do all children look this cute?

In Israel, instead of dressing up on Halloween, they have a holiday called Purim. Where the days leading up to the holiday, kids dress up, have carnivals, and eat hamentashen, which in Hebrew is actually called something else.

This past week I was lucky enough to be working at one of my kindergartens during one of the days leading up to Purim. Since I think my children are the cutest things ever, I took out my camera and shot way to many pictures, including videos.

Here are some videos of my dancing kids! (Apparently, it only allows me to add one!)

little kiddies

Some of the kiddies at the kindergarten.

i'm glad it wasn't me.

Yes. we know I lose things easily. And yes, I've been lucky enough to always find them afterward (even ifit’s just waiting for me on the side of the road). But I saw the saddest thing.

I was on my way to Tel Aviv to see a friend, and a backpacker got on the bus. He put his things down and went up to the driver to pay. As soon as he realized the prices had risensince New Years, he decided to walk instead.

Around 20 minutes later, someone sitting in the back of the bus found a random backpack. This bag was clearly the hiker’s, it looked rugged, had a scarf and a map hanging out, etc. But we're in Israel and when a bag is found, unattended, on a bus, people panic. It was horrible. Our driver quickly stopped and gave the bag to another bus heading towards the station.

I couldn't help but feel horrible for that guy. That bag probably had his camera, wallet, phone, etc. I never found out what happened to him or his bag, but I sure hope he got it back.

Unlike him, I had a great bus experience over in Jerusalem. See, Oranim had taken us on a day trip to the old city, and I had decided to stay in Jerusalem with a friend because Nancy and Norman were coming the next day.

So Friday morning I woke up and explored the streets of Jerusalem waiting for lunch time to see my family!

While I'll ramble about the Oranim trip later, the best part of Jerusalem was the bus ride.

I was on the bus going to the Shuk when a old woman got on. She took the seat next to me and we started talking. I couldn't help but gush about how pretty her flower was that she was holding. It was still in its tray to be planted, and was BEAUTIFUL. Remind you, this conversation was in Hebrew.

Well, it ended with her leaving the flower to me! I didn't know how to say "I wouldn't be home till much later, and it was worthless to give me this flower," so I took it. I walked around a good hour with it, before I passed it on to someone else. It almost felt fitting since it was Tu B’shevat.

I can't say if it was because of the holiday or not, but the old city was absolutely glowing all day. We walked around the shuk where people were singing and dancing.

There were these two religious man in the Yeshiva נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן, which basically is a group that goes around doing LCD. They believe that to be closest to g-d, they have to be out of their world. You can find them any day driving around town. When they get to a red light they stop, put their music really loud and get out and dance. But today it was just this man and his guitar and a fellow member dancing in the streets.

After I wondered the streets of the shuk, I had to head down to Ben Yehudah street to get a necklace fixed before meeting Nancy and Norman.

There was a street fair going on for the holiday and it was the most wonderful thing I have ever seen. Music playing every other block and all the people dressed as flowers walking around. I literally walked around for over an hour, making friends and taking pictures. It was beautiful.

I took so many images that my camera filled up. I kept on having to stop and delete old images just to be able to continue on. I even had some of the "trees" ask me for my card so I could e-mail them some of the images. Apparently they are a touring group out of Tel Aviv that goes and shares spirit.

But finally it was time to meet Nancy and Norman, which was great! I always love seeing family! It was only a short visit before they were off to a Bar Mitzvah and I was trucking back to Ramla.

Tu B’shevat is a wonderful holiday in Israel. Literally a made-up holiday that the government started to care for the environment. People all over plant trees. A couple days before our trip to Jerusalem Ramla held an event for people of the city to come and plant trees.

I really enjoyed being able to plant all these trees. I think this holiday should be a world-wide one, where every so often all cities plant trees. It would be the most amazing thing to help our environment.

But yes, I've been doing much more than just saving our environment over here in Israel. I've been having fun too!

Back in February I had my favorite night in Israel. There is a touring music group that goes around covering Beatles songs. Every so often they have an event called "Let it Beer," where Beatles music is played, and beer is given out free. It is times like this that I wish I drank beer, but I still had a lot of fun.

I also celebrated New Years over in Tel Aviv, which marks the fourth year not ringing in the New Year in Miami. It is funny to know that every year is really a different amount of time, depending on where I am and in which time zone.

Since Rosh Hashana is the real new years, it wasn't a very big event. But some American bars celebrated. Dan even bought us all roses! Such a gentleman!

But bringing in the New Years always makes me wonderwhat's next. And since I've been in Israel since October, I know you guys are wondering that too!

