סוף-סוף

חברי,

Ulpan is over!!! We had our last day this past wednesday, unbelievable! Time really flies, I've almost been in Israel for 6 months, crazyness. Ithaca's graduation was a few weeks ago, all of my friends back at school are also moving on with their lives, and now is the real friendship test... who will keep in touch. I myself have been pretty guilty of not being the most proactive when it comes to this, and I'm trying to work on that now. I've been realizing lately the importance of keeping in touch with friends, and thanks to the internet there really are a lot of great ways to communicate across the little lake called the 'atlantic.'

So, I've most of my things are already packed up. This shabbat we're all staying in together, and then people are going off into the 'real' Israel. Up until now we've experienced the Ulpan stage of aliyah, and now starts the קליטה absorption stage. This is really exciting, even though this summer I will be with all american kids, I will still be living with an Israeli, and then afterwards I'll be going to the army. Klitah (absorption) takes a long time. It doesn't come overnight, and it doesn't come without a lot of effort. The army should prove to be the best thing for my klitah, although I'm sure it will be a challenging point in my life. 

I start my training with Young Judea this monday, it should be a lot of fun! The national hebrew test is at the end of June, and I also will have about a week off hopefully to travel (Ireland if I can find a decently priced ticket). So, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering about the army, so I'll give you the little bit of the update that I can.

Due to the fact that I have only been living in Israel for 5 months and don't have any immediate family that live here, or were in the IDF, it makes my security clearance next to nothing. Therefore, they were unable to find a job for me doing chemistry. This means that I will only be doing two years instead of four, but this also means that I will be doing something more directly army related. I would really like to be in the navy, but it can be hard to get into. In Israel there is something called "protect-zia" which best translates to nepotism. Basically, it's all about who you know... and I know crackle! (For the mitch hedburg fans out there...) Anyway, we'll see. I would like to come back to visit the states in august, but there is a chance they will change my enlistment date to something sooner, so we'll have to see... I'll keep you updated on this!

Anyway, this summer should be a blast. I'm starting to look for Kibbutzim to live on while I'm in the army, I've heard of a few down south that I may look into. I hope everyone is well and I strongly urge you to keep in touch, now that there's more time while the summer is here. 

Here is my contact info just in case you don't have it!

Email: Jon.hershenson@Gmail.com

Skype: Jon.hershenson

Aim: Shoreline Wound

Cell (Israel): 052.618.6513

Cell (Like calling in the states, but routes to my cell in Israel): 1-718-554-5252 

Don't forget about Facebook! Be well my friends!!!

Yours,

-יחיאל