Hey

Hey Everyone!

I think this is the longest I've gone without posting while still being at Tzuba. Sorry about that.  Stuff is starting to wind down a little bit but a lot has still happened. AP tests are starting and finals are soon so we can't have any more tiyulim.  

Yom Hazikaron started Tuesday night and ended Wednesday night. Yom Hazikaron in Israel has a different meaning than Memorial Day in America. Israel is constantly at war and everyone goes into the army so every family has some connection to someone who died in the army. Tzuba has two boys who died in the different wars. We went to the Tzuba tekes at the kibbutz cemetery. It was all in Hebrew and I didn't understand anything but I'm still very happy we all went. Tuesday night we went to the state tekes at the Kotel. We weren't guests of honor or anything. Everyone in the country can go. Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, and Gabbi Ashkenazi, the head of the military, spoke. My madrichah, Jomi, was translating. She did an alright job but we were all able to get the meaning of the speech. I also wasn't really able to see anyone speaking. It was really crowded and I was only able to see from people holding their cameras up and then looking into the cameras. But Yom Hazikaron was a very interesting day and I'm glad I was in Israel for it.

As soon as Yom Hazikaron ends Yom Haatzmuot starts. Its a very sudden transition but Yom Haatzmuot was a lot of fun. We were with another American high school for a bbq. It was an EIE vs. Alexander Mosk type deal where we played a bunch of sports. I played basketball and it was a ton of fun. I hadn't played basketball in a while and the kids on EIE aren't that bad. Only a couple people play basketball for their school and I used to play in middle school and for a bunch of teams. We won. We came back in the last couple minutes. It was a lot of fun. Then we also played soccer and volleyball against them. The best part of the whole outing was getting to grill. About 10 of us were grilling the whole time and we made so much food. We made hamburgers, chicken, and steak. There was enough food for two EIEs and afterwards we all got to take the leftovers back to our rooms. Shai, one of our madrichim, has a panini grill so we got some pita and anything we could find and took the leftover meat and made paninis in our roon. They were so good!  We only eat kibbutz food and fast food falafel so eating fresh cooked food was amazing.

The SATs were alright. We went into Jerusalem to take them Not much to say about them. I hope I did good. In Israel after high school everyone goes straight to the army and then takes time off and then goes to college in their late twenties. It has its advantages and disadvantages. When people are older they know what they want to do and know more about themselves. Most kids in America have no clue what they want to study when they are 18. So by going into the army and then working or traveling, Israelis are more mature when they start college But in high school they don't work as hard because college is so far off. Its different but to me it makes more sense. 

School is starting to get harder. Finals, APs, and no more tiyulim. It kind of sucks. This week we had a 5 day week and people were freaking out. We haven't had a 5 day week since the second week of school and school here is killer. 8 3o to 1 15 in the morning. then 2 10 to 6. Thats about 9 hours of real school. No journalism or art or fake classes. They are all legit classes and 5 days of school is pretty hard here. I know it sounds kind of weird because back home, its 5 days every week but its true here. 5 days is hard. I'm only taking 2 APs so thats not too bad. I have a slanted view on what is a lot of APs because at TAG I saw sophomores taking 4 APs, juniors taking 8, and seniors taking 7. Not everyone but a lot of kids. So only two APs really isn't that much and when people complain about 2 its a little weird to me. 

We started the modern period in Jewish history, which means the State of Israel. There a lot to learn and I'm happy that I'm getting a class on it and can piece together all the knowledge I've accumulated about Israel.  We got our review sheet for the final and there was so much information! So much more than an AP class. Its cool to think that we've learned that much though. 

Were going to Tel Aviv in a couple hours. I am really excited because we haven't really spent very much time in Tel Aviv. Only tiyulim. Tel Aviv is a really cool, modern city. It should be a lot of fun.

Thats about all. I come home in about three weeks which sucks a lot but the summer is going to be a lot of fun. Got to stay positive. I got to go but hopefully I'll get to post soon. Bye!

Joey