The Days of Great Food

So as you might guess, 25 "young adults" (Is that the term I use to describe us?) living on their own, and on a budger, with no oven and a small stove makes for some very basic meals. Pasta is made the majority of the time. But the last few days have been filled with some really good food!

My great food started with dessert on Saturday night! My internship is with Batsheva Dance Company. They are a world renowned dance company. The artistic director, Ohad Naharin, developed the style of dancing that the company performs. It is called Gaga, and it is a very unique style. Anyway, this year is Batsheva's 50th Anniversary and on Saturday night they had a huge gala to celebrate. I was so excited when they offered me a ticket! The event started at 9pm and was held at the New Tel Aviv Opera House. I was very nervous about finding the opera house by myself, but I did it just fine!

During one piece, the dancers wrote "Batsheva 50" in chalk on the set

I arrived just in time and was blown away by the beauty of the performances. The dancers performed some of the company's most memorable pieces and I loved every second of it. After the performance there was a big reception held outside. There was a red carpet with wine, cocktails, and all kinds of desserts. (This is where the food comes in.) They had macarons, brownies, fruit, and little dessert cups with all different kinds of pudding and mousse in them. IT WAS SO GOOD. I had a fantastic time at the gala and I feel so honored to be working with Batsheva. You can find videos of their performances on their Youtube channel or on their website:

http://www.youtube.com/user/batshevadancecompany
http://www.batsheva.co.il/en/

Naomi (my boss) and me at the reception

On Sunday, Emily and I were invited to a breakfast with some of the other Onward participants from different cities and some of the big donors to the program. We were told to be at the restaurant, Liliyot, by 8:15am. Shouldn't be too hard, right? Emily and I decided to go out to the bus stop at 7 just to be safe. An hour later, our bus had STILL not come. We started to panic. We were representing Cincinnati and didn't want to make a bad impression, and we definitely did not want to miss out on a nice breakfast! We quickly decided to walk down to the main street and take a cab instead. We got in the cab and told the driver (who spoke almost no English) where we were going. WE GOT THERE AT 8:15 EXACTLY! When we arrived, there was a private room for our meeting and a large table with everything from bread, cheese, yogurt, and fruit, to shakshuka (so good!) and salad (because in Israel you eat salad for breakfast). IT WAS SO GOOD. Not only was the food good though, the conversations were as well. We talked about Jewish identity and what kinds of homes we grew up in. It was a pretty short breakfast since most people had to get to work.

Lucky for us, neither Emily or I had to work on Sunday so after breakfast we decided to go exploring! We didn't really know where we were, but we just started walking. We walked into some different shops and then....suddenly....we found ourselves on the fanciest street of stores in Tel Aviv. One of the stores we went in was called Madame de Pompadour. I kid you not, this place had marble staircases and a pink baby grand piano. The clothes in that store were beautiful, and nothing was under 1,500 shekels. Emily and I could not stop giggling because we just could not believe where we were. I was able to sneak some pictures while the salespeople were not watching us like hawks.

Madame de Pompadour

Madame de Pompadour

Marble staircase in Madame de Pompadour

Emily and I walked all over that day. We somehow found ourselves on a street we recognized and continued walking. We ended up walking from Rabin Square to Shuk Ha'Carmel (technically further since we don't know where we started). Even though we walked quite a few miles, it was one of the best days so far. It is so great to be able to explore a new city, and to feel safe doing it. Neither Emily and I have data on our phones, so we didn't have Google Maps or anything like that. We just knew that we would be okay. It is interesting that in a country that is thought to be so dangerous, I feel more comfortable than I do wandering around Cincinnati.

On Monday I went to work and was happily surprised to hear that there was going to be a meeting in the afternoon to celebrate the success of the gala on Saturday. My boss, Naomi, said that the email literally said, "Join us for hummus and celebration." I would never turn down hummus, and it is a good thing I didn't! When we walked into the kitchen, the table was full of fresh vegetables, pita, hard boiled eggs, and tons of containers of hummus. It was the best hummus I have ever had, and Naomi told me that each container is only 10 shekels at the shuk! It was interesting to see the difference in culture though as everyone began to eat. When we first arrived in Israel, someone told us that Israeli's just take. They don't wait in line or wait for someone to offer, if they want to do something they do it. That is exactly what happened. Several people ate three or four peppers or mini cucumbers before the meeting even started, and quite a few people took a whole container of hummus for themselves and were eating out of it with a spoon. It was so funny to me how different that would have played out in America. There would be plates and serving spoons and manners, but I kind of loved how it happened here. There are no rules.

