By Aryaman A hidden maze of ever increasing complexity. The boundaries of the world—what defines them? A child. The world is an open ground. Exciting and playful. Free for exploration. From when I first learned to cycle till about the age of seven, my parents asked me to never go outside our street. I […]
Thank you, RyanAir
by Ally Thank you, RyanAir The month of November 2021 has been one of the quickest of my life. Now that I’m finally in a routine here, I was able to visit two new cities: Lisbon and London. Each was a unique experience, so I wrote a journal entry after each trip to remember the […]
A Week in Poland
by Charlie My second month abroad was even more meaningful than my first. Not only did I learn more about Israel and Judaism in the classroom, but I also continued to explore the Old City by foot. In my first blog, I wrote about seeing the Dome of the Rock (or Temple Mount) from afar. […]
The World at Home
by Mariana You would think that plunging directly into my hometown of almost nineteen years would yield routine results—invariable observations I would be wont to have. Yet, cradled between familiar mountains and blanketed by the same dusty borderland sky, my everyday community sprung opportunities ready to impart me with new knowledge. As my gap year commenced, my newfound role […]
Colourful Enlightenment
By Aryaman This Diwali was so different from all others. This was the first time I celebrated this festival away from my hometown and with my maternal grandparents. As I walked around the bazaar in Paratwada, I got lost in a world I had barely seen—India. Street vendors selling Diwali festivities were littered around every corner of […]
Una Vida Diferente
By Ally It’s been five months since I walked across the high school graduation stage-a fifteen step journey that commenced the adventure of this year. I’m now sitting on a multicolored couch in the corner of “Café con Libros:” a slice of coffee shop solitude I’ve found amidst the infinitely busy center of Malaga, […]
Introduction to Israel
By Charlie As I hoped going into my gap year, I have already started to learn things I never expected. I did my laundry in a communal laundry machine, bought groceries at a nearby supermarket, and traveled on planes, trains, and busses. Each of these things was further complicated due to the need to […]
So Here I Am, Starting
By Grace Training to be an EMT was one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done. It was also one of the hardest. For six weeks, my classmates and I spent our Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays together, motivating each other through ten-hour lecture days and seemingly endless back boarding sessions. We made it […]
The Bucket List
By Mariana Years of cultivating finesse in the written word, hours aspiring to hone artistry and professional flair under the vigilant scrutiny of various high school writing instructors, only to now concede in sheepish musing, “wow, I thought this blog would be a little bit easier to write!” Minutes into developing my ideas for this […]
Traveling
By Shun In the past few weeks, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s important to do what you want to do when you want to do it. In the weeks prior, I was overwhelmed with work and the tasks before me that I lost track of living and treasuring each day given to me. […]