Adventures In Ashdod!

Hey folks,

So my program in Israel has officially begun and I am super excited to be embarking on this adventure in my new city of Ashdod! This city is really quite spectacular from what I've seen so far, full of life and culture, home to French, Russian, and Spanish populations, sprawling white sand beaches, and unbelievable panoramic views of the port. I'm living in a neighbourhood called Yud Alef, which is one of the newer neighbourhoods in Ashdod. In this city, regions are split up based on how new the area is and the names of the neighbourhoods are assigned based on the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, with the oldest quarters having the first letters and the newest having the last letters. Yud Alef is located about 7 minutes walking distance from the beach, specifically a beach that is home to The Citadel, ancient Arab ruins that date all the way back to 640 AD and still house evidence of cooking areas and rooms used for shelter. Yesterday, I went with a bunch of people from my group down to the ruins and climbed to the top to sit and watch the sunset on the Mediterranean Sea, quite a treat and something I'm going to make a habit of doing.
So far, this first week has been mostly about explanation of the goals of the program and the expectations and rules that our program coordinators have for us. The program coordinators, Kineret and Shiri have been wonderful so far, and have not babied us too much; for instance, they have taken us to a place in the middle of the city for an activity and then have left us to let us find our way home on our own, which has given me the chance to orientate myself direction-wise more so than if I was blindly following a leader. For the next two weeks, I will be doing intensive Ulpan study to learn Hebrew for about 5 hours each morning and in the afternoon, I will have the opportunity to go and check out different volunteer opportunities around the city. Once a week for the five months, everyone goes and volunteers for two hours, the options varying from seniors homes and soup kitchens to shelters for women, and community sport-related programs for kids. I'm strongly considering the seniors home because there are many people there that speak French and it will give me a chance to practice. As for teaching English, I don't start until the 24th and still have yet to find out which age group I will be teaching or too much information about the structure. However, I think it's pretty open to individual style and the main goal is to get the kids speaking English, not to teach them grammar and syntax out of a book.
In terms of the people in my program and my living accommodations, I have no complaints! I'm living in a villa that is quite spacious and actually reminds me of the house on Angus Drive quite a bit, run down to a certain extent but a great space for a bunch of people. I share a room with two other guys, Zack and David, and it happens to be the only air-conditioned bedroom in the house and is next to a bathroom that only we use, so essentially, I lucked out! Most of the people from my program live in apartments across the street, 8 in each one, but because I met the people from the previous program a few weeks ago, Kineret and Shiri decided to put me with them instead, and so there are 9 of us in the villa, me and one other new guy being the only ones from the October group. At first, I thought this would be a struggle and a disadvantage because they have already bonded and it meant I would be separated from my own group and not get to know them as well, but this has not been the case. I have been fully welcomed by the August group and have become fast friends with many of them while still spending time with the people from my own group and going over to the apartments on a regular basis to hang out. We pretty much are one big group rather than two separate ones.
So far, nighttime activities have been a blast! On the second night, all 40 of us went down to the beach and had a huge bonfire. I brought my guitar and so did two others and we had a sweet jam session, and everyone is super happy to have a singer/guitar player on the trip because before we arrived, no one had any instruments! The following night, it was one of the girls from the August group's birthday and so her and her roommates hosted a 90s themed party at their apartment. I impressed everyone with my fantastic neon hot pink shorts and taught a bunch of people Pickles which was a big hit. We had a big hooka session out on the balcony, and then at 1230, me and four of the girls headed down to the beach for a little late-night skinny-dipping. Definitely the warmest water I have ever had the pleasure of venturing into in the buff! Last night I spent hours chilling outside on our patio, teaching backgammon and my favourite card-game Sheizerkoff to my new friend Masha, who has very similar music taste to me and even has the same Beach House t-shirt as me from a concert she went to in Baltimore. When I first wore the shirt, she asked me if I had stolen her clothing although I'm pretty sure her shirt would not go past my bellybutton... We then headed down to the beach with one of our other roommates Karina and two of her Israeli friends and made another fire and had a Beatles singalong before once again going swimming in the wee hours of the morning. I stumbled back to bed at 5AM, leaving piles of sand in my sheets to wake up to this morning. There hasn't been a day yet where I haven't brought a little beach home with me.
Tonight, for everyone who is staying in Ashdod for the weekend, we are having a communal Shabbat dinner, with everyone bringing something to the table. This will be my Thanksgiving replacement as they obviously don't celebrate that holiday over here and I won't be stuffing my face with turkey. I have tomorrow to explore the city on one of the bikes in the house (I don't have to buy one, thank god!) and probably go to the beach to take advantage of one of the last warm days before actual winter sets in. It's weird to be able to go to the beach and go swimming in October, but quite delightful and refreshing. Next weekend, we're thinking of making a group trip down to the Dead Sea where we will try and find a cheap hostel or a place to camp. Only fantastic things on the horizon right now and it is so nice to finally be settled in and not living out of a suitcase.
As for all of you in Vancouver,  I haven't forgotten about you and I want to be filled in on your adventures and misadventures, whatever they may be. One of the biggest things I do miss is the changing of the trees and the leaves although we did have a huge thunder and lightning storm here today with a torrential downpour, so I did get a little taste of Vancouver. Hope you're all doing great and I want to hear from you all soon!

Ciao for now,

Max