at the local shul, Afikim. it's optional, but its legitimately the only way that I see half the Nativers daily, and thats extremely generous. If people don't go to ma'ariv, and there more that don't than do, and I don't work with them, chances are good that I could no see them for days on end. After ma'ariv, the night officially starts. Wednesday nights are poker nights (where I won last week!), monday is usually everyone hangs out night because yom nativ is the next day, and other nights are just random whatever we feel like doing nights.
Everything closes in Yerucham around 8, with the supersol closing at 8:30. the town is quiet by 9:30. no joke.
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I volunteer at an elementary school 4 days a week, Sunday-Thursday excluding Tuesday (Yom Nativ.) Yom Nativ is similar to erev nativ but its all day instead of just at night. and "we plan it" which means the staff tells us we plan it but in reality they change anything they dont like. its really cool but that last part makes it kind of lame. Anyway, I work different times each day, but my work day roughly goes from around 8:30-1:30. I never work all the way through, no more than 4 classes/day and each class is 45 minutes long. Sunday, for example, I work from 11-1:30. OK, so then I come back home, Joey is usually back by then, and Tyler either doesnt have work cause he only works twice/week at the yeshiva and we hang out for a little bit. Joey goes on a run, and I go on a bike ride. He gets back before me, takes a shower, then I get back, take a shower (because we're both afternoon shower-ers now. Most people are either evening or morning, but were afternoon. because we can!) Then, we usually will go to the park with a blanket and meet up with some people or just sit. Joey reads and I either read/play guitar/write music. That goes until around 4:30. We go back home, and just do nothing til arund 5:30 when Tyler gets home and says "what are we doing for dinner????" well we always forget about dinner, so then we go to the supersol grocery store and buy dinner. from around 6-7:30 is making/eating dinner. 9 is Ma'ariv at the local shul, Afikim. it's optional, but its legitimately the only way that I see half the Nativers daily, and thats extremely generous. If people don't go to ma'ariv, and there more that don't than do, and I don't work with them, chances are good that I could no see them for days on end. After ma'ariv, the night officially starts. Wednesday nights are poker nights (where I won last week!), monday is usually everyone hangs out night because yom nativ is the next day, and other nights are just random whatever we feel like doing nights.
Everything closes in Yerucham around 8, with the supersol closing at 8:30. the town is quiet by 9:30. no joke.
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David Helfand
Kansas City, Kansas
This week in Yerucham it has been unbelievably hot for the beginning of March. I just can't get over it. The weather at night is so beautiful and pleasant but during the day you are drenching yourself in sweat. Oh well...
This week was a good and typical week as far as Yerucham is concerned. I worked everyday teaching English at school. On Monday afternoon I went to work two shifts at MADA. I worked from 3pm to 11pm with no calls and then at 11:15pm we got a call for a transport of a 30 year old woman who was pregnant who was suffering from bleeding so we took her to the hospital. We made it back to the station around 1:15am and I was in bed by around 1:30am to be later woken up at 4:30 for a transport of a man who had so called "chest pains." The two other medics I was working with and I all thought it was a bogus case but we took him none the less. We returned around 6am to the station and I really didn't go back to sleep.
Tuesday morning was Yom Nativ and we spent the majority of the morning cleaning up the Shul that we all go to and started making head way on a beautiful new garden. It needs a lot of work but it should be quite the garden when finished. We spent the rest of the morning and beginning half of the afternoon doing other activities and finally finished Yom Nativ around 3ish. For the rest of the afternoon I just hung around the apartment and hung out with some people. I went to bed at 9pm that night cause I had been up since 4:30am.
