Wednesday, October 31, 2007
FINALLY
so for the last week ive been sans the INTERNETZ. yes its been horrible and quite frankly, as many otzmanikim can attest, ive been loosing my mind...something to the effect of a government conspiracy. Anyways point being my laptop is back in some sort of working order after hours of hard labor and many sheqalim im online GET INTO IT!!!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Duh!
So just a quick little update, I have of course been re-instated in class, as well as the other 4 students. After two fabulous morning meetings we are back to the status quo.
Besides that I went to my second volunteer site, Be'er Sova, the soup kitchen/restaurant this evening. It was awesome, we set up the place, served the families (in evreet of course, because we are talmidim tovim) and set out the activity we had created for them. We made a giant puzzle on poster board, cut it up and had everyone color it however they wanted and then they had to piece it together themselves. The mothers worked with the children and it was a pretty moving experience. I don't how I would be dealing with living here if I didn't get to be involved with opportunities like this.
Anne
Besides that I went to my second volunteer site, Be'er Sova, the soup kitchen/restaurant this evening. It was awesome, we set up the place, served the families (in evreet of course, because we are talmidim tovim) and set out the activity we had created for them. We made a giant puzzle on poster board, cut it up and had everyone color it however they wanted and then they had to piece it together themselves. The mothers worked with the children and it was a pretty moving experience. I don't how I would be dealing with living here if I didn't get to be involved with opportunities like this.
Anne
Monday, October 22, 2007
BANNED!
You read that correctly, banned, ME, from ulpan! We'll get there, but let's start at a convenient place...the beginning.
So since we last chatted (that is what we do, you and I, it's a dialog, I just happen to talk a lot) I've just been hanging 'round the mercaz, stayed here for a second weekend in a row. I've yet to figure out what kind of logic I applied to come up with that decision, but such as life. Thursday night a few of us (the cute ones of course, orrr just the ones who also opted to stay here in Be'er Sheva) decided to go late night bowling. So after my test in ulpan (you know while I was still invited to attend class), which I obviously aced *edit - aced here could mean many different things, not all of which are positive* I thought it pertinent to quickly drink something along the lines of exactly 6 Stella's (good choice right, and a .2% higher alcohol content than Carlsburg, not that I looked)
, put on the best damned bowling outfit I could find, toasted Michaela and had an entire beer bottle explode onto my adorable cowboy sheets (operative word BOTTLE 
, that means glass...everywhere, in small shards, ugh I had to wash my sheets...well I mean for the first time...and three days later once Sharon got home from her sensible weekend on the OUTSIDE and I couldn't realistically sleep in her bed any more), and headed to HaBig - which honestly has turned out to have the solution to all of life's problems. It is quite possibly the largest strip mall I've about ever seen, and I've never seen so many knock off American store chains like best buy (lowercase letters obviously, they wouldn't want to be cited for copyright infringement, they are two DIFFERENT companies, with the same name that sell virtually the exact same things, it's coincidence). Anyways of course above the grocery store is a pool hall, which not that we need another aside in this drawn out blog, but pool tables in Israel must be at least twice the size of a regulation size table and the balls smaller, in a completely unrelated matter they charge you for the balls by the hour...ANYWAYS again, next to the pool hall is a bowling alley, so we saddled up with a few half pints and some nifty shoes. For some reason my coordination wasn't up to par, I think I broke 25 so thats an accomplishment.
(Sarah Cohen, go get 'em girl!)
Point being, we made it out of the mercaz and did something fun, it was a good time. I'm relatively certain I called both of my parents several times, incidentally I think it was some of the better conversation we've had.
The rest of the weekend there's not much to share, I don't remember leaving my apartment often, Be'er Sheva does that to you, it's kind of like a dementor, sometimes it just sucks all the happiness out of the room
(I'm aware I used a Harry Potter reference, and all I have to say about that is that I'm not quite sure why it took so long). In defense of the weekend I will say that Jen, Sarah, Sam, Michaela, Tzeira and I did put together a nice little Shabbat evening. A lovely mish mish (apricot), honey chicken with kosher mashed potatoes (thanks me), and Tzeira's chicken noodle soup, which has gained quite a cult following already. Good times. Oh and how could I forget the freezer dramz, of course our freezer completely iced over and it was a CRISIS. Sam, Sarah and I, in our Be'er Sheva induced delirium hacked away at the ice with knives and boiled water in the kum kum and thought somehow we could just poor that all over the ice. After like a half hour, of what could be summed up as insanity, we did manage to finally thaw enough of it that our refrigerator would actually close, so all in all a success (for now, I give it like a week until it happens again). Yesterday, I went to class, had a few meetings, prepped for some volunteer stuff, managed not to sleep again - it's becoming something of a talent, nay an art.
But today was really pretty wonderful, I woke up bazman (on time), had some yogurt with dates, made my usual cup of coffee with kane sugar and soy milk and headed to ulpan. During first break it just really wasn't working out today, so I went home to nap before Atidim. Woke up again bazman for that, and it was really honestly amazing. Leore, Eric, Lauren and I went to Tel Sheva (an Arab Bedouin village about 20 minutes cab ride from here) with chocolate in tow (it really is the answer to all balagan (chaos)), and we finally met with our students. Not to trash the Israeli Jewish kids but sometimes they are just too cool, and I know you know what I mean, but these kids were different, they're degree of separation from us was just that tiny bit greater that they really appreciated us being there. I think they might have asked me more questions than I asked them. We went around the room and gave everyone a different (well choice of four) piece of chocolate, the kind corresponded with a specific question and we made all of the kids tell us their name and then their favorite movie/music/hobby/food.
(lesson plans!)For being 15 years old, in an isolated Arab village in Israel, where the teachers are all on strike and having to already have prior knowledge of both Arabic and Hebrew, these kids were amazing. A couple of them were completely fluent and the ones who struggled still put forth honest effort. A couple of the girls told me they'd teach me to cook Arabic foods, and the boys bragged about their girlfriends, the girls of course didn't have boyfriends as per cultural restraints and they were horrified that me, a 20 year old girl, wasn't married or at least in a relationship. One of the kids fathers has three wives, and all of the girls but one were wearing at least hijab and complete body covering. 
(some of our kids) Not your typical Monday afternoon I suppose, but so worthwhile. It was the first time I really felt my impact in any real sense, trying to figure out with my broken Hebrew what word they needed me to explain to them in English, and laughing with them when we didn't connect the languages but still understood what the other meant. I don't know it's difficult to explain in words, I just really remember the cab ride back where all four of us were hurriedly telling one another all of the amazing things we heard and gushing about how wonderful we thought the kids were. (I can count to ten in Arabic now, look out).
When we got back I had a meeting with MASA for a graduate seminar that meets over the course of three weekends to build future leadership in the Jewish community strengthening the ties between the diaspora communities and Israel. I think my interview went really well and I hopefully don't have anything to worry about, but I'll know for sure tomorrow. That led into our weekly meeting with our madrakah (counselor) Jenny and an informational session by Livnot (the final option we have for track 1.5). It sounded really, really fascinated, but I'm still pretty focused on getting into Pardes, I think three weeks of 8 hours a day intensive text study, as insane as I know that sounds, is exactly what I need to finally be able to know that I am a Jew - with all that that entails. But more interestingly, after the meetings Jenny asked me, Sam, Kate, Aaron and Stephanie to stay after. Seeing as we were the five people who either didn't show up or left class early today it was relatively obvious what that was about. Welllllll, we are all currently banned from going back to class until we meet with the manager of all of mercaz klita ye'elim ulpan EDNA. That should be interesting, you win this round Meerit (and I'd assume all following rounds, power game well played). So I have that to look forward to tomorrow morning before I obviously get re-accepted into ulpan, and then have to disrupt everyone when I come in 45 minutes late. Oh life, oh, Israel, you would, you just would.
Ughgh well after that incident, Lauren and I made what could potentially be considered the best salad in the history of salads, or at least of salads on OTZMA 22. Field greens, sauteed mushrooms/red onions/red, orange and yellow bell peppers/potatoes, goat cheese, cherry tomatoes and of course homemade honey-Dijon vinaigrette. Then those of use working at the modified soup kitchen put together a giant puzzle out of poster board that the kids can color in and put together tomorrow after dinner, cutttte.
