It has been 12 days since I flew back home from Israel. IT FEELS SO GOOD! I always appreciated HOME but now I have gained a new kind of appreciation for home.  It has been nice to come home, everyone is asking me questions and time for me to reflect on the entire trip.

It is safe to say that this trip will make the biggest impact on my teaching career so far. From spending quality time with my professor and talking about teaching techniques to dealing with some pretty  challenging students. I got the best opportunity to talk to an art teacher that is in the educational field currently. She was able to give me so many pointers for classroom management and art lessons. I took every word in and will definitely use it in my teaching career this year. Also the misbehaved students I dealt with set the bar really high for possible behaviors and I feel prepared for anything thrown my way now, literally and figuratively.

Although I was in a different country, kids will be kids regardless where I go. These kids just want our attention, love, and the opportunity to do more. Yes i struggled with their behavior because it was so different from kids in the U.S but put all that aside and they were similar in the fact that they wanted to learn and have fun at the same time. I also noticed that the classrooms where set up in the same way with the desk and the teacher in the front. Israeli kids are also very familiar with attention getters like hand claps and catchy noises. I was impressed to see the kids that did listen and the ones that also did not listen.

During my entire trip, I knew I was going to love my new experience but WOW being back at home, I really LOVED IT! As crazy as it sounds, I really miss Israeli and I miss English camp AND I kind of wouldn’t mind going back. 

Well this will be the end of my travel blog as I have been home for almost 3 weeks and I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. I R E A L L Y appreciate everyone that took time out of their busy lives to read my blog. I loved writing about my experience and I hope I will travel again to write about the next one. Shalom! Thank you Israel for an amazing first time leaving the country. Love, Alexandria C;

Shalom everyone! Sorry for not posting more blogs like I had anticipated. But I leave tomorrow and WOAH these 5 weeks were amazing. I have learned so much about Israel and its people, my patience was tested, I got to know myself a little better, I saw things that I would have never saw back in the states, I made new friends and most importantly I learned how I can improve as a teacher. I am so excited to be going home. I miss my whole family, my friends, my boyfriend. I especially miss my grandma. Thank god she is doing so much better now. I’m sure who ever is reading this already knows what has been happening. But thankfully she is at home, resisting rest, but at least she is back and I get to see her TOMORROW! 😀

Since this is my last day in Israel, I wanted to spend some time talking about my overall experience at Project Harmony and working as an Art teacher/Camp counselor to ESL students. This by far has been such a rewarding challenge for me. I wanted to fly back home numerous of times because of my own struggle of checking out when things get difficult. But I stuck it out and learned different techniques to help myself as a teacher and as a staff member. Project Harmony has created an amazing environment in that Jewish and Palestine children can come together and learn to coexistence. The challenge I faced the most is that English is their second or third or fourth language. It took me quite some time to realize that these kids acted out because of the language barrier and not knowing what is being said to you can be extremely frustrating. Also when I taught art, kids needed all aspects to be taught to them in order to feel comfortable with the task or lesson at hand. In addition to working with these two groups, I worked with people from all over the United States and from Switzerland PLUS everyone’s diverse upbringings and cultures. It is amazing how much I have gained from this whole experience in just 5 weeks. It’s safe to say that I have probably learned more in this study aboard course then I have in 3 other college courses in total.

One thing I have learned since I was little, but it really came into play when I traveled to Israel is that a smile means the same in any language. Whether it was smiling at the children so they knew my intentions or at a stranger that was dressed COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from me. Now I can’t say that I got smiles in return 50% of the time but hopefully people saw my smile and it threw them off or made them smile inside. I hope I left a good American impression and made a difference in at least one ESL student at camp.

