Our efforts to support victims of domestic violence continues to make a real difference. For anyone looking for public ways to show support in the fight against domestic violence, there are two statewide events coming up that you might be interested in. 1) White Ribbon Day in Massachusetts. White Ribbon Day is the statewide call to men and boys to be allies in the work to end violence against women. In truth, there are usually events scheduled across the state throughout Marc

We started the last day with a beautiful hike on the beach. We all sat near the water, talking and laughing about all of the fun times we had on the trip. Some even went into the water to cool off after lying in the burning sun. After the gorgeous beach weather we all went to the mall to have a quick bite to eat. The meal included some classic Israeli delicacies. All of the shops were closed due to Shabbat, so we all went home and quickly changed for the beach. Once we

Today was a very physically tiring day. We kicked off our day by exiting our hostel and moving on to climb Mount Arbel. We had a very easy way up to the top of the mountain but, the way down was much trickier. We had to maneuver our way around big rocks and boulders to make our way down to the bottom of the mountain. We then continued our journey into an Arab village where we enjoyed a delicious hummus lunch. From there we all went back to our wonderful host families, and pre

We woke up in our respective homes, where we ate breakfast. Then, we met up with Noam at Alliance before hopping on a large bus (with wifi!). We, along with all of the Israelis, drove to a place in Beit Lehem HaGlilit where we got on some bikes. We then took about a two hour bike ride, with periodic breaks and some people getting in the van halfway through and ended up at a beautiful stream. Then, after a short bus ride, we arrived at Kibbutz Harduf, where we fed calves and c

Today, we woke up relatively early to go to the Alliance school. We all met up in the room that we had originally met in yesterday. We then played a short lived version of the Amazing Race which essentially served as a tour of the school. We then played some Israeli-themed board games that consisted of learning about prominent Israeli figures/holidays/places. We then played a more extended version of the Amazing Race, in which the first destination was the highest point of Ha

We had yet another amazing, jam-packed day here in Israel. We kicked off the day off the day with an exciting hot air balloon ride. The hot air balloon beautifully overlooked the city and landscape of Tel Aviv. We were given a real perspective on how large the city is. We then continued our journey up to a poor Arab village called Jisr Az-Zarqa. We were given a wonderfully guided tour by a woman by the name of Genevieve. Genevieve is a Jewish French woman who made aliyah thr

We started the day with a rushed Israeli continental breakfast and then continued our journey to south Tel Aviv. We were greeted by an Israeli who would take us on a tour of the graffiti in the neighborhood. After some quick introductions, we learned he grew up in Newton and attended Newton North High School. It really is a small world! After the tour, we drove to the Carmel market, where we had lunch and shopped for a while. We then walked to the Israeli Independence Hall

Today had an impact on each and everyone of us, and made us all realize what it was like to be truly changed from what we usually know. We started off the day by waking up and taking a quick coffee run to Aroma of course. We then packed up all of our stuff from the hotel rooms and got onto the bus to start our influential and mind opening day. We then went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem. Noam took us through the museum and carefully explaine

Today we woke up in our new hotel in Jerusalem. This hotel was basically an Israeli Marriott. We started the morning off strong with one of my favorite things in the world - continental breakfast consisting of various breads and spreads. From the hotel we hopped in the van and headed over to Mount Olive which is an unbelievable view of the entire city of Jerusalem. It is also where some Jews believe that the Messiah will see Mount Olive first when he enters Israel. From Mount

Today we woke up and finished packing our bags. At 7:30, we were treated to a breakfast of bread, veggies, and make your omelettes (which I personally didn't like). The farm people took our bags down and we were on our way. Soon after, we were off to Bedouin Disney where we rode on the backs of camels, 2 people per camel. The ride led us to a spectacular view at the top (and a little bit of pain). After a quick coffee stop, we left the Negev and entered the Judea desert (not