That's all for now
I'll let you know if for any reason I don't regain my postition in kita alef, wouldn't that just be something.
update - I did get accepted to the BFL MASA graduate seminar, I mean not surprisingly, I am (not) a college graduate, who has(n't) had lots of experience working in the Jewish world at large. I jest, I jest, this should be a really great experience and I'm looking forward to my first weekend, starting Thursday, in Jerusalem. (take that Meerit, looks like I HAVE to miss class now!)
not this MASA, although I'd like to find out more...
A PE G-P
So since we last chatted (that is what we do, you and I, it's a dialog, I just happen to talk a lot) I've just been hanging 'round the mercaz, stayed here for a second weekend in a row. I've yet to figure out what kind of logic I applied to come up with that decision, but such as life. Thursday night a few of us (the cute ones of course, orrr just the ones who also opted to stay here in Be'er Sheva) decided to go late night bowling. So after my test in ulpan (you know while I was still invited to attend class), which I obviously aced *edit - aced here could mean many different things, not all of which are positive* I thought it pertinent to quickly drink something along the lines of exactly 6 Stella's (good choice right, and a .2% higher alcohol content than Carlsburg, not that I looked)
, put on the best damned bowling outfit I could find, toasted Michaela and had an entire beer bottle explode onto my adorable cowboy sheets (operative word BOTTLE , that means glass...everywhere, in small shards, ugh I had to wash my sheets...well I mean for the first time...and three days later once Sharon got home from her sensible weekend on the OUTSIDE and I couldn't realistically sleep in her bed any more), and headed to HaBig - which honestly has turned out to have the solution to all of life's problems. It is quite possibly the largest strip mall I've about ever seen, and I've never seen so many knock off American store chains like best buy (lowercase letters obviously, they wouldn't want to be cited for copyright infringement, they are two DIFFERENT companies, with the same name that sell virtually the exact same things, it's coincidence). Anyways of course above the grocery store is a pool hall, which not that we need another aside in this drawn out blog, but pool tables in Israel must be at least twice the size of a regulation size table and the balls smaller, in a completely unrelated matter they charge you for the balls by the hour...ANYWAYS again, next to the pool hall is a bowling alley, so we saddled up with a few half pints and some nifty shoes. For some reason my coordination wasn't up to par, I think I broke 25 so thats an accomplishment.(Sarah Cohen, go get 'em girl!)Point being, we made it out of the mercaz and did something fun, it was a good time. I'm relatively certain I called both of my parents several times, incidentally I think it was some of the better conversation we've had.
The rest of the weekend there's not much to share, I don't remember leaving my apartment often, Be'er Sheva does that to you, it's kind of like a dementor, sometimes it just sucks all the happiness out of the room
(I'm aware I used a Harry Potter reference, and all I have to say about that is that I'm not quite sure why it took so long). In defense of the weekend I will say that Jen, Sarah, Sam, Michaela, Tzeira and I did put together a nice little Shabbat evening. A lovely mish mish (apricot), honey chicken with kosher mashed potatoes (thanks me), and Tzeira's chicken noodle soup, which has gained quite a cult following already. Good times. Oh and how could I forget the freezer dramz, of course our freezer completely iced over and it was a CRISIS. Sam, Sarah and I, in our Be'er Sheva induced delirium hacked away at the ice with knives and boiled water in the kum kum and thought somehow we could just poor that all over the ice. After like a half hour, of what could be summed up as insanity, we did manage to finally thaw enough of it that our refrigerator would actually close, so all in all a success (for now, I give it like a week until it happens again). Yesterday, I went to class, had a few meetings, prepped for some volunteer stuff, managed not to sleep again - it's becoming something of a talent, nay an art.But today was really pretty wonderful, I woke up bazman (on time), had some yogurt with dates, made my usual cup of coffee with kane sugar and soy milk and headed to ulpan. During first break it just really wasn't working out today, so I went home to nap before Atidim. Woke up again bazman for that, and it was really honestly amazing. Leore, Eric, Lauren and I went to Tel Sheva (an Arab Bedouin village about 20 minutes cab ride from here) with chocolate in tow (it really is the answer to all balagan (chaos)), and we finally met with our students. Not to trash the Israeli Jewish kids but sometimes they are just too cool, and I know you know what I mean, but these kids were different, they're degree of separation from us was just that tiny bit greater that they really appreciated us being there. I think they might have asked me more questions than I asked them. We went around the room and gave everyone a different (well choice of four) piece of chocolate, the kind corresponded with a specific question and we made all of the kids tell us their name and then their favorite movie/music/hobby/food.
(lesson plans!)For being 15 years old, in an isolated Arab village in Israel, where the teachers are all on strike and having to already have prior knowledge of both Arabic and Hebrew, these kids were amazing. A couple of them were completely fluent and the ones who struggled still put forth honest effort. A couple of the girls told me they'd teach me to cook Arabic foods, and the boys bragged about their girlfriends, the girls of course didn't have boyfriends as per cultural restraints and they were horrified that me, a 20 year old girl, wasn't married or at least in a relationship. One of the kids fathers has three wives, and all of the girls but one were wearing at least hijab and complete body covering. (some of our kids) Not your typical Monday afternoon I suppose, but so worthwhile. It was the first time I really felt my impact in any real sense, trying to figure out with my broken Hebrew what word they needed me to explain to them in English, and laughing with them when we didn't connect the languages but still understood what the other meant. I don't know it's difficult to explain in words, I just really remember the cab ride back where all four of us were hurriedly telling one another all of the amazing things we heard and gushing about how wonderful we thought the kids were. (I can count to ten in Arabic now, look out).When we got back I had a meeting with MASA for a graduate seminar that meets over the course of three weekends to build future leadership in the Jewish community strengthening the ties between the diaspora communities and Israel. I think my interview went really well and I hopefully don't have anything to worry about, but I'll know for sure tomorrow. That led into our weekly meeting with our madrakah (counselor) Jenny and an informational session by Livnot (the final option we have for track 1.5). It sounded really, really fascinated, but I'm still pretty focused on getting into Pardes, I think three weeks of 8 hours a day intensive text study, as insane as I know that sounds, is exactly what I need to finally be able to know that I am a Jew - with all that that entails. But more interestingly, after the meetings Jenny asked me, Sam, Kate, Aaron and Stephanie to stay after. Seeing as we were the five people who either didn't show up or left class early today it was relatively obvious what that was about. Welllllll, we are all currently banned from going back to class until we meet with the manager of all of mercaz klita ye'elim ulpan EDNA. That should be interesting, you win this round Meerit (and I'd assume all following rounds, power game well played). So I have that to look forward to tomorrow morning before I obviously get re-accepted into ulpan, and then have to disrupt everyone when I come in 45 minutes late. Oh life, oh, Israel, you would, you just would.
Ughgh well after that incident, Lauren and I made what could potentially be considered the best salad in the history of salads, or at least of salads on OTZMA 22. Field greens, sauteed mushrooms/red onions/red, orange and yellow bell peppers/potatoes, goat cheese, cherry tomatoes and of course homemade honey-Dijon vinaigrette. Then those of use working at the modified soup kitchen put together a giant puzzle out of poster board that the kids can color in and put together tomorrow after dinner, cutttte.
That's all for now
I'll let you know if for any reason I don't regain my postition in kita alef, wouldn't that just be something.
update - I did get accepted to the BFL MASA graduate seminar, I mean not surprisingly, I am (not) a college graduate, who has(n't) had lots of experience working in the Jewish world at large. I jest, I jest, this should be a really great experience and I'm looking forward to my first weekend, starting Thursday, in Jerusalem. (take that Meerit, looks like I HAVE to miss class now!)
not this MASA, although I'd like to find out more...A PE G-P
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Journey
GOOD NEWS everyone, apparently my blog has finally made it big time (it's been long enough)! I was just recently informed that I happen have a very special subscriber. So here's to you, Mrs. Barbara Fringer, thanks much for being interested enough to read my ramblings, in all honesty it does mean a lot.