On Tuesday I had a very long commute home from work. The traffic was terrible and I was cranky the whole way home. Once I finally got home I immediately had to turn around and go to a meeting with the group. A bunch of us chose to walk to the meeting which was held at Hayarkon Park. We had no idea how huge the park was or how far we were going to have to walk. But we made it there and the meeting went well. Afterwards, we were all starving. Emily, Sarah, Jordan and I decided we wanted to walk further into Tel Aviv and find burgers. That was all we wanted. Jordan looked up a place on her phone and we walked and walked and walked until finally....MAGIC BURGER. It was literally one of the best burgers I have ever had. It was only 48 shekels for a burger, fries, and a drink! The restaurant was kosher so there was no cheese, but I didn't even miss it. That is how good it was. It was a fantastic way to end my day.

*Extras!*
-Sunday was our first day of Ulpan..it was rough. Hopefully it gets better!
-Shoutout to Chad for understanding when the security guard outside of Ulpan was making fun of us in Hebrew for not knowing how to open the gate.
-Monday was Sarah's 19th birthday so a bunch of us went out with her to celebrate.
-Shoutout to Liora for letting me wear all of her clothes on Sarah's birthday when I didn't know what to wear.

Sarah and me

Liora and me

-Shoutout to Justin for leaving me the nicest note on my door on Tuesday. It's so nice to have you as a father figure while we are here. :)

Note from Justin

L'hitraot,

Abby

Week Two

This week everyone went to The Shuk (open-air market), some of us more than once. The Shuk is a great place to get cheap fruits and vegetables, as well as clothing and pretty much anything else you could want. Bargaining is very welcome at the Shuk, although I am terrible at it. On Sunday I went to the Shuk with Shira, Jordan, and Emily. There is so much to look at and try and smell at the Shuk. (Did I mention they have spice stands?) If you ever go to Israel you have to go to The Shuk. They are all over the country, but the one we have in Tel Aviv is called Shuk Ha'Carmel. It is definitely an experience, but I had a lot of fun!

In Israel there are cats EVERYWHERE. I have no idea why they are literally everywhere, but they are. They are on rooftops, under cars, in the bushes, on benches, and apparently they also love the Shuk. As we were walking through, we passed a fruit stand where several people were laughing and taking pictures. There, in the middle of all of this fruit, is a cat just hanging out. This pretty much explains the cats of Israel. They could not care less about anyone or anything around them.

On Monday I finally started my first day of my internship! I found my way there just fine, and was on time. My boss, Naomi is really nice and helpful. She made aliyah from the Great Britain about four years ago, so she speaks English which is nice. I really am enjoying my internship so far. But honestly just being in the beautiful neighborhood where Batsheva is located is enough for me. In the middle of Tel Aviv is the very first neighborhood that was built, Neve Tzedek. It is a beautiful old neighborhood, with narrow brick roads and a lot of flowers and small boutiques and restaurants. Batsheva is located in the middle of the neighborhood, on the campus of the Suzanne Dellal Center. I can't even describe how peaceful it is there. It is in the middle of this giant city, but it is so quiet there. It is also one block from the beach which is an extra plus. I worked on Wednesday and Thursday as well. Everyone is very nice and really trying to make an attempt to speak in English around me, although my Ulpan classes start this week so hopefully my Hebrew starts to improve soon!