Thank you again for everyone that supported me in coming on this trip. I can’t believe I did it and everything I learned.It was an emotional journey. A HUGE thank you to my Professor Jeanette Johns. We spent many hours, days, and weeks discussing teacher “stuff” hahaha She gave me so much confidence in my work, in myself, and has supported me 100% through this whole trip. It was amazing to see her work with the children and have her teach me all her secrets. Thank you again if you have reached the end of my blog for reading. Thank you for letting me vent throughout the summer. SHALOM and see y’all SOOON! LOVE ALEXANDRIA HAMRIC C;

Erev Tov! Good Evening beautiful people!

Today, 7/02, I had a successful day 2 of Summer/English Camp. BUT before I can tell you about my high, I need to tell you about my ultimate low.

Yesterday was one of the worst days I have ever experienced with kids and staff members. Everything that could have gone wrong, DID! Everything we got briefed on about possible situations, HAPPENED! It begin with chaos the moment we walked on to campus but that wasn’t the problem, I have dealt with chaos and big events. My dilemma was when the kids were not listening in our morning introduction. They were screaming, running around, and not respecting the counselors. In that moment I wanted to go hide and I figured no one would notice if I was gone. But I stayed and pushed through the embarrassment. The next dilemma was that ALL counselors were struggling with their kids or “bunk”. There were fights, chairs being thrown, nobody wanted to participate, nobody wanted to attempt to speak English, kids running away and trying to leave campus, and so on. Some of my co-counselors had a mini melt down and I stepped in to help them with their group. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into as these kids were already labeled as the worst behaved of the whole camp. It was terrible and that was when I then realized WHY AM I DOING THIS? Why not just take this college course back at home where I am surrounded by other adults in California. I am not even getting paid for these brats. As the day went on, the scheduling of things got worse and so did the kids. I thought as I was scolding a child, Is it so bad to book a flight back home tomorrow morning or never come back to finish my volunteer work? I was having an existential crisis...

Day 2! I was defeated but after debriefing with my roommates and a few of my co-counselors, I agreed that I needed to come back and see this through even if it meant I was going to pull my hair out and allow kids to run buck wild. OH MY! The kids had made a 360! Man, oh man, did they seem like a new group of kids. It was amazing! We got through everything we had planned and I actually got through my lesson plans for Art. My co-counselors were not having melt downs and less kids were running away or fighting. YAY! haha There was much more improvement today and I have HOPE for the rest of my summer in Project Harmony Israel.

As far as things I have learned that I think will help me in any situation but in my teaching job in particular is having the support from your staff in front of the kids is H U G G E E E E! Not undermining your partner is important as it shows you support each other and that person has as much authority as you do. Another thing I have learned when working with kids is sometimes you have good and bad days. It’s important to stand your ground with your rules and not show that you’re scared. Once you won’t budge they will start to learn your way and come around. I look forward to what I will continue to learn.

Todah! Thank you again for reading my blog as I enjoy writing about my experience and venting on here. I have 3 weeks left and I am sure missing home!!!!!! Good night. Love, Alexx ^.^

Shalom! So this jet lag is no joke! I landed Friday morning and I have not been able to get on any schedule. I either sleep only 2-4 hours or I oversleep and I’m out for 12 hours. It’s now Sunday, June 23rd 7:06 as I write this. My roommates and I are watching a movie in the living room, trying SO HARD to keep each other up because we have been sleepy since 2pm. We are hoping if we can stay up till 8ish then we can get On Jerusalem time.

Speaking of Jerusalem time, we had our first staff training for Project Harmony Israel at the Hand in Hand bilingual school for 5 hours. My first training was a success but MAN OH MAN talk about being overwhelmed with so much content about the conflict in the Middle East while simultaneously trying to build a team of 16 people from all over the world to help the youth through the summer program. Today was awesome and I would not have it any other way! I got to hear first hand from people who have been raised with this Palestine/Jewish hatred among one another. I have been taught to be vulnerable to the concept of community and background. I have met so many different amazing people from all over the world that give me hope for this world.

