מתנדבת

Sorry for the delay in posts, but it has been hard to find time to sit and write since my days consist of going to the beach, napping, eating, rummaging through the shuk, and the occasional night out (and lazy morning after). Living so close to the beach has been quite the perk. In a strange way, believe it or not, the beach reminds me of Fenway. As you lie there trying to fall asleep to the somewhat melodic noise from beach paddle ball, it's hard to ignore the people walking by trying to sell food. (Ang- we need to perfect our game before trying to compete with the Israelis). I have been tempted to buy the ice cream more than once, but so far I have resisted the 5 sheckel banana chocolate delicacy. But I'm sad to say that my beach days may now be restricted to Friday and Saturday- the Israeli weekend, I still haven't gotten used to starting the "work" week on Sundays. Despite the decrease in beach time, I am excited to start volunteering. I don't think 20 hours a week can compare to the 45 I was putting in last year. 

Picture courtesy of Sara. 

For the next 9 months I will be volunteering at three places. On Sunday mornings, my friend Sara and I will walk the whole 5 minutes from our house to the Multipurpose Day Care Center. We went yesterday to introduce ourselves to the staff and found ourselves 2 hours later sitting at a table with 6 toddlers eating soup and pasta. I must say I am very impressed by their ability to get most of the food into their mouths. Sara and I were a little surprised that we weren't given bibs (I'm sure pretty sure I left with some soup on my shirt. Not sure if it was my fault or one of the kids...). After 3 hours of getting balls thrown at my head, playing telephone, and trying to put together a puzzle, we learned that there are some crucial phrases that we need to learn in Hebrew. It is hard enough to understand kids in English, but now I will be trying to decode their Hebrew jibberish. Good thing they don't know how to read yet, because they asked me to read them a book and I pulled the terrible move of reading select words on the first page and immediately turning to the last page. The girl didn't really seem to mind because she was using the book more as an object to throw around.  I'm sure after volunteering here for the next nine months I will be a pro with kids, just in case anyone in the family is thinking about having a little baby, perhaps a little aaron or raquel? (hint, hint)  

On Sunday and Thursday nights, I will be teaching a beginner (abc level) English class to a group of African Refugees. This class is set up by the ARDC (African Refugee Development Center) and I will be teaching with this adorable 60-year old Israeli man named Avi, but unfortunately he is roaming the streets of Italy right now and has left me to teach the first weeks by myself. He did leave me with the encouraging words that he think I will do a great job. My students are mainly from Sudan, but I have a few from Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Colombia (not sure how the latter fits in yet). After calling all of my students to remind them of the class days and time, I realized I will be jumping into this sans training. My previous mentality of -well English is something I already know (somewhat well), how hard can this be?-got a little shake when I hung up after calling my last student. I do believe the phone added an extra obstacle to the communication level, but it did provide situations in which my broken Hebrew came in handy. My friend Marissa is also teaching an English class at ARDC and we took the opportunity to go to the delicious Aroma to order their addicting ice coffees; a necessary procedure in order to  formulate lesson plans. In less than 8 hours, I will be at the front of the class, speaking only English, to a group of people eager to learn, who may or may not understand anything that I'm saying. I have to say that good thing I have a lot of expression because that may save me, and don't worry dad, I will not mumble. 

On Wednesday and Thursdays I will be at Beit Bateva, which is an establishment that focuses on nature and natural living. Kindergarten classes from all over Tel Aviv take field trips to Beit Bateva to learn about plants, animals, and food, among other things. I know that little L 5 years old Lisa would have loved to take a field trip to Beit Bateva (and a 23 year old Lisa). I hope that I will be allowed to play with the chinchillas, rabbit, and guinea pig, but I think I might stay away from trying to pick up the the chicken. I am actually going to visit Beit Bateva in an hour to figure out the times I will be volunteering and the expectations. I really hope there is a kindergarten class there so I can join in on the fun. You are really never too old to play dress up or make a paper mache volcano. 

On Mondays and Tuesdays I will continue to have Ulpan and also discussions about Jewish identity and Israeli life and one Tuesday a month is set aside for a day tour. Now you guys can know what I am doing....most of the time. 


I finally put pictures up on my wall and I hate to break it to everyone, but Gertrude and Edward have the highest picture ratio. Really no surprise there. I mean who can resist looking at those precious faces? I will post pictures soon to give you guys a visual of what's going on.