In other news I'm no longer in a funk. Maybe it's because I finally stopped sulking and got out of bed, or maybe it's because miraculously everything started going exactly my way, WHO KNOWS. I'd obviously like to say it's because I got out of bed and took initiative, but realistically I got lucky on this one. Yesterday I went to Jerusalem for the MASA (just to connect the title, MASA means journey) seminar I previously wrote about, and it ended up being wonderful and exactly what I needed. A day away from the Mercaz, and a day away from everyone - not that I dislike anyone, but like Eric said "lacking a television, the human drama of our group becomes so compelling" however sometimes it becomes TOO much and it turns out that I don't want to see the same faces at every meal, every class, every meeting, every everything. And thankfully yesterday I got to meet other kids here on semester or year courses being sponsored by MASA from all around the world. One, it made me not feel so alone in what it is that I'm doing, and two it was just nice to see some fresh faces. The seminars were fascinating, enough so that even when I did "accidentally" fall asleep at one point, I got some coffee (what I will approximate as being my 12th cup of the day) downed it (it was of course gross because Israelis drink instant coffee) checked back in, and soldiered through. We learned how to succinctly talk about our stories and how to sell MASA to potential donors, which apparently all look like old Jewish women from Palm Beach, luckily that's what I expected (and also kind of what I envision all donors for everything as being). I now also possess the ability to convince Bill Gates to give me money after meeting him in an elevator in only 30 seconds, that's what they TOLD me and they wouldn't LIE. **Disclaimer** this might have been during the time I was asleep, so don't hold me to it. The day wrapped up around 8 and Josh and I boarded a bus back to Be'er Sheva, having eaten meals we didn't have to pay for, annnd with new numbers of people we can talk to. I don't even care if I liked them (thankfully I did) they're getting called this weekend.
On top of all that my group (Leore, Lauren, Eric and myself) actually did get a call back from Atidim (the volunteer project working with gifted students in the general area to help increase their English abilities). Seeing as teachers all across the country are on strike, just getting called in was surprising in and of itself, but not only that we did end up getting a Bedouin village like I had been hoping for. Because of the strike school is obviously not in session, so I suppose that makes what we are doing extra special as the kids selected are going to be meeting with us Mondays on their own time. Yesterday the three others in my group wen to meet with advisers while I was in Yerushalayim, and all of their feedback sounded really positive. Apparently the kids are really excited to be working with us and it's supposedly a stark contrast to what we have become used to as far as Israeli society, seeing as this is an Arab village. The kids aren't used to having Jewish Israeli's help them get into university, no less American's, and from what I've heard they are completely baffled by our interest in them. We also get the distinct pleasure of being allowed (allowed here means forced) to wear long pants and sleeves at all times, which here in the desert is what I normally feel most comfortable in, obviously. Joking there aside this should prove to be deeply fascinating work, not only the volunteer aspect, but the real life perspective I'll be presented with in working with a group of Arab Muslims who live their everyday life within the boarders of Israel.
Not only that but a third volunteer opportunity of mine has also happened to work out, this one actually does meet on Tuesdays regularly, so again I had to miss it because of the MASA seminar. Lucky for me Eric and I have virtually all of the same interests (except I don't sail, nor do I drink Framboise) so he's involved in this as well. Once a week we are helping transform a soup kitchen into a family friendly restaurant for poor families in the area to come in and bring their small children to dine in a safe environment. We act as decorators, hosts, waiters, and event staff, with activities we plan and set up after every meal. I did get to meet with the woman on Monday, where we went over the way the whole project is run, and Eric told me the whole evening went smoothly and was a great experience for everyone. So again I have that to look forward to.
It's interesting how in just a couple days everything can just turn around, not only am I not blah anymore I'm specifically happy and feeling like I'm wanted and needed. I was hand picked for both the MASA seminar and to be a part of the soup kitchen family night, and I'm realizing I have a lot to offer here. It might be fall in America, but it's fall in Israel too, even if that means we get creepy 2 minute rain showers and it's still 40 million degrees outside (that was supposed to be silver lining,so please go with it).
We have a test in Ulpan tomorrow, that's going to be a bitch, apparently missing class (even for volunteer opportunities! {and general exhaustion*, of course}) does not make you caught up with everyone else. Mah (what) are you going to do about it, right? Right. On top of that we are also having to pick what it is that we would like to do for track 1 1/2 (the three weeks separating tracks 1 and 2). Our options are between serious text study in Jerusalem at Pardes, alternative spiritual development/discovery and volunteer work with Livnot in Tzfat, 3 weeks with Sar-El doing manual labor on a military base (in uniform of course), or staying in Be'er Sheva to work on our Hebrew and experiencing some cultural things here like theater and museums. I had originally only been considering Sar-El (I thought it would be worthwhile to try to understand the mindset of a people who KNOW they have to serve in the armed forces, and I figured it would probably help me to connect better with Israelis), or staying here to work on my Hebrew; but in the last 24 or so hours I've made a complete turn around. Yesterday I met some people who had done Livnot and two others that are currently enrolled at Pardes full time, and both groups gave really compelling arguments for their respective programs which really struck a cord with me. I think I'd most like to be at Pardes, one we get to spend Chanukkah in Jerusalem (and when else will I ever have the chance to live in Jerusalem again {probably in like a year when I make aliyah, beside the point}) but so much more than that I've never really taken the time to see where Judaism fits into my life religiously without me ever even having known it. Hopefully I will get picked to be one of the 15 kids going there, and I will get to focus my energies on G-d and religion as opposed to spirituality, and find if G-d (Jewish G-d) has a place in my being. Even if I walk away without having found that connection, I certainly won't be walking away the same person. Doing legitimate text study is inevitably going to enrich my life in ways I can't yet imagine, but am dying to figure them out, not to mention my deep fascination with religion in general. I almost can't imagine a better opportunity for me to be able to dive into as both and insider and outsider.
* so let me briefly explain to you the sleeping situation here, I'll draw my room for you and I'll allow you to deduce for yourself why occasionally (always) I have a difficult time sleeping (the picture will come after Brandon resizes it for me because I'm still incapable of doing anything for myself)
APEGP
In other news I'm no longer in a funk. Maybe it's because I finally stopped sulking and got out of bed, or maybe it's because miraculously everything started going exactly my way, WHO KNOWS. I'd obviously like to say it's because I got out of bed and took initiative, but realistically I got lucky on this one. Yesterday I went to Jerusalem for the MASA (just to connect the title, MASA means journey) seminar I previously wrote about, and it ended up being wonderful and exactly what I needed. A day away from the Mercaz, and a day away from everyone - not that I dislike anyone, but like Eric said "lacking a television, the human drama of our group becomes so compelling" however sometimes it becomes TOO much and it turns out that I don't want to see the same faces at every meal, every class, every meeting, every everything. And thankfully yesterday I got to meet other kids here on semester or year courses being sponsored by MASA from all around the world. One, it made me not feel so alone in what it is that I'm doing, and two it was just nice to see some fresh faces. The seminars were fascinating, enough so that even when I did "accidentally" fall asleep at one point, I got some coffee (what I will approximate as being my 12th cup of the day) downed it (it was of course gross because Israelis drink instant coffee) checked back in, and soldiered through. We learned how to succinctly talk about our stories and how to sell MASA to potential donors, which apparently all look like old Jewish women from Palm Beach, luckily that's what I expected (and also kind of what I envision all donors for everything as being). I now also possess the ability to convince Bill Gates to give me money after meeting him in an elevator in only 30 seconds, that's what they TOLD me and they wouldn't LIE. **Disclaimer** this might have been during the time I was asleep, so don't hold me to it. The day wrapped up around 8 and Josh and I boarded a bus back to Be'er Sheva, having eaten meals we didn't have to pay for, annnd with new numbers of people we can talk to. I don't even care if I liked them (thankfully I did) they're getting called this weekend.
