By Joshua A Villanueva

(Edited by Stacey Miller)                                                                 (Below:) Josh Villanueva (r) and friends                 

  
My 3-week experience working with other volunteers in the international youth program was overall quite enjoyable and informative. Although living conditions were austere as in no AC, lots of mosquitoes, and flat beds,  I actually enjoyed being in an environment where I was pushed physically both at work and afterwards.
 
 The food was not so much a part of the day's challenges. It was not  gourmet but balanced and relatively tasty. It is only the repetition  of the types of food that gets you. Of course, I didn't join Sar-El
 just to eat and be in the sun. I was curious to meet Israeli soldiers and other volunteers of a similar age.

 At work on the tank storage fields, I was with three great Israeli  soldiers who spoke pretty decent English. They were patient in  helping us learn our duties and we shared personal stories and lots
 of laughs together. At night, I might join a soccer game amongst  volunteers and Israelis. I even taught a few Israelis some salsa  moves one night after they saw me tutoring a friend from Holland on
 some steps.  
 
 There was a lot of Camaraderie amongst the 23 or so volunteers on our  base. We came from two European countries, Guatemala, US, and Canada  and were about half Christian and Half Jewish. I had assumed that the  group would be mostly Jewish, but we all bonded very well regardless
 of the difference of religion and of no one preached their specific  brand of religion on the base. We would often have some evening  activity planned by the madrichot to attend together, one of the most
 interesting being the surprise military exercises at nighttime.

 Regardless of the planned activities, we all usually got together at  the courtyard at night. A group of 11 of us even went to Haifa  together one weekend.
 
 Helping out at a military base was a great experience. It gave me a  glimpse into the life of Israelis of my same age and helped strengthen  my connection with the country.