Week one!

We’re about halfway into week two, and things are about to speed up! When I left you on Friday, we had been given free time for our weekend! Students spent this in a variety of ways – walking the trail to a nearby castle, hiking to the mall in Mevassaret, and taking a second look at the Old City and shopping in the Shuk. Shea Kirk, junior criminology and psychology student, said that her favorite activities of the weekend were “Going back to the Old City in a small group to do the Via Dolorosa, the Shuk, and a Catholic mass in the Holy Sepulcher.” Sunday evening was college crunch time where students prepared for the first day of classes on Monday.

Mark, Claudia, and Nick take the Jerusalem Light Rail to the Old City.

Monday and Tuesday students began their classes with Dr. Marc Gertz (Comparative Criminal Justice and Israeli Literature and Culture) and doctoral students Christi Falco (International Criminal Justice Systems) and Thomas Baker (International Terrorism). Paul Liptz, Tel Aviv University, teaches an exciting class on Israel Politics and Society – the only class with all 20 students enrolled. The six students in the Intensive Hebrew class have been seen studying (and teaching other students) Hebrew throughout the week.

Wednesday was packed with information. Bright and early students gathered to hear from David Benjamin, an attorney specializing in international law, who spoke about the sensitive decisions and consequences of waging war in the Middle East. Afterwards, we were taken to Ein Rafa, an Arab village a 15-minute bus ride from our Kibbutz. We were invited into a mosque, where the Imam (the name for the Muslim religious leaders) spoke to us about the pillars of Islam and the misconceptions made by Westerners and practicing Muslims alike. Our translater, an England native who converted to Islam in her twenties, was inspirational and informative – almost all students said that they were shocked by how modernized and tolerant the views were.

Ellie in hijab for our trip to the mosque.

After lunch, Aaron Gertz gave us his famous “History of Israel in 45 minutes” and we explored the Kibbutz. First was the on-site glass factory Oran Safety Glass, where a large amount of bullet-proof glass produced for the American military is made. The next tour, of the Tzuba Estate Winery, was accompanied by a taste-test and beautiful view.

OSG glass factory at Kibbutz Tzuba.

Nick, Vanessa, Sam and Kayla enjoy the wine tasting at Kibbutz Tzuba.

Finally, the day ended as students packed for their trip to Galilee!

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