On top of all that my group (Leore, Lauren, Eric and myself) actually did get a call back from Atidim (the volunteer project working with gifted students in the general area to help increase their English abilities). Seeing as teachers all across the country are on strike, just getting called in was surprising in and of itself, but not only that we did end up getting a Bedouin village like I had been hoping for. Because of the strike school is obviously not in session, so I suppose that makes what we are doing extra special as the kids selected are going to be meeting with us Mondays on their own time. Yesterday the three others in my group wen to meet with advisers while I was in Yerushalayim, and all of their feedback sounded really positive. Apparently the kids are really excited to be working with us and it's supposedly a stark contrast to what we have become used to as far as Israeli society, seeing as this is an Arab village. The kids aren't used to having Jewish Israeli's help them get into university, no less American's, and from what I've heard they are completely baffled by our interest in them. We also get the distinct pleasure of being allowed (allowed here means forced) to wear long pants and sleeves at all times, which here in the desert is what I normally feel most comfortable in, obviously. Joking there aside this should prove to be deeply fascinating work, not only the volunteer aspect, but the real life perspective I'll be presented with in working with a group of Arab Muslims who live their everyday life within the boarders of Israel.
Not only that but a third volunteer opportunity of mine has also happened to work out, this one actually does meet on Tuesdays regularly, so again I had to miss it because of the MASA seminar. Lucky for me Eric and I have virtually all of the same interests (except I don't sail, nor do I drink Framboise) so he's involved in this as well. Once a week we are helping transform a soup kitchen into a family friendly restaurant for poor families in the area to come in and bring their small children to dine in a safe environment. We act as decorators, hosts, waiters, and event staff, with activities we plan and set up after every meal. I did get to meet with the woman on Monday, where we went over the way the whole project is run, and Eric told me the whole evening went smoothly and was a great experience for everyone. So again I have that to look forward to.
It's interesting how in just a couple days everything can just turn around, not only am I not blah anymore I'm specifically happy and feeling like I'm wanted and needed. I was hand picked for both the MASA seminar and to be a part of the soup kitchen family night, and I'm realizing I have a lot to offer here. It might be fall in America, but it's fall in Israel too, even if that means we get creepy 2 minute rain showers and it's still 40 million degrees outside (that was supposed to be silver lining,so please go with it).
We have a test in Ulpan tomorrow, that's going to be a bitch, apparently missing class (even for volunteer opportunities! {and general exhaustion*, of course}) does not make you caught up with everyone else. Mah (what) are you going to do about it, right? Right. On top of that we are also having to pick what it is that we would like to do for track 1 1/2 (the three weeks separating tracks 1 and 2). Our options are between serious text study in Jerusalem at Pardes, alternative spiritual development/discovery and volunteer work with Livnot in Tzfat, 3 weeks with Sar-El doing manual labor on a military base (in uniform of course), or staying in Be'er Sheva to work on our Hebrew and experiencing some cultural things here like theater and museums. I had originally only been considering Sar-El (I thought it would be worthwhile to try to understand the mindset of a people who KNOW they have to serve in the armed forces, and I figured it would probably help me to connect better with Israelis), or staying here to work on my Hebrew; but in the last 24 or so hours I've made a complete turn around. Yesterday I met some people who had done Livnot and two others that are currently enrolled at Pardes full time, and both groups gave really compelling arguments for their respective programs which really struck a cord with me. I think I'd most like to be at Pardes, one we get to spend Chanukkah in Jerusalem (and when else will I ever have the chance to live in Jerusalem again {probably in like a year when I make aliyah, beside the point}) but so much more than that I've never really taken the time to see where Judaism fits into my life religiously without me ever even having known it. Hopefully I will get picked to be one of the 15 kids going there, and I will get to focus my energies on G-d and religion as opposed to spirituality, and find if G-d (Jewish G-d) has a place in my being. Even if I walk away without having found that connection, I certainly won't be walking away the same person. Doing legitimate text study is inevitably going to enrich my life in ways I can't yet imagine, but am dying to figure them out, not to mention my deep fascination with religion in general. I almost can't imagine a better opportunity for me to be able to dive into as both and insider and outsider.
* so let me briefly explain to you the sleeping situation here, I'll draw my room for you and I'll allow you to deduce for yourself why occasionally (always) I have a difficult time sleeping (the picture will come after Brandon resizes it for me because I'm still incapable of doing anything for myself)
APEGP
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Fall
so its officially fall in the united states, and not only that but its my favorite month OCTOBER. the weather is purrrfect, my mommy, daddy, and grandma (and a few friends) all turn a year older, and my favorite holiday ever falls right at the end.
its interesting to not be home for October, and certainly on days like today when I'm feeling a wee bit homesick its really of no comfort to know I'm missing not only everything i know but everything i look forward to every year {{(like lunching on the mall in front of the monument with friendies/having a very Cruzan Halloween as Paul Baldwin/still working at fucking Brio/or not being friends with Brandon yet (haha maybe thats why i miss it so much, JUST KIDDING BRANDY))}}.
I've been working really hard on remembering to recognize all of the things that i have in Israel that i cant have in the united states. things that will never be and therefore makes them special moments in my life....but like i said sometimes its just not so easy. especially when i look at a weekend like this past one where i barely even left the mercaz (besides clubbing in a strip mall (of course!) and that 25 dollar burger meal because i was going a little crazy - thanks payoneer) since we had a closed shabbat (aka you cant leave) because jesna (a jewish agency that works with jewish education in the world at large) came down for some seminars/programs and meals. the mercaz isn't exactly the hippest place in the whole fucking world and fact of the matter is the other people who live here aren't from Israel either so we don't even speak a common language with our neighbors. it gets pretty boring sometimes, and being that I'm aware all of my friends are going to pumpkin patches and haunted houses and planning their Halloween outfits and evenings makes me a little bit jealous. not only that but i wasn't even home to be with my parents on their birthdays or just walking around taking in the brisk weather and the turning of the leaves. i really never thought id get to a place in my life where i understood why my father always wanted to just drive around in autumn, well dad guess what i get it. America is fucking beautiful, and i suppose its nice to know that i really do love and appreciate the place that I'm from. some people here refer to missing home as in the specific town or city they are from and my whole life I've always felt like i didn't have a hometown, that i wasn't "from" anywhere, being a military brat and all, but now its clear to me...I'm from America. thats all just America god dammit, and i love the shit out of it.
(just like me!!!)
now as much as i do love America I'm not having doubts about being here, but i would be kidding myself and everyone else to tell them that everyday was amazing that or that i am taking full advantage of everything. some days just are harder, they just are worse, something things just are a disappointment - thats the way life works and to tell you anything else would be a misrepresentation of my my time here and of my own memories for myself.
all of that being said i am being offered once in a lifetime opportunities. early last week Dganit (basically the head of Otzma on the Israel end) came by for a bi-weekly meeting she has set up with us. she offhandedly mentioned a project two of us could sign up for if we wanted (assuming we just so happened to live in one of four areas she listed for our second track) to be publicly representing MASA, in meetings and commercials/other media outlets. i thought it would be an awesome thing to do and given the short list of things id actually be willing to do with my life as a career it certainly couldn't hurt. i told her she could toss my name into the hat along with all of the others, and i actually got it. so on Tuesday josh and i are busing into Jerusalem for the day to figure out exactly what the fuck MASA is, to learn how to publicly speak and who knows what else, should prove to be pretty cool. I guess i could probably cool it on the negative nancyism and focus myself on how lucky i am, i cant imagine that will happen but you never know!
alas homework time
A PE G-P
its interesting to not be home for October, and certainly on days like today when I'm feeling a wee bit homesick its really of no comfort to know I'm missing not only everything i know but everything i look forward to every year {{(like lunching on the mall in front of the monument with friendies/having a very Cruzan Halloween as Paul Baldwin/still working at fucking Brio/or not being friends with Brandon yet (haha maybe thats why i miss it so much, JUST KIDDING BRANDY))}}.
