Site Visits and Update

I've spent the past week and a half visiting different volunteering sites, continuing my ulpan studies and exploring Tel Aviv a little more. Ulpan is not going so well, although a bit of that may have to do with the fact that I've sort of given up. The more Hebrew I learn, the worse my English gets. It is quite frustrating to be mediocre in two languages and feel like I'm a stand still and not improving. I think I'll get a little better as I enter my volunteering sites and have no choice but to learn and adapt. I should probably study a little more (or at all) but I'm a little too emotionally unstable right now to actively choose to feel defeated by an alef.

I've felt homesick the past few days. The reality of my situation continues to sink in and I realize that I'm going to be here a while. I'm missing my friends (ALLIY!), my family, my own stuff, and Chipotle. I often consider what I'd be doing at a particular moment if I was still living in Denver. I try to stay busy and engaged in what I'm doing because I am very happy to be here and want to focus on the wonderful things I'm experiencing. I love everyone in my program, have incredible house mates, the great support staff of Tikkun Olam, meaningful volunteering sites to choose from, and I'm living in a dynamic and seemingly endless city.

I've had a few interesting experiences that have made me stop and think about where I am and how different it is from Denver. Exciting things include spending Shabbat at the beach, shopping at the shuks, dancing until 3 am in the outdoor clubs, wandering unfamiliar streets only to stumble upon something I recognize from my first trip. People will speak to me in Hebrew and I often have to respond with a blank stare and an apologetic "Lo ivrit. Anglit?" I may feel clueless and lost, but apparently I look like I fit in. The thought of making aliyah is in the back of my mind at all times and some moments I feel like it's the obvious choice but often I just feel sad because the pieces just don't... fit. I know it will be something I struggle with the entirety of my time here, when I'm back home, and probably for a long time. I'm not sure how to formulate my thoughts about it yet. Perhaps a blog for another time.

My volunteer site visits went so well and, as predicted, I am faced with a very hard choice...

Holland House- School/rehabilitation center for children ages 1-3 with special needs. Loving staff, sweet children and a very cool facility that includes a relaxation room that is dark, totally padded, filled with incredible visual displays of light tubes and glowing ball pits. It sounds very weird, but I promise it was a super cool room and the kiddos I saw in it seemed to love it.

Mesila- An organization that assists migrant workers living in Israel. One of the things they do is offer training to women who run unofficial childcare programs out of their houses. Children can be enrolled in public school starting at age 3 but childcare until then is often expensive so these women provide a valuable service to the immigrant community. I absolutely fell in love with the house I visited. It was literally a house filled with babies who just wanted love and attention. I had a very hard time pulling myself away from the site.

Center for Disabled Adults- A residence for adults ranging 20-60 who have suffered a traumatic incident that has left them disabled and incapable of caring for themselves but are too young to be placed in a traditional elderly treatment center. I really appreciated their mission and it seemed like a great place for the people they served. I felt uncomfortable there but kept reminding myself how much I would want something like that for myself if I was in a similar situation.

Save a Child's Heart- One of the visits that truly touched me and an organization I strongly recommend everyone read up on- (http://www.saveachildsheart.org/). The organization brings children from all over the world to Israel for heart surgery. They host the children, family and nurses for several months as they prepare for and recover from their surgeries. Simply beautiful.

I visited several other great sites and really enjoyed meeting so many individuals who have committed themselves to such worthy causes and I am very excited to get involved and begin really becoming a part of Tikkun Olam!