Street in Neve Tzedek

Entrance I walk through to Batsheva Dance Company

On Tuesday we had our first Educational Day. We traveled to Jerusalem for the day, and met with an ultra-orthodox representative, took a tour of the Security Fence, and met with Itzik Yarkoni (my social media mentor for the summer) and he spoke to us about the conflict and what we can do to help. As most of you probably know, there was a situation in the West Bank last week. Three Israeli boys were kidnapped on their way home from religious school. Jerusalem is right on the boarder of the West Bank, and you could feel the tension and stress in the air. Each individual who spoke to us said a little something about the missing boys. Itzik reminded us to use #bringbackourboys on social media, and I even saw that phrase posted on a bus that drove past me in Tel Aviv. Going to the security fence was actually kind of scary. We talk about the West Bank and places like Bethlehem and it all seems so far away. In reality though, it is right there. We literally stood against the wall between the West Bank and the Tomb of Rachel. On our tour of the security wall, our guide explained some of the struggles and issues that go on. He told us the Israeli government began building the wall during a very dangerous time where terrorist attacks were happening regularly. Our madrich, Lior, who is from Jerusalem, said that during this time he avoided buses and told his family goodbye every single time he left the house. It is so hard for us to understand what life was like for him back then. Then again, Itzik talked to us about the city of Sderot. Sderot is located less than a mile from the Gaza Strip, and they STILL have rockets being fired from Gaza to Sderot so often that most of the playgrounds there are also bomb shelters. When a rocket is detected, an alarm sounds, and the people of Sderot have fifteen seconds to take cover. FIFTEEN SECONDS. Itzik told us about a little boy who he spoke to who told him he couldn't wash his hair because it takes longer than fifteen seconds to wash out the shampoo. Although we knew a lot about these situations already, hearing about it from Israelis who experienced it was different.

Old City

On the right side of the Wall is the West Bank

On the left: The Tomb of Rachel
On the right: The Security Wall

The news we see in America and the posts we see online regarding Israel are not that reliable. Itzik showed us an example which clearly showed this. It was a photo of a young Palestinian girl raising her fist at an IDF soldier. This photo was sent around with negative comments about the soldier as if he was doing something to the girl. Itzik then showed us the actual video footage from which that picture came. In reality, there was a large group of soldiers and Palestinians and the Palestinian parents were pushing their children at the soldiers and encouraging the children to harrass them. Meanwhile the Palestinian parents were taking photos just like the original one we saw. This goes both ways though. I have seen many posts on Facebook in the past week of Palestinians supposedly celebrating the kidnapping of the three Israeli boys, but that is not necessarily the reality. I guess my point in writing about that is to teach a lesson. You can't believe everything you see online or in the media because most of the time it is probably not the whole truth.  

Overall, our day in Jerusalem was very interesting and eye opening, but it was very long. Pretty much everyone slept most of the hour bus ride home to Tel Aviv.

The next day after everyone returned home from our internships, we had a group meeting with Lior. We discussed some very intense topics like "what it means to be Jewish" and "Israel's rules on aliyah and marriage." We have a very diverse group when it comes to levels of Judaism. Each of us was raised in a different family with different traditions. It was interesting to see how heated the conversation got, and to see why those subjects can be so controversial and confusing. We didn't even get to fully finish the conversation because everyone had so much to say. Even though it got intense at times, I think that it was a very good conversation and it made us all think.

On Thursday we all went to our internships, and then it was finally the weekend! A few of us went to a beer tasting in the early evening on Tel Aviv University's campus. It was a beautiful campus and the event was really fun! Afterward we all kind of split up for the night. One group decided to go to Jerusalem for the night for Night Spectacular, a light show in the old city. Another group went to a club on the beach, and I went with a few people to the beach where we drank some wine and relaxed for the night. We all had a nice time at our activities and everyone made it home safe and sound.

Justin and me (Mom and Dad) at the beer tasting

Jeremy, Eli, Sarah, Justin, Emily, Nikki, and me at the beer tasting (with two new friends)

Jerusalem Light Show: from Jeremy

Jerusalem Light Show: from Jeremy

Jerusalem: from Jeremy

Friday was spent going to the shuk, Nachlat Binyamin (an artist's market), and to the beach. When we got home, everyone made pasta for dinner (the only thing any of us are good at making) and hung out at our building for the rest of the night.

*Extra Random Things*
-Justin had a thumbs-down falafel this week. He was drawn in by the 6 shekel price, and then highly disappointed by the lack of hummus! What is falafel without hummus?!
-Also, a big thank you to Noah for giving me one of his sour gummy worms on the way home from Jerusalem!