Wednesday was a normal day of English teaching and that night I went to my host family with Ilana and we were invited to the daughters Bat Mitzvah which is next week. They Bat Mitzvah is going to be at the top of Masada. I am not sure if either of us will be able to go, but it was a great idea for a Bat Mitzvah and a very thoughtful thought to invite us. Thursday I taught in the morning and then did the grocery shopping for dinner that night of Baked Ziti and the shopping for Shabbat afternoon where I will be hosting 10 people. Baked Ziti turned out really well and the apartment loved it. And as I am typing this I am waiting for my chicken to be down so I can turn the pan to the opposite side. Our stove isn't the best in the world and it will take me a few makes to figure out how it works. I am excited to host Shabbat lunch and just to have people over since we just redid the living room with brand new couches that were donated to us. Shabbat should be great. Last night I worked from 11pm to 7am at MADA and got one call around 11:30ish. It was a transport from Mizpe Ramon to Beer Sheva of a 18 year old Russian immigrant who also had bleeding during her 3 and 1/2 month of pregnancy. She and her "male" counterpart didn't really speak so much Hebrew so I tried to talk to them in English and it worked for a bit but after a few things I was trying to ask them they just stopped answering. Luckily when we got to the hospital, a woman who was cleaning spoke Russian and she was able to help. We got back to the station around 1ish and then I was in bed til 7am this morning.
So this week was pretty good minus the heat. I am really looking forward to Shabbat. Shul then dinner at my host family. Shul in the morning and then lunch at my place. It should be a nice and relaxing Shabbat.This week in Yerucham it has been unbelievably hot for the beginning of March. I just can't get over it. The weather at night is so beautiful and pleasant but during the day you are drenching yourself in sweat. Oh well...
This week was a good and typical week as far as Yerucham is concerned. I worked everyday teaching English at school. On Monday afternoon I went to work two shifts at MADA. I worked from 3pm to 11pm with no calls and then at 11:15pm we got a call for a transport of a 30 year old woman who was pregnant who was suffering from bleeding so we took her to the hospital. We made it back to the station around 1:15am and I was in bed by around 1:30am to be later woken up at 4:30 for a transport of a man who had so called "chest pains." The two other medics I was working with and I all thought it was a bogus case but we took him none the less. We returned around 6am to the station and I really didn't go back to sleep.
Tuesday morning was Yom Nativ and we spent the majority of the morning cleaning up the Shul that we all go to and started making head way on a beautiful new garden. It needs a lot of work but it should be quite the garden when finished. We spent the rest of the morning and beginning half of the afternoon doing other activities and finally finished Yom Nativ around 3ish. For the rest of the afternoon I just hung around the apartment and hung out with some people. I went to bed at 9pm that night cause I had been up since 4:30am.
Wednesday was a normal day of English teaching and that night I went to my host family with Ilana and we were invited to the daughters Bat Mitzvah which is next week. They Bat Mitzvah is going to be at the top of Masada. I am not sure if either of us will be able to go, but it was a great idea for a Bat Mitzvah and a very thoughtful thought to invite us. Thursday I taught in the morning and then did the grocery shopping for dinner that night of Baked Ziti and the shopping for Shabbat afternoon where I will be hosting 10 people. Baked Ziti turned out really well and the apartment loved it. And as I am typing this I am waiting for my chicken to be down so I can turn the pan to the opposite side. Our stove isn't the best in the world and it will take me a few makes to figure out how it works. I am excited to host Shabbat lunch and just to have people over since we just redid the living room with brand new couches that were donated to us. Shabbat should be great. Last night I worked from 11pm to 7am at MADA and got one call around 11:30ish. It was a transport from Mizpe Ramon to Beer Sheva of a 18 year old Russian immigrant who also had bleeding during her 3 and 1/2 month of pregnancy. She and her "male" counterpart didn't really speak so much Hebrew so I tried to talk to them in English and it worked for a bit but after a few things I was trying to ask them they just stopped answering. Luckily when we got to the hospital, a woman who was cleaning spoke Russian and she was able to help. We got back to the station around 1ish and then I was in bed til 7am this morning.
So this week was pretty good minus the heat. I am really looking forward to Shabbat. Shul then dinner at my host family. Shul in the morning and then lunch at my place. It should be a nice and relaxing Shabbat.
Read More...
