OTZMA Final Ceremony

June 13, 2011 - Final Ceremony!

Jason, Becca and Austen

Rachel - double
fisting

Austen and Noah

Don't know how it has happened but the night of the final ceremony has come and gone.  We gathered at the good old Judean Youth Hostel to celebrate our year together and to mark its rapidly approaching finale.

Ariel, Lindsay and Lauren

Alex and his dad

Representing ITC

After a quick end of the year survey from Masa we went downstairs and, much to our delight, found ourselves faced with an open bar and yummy appetizers.  We hung out for a while, waiting for various guests to arrive and talked about all the things that we are planning in the future and all the things that we have done this year.  We also competed heavily for time holding Erika's son, as evidenced by the pictures of everyone holding him.  He is such a cutie and really a very happy baby!!

He liked me :)  

How cute!!

Everyone is looking at a completely different path than they were a year ago.  Many people have been offered good jobs in the Jewish community.. or at least good stepping stone jobs in the Jewish community.

After a while hanging out, schmoozing and generally trying to avoid the fact that we were all about to look the end of OTZMA straight in the face, we went inside to start the ceremony.  One representative from each city spoke about their time there.  Richard spoke about Ashkelon and gave a pretty hilarious speech which was also kind of risque and got him in a bit of trouble.  The rest of the night was filled with stories, pictures and videos from our partnerships, our time volunteering with Livnot and Sarel and even a few songs.  This was what I had to say about Ofakim:

"I think that its fair to say that when Richard and I heard that we were going to be in Ofakim, at first we were fairly excited.  Then, we told people we were going to be in Ofakim and we saw and heard their reactions and as time went on we were more and more terrified of this tiny place in the middle of nowhere.  Honestly, it became almost a game to me to watch people's reactions when we told them Ofakim.  Very entertaining.  My first experience in Ofakim was fairly overwhelming and terrifying.  There was nothing in this town and it was going to be just Richard and I!  Very quickly my feelings towards being a part of Ofakim changed.  Throughout our time in Israel, I have experienced many things.  No where else have I experienced a sense of family and caring like I did in Ofakim.  The people there welcomed us into their homes and made us a part of the community.  I had experiences there that overwhelmed me, moved me and made me a better person.  I have friends and people that I consider family now in Ofakim and I hope that after OTZMA and over the years my relationship with them will continue to grow and that Ofakim will always be a place that I can call home.  I want to say a GIANT thank you to both Richard and my host families, Tal, Michal and everyone else who made our experience in Ofakim the amazing time that it was.  We really owe a giant thank you to Tal, who took care of us throughout our time there and even picked us up and took us to her home one night when she was worried about us.  Tal, you're the best!!  I also want to say a special thank you to Richard.  Even though we were both nervous (and I think made everyone in the OTZMA and Metrowest office nervous as well) you have truly become one of my best friends.  When I look back on my time in Ofakim... I can't help but smile.  Even as I am sitting here at work writing about it, I am smiling like an idiot and I know that even 10 years from now when I think about Ofakim... people will wonder what I am thinking about that has me smiling that way."

No joke, I love this dude.  Wouldn't have made it through Ofakim without him!!!

Lauren with her "graduation" certificate

I played some pictures while I spoke and then afterwards listened patiently while everyone else recalled their experiences throughout OTZMA.  Dganit wanted to say a few words afterwards and she mentioned each participant in her speech.  At first I thought that what she said about me was very vague and just an easy thing to say as it could be applied to anyone.  Then I thought about it more and more and I think that it was the best thing for her to say. She said that I have found my way more than anyone.  I agree with that statement 100%.  I have figured out who I am.  I have found the things that make me happy and the people and place that make me happy.  Every day I am thankful that I got the chance to experience this amazing program called OTZMA and if I could go back and do it all over again, I wouldn't do a thing differently (except maybe find out about it a bit sooner so that I had more time to pack!)

Arielle and Elissa's
prom picture

Sarah and Jeremy

As we wound down for the night you could tell everyone was starting to feel it.  This is the end.  At that point we had 2 weeks left.  Now we have less than one.  I think over the next few weeks we are all going to have a hard time reminding ourselves that sometimes the beginning comes disguised as the end and even though our time here with OTZMA in Israel is winding down, our lives are just gearing up.