WEEK 2 = SUCCESS

L'hitraot,

Abby

First Weekend In TLV

Before I get to the weekend, I will tell you a little story about Thursday. Since I don't have to work until Monday, I decided I wanted to attempt to take the bus and find my office a few days in advance. So on Thursday Emily offered to help me do this. We were each given the bus routes we should take to our respective jobs by Netta, our internship coordinator. As for me, I have to transfer buses according to the directions Netta gave me. Emily and I were pretty confident as we set out on our journey. We took our first bus to the correct stop, and were pleasantly surprised to see that my second bus stopped at the same spot. Just to be sure we were on the correct side of the street, we asked a woman who was sitting at the stop too. "Slicha (Excuse me), English?" became the most common phrase of the day. We told her which stop we were supposed to get off at and she told us we needed to cross the street, so we did and were told by a man there that we were indeed in the right place. We boarded the bus, but as we started driving, I realized we were going back past things that we had just passed on the first bus. We asked an IDF soldier who was sitting nearby and she assured us that we were on the right bus...until...she asked where I was working. I told her Batsheva Dance Company at the Suzanne Dellal Center. As soon as I said this several other people on the bus began to tell us that we in fact were NOT on the correct bus, and that we were actually on the complete opposite side of the city. They told us to take the same bus the opposite way, so we quickly exited the bus and crossed the street. There we asked another woman who told us we should take a different bus completely. After trying to explain where to go for a minute, she said, "Here, let me take you." She then proceeded to walk us down the street and around the corner to another bus stop, rode the bus with us to our stop, got off the bus with us, walked us a little further, and then gave us directions for the rest of the way. Every Israeli who I have asked for help has been very pleasant and helpful, but this woman went way out of her way to take us where we were trying to go. I am very thankful, and still shocked that she did that for us. We ended up getting lost again and had to ask several more people for help, but we finally made it. Although we spent a lot of our day being lost and walking around a brand new city, it was fantastic. We saw so many different parts of the city, and just got to explore. I am still not sure exactly how to get to work on Monday, but I know I will be fine.

We were all very excited for our first weekend in Israel. When the weekend comes in Israel it is very different than in America. First of all, the weekend is on Friday and Saturday, since Shabbat begins Friday at sundown. At around 4:00 pm on Friday the buses stop and most supermarkets and restaurants shut down for Shabbat. In Tel Aviv a lot of the stores and restaurants in the downtown area stay open, especially on the beach. As the afternoon ends, things get quiet as people are preparing for the Sabbath.

On this specific Friday, Tel Aviv was holding the Tel Aviv Pride Parade. A good amount of us woke up early and went to join in the festivities. There were so many people there and all over the city. It was an awesome experience. Since it was Pride, there were drag shows and rainbows everywhere, and some people in risque clothing, but as I walked through and observed everything I realized something. Everyone there was having a great time together and we were all celebrating the same thing, Life and Love. It was beautiful to see how many people came out and supported. It was cool to see the diverse group of people who attended as well. There were soldiers, children, elderly people, and boys and men wearing kippahs, among the crowd. After the celebration which was held in a park, we all marched through the streets of Tel Aviv and to the beach. There was music, laughing, dancing, drinking, and tons of fun. As we walked through, there were supporters squirting water guns and throwing water down on us, which was gladly welcomed since it was so hot. It was a fantastic experience and one I won't forget.

Eli, Emily, Me, Michelle at the Pride Parade

Pride Parade

Pride Parade

That evening we had special plans. A friend of some of the interns, Stephanie (who is also the daughter of our coordinator from the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, Karyn), left Cincinnati a few years ago and joined the IDF. She put some plans together for us to have dinner and then go out to a club in the city. Before dinner we all went around and talked about what our Shabbat moment is, when it really feels like Shabbat. Liora mentioned that her family sings Bim Bam. Our madrich, Lior, had never heard of this so we all sang it together to teach him. I think that was probably my Shabbat moment this week. Then Shira blessed us all for Shabbat and led Kiddush. After that we had a falafel dinner outside. After dinner we all finished getting ready for the club. A couple hours later two private buses came to pick us up (since the city buses were stopped) and took us to Clara, a top night club in Tel Aviv. When we arrived we had a private area and special attention. It was outside and right on the beach which is something we definitely don't have in Cincinnati. We all had a great time together, and had a lot of bonding time. All of the girls were getting a lot of attention from the Israeli men at the club, and the guys from our group were there to save us from anyone who was really creepy. I think each of the guys was one of our "boyfriends" at some point in the night. Overall, the night was a lot of fun and we got to experience clubbing in a new country!

