Wow, it appears that I've started failing at this blog thing. I guess I've been here so long that the blog has gotten less exciting for me.
Scary as it is, I have less than 15 days here! So I will try to recap what I've been up to since my last post:
- Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving here was an all around disappointing experience. I guess that's OK though. Thanksgiving is a home and family thing and Israel for me is really neither. That sounds sad, but it's not. I think it's important to realize where home is and can be, and where it can't. My idea of home has expanded since high school, but Israel has not become a part of it.
- Haifa! A few weekends ago Samantha and I decided to go up to Haifa for a night. It was really great! We got there friday night and shortly after checking into our hostel we met a new friend from Germany. She ended up spending the whole weekend with us, which was fun. We had a great dinner on friday night and some good views of the Baha'i gardens lit up at night. The next morning we got up and took a cab up to the top of the gardens. We put our name on a list for an English tour and wandered. The view was beautiful! The hilltop was so lively- there were families talking walks and couples drinking coffee, it was really lovely. Our tour was also really great. Going on a tour is the only way to actually go into the gardens, so it was definitely worth it. The Baha'i faith is really interesting. The was it was described to me makes it seem like the Unitarian Universalism of the Middle East. It's biggest tenant is Equality between all people. I should probably research more on this topic. Anyways, we spent the rest of the day exploring- we went to a sculpture garden, a zoo, and out for lunch. Then we decided to make our way to the beach for sunset which was really really great.
- Soccer game. I went to my first professional soccer game 2 mondays ago. It was a cool cultural stufy- I don't think i ended up paying much attention to the game itself. There were very few women at the game- in fact, we got our own ticket with a cheaper price for children, women, and soldiers. Also, when our group of girls went to the women's security check (because we were patted down, so men and women were separated) the guy overseeing it said: "too many girls! what are you doing here? go home!" weird. It was also interesting because the teams playing were the Jerusalem team and the Israeli Arab team. Beitar, the Jerusalem team, has a long history. Originally Beitar was a pre-state Zionist youth group- we learned about the group in Israeli History. The soccer team, Beitar's supporters still chant a lot of the pro-zionist chants of the early 1900s. It was kind of awkward when their team song included likes like "we hate all of the Arabs", though.
The last two week are basically a blur of work and roommate drama. We all really need a break- and it seems like things are only getting worse. I am so excited to go back to the dorms, even if it is musser, where there are other people in charge and in general everyone is more respectful.
There is more to update, but this post is long enough.
More soon! Or at least before I go home, I promise.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
November is Halfway over!
Well, Trent has bugged me a couple of times about updating my blog, so here it goes.
The most exciting thing about the past 2 weeks has been having my mom here to visit. She was on a mission through the Baltimore Jewish community and then stayed a few days past the end of her tour to be with me. It was really wonderful to see her! We spent a good amount of time shopping in and around the old city, which was a nice change of pace because I don't do nearly enough shopping here. We also ate good food which was also a change for me.
It was nice being able to do some touristy things with my mom as well. We went through Machane Yehudah (the market) with an Israeli chef which was really neat and delicious! We also went up Masada and down to the dead sea which is always fun.
The story of Masada raised some new questions for me though, especially after a paper I wrote at Carleton last year. The story of Masada goes like this: Back in the day the Romans were persecuting Jews and a group of Jews fled to the mountain fortress of Masada and lived there. Eventually the Romans came after them and took forever to finally get up the mountain to attack. Once it was clear that the Romans would conquer and capture them, they decided as a group to commit suicide. Each man killed his wife and children then himself. 900-some Jews died on Masada and only 2 women and 5 children escaped the massacre. This group of Jews are considered heroes. My problem with this whole story is that Judaism usually forbids suicide. Last year I did a whole project on Rabbinic Responsa during the Holocaust. When Jews asked if they could kill themselves rather than be captured by the Nazis, most Rabbis said no. Committing suicide represented loss of faith in God. So, why are the more than 900 Jews who chose to take their own lives instead of face the Romans heroes and not faithless cowards? I’m not saying that I would want to be captured by the Romans to be raped, enslaved, maybe even crucified, but I also don’t think the Jews who took their lives on Masada should be considered heroes either.
The dead sea was also really cool. Last time we were there it was late December at least 5 years ago and the water was freezing and not inviting. This time it was a lot of fun to float in the water for a while. It was also hilarious because swimming in the dead sea is unlike any other experience, thus we spent pretty much the first 8 minutes that we were in the water just laughing.
The next weekend was my birthday weekend- so we decided to spend the weekend up in a spa in the very north of Israel- near Rosh Pina. Our first mistake was deciding to rent a car and drive up there ourselves. The process of renting the car alone was a huge ordeal that was totally not worth it. Our second mistake was driving up north in the dark. That’s kind of self explanatory. Our third mistake was making a wrong turn that took us through the city of Nazareth.
