LIFE UPDATE IN UNDER 500 WORDS

Well hello there folks, long time no talk eh? Over the past two weeks I have been asked quite a few of the same questions so sit back, relax and read as I answer all of them here:

Where in the world are you?

Tel Aviv, Israel :))))

What are you doing there?

I’m doing a 5-month internship through a program called Masa Israel Journey, more specifically under a sub-program called Destination Israel. Masa is an organization that matches young Jews with internships/teaching fellowships/volunteering, etc. programs throughout Israel and Destination was one of the ones I found, applied and was accepted into. My internship doesn’t start until the middle of September but I will be doing marketing and social media with a company called hibob.

Sounds snazzy, why did you choose Israel?

A typical Nikki answer would be “why not Israel?” but honestly, after going on Birthright two years ago, I fell in love with the country, culture and thus was bitten by the travel bug once again. I had always dreamed of going back to Israel but I didn’t know how. Once I found out what Masa was at the beginning of my senior year of college, I was hooked on the idea of figuring out how to go back. Now here I am! Dreams do come true!

When are you coming home?

I REFUSE.

jk I come back to Chicago at the end of January and from then on my life is TBD.

What else are you doing besides your internship?

Since my internship doesn’t start for another few weeks, I’m currently learning Hebrew by taking some Ulpan classes provided by my program and enjoying the bountiful of hummus around.

Why are you doing this?

Thankfully, when I told my parents about doing this program I was surprisingly greeted with love and support and a big sigh as they realized that their daughter was going to OFFICIALLY be a broke post college grad “adult”.

However, from others unlike most of my friends and family, not so much. I was badgered with questions such as “why can’t you just find a job?”, “what’s so special about Israel?”, “It’s so dangerous over there…are you sure that’s a good idea..?”, or just a simple “…WHY????”. I’m doing this because I guess I felt I wasn’t quite ready to enter into the work force just yet after graduation and still wanted to get that travel bug out of me (let’s be real it’s never gunna leave). Sounds cliché right? Yeah I’m not too sure, all I know is that I’m excited to embark on the rest of this journey throughout Israel and see where life takes me from here. Stay tuned as I’ll be documenting more of my time here 🙂

xo.