Sydney Flynn is one of 20 young adults participating in Onward Israel LA, an 8-week Israel program for college students and young professionals that includes a resume-building internship as well as group experiences to deepen participants’ understanding and connection to Israel and its people. While exploring life in Tel Aviv with her peers, Sydney is currently interning at Amit LaDerech, an association that helps to integrate and empower young adults from Israel’s periphery, post-army service. Sydney is blogging throughout her 8-week experience.
This past week was the most successful one of my internship thus far. My colleague and I have been spending most of our time preparing English material for the organization we work for, Amit LaDerech, in order to begin reaching out to potential donors in the United States. After fighting with Google translate and struggling to convey the essence of the Hebrew messaging, English-speakers can now visit http://amitladerech.org/en/home to learn, see, and feel what this incredible organization does and how it impacts the lives of these soldiers-in-need in critical ways. In addition to the launch of the English site, this past week Amit LaDerech was chosen to receive a grant. It is an incredible feeling knowing that I am playing a vital part in the growth of this organization that empowers young soldiers around my own age, and these results, though small, are evidence of the impact the other intern and I are making at the office and beyond.
I wanted to spend some time shedding some light on the many cultural differences that exist between working in Israel and working in the United States. When we first arrived, we were briefed on some key differences: The casual work environment, blunt conversations and the very direct feedback from authority figures regarding the quality of work. I have definitely noticed and experienced some things that I wouldn’t expect in the US, including being invited to help my boss design her wedding invitation or taking half an hour to explain Pokemon Go. The work environment and flexible hours of my internship have also allowed me to further explore Tel Aviv. For example, on Mondays, instead of going into the office, the other intern and I meet at a new café every week to do our work while simultaneously discovering hidden corners of the city. I feel as though I have created a spatial map in my head of the layout of the city and the public transportation system as I continue to become more comfortable in Tel Aviv each day.
Overall, living in Tel Aviv has been a delicious experience. Not only culturally delicious, but literally delicious as well. At this point, our cohorts’ self-proclaimed foodies (including myself) have dined at nearly all of the top restaurants that were on our ‘need to try’ list. Our favorites range from Vong Vietnamese on Rothschild Blvd., to Moon Sushi, to the Mediterranean cuisine of Port Said. But no real meal is complete without a trip to Anita ice cream in the hipster neighborhood of Florentine, just a few blocks away from our Shapira apartment. I think it’s safe to say that this was some of the best ice cream any of us have ever had, and we will be there as many times as possible in the three short remaining weeks we have in this tasty city.
Read our “Onward Israel LA: Meet Our 2016 Participants” blog for a full list of participants.
For more information on Onward Israel and other immersive experiences, please contact Margalit Rosenthal at (323) 761-8208 or MRosenthal@JewishLA.org.
