I started my internship at Search for Common Ground about two weeks about (this week will be my third week). It has been a generally good experience minus the commute of two hours each way. If I lived in Jerusalem I would probably go more. In fact I feel that because I am at Search for only two days a week I haven't really become integrated and formed a larger understanding of the ins and outs of the organization. That said, i'm very excited to participate in some of the bigger events and conferences.
While I'm interning at search I have been looking for an Ulpan. I was attempting to try to do an evening Ulpan but those are very limited in Tel Aviv. While I took a tests and got placed in an evening Ulpan I might ask to switch to one in the morning so that I can get a better experience with more hours. Meanwhile, I'm interviewing for various jobs and meeting with people from various nonprofits trying to figure out what I want to do in Israel for the next two plus years. I always thought I would work in nonprofits and when I discovered you can work in the international field and make a good living I decided to look more into international development, which I had a background in coming from an international studies BA and an internship at the International Law Institute in DC.
That all went to shit when I decided to move to Israel. There aren't as many jobs in Israel in international development or Middle East affairs in general. Those that have to do with Middle East affairs often have some Israel spin on it, serving Israel's interests in some way. I found a niche in utilizing my skills and background in the Middle East at Max Security Solutions, but when I decided my discomfort with working on Shabbat and holidays and inability to have a normal social life due to the odd hours at Max outweighed the my career interests there I quit.
Now I am interning at Search for the Common Ground, a peacebuilding and coexistence organization (one of many in Israel). While I think it would be an interesting place to work at, the idea of moving to Jerusalem seems like a financially and even socially potentially hard idea. I am just starting to make friends and I hear the pay in nonprofits is like 5,000 NIS a month the equivalent of about $18,000/year. That kills me the most, salaries here are shit, especially in nonprofits. While I would definitely be making between $45-$50k in DC something that might seem like a low salary for a Master's in the US, here it's a joke. I could be working at Starbucks in the US and be making the same wage. It hurts even more that cost of living (outside of rent in DC and NYC) is higher here. A meal if you go out to eat will be cheap at $9, average $14, and expensive $35. Coffee is the most expensive here, for a small (which is like a mini in the US) it is $3 a large $6. Yea twice I ordered an iced coffee (would've been $2.50 in the states maybe) and it was over $6.
Anyways it extremely disincentives you to go into the nonprofit sector. So I'm considering other things. But only things I think I would enjoy and would utilize my research and writing backgrounds. Things such as social media marketing/blog posting, editing, business analytics, consulting etc. I am also currently taking a course on Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets. I met this girl Liat who is really sweet and awesome who is working for the Pears Program for International Development. Hopefully through this course I can discover a little more about what I want to do in terms of international development and conflict resolution.
Anyways, still working on sorting out my life 4 months into my aliyah. Still haven't done so many things a) taken an ulpan b) filled my prescription for Humira c) found work or a job of sorts
So there is a lot to be figured out and things are a bit more difficult here without fluent Hebrew (something I didn't need in the U.S.).
While I'm interning at search I have been looking for an Ulpan. I was attempting to try to do an evening Ulpan but those are very limited in Tel Aviv. While I took a tests and got placed in an evening Ulpan I might ask to switch to one in the morning so that I can get a better experience with more hours. Meanwhile, I'm interviewing for various jobs and meeting with people from various nonprofits trying to figure out what I want to do in Israel for the next two plus years. I always thought I would work in nonprofits and when I discovered you can work in the international field and make a good living I decided to look more into international development, which I had a background in coming from an international studies BA and an internship at the International Law Institute in DC.
That all went to shit when I decided to move to Israel. There aren't as many jobs in Israel in international development or Middle East affairs in general. Those that have to do with Middle East affairs often have some Israel spin on it, serving Israel's interests in some way. I found a niche in utilizing my skills and background in the Middle East at Max Security Solutions, but when I decided my discomfort with working on Shabbat and holidays and inability to have a normal social life due to the odd hours at Max outweighed the my career interests there I quit.
Now I am interning at Search for the Common Ground, a peacebuilding and coexistence organization (one of many in Israel). While I think it would be an interesting place to work at, the idea of moving to Jerusalem seems like a financially and even socially potentially hard idea. I am just starting to make friends and I hear the pay in nonprofits is like 5,000 NIS a month the equivalent of about $18,000/year. That kills me the most, salaries here are shit, especially in nonprofits. While I would definitely be making between $45-$50k in DC something that might seem like a low salary for a Master's in the US, here it's a joke. I could be working at Starbucks in the US and be making the same wage. It hurts even more that cost of living (outside of rent in DC and NYC) is higher here. A meal if you go out to eat will be cheap at $9, average $14, and expensive $35. Coffee is the most expensive here, for a small (which is like a mini in the US) it is $3 a large $6. Yea twice I ordered an iced coffee (would've been $2.50 in the states maybe) and it was over $6.
Anyways it extremely disincentives you to go into the nonprofit sector. So I'm considering other things. But only things I think I would enjoy and would utilize my research and writing backgrounds. Things such as social media marketing/blog posting, editing, business analytics, consulting etc. I am also currently taking a course on Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets. I met this girl Liat who is really sweet and awesome who is working for the Pears Program for International Development. Hopefully through this course I can discover a little more about what I want to do in terms of international development and conflict resolution.
Anyways, still working on sorting out my life 4 months into my aliyah. Still haven't done so many things a) taken an ulpan b) filled my prescription for Humira c) found work or a job of sorts
So there is a lot to be figured out and things are a bit more difficult here without fluent Hebrew (something I didn't need in the U.S.).
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