Purim was so much fun! In fact, the whole month of Adar so far has been great. We barely learned a thing!! For Rosh Hodesh Adar (the beginning of the month of Adar), the whole school was on the tiyul shnati, the annual trip. Throughout the school year, we have some one or two day trips to prepare you for the tiyul shnati, a three-day, two-night trip. The seventh and eighth grades went north, to the Golan and Galil. We first went to the Hermon and played in the snow. We also went on the chairlift – it was way high up and really scary. The next day we traveled to Nachal Betzet for a three-hour hike. It was shady and cool, and we walked next to the brook. That just got us ready for Nachal Amud the next day. That was a seven-hour hike through the water and mud, with much less shade. It was also much hotter there. We were really tired at the end of each day, but we stayed up late and went crazy to celebrate Rosh Hodesh Adar. Some girls dressed up in crazy costumes and masks – it was so funny! Even better, we had the day off after that to rest up.

In my school, in Adar, every grade has a mivtzah, a sort of project to work on. The seventh graders made a themed breakfast for the eighth grade – it was cute, and we just won’t talk about the food (maybe I’m just not used to Israeli style breakfast yet. . .). Other grades put on performances, held a fair to raise tzedakah, and ran a singing and songwriting contest. Our task was a carnival for mentally disabled kids. It turned out great, and was a lot of fun. We worked so long on it – for a week plus we did nothing but prepare for the carnival and do Purim stuff. We sang “Mishenichnas Adar” (with the beginning of Adar, happiness increases) everywhere, had harkadot (music and dancing), and dressed up. We were even allowed to roller blade in school! Then, it was Purim…

In Israel, at least in the places that celebrate the regular day of Purim, everyone has off for both Purim and the day after Purim, which is called Shushan Purim. On the first day, Purim, we heard megillah, dressed up, and went out to deliver mishloah manot (portions of food to friends). In Chashmonaim, most families give a few personal packages to friends and neighbors, but mostly give through the local mishloah manot program. Most of the money goes to tzedakah; some is for needy people in the neighborhood, and the rest is for the families who were expelled from Gush Katif. All the kids walked around to deliver mishloah manot to our friends. It was cool to see everyone involved in Purim. Everyone gets really into it, even the adults. Lots of adults got dressed up, and even one of the synagogues was “dressed up.” The building was dressed up as a boat, with a gangplank and everything. Then we had our seudah (Purim feast). We made the seudah with two other families, and it was really fun.

On Shushan Purim, we finally had a day to relax and sleep a little late (since we never have Sundays off). Chashmonaim had a carnival on the basketball court, and then we drove to Yerushalayim to my aunt and uncle’s house for another Purim seudah. It was interesting to see everyone celebrating Shushan Purim there – because for them, it’s the real thing, even though we had Purim the day before. (Purim is celebrated one day later in Jerusalem and other walled cities.) The whole city was partying. Even the bus drivers were wearing wacky hats while they drove their routes. We had such a good time – Purim in Israel was an amazing experience.

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Now that we’re getting more settled, I’ve been able to do so many things that there was no chance of doing in America. Almost every Motzaei Shabbat (Saturday night), I go to one of my friends’ houses to watch a movie, and I walk home with a friend at 9:30 at night. And when a friend has a birthday, there’s somehow always a surprise party! This past month, four friends and I went to Yishperu Center, a really fun shopping center in Modi’in, for one friend’s birthday. We took a bus there, and then walked around stores and went bowling, and the birthday part was still a surprise! (No way was it my idea, one of my friends thinks up the surprises! Now HER birthday is next! Ah!) Then we went out for dinner, and bought her a present. It was TONS of fun and way different than America.

This past Shabbat was Tu B’Shevat. It’s really cool in Israel. Some people even have a Tu B’Shevat Seder. All the youth groups like Bnei Akiva, have netiot (plantings) where everyone goes out with their shevet (age group) and plants trees. But it was postponed because of the rain. That’s another thing about Israel. It only rains in the winter and fall, never in the spring or summer. But when it rains, it rains. Today, the rain was on and off all day, it was gross. When the students complain in school, the teachers say, “It’s a bracha (blessing).” But that’s rare. Usually, when it rains, everyone announces it to the whole class and they’re really happy.

I can’t wait for Purim here…

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Lately, I've been getting closer with my new friends. We have so much fun. We've made parties (including a surprise party for my birthday - it was great!), watched movies, goofed off, and just hung out. It's definitely getting better as the year progresses. Still, Hebrew is a challenge. All the Israelis say, "How great for you that you speak English," and I'm thinking, "You're lucky to speak Hebrew!"

It's really exciting that now, during American winter vacation, a lot of people are coming to visit--my cousins, my parents' friends, my friends from school...I can't wait to introduce everyone--I'm really looking forward to it. Our house is also starting to shape up. We finally were able to hang pictures on the walls, we have a bunch of light fixtures now in place of light bulbs dangling from the ceiling, and enough of the construction and repairs are done (along with all the dirt and dust those things bring into the house) so that we are finally using our new sheets on our beds. My room--my own!--looks really good.

I really like some of the ideas in Israel--tiyulim, (hikes) chugim, (clubs), and madrichot (counselors) in school, and more cool stuff, but it's Israel, not America. The way things are built, the way things are done, the way people act, it's really different from what we were used to, but I think I'm finally starting, at least, to get used to it.

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School was very aggravating and really difficult in the beginning, but it’s been getting easier. The Hebrew was a real issue – talking to classmates, understanding teachers, even knowing what the assignments meant – but when I look back, I see I’ve really improved. Everyone has, my brother and sisters and my parents, too. My father knows Hebrew really well because he lived here when he was in high school and then in Tzahal (the Israeli army), but my mother is going to Ulpan (Hebrew classes) to learn to speak better. It has been a lot of hard work and a really hard time for all of us, but I can see that it’s worth it. I am doing well in school, and I have made friends.

