After a long 7 hour drive, we finally arrived in the beautiful Los Angeles! Finally, we got some food and quickly got ready for Shabbat to come in! We gathered around with our old friends and new friends as we welcomed in our first Shabbat with NCSY, as we sang, danced and prayed all together, you could really feel the joy and love in the air. My favourite part was definitely when we lit the Shabbat candles all together. As I usually do this custom alongside my mom and grandmother, it was different but I really enjoyed sharing this with my closest friends! After all the celebrations, we sat down as a new, big family to eat Shabbat dinner! It was inspiring to hear the stories of Avi and all the other advisors.
Saturday brought in our first full rested day after a jam-packed week! We woke up and got dressed in our Shabbat clothes and joined our friends for breakfast and Krispy Kreme doughnuts as we discussed in our advisor groups the importance and responsibility of being Jewish. This discussion made us realize how special we are that we were picked as the chosen nation and we have to set an example for other Jews as well as other nations. As the day went on, we all enjoyed each other’s company as we played board games and socialized with all the new people that we have met.
This brought us to our last hour of Shabbat. We had a very meaningful and inspiring ending to a great day as we all sat together to sing and hear more of Avi’s stories which then led us into the havdalah ceremony. We stood together to sing as I had the honour to hold the havdalah candle!
To finish off the night we continued our celebrations at Santa Monica Pier. Even though we got soaked from all the rain, we had a blast! As we walked on the boardwalk, we saw the beach, the shops and we also had the chance to win some prizes as souvenirs! A part of the night that will stay with a lot of us for the rest of our lives was when we saw a little kid try to make a basketball shot on one of the pier games. As these games are super hard even for us, we helped this boy score in order to win a prize that he’ll cherish forever. One of the best parts of the night had to be when we reunited with our recently married beloved Devora Tanny, who we missed so much! We cannot wait for the rest of this amazing trip!
Thank you NCSY and all the people here on the trip for making this an unforgettable experience!

Skye Amon and Arie Baazov