I've been working really hard on remembering to recognize all of the things that i have in Israel that i cant have in the united states. things that will never be and therefore makes them special moments in my life....but like i said sometimes its just not so easy. especially when i look at a weekend like this past one where i barely even left the mercaz (besides clubbing in a strip mall (of course!) and that 25 dollar burger meal because i was going a little crazy - thanks payoneer) since we had a closed shabbat (aka you cant leave) because jesna (a jewish agency that works with jewish education in the world at large) came down for some seminars/programs and meals. the mercaz isn't exactly the hippest place in the whole fucking world and fact of the matter is the other people who live here aren't from Israel either so we don't even speak a common language with our neighbors. it gets pretty boring sometimes, and being that I'm aware all of my friends are going to pumpkin patches and haunted houses and planning their Halloween outfits and evenings makes me a little bit jealous. not only that but i wasn't even home to be with my parents on their birthdays or just walking around taking in the brisk weather and the turning of the leaves. i really never thought id get to a place in my life where i understood why my father always wanted to just drive around in autumn, well dad guess what i get it. America is fucking beautiful, and i suppose its nice to know that i really do love and appreciate the place that I'm from. some people here refer to missing home as in the specific town or city they are from and my whole life I've always felt like i didn't have a hometown, that i wasn't "from" anywhere, being a military brat and all, but now its clear to me...I'm from America. thats all just America god dammit, and i love the shit out of it.
(just like me!!!)now as much as i do love America I'm not having doubts about being here, but i would be kidding myself and everyone else to tell them that everyday was amazing that or that i am taking full advantage of everything. some days just are harder, they just are worse, something things just are a disappointment - thats the way life works and to tell you anything else would be a misrepresentation of my my time here and of my own memories for myself.
all of that being said i am being offered once in a lifetime opportunities. early last week Dganit (basically the head of Otzma on the Israel end) came by for a bi-weekly meeting she has set up with us. she offhandedly mentioned a project two of us could sign up for if we wanted (assuming we just so happened to live in one of four areas she listed for our second track) to be publicly representing MASA, in meetings and commercials/other media outlets. i thought it would be an awesome thing to do and given the short list of things id actually be willing to do with my life as a career it certainly couldn't hurt. i told her she could toss my name into the hat along with all of the others, and i actually got it. so on Tuesday josh and i are busing into Jerusalem for the day to figure out exactly what the fuck MASA is, to learn how to publicly speak and who knows what else, should prove to be pretty cool. I guess i could probably cool it on the negative nancyism and focus myself on how lucky i am, i cant imagine that will happen but you never know!
alas homework time
A PE G-P
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
settling in
So now that sukkot break is over everyone seems to be settling into life here in the mercaz. Volunteer options are finally opening up now that the chagim (holidays) are over. However, that being said atidim (this program most of us signed for, working with teens in the area teaching them English, so that they have a chance to get into university), has been postponed potentially indefinitely (at least while we are here) because currently middle and high school teachers are all on strike throughout the country, demanding more funding. In the meantime we are all having to come up with other ways to keep ourselves busy. Why just this very afternoon some of us trekked on over the the senior citizen home at the end of the mercaz to see what they had to offer there. Not surprisingly their instructions were less than comprehensive, as a matter of fact every single thing I've been told in this country has been less than comprehensive. Its quite different than what we have all been used to coming from a country where there are printed outlines, rules and regulations for every single thing you might possibly want to do, and here they don't even tell you what they need help with its just kind of a guessing game.
other musings from around town...one our apartment smells absolutely wretched, perhaps something akin to burned red and white beans.
You might be saying Anne that sounds very specific, well that would be because last night the fire alarm got set off in the mercaz because red and white beans were burning on our stove. NBD (no big deal) now all of my clothing and my cowboy sheets make me want to vomit a little, again NBD. Yesterday we started past tense in Hebrew classes, apparently this means we are now at a second semester equivalent level - on day 11. I also finally learned block Hebrew which apparently is necessary, whatevers! One other thing is these damned door handles, I'm not sure who designed these but I'm really at a loss for what they were thinking. They are basically titanium daggers that jut outwards. 
My arms look like Ive had a serious intravenous heroin problem for quite some years after all the beatings they've taken just trying to walk into my room. Its real cute (you can quote me on that) For a long time I thought I was the only one too, so it was kind of embarrassing, aval (but) everyday someone else nonchalantly brings it up in conversation trying to see if its happened to other people. You'd think we would all learn to avoid ramming into door handles, apparently that's beyond us (I'm certainly not surprised with myself, I tend to run into a lot of things). Well we've got an educational evening planned with Jared, the funky educator. Tonight we are going to be learning about diaspora Jews, LIKE ME, it's optional but I'm choosing to go because I care, gam (also) I can't stand the smell of my own room and I would gladly go do anything else.
A PE W. G-P
other musings from around town...one our apartment smells absolutely wretched, perhaps something akin to burned red and white beans.
You might be saying Anne that sounds very specific, well that would be because last night the fire alarm got set off in the mercaz because red and white beans were burning on our stove. NBD (no big deal) now all of my clothing and my cowboy sheets make me want to vomit a little, again NBD. Yesterday we started past tense in Hebrew classes, apparently this means we are now at a second semester equivalent level - on day 11. I also finally learned block Hebrew which apparently is necessary, whatevers! One other thing is these damned door handles, I'm not sure who designed these but I'm really at a loss for what they were thinking. They are basically titanium daggers that jut outwards. My arms look like Ive had a serious intravenous heroin problem for quite some years after all the beatings they've taken just trying to walk into my room. Its real cute (you can quote me on that) For a long time I thought I was the only one too, so it was kind of embarrassing, aval (but) everyday someone else nonchalantly brings it up in conversation trying to see if its happened to other people. You'd think we would all learn to avoid ramming into door handles, apparently that's beyond us (I'm certainly not surprised with myself, I tend to run into a lot of things). Well we've got an educational evening planned with Jared, the funky educator. Tonight we are going to be learning about diaspora Jews, LIKE ME, it's optional but I'm choosing to go because I care, gam (also) I can't stand the smell of my own room and I would gladly go do anything else.
A PE W. G-P
Friday, October 5, 2007
Sukkot Break
Chag Samech everyone (i still am not 100% on what that means, but i bet by the end of my tour here i will)
well now what is sukkot, i certainly had no idea, so i wikipedia'd it for all of us
well turns out they went quite a bit more in depth than i had hoped for, so i kind of skimmed - what i do now know is that the word tabernacle is applicable to this 7 or 8 day holiday, that im supposed to eat all of my food in a sukkah
and something about a funny little citrus fruit called an etrog (which i had thought was just some sort of israeli lime that they ate all the time, i was wrong and apparently you cant just find them in the shuk...whatever) 
very jewish menz studying the etrog...i, of course, have no idea why they would do this
anywho so as far as my break was concerned some friendies of mine and i went down to tel aviv to start off the good times. lauren and i found someway to blow money on ridiculous things, like our hostel room for $72 a night (not A PIECE, sheesh but still right, its a fucking hostel) whatever it had AC, its own bathroom and a tv - all legit luxuries, or perhaps being swindled into spending $50 on goodies at the Midnight Grocery and More - a store that admitedly sells crackpipes, this included an unmarked bottle of 2005 Gamla chardonnay (luckily lauren knows the good growing seasons so we NEEDED this particular bottle), 172 sheckel later it seemed like less of a good idea...especially when we let that bad boy oxidate for approximately 3 days in the hostel (after our tour at the winery later on in the week i learned this was a bad idea, however i think i might have already known that through common sense). it turns out niether lauren nor i should be trusted when it comes to making decisions concerning money, and it only took 2 days to figure that out - anyways so tel aviv is a bit of a blur, but what i do know is that it consisted of a lot of beaching on the MED, relaxing in the AC, purchasing stoli gold (like that shit is real, thanks eric yet again a bartender lets me down), daynas midnight rape and not necessarily consensual (just kidding) nap on the prison cot, watching communist chinese television (remember to do your studies so we can catch up with the united states, japan and europe), all of the poor food decisions lauren is capable of making (many of which are fairly obvious, but youve just gotta let your friends figure things out for themselves - thats how they learn), a wonderful meal that nicole and leore put together at a surprisingly delectable sushi restaraunt, oh then came the clubbing of course, which im not sure if youve heard but tel aviv works it the fuck out. im pretty sure we all found somewhere we really enjoyed - the port is always fun but thats closing down now that sukkot is over, so no more beachside bashes, but other places like Breakfast Club are alive and well...you know a place that doesnt even open until 2 is relatively worthwhile - they also play some amazing trance, however ive found that everywhere here plays better music than anywhere in america (no offense) (this is also based off of my extremely limited clubbing experiences in the US of A, so really no offense). that ended with us seeing the sunrise for like the third night in a row (or so i heard). i also managed to find a store that sold these cute little biddies
i obviously bought them.
