Blogs

Bus 155... It's good to be alive!
My name is Dan Glassman and I will be meeting everyone at Newark Airport on Wednesday 22, to begin the fantastic experience that is Shorashim Birthright!

Hi it's Brian and Hila, we are your trip leaders! We work at UIUC Hillel as the program director and the Israel Fellow.

Brian: I'm from Cleveland, Ohio and received a degree in American History in 2010 from The Ohio State University. After college, I served as the Director of Engagement at Ohio State Hillel. I moved to Champaign, Illinois last July to be the Program Director at Illini Hillel. I can't wait to meet all of you, and I'm excited to share my Israel experience and help you get to know how amazing Israel is.

My name is Matan Korrub and along with Amy Berger I will be staffing the Shorashim Bus 149 trip to Israel from May 20 - May 31. I cannot begin to explain how excited I am for this trip, and how much I am looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing the country. A little bit about myself-

Hey Bus 150!

Shalom! Hello participants, families and friends of Bus 160! My name is Aimee Weiss, one of the American staff members for Bus 160. After staffing seven Birthright Israel trips and a dozen other business and personal trips to Israel, I always get jazzed to experience Israel anew.

Hello Everyone,

my name is Nir Friedman, and I'm one of the American staff for Bus 156 for this summer Birthright Shorashim trip. During the trip this blog will be used to provide updates on what's happening; today I'm just writing to tell you all a bit about myself.

I was born in Israel, but grew up in Canada, and I'm fluent in Hebrew and English. I've been living in Urbana-Champaign for the last 6 years, doing a PhD in physics, which I just completed. I'll be moving to New York City shortly to start a job there.

To the surprise of all, we successfully awoke at 4:15am with minimal grumbling and no stragglers from our small beds in the Ein Gedi Field School (a school for environmental conservation/appreciation, where the previous night two 15 year old Israelis told me they'd been to Las Vegas and that consequently America was better [they also said Kobe Bryant was better than Derrick Rose, so their judgment is dubious]), and we made our way past the ibexes, down to the bus, and drove a dark road to Mount Masada. We would ascend the mountain, watch the sunrise and be enlightened.

We woke up early from our group slumber in the tapestried Bedouin tent. Despite fears about the desert cold and sleeping on the ground, I think most of us could agree that it was one of our best nights of sleep since we arrived in Israel --all 46 of us in a single tent. It is clear that Bus 291 can sleep comfortably knowing we are in close quarters with one another.

Tuesday, January 22nd marked the half-way point of our experience in Israel. It marked a more significant day for Israelis: the country's national elections were held. Whereas many Americans need to hustle to voting centers before or after work on election days, Israelis get the entire day off. With only 7+ million citizens, a proportionally-representative legislative system, and the lack of a preposterous electoral college, each Israeli vote can be quite significant.

The Handsome and organized birthright crew of bus 291 arose to a lovely Tel Aviv morning. In proper form we wound down the Sea Net hotel stairs to devour the standard birthright breakfast; an option of 3 styles of egg, 2 off brand cereals, a bread, and powdered coffee. there may also have been some square cut fish. This miracle combination of foodstuffs, specifically designed for Birthrighters, would give us all the energy we needed to get through the day. It was delicious! Breakfast finished, we loaded the bus and traveled to our first destination of the day, Rabin Square.