Nikki, Sarah, Me, Michelle, Tessa, Shira, Liora before Clara

Tessa, Emily, Me, Sarah, Justin, Michelle at Clara

Today most of us spent a good portion of the day at the beach. Since it is Shabbat, and the buses weren't running, we walked a couple miles to get there. Once we reached the beach it was well worth it! It was a beautiful day and the beach was very nice. The Mediterranean is beautiful. We swam, collected seashells, laid out in the sun, and some of use buried Noah in the sand! It was a great way to spend our first Shabbat in Israel. We had a beautiful view from our balcony of the sunset closing Shabbat.

Eli, Jordan, Sarah, Me burying Noah in the sand

End of Shabbat

Now it is back to work tomorrow (for most of us).

I will leave you with a quote from our own AJ Goldhoff: "The answer to a lot of "why questions" is why not?"

L'hitraot,

Abby

We're Here!

Well technically we have been here for...three days? Who knows, I still am not sure if today is actually Wednesday. It has been a whirlwind of a week so far though! I am really not sure where to even start, so I guess I will start at the beginning.

It all began at 3:00 pm at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. We all arrived with our ridiculously heavy bags in tow. There was nervous and excited chatter between the interns and parents as each of us checked in praying our bags were under 50lbs. As the clock struck 4:00, we all said our goodbyes and made our way through security. (Not before taking a group picture of course)

The first picture of Onward Israel Cincinnati

Our parents didn't want to be left out! Thank you to all of the parents!

The first PARENTS picture of Onward Israel Cincinnati

Once we made it through security we made our way to our gate where we all sat playing cards and getting to know each other more. We finally boarded our first flight of the day to Philadelphia..and what a rough flight that was. We all eagerly rushed off of that plane as fast as we could to our next gate, which we only had about thirty minutes to get to! We all made it through the secondary security screening and before we knew it we had all boarded the plane to Tel Aviv! This flight was a whole heck of a lot better than the first one. The best part was the touchscreens on the back of each seat which we full of movies, tv shows, and games. (The only downfall of this was the flight announcements coming through your headphones ten times louder than what you were watching.) I made it through Frozen, Gypsy, and Little Shop of Horrors. Most of that eleven hour flight was spent sleeping, waking up with a stiff neck, adjusting, and sleeping some more. Soon we were all alerted by the captain's voice blaring in our ears that we were going to be landing in thirty minutes! We landed with the sound of applause from some of the passengers and we had finally made it to The Land of Milk and Honey.

After going through customs and getting our luggage we were greeted by our madrich, Lior. He welcomed us with a huge smile and a laugh that is contagious. He led us to our bus which we quickly loaded, and then we were off to Jerusalem for the night. We arrived at Bayit VeGan Youth Hostel and went straight to dinner where we got our first reminder of Israeli dining qualities. Number one, no ice. After dinner, we moved into a meeting with Lior and Netta, our internship coordinator. We got our Israeli sim cards or phones. I chose the phone route so I was given a beautiful Sony Erikson, complete with a TalknSave lanyard attached. We all called our friends and family to tell them we arrived safely and went to bed relatively early. The next morning was filled with orientation meetings which were just as much fun as you would expect and orientation to be. 

     *There was an interesting occurrence on one of our breaks. Outside of the hostel there was a barricade, and on the other side were people chanting and making noise, and holding flags and signs. It looked very intense and important. When we asked, we were told they were protesting a gas line that was to be placed in their area, and there was big meeting about the issue taking place in the hostel. We were relieved that it was a peaceful protest and quickly went back to our meeting. 

