Happy AS Can Be

As opposed to going home for the weekend, a majority of the kids stayed at Achuzat Sara for a special shabbos with us. With a mix of American and Israeli tunes everyone came together at Kabbalat Shabbat to sing and dance as we brought in shabbos. We realized that even though we have a lot of differences, there's nothing that can stop us from forming a strong relationship with the kids. After eating dinner with the kids we broke up into pairs to discuss the highlights and challenges we faced over the course of the week. Hearing the stories some volunteers told I was shocked at how far we had come in just one week. After another beautiful davening in the morning we enjoyed lunch and zmiroy. Everywhere you looked an Israeli was on top of an American's shoulders singing and dancing. Before Sudah shlishit we had another session with the Americans where we went around and shared what we were grateful for. I realized that the kids here are lacking so many things that I tend to take for granted. Every day we have a closet full of clothing to choose an outfit from, a fridge full of food that we could take from whenever we please, friends who are there for us in the best and worst of situations and most of all, parents who cater to almost every single one of our needs. After Shabbat the coordinators set up a scavenger hunt in which we had to take pictures around achuzat sara to resemble different emojis. It was a great way to get to know each other better and hang out with people we hadn't really gotten an opportunity to talk to. Back in the room, even though it's only been one week, a bunch of us were already talking about coming back next year. It has been an amazing first week and we're all looking forward to a wonderful rest of the summer!