During the day of my one-year anniversary I thought about how incredible my journey has been thus far and all the interesting people I’ve met and opportunities I’ve experienced. I did not know what was in store for me when I landed at BG Airport last year but I knew that Israel was my home. The feeling has not dissipated, in actuality it has only grown and I feel more connected to Eretz Israel and Israelis more than ever.
When I made Aliyah I knew I was going to Ulpan for 5 months, which made me think I would be fluent in Hebrew, then I thought I would get a job in the Diaspora Relations field but after a year of lessons learned I am in a completely different place than I ever expected to be in my life. Even though I do not work in Diaspora Relations and my Hebrew is not even close to perfect I feel when I give tours I am inspiring people about interesting aspects of Israel, and educating them about the long history of the immigrant Jews from the First Aliyah in 1882 to the modern day process of wine making.
After this first year I know that this is only the beginning and there are wonderful treats ahead for my life in Israel. I have created a “chevrai” (tight group of friends) in Israel that have become my family and we really look after each other like we are “achi” and “achote” (brothers and sisters). I’ve also accumulated a few adopted parents which inspire me that my Aliyah experience will be a success and even though there are some majorly frustrating aspects of Israel, it is worth it and there is no other place I would rather want to live.
I attached 2 pictures, one of the me at the Tishbi winery near the Wine Vats and the other picture is of me and my mom at Ramat HaNadiv (Rothchild’s park) which is 5 minutes from my house.
Shalom!
Esther
