Israel. America. They both have such strong ties to each other, yet both are thousands of miles apart from the other. Growing up in Boston, and now living in America puts the way I love my daily life into perspective.

Although Israel is very different from America, most of these differences are good. They add to the awesome culture here that I am falling in love with.

When I walk down the street in Boston, I am left to myself. I can do as I please, and mind my own business. If I were to talk to someone, I would be judged immensely. Back in America, people keep to themselves. But as I walk down the streets of Hod HaSharon, or along the beaches of Tel Aviv and Haifa, I am stopped constantly.

If this trip could teach me one thing it would definitely be how different American and Israeli culture is.

Wake up, skip breakfast, go to school, switch between sitting in one classroom to another classroom, take a 20 minute lunch break, sit in some more classrooms, wait eagerly for the bell, go to sports practice, go home, have dinner, go to bed (Repeat x5 per week for 10 months). This is my monotonous schedule back home.

This time last year, I never thought that I would be exploring the land of Israel during a normal school day. I never thought that I would be traveling to a new city almost every day. A year ago, this was only a dream.

Being in Israel for a little over a month now has been an incredible experience. I have made so many friends, and gone to very cool and fun places. But, I have also learned in one of the coolest ways I think there is.

When we go on our tiyuls it is always fun and I enjoy them a lot, just the thought of learning outside can be a weird thing to do. At my school we sit in the same seats everyday and listen to the teachers babble on. But when we go on our tiyuls I get a whole new way of learning.

Being only 12 days away from the halfway point in this trip, I have already had the time of my life. I feel as though I am already close enough to the boys to call them my brothers, and to officially refer to AMHSI as “home”.

I cannot believe that I’m almost halfway through this program. Time goes by so fast here! Every single day is something new, I never know what the next day is going to bring.

Living in Israel is such a different experience from living in America, it’s hard to go into it without any advice or guidance. The main thing that differs from being a student in Israel to being a student in America is the tiyulim. Going on a tiyul can be a hard experience, but it is always rewarding in the end. They tend to be long, hot, dry, and you never get enough sleep the night before. But after living here and experiencing these tiyulim for almost two months, I definitely have picked up a few tricks.

Israel has some very special moments but the only one that really feels like won’t happen in America is the yeshiva during Simchat Torah.

This past week has officially marked 2 months in The Holy Land! Time flies so quickly here, I can’t believe it has been that long already. For this week’s blog, we were asked to write about a tiyul that was very meaningful to us. I chose our first trip to Jerusalem. Although it was at the very beginning of our time here, it has stayed with me the most out of any of our tiyulim.

My favorite tiyul has to be yam le yam. The challenge the four day hike presented really showed me who I was and if I really put my mind to something I can do it with relative ease.

For this blog post I was asked to explain a Tiyul that was meaningful and special for me. I have decided that this Tiyul was Yam le Yam or Sea to Sea. This Tiyul was by far the most, fun, memorable, and intense one that we have had so far.

One of the most meaningful tiyulim I’ve been on was the first time that we went to Jerusalem, on September 4th and 5th. It was my first time ever seeing Jerusalem in person, and my first view of the city from afar took my breath away.

Before leaving for the Poland trip, my mom texted me and asked if I was excited. I replied with “not really. I get it’s going to be a good experience, but it’s a cold, and dark, and sad trip.” I expected a week full of tears and sorrow and sadness. I was totally wrong.

Before this trip, I never expected that I would go to Poland and see the horrors I saw. I always thought that my knowledge of the Shoah was enough, and that I could go through my life knowing these horrible experiences but never going too in-depth with them.

A trip to Poland is an extremely special opportunity for most American Jews. None of my family or friends have had the amazing opportunity to travel to Poland. Before I even left for Poland I felt that I had a responsibility going to such a meaningful country.

The thought of traveling to another country without your parents is crazy enough, but going to another country during that time is psychotic. Poland taught me so many more things than what I thought I knew.