| Student finds adventure and safety in Israel 12/07 | | Print | |
| Written by Lydia O'Connor | |
|
A junior joined 44 other Americans on a trip to Israel. Junior Celi Tamayo-Lee participated as a youth ambassador in the Youth Ambassador Student Exchange program within the American Israeli Friendship League from Nov. 14 through Nov. 30 in Shoham, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem. The first part of the exchange was a home-stay in Shoham, an Israeli suburb, where she stayed with an Israeli youth ambassador and her family. “It was cool to observe a family speaking another language with different customs, but to also see how much they reminded me of my own family,” Tamayo-Lee said. The students also spent time in Tel Aviv, where they stayed in youth hostels and explored the city late at night. “I was so distracted from having so much fun at night that I wouldn’t realize that four hours went by, and we’d been sitting in the same coffee shop all that time,” she said. Tamayo-Lee said she observed a big difference in the culture of Israeli teenage boys and American teenage boys. “I went to a dance club in Tel Aviv, and the guys are the first ones on the dance floor, unlike here,” she said. “They actually dance instead of just ‘freaking.’” Tamayo-Lee was amazed at the role religion plays in Israeli life. “My favorite part of Jerusalem was the Western Wall, the western most wall of the old city of Jerusalem,” she said. “It’s a very religious place for Jews. There was an older woman next to me, crying, kissing the wall, and it was amazing to see how religion touched people and how emotional people got at such a holy site.” Along with visiting the site where David fought Goliath and enjoying “the most amazing falafel,” Tamayo-Lee said she explored “tunnels that Judean people built to hide from Roman Catholics” thousands of years ago. “At one point we lost our tour guide, and only some of us had flashlights,” she said. In the spirit of American-Israeli friendships, the separation from the tour guide was “good bonding, and (we) learned to trust each other.” Tamayo-Lee said one of the most remarkable experiences of the trip was swimming in the highly salty Dead Sea. “It’s amazing because you just float, and you can’t point your legs down vertically,” she said. “There are people sitting in the water, floating, and reading books.” Tamayo-Lee was shocked by Americans’ opinions about Israelis. “I didn't realize how many Americans thought Israel was so dangerous,” she explained. “I feel safer there than I do in San Francisco. Tamayo-Lee first got involved in AIFL in 2006 when choir teacher and former Lowell Student Activities director Othello Jefferson informed her of the opportunity while she was serving as the ‘09 class president. After applying and writing an essay, she was selected to participate as a youth ambassador in Washington D.C. and New York City in November of 2006. “YASE looks to unite young citizens throughout the world to celebrate democracy where it thrives and to support its struggles (elsewhere),” according to AIFL’s Web site, (www.aifl.org). “Once (united), our students learn to apply their new cross-cultural understanding, confidence and sense of purpose in developing leadership and conflict resolution skills.” |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
to listen.
