I have now been in Israel for six months. One thing I have noticed is that in general, there isn’t the same instant gratification I had in the States. When I wait in line, I really wait. When I talk to a friend or family member, we really talk. When I need to get somewhere, I sit on a bus, and I mean really sit, for hours on end. With so much time to sit and think, I notice many things that may have passed me by had I been driving in my own car and singing along with my music as the hours melted away.

I have now spent almost seven months living, studying, traveling and volunteering in Israel. This technologically advanced European-style country in the middle of the Middle East, a region still stuck in time in a lot of ways, seemed so foreign to me not long ago. And now it feels so comfortable, even with all its quirks.

Three weeks of community volunteering in Holon have passed and my fellow Year Coursers and I fell into a new routine. I go to Mikve Yisrael, a field school and agricultural farm in the center of Holon to work with elementary-aged students in the botanical gardens. After volunteering I come home for lunch with my five other roommates. Then, it's off to ulpan (intensive Hebrew study) or a siyyur (field trip) in the afternoon. Our evenings are usually spent out in nearby Tel Aviv or hanging out in the Holon Kikar (square).

“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.