Intensity

Life here is incredibly... intense. There's no other way to describe it. For the past two days I woke up ate and went to a three hour Jewish History class immediately followed by a two hour hebrew class. Let me tell you, three hours of history is hard. The subject, starting 2000 years ago, is extremely vigorous and difficult especially when I am surrounded by some of the smartest jewish teens I have ever met, and its pretty awesome. I find myself challenged and intrigued. On Sunday we are going to Tel Gezer, an ancient Canaanite civilization. I have no idea what to expect but nevertheless I'm very excited. Hebrew... Well, given that I have a very rudimentary hebrew basis, getting put in level 2 was a shock to say the least. I'm with kids that have been taking Hebrew for years and are almost fluent. While I sit in my seat looking at the board, so overwhelmed I can't even think straight. But if I try and if I study, I think I can make it. In the past two days I have taught myself Hebrew script writing and tried to learn about 40 different vocab words and their conjugations. By 1:00 it feels like I've had a whole day of school. But we mustn't forget about my core classes. In addition to my Jewish Studies and Hebrew, I take 5 other classes Every Day. I don't finish school until 7:15. That's right, my school day is 11 hours long. Intense. With that much work, it's not surprising that I am exhausted. Completely wiped. So, it's very comforting to know that Shabbat rolls in tomorrow. And Shabbat equals no classes! Tomorrow we are going on our first tiyul (field trip). We're going on an archaeology dig. It will be nice to get off the kibbutz and see more of Israel. On a different note, it's my best friend's birthday today. Her name is Emily but I call her Bunni. We have been going to URJ Camp Eisner together for the past 5 years and she is on the program with me. In case you're interested in checking out her blog, click here. Dig tomorrow, Jerusalem Saturday, Tel Gezer Sunday. I have quite a busy weekend ahead of me!

I'm Here!

Two days in, and it all still does't feel real. Kibbutz Tzuba is beautiful. I wake up every morning to arguably the most amazing view I've ever seen. The people I'm meeting are awesome and I'm so excited to get to know all of them better over the next four months. The jet lag sucks and the minimal sleep we get doesn't help, but everything is going really well. On Friday I'm going on an archeological dig and on Saturday I'm going to Jerusalem for the first time. I'm so excited. Life is Good!

Shoes

100 pounds is not enough, especially for a boy with size 13 feet. When each shoe weighs 5 pounds on its own, it makes packing very difficult. So, if you see a kid with hiking boots tied to his backpack somewhere at JFK, it's probably me. With packing came a feeling that I can't possibly describe. Nervousness mixed with excitement all wrapped together in a bow of disbelief. Almost as if I were flying across the world tomorrow...

Anticipation

The current count is 4 days 16 hours 9 minutes and 10 seconds until I depart. Between finishing my midterms and packing, I haven't had time to sit down and really think about what I'm about to do. I'm about to leave my home, family and friends, go across the world with 70 kids I don't and spend four months living in a foreign country. I don't think a person is able to fully process that much insanity in one sitting. I know that I can't. I'm so fortunate and grateful to have such an amazing opportunity. I truly can't wait to start my adventure. So in the mean time lets hope that I can figure out how to fit my life into two 50 pound bags. See you in the Holy Land!

Hello

Hi, I'm Harper. I'm from Fairfield CT. For the next 4 months I will be living in Israel. On January 26th I will board a plane with around 60 other Jewish teens from all around the US and Canada. We will spend a whole semester living on Kibbutz Tzuba, 20 minutes outside of Jerusalem. We will take all of our regular classes, (history, math, English, etc.) as well as a Jewish History class and an  immersive Hebrew class. This program is called EIE and I can't wait for it to start. Join me here as I document my journey.