Getting lost in Nazareth was the scariest experience I’ve had since I’ve been here, and the thing that is so upsetting about it is that there was not reason for how scared we were. Nazareth is best known because it is the ‘hometown’ of Jesus (in Rabbinic writings he is referred to as ‘Jesus of Nazareth’). These days Nazareth is a predominantly Arab town. As we drove around in what seemed like circles, in the dark, in the middle of the town, the only thing we were sure of was that we could not stop the car and ask for directions. Looking back it seems ridiculous, but in the moment that was simply not an option. I was petrified, wondering if we stopped to ask if I should ask in Hebrew or English, and which one would be received worse. My mom spent most of our time lost in Nazareth yelling, I spend most of it crying and shaking from fear. All I could think was that this was the worst country in the entire world and that I wanted to go back to the states now. I didn’t even want to go back to Jerusalem- just home. I kept thinking that this was a horrible place to be- where getting lost in a city wasn’t just unnerving, it was downright terrifying. It is horrible that we have been trained or brainwashed or conditioned to believe that stopping to ask for directions in an Arab town could only possibly result in something terrible. It’s not all without basis, of course. I can’t walk around my 2/3 Arab neighborhood without getting beeped at or called to from cars. There was no reason for me and my mom to think we would get treated any better. But, at the same time, there was no reason to think that we were in any actual danger by calling to someone on the street from our car, or by walking into a small shop and asking.
Looking back, our night in Nazareth is an interesting situation to analyze. One thing that I find really interesting is how immediate and innate our fear was. It was completely irrational and unprovoked. Also, it came to me and my mom independently of the other (what I mean here is that I wasn’t fine with everything until my mom started talking about how bad it was that we were lost there, I knew/felt it on my own). We didn’t really talk about what we were feeling or experiencing until we were out of the situation, it was simply understood. It’s simply amazing (in a horrible way) that everything we’ve read and seen on the news or experienced in person or heard about could have manifested itself in such a fear. It’s terrible that everyone only slightly involved in the conflict has been instilled with such prejudices. It gives me absolutely no hope for the peace process here- that someone like me who is not an Israeli or Palestinian, has not been directly affected by suicide bombings or the occupation, and who even claims to see and understand both sides of the conflict can be so entirely terrified when surrounded by “the other”.
Eventually we found our way back to the main road and got up to the spa with relative ease. Our stay was nice and very relaxing. Sleep, organic vegetables, cheese, and a bubble bath were all involved. It was a really nice escape from Jerusalem and life as a student.
So at this point I’ve almost finished up last weekend, but I think I’ve decided this post should be done and posted- it is a little intense and a little on the long side, and I don’t want to bore you. I will try to post in the next couple of days to talk about what has happened since I’ve turned 20!
The most exciting thing about the past 2 weeks has been having my mom here to visit. She was on a mission through the Baltimore Jewish community and then stayed a few days past the end of her tour to be with me. It was really wonderful to see her! We spent a good amount of time shopping in and around the old city, which was a nice change of pace because I don't do nearly enough shopping here. We also ate good food which was also a change for me.
It was nice being able to do some touristy things with my mom as well. We went through Machane Yehudah (the market) with an Israeli chef which was really neat and delicious! We also went up Masada and down to the dead sea which is always fun.
The story of Masada raised some new questions for me though, especially after a paper I wrote at Carleton last year. The story of Masada goes like this: Back in the day the Romans were persecuting Jews and a group of Jews fled to the mountain fortress of Masada and lived there. Eventually the Romans came after them and took forever to finally get up the mountain to attack. Once it was clear that the Romans would conquer and capture them, they decided as a group to commit suicide. Each man killed his wife and children then himself. 900-some Jews died on Masada and only 2 women and 5 children escaped the massacre. This group of Jews are considered heroes. My problem with this whole story is that Judaism usually forbids suicide. Last year I did a whole project on Rabbinic Responsa during the Holocaust. When Jews asked if they could kill themselves rather than be captured by the Nazis, most Rabbis said no. Committing suicide represented loss of faith in God. So, why are the more than 900 Jews who chose to take their own lives instead of face the Romans heroes and not faithless cowards? I’m not saying that I would want to be captured by the Romans to be raped, enslaved, maybe even crucified, but I also don’t think the Jews who took their lives on Masada should be considered heroes either.
The dead sea was also really cool. Last time we were there it was late December at least 5 years ago and the water was freezing and not inviting. This time it was a lot of fun to float in the water for a while. It was also hilarious because swimming in the dead sea is unlike any other experience, thus we spent pretty much the first 8 minutes that we were in the water just laughing.
The next weekend was my birthday weekend- so we decided to spend the weekend up in a spa in the very north of Israel- near Rosh Pina. Our first mistake was deciding to rent a car and drive up there ourselves. The process of renting the car alone was a huge ordeal that was totally not worth it. Our second mistake was driving up north in the dark. That’s kind of self explanatory. Our third mistake was making a wrong turn that took us through the city of Nazareth.
Getting lost in Nazareth was the scariest experience I’ve had since I’ve been here, and the thing that is so upsetting about it is that there was not reason for how scared we were. Nazareth is best known because it is the ‘hometown’ of Jesus (in Rabbinic writings he is referred to as ‘Jesus of Nazareth’). These days Nazareth is a predominantly Arab town. As we drove around in what seemed like circles, in the dark, in the middle of the town, the only thing we were sure of was that we could not stop the car and ask for directions. Looking back it seems ridiculous, but in the moment that was simply not an option. I was petrified, wondering if we stopped to ask if I should ask in Hebrew or English, and which one would be received worse. My mom spent most of our time lost in Nazareth yelling, I spend most of it crying and shaking from fear. All I could think was that this was the worst country in the entire world and that I wanted to go back to the states now. I didn’t even want to go back to Jerusalem- just home. I kept thinking that this was a horrible place to be- where getting lost in a city wasn’t just unnerving, it was downright terrifying. It is horrible that we have been trained or brainwashed or conditioned to believe that stopping to ask for directions in an Arab town could only possibly result in something terrible. It’s not all without basis, of course. I can’t walk around my 2/3 Arab neighborhood without getting beeped at or called to from cars. There was no reason for me and my mom to think we would get treated any better. But, at the same time, there was no reason to think that we were in any actual danger by calling to someone on the street from our car, or by walking into a small shop and asking.
