I went on a two-day Tiyul to the Golan (the North) and we did absolutely stunning hikes. The first day was went to Nachal Amud (Amud Valley) and hiked into the valley, climbed up and down stones and rocks through the beautiful greenery (it's the most lush at this time of the year). I tried to look up at the scenery as often as possible, but I had to look at my feet a lot to make sure I maintained coordination and didn't land wrong on a boulder. That would have somewhat spoiled vacation. We then went on a second "hike" (more of a meandering) to see a stunning view of the Kinneret and the surrounding area, and made a barbeque at the end in the freezing wind (although, admittedly, I ran back onto the bus as often as possible while waiting for my chicken to cook). We stayed at a hostel and were surprised to find MTV available in our rooms. We had a lot of fun making fun of the reality TV shows.
The next day we went on a well known hike called Jilaboon. It was another valley hike, except this one had waterfalls throughout. We ate lunch by one of the waterfalls and then trekked over pebbles and running water to the ruins of a flour-mill covered in vines and running water. We spent a couple of minutes sitting in silence, listening to the nature. It was beautiful. So much green, and clear water, purple and blue flowers, mountains in the distance. I loved it. On the way back to Yerushalayim we made a rest stop and broke open some fresh watermelon for a delicious, spring-fever snack.
My last Shabbat before vacation was a blast. Three of my friends from high school and I stayed (adult-less) at our friend's apartment (who's lived here without her family since Sophomore year). We came early and cooked all of the food for Shabbat, which we never get to do in our Midrasha facilities. We went to a musical Friday night davening, sat down to our fantastic homemade meal (including green soup, rice, stir-fry, and greek salad), sang, talked, read, and went to sleep. The weather was stunning. The next day we had lunch (rice, lasagna, pita, hummus, sweet salad) and then went to the park to read and talk and walk. We returned to nap for a bit before dinner (lasagna, rice, salad-of-leftovers, fruit salad) and once Shabbat was over, we cleaned up and bolted out the door to make a Saturday night showing of Alice in Wonderland 3D, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
Sunday morning I went for a run (still training for the half-marathon...I'm up to 7 miles!) and then had the pleasure of jamming at the piano with my friend, Sammy, who's going to Brandeis with me next year and is also a music lover. That was a lot of fun, I even tried my hand at improvising (we won't go into detail on that, though).
Sunday afternoon and Monday morning was a Holocaust Rememberance Day program. We heard from two survivors, both parents of teachers at the Midrasha, watched two documentaries about the stories of survivors, and then analyzed post-Holocaust art and the messages conveyed in them. Monday afternoon I had self-study time and then went out to dinner with my friend, Meira, and her mother (who's here from vacation).
Today, Tuesday, I had a fantastic day. I started with a run, in which I ended up running 5 miles straight without breaking to walk. I guess the training is working!! Then I had piano time at a community piano and, with sheet music I recently got, taught myself a new song from the movie Once. So simple, yet so pretty. Then, after lunch, I had drama class, which somewhat satisfied the itch to be acting a lot more than I have been, and then went to an old age home to volunteer by - you guessed it - singing and playing at the piano! It was great.
Besides all of this, I've been trying to plan out my summer, which is approaching quickly (coming home 9 weeks from yesterday!!) and filling up fast. But I'm excited to grasp every opportunity possible, something I think I got from my Poland trip. Tomorrow I start back in normal classes, so I better get an early night. Thanks for reading!
Gabriella
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