Well, here's a little insight of what else I'll be up to this year. I finally booked my ticket back to the States. I will leave Israel June 16th and spend a night in the New York before heading to Miami on the 17th.

Thanks to help from Elise, Julie, Sheri, Sara and my mother, I was able to receive a grant allowing me to stay till then! I am thrilled and forever thankful for them!

I'll be living in Ramla till then, finishing up the school year with the kids I've been working with! I really will miss them when I leave.

Other than that I will finally be making my first trip to Europe! We get two weeks off for Passover, and I have an extra week off during program changes so I will be flying to London the 20th of March, playing in Italy, Barcelona, and Paris before heading back to Israel on my birthday, April 10. Yes, I know it might be pretty bad celebrating my 24th birthday on a plane, but it had to be done. It was cheaper to fly out that day, andtherefore, no other options. And besides, this way I was able to convince my traveling buddies to celebrate my birthday in EuroDisney. (3 down in my attempt to visit everyDisney!)

I'll be spending the next month planning for the trip, so please, send over ideas! I'm super excited to go! Also, if anyone knows a place for me to stay in Venice, Rome and Paris, that would be great!

I would love to stay and ramble, but the sun is shinning and I have two more applications to finish.

Wish me luck, my next one is due March 1st...

And also, if anyone feels like they'd like to be nice.. Please save me a copy of the ESPN magazine Baseball preview. Or, feel great and send it over to Israel. Go Marlins!

apparently i'm funny?

Everywhere I go I end up on the floor, in some awkward pose, taking pictures. People keep on sending me pictures of me apparently looking like an idiot...

out by 7, back by 6.

I absolutely hate waking up and seeing that it is still dark out, especially when it is FREEZING in my house and the heat doesn't work. But once a month, we are forced to set our alarms early and be out of the house before the bus arrives.

Well, only once have we actually made it before the bus (and yes it was when the bus was extremely late) but mostly the bus is late anyway...

Besides our weekend trip to Eilat, and our future trip to the Golans, Oranim organizes 3 single-day trips exploring regions of Israel.

Back in December we spent the day up north in the Carmel. The bus picked us up around 7 and we made our way up north, but not before stopping in Tel Aviv to pick up another group.

Our first stop was a side of the road rest-stop so we could get breakfast. Since most of the places weren't open, and I was exhausted, I decided to splurge and waste some money on the horrible, yet expensive, coffee in Israel. (that literally is hot water and instant coffee, so if you are planning to come here, think ahead)

But apparently that was not in my cards. As soon as I got my coffee and was walking to the escalator to venture down, my day took its first bad turn. The coffee spilled. Yes, it was my fault.

Not thinking, and it still being extremely early, I placed my coffee down, on the escalator railing, not realizing it was moving. So my day started with huge burn marks on my foot (of course I was ignoring the cold and wearing sandals).

We then gathered back in the bus and headed to the beautiful Ramat Hanadiv Gardens in Zichron Ya'akov, where Baron Rothchild is buried.

The area was one of the most breathtaking scenes I have ever seen, filled with roses, white and red, bright green trees, and a beautiful view.

The grave was only a minor detail in the landscape that we saw.

We then ventured to the Carmel for a quick hike. Yes, quick, but extremely dangerous. The grounds were wet from the rain, and we were going straight up for a while. But of course, I was to busy taking photographs to realize I had about 30 near-death experiences. Even my failed attempt to pee in the wilderness was cut short due to the fact I almost fell of the cliff.

After the group made it up to the buses, after 4 or 5 breaks along the way because the front was going way to fast and us in the back simply could not catch up. We rested and had our packed lunches, before piling back in the bus to head to the famous Bahai Gardens.

Though we weren't allowed to go through the actual gates I decided instantly that I wanted to live there. It was stunning. It reminded me of something my grandfather would put together.

A kid on my program had told me he once had gotten a close view of the area and I promised my self that one day I would return, being sure I was allowed to see the gardens for everything that it had to offer.

I loved it so much that I kept on getting yelled at by the guards for stepping on stones and railings to take more pictures. Eventually I think I got asked to leave, but I was to involved in my surroundings to listen.

We finally ended our trip with a stop at the Druze Village Daliyat El Carmel exploring the local market. As the bus was winding through the hills of Haifa, I noticed the most amazing thing I have yet to see in Israel. A Dunkin Donuts. To this day I am not sure if that is exactly what I saw, but it still was the best part of my day.

I loved walking around the market street, and purchased myself a great pair of pants! While most of the Israel high-end fashion reminds me of things I could purchase in the states at Forever 21, Wet Seal and Charolette Russe, some of the fashion I absolutely love. I could spend the day at any market place and purchase an entire wardrobe.

