Happy Holland Update and Thanksgiving!

Hi, Blogworld! Happy Thanksgiving! I am sitting in my new dorm room in the Young Judaea Youth Hostle in Jerusalem. Today was my first full day in the hostle, and I am just getting situated to the new living situation. I have an adventure to tell you about before we get to the current stuff, though. I just returned from an amazing week in Holland! Holland was the second Olami trip of the year, as I told you all about last time, and boy was it amazing. Amsterdam is just a gorgeous city, covered in canals and beautiful architecture. We had the perfect balance this trip of visiting amazing Dutch cultural sights such as the famous Rijks and Van Gogh Museums, cheese farms, Delft pottery factories and the like, and having a Jewish experience in Holland. We spent Shabbat with the Sephardic community of Holland, which was so phenomenal. The Spanish Portuguese shul has been standing in Holland since the 1600s, only a short while after Jews fled to Holland after the Spanish Inquisition. Of course, being in Amsterdam, it is impossible to ignore the history of the Holocaust there. We visited and toured Anne Frank's house, the Dutch Resistance Museum and the monument remembering the 104,000 Dutch Jews who perished during the World War 2 years. However, unlike visiting Poland which proved to be simply a nation of Jewish History, Holland is a nation where Judaism still thrives. Off to thanksgiving dinner, but more later, I promise. I am thankful for all you readers! Love, Gaby

Off to Amsterdam!

So, blog world. Foreign country part 2 of 4 is about to begin. I am sitting in Ben Gurion Airport about to head off to Holland to learn about the Sephardic Jewish life there, and just travel and have fun. Also, my time in Bat Yam is over, and when I come back from the Netherlands, I am going to start the Jerusalem Studies portion of my year here, meaning my year is a 1/3 over. HOW SCARY IS THAT! Crazy, right? Well anyway, I got a whopping 35 minutes of sleep last night so im off to rest a bit before take off, but more soon.

Peace and love, blog world!

A Day for the History Books.

Wow. Wow. Never in my life will I forget today. Watching Barack Obama give his acceptance speech on CNN from my couch in Bat Yam was one of the most monumental experiences of my life. I have been supporting his campaign for the last year, and have been very invested in it, donating time, money and energy to the man I feel can change our nation for the better as President. In all settings from Government class to couches at my Grandmother's house in Israel, I have heard every reason from A to Z of why I should not be supporting this guy--that America isn't ready for him, that he's too young, and that, how could I, a religious Jewish gir,l be suporting this character who mingles with people who aren't the friendliest to the Semites. But it was too late to get me off my Obama-supporting track. I knew this man was the right person to be the next president of the United States, to lead our nation out of this economic depression, and end this war on which we're spending literally millions of dollars a DAY unneccesarily. Most importantly, as cliche as this may sound, I genuinely feel that Barack Obama comes with a strong sense of HOPE for the American people. As I heard a news anchor on CNN say last night, "he proves that it is now true. All parents can now tell their children that they too can grow up to be president." For the majority of my life, or at least what I can recall, I have had a president by whom I have been less than inspired. I have always wondered what it would have been like to have watched JFK on stage, or sat by a radio and listened to fireside chats, or wished I was a little older during the Clinton era. But now, here is my once-in-a-lifetime president. I will be telling my children and my grandchildren how I heard Barack Obama speak twice before he became president, how I was interviewed on television supporting him, and how and we had a man named Jamal who worked for the Obama campaign living with my family for two months, with our only thing in common being our faith in this didactic Democrat from Chicago. Watching Barack Obama become our president elect at 6 am this morning moved me to tears. I cannot get off this high that our country is FINALLY taking the right steps to become the nation it once was, of which we can be proud to be citizens. Now, all I can do is count down the days until inoguration. I could not be prouder of having checked my ballot "Barack Obama," of spending many a Government class and Shabbat lunch arguing on his behalf, of waking up at 5 am to hear him speak in South Los Angeles, or of wearing my "I Love Barack Obama" sticker today. Yes we can, Yes we did, and Yes we will.

OK OK OK. HI BLOG WORLD. my internet has been terrible lately, and i just wrote a ridiculously long update about everything ive been up to but, of course, it was deleted before i got to click 'publish post.' Essentially, I am absolutely adoring my here in Israel thus far. Since my last update, a ton has happened. I turned 18, attended to a music festival on the kinneret, crawled in bar kochva's caves, toured a blind museum, celebrated rosh hashana in ranana (that should be the name of a musical), spent yom kippur in yerushalayim (the dramatic sequel), watched the new coen brothers movie in tel aviv (which i LOVED, for the record), saw rainbows while hiking in the north, relaxed on the beach in bat yam, helped ethiopian and russian immigrants with english and math homework, lamadeti harbeh milim b'ivrit kitat ulpan sheli, and simply just enjoyed my time in israel. In case any of you doubted it for a second, I am having the absolute time of my life. This year is just amazing, I can't believe it. I am living it up, so to speak, and am still just as excited to be here as I was when I arrived almost two whole months ago. My time here in the Compton of Israel, Bat Yam, is winding down, and in mid-November I am going to be traveling in Holland for a week with Olami (the travel aspect of my program) and then moving into the Judaean Youth Hostle in Jerusalem. But as for right here, right now, it is a little after midnight and the chagim just ended. I was in Jerusalem for Simchat Torah/Shmini Atzeret and davened at the Kotel which was great. It is weird that here I am, typing away, and it's still yom tov for most of my blog fan base in Los Angeles.

