I’m halfway through the “Israel Experience” portion of Year Course, in which all of the chanichim (participants) in my section are spread out throughout the country, living in various environments and working in different jobs to get a grasp of what an Israeli’s daily life is like. Working and living at Mamsheet Camel Ranch, a place where travelers are given a place to stay, a camel ride through the desert, traditional Bedouin hospitality and a meal, I feel like I’m going through the weirdest, most out-there and possibly most genuinely “Israeli” experience.

Explaining my job and current life, in a few words, to my friends living in apartments around Tel Aviv is difficult enough, and if I try to tell Americans on Taglit-Birthright trips who come to the ranch or my friends back home at universities, I might as well be speaking gibberish (or Hebrew).

Unlike many other Israeli Experiences, there is only one other Year Courser at this placement with me. In addition, I don’t do my own laundry, take a bus to work or go shopping for household materials. Most of the time, I don’t even make my own meals. In one workday, I go from feeling like a janitor, to a tour guide, to a waiter and back to a janitor again.

Mamsheet is primarily a tourist attraction, and for that reason anywhere between three and 14 buses of young Diaspora Jews from around the globe, on 10-day trips to the Jewish state, make a stop at my home every day.

Each morning I wake up around 7 a.m. to help serve breakfast to the tourists, acting as a gopher for more cheese or tea. Sometimes I get to man the pita oven, and during this time I’m treated to a traditional Israeli breakfast, much of which I prepared the night before.

I switch every other day between cleaning up the ranch and going on camel rides the rest of the morning. When I’m on camel duty, I help people on and off the camels and walk in front of a group of camels in a caravan, holding my camel, Nama, by her leash. Camel rides are one of my favorite things to do because they give me an opportunity to converse with Americans and answer their questions about the camels (I often make up answers; I still don’t know much about camels) and why I speak English so well. I also serve as an interpreter between the Bedouins and the tourists to make sure riders “lean back and hold tight.”

I work side by side with the Bedouins from around the area, descendants of a nomadic Arab tribe. I assist them with almost every facet of the ranch’s activities, except for the aruach (hospitality), in which people are given an explanation of the history of the Bedouins and served sweet tea and bitter coffee. My boss tells me they need “real Bedouins” for that part. I guess a Texas boy can never be fully assimilated into this part of Israeli culture.

When I’m not walking with the camels, I clean up the tents where our guests slept the night before. This job includes stacking up mattresses and sleeping bags in the corner, as well as picking up trash (definitely the most exciting part of my day). The bright side is I often find leftover reading material that updates me on important events back in the States. Apparently, Jamie Lynn didn’t tell Britney about her pregnancy.

I also prepare breakfast by cutting cheese and vegetables, and I prepare the kankanim (pitchers) of juice and cups and spoons for dinner. So far, I’ve only cut myself on two fingers and broken four glass trays. I’d say that’s pretty good.

At night, I serve the kankanim for dinner and afterward go back to janitor duty, cleaning up the trash and sometimes washing dishes. I spend the rest of the night getting to know the Americans and watching the drum circle show that comes here every night. After returning to my trailer home, I might watch a movie with my roommate or surf the Internet (we have Wi-Fi at the ranch in the middle of nowhere) and go to sleep, ready to do it all over again.

My life may now lack the excitement of the city or the camaraderie of living with a large group of people, but I’m enjoying the uniqueness of my Israel Experience.

For more information about life at Mamsheet Camel Ranch, check out Young Judaea’s new video here.

Ben Degani is from Dallas, Texas, and will be attending the University of Texas next year. He enjoys hanging out with friends, playing ultimate Frisbee and listening to music.