So far I'e bought about 4 pairs of pants, a great sweatshirt, and a couple other things for less then $100 American Dollars. What is also great about it is I can attempt to lower the prices, though I mostly get scared and don't. Alisabeth even uses $2 dollars bills to lower her prices.

Since my style, if we can call it that, consists of anything I like, most of my friends do not like spending time shopping with me, which is great because I do hate shopping. So by the time I had purchased my red striped fold over pants, all my friends were sitting and eating next door.

Our day was coming to an end and I was ready to go home. Apparently I never realized I got car sick because, growing up in Miami, I had never driven on hills and mountains. Now, 10 minutes on a bus through a hill and I'm dead.

A month later we were up early again to venture to Yizrael Valley. This time,the trip

was optional, but my group decided it was free, so why not go!

We started our journey at Kfar Yehoshua, a tourist area with a fake train in place of where the trains used to go. But this was all after our bus driver got lost and literally circled a round-a-bout 3 times.

After being kids and playing on fake, unsteady train we sat and had our lessons. I should have mentioned before that the point of each of our trips is to learn about Israel. So on every trip we have a guide, and at every stop we receive a lesson. But I was to busy taking pictures of the railroads. After all, I have NEVER been on a train before, let alone seen a road!

After the short stop we headed the Alexander Zaid Statue, which made me want to break out and sang the hills are alive with the sound of music. I mean, look at that view, how could you not think that Julie Andrews was about to appear running through them!

At this stop we learned about this Alexander guy, I assume. I was again to busy taking pictures. I don't think I sat once during the entire lecture. Even though the sun was shining directly

towards us, I still couldn't help snap away.

Did I mention the walk from where the bus dropped us off to where the statue rested was the hardest walk of my life. I may not be in the best of shape, but I never thought what I'd be doing in Israel would be the start of the end for me.

We weren't told that we would be hiking, so I stayed in my sandals. Little did I know that we would be walking up the steeping hill I had ever seen. Clearly within ten minutes I was the only one around, as everyone was way ahead of me, some even at the top. Finally as I got near I could hear some of my group asking where I was! Silly them, they should have known that even though I am no longer a cig smoker, I still have the lungs of one. I'm pretty sure that was one of the hardest climbs I have ever done.

After the lesson, Erica, Kerry and I decided to get a head start and began to walk

back to the bus. That's when we saw these beautiful flowers! By the time I got back to the bus, (yes everyone was already there, even though I left way before -- Hey, going down hill is hard too!), the tour guide informed me the flowers were endangered, and I would have to hide the ones that were picked for me. And since I have no idea how to press flowers, they now just lay in my book, dead looking. (SO PLEASE, ANYONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO PRESS FLOWERS, PLEASE TELL ME!)

The rest of the day I am not sure exactly where we went. We ended up at some overlook, the Barkan Mountain, I think. The guide was not to smart here, after all, how did she expect us to pay attention when there was a group of soldiers practicing drills.

I started talking to one, an American from California who had made Alliyah a little bit ago. They were the paratroopers and they were practicing how to carry an injured solider to base.

We got to climb this tower that looked over the entire Yizrael Valley and eastern Galilee, and I happened to look down at the very exact moment to take this picture. I wish I could have taken more, but they broke from the huddle as soon as I snapped my first short. But still, I love the way the greens mesh. I ended up getting my soldiers address promising that I would send some of these pictures to his base on a kibbutz.

Then we took a short walk down to a resting area, where we learned about these pools of water used for fish? I'm not exactly sure, but I do slightly remember her telling us that they were used for fish. Something about selling them or raising them for pets? I really should figure out more about that...

After we learned, and managed to see our bus driving below within the fields, we walked down to the actual ponds! I have in my notes that we ended up Yitspor Stream/Tel Izrael, the summer palace of the kings of Israel.

But basically it was a stream hidden under the trees, with a rock pathway leading to a gazebo. Some of the kids were even adventurous to walk "over water" to them. But not smart enough to realized only one person on a rock at a time. Pour Flappy, a friend in another group, got pushed and almost fell in! The water got up to his knees, and his shoes were completely soaked!

Our last day trip took us to the old city of Jerusalem. Since the holiday of Tu-b-shvat is this coming weekend, we started our trip in Peace Valley, where in groups of two we planted trees.

Corey and I picked the biggest tree to plant so that it would already be the tallest! But after we were done I noticed that there were so many trees unplanted, so I asked if I could plant more. I ended up planting 3! Not knowing that more people were coming later to plant, but I figure that there could never be more trees planted than needed! So I tried to plant 4, but got yelled at.