Oh, and ps blog world-I blog for Jvibe Magazine (does anyone read that?) through Young Judaea, and the address is jvibe.com/israel if anyone is interested.

My goal for the year is to just experience it all, and I am pretty much accomplishing that so far. As a wise man Ferris Bueller once said, "life moves by pretty quick. If you don't stop and look around every once in a while, you just might miss it." More to come soon, I will try my hardest to keep this thing updated more.

Love and Peace from the Middle East!
G3

Legit Bat Yam Update. Get Ready!

My my my, blog world! It seems like it's been quite some while since I've updated y'all on the goings on of my life here in Israel. So, I'm going to try and fill you guys in. The easiest way to do this, it seems, would be bullet points. So here I go.

*Israel is starting to feel like home, which is really nice. I've farmiliarized myself with Bat Yam, know my way around, basically know which busses go where, and all that stuff. It's a different home, and it's still weird not being in the US, especially in such a political time (sidenote:I read a Time article about Palin today, and that's about the extent of my political update in the last little bit, with the exception of quick cnn.com checks. It's weird,especially since sunday is a normal day here, and I can't sleep in and read the NY Times. strange.) but this is also such an exciting time to be in Israel as well, and such an exciting time in my life.

* I went to a world cup qualifier soccer game last night! SO COOL! It was so exciting and fun and crazy, I loved it. As anyone who knows my athletic ability and knowledge can tell you, I don't know anything about any sport, but tell me who to cheer for, and I'm set. The energy at the game was amazing, it was truly a unique experience and I loved every second. Israel tied 2-2, I didn't even know you could have ties in sports, but better than losing, which we all thought was going to happen based on the first hour or so of the game. Also, I saw essentially every single person I know in Israel after the game last night, which was thrilling and so nice.

*My first Shabbat here was adorable. It was a really nice day to hang out, bond, relax, and eat in our new apartments. They paired up the boys and girls apartments, and we all cooked and had lunch together. There were 11 of us at my apt, 6 boys, my 4 roomates and me, and it was just so enjoyable and chill.

*I got my volunteering job today, I'm working at an Israeli equivilent to a boys and girls club for kids 1st-8th grade, a lot of which are ethiopian immigrants, which should be really cool and unique and exciting. I meet my boss tomorrow, so I'll keep you guys posted.

*I turn 18 on wednesday!!!

more soon, but this is pretty comprehensive, so comment and let me know I have a fan base.
shalom, v'ahava,

gaby!

Oh. My. Goodness.

I am sitting in my apartment in Bat Yam. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. I have an apartment. In Israel. WHAT?!?!!?! WHEN THE HECK DID THAT HAPPEN?!?! Funny you should ask, I am wondering the exact same thing. This is pretty ridiculous, and I kind of can't believe I am here, but here I am! I am actually unbelievably sleep deprived and the bags under my eyes may in fact be bigger than those that I packed for a year, so I am going to go nap, but more coming soon, obviously. I'm home now--WEIRD. Not to worry, blog world, I will keep you posted on The Real World: Bat Yam. Ok, let's just pretend I didn't say that.

PEACE.

Ok. Real update time!

Hi everyone! I am currently sitting in my hotel room in Madrid about to get ready for Shabbat. I have been in Spain since Monday, and what a jam packed week it's been! We started our adventure in Barcelona, toured, then went to Madrid for a bit, then to Cordoba, and now we're back here for the rest of the trip. Spain is an absolutely GORGEOUS country, and I'm learning a lot. It's a little weird that I'm only kind of "pre-gaming" for the year right now, Shalem technically hasn't even started yet, and I feel like I have been gone for so long. I have been so busy for the last little bit that I just really have no concept of time anymore. It's so weird that I didn't start Shalhevet this week and that I'm not writing ridiculous amounts of highly entertaining shabbat-o-grams at the machaneh, but I guess that's what the beginning of a new adventure is, moving on and making new traditions, memories and the like. I am so excited to get settled in Israel, but I am loving my Spanish adventure. Spain has a very European feel, but is so different from the Eastern European countries I've visited. I'll try and figure out how to add pictures, but trust me, you all will love it. More to come soon hopefully! Shabbat Shalom!

HOLA, blog world!

Hi guys! I am currently sitting in the airport in Barcelona, aka the newest addition to the list of Gaby's favorite place on earth. I am also currently on the look out like CRAZY for pickpocketers, newest biggest fear in life, and way pissed at the dollar, considering i just paid 2 euro for 20 minutes of internet. So let's get cracking! Spain is GORGEOUS. pictures to come, my cameras currently dead but when I bring it back to life, there will be pictures. Ahh! I have to go. but i love it here. more to come, sorry I suck at life! I'll be in the holy land on monday, bezras hashem. I love you all!

...And She's Off!

Shalom, blog world! I am sitting in JFK, about to begin my crazy year-long journey to Spain, Israel, Turkey, Greece, and Holland. I will keep you all updated as often as possible, but I'm not making any promises. Right now the deal is I'm kind of sick of this waiting around stuff, and I am certainly going to need my laptop battery for the long planeride, so more to come later! Peace and love, cyberspace!
xoxo gossip girl (yes, I think I'm really funny).