Looking back, our night in Nazareth is an interesting situation to analyze. One thing that I find really interesting is how immediate and innate our fear was. It was completely irrational and unprovoked. Also, it came to me and my mom independently of the other (what I mean here is that I wasn’t fine with everything until my mom started talking about how bad it was that we were lost there, I knew/felt it on my own). We didn’t really talk about what we were feeling or experiencing until we were out of the situation, it was simply understood. It’s simply amazing (in a horrible way) that everything we’ve read and seen on the news or experienced in person or heard about could have manifested itself in such a fear. It’s terrible that everyone only slightly involved in the conflict has been instilled with such prejudices. It gives me absolutely no hope for the peace process here- that someone like me who is not an Israeli or Palestinian, has not been directly affected by suicide bombings or the occupation, and who even claims to see and understand both sides of the conflict can be so entirely terrified when surrounded by “the other”.
Eventually we found our way back to the main road and got up to the spa with relative ease. Our stay was nice and very relaxing. Sleep, organic vegetables, cheese, and a bubble bath were all involved. It was a really nice escape from Jerusalem and life as a student.
So at this point I’ve almost finished up last weekend, but I think I’ve decided this post should be done and posted- it is a little intense and a little on the long side, and I don’t want to bore you. I will try to post in the next couple of days to talk about what has happened since I’ve turned 20!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Athens!
On Sunday morning I got back from a wonderful visit to Athens, Greece. I arrived early on wednesday morning and made my way to Jessie's apartment in a neighborhood called Pagrati. It as so exciting! Jessie lives in this apartment with 4 other student in her program, 2 of whom also happen to be carleton students: Ryan and Joe. After being very excited and saying hello to everyone including Chuck and Lynsey who were also visiting, we headed out to get spanikopita and other snacks and see the program where Jessie's program is based. It was instantly wonderful to be with Carleton people again- nothing against the friends I've made in Israel, but these people know me so well, it's just natural to be wit them- it is so much easier than all of the relationships I have formed or attempted to form over the past three months. After hanging out, talking, and of course, checking our e-mail, we headed out on a walk around the city.
We got to see the center of town, Syntagma, and the parliament building and national gardens then we walked around the main shopping area, taking lots of breaks to sit and talk. Jessie and Ryan decided that we had to see the meat market- which was definitely a sight to see. Animal carcases were hanging everywhere. It was slightly disturing but also kind of appetizing, since there really isn't a great place to buy meat here that I have found, so I'm always craving meat. After that experience we decided to make our way to the Acropolis. Climbing up the Acropolis was cool and entertaining to hear Ryan and Jessie attempt to piece together the facts about all of the buildings. It was also the first chance I had to see the vastness of Athens.
Athens is a city of 3 million people and buildings are often no more than 6 floors which means that the city spreads out in every direction. After the Acropolis we went to chill at a cafe and Ryan left us to make dinner. That night he prepared a traditional Greek rabbit stew for us and some of his friends. Supposedly Ryan makes a differet Greek meal once a week- I was very impressed. Also, the rabbit was good- very surprising!
The next day Jessie and Ryan had class so Chuck, Lynsey, and I set off to attempt to go on an adventure to the nearest Greek Isrland, Agina. This didn't go as well as planned: first, the Metro was on strike so we had to figure out how to get to the port by bus. The we stayed on our bus too long and had to get off and backtrack. Then we barely missed an 11am boat and would have to wait another hour for get on an epensive boat so we ultimately decided to go back and meet Jessie for lunch. For lunch we ate at a little taverna and Chuck and I got a greek specialty, Musaka- it's a casserole of potatoes, eggplant, meat, and some cheese or eggs or something- it was very tasty. The we went back to Jessie's apartment and took a two hour nap while she was in class. That night there was a "Halloween" party at Jessie's school- really it was a greek party held on Halloween ever- it was a good time because we got free Greek food and got to watch some greek dancing (like Ryan Farkas!). Afterwards we got delicious gelato and sat by a small church near Syntagma where we chilled and took a bunch of pictures. That night the apartment was hopping because on top of the 5 usual residents, the 3 of us were visiting and one of Jessie's apartment mates had 4 friends visiting as well.
On friday Chuck and Lynsey headed back to Copenhagen and me and Jessie napped for a few hours after. Then, Jessie, Ryan, and I took a walk up Lykavittos Hill- the highest point in Athens. Of course, it was the hottest afternoon since I had been there, so the walk up the hill was particularly tought. The top provided more wonderful city views and the walk provided great conversation. When we got back to the apartmetn we met up with Jessie's mom and her friend for dinner and more Gelato.