This week was a good and typical week as far as Yerucham is concerned. I worked everyday teaching English at school. On Monday afternoon I went to work two shifts at MADA. I worked from 3pm to 11pm with no calls and then at 11:15pm we got a call for a transport of a 30 year old woman who was pregnant who was suffering from bleeding so we took her to the hospital. We made it back to the station around 1:15am and I was in bed by around 1:30am to be later woken up at 4:30 for a transport of a man who had so called "chest pains." The two other medics I was working with and I all thought it was a bogus case but we took him none the less. We returned around 6am to the station and I really didn't go back to sleep.
Tuesday morning was Yom Nativ and we spent the majority of the morning cleaning up the Shul that we all go to and started making head way on a beautiful new garden. It needs a lot of work but it should be quite the garden when finished. We spent the rest of the morning and beginning half of the afternoon doing other activities and finally finished Yom Nativ around 3ish. For the rest of the afternoon I just hung around the apartment and hung out with some people. I went to bed at 9pm that night cause I had been up since 4:30am.
Wednesday was a normal day of English teaching and that night I went to my host family with Ilana and we were invited to the daughters Bat Mitzvah which is next week. They Bat Mitzvah is going to be at the top of Masada. I am not sure if either of us will be able to go, but it was a great idea for a Bat Mitzvah and a very thoughtful thought to invite us. Thursday I taught in the morning and then did the grocery shopping for dinner that night of Baked Ziti and the shopping for Shabbat afternoon where I will be hosting 10 people. Baked Ziti turned out really well and the apartment loved it. And as I am typing this I am waiting for my chicken to be down so I can turn the pan to the opposite side. Our stove isn't the best in the world and it will take me a few makes to figure out how it works. I am excited to host Shabbat lunch and just to have people over since we just redid the living room with brand new couches that were donated to us. Shabbat should be great. Last night I worked from 11pm to 7am at MADA and got one call around 11:30ish. It was a transport from Mizpe Ramon to Beer Sheva of a 18 year old Russian immigrant who also had bleeding during her 3 and 1/2 month of pregnancy. She and her "male" counterpart didn't really speak so much Hebrew so I tried to talk to them in English and it worked for a bit but after a few things I was trying to ask them they just stopped answering. Luckily when we got to the hospital, a woman who was cleaning spoke Russian and she was able to help. We got back to the station around 1ish and then I was in bed til 7am this morning.
So this week was pretty good minus the heat. I am really looking forward to Shabbat. Shul then dinner at my host family. Shul in the morning and then lunch at my place. It should be a nice and relaxing Shabbat.This week in Yerucham it has been unbelievably hot for the beginning of March. I just can't get over it. The weather at night is so beautiful and pleasant but during the day you are drenching yourself in sweat. Oh well...
This week was a good and typical week as far as Yerucham is concerned. I worked everyday teaching English at school. On Monday afternoon I went to work two shifts at MADA. I worked from 3pm to 11pm with no calls and then at 11:15pm we got a call for a transport of a 30 year old woman who was pregnant who was suffering from bleeding so we took her to the hospital. We made it back to the station around 1:15am and I was in bed by around 1:30am to be later woken up at 4:30 for a transport of a man who had so called "chest pains." The two other medics I was working with and I all thought it was a bogus case but we took him none the less. We returned around 6am to the station and I really didn't go back to sleep.
Tuesday morning was Yom Nativ and we spent the majority of the morning cleaning up the Shul that we all go to and started making head way on a beautiful new garden. It needs a lot of work but it should be quite the garden when finished. We spent the rest of the morning and beginning half of the afternoon doing other activities and finally finished Yom Nativ around 3ish. For the rest of the afternoon I just hung around the apartment and hung out with some people. I went to bed at 9pm that night cause I had been up since 4:30am.