In Israel, school is a really different experience. The classes alternate Judaic and secular subjects all day long instead of Hebrew in the morning and English in the afternoon, and we have a mechanechet, a homeroom teacher, who teaches a few of our classes. We have way more subjects than we did in America. I have three kinds of math and two kinds of science, plus a million different Judaic subjects. It’s divided much more than in my school in the States. Field trips are also totally different. For example, we went on a tiyul (trip) a few weeks ago. All 104 girls in the eighth grade went to a farm (called Chavat Na’ama) in the dessert. We milked goats, fed baby goats, made goat cheese, played with rabbits, and ate a breakfast grown on the farm. It was totally different than America, but tons of fun!

Another big difference is the after-school activities, which we didn’t have so much in America. School ends a lot earlier here, so there’s more time for other things (don’t forget we have school on Sunday, though I won’t have school on Friday next year). We have B’nei Akiva (Zionist youth group) and chugim (activities). I go to ceramics at Moshav Mevo Modi’in. That’s another thing about Israel, there are lots of yishuvim (settlements), cities, and kibbutzim, and they have all different kinds of people living here. Right near Chashmonaim is a Charedi (ultra-Orthodox) city, a big city where observant and non-observant Jews live together, and a bunch of different small settlements. In such a small country, there are so many different views and beliefs.

So anyway, things were tough in the beginning, but Israel is starting to get better. I am really enjoying it. Chanuka vacation is coming, and I am really excited for all the trips and parties that are coming up next week. I will get to see a lot of my family, so that should be fun. And there are sufganiyot (doughnuts fried in oil) everywhere, especially caramel ones – very cool.

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A Regular Day

I can really see the change in my family lately. All of us are reluctant to go to school in the morning, but at the end of the day, we realize it was a great day. Everyone is more tense, as in aggravated and bratty. My youngest sister finally realized that she doesn’t understand anything in gan (kindergarten). My brother never wants to go to school, because he doesn’t understand anything. My other sister, Ayelet, is okay with it because she understands most things. I understand most things, too, even enough to know when it’s really boring. If you don’t know us, you probably couldn’t tell the difference, but I can see several differences!

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Second Week of School

I started school last Sunday. I was really nervous at the start of the first week, but everyone is really nice and they try to help me as much as they can. School is very different from school in America, at least where I go, it is. Each grade has their own building and the teachers come to them. I have more subjects, but shorter days. I have to get up at 6:00 because the bus comes at 7:00, but the bus is really fun. All the girls are really friendly and sweet.

I have a little trouble understanding, but I usually understand everything in general. If there’s something big I don’t understand, several girls are English speakers and help me. I’m actually enjoying school. Sort of. It’s probably the best I can get in my first year here, and I’m happy with the decision.

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The past two weeks have been jam-packed with action. My grandmother has been doing things with us and taking us on tiyulim (outings) since the day after we got here. The Israel Museum, the Davidson Center, Yad Vashem (for just me), the Ashdod beach, Osem-land, and so many more things that I don’t even remember.

Last Shabbat we came to the house. I met a few really nice girls, some who go to my school, Shalavim, and some who are around my age and live here. Then on Sunday night, we went back to my grandparents’ house without my parents, so when the lift came on Monday, they could have their space. We came back on Tuesday night. The house looks different with furniture in it. But I still can’t bring myself to unpack. It feels like a resort or something. It’s plenty noisy outside and doesn’t look like a resort; most of the other houses aren’t finished and the road is part dirt, part mud, and part brick. I start school on Sunday. I’m really nervous. I don’t have any books or supplies yet. I don’t even have a list of what I need! Generally, it’s quite a bit of a culture shock to move from Passaic to Chashmonaim, but I think I’ll get over it in a little while. I hope.

Today, my aunt’s family and my grandparents are coming over. It’s my aunt’s family’s first time in the house. I hope they realize that they are going to get quite dusty. The house isn’t totally finished so we still have dusty workers coming in and out at different times of the day. And if you move into a newly constructed house, chances are that it’s pretty dirty to start with, no matter how much you clean. But all this has got to be worth it.

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The Arrival Ceremony

Finally, we got off the plane and moved on to the next step. The stairs. I actually made it down. My aunt and grandparents were waiting at the bottom. It felt so amazing. Most people were crying, even just Nefesh b’Nefesh staff. This is what we were all planning for, for months and months. Afterwards, we went to see our house. It was better than I imagined. Then we drove to my grandparents’ house. Now it doesn’t feel like a reality. It just feels like we’re visiting again. It probably won’t feel real until I start school.

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On the Plane

The departure ceremony took place and then we went to board the plane. I was still nauseous and I didn’t want to eat dinner. I’m having trouble falling asleep because my stomach hurts. My mother says it’s from stress. All the kids on the plane are running up and down the aisles and there are babies screaming. I think all the parents just let them go because they’re exhausted and just relieved to be on the actual plane. The video system is broken, but they’re trying to fix it, and no such luck. They were supposed to turn it on in a minute about three times. I just want to get this flight over with.

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The Day of the Flight

I woke up early this morning. That’s only different because I’m the family’s late sleeper. I have butterflies in my stomach and I feel very tense. But I know that either when I get on the plane or off (which is not until TOMORROW) I’ll feel much better. Plus, the ride to JFK is, well, not really so nauseating. I’m nervous but I don’t know why. I guess butterflies just come with waking up on a big day. I had a lot of trouble going to sleep last night, tossing and turning. But I know that everything will turn out well and making aliyah is a very special and important thing to do.

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