Saturday Ryan and I were going to go on an Adventure to Nafplio, a town 2 1/2 hours away, but I decided that I wasn't up for it- so we stayed in town. In the morning I went on a solo shopping trip through Plaka, the tourist shopping area. I was really excited that Athens was so easy to navigate and safe and not obnoxious to be alone in, so I wanted to explore a bit on my own. I met up with Ryan for wandering and lunch and then we met up with Jessie and co. to go to the Archeological museum. We ended up getting to the museum only a half hour before closing, so we got in for free but had to rush through. We actually managed to see 6 of the top 10 items in the museum, we were pretty proud.. Then we chilled at a cafe for a couple of hours and returned to the apartment to pack. I ended my stay in Athens with a nice dinner at a Taverna with Ryan and a friend of his, Bri.
Basically, the best think about this trip was being with Carleton students in a place far away from Carleton. We spent a lot of time talking about our experiences away from school- there are a lot of things that differ but a common ground is that Carleton students are unique and there's not really anyone quite like them anywhere. This is a good exercise in meeting new people, but ultimately we want to go back, because it's really not the same.
I also loved being in a city that was respectful and accessible. We used public transportation twice- everything was within walking distance and we walked a lot. Also, we never got called our for simply being girls- it's such a nice relief. Even the store owners were not overly aggressive. Lastly, I really like that most greeks cross themselves every time they pass a church. I know its something potentially brainless, but it's also very spiritual.
Ahh! Carleton kids eating Bananas in the middle of Athens.
From the Acropolis
View of the ocean from the top of the hill.
My favorite little church in the middle of town.
Me, Jessie, Chuck, and Lynsey
The rest of the pictures are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006368&l=9ba38&id=1229460136
We got to see the center of town, Syntagma, and the parliament building and national gardens then we walked around the main shopping area, taking lots of breaks to sit and talk. Jessie and Ryan decided that we had to see the meat market- which was definitely a sight to see. Animal carcases were hanging everywhere. It was slightly disturing but also kind of appetizing, since there really isn't a great place to buy meat here that I have found, so I'm always craving meat. After that experience we decided to make our way to the Acropolis. Climbing up the Acropolis was cool and entertaining to hear Ryan and Jessie attempt to piece together the facts about all of the buildings. It was also the first chance I had to see the vastness of Athens.
Athens is a city of 3 million people and buildings are often no more than 6 floors which means that the city spreads out in every direction. After the Acropolis we went to chill at a cafe and Ryan left us to make dinner. That night he prepared a traditional Greek rabbit stew for us and some of his friends. Supposedly Ryan makes a differet Greek meal once a week- I was very impressed. Also, the rabbit was good- very surprising!
The next day Jessie and Ryan had class so Chuck, Lynsey, and I set off to attempt to go on an adventure to the nearest Greek Isrland, Agina. This didn't go as well as planned: first, the Metro was on strike so we had to figure out how to get to the port by bus. The we stayed on our bus too long and had to get off and backtrack. Then we barely missed an 11am boat and would have to wait another hour for get on an epensive boat so we ultimately decided to go back and meet Jessie for lunch. For lunch we ate at a little taverna and Chuck and I got a greek specialty, Musaka- it's a casserole of potatoes, eggplant, meat, and some cheese or eggs or something- it was very tasty. The we went back to Jessie's apartment and took a two hour nap while she was in class. That night there was a "Halloween" party at Jessie's school- really it was a greek party held on Halloween ever- it was a good time because we got free Greek food and got to watch some greek dancing (like Ryan Farkas!). Afterwards we got delicious gelato and sat by a small church near Syntagma where we chilled and took a bunch of pictures. That night the apartment was hopping because on top of the 5 usual residents, the 3 of us were visiting and one of Jessie's apartment mates had 4 friends visiting as well.
On friday Chuck and Lynsey headed back to Copenhagen and me and Jessie napped for a few hours after. Then, Jessie, Ryan, and I took a walk up Lykavittos Hill- the highest point in Athens. Of course, it was the hottest afternoon since I had been there, so the walk up the hill was particularly tought. The top provided more wonderful city views and the walk provided great conversation. When we got back to the apartmetn we met up with Jessie's mom and her friend for dinner and more Gelato.
Saturday Ryan and I were going to go on an Adventure to Nafplio, a town 2 1/2 hours away, but I decided that I wasn't up for it- so we stayed in town. In the morning I went on a solo shopping trip through Plaka, the tourist shopping area. I was really excited that Athens was so easy to navigate and safe and not obnoxious to be alone in, so I wanted to explore a bit on my own. I met up with Ryan for wandering and lunch and then we met up with Jessie and co. to go to the Archeological museum. We ended up getting to the museum only a half hour before closing, so we got in for free but had to rush through. We actually managed to see 6 of the top 10 items in the museum, we were pretty proud.. Then we chilled at a cafe for a couple of hours and returned to the apartment to pack. I ended my stay in Athens with a nice dinner at a Taverna with Ryan and a friend of his, Bri.
Basically, the best think about this trip was being with Carleton students in a place far away from Carleton. We spent a lot of time talking about our experiences away from school- there are a lot of things that differ but a common ground is that Carleton students are unique and there's not really anyone quite like them anywhere. This is a good exercise in meeting new people, but ultimately we want to go back, because it's really not the same.
I also loved being in a city that was respectful and accessible. We used public transportation twice- everything was within walking distance and we walked a lot. Also, we never got called our for simply being girls- it's such a nice relief. Even the store owners were not overly aggressive. Lastly, I really like that most greeks cross themselves every time they pass a church. I know its something potentially brainless, but it's also very spiritual.
Ahh! Carleton kids eating Bananas in the middle of Athens.
From the Acropolis
View of the ocean from the top of the hill.
