I know I said it would be my last post for a bit, but I just did quite a few things that I thought I would quickly share.

Last Friday was the Jerusalem marathon! As I had previously said, I was running for One Family and I’m glad to say I ended up raising $750- my goal! The night before the race, we had a Pasta Party with the team and the organization. They had different terrorist attack survivors speak to us about their story and how One Family helped them. After hearing all their stories, I was even more proud to be running for their organization.

The day of the race was amazing! Many busses weren’t running, but there was a shuttle leaving from a location close to my dorm and taking people to the race. My friends and I got up early and headed to the shuttle. When we arrived at the race there were thousands of people, and so many tents for different organizations. We found the One Family tent put down our stuff and headed to the start line.

During the race every time we saw someone from one family my friends and I cheered. Many of us were dressed in tutus and bright colors so we would stand out during the race. It was just a great experience. The run went all through Jerusalem, including the old city. Running through the old city was definitely my favorite part; it was just so beautiful. I did miss the Pajama party on the street before Budweiser from the Saint Louis marathon, but overall it was just an amazing experience. For many organizations if you raise enough money they will fly you out for the race, my goal will be to do that next year!

This past week was also election week! Tuesday was Election Day so there was a ton of traffic, as it is basically a national holdiay. Just like the American elections, parties have been advertising all over, as well as every time you watch a YouTube video there is a campaign ad. The government system here is quite different. You vote for a party, and depending on how many votes the party gets decides how many seats they will get in the Kenneset. Many people take trips on Election Day because no one has work, so our school took us on a trip as well!

We went on a tour of The Atlit Detainee Camp. It was a detention camp established by the authorities of the British Mandate for Palestine at the end of the 1930s. Many of the detainees during the 1930s and 1940s were Jewish refugees from Nazi-controlled Europe. In the late 1940s, most were Holocaust survivors. The British authorities, acceding to Arab demands to limit Jewish immigration, refused to allow them to enter the country. It was really interesting to see, we learned a lot there.

After that we went to Zicron Yaakov. It was really beautiful, we just walked around the streets and it really reminded me of Saint Charles’s Main Street but with a drop more Hebrew. 

Today we went to a Maztah factory! A factory that makes the traditional unleavened bread for Passover. We got to participate and I had the job of putting the Matzah in the oven. It was really a lot of fun!