Wednesday was a normal day of English teaching and that night I went to my host family with Ilana and we were invited to the daughters Bat Mitzvah which is next week. They Bat Mitzvah is going to be at the top of Masada. I am not sure if either of us will be able to go, but it was a great idea for a Bat Mitzvah and a very thoughtful thought to invite us. Thursday I taught in the morning and then did the grocery shopping for dinner that night of Baked Ziti and the shopping for Shabbat afternoon where I will be hosting 10 people. Baked Ziti turned out really well and the apartment loved it. And as I am typing this I am waiting for my chicken to be down so I can turn the pan to the opposite side. Our stove isn't the best in the world and it will take me a few makes to figure out how it works. I am excited to host Shabbat lunch and just to have people over since we just redid the living room with brand new couches that were donated to us. Shabbat should be great. Last night I worked from 11pm to 7am at MADA and got one call around 11:30ish. It was a transport from Mizpe Ramon to Beer Sheva of a 18 year old Russian immigrant who also had bleeding during her 3 and 1/2 month of pregnancy. She and her "male" counterpart didn't really speak so much Hebrew so I tried to talk to them in English and it worked for a bit but after a few things I was trying to ask them they just stopped answering. Luckily when we got to the hospital, a woman who was cleaning spoke Russian and she was able to help. We got back to the station around 1ish and then I was in bed til 7am this morning.
So this week was pretty good minus the heat. I am really looking forward to Shabbat. Shul then dinner at my host family. Shul in the morning and then lunch at my place. It should be a nice and relaxing Shabbat.
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Seth Lerman
Arlington Heights, Illinois
Hello Everyone!
I know it’s been a while, and I don’t really have a good excuse, so I’m not going to even bother making one up! =) Anyways, I’m living the dream here in Yerucham, and its awesome
Yerucham:
Last semester, while in Jerusalem, I would tell people that I was living in Yerucham the second semester; I would almost always get the same reaction… “UGH… YERUCHAM? Why? Its so gross”… Needless to say, it got me really nervous to come. But after living here for a month, I can honestly tell you it is one of my favorite cities in all of Israel. It’s small (only 10,000 people) and has one major road. No bars, 2 pizza places, and zero Laundromats. With the exception of one pizza place, which closes at 11, the town basically shuts down by 8:30 PM. It’s a place where everyone knows everyone, and is actually pretty religious. We live right across the street from a synagogue (that we go to everyday for the nightly service, Ma’ariv). It’s a small little town that welcomes everyone and enjoys seeing new faces. When we first came, we (Nativ) stuck out like a sore thumb, but everyone who saw us introduced themselves and welcomed us into their lives. It really is amazing how hospitable the city is! My friend Michael Gelb once said, “Drive to the middle of nowhere, then go another half hour… you’ll wind up in Yerucham”. This past weekand a half, Yerucham has been in a heat wave, and the temperature has been well over 90-95, and it is excruciatingly hot, especially without an air conditioner in our apartment! Here is the Wikipedia page for Yerucham!
Apartment:
I live at 1004 Rambam Street, apartment 11 with 6 other guys.
Our apartment is a lot of fun, and a great place to relax. Since the video, we’ve gotten a new couch, but its still the same set up! It’s really weird living on our own, buying our own food, preparing it and cleaning it up. There is a strong sense of independence and it is a big change, but one we’re all embracing. Since I can’t really cook, I usually help out with the clean up. It’s a good balance between everyone in the apartment.
Work:
So, while living here in Yerucham, I have two jobs. My first job, is working in a pre-school ( Gan). Now, this job has a lot of ups and downs. In the classroom there are 23 kids, who are all SUPER CUTE and really fun, but I specifically work with 3 kids. These three kids, Yonatan, Avial and Maor, have been diagnosed with ADHD, and are all best friends. It is my job to keep them occupied while the rest of the class is busy being good little 4 year olds. As cute as they are, they are tough, especially when the three of them are together. There are days that I have been bitten (literally), had my hair pulled out (they like the face I make when they grab my leg hair and yank), had sand and other objects (phones and shoes and more) thrown at my head. I won’t lie. It’s very difficult to stay positive in a hard environment, but the teachers (ganenets) are actually amazing. Though they don’t speak English, we still are able to communicate through basic Hebrew (my Hebrew is improving!) One of the ganenets is actually my host mom! But I’ll talk about that later!