My favorite little church in the middle of town.
Me, Jessie, Chuck, and LynseyThe rest of the pictures are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006368&l=9ba38&id=1229460136
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Jordan and Egypt!
Early last week I got back from a great trip with my dad to Jordan and Egypt. We did a lot of things, more than I can remember or recount here, so I think I'll list the things I learned or found interesting or surprising:
- Jordan. I basically knew nothing about Jordan and learned a lot about it on this trip. Jordan recognizes Israel as a country, so that's always a bonus for countries around Israel. It also sees itself as a neutral party in the middle east. It is really difficult to get Jordanian citizenship, supposedly. Also, the Jordanian Dinar is tied to the Dollar, and they accept both currencies, interesting. Also, everyone we talked to was very supportive of America and had a lot of pride in Jordan's relationship with the US. People in general were really nice to us everywhere, a store owner even gave me a mosaic as a gift, even though we didn't buy anything else at his store. Jordanian children also learn Arabic, English, and French in schools.
- Amman. Here are a few interesting facts about Amman (the capital of Jordan): Like Jerusalem, all of the buildings in Amman have to be made of the same stone. In Amman the stone is Limestone, and in Jerusalem its Jerusalem Stone (creative, I know). They are also trying to get rid of all traffic lights in Amman and replacing them with traffic circles to keep traffic flowing (my mom would hate it!). Lastly, motorcycles aren't allowed in Amman, actually I think this is true for all of Jordan, but it was most noticeable in Amman.
- Ancient Egyptian Death Rituals: Now, of course I knew about the pyramids and everything from ancient Egypt, but I don't think I ever really thought about the extensiveness of the death rituals from that time. The ancient egyptians went all out when it came to burying and preserving the dead- it's really incredible. I think the part that interests me the most is the belief behind it. I find myself wondering how they came up with the idea that everything put in a tomb with someone got to go to heaven with them. Or how they thought little model boats could become big boats for their owners to sail to heaven. Or even how taking out all of the internal organs of the person helped them be reborn into heaven. The belief was so deep and so detailed and exotic, it's really interesting.
- I mentioned this in my facebook album, but the coolest thing that I saw was Cheop's Solar Boat. Basically, it is a giant boat that was buried in thousands of pieces in a tomb next to one of the pharoah's pyramid. This boat was built solely to be buried for the Pharoah's soul to magically put together and sail to heaven in. That demonstration of faith and belief really amazes me.
- I am slightly claustrophobic. I've actually knows this for a while- I basically need to know my air source. So, I had some trouble in Egypt when it came to climbing in the pyramids- I basically didn't do it. I went partially up one of them, but then decided to stop. I don't know- the way I see it is that the pyramids were created to house the dead and their things, not for other (live) people to ever go in, so why would good ventilation be a priority? Thus I stay out of pyramids.
- Another interesting thing about traveling has been being able to talk to locals or non-American tourists about the US election. Everyone wants to talk about it. I think all of my traveling and talking to people has completely reinforced my decision to vote for Obama. Everyone has been so optimistic about the idea of Obama as president, and that kind of faith and hope for America redeeming its international image is a big plus for me.
It's about time to wrap up this post as I'm leaving for another adventure in Greece in 4 hours! Here's a preview of some of my favorite pictures from the trip:
This is the treasury in Petra, Jordan. What is incredible about this building is that it was carved out of the solid mountainside... no room for mistakes.
The sun behind the great pyramid in Giza!
As you can tell by the next two pictures, I really enjoyed re-learning manual photography techniques on this trip.
On the trip we did a 3 day Nile Cruise. The next few pictures our from one night when I got to watch the sun set from the top deck of our ship. It was beautiful.
The rest of the albums can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006290&l=39ee8&id=1229460136
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006291&l=2bb3e&id=1229460136
- Jordan. I basically knew nothing about Jordan and learned a lot about it on this trip. Jordan recognizes Israel as a country, so that's always a bonus for countries around Israel. It also sees itself as a neutral party in the middle east. It is really difficult to get Jordanian citizenship, supposedly. Also, the Jordanian Dinar is tied to the Dollar, and they accept both currencies, interesting. Also, everyone we talked to was very supportive of America and had a lot of pride in Jordan's relationship with the US. People in general were really nice to us everywhere, a store owner even gave me a mosaic as a gift, even though we didn't buy anything else at his store. Jordanian children also learn Arabic, English, and French in schools.
- Amman. Here are a few interesting facts about Amman (the capital of Jordan): Like Jerusalem, all of the buildings in Amman have to be made of the same stone. In Amman the stone is Limestone, and in Jerusalem its Jerusalem Stone (creative, I know). They are also trying to get rid of all traffic lights in Amman and replacing them with traffic circles to keep traffic flowing (my mom would hate it!). Lastly, motorcycles aren't allowed in Amman, actually I think this is true for all of Jordan, but it was most noticeable in Amman.
- Ancient Egyptian Death Rituals: Now, of course I knew about the pyramids and everything from ancient Egypt, but I don't think I ever really thought about the extensiveness of the death rituals from that time. The ancient egyptians went all out when it came to burying and preserving the dead- it's really incredible. I think the part that interests me the most is the belief behind it. I find myself wondering how they came up with the idea that everything put in a tomb with someone got to go to heaven with them. Or how they thought little model boats could become big boats for their owners to sail to heaven. Or even how taking out all of the internal organs of the person helped them be reborn into heaven. The belief was so deep and so detailed and exotic, it's really interesting.
