Traveling with Chookie: The Past Two Months: Orientation

Orientation began with mostly awkward encounters with the people I’d be spending the rest of my year with. From uncomfortable introductions to embarrassing name forgetting and all other weird confrontations in between, lets just say the first few days weren’t the highlight of my trip, socially. We stayed in Sde Boker, a kibbutz in the Negev, for the first chunk of orientation. Being that I knew practically nobody at the time, I didn’t want to complain about the dozens of tiny cockroaches I found dispersed around my obviously lovely bunkroom, because I didn’t want to sound like a typical jappy NY Jew. But lets be honest, it was definitely gross and made me cross my fingers in hopes that it’ll only get better from that point onward.

I remember the first night being difficult. The second I lay down for bed, a wave of anxiety flooded my head because the fact that I wouldn’t be returning to my house for nine months hit me really hard. I didn’t want to be alone, so I left my room and joined a group of girls siting in the common area outside the rooms. I was very homesick, which is unusual for me considering I went to summer camp every year without shedding a single tear when I would leave home. But the fact that I knew I wasn’t coming home for way longer was overwhelming and scary. The following days were increasingly difficult. Although I was making friends little by little, and found them all to be quite cool, I couldn’t shake my homesickness. Having been diagnosed with acute anxiety just several weeks before leaving was difficult, and still is. Before leaving, I barely knew how to cope with my anxiety and anxious episodes on my own, so being in new environment with new people, thousands of miles from my comfort zone, was not easy. I had a terrible panic attack on the third day. I was hyperventilating and lost feeling in my ligaments and was really scared. But my amazing director Jay (now known as dad to most kivunimers) was able to calm me down and reassure me that everything was okay. After that incident, things started looking a little better. I met a couple people I was able to connect with and being able to talk about my issues with them helped a lot. I started making more friends over the course of the next few days, which began my more positive experience. On top of it all, I surprised myself upon realizing how much I enjoyed hiking for hours at a time. Maybe working out is actually good for you? TBD…

Over the course of the next week at Sde Boker, we hiked multiple mountains in the Negev, had some interesting ice breakers and sessions with Peter, chilled with the number one Bedouin expert in the world, Clinton Bailey (or Ambien, as Yali refers to him) hung out with sketchy kibbutzniks, caused a scene at the bar in the kibbutz, and named a couple cats (WE MISS YOU, MICHELLE). Sde Boker ended surprisingly well.

Our next destination, accompanied by Dr. Bailey, was a Bedouin elementary school in which he founded. Visiting the school was a humbling experience. Upon entering “school grounds,” we were greeted with a warm welcome from children as young as 4 to 16 year old teens. Most of the older girls were wearing head scarves, while still dressed in westernized clothing (jeans, t-shirts, flip flops). Many of the kids were visibly a bit dirty and it was clear that they did not come from wealthy backgrounds. These children were all Bedouins, meaning they live in either permanent tents or small shack-like homes in unrecognized villages in and around be’er sheva. After our introduction to the school, we were broken up into groups and assigned a classroom. As I entered a classroom full of 8 year olds, there was an immediate sense of discomfort from both ends, as well as a clear language barrier. I felt like the kids were on exhibit in a museum and I was a viewer appreciating the different culture. It was definitely a weird experience at first. But over the course of an hour the kids warmed up to us strangers, and didn’t want us to leave! They loved my camera and wanted me to give them piggyback rides. They were adorable and I left feeling like their days were made, as well as ours.

After we left the Bedouin school, we traveled to visit Abu Jarabia and his Bedouin family’s small settled area, where we would spend the night. There are few words that come to mind that really embody my experience with real Bedouins. It was awesome, in the true sense of the word. While most girls helped make fresh laffa, a few of my friends and I sat outside the tent with an elderly woman waving around a beautiful stick decorated with beads and colorful yarn. Although the language barrier prevented us from communicating through words, I sat and watched the woman wave her stick around my head while reciting a few words in Arabic. I was told afterwards that it was a fertility stick. So even though she smelled a bit weird and basically gave me a blessing to have lots of kids real soon (look out mom and dad, you may be grandparents soon!), it was an amazing experience. Unfortunately, the night ended in a very pissed off Ariana, due to the fact that all 54 Kivunim students were sleeping in the same large room, while I felt deathly ill. If you can imagine, I didn’t get much sleep, and woke up with a pretty bad cough and cold, and needed a doctor ASAP. The closest doctor was at a clinic in an Arab village in the middle of nowhere—adventure time!!!! Upon arrival at the clinic, I was brought to a room with a doctor who reminded me of my Russian grandmother. She was a hefty Russian woman with long nails and poorly dyed hair. Despite the impression her appearance gave off, she was quite nice and immediately knew that I had bronchitis (I KNEW IT…webmd can be truthful sometimes). I was then given amoxicillin and was on my way. Easy.

Our final destination of orientation, before going to Jerusalem, was Masada and the Dead Sea. Unfortunately, I was too sick to hike the mountain as well as experience the beautiful Dead Sea, but I had a lot of fun hanging out with my new friends in the warm weather and nice hostel. I even got some one on one time with PeetyG while everyone went to the Dead Sea. We went grocery shopping together and it was pretty epic because he bought me shoko ;) I’m still afraid of him, though. Before leaving, we visited Ein Gedi and the Masada museum. It was very fun.

Overall, orientation surprised me. Although my anxiety got the best of me a few times at first (shit happens…), it didn’t take over as much as I thought it would. I was able to break through that tough mental barrier and explore what I was meant to during orientation. I had a really enjoyable time making new friends, experiencing real Bedouin culture, and taking in the beauty of the Negev and Masada. While I was sitting on the long bus ride to Jerusalem from Masada, I couldn’t help but think about how excited I was (and am) to begin an incredible journey with amazing people. Orientation really set the stage for what has, so far, proven to be a life-changing journey that has just begun.