It's almost impossible to believe that two years ago today that I left for the Holy Land. So in honor of the two year anniversary of me moving to Israel for four months, I have decided to make a list of pieces of advice I wish I had been given before leaving for EIE.
1. Do not feel obligated to be best friends with every single person on your trip. Find your group of people that you get along well with. No matter how close you are with someone on the trip, they will always be there for you as a support system. You're all family on EIE and family is always there for each other, but that does not mean in any way that you have to hang out and absolutely love everyone.
2. Stay on top of your schoolwork. No matter how tempting it is to just hang out with your friends or to take a trip up to the tel (with a madrich) take the short amount of time it takes to do the work and just get it over with. Your workload should not be overwhelming to the point where you feel like you have no free time.
3. Use your free time wisely. As much fun as it is to stay in and watch Netflix (which just came to Israel, I'm incredibly jealous) go for a walk around the kibbutz, do your homework on the basketball court or on the balcony, have a conversation with the people on the kibbutz or the nice people working in the markolit. There is so much to do on the kibbutz. Don't just sit inside and do work like you would at home.
4. Call your family every week. I know this seems kind of obvious, but you will occasionally feel like calling your family is a chore rather than something you want to do. That's because it is. You are thousands of miles away from your family on an amazing adventure and they want to hear from you how it's going rather than from your Facebook posts or blog. Sometimes it can be good to get an outside view on how to deal with certain things as well.
5. Journal or blog about your experiences. Yes, this seems like I'm giving you homework, but believe me when I say if you do not write about what you saw, when you saw it, how it made you feel, what you learned about it, you will forget it. You can take as many pictures as you want of where you are but writing about it really solidifies the experience. This is crucial for when you are in Poland. Unfortunately, I lost all my notes from the five day trip and I can just remember the sites we saw and not how I felt or what I learned from them. I don't remember the fun things we did during the days to lighten the mood and it's very upsetting to think about. Your journal entries don't need to be extensive. Maybe four or five sentences about your day. Just, please, try to remember to do it.
6. You don't need hundreds of pictures of everything you see. Pictures are nice to look back at but if you are spending your whole trip behind a camera you are not truly experiencing the incredible land of Israel. I am not saying you shouldn't take a lot of pictures because you most definitely should, but during significant tiyulim take less pictures of what you are learning about and experience the small moments you and your friends will have. Not only do you want to remember where you were but you want to remember who you were with and the silly/stupid jokes you guys made. It's the little moments when you're not learning about something from your JHist teacher that you will bond you to those around you.
7. Take notes on paper not on your computer. I was able to absorb so much more information from my Jewish History class when I switched from taking notes on my computer to taking notes in my notebook (which I still have with me at college). It makes studying for tests easier and it makes learning easier when you are not distracted by whatever is going on on Twitter or Facebook. As much as you think typing notes in class will make life easier, it really doesn't. If you REALLY need to type your notes, do it after writing them in your notebook. The 4000 years of Jewish History you learn about is honestly so interesting and is the whole reason you are in Israel on EIE right now. Don't take advantage of how truly amazing our history is by just scrolling through social media during class.
8. Speak Hebrew as often as you can. Practice what you learn! Even if its stupid little sentences like "may I use the bathroom?". Talk to your teachers in Hebrew. It doesn't necessarily have to be your Hebrew teacher, talk to any teacher in Hebrew. They all live there, they all know Hebrew. Practice makes perfect.
9. Cova v'mayim. For the love of Hashem, make your hat and water bottle your best friends. Your madrichim will nag you to no end about making sure you have them at all times on your tiyulim.
9. Thank your parents and everyone that helped get you to Israel. I know this is incredible cliche, but many people forget to do it. Your friends and family are the reason you are in Israel right now. Without their support this trip would not have happened. If anyone donated money, be sure to thank them as well!
NFTY-EIE is the most transformative four months of your life. You will create the most amazing memories in the next four months and hopefully those memories will stay with you for a lifetime. The friendships you make at Tzuba will be some of the strongest friendships you will ever have because the people on this trip with you will be your family by the end of these four months.
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