We then took a one-minute bus ride to Armon HaNatziv view point, a palace from the British mandate period. We had another lesson here, but I was to busy staring at the Wall and eating my Blowpop lollipop, just like the ones from the States! (American candy is hard to find here, and when we do, it just isn't the same!)

After we were done exploring and taking pictures we headed to the old city. First we had lunch in the Jewish Quarter, but of course, I became lost in the world of my camera. Eventually I realized I was nowhere near my group and had to call Nir to find out where everyone was eating lunch.

When we were done eating we walked to the City of David, where of course on the way I became lost. Lucky another Oranim tour group saw me and lead me to the right place, but not before Nir called frantically looking for me! He should really know by now I'm using lost in my own world.

The City of David was really cool. We got to walk through this underground pathway, with water at some points up to my hips! Luckily we had flashlights because otherwise we would have been completely stuck. Not everyone did it, but I had a great time and would totally do it again!

The hardest part of it all was after we got out and had to walk back up to the group. It was a hill straight up, and again I found myself far behind the rest of the group. Now that I think of it, I should probably start working out more!

We then went to the Wall and finished our day. Since I was meeting Norman and Nancy on Friday in Jerusalem I stayed the night at a friends family apartment. Corey and I left the group and wondered to Ben Yehudah street so I could stop at a store to fix a necklace I had bought on a previous Jerusalem trip.

Since I had gone to bed the night before at 2 watching movies with the roommates and had to be up by 6, I was exhausted. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep on the bus to the apartment, and was in bed sleeping by 9.

That is the thing with all the day trips, they are great and all, but are action filled and by the end everyone is exhausted. There is always a difference from the earlier bus rides to the very last one.

By the end no-one is talking, or even moving, they all just lay motionless, body aching from the day, as I sit and think about what to ramble about next. (don't worry, my list of topics is still growing)

life in the getz

Have you ever noticed the 4 letters on the dreidel?

נ. ג. ה. ש .It stands for נס גדול היה שם, which translates to "a great miracle happened there." Well, in Israel the dreidel is different. The ש changes to פ for the word פה, which means here. So instead of it being a great miracle happened there, it is a great miracle happened here, but here is Israel, where we are.

So yes, though over a month late, this will be a Hanukkah blog.

We were lucky enough to be given the week off to celebrate the holidays. We had 10 days to do whatever we wanted, with nowhere to be.

Allisabeth spent the week backpacking with her boyfriend down south. Dan, Nicole and Lindsay rented a car and joined Ron up north at his family. And Jackie, Erica, Taylor and I thought long about what we should do.

We could wait last-minute and search cheap deals to places like Greece and Turkey? But we didn't want to take any chance, and we certainly knew that we weren't about to spend our vacation wasting in Ramla.

So we decided to take note from the rest of the group and rent a car. Leaving Ramla on a Sunday we would grab our car up in Tel-Aviv and spend the next four days traveling the country. Sounds great, I mean what could go wrong? It's not like we would be forced to pull over on the side of the road for the cows to pass by.

Sunday comes around and Jackie and I wake up early, the first of many days where we would be rising before 7. We wake up Taylor and Erica, making sure they would be ready when we returned, and headed to Tel-Aviv.

Our first taxi almost crashes and we're stuck with headaches for the next hour from all the beeping and Israeli cussing.

And then we finally see the big BUDGET sign and rent our little getz.

Now the problem is that none of us have ever driven in Israel. So of course I was not the one to be the main driver. (I mean, you guys mostly know how horrible of a driver I am!) But this also means I am stuck reading the map, and navigating where to go.

That should have been our first sign. But we went on. After 3 u-turns and missing our exit on the highway we were finally back in Ramla. We picked up the rest of the girls, packing up the car, and headed up north.

We spent the first day exploring Ceasareas. A small town on the west of the state, about a 2 hour drive from Ramla. A small city that Herod the Great dedicated to Ceasar more than 2000 years ago.

It was a windy day with a beautiful sky. The scene alone was more than enough to forget about the water hitting us from the massive waves or the fact we could barely walk due to the wind. But it was amazing. We spent over 3 hours touring the area, walking in and out of the ruins, climbing the steps of the old theatre, and attempting to get into the gift shop (though it was closed by the time we got there).

The only thing that bothered me was the fact that a lot of it had been "fixed." I understand that it is an amazing place and a land that should never be empty, but really? What is the point of adventuring through an ancient city when it really isn't as ancient as it should be? The theater had bars on it to hold people up, some of the passages were filled with wood chips to keep them up, and everywhere you looked something was new, just trying to improve the old.