I have also been volunteering with Magen David Adom. It’s been harder to get shifts in because the hours don’t always agree with my Gan job. So far, I’ve only worked 3 shifts, but I have had my share of action! On my first shift, I got called to a car accident, where the car was totaled after rolling over 4 times. When we got to the scene, it was really brutal, and I thought there would for sure be casualties, but, thankfully, only one person was injured, and it wasn’t too serious! I took her blood pressure (160/100) and helped her hand stop bleeding. She probably needed stitches, but I don’t know what happened to her after we dropped her off at the hospital. It was really cool to be involved in the action. The next (half) shift I went to, there were exactly 0 calls, so it was basically me chilling in the MDA station. My last shift started at 3 PM on Shabbat. I decided that I was with working on Shabbas because someone needed to do it, and it’s a good place to relax, read a book and learn how to play Shesh-Besh (Backgammon). That 8-hour shift saw us get 4 calls(ish), which is a lot for Yerucham. Side note: because Yerucham is kinda in the middle of nowhere, the nearest hospital is in Be’er Sheva, which is about 30 minutes away when you’re driving 160 KM/H (over 100 MPH!), so it is a long process to get a call, treat them, take them to the hospital, deal with the paperwork and come back home. The first call, a man called to complain about chest pains, so we took him to the hospital and dropped him off. As we drove back through the street (not streets) of Yerucham, we saw a woman pass out on the side of the street (good timing, right?!). So we pulled over and the driver knew her (everyone knows everyone in Yerucham) and knew she was a diabetic. The reason she fainted was because her BS was 27, which is really low. So we treated her in the street, and by the time her BS was up, her family showed up and they took her to the hospital. So the driver and I went back to the station. We got a call a little while later for a reported stabbing in the next town over (5 miles away!) but by the time we got there, the guy ran away. So we went on another call in the city, which was transporting an elderly man to the hospital, which was uneventful. The driver for all three of my shifts is a man named Yanai, who speaks great English, and is really cool too! This is also a great place to transition to my next topic, because Yanai is also my host dad!
Host Family:
So, as you already know, I work in the Gan with my host mom, Ya’arit, and with Yanai at Magen David Adom. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that they are some of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. My Yerucham experience would be completely different without them, and I feel so lucky to have such a close relationship with them. They’ve invited me to their house for dinner multiple times [which of course I accepted=)], invited me to go to see Avatar in 3D with them (which hasn’t worked out yet) and allow me to come and hang whenever I want. They have 2 kids, a 4-year-old daughter named Noa, and a 1-year-old son named Levi. They both are adorable! Yanai works on his computer as a web site designer when he's not working with MDA, so he downloads a lot of TV shows and movies (its legal here!!!!) and he’s shared so much with me! He got me hooked on the show “How I Met Your Mother” and has given me so many movies and other TV shows. He really is amazing, and I think the world of him and his family! They truly are amazing.
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I know it’s been a while, and I don’t really have a good excuse, so I’m not going to even bother making one up! =) Anyways, I’m living the dream here in Yerucham, and its awesome
Yerucham:
Last semester, while in Jerusalem, I would tell people that I was living in Yerucham the second semester; I would almost always get the same reaction… “UGH… YERUCHAM? Why? Its so gross”… Needless to say, it got me really nervous to come. But after living here for a month, I can honestly tell you it is one of my favorite cities in all of Israel. It’s small (only 10,000 people) and has one major road. No bars, 2 pizza places, and zero Laundromats. With the exception of one pizza place, which closes at 11, the town basically shuts down by 8:30 PM. It’s a place where everyone knows everyone, and is actually pretty religious. We live right across the street from a synagogue (that we go to everyday for the nightly service, Ma’ariv). It’s a small little town that welcomes everyone and enjoys seeing new faces. When we first came, we (Nativ) stuck out like a sore thumb, but everyone who saw us introduced themselves and welcomed us into their lives. It really is amazing how hospitable the city is! My friend Michael Gelb once said, “Drive to the middle of nowhere, then go another half hour… you’ll wind up in Yerucham”. This past weekand a half, Yerucham has been in a heat wave, and the temperature has been well over 90-95, and it is excruciatingly hot, especially without an air conditioner in our apartment! Here is the Wikipedia page for Yerucham!
Apartment:
I live at 1004 Rambam Street, apartment 11 with 6 other guys.
