our first day of volunteering in Karmiel (12.26)

Wow. We have had some crazy busy past couple of days here in Israel! Monday morning started a whirlwind of a day where we began our volunteer work here in Karmiel and were able to meet some pretty cool people along the way. 

Our day started at a local apartment complex where we were given a tour and a large amount of white paint and rollers. It was our job to paint the outside walls white, and oh boy did we do that. It was a blast working as a team together to paint and give time to a good cause right in the center of Karmiel. We walked away covered in paint but it was well worth it. The apartment complex where we were working has been completely transformed in the past couple years into something new and beautiful. What a great opportunity for us to help with the process. 

Here are some pictures of us learning about what we're about to do and then painting...

 Learning about the apartment complex before we started with Aya and Andrea.

And we begin... 

laying plastic down to protect the floors.

Sophia was lucky to get the extra long brush.

Painting away with Beth and Hara.

Steve getting the bottom. 

And a smiling Kiki.

After we finished painting for the day we headed over to a nearby place for a little nosh (the place was called Nosh Nosh). They fed us until we were stuffed and then we were off...

Refueling at Nosh Nosh before our next stop.

After covering the walls (and ourselves) in white paint, we made our way to the Israeli village of Shoresheem where we learned about coexistence between Israelis and Israeli Arabs living in the Galilee. From there we had a very special opportunity to hear a young Arab woman speak at the school where she teaches English. Imam, the young religious Muslim, shared with us her perspective on life as an Arab Israeli living in the Galilee. We ended the day with dinner and an informative (and entertaining!) lecture about Israel and the political relations with the middle east with a focus on Iranian threat presented by Neil Lazurus. 

All in all, a wonderful and exciting first full day of volunteering and learned about Karmiel. We had a lot to take in and were all so thankful for the opportunity to even be given the chance to be on a trip like this.