- I mentioned this in my facebook album, but the coolest thing that I saw was Cheop's Solar Boat. Basically, it is a giant boat that was buried in thousands of pieces in a tomb next to one of the pharoah's pyramid. This boat was built solely to be buried for the Pharoah's soul to magically put together and sail to heaven in. That demonstration of faith and belief really amazes me.
- I am slightly claustrophobic. I've actually knows this for a while- I basically need to know my air source. So, I had some trouble in Egypt when it came to climbing in the pyramids- I basically didn't do it. I went partially up one of them, but then decided to stop. I don't know- the way I see it is that the pyramids were created to house the dead and their things, not for other (live) people to ever go in, so why would good ventilation be a priority? Thus I stay out of pyramids.
- Another interesting thing about traveling has been being able to talk to locals or non-American tourists about the US election. Everyone wants to talk about it. I think all of my traveling and talking to people has completely reinforced my decision to vote for Obama. Everyone has been so optimistic about the idea of Obama as president, and that kind of faith and hope for America redeeming its international image is a big plus for me.
It's about time to wrap up this post as I'm leaving for another adventure in Greece in 4 hours! Here's a preview of some of my favorite pictures from the trip:
This is the sun looking really neat behind a monument on Mount Nebo. Bible Trivia! Mount Nebo is the place where Moses stood and God showed him all the land for the Hebrews, unfortunately Moses was never allowed into that Land of Israel and he died somewhere in modern day Jordan.
This is the treasury in Petra, Jordan. What is incredible about this building is that it was carved out of the solid mountainside... no room for mistakes.
The sun behind the great pyramid in Giza!
As you can tell by the next two pictures, I really enjoyed re-learning manual photography techniques on this trip.
On the trip we did a 3 day Nile Cruise. The next few pictures our from one night when I got to watch the sun set from the top deck of our ship. It was beautiful.
The rest of the albums can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006290&l=39ee8&id=1229460136
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006291&l=2bb3e&id=1229460136
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Yom Kippur in Jerusalem
True, I just got back from a wonderful trip to Jordan and Egypt with my dad, but, I decided I should post about an experience I had before I left for that trip.
For those of you who don't know, Yom Kippur is pretty much the most important Jewish holiday. It is the day of atonement; the day where we apologize to God and each other for the bad things we have done and hope for forgiveness and mercy. We believe in a book of life and a book of death, whether these are real physical books is not really the point, the point of the day is to remember that ultimately, our life is not solely in our hands. God put us here and God can take us away, and if we are here, alive, on this earth for the next year, it is through God's mercy and compassion alone. Now, that seems like a strong, slightly ridiculous statement, and I can see a lot of you roling your eyes or maybe even being surprised that I would say this and believe it. Here's how it works in my mind: I believe in an all-powerful, all knowing God, but I also believe in free will, human choice, etc. I know that I am not perfect and that I make mistakes, and I believe in a God that allows that. I believe in a God who wants me to learn and grow on my own: to realize my problems and fix them, to struggle with my faith but always return to it. All the while I still believe that if God wanted my life to end here and now, it would. So do I think my name will be written in the book of death because I spoke behind someone's back or cut someone off in traffic? no. But I think Yom Kippur is the time for me and other Jews to remember that there is a force much much larger than us making these decisions.
Anyways, that was a very large diversion from the story I wanted to tell about Yom Kippur in Jerusalem. Kira's parents were in town for the holiday, so they made us a great pre-fast meal in our apartment. Then we drove into the city and got our rooms at a hotel near the synagogue we were going to. The interesting thing about Yom Kippur in Jerusalem is that every single thing shuts down. On shabbat, most things shut down, but there are still cars and taxis on the streets. On Yom Kippur, no one drives, the streets are completely empty. After Kol Nidre services (the night Yom Kippur started), we walked around town. We walked in the middle of the bussiest streets in the city. Other people were out, sitting in circles in the middle of the streets or strolling like us. The city was silent. Our fast was long and difficult (26 hours) and I'm not sure how I felt about the services we attended, but what really struck me was the trasformation of the city on that one day.
The problem is that some people in Israel took the holiday way to seriously this year (as I've heard that they have done for years in the past). A couple days before Yom Kippur my roommates came home from class saying that they had been told stories of people in religious neighborhoods stoning cars that were driving on Yom Kippur. Ambulances have even been stoned on their way to the hospital. I couldn't believe it. But, it turns out, this year was also not free from incidence. In a town called Accho, an Arab man was driving to pick up his daughter from relatives. It happened to be Erev Yom Kippur and the Jews in the neighborhood stoned his car. This started a riot between the Arabs nearby and the Jews in Accho. Police didn't respond for hours. There are different accounts- some claiming the arab man was playing loud music and causing trouble and others claiming this was a racist attack on Arabs. But the point is that this is where I dissagree with people who claim to practice the same religion as I do: I don't believe in a God that wants me to stone people driving on my holiday. I don't believe that wins me any points with God or will help me get into the book of Life. In fact, I believe in a God that would want me to repent endlessly for doing what the Jews in Accho did.