With this small group of 16 young adults, the admin of Project Harmony, & Hand in Hand, I feel like we can change the world little by little. There is so much HOPE and something so powerful in trying to do something on a smaller scale. It’s only been the first day and I already feel like I can go back home to Cali and make an effect of those around me to see how the Middle East conflict is something more then just the problem of the Middle East but a MAJOR problem that humans face in a social & cultural aspect. We all struggle with this in our own planets, continents, countries, states, cities, and neighborhoods.

One thing (if you reached the end of my blog) I would like my reader to walk away from this blog post is to remember when talking to anyone from a different social and cultural background, is to have E M P A T H Y. Listen to them! There is no right or wrong answer and sometimes people just need to be heard.

Thank you for reading! I will try to post some more things later when I’m not dead. Here is a fun picture (below) of a street sign.

YES! 2 days left!!! YUP in 42 hours I will be boarding my plane in LAX to Montreal. That flight will be 6 hours (not to bad) then I will fly from Montreal to Tel Aviv for 12 HOURS! This is going to be very interesting because it’s one of those planes that have 2 aisles and first class rooms, ROOMS in the front of the plane. Crazy! I will leave this Thursday, June 20th and arrive in Israel on June 21st.

These pictures I have posted below are from Project Harmony Israel. This is where I will be spending most of my time. We start our week on Sundays and end on Thursdays. We have Fridays and Saturdays off because of Shabbath. This is taken very serious as it is a day of rest. This nonprofit organization is bringing kids together for an English camp within a safe environment. “Project Harmony seeks to plant the seed of this long-term process: one that begins with children who, despite being born into a deeply divided society, are given the chance to imagine their community as one rooted in shared experience, intellectual freedom, and social awareness. This is our vision of peace.”

I am beyond thrilled to be a part of this and to be able to learn from the kids… They are always so truthful and innocent. I hope to learn from them.

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Anyways, I just wanted to let you guys know a little of the why I choose to go to Israel and of course it’s because I am going to be a part of Project Harmony Israel working with kids. I sooo excited and SO nervous! I WANT TO LEAVE ALREADY! But I’m going to miss my family and friends so much 😦 I love you all! ❤ I’ll be texting, calling, facetiming, what’s-upping, facebooking, instagraming, and snapchatting! Be ready! Love Alexx C;

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8 days left! It’s now safe to say my anxiousness has definitely kicked in a little more. I am more nervous about getting asked questions about my own faith and where I stand behind the war on religion in Israel.

I babysat the other night and the couple asked me what my plans were for the summer. I proceeded to tell them it will mostly be studying and working in Israel. Then I was bombarded with questions about my religion and knowledge of the history . I found out they are Jewish and visit Israel frequently. I instantly got intimidated and anxious about how to answer everything. I currently don’t follow any form of religion besides just trying to be a well rounded human being. What or how do I handle all of this when I get asked in Israel. I don’t want to have any conflict or spark any kind of disagreement.

On another note, I do hope this trip helps me a little more with understanding the history of religion and where I stand within my own faith without being attacked. I also expect to gain an insight through the children of Israel about the various kinds of cultures. I think that’s what I am most excited about… working with the kiddos! Well I have 8 days left and I am preparing on what lessons I will be teaching as well as learning Hebrew. Shalom is pretty much all I could remember 😛

I will like to end with a new quote I found (I know, kind of cheesy) :

LIFE IS A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION.” –RALPH WALDO EMERSON

This applies to learning, as well. The process of learning is more important than the often intangible result or “end goal.”

Thanks for reading (if you got to the end) and I hope you guys come back to read again soon. Love, Alexx C:

My countdown begins as I have 14 days left till I leave to Israel. I am so excited but feel like I should be more nervous for leaving the continent for my first time. Lets see how I feel when I have a week left. Anyways, welcome to my first blog! I hope you follow me through my adventure and let me call you at weird times of the day because I will be home sick. Love, Alexx C:

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton