Sorry friends, I know it's been a while! That just means I've been having an amazing time and haven't had time to write!

I left off during the conflict. I only want to touch on that briefly because this is a happy post! The conflict ended with a ceasefire after 8 days and since then Israel has been very quiet. I am so glad it ended and that everything has calmed down and gone back to normal. It will be interesting to see what happens during elections (January 22nd). I will have to get back to you on that.

December 8th marked the first night of Chanukah. It was nice because a bunch of us got together in one room to light the candles. The following night our Madricha and her family hosted a Chanukah party for us. It was a wonderful night with a ton of food and good company. We had about 5 days off for Chanukah so I spent the time relaxing and enjoying the break. I went to Tel Aviv for a day with Naomi, which was wonderful. I had to go to the Ministry of the Interior again to try to work on my Visa issues so we did that first. After we went to lunch in the mall across the street before roaming the streets of Tel Aviv. We made our way to One Voice - an organization that supports a two state solution. Naomi was involved with the organization in the U.S. so she wanted to meet with them here. It was really interesting to talk with them and find out what they do here and what they stand for. I had not heard of the organization before Naomi told me about it, so I definitely learned a lot. After we left, we decided to aimlessly roam the streets of Tel Aviv. It was so nice to have no agenda and no care in the world. We went into shops and just explored around the area. Eventually we made our way back to the bus station and back home to Netanya.

The following weekend we had another seminar with the other Israel Pathways programs. We started off the weekend in Alon where we had a drama session and a tour. Alon is where Mimi lives. She is one of the head people of MASA and had us over at her house in the Moshav (community almost like a Kibbutz). It was an absolutely beautiful area with stunning views. Since it was still Chanukah, we lit candles and then headed to Ein Gedi. We spent the rest of the night in the hostel eating dinner and at an activity. The following day we had breakfast and then left for Mount Masada. Most of us have been there at least once before but it is always a special place that is nice to come back to. It was nice up at the top even if it was a bit cloudy and gloomy out. After Masada we went to the Ein Gedi Spa with salt baths and a walking path to the Dead Sea. It was the perfect amount of time to just relax a bit. These seminars are generally jam packed with activities so I was grateful for the rest period. We then headed back to the hostel to prepare for Shabbat. We had the typical Kabbalat Shabbat that we normally have on seminars including lighting candles and the Dvar Torah. After Shabbat we had free time to just enjoy each other's company. On Shabbat (Saturday) we started our day with an optional hike. It was a really nice hike with perfect weather. We came back to lunch and then had a lecture. The rest of the day consisted of another activity, dinner, and group discussion/reflection. We then headed back home at the end of the evening. I liked this seminar the best so far because I had more time to mingle with people in the other groups. I really got to meet a lot of nice people who I have already spent more time with.