That afternoon we finally boarded our bus and headed home, to Tel Aviv. We were each given a key to our own brand new apartment dorm on the campus of Tel Aviv University. These buildings are so new that we are the very first people to live in them, and the surrounding buildings are still unfinished. But it wasn't time to move in and relax yet; Lior and Netta took us around the area. They showed us some restaurants, the bus stops we would need for work the next day, and the nearest supermarkets. Thankfully they pointed out the cheapest one. As the tour went on small groups broke off to go to the supermarkets, and in the end there were five of us left. Then, just like that, Lior and Netta left with a, "Good luck tomorrow! Remember, getting lost in a city is a state of mind."

Onward Israel Cincinnati's First Group Photo in Tel Aviv

The five of us (Emily, Aaron, Nikki, and Shira) made our way to dinner at the restaurant Netta had pointed out, King George. It was a good meal, complete with warm water. When our waiter brought our check we all came to the realization that in Israel they don't do separate checks. Thus began the biggest struggle of figuring out how to pay, how much to tip, and how much change we each were supposed to receive. I still am not even sure what we did, but I know that waiter was left a pretty big tip. From there we walked to the supermarket. Although we were well aware that we were in Israel, the confusion of every label being in Hebrew was still high. I settled with the basics: Cheerios, soy milk, apples, a bell pepper, pasta, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, hummus, pretzel thins, and a chocolate bar. Emily, Aaron, and I also purchased what we thought was hand soap, but now I am pretty positive it is not..it says "soapless" on the bottle. Other than that, I think the shopping trip was a success! That night almost everyone went to bed early, nervously awaiting the bus commute to their internships in the morning.

There were some of us however who did not have that same concern. I found out that afternoon that my mentor, Naomi, is sick, so I don't have to start work until Monday. (She doesn't work Sundays so I don't either.) Liora, Daniel R, and Micah are interning at Joy Records, and their boss is busy preparing for Pride this weekend, so they did not have to start. Daniel V's mentor is out of town, so he did not have to start either. 

Today, while everyone else ventured out in the city to find their internships, the five of us ventured to the beach! Lior recommended a beach, and gave us some loose directions, so we set off to find it. We got on the correct bus, and eagerly watched the screen, waiting for the Hebrew name of our stop to come up. We turned onto Ben Yehuda St. when another patron stopped the bus, and as he got up he told us he could show us where the beach was. We exchanged glances and agreed to follow him. That very nice man led us (the opposite way that he was headed) one more block to Gordon Beach. We quickly applied our sunscreen and headed out into the water. We got our first falafel (for only 15 shekels, HOLLA!) and shawarma of the summer for lunch, and headed back to the beach. We spent the ENTIRE day on that beautiful beach, and there was only a teensy little bit of sunburn involved. 

Gordon Beach

We came home in the evening to find everyone returning from work. Nobody got too lost, and everyone seemed to love their internships! A lot of people walked to another beach this evening, some went to check out a local bar, and the rest of us just hung out at home. Our first few days have been long and exhausting, but it has been a fantastic start to our time in Israel.

     *An example of how tired we were on our first night in Tel Aviv: After returning from the supermarket, Emily put her yogurt and eggs in the freezer. She had not purchased anything that needed to be put in the freezer. She opened the freezer multiple times today (for an unknown reason) and did not realize what she had done until around 11:00 pm tonight. (Emily approved this example.) 

This Friday is Pride in Tel Aviv, or as Lior translated it, "Mega Gay Parade." We are all super excited to go! We have a lot of fun things planned for this weekend, so be ready for my next post! 

L'hitraot,

Abby

One Day More

Sorry for the title; it is just my musical theatre nerd side. (It is a song from Les Miserables.) ANYWAY, we leave tomorrow! I can't believe how fast time has flown since I first found out I was accepted into the Onward Israel program. If you know me you know that I am still not fully packed, and that deciding which precious items of clothing to leave behind has been weighing heavily on my mind for days. I mean I am packing for two whole months! But then of course you have to think about all of the shopping that I am sure to be doing throughout those two months...and this is the vicious packing cycle I have been in all week.