For those of you who don't know, Yom Kippur is pretty much the most important Jewish holiday. It is the day of atonement; the day where we apologize to God and each other for the bad things we have done and hope for forgiveness and mercy. We believe in a book of life and a book of death, whether these are real physical books is not really the point, the point of the day is to remember that ultimately, our life is not solely in our hands. God put us here and God can take us away, and if we are here, alive, on this earth for the next year, it is through God's mercy and compassion alone. Now, that seems like a strong, slightly ridiculous statement, and I can see a lot of you roling your eyes or maybe even being surprised that I would say this and believe it. Here's how it works in my mind: I believe in an all-powerful, all knowing God, but I also believe in free will, human choice, etc. I know that I am not perfect and that I make mistakes, and I believe in a God that allows that. I believe in a God who wants me to learn and grow on my own: to realize my problems and fix them, to struggle with my faith but always return to it. All the while I still believe that if God wanted my life to end here and now, it would. So do I think my name will be written in the book of death because I spoke behind someone's back or cut someone off in traffic? no. But I think Yom Kippur is the time for me and other Jews to remember that there is a force much much larger than us making these decisions.
Anyways, that was a very large diversion from the story I wanted to tell about Yom Kippur in Jerusalem. Kira's parents were in town for the holiday, so they made us a great pre-fast meal in our apartment. Then we drove into the city and got our rooms at a hotel near the synagogue we were going to. The interesting thing about Yom Kippur in Jerusalem is that every single thing shuts down. On shabbat, most things shut down, but there are still cars and taxis on the streets. On Yom Kippur, no one drives, the streets are completely empty. After Kol Nidre services (the night Yom Kippur started), we walked around town. We walked in the middle of the bussiest streets in the city. Other people were out, sitting in circles in the middle of the streets or strolling like us. The city was silent. Our fast was long and difficult (26 hours) and I'm not sure how I felt about the services we attended, but what really struck me was the trasformation of the city on that one day.
The problem is that some people in Israel took the holiday way to seriously this year (as I've heard that they have done for years in the past). A couple days before Yom Kippur my roommates came home from class saying that they had been told stories of people in religious neighborhoods stoning cars that were driving on Yom Kippur. Ambulances have even been stoned on their way to the hospital. I couldn't believe it. But, it turns out, this year was also not free from incidence. In a town called Accho, an Arab man was driving to pick up his daughter from relatives. It happened to be Erev Yom Kippur and the Jews in the neighborhood stoned his car. This started a riot between the Arabs nearby and the Jews in Accho. Police didn't respond for hours. There are different accounts- some claiming the arab man was playing loud music and causing trouble and others claiming this was a racist attack on Arabs. But the point is that this is where I dissagree with people who claim to practice the same religion as I do: I don't believe in a God that wants me to stone people driving on my holiday. I don't believe that wins me any points with God or will help me get into the book of Life. In fact, I believe in a God that would want me to repent endlessly for doing what the Jews in Accho did.
Monday, October 6, 2008
European Adventures!
I got back last night from a trip through Europe with two of my roommates, Kira and Erica. I have a ton of stories, and even more pictures, so I'll just cover the highlights in this entry. Each city has a corresponding facebook album that I've linked to, so check out the pictures if you want!
Our first stop was Vienna, Austria. The highlights:
-Our hostel, the Wombat. It was colorful, clean, and really funky. Also, they had the whole hostel running business down.
- Seeing the opera! We did the very Viennese thing of getting standing room tickets to the opera. This required us waiting in line for a few hours, bringing scarfs to tie our spots on the railing, and standing for the entirety of the 2 1/2 hour opera. Sounds a little bit like torture, no? Well, it was. But it was also really cool to have done. The opera was "The Flying Dutchman" and it was really strange, but I guess I get the impression that most operas are really strange.
- The Vienna Boys Choir- this actually wasn't that great, but I'm glad that we went. We got cheap seats that meant we couldn't really see the choir or any part of the chapel. But still neat.
- Food! There was a lot of pork in Vienna, so that was a bit hard to navigate around but we did have some really good food- primarily wiener schnitzel, Gulash, and dumplings. The desserts were also not bad, and we managed to make our way to the Sacher Hotel to try the famous Sachertorte.
- The Schonbrunn Palace- we took a carriage ride around the grounds and it was absolutely beautiful. We also did a 30 minute tour inside that was definitely worth it.
-Shopping. We found the main shopping street in Vienna, the Innerstaat, and enjoyed walking around and shopping. We also needed to do some shopping because we were not nearly prepared for the cold.
The photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006170&l=389e0&id=1229460136
Copenhagen! The highlights:
-The best part of Copenhagen for me, of course, was seeing Chuck, Lynsey, and Grace (for only a few minutes! sad times!). I got to meet Chuck and Lynsey's host families and see where they are living- and I stayed with Chuck at his house. Even though our visit was short, I got to spend a good amount of time with Chuck and Lynsey and had a really good time!
- The public transportation system: ok, maybe this is not a highlight- but I definitely got to know it well. Also it's a million times better than Israel's system so that was nice. I actually liked being able to understand the train system somewhat, and get around a bit on my own (especially when Chuck was lame and made me go into the city alone... kidding)
- The round tower! Its this tower in the city that was built so that the king or ruler or whoever of the time could ride to the top on his horse! So it was basically a big spiral all the way to the top. Pretty cool. Also, the views were great.
- The weather during our visit was pretty horrible, but I really liked Copenhagen! I would definitely go back- maybe during the summer would be nice.
Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006171&l=871db&id=1229460136
Paris! Highlights:
-First I'll say that I really loved Paris and didn't have nearly enough time to do everything I wanted. So I'll definitely be back.
- Free tour! Our hostel had flyers for a free tour of paris- it's given by college students who work solely off of tips. The tour took almost 4 hours but was definitely worth it- it was a great tour! I saw more of paris than I ever could have hoped.
- Notre Dame- since it was the first friday of the month, they had what they believe to be the crown of Christ out to be seen by the public. I didn't go up to see it in person, because it was mainly there for Christians to approach it and kiss it, but it was neat to watch people honor the relic.
- Monmartre Tour- this one was not free but I decided to go on it anyways. It was really nice- we got to see the cafe where Amelie worked in the movie (as well as the park and grocery store in the movie), the restaurant where Picasso traded his paintings for food, Van Gogh's apartment, and the beautiful Sacre Coer Church. It was really nice.
-The Louvre- it was really great to go, but overall I found the Lourve overwhelming and the Mona Lisa slightly disappointing. Still, I got to see some pieces of artwork that I studied in art history, so that was really cool.
- Things I wish I had time to see: The Musae D'Orsay- I tried to go, but the line was too long! I heard from 5 or more different people that it is the best museum in Paris, so I'm sad that I missed it!
The top of the Eiffel tour- the lines were also too long for that too, which was also a bummer. Oh well, i guess I have a reason to go back now!
Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006172&l=79e60&id=1229460136
Now I am back in Jerusalem, briefly, and classes started last night. It should be an interesting semester- and I think I'm looking forward to being in real classes again.
Our first stop was Vienna, Austria. The highlights:
-Our hostel, the Wombat. It was colorful, clean, and really funky. Also, they had the whole hostel running business down.
- Seeing the opera! We did the very Viennese thing of getting standing room tickets to the opera. This required us waiting in line for a few hours, bringing scarfs to tie our spots on the railing, and standing for the entirety of the 2 1/2 hour opera. Sounds a little bit like torture, no? Well, it was. But it was also really cool to have done. The opera was "The Flying Dutchman" and it was really strange, but I guess I get the impression that most operas are really strange.
- The Vienna Boys Choir- this actually wasn't that great, but I'm glad that we went. We got cheap seats that meant we couldn't really see the choir or any part of the chapel. But still neat.
- Food! There was a lot of pork in Vienna, so that was a bit hard to navigate around but we did have some really good food- primarily wiener schnitzel, Gulash, and dumplings. The desserts were also not bad, and we managed to make our way to the Sacher Hotel to try the famous Sachertorte.
- The Schonbrunn Palace- we took a carriage ride around the grounds and it was absolutely beautiful. We also did a 30 minute tour inside that was definitely worth it.
-Shopping. We found the main shopping street in Vienna, the Innerstaat, and enjoyed walking around and shopping. We also needed to do some shopping because we were not nearly prepared for the cold.
The photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006170&l=389e0&id=1229460136
Copenhagen! The highlights:
-The best part of Copenhagen for me, of course, was seeing Chuck, Lynsey, and Grace (for only a few minutes! sad times!). I got to meet Chuck and Lynsey's host families and see where they are living- and I stayed with Chuck at his house. Even though our visit was short, I got to spend a good amount of time with Chuck and Lynsey and had a really good time!
- The public transportation system: ok, maybe this is not a highlight- but I definitely got to know it well. Also it's a million times better than Israel's system so that was nice. I actually liked being able to understand the train system somewhat, and get around a bit on my own (especially when Chuck was lame and made me go into the city alone... kidding)
- The round tower! Its this tower in the city that was built so that the king or ruler or whoever of the time could ride to the top on his horse! So it was basically a big spiral all the way to the top. Pretty cool. Also, the views were great.
- The weather during our visit was pretty horrible, but I really liked Copenhagen! I would definitely go back- maybe during the summer would be nice.
Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006171&l=871db&id=1229460136
Paris! Highlights:
-First I'll say that I really loved Paris and didn't have nearly enough time to do everything I wanted. So I'll definitely be back.
- Free tour! Our hostel had flyers for a free tour of paris- it's given by college students who work solely off of tips. The tour took almost 4 hours but was definitely worth it- it was a great tour! I saw more of paris than I ever could have hoped.
- Notre Dame- since it was the first friday of the month, they had what they believe to be the crown of Christ out to be seen by the public. I didn't go up to see it in person, because it was mainly there for Christians to approach it and kiss it, but it was neat to watch people honor the relic.
- Monmartre Tour- this one was not free but I decided to go on it anyways. It was really nice- we got to see the cafe where Amelie worked in the movie (as well as the park and grocery store in the movie), the restaurant where Picasso traded his paintings for food, Van Gogh's apartment, and the beautiful Sacre Coer Church. It was really nice.
-The Louvre- it was really great to go, but overall I found the Lourve overwhelming and the Mona Lisa slightly disappointing. Still, I got to see some pieces of artwork that I studied in art history, so that was really cool.
- Things I wish I had time to see: The Musae D'Orsay- I tried to go, but the line was too long! I heard from 5 or more different people that it is the best museum in Paris, so I'm sad that I missed it!
The top of the Eiffel tour- the lines were also too long for that too, which was also a bummer. Oh well, i guess I have a reason to go back now!
Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006172&l=79e60&id=1229460136
Now I am back in Jerusalem, briefly, and classes started last night. It should be an interesting semester- and