well from tel aviv we headed north to tiberias for one night before we started our four day sea to sea, aka yom le yom, hike (galilee to med)
, we only made it one day, obviously not all the way - it was in everyway disasterous, we ran out of water, we were scaling rock face 13 hours into the hike, dying in the hot sun all before we turned around and of course some how i was the one that planned this hike, so that looks pretty good on me - lets not talk about it, if it matters two people did finish (the fact that they are both eagle scouts is unimportant). well after that we cabbed into tzfat, one of the four holy cities in israel - this one symbolizing the air element (it being in the mountians and the closest to heaven). tzfat is also the birthplace of kabbalah and jewish mysticism, that means madonna has been there. the first hostel we stopped at (thanks Lets Go Israel 2005 edition) was absolutely terrifying, the second hostel was approx $40 american dollars a night, this was apparently unacceptable (im sure lauren and i would have paid it give the opportunity, but we werent in charge) luckily for the group of us a chabad (hasidic) hostel called ascent allowed us to stay there even though all of the girls were dressed like whores (in this context that means shorts and tanks). they were also gracious enough to let us eat with them and hang out in the sukkah singing nigguns with actual chabad lubavitch guests. nigguns are a sort of spirited chant religious jews tend to do with clapping and fist pounding to certain beats and rhythms, it was relaxing and a nice change of pace, also something i never really expected to be partaking in (perhaps because i was supposed to still be hiking, or perhaps because i still didnt know what sukkot was, your choice). from a completely anthropological view it was super interesting, but it did become rather apparent that a. they did not really like us heathen americans and b. that they were generous mostly out of a sense of obligation and took the opportunity to proselytize. we stayed there for the evening, and i think got yelled at somewhere around 45 times for having boys in the girls hall!!!! i know, sometimes i wish we werent so permiscuous but what can you do, we are from AMERICA. the next day we all walked around and got some lunch while we reorganized break plans. in a quick fit of energy and inspiration sharon, lauren and i decided we were going to cab to the golan and go horseback riding. so through whatever connections we had (connections means sharon) we called some israeli cowboy, grabbed our packs and headed off into the sunset (sunset here means the golan).
once we got to what i believe was called cowboy ranch or something along those lines, we settled into the grass made some pb&j sammies
, which were might i add delicious, took more pictures than necessary, waited for willie and then boarded our respective horses. 
, so cute in my little helmet of course
mine was named benjamina (i dont personally think its the cutest name for a girl, but she was kind of butch if you know what i mean) - i didnt care to learn sharon or laurens horses names. the ride was beautiful, and it being israel there obviously were no real rules, so we galloped up to the top of some ridges and got to look out over the kinneret (sea of galilee). it turns out lauren is terrified of horses, and i think enough distance has been put between now and that particular day that i can say listening to her shrieking wasnt unfunny. the israeli kids we were riding with were unnecessary and found it pertinent to abuse the horses, i wasnt particularly a fan, and i can say i wasnt upset when one, what we will call a "dumb bitch", fell off of her horse. by the end of the hour and a half ride i knew the horses were beat, one was staggering another was virtually foaming at the mouth. i felt terrible about it, these are the things that really make me miss america, im sure the ride would have been so much more boring and structured in the states but the animals would have been looked after much better and even to someone like me thats much more important. either way after the ride we mosied on up to the restaraunt they had onsite and enjoyed ourselves a nice facsimilie of american west food, grilled chicken with salad (or saled depending on which menu you got) and french fries. they even had "bbq" sauce, quotes because that is obviously a lie but they had something they called bbq sauce, if given a blind taste test i might have said "is this supposed to be bbq sauce" or "i think this bbq sauce has gone bad", obviously it was close enough. once we were done with our not undelicious meal yonathan, our chabad cabbie from tzfat, came back and picked us up again and drove us all the way to tiberias, on the way we stole laurens ipod and we all listened to lubavitch jamz while yonathan told us about his life (apparently hasids can get divorced who knew).
back in tiveria (tiberias) we checked back into the same hotel aviv wed been staying at prior to the hike, where they realized quite quickly we had poorly planned our break so they made a nice mint off of us stuffing up to 8 of us into one room. but lbr (lets be real) they had ac, tvs, a fridge and a kum kum (eric this must have made you rather excited i forgot to ask, eric loves kum kums you should ask him about them at ewgreenberg@gmail.com). the next day those of us who hadnt had the foresight to rent a car (i.e. me, sam, lauren, shazy (sharon), hope and a few scragglers waiting to head off their own seperate ways) went out for a 4 hour brunch on one of the touristy streets of tiveria. lauren and i managed to spend $45 dollars because we NEEDED the smoothies, and two meals (we ate half of it, shocking). but it was rather good, especially this insane pizza we ordered and the smoothies, mmm. then we all broke off, hope lauren shazy sam and i heading up to the golan winery to meet up with some of the others, by that i mean 5 people who had rented a car and a surprise group of 7 other otzmanikim we hadnt expected to see...but ive come to accept that no matter where in the country i am i will run into at least one other otzmanikim because we are fucking everywhere all at once, even the same winery on the same 4 pm english language tour. i downed about 4 half glasses before the tour started, i thought i liked white wine best and it turns out i do, but i had to test that a few times.
we sat through a terrifying a/v presentation with a genie dubbed in english and it scarred me, especially their depiction of american culture (all i have to say is tupac is not from ny and the statue of liberty is specifically NOT a lush), however they were dead on with their interpretations of french and italian culture. did you know that the golan winery makes three labels of wines, yarden, gamla and golan, they also produce 22 different kinds of wines because of the climate they are able to grow so many different kinds of grapes for the various wines. you can even find them in america, check out the website at yardenwines.com. after that the five of us plus the seven other kids that showed up walked to this restaraunt recommended to us. we were told it was a twenty minute walk to some really cute bistro. 45 minutes later strolling down the highway we ended up at some gross mall somewhere in kitzran. the restaraunt was of course a bakery in this small, decrepit mall - we just happened to luck out that the line cook actually knew what they were doing and we all ended up with something relatively tasty. i know the eggplant lasagna lolkatz (lauren) and i split was delicious, i could have lived without the quiche, and as per usual laurens dessert demons took over and with a crazed look she ordered the most delicious fucking cake ive ever had, i dont even like dessert and i thought i might just die it was so fabulous. after that all 12 of us hoped into one sherut (a large van that acts as a cab) they only hold ten people but thats never a problem, for the right amount of sheqalim breaking laws seems to not matter to the drivers. so we headed back to hotel aviv, relaxed around the place and walked all along the boardwalk in small groups so as to avoid having to see one another...of course we ran into everyone we knew and then all walked back together.
