“Thirty one, thirty two.” I was almost halfway through the 66 steps up to my new apartment in Holon (just south of Tel Aviv) where I would spend my last three months of Year Course. I tried not to remind myself that once I had lugged this huge suitcase to the top floor, I would have to come back down and repeat the trek four more times for my remaining bags. Hours later, once my five new roommates, including one Israeli scout, and I were finally settled into our new apartment, we were ready to embark upon the final section of Year Course: community volunteering.

You probably have a pretty good idea of what the community volunteering section is all about from Ben's articles (Ben is the other Year Course correspondent. Click here to read!) but I will explain a bit any way. While much of my Israeli experience has been focused on the individual, community volunteering is very different. The emphasis in this section is not on where you are volunteering or who you are working with, but instead on the concept of being part of a community and on volunteerism itself—on tikkun olam (repair of the world). With over 80 of us here in Holon, there are plenty of volunteers, and plenty of volunteer work to be done. Our first assignment was participating in a Purim parade—a bit unusual, but a ton of fun.

Many people in Israel celebrate Purim with a parade and festival called Adloyada, and it just so happened that the biggest one in Israel happens in Holon. Young Judaea was lucky enough to be invited to participate. This year the theme of the Holon Adloyada was countries of the world, and Young Judea was assigned China. We were instructed to wear all black and meet in the Holon square at six o' clock in the morning. There, a bus picked us up and drove us to a huge parking lot where all of the different “countries” were congregating. It was here that we were given our costumes: blue silk shirts and pants that mildly resembled pajamas, some of the most ridiculous hats I have ever seen, and trumpets. It did not take us long to realize that the plastic trumpets had built-in kazoos. Nor did it take long for my friends and me to begin to buzz out renditions of all the greatest songs (namely “YMCA,” “My Heart Will Go On” and “The Thong Song”), much to the dismay of our fellow Year Coursers who were trying to catch some sleep.

While waiting for the parade to begin, we also took time to go around and explore some of the other countries and regions represented in the parade. There was Africa, whose parade marchers wore loin cloths and bones in their hair; India, who wore moccasins and carried bows and arrows (apparently the parade organizers confused stereotypical Native Americans with Indians from the Subcontinent); and many more. It certainly was not going to be the most politically correct parade ever, but we were already having a great time.

When it was finally time to begin, the streets of Holon were packed with people everywhere, and each apartment on the street had even more observers pouring out of the windows and on the roofs of the buildings. Little kids on the side of the road held out their hands for us to grab, and people looked out and cheered from the buildings. I have never felt more like a celebrity! It was a great way to say “Hello to Holon” and to celebrate my very first Purim in Israel.

With Purim behind me now, I look forward to the rest of my time in Holon. I am going to volunteer at an urban farm called Mikveh Yisrael, plan birthday parties for underprivileged kids, and attend an Ulpan (Hebrew language immersion program) again—all the while dreading the day when I will have to drag my five bags (which will probably be six by then) back down the 66 stairs of my apartment and return to the States.

Sala Wanetick is one of JVibe's Young Judaea Year Course Correspondents. She's from Southfield, Mich.