How does that make sense? If it is a ancient landmark, let it be ancient. Don't make it into a tourist attraction, that is not what it was meant to be.

Since most things in Israel close around 4, we still had the later half of the afternoon to fill our time. We drove to Haifa where we were planning on finding a hostel and spending the night. But after figuring out the numbers and talking it over, we realized it would make more sense to drive back to Ramla and start again early on Monday.

Monday we were planning to explore Akko and Rosh Hanikra, and we had found the most adorable Tzimmer, called Pivko Village, to spend the night. Tuesday we would spend the morning exploring Tsfat and in the evening head over to the Tiberius Hot Springs, all before setting up camp in an Israeli National Forest. Wednesday we thought to hike some more and spend another night relaxing at a camp ground before heading home Thursday morning after a quick ATV ride around the Golan Heights.

Monday worked fine. After finally arriving in Akko and finding the sacred area we spent the day sight-seeing. I quickly fell in love with the old Akko prison. Besides the fact I could spend all day taking photographs, it was just simple amazing. Something about the feel of the place, with the dark clouds racing above and the coldness to the air made it really feel like a prison.

I quickly lost the rest of the girls and started to explore. Since we were rushed for time I never made it down to the cells, but did explore the sleeping quarters, the guillotine room, and the check-in areas.

Some of the rooms had been turned into Museum areas, displaying information about the old prison, and some were filled with statues of what used to be. My favorite room was the most creepiest, a squeaky-dark room filled with no windows and tons of dust. I actually hated that I had to leave.

We then roamed the quarters to the Mosque. With our shoulders covered and shoes o

ff we sat in the "viewing" area, made for non-Muslims, and watched. About 20 minutes later I realized I was the only one left and turned around to leave. But I could have stayed forever. The place was a photographer's heaven. The way the natural light lit up the room and the symmetry off the designs. I left the entire area of Akko knowing I would be returning soon.

We then were off the Rosh Hanikra, an area I loved seeing last time I was here. Unfortunately, the weather was stormy and most of the areas were closed off. I even managed to slip once or twice, but not before making friends with the fisherman attempting to catch some food!

We spent the afternoon relaxing in our cabin, sitting in the hot tub and enjoying a real bed.

Because of the weather our plans had to change. The mountains we were planning to hi

ke and camp out were closed due to the weather, and we simply couldn't afford a hostel after splurging on our perfect bungalow, so after spending the day at Tsfat we would be forced to head back to Ramla.

Tsfat was great, cute, and amazing. We walked around all over and I fell in love. At one point of the day I lost my hat only to return later to find it. I really should stop losing things, but lucky for me, somehow they manage getting back to me.

After we left Tsfat we headed to Tiberius to enjoy a night swim in the hot-springs. The water smelled and of course with my luck I ended up leaving my Florida I.D at the place. Seriously, why do I carry things?

Tuesday night we were back sleeping in Ramla and Wednesday woke up early to head to the Dead Sea area. Taylor decided to stay in Ramla, so Jackie, Erica and I heading the long route (since we were told not to drive through the westbank) and hiked the beautiful mountain of Ein Gedi, which was amazing place to watch people of all ages hiking. Kids as little as a recent new born was being held by the parents as they hiked away, and a group of 4 70-80 year olds (we asked) were climbing faster than we were!

We hiked for almost 5 hours, seeing beautiful views along the way. What was wonderful is how by looking at the view you could see the hills of Jordan resting by the Dead Sea area.

At the end of it all we headed to the Dead Sea and soaked up the mud! Unfortunately it was freezing, and of course with our luck, beginning to rain in the desert, so I barely managed to stay in for more than 10 minutes before I ran for cover.

By Wednesday night everyone was exhausted. Still having the car for one more day we decided to take advantage of it and go to the grocery store, allowing us to get everything we needed, without having to carry a thing!

Thursday Erica and Jackie decided they wanted to see a movie, so I convinced Corey to spend the day exploring with me. We dropped them off in Rehovot and headed to Beit-Shemesh to see the Sorek Caves, which though the tour was in Hebrew, we still got to feel like we were living in the underworld palace from Little Mermaid. I even attempted to steal some of the droppings, but it was impossible.

By Thursday night I was back in Ramla and exhausted. I think I spent the following weekend sleeping and refusing to get out of bed.

I had such a great time that for my birthday in April I want to go all over again, using the hot weather as a plus and exploring camp sites all over! But don't get to excited, at my rate that blog won't be rambled about till July...

I want to end this Ramble on two words: thanks Emily.

Without my sister and her great idea of buying me a traveling/exploring Israel book, this trip would have been a mess. All of us are extremely thankful for it and it officially looks like it has survived the Titanic.