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