Whats up guys, yesterday we went hang gliding which was absolutely ridiculous. we were carried by a miniature plane up to 3000 feet in the air and all we had supporting us was a enlarged kite. Nevertheless it was amazing, the combination of the beautiful scenery and the intense mid air tricks made it all worth while. Today we plan to go rock climbing, and finish it off with a little saran wrap sumo fighting back at the house.

Roman Fazylov

Our first shabbos has come to an end tonight
It has brought us much insight
Into our life-
both Jewish and non
bringing deep contemplation upon

Remember it we will
Forget it- oh no
This shabbos will not go
First for many, but important for all
After oneg, a few took a fall

But stand up we do
For the extremeness must continue
Paintball tomorrow and much more to come
This Aish Connections stuff really is pretty fun
So that’s all for now- you bloggers keep reading
Cause our little extreme Jew hearts keep beating and beating

When I first came across the description of this trip, I knew that I had to do whatever it takes to make it in. So here I am and I’m not disappointed one bit! We have a great group of athletic guys really enthusiastic about having a good time and living life to the fullest. So far we’ve enjoyed a fun lesson with trapeze experts who actually got us all to do some fun tricks of our own. Today, we got our butts kicked by drill sergeants who made our High school gym coaches look like pushovers. Though we don’t take it easy during the day, or at night for that matter, we always wake up bright and early to get a chance to learn about our Jewish heritage.

-Vitaly

Most of us have seen the movie White Men Can’t Jump and those who have not, have heard about it. (You know it’s that movie with Woody Harrelson, back when he had hair & Wesley Snipes before he was arrested for tax evasion, man those were the days) Well let me tell you, we have just proven this to be a lie. We are into day 2 and have just finished our session at the Trapeze school. It has been an amazing time and everyone got to have their go on the trapeze and the other activities such as sword fighting, bar walking, rope acrobatics and suspended trampolining. It was AWESOME! Everyone got into it and before you knew it, we were strapped in and flying all over the place. If there was a Jewish version of Superman, we were it. We were all safely harnessed, cautious and treading carefully on the high boards. We managed to do the flipping and the flopping and the hanging with the falling and the twisting and the whole thingamy jig. We jumped people, we all jumped! You see, not only can white men jump, but white Jewish men can also jump. We can jump no problem with the help of bungee chords, safety ropes, safety nets, trained assistance, medical officials standing by, morale support and a lot of courage. White men can jump indeed.

We are heading off to hear a guest speaker in the city and then it just gets more and more extreme after that!

Hi my name is David Piatek, when I first got here I thought it would be a bunch of nerdy Jews and a lot of extensive learning with a lot of restrictions and rules. I was wrong when I got here everyone was a lot like me social, energetic, and just an all around bowl of excitement. I was expecting to live in a hostel with not a lot of space or privacy, but I was wrong again it is a comfortable, sound, and big. Our first extreme activity encounter was the exploration of the empire state building and although we weren’t allowed to BASE jump it the view was in creditable as well as the new friends I made during the day. Although the flight in and two buses to get here made me personally tired I pushed on though the night as me and my new friends explored this new and passionate city. Overall this trip the first day in is turning into an experience that I hopefully never forget (in a good way). So in conclusion I have to thank all the people here for being kind and friendly toward one another and thank my mother for paying for the trip even though she hasn’t stopped texting me about being safe just yet.