March 20th was Shushan Purim in Jerusalem, which is a really incredible thing to witness. Israelis of all ages are decked out in spectacular costumes and Ben Yehuda St is alive with music, dancing and delicious smells of hamentaschen wafting everywhere. My Chavura group ran a peula during the day with a "Ghosts of Purim Past" theme for the rest of the Machzor group, which was a lot of fun. Later on, Machon took us to a Megilla reading for us at a local shul, then we gave out Mishloach Manot before having the rest of the night to ourselves to party it up! Of course, our first destination was the popular Machane Yehuda shuk, where a huge street party was being held! There was so much going on and Sarah, Sapeer and I had a really fun night.
Enjoying the Jerusalem Purim nightlife at the Shuk
My Chavura group all dressed up for our peula
The week after Purim, we packed our hiking bags for Southern Tiyul! This was the first of two week-long excursions where we get to leave Jerusalem and explore the beauty of Israel. We enjoyed a wonderful week in the South, travelling down from Jerusalem and visiting some truly amazing places such as Sderot, a Bedouin village and Ein Ovdat. We learnt about the disengagement, the lives of civilians living in towns that have to deal with missiles and bombs regularly and even saw the Gaza Strip from a viewpoint just out of Sderot. Our final destination was the stunning tourist town of Eilat, where we had the luxury of a night in a hotel and the freedom to explore the beautiful seaside city. Sapeer's Chavura group organized the entire trip, and did a fantastic job of both co-ordinating activities and transportation for us all as well as running fun peulot throughout the week. Below are some snaps from the tiyul...
Soaking up the hot Israeli sun
One of the many long bus trips!
Riding camels at the Bedouin village
Preparing for an exhilarating banana boating experience...
Paddleboating in the Red Sea
Celebrating the last night of Tiyul on a special party boat in Eilat!
So that was Southern Tiyul - a really incredible week away. For the last two weeks it's just been classes as normal, but we have started a new rotation of Judaism, Hadracha and Elective classes. Courses such as 'Streams of Judaism', 'Jewish Philosophy', 'Cultural Judaism', 'Psychology of Hadracha' and many others were made available for us to choose from, and we are all really happy with our new semester of classes. We have been learning so much on the Machon and every day is a new opportunity to fill our brains with more and more knowledge.
Another really interesting experience was May Day Seminar, which was held in preparation for the upcoming May Day. We travelled north to Shlomi, right on the Lebanon Border, and spent a weekend with both our fellow New Zealanders and Australians on Boneh as well as Habonim Dror England and North America. It was two days full of peulot about workers rights and the role that social activism and social justice, key aspects of Habonim ideology, can play in giving workers better pay and better conditions. Both the educational and social aspects of the weekend were extremely enjoyable, and we can't wait to join with worldwide Habonim again during the May Day rally!
So that's pretty much what we've been doing over the past month! It really has been a whirlwind. Luckily, Pesach Chofesh is only a week away! Over Chofesh, we get eight free days to leave Machon and go wherever we want in Israel. Sarah is travelling South to stay on Kibbutz Sde Boker, and she plans to do a lot of hiking and exploring this beautiful country by foot. Meanwhile, Sapeer's family are coming to visit so she will be staying with them in Tivon and Kfar Saba. I plan to join her for Seder night, then stay in Karmiel and later travel to the Kineret, where Sapeer and I will go camping. It should be a wonderful and relaxing week away - we can't wait!
Well, that's all for now. Please leave us comments - we love hearing from you guys! Keep in touch, and thanks for reading!