Since my last post, I have gotten a few more "About Me" responses from the other interns. It is still not everyone, but this gives you a pretty good idea of the diverse group of interns we have! Just to remind you, these are the questions I asked each of them to answer:

1. Where do you go to school, what year, and what major?
2. What is your internship?
3. What are you most excited for?
4. What are you most anxious/nervous for?

Aaron Frankel:
1. I'm a rising sophomore studying business and political science.
2. I will be interning with a consulting company.
3. I'm really excited to get some experience in the business world while exploring Israel.
4. I wouldn't say I'm really nervous about anything, but I'm not sure how well I'll be able to navigate the city.





Shira Spiegel:
1. I'm a senior at Tulane University double majoring in Education and Jewish Studies.
2. I am interning at Chimes working with Special Needs kids.
3. I am most excited for the experience of living in Israel and immersing in the culture as well as making friends and seeing all of my Israeli friends. I am also very excited for my internship and to gain more experience working with children with special needs.
4. I'm most nervous about my Hebrew abilities. I have a hunch that the students I will be working with will not know English, so I will have to talk to them in my limited Hebrew. I am excited for the chance to hopefully improve my knowledge and ability to speak in Hebrew but also very nervous for how I will do.

Nikki Fisher:
1. Tulane University, rising senior, majoring in Studio Art with a minor in sociology and Jewish studies.
2. I will be interning for MTV Israel.
3. I am most excited for my internship and to get to experience living in Israel in a more permanent and less touristic way.
4. I am a little nervous at my lack of memory on my Hebrew.

Emily Gilgoff:
1. Ohio University, junior, communication studies
2. English On Stage Theater Company
3. I am most excited to travel and explore.
4. I'm a little nervous to live abroad.







L'hitraot,

Abby

Six Days!

In six days Onward Israel Cincinnati will be on our way to Israel! But first, let's talk about today. Today our entire group met up for the first time! We finally got our itineraries and were able to ask any questions we had about our trip. We are doing some incredible things in these next two months!

In honor of meeting my fellow interns today I thought I would introduce you to some of them. I asked each of them to answer these four questions:

1. Where do you go to school, what year, and what major?

2. What is your internship?

3. What are you most excited for?

4. What are you most anxious/nervous for?

Ari Shifman:

1.Rising Senior at Tulane University studying Business Law

2. I am a marketing intern at Hewlett Packard.

3. I am most excited for the opportunity to learn and experience Tel Aviv and meet Israelis. 

4. Not anxious but would rather not have to commute 45 minutes everyday.

Noah Zelkind:

1. I'm a rising sophomore at New York University for Economics.

2. I'll be a finance and budgeting intern for Car2go.

3. I'm excited to get to experience Israel living on my own and to explore our homeland.

4.I'm excited about overcoming the American stereotype with the locals and finding some of the hidden treasures Israel no doubt harbors.

Daniel Valentini:

1. I'm going to be a junior next year at OSU and I'm a Computer Science major.

2. I am working at Liquee Technologies to work on their kitchenbug app.

3. I am excited for just living in Israel, trying new food, and the nightlife in Tel Aviv.

4. I am a bit nervous about actually having to put what I've learned in college to use for the first time.

Justin Kirschner:

1. Rising 1st year Masters Student in Public Administration at Ohio University

2. I'm working at Goodvision, a consulting company focused on Corporate Social Responsibility.

3. I'm most looking forward to freedom to immerse myself into Israeli culture as well as the people I will meet.

4. Just anxious to see how it's going to be to live abroad!

Tessa Rothfeld:

1. I am a sophomore at the University of South Carolina. I am majoring in Biology and minoring in Business and military science.

2. Interning with Genome Compiler Software.

3. Most excited to be living in Tel Aviv by the beach.

4. Most anxious about using the bus system.

Chad Chessin:

1. I am a senior at the Ohio State University, studying Security & Intelligence, Political Science, and Middle East Studies.

2. My internship position is Strategic Intelligence Analyst intern at a private company called Wikistrat.

3. I am most excited to get hands-on experience in the realm of intelligence, learning in an office full of people from all over the world with varying backgrounds and expertise.

4. I am not anxious about anything in particular, but change always gives rise to doubts that can only be alleviated with experience.

