It is 11 pm on my first night in Yerucham. The shower is moldy, there are eight thousand suitcases in our living room, the sink is flooding the kitchen, and I just found out I have no closets. When I took out the garbage, I was almost killed by a gang of feral cats who live in the dumpsters, and I have no idea what to buy at the grocery store.
It is midnight in Jerusalem after my first open Shabbat, and I am waiting for the direct bus back to Yerucham with several Nativers. I am jittery because I am overtired and I want to make sure I get a seat. The bus finally arrives, I board, I sit. Relief floods through me: I am going home.
Yerucham has been my home for over a month now, and I love it more each day. What makes this town of 9,500 in the middle of nowhere so lovable? On a less personal level, Yerucham and other desert development towns are amazing concepts that fulfill the Zionist dream, which is pretty cool. It is so inspiring to see the people who have made their homes here for ideological reasons and have worked to make Yerucham the beautiful place it is today.
For me, though, Yerucham is less about Zionism and more about growing up. The responsibilities I have taken on in the last month here are of a different breed than what I’ve grown up with. Suddenly, life is not about procrastinating my homework, going to club meetings, getting into college, getting a job. Now, my apartment mates and I meet once a week to discuss cooking and cleaning jobs, quiet hours, and other matters of apartment procedure. Although taking out the garbage all the time is a schlep, especially because nine girls fill up a trash bin pretty quickly, there is a certain delight in doing something for yourself. There are no parents to nag us, no cleaning ladies to fill in the cracks. Every chore is made more meaningful by the fact that what we do is for us and by us, because we are committed to the apartment family.
Volunteering, of course, gives responsibility a whole new meaning. Unlike school, there is no room for playing hooky, no sleeping in class, no texting under the desk. Teaching English to seventh through twelfth graders has redefined everything. First, it is hard. The kids have no discipline, and we are working with the lowest levels, so they also have basically no English. Second, it is exhausting. Keeping up with hyperactive eighth graders for two hours straight, breaking for fifteen minutes, and then doing it again with the loudest eleventh graders you’ve ever heard is tiring! Third, it is extremely rewarding. The kids know my name, they look forward to seeing me in class, they ask me to sit with them. They help me with my Hebrew and they don’t laugh (too much) when I accidentally ask if they want to get married instead of asking if they want to practice. I love it when “my” students see me around town and they are excited to see me.
Most of all, though, I am taking the responsibility to improve myself and become who I want to be. I am learning to be the Jew that I want to be in the future when I have a family--from keeping a kosher kitchen to Pesach cleaning to figuring out how to keep food warm for Shabbat lunch. My friends here have made it easy to be the friend I want to be, living in an apartment with nine girls has made me more considerate and more self-aware than ever before. I am taking initiative in all kinds of ways that bring me out of my comfort zone just a little bit, like visiting my host family weekly and going to Hebrew lessons that are a tad above my level and stir frying chicken.
The sandy sidewalks lined with palm trees, the gold street lamps at night against the black velvet sky, the complete quiet at 2 am when everyone is asleep and you just got off the midnight direct bus. I could go on forever about this place, my personal paradise. As Yerucham grows and improves with the amazing work that people do here every day, so do I. I wouldn’t trade these blessed days for anything, anywhere.
-Jordana Gilman, Nativ 29
PS. check out http://nativyerucham.weebly.com to learn more about Nativ in Yerucham over the years!
Jordana,
ReplyDeleteI am so proud of you and I am sure your mother must be ecstatic! This has been such a transforming year for you. I think that you are the first child of a friend that I have known since the time before she was born, until she metamorphosized into a full-fledged, self-aware adult. Watching the process, including all the ups and downs, has been so amazing for me.
It gives me great hope as I watch Arielle just beginning her journey through adolescence to adulthood.
Enjoy the rest of your time abroad! I look forward to seeing you sometimes when we both are back in Rochester. At the very least, I hope you can make it out to CA in late August 2011 for Arielle's bat mitzvah.
Jordana, somehow I actually missed this post! I was talking to Cathy tonight, and she mentioned it, so I looked for it. Yes, I am VERY proud of you and how you are growing up. You are amazing, and I love you so much.
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