Forging Connections

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By Hila Ghersin
ENP Volunteer
Haifa 

At ENP, I mainly volunteer with teenagers in Tirat Carmel who are at the stage in life marked by their "I'm way too cool for everything" attitude, so I was a bit intimidated meeting them for the first time. All the hesitations that come with entering an established social circle swirled in my mind: 

Will we have anything to talk about? Will they think I'm cool? Will I get their sense of humor? Etc. Although they didn't seem super interested in knowing who I was at first, as soon as they heard I'm from America their ears perked up and their interest showed. A million questions followed:  Wait so what are you doing here? Do you have a pool? And most popularly: Have you met Rhianna? So we talked, laughed, common interests surfaced, and I felt like I was sort of "in."

Fast forward two weeks to this past. We were all very excited to go on the first summer trip which include a hike in Nachal Snir and kayaking in Nahar HaYarden. Strangely enough, my favorite part of the trip was the hour and a half bus ride to the hiking spot. I met 4 new girls and started talking to them at first about music and celebrities and then about more serious topics like school and the future. Although for them, the future beyond the army is still a bit far, I was happy to get them to start thinking about it- at least a little bit. The hike that followed was beautiful (and a bit wet) and full of more laid back conversations with kids I didn't meet before. The 11 hour trip was fun for everyone and also, in a way, fulfilling for me. Can't wait for my adventures! 


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