Jordan Della Bella:

1. I am starting my senior year (plus an extra semester) at Hocking College as an Ecotourism and Adventure Travel student.

2. My internship is at Kayak4all aiming to learn how to give sea kayak tours and potention stand up paddle tours.

3. I am most excited to learn new things and explore the wonderful city of Tel Aviv.

4. I am most anxious for living in a foreign country for an extended period of time and being able to navigate.

Sarah Deutsch:

1. I'm a rising sophomore at the University of Cincinnati, majoring in Mechanical Engineering.

2. I am interning at a company called Autodesk Israel which are the creators of many 2D and 3D modeling software programs (ex. AutoCAD).

3. I'm most excited to get back to Israel and be submerged into their everyday life, beyond tourism.

4. I'm most anxious about getting lost in the Tel Aviv port during my lunch breaks.

Jake LaFrance:

1. I am a junior at Miami University in Oxford, OH. I am an Information systems and analytics major with a Spanish minor.

2. My internship is with a start up company called Datonics.

3. I am most excited to be spending my summer in Israel and getting some tangible work experience in my field as opposed to spending my summer baking baguettes at Panera. 

4. I am most apprehensive about the potential language barrier while in Israel as I don't speak any Hebrew, but luckily many Israelis speak English. 

Daniel Roth:

1. I will be a senior at Miami U.

2. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to be working with Liora and Micah at Joy Records. 

3. I am very excited to meet new people, immerse myself culturally, and get my feet wet in the music industry.

4. I am also anxious about the language/culture barrier or possibly getting lost in the city.

Michelle Glazer:

1. I'm a senior at The Ohio State University majoring in early childhood education and I have a minor in Jewish studies.

2. I'm interning at the Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO).

3. I'm excited to be back in Israel after 4 years, explore the area, and immerse myself in Israeli culture.

4. I'm nervous about living in a different country, but excited to experience something new!

This is less than half of the interns, but you will hear more about everyone soon! We are all so excited to share all of our experiences with all of you!

L'hitraot,

Abby

Abby is going to Israel?!

Yes! I am! Finally I will be returning to that little country, 6,000 miles away, where I spent the best summer of my life six years ago. For those of you who don't know, I went to Israel for about five weeks in the summer of 2008. I was a part of Nitzanim, a group led by Young Judaea. We hiked through the Negev and up Masada, explored Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, went snorkeling in the Mediterranean, floated in the Dead Sea, and experienced as much of Israel as possible. Ever since then I have always said I wanted to go back, the question was when.

As my senior year of college began this past August, I knew that the real world was coming for me. Questions started running through my head; What do I do after I graduate? I am getting a degree in MUSICAL THEATRE; What was I thinking? Where do I go from here? As I thought about the answers to these questions, I realized I had no idea...and promptly freaked out. In the midst of my stressing and worrying, my mom forwarded an email to me about Onward Israel Cincinnati, a program which brings American college students (and recent graduates) to Israel to work as interns for two months. (Thanks Mom) I read all of the information and immediately recognized this incredible opportunity. This could be an answer to at least one of my questions!

I quickly applied, and soon found out that I had been accepted into the program. From there I was assigned an internship coordinator who helped me to find my incredible internship at Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv. (This is where my minor in marketing comes in.) I will be working with Batsheva on the planning and logistics of their international tours along with other fun tasks. Needless to say, I am excited! This time in Israel I will be an adult, and I will be living in an apartment in Tel Aviv. It is going to be a completely different experience than the last time I was there. Living walking distance from the Mediterranean Sea doesn't suck either. Now, just to clarify, I am not the only intern coming from Cincinnati. I will be traveling with 24 other students from Cincinnati. We are leaving on June 8, just a little over a week away!

This blog will be a way for all of you to get a taste of what we will be experiencing, and what daily life is like in Israel. Who knows, maybe it will inspire you to take a trip there yourself! I would highly recommend it. Along with this blog, you can follow #cincyisrael on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. This hashtag will be used by anyone from Cincinnati who is traveling to Israel, not just the group with Onward Israel.

My goal is to share our story with you and to make a real connection between the Queen City and the Land of Milk and Honey.

L'hitraot,

Abby