the next morning those who had a car headed off to rosh hanikra, these gorgeous grottos on the lebanese border which i have luckily been to before, and the five of us without slept in compltely disregarding checkout times...psh unimportant, and do you know what they didnt care. oh israel, sometimes i forget. shazy and lolkatz headed off with one of shaz's friends and sam hope and i boarded a sherut bound for haifa to meet up with the others. we checked into the port inn, a rather nice little hostel. we all grabbed some lunch and chatted about, headed back napped a bit talked you know did the gossip thing, whatevs. later josh, eric, hope, nicole and i grabbed some chinese food...it was gross and american style, neither of which surprised me. but the woman was super sweet and even went out of her way to make us some chili sauce (im having actual withdrawls from sriracha), granted it was sweet ketchup and chili flakes GROSS, but she TRIED. we also helped her kid with some math and when i say we i dont mean myself, i didnt know there were a thousand milliliters in a liter i thought it was like a hundred or something, unimportant. we then had a few "cocktails" (mixed drinks in flimsy clear plastic cups) and one of hopes israeli friends took us out to a touristy strip in haifa where we had some drinks and some laughs, i broke a glass no biggie. nicole got the grossest looking cosmopolitan ever and i heard leore order a mojito, though im not sure what they served her. luckily ive lowered my standards as far as service and the actual product i am ordering, and overall we had a good time. hope and josh apparently found it difficult to stay awake, this is not my fault so i dont care (just kidding hope i always care). we then headed to a trendy little late night called amadeus and had some pizzas, royee's was delicious, but thats not what i ordered so leore and i's was only ok...it was also unnecessary, but we ate it. we then crashed at 3 something and our rando roomie woke us up at 6 to go out on his mada run (he actually had mada classes with a bunch of otzmanikim so we almost already knew him). when we finally did rouse i thought i lost my cellphone, i obviously didnt it was sitting in my bag with my wallet. then we got all guised up, just kidding, but i did put on my bathing suit and we headed to the beach. did some more lounging on the shores of the mediterranean, ate some less than appetizing lunch (why is yellow cheese white?) napped on the beach and then went back to the hostel to grab our things and go our own ways.
once all packed up we headed to a bus stop, sam simcha josh eric and i were all headed "home" to "b7" or be'er sheva (sheva means 7 in hebrew). this is the part of the trip in which we were terrorized by these young arab kids (haifa is a jewish and arab city that has generally genial relations between the two religions...except these two kids). they threw some glass, rocks and garbage at us. the menz stood tall to show them we werent MESSING AROUND, but they did try to steal sams purse. the boys thought they were kind of cute, i didnt. not that im not "motherly" but im not and i dont really like kids anyways, so it turns out these little rapscallions were really just annoying. whatever i got over it, plus eric had his peanut butter knife somewhere so i can remember to always rest easy now (haha, im laughing because eric is obviously a fighter, he was on the crew team at lehigh). after about a half hour of waiting we caught back to back buses all the way home. settled in and ate some delicious shawarma at our local stand, passed out and that brings me to today.
this morning sammie and i went to the shuk grabbed some delicious fresh fruits and veggies, put together a nice potato dish in one of the kosher apartments for a shabbaz dinner a bunch of us planned together. did some crucial resting and i complied this little diddy while simcha made some fabu chicken and rice and tzeira put together a from scratch chicken noodle soup. its such a different experience than ive ever had before, as a matter of fact ive never once had a shabbaz dinner in the united states, and i know i never really envisioned myself sitting around a cramped, square table with all of the people ive recently acquired in my life and come to rely on as my family, singing and praying, laughing and enjoying a meal at once so personal and yet also so traditionally jewish but here it is, and im finally feeling the jewish connection i was looking for. perhaps it wasnt as ingrained in my past life as everyone elses, but it certainly will be a bigger part of my future. enough for now - im going to go watch a movie and relax
Anne PlzExtreme
well now what is sukkot, i certainly had no idea, so i wikipedia'd it for all of us
well turns out they went quite a bit more in depth than i had hoped for, so i kind of skimmed - what i do now know is that the word tabernacle is applicable to this 7 or 8 day holiday, that im supposed to eat all of my food in a sukkah
and something about a funny little citrus fruit called an etrog (which i had thought was just some sort of israeli lime that they ate all the time, i was wrong and apparently you cant just find them in the shuk...whatever) very jewish menz studying the etrog...i, of course, have no idea why they would do thisanywho so as far as my break was concerned some friendies of mine and i went down to tel aviv to start off the good times. lauren and i found someway to blow money on ridiculous things, like our hostel room for $72 a night (not A PIECE, sheesh but still right, its a fucking hostel) whatever it had AC, its own bathroom and a tv - all legit luxuries, or perhaps being swindled into spending $50 on goodies at the Midnight Grocery and More - a store that admitedly sells crackpipes, this included an unmarked bottle of 2005 Gamla chardonnay (luckily lauren knows the good growing seasons so we NEEDED this particular bottle), 172 sheckel later it seemed like less of a good idea...especially when we let that bad boy oxidate for approximately 3 days in the hostel (after our tour at the winery later on in the week i learned this was a bad idea, however i think i might have already known that through common sense). it turns out niether lauren nor i should be trusted when it comes to making decisions concerning money, and it only took 2 days to figure that out - anyways so tel aviv is a bit of a blur, but what i do know is that it consisted of a lot of beaching on the MED, relaxing in the AC, purchasing stoli gold (like that shit is real, thanks eric yet again a bartender lets me down), daynas midnight rape and not necessarily consensual (just kidding) nap on the prison cot, watching communist chinese television (remember to do your studies so we can catch up with the united states, japan and europe), all of the poor food decisions lauren is capable of making (many of which are fairly obvious, but youve just gotta let your friends figure things out for themselves - thats how they learn), a wonderful meal that nicole and leore put together at a surprisingly delectable sushi restaraunt, oh then came the clubbing of course, which im not sure if youve heard but tel aviv works it the fuck out. im pretty sure we all found somewhere we really enjoyed - the port is always fun but thats closing down now that sukkot is over, so no more beachside bashes, but other places like Breakfast Club are alive and well...you know a place that doesnt even open until 2 is relatively worthwhile - they also play some amazing trance, however ive found that everywhere here plays better music than anywhere in america (no offense) (this is also based off of my extremely limited clubbing experiences in the US of A, so really no offense). that ended with us seeing the sunrise for like the third night in a row (or so i heard). i also managed to find a store that sold these cute little biddies
i obviously bought them.well from tel aviv we headed north to tiberias for one night before we started our four day sea to sea, aka yom le yom, hike (galilee to med)
, we only made it one day, obviously not all the way - it was in everyway disasterous, we ran out of water, we were scaling rock face 13 hours into the hike, dying in the hot sun all before we turned around and of course some how i was the one that planned this hike, so that looks pretty good on me - lets not talk about it, if it matters two people did finish (the fact that they are both eagle scouts is unimportant). well after that we cabbed into tzfat, one of the four holy cities in israel - this one symbolizing the air element (it being in the mountians and the closest to heaven). tzfat is also the birthplace of kabbalah and jewish mysticism, that means madonna has been there. the first hostel we stopped at (thanks Lets Go Israel 2005 edition) was absolutely terrifying, the second hostel was approx $40 american dollars a night, this was apparently unacceptable (im sure lauren and i would have paid it give the opportunity, but we werent in charge) luckily for the group of us a chabad (hasidic) hostel called ascent allowed us to stay there even though all of the girls were dressed like whores (in this context that means shorts and tanks). they were also gracious enough to let us eat with them and hang out in the sukkah singing nigguns with actual chabad lubavitch guests. nigguns are a sort of spirited chant religious jews tend to do with clapping and fist pounding to certain beats and rhythms, it was relaxing and a nice change of pace, also something i never really expected to be partaking in (perhaps because i was supposed to still be hiking, or perhaps because i still didnt know what sukkot was, your choice). from a completely anthropological view it was super interesting, but it did become rather apparent that a. they did not really like us heathen americans and b. that they were generous mostly out of a sense of obligation and took the opportunity to proselytize. we stayed there for the evening, and i think got yelled at somewhere around 45 times for having boys in the girls hall!!!! i know, sometimes i wish we werent so permiscuous but what can you do, we are from AMERICA. the next day we all walked around and got some lunch while we reorganized break plans. in a quick fit of energy and inspiration sharon, lauren and i decided we were going to cab to the golan and go horseback riding. so through whatever connections we had (connections means sharon) we called some israeli cowboy, grabbed our packs and headed off into the sunset (sunset here means the golan). once we got to what i believe was called cowboy ranch or something along those lines, we settled into the grass made some pb&j sammies
, which were might i add delicious, took more pictures than necessary, waited for willie and then boarded our respective horses. , so cute in my little helmet of coursemine was named benjamina (i dont personally think its the cutest name for a girl, but she was kind of butch if you know what i mean) - i didnt care to learn sharon or laurens horses names. the ride was beautiful, and it being israel there obviously were no real rules, so we galloped up to the top of some ridges and got to look out over the kinneret (sea of galilee). it turns out lauren is terrified of horses, and i think enough distance has been put between now and that particular day that i can say listening to her shrieking wasnt unfunny. the israeli kids we were riding with were unnecessary and found it pertinent to abuse the horses, i wasnt particularly a fan, and i can say i wasnt upset when one, what we will call a "dumb bitch", fell off of her horse. by the end of the hour and a half ride i knew the horses were beat, one was staggering another was virtually foaming at the mouth. i felt terrible about it, these are the things that really make me miss america, im sure the ride would have been so much more boring and structured in the states but the animals would have been looked after much better and even to someone like me thats much more important. either way after the ride we mosied on up to the restaraunt they had onsite and enjoyed ourselves a nice facsimilie of american west food, grilled chicken with salad (or saled depending on which menu you got) and french fries. they even had "bbq" sauce, quotes because that is obviously a lie but they had something they called bbq sauce, if given a blind taste test i might have said "is this supposed to be bbq sauce" or "i think this bbq sauce has gone bad", obviously it was close enough. once we were done with our not undelicious meal yonathan, our chabad cabbie from tzfat, came back and picked us up again and drove us all the way to tiberias, on the way we stole laurens ipod and we all listened to lubavitch jamz while yonathan told us about his life (apparently hasids can get divorced who knew).
