25 אוגוסט | 2024

Tanya's Journey with Finding Community in Eilat

When I came to Israel (almost) 3 years ago, one of my priority tasks was to find a community of like-minded people. In my home country, Ukraine, I left behind many friends, and I hoped to nurture social connections in my new place of residence as well.

TALMA placed me at two high schools where I was lucky to meet professional teachers, which was a great start for social networking. When I look back at the times of the pandemic (I joined the TALMA fam in 2020), I consider myself lucky. When most of the students worldwide were studying online, I taught at one of my schools ("Branco Weiss" HS for at risk youth) in person. Teaching on campus, I learned first hand that even though technology has changed the ways people interact with others in their daily lives, it hasn't affected the basic need to form supportive bonds with other people.

To maintain a proper work-social life balance, I also started looking for ways to expand my circle of friends outside of the teachers' community. Being a native Russian and Ukrainian speaker, I was lucky to build my particular social cohort offline as there are lots of interest groups the Russian-speaking community here in Israel has founded.

I was blessed to meet people who, like me, are in love with music. Thanks to them I joined a vocal ensemble at one of the city's community centers. I’ve been practising with them over the past 3 years, and in March 2023 we gave a concert dedicated to the 15th anniversary of our ensemble. (It so happened, by the way, that about 2 months ago I became part of another music group which has more of a jazz focus and is particularly interesting to collaborate with.)

The war in Ukraine resulted in a big aliyah of Russian intelligentsia. Eilat is lucky to have gotten some famous writers, dancers and theater directors, one of which started a drama club here. I have always thought that a good teacher is a talented actor, so I tried my luck and was accepted. We gave 2 shows in May and are getting ready for two more in early July. We do not only study drama, but also attend various workshops and go to plays at other theaters.

There are many local groups here that are always in need of volunteers. It was an enriching (although quite challenging) experience teaching English to 7th graders at the "Beit Rubin" community center this year. The program is called פלא ("Magic"), and it was thrilling and magical to see how the kids, whose behavior was often difficult to manage, slowly opened up and started speaking English.

As someone who had always played trivia games in her home country, I was lucky to find a group here. We do not only play together, but also get together on holidays and go on trips together. Also, there are many opportunities for doing group sports in Eilat. The permanently warm weather is just right to do yoga, pilates or fitness on the city’s pretty beaches all the year round. Moreover, thanks to the municipality of Eilat these group activities are free of charge and anyone can join.

So, if you are considering joining the TALMA fam and teaching in Israel, this might be a wonderful opportunity for you to not only gain new teaching experience and grow as an educator, but also get a chance to find flourishing social circles, as well as start friendships which can have many benefits for your body, soul and mind.

טטיאנה ("טניה") פנקובה

עמית אילת 2020 - בהווה