Our apartment is a lot of fun, and a great place to relax. Since the video, we’ve gotten a new couch, but its still the same set up! It’s really weird living on our own, buying our own food, preparing it and cleaning it up. There is a strong sense of independence and it is a big change, but one we’re all embracing. Since I can’t really cook, I usually help out with the clean up. It’s a good balance between everyone in the apartment.
Work:
So, while living here in Yerucham, I have two jobs. My first job, is working in a pre-school ( Gan). Now, this job has a lot of ups and downs. In the classroom there are 23 kids, who are all SUPER CUTE and really fun, but I specifically work with 3 kids. These three kids, Yonatan, Avial and Maor, have been diagnosed with ADHD, and are all best friends. It is my job to keep them occupied while the rest of the class is busy being good little 4 year olds. As cute as they are, they are tough, especially when the three of them are together. There are days that I have been bitten (literally), had my hair pulled out (they like the face I make when they grab my leg hair and yank), had sand and other objects (phones and shoes and more) thrown at my head. I won’t lie. It’s very difficult to stay positive in a hard environment, but the teachers (ganenets) are actually amazing. Though they don’t speak English, we still are able to communicate through basic Hebrew (my Hebrew is improving!) One of the ganenets is actually my host mom! But I’ll talk about that later!
I have also been volunteering with Magen David Adom. It’s been harder to get shifts in because the hours don’t always agree with my Gan job. So far, I’ve only worked 3 shifts, but I have had my share of action! On my first shift, I got called to a car accident, where the car was totaled after rolling over 4 times. When we got to the scene, it was really brutal, and I thought there would for sure be casualties, but, thankfully, only one person was injured, and it wasn’t too serious! I took her blood pressure (160/100) and helped her hand stop bleeding. She probably needed stitches, but I don’t know what happened to her after we dropped her off at the hospital. It was really cool to be involved in the action. The next (half) shift I went to, there were exactly 0 calls, so it was basically me chilling in the MDA station. My last shift started at 3 PM on Shabbat. I decided that I was with working on Shabbas because someone needed to do it, and it’s a good place to relax, read a book and learn how to play Shesh-Besh (Backgammon). That 8-hour shift saw us get 4 calls(ish), which is a lot for Yerucham. Side note: because Yerucham is kinda in the middle of nowhere, the nearest hospital is in Be’er Sheva, which is about 30 minutes away when you’re driving 160 KM/H (over 100 MPH!), so it is a long process to get a call, treat them, take them to the hospital, deal with the paperwork and come back home. The first call, a man called to complain about chest pains, so we took him to the hospital and dropped him off. As we drove back through the street (not streets) of Yerucham, we saw a woman pass out on the side of the street (good timing, right?!). So we pulled over and the driver knew her (everyone knows everyone in Yerucham) and knew she was a diabetic. The reason she fainted was because her BS was 27, which is really low. So we treated her in the street, and by the time her BS was up, her family showed up and they took her to the hospital. So the driver and I went back to the station. We got a call a little while later for a reported stabbing in the next town over (5 miles away!) but by the time we got there, the guy ran away. So we went on another call in the city, which was transporting an elderly man to the hospital, which was uneventful. The driver for all three of my shifts is a man named Yanai, who speaks great English, and is really cool too! This is also a great place to transition to my next topic, because Yanai is also my host dad!
Host Family:
So, as you already know, I work in the Gan with my host mom, Ya’arit, and with Yanai at Magen David Adom. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that they are some of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. My Yerucham experience would be completely different without them, and I feel so lucky to have such a close relationship with them. They’ve invited me to their house for dinner multiple times [which of course I accepted=)], invited me to go to see Avatar in 3D with them (which hasn’t worked out yet) and allow me to come and hang whenever I want. They have 2 kids, a 4-year-old daughter named Noa, and a 1-year-old son named Levi. They both are adorable! Yanai works on his computer as a web site designer when he's not working with MDA, so he downloads a lot of TV shows and movies (its legal here!!!!) and he’s shared so much with me! He got me hooked on the show “How I Met Your Mother” and has given me so many movies and other TV shows. He really is amazing, and I think the world of him and his family! They truly are amazing.
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