back in tiveria (tiberias) we checked back into the same hotel aviv wed been staying at prior to the hike, where they realized quite quickly we had poorly planned our break so they made a nice mint off of us stuffing up to 8 of us into one room. but lbr (lets be real) they had ac, tvs, a fridge and a kum kum (eric this must have made you rather excited i forgot to ask, eric loves kum kums you should ask him about them at ewgreenberg@gmail.com). the next day those of us who hadnt had the foresight to rent a car (i.e. me, sam, lauren, shazy (sharon), hope and a few scragglers waiting to head off their own seperate ways) went out for a 4 hour brunch on one of the touristy streets of tiveria. lauren and i managed to spend $45 dollars because we NEEDED the smoothies, and two meals (we ate half of it, shocking). but it was rather good, especially this insane pizza we ordered and the smoothies, mmm. then we all broke off, hope lauren shazy sam and i heading up to the golan winery to meet up with some of the others, by that i mean 5 people who had rented a car and a surprise group of 7 other otzmanikim we hadnt expected to see...but ive come to accept that no matter where in the country i am i will run into at least one other otzmanikim because we are fucking everywhere all at once, even the same winery on the same 4 pm english language tour. i downed about 4 half glasses before the tour started, i thought i liked white wine best and it turns out i do, but i had to test that a few times.
we sat through a terrifying a/v presentation with a genie dubbed in english and it scarred me, especially their depiction of american culture (all i have to say is tupac is not from ny and the statue of liberty is specifically NOT a lush), however they were dead on with their interpretations of french and italian culture. did you know that the golan winery makes three labels of wines, yarden, gamla and golan, they also produce 22 different kinds of wines because of the climate they are able to grow so many different kinds of grapes for the various wines. you can even find them in america, check out the website at yardenwines.com. after that the five of us plus the seven other kids that showed up walked to this restaraunt recommended to us. we were told it was a twenty minute walk to some really cute bistro. 45 minutes later strolling down the highway we ended up at some gross mall somewhere in kitzran. the restaraunt was of course a bakery in this small, decrepit mall - we just happened to luck out that the line cook actually knew what they were doing and we all ended up with something relatively tasty. i know the eggplant lasagna lolkatz (lauren) and i split was delicious, i could have lived without the quiche, and as per usual laurens dessert demons took over and with a crazed look she ordered the most delicious fucking cake ive ever had, i dont even like dessert and i thought i might just die it was so fabulous. after that all 12 of us hoped into one sherut (a large van that acts as a cab) they only hold ten people but thats never a problem, for the right amount of sheqalim breaking laws seems to not matter to the drivers. so we headed back to hotel aviv, relaxed around the place and walked all along the boardwalk in small groups so as to avoid having to see one another...of course we ran into everyone we knew and then all walked back together.
the next morning those who had a car headed off to rosh hanikra, these gorgeous grottos on the lebanese border which i have luckily been to before, and the five of us without slept in compltely disregarding checkout times...psh unimportant, and do you know what they didnt care. oh israel, sometimes i forget. shazy and lolkatz headed off with one of shaz's friends and sam hope and i boarded a sherut bound for haifa to meet up with the others. we checked into the port inn, a rather nice little hostel. we all grabbed some lunch and chatted about, headed back napped a bit talked you know did the gossip thing, whatevs. later josh, eric, hope, nicole and i grabbed some chinese food...it was gross and american style, neither of which surprised me. but the woman was super sweet and even went out of her way to make us some chili sauce (im having actual withdrawls from sriracha), granted it was sweet ketchup and chili flakes GROSS, but she TRIED. we also helped her kid with some math and when i say we i dont mean myself, i didnt know there were a thousand milliliters in a liter i thought it was like a hundred or something, unimportant. we then had a few "cocktails" (mixed drinks in flimsy clear plastic cups) and one of hopes israeli friends took us out to a touristy strip in haifa where we had some drinks and some laughs, i broke a glass no biggie. nicole got the grossest looking cosmopolitan ever and i heard leore order a mojito, though im not sure what they served her. luckily ive lowered my standards as far as service and the actual product i am ordering, and overall we had a good time. hope and josh apparently found it difficult to stay awake, this is not my fault so i dont care (just kidding hope i always care). we then headed to a trendy little late night called amadeus and had some pizzas, royee's was delicious, but thats not what i ordered so leore and i's was only ok...it was also unnecessary, but we ate it. we then crashed at 3 something and our rando roomie woke us up at 6 to go out on his mada run (he actually had mada classes with a bunch of otzmanikim so we almost already knew him). when we finally did rouse i thought i lost my cellphone, i obviously didnt it was sitting in my bag with my wallet. then we got all guised up, just kidding, but i did put on my bathing suit and we headed to the beach. did some more lounging on the shores of the mediterranean, ate some less than appetizing lunch (why is yellow cheese white?) napped on the beach and then went back to the hostel to grab our things and go our own ways.
once all packed up we headed to a bus stop, sam simcha josh eric and i were all headed "home" to "b7" or be'er sheva (sheva means 7 in hebrew). this is the part of the trip in which we were terrorized by these young arab kids (haifa is a jewish and arab city that has generally genial relations between the two religions...except these two kids). they threw some glass, rocks and garbage at us. the menz stood tall to show them we werent MESSING AROUND, but they did try to steal sams purse. the boys thought they were kind of cute, i didnt. not that im not "motherly" but im not and i dont really like kids anyways, so it turns out these little rapscallions were really just annoying. whatever i got over it, plus eric had his peanut butter knife somewhere so i can remember to always rest easy now (haha, im laughing because eric is obviously a fighter, he was on the crew team at lehigh). after about a half hour of waiting we caught back to back buses all the way home. settled in and ate some delicious shawarma at our local stand, passed out and that brings me to today.
this morning sammie and i went to the shuk grabbed some delicious fresh fruits and veggies, put together a nice potato dish in one of the kosher apartments for a shabbaz dinner a bunch of us planned together. did some crucial resting and i complied this little diddy while simcha made some fabu chicken and rice and tzeira put together a from scratch chicken noodle soup. its such a different experience than ive ever had before, as a matter of fact ive never once had a shabbaz dinner in the united states, and i know i never really envisioned myself sitting around a cramped, square table with all of the people ive recently acquired in my life and come to rely on as my family, singing and praying, laughing and enjoying a meal at once so personal and yet also so traditionally jewish but here it is, and im finally feeling the jewish connection i was looking for. perhaps it wasnt as ingrained in my past life as everyone elses, but it certainly will be a bigger part of my future. enough for now - im going to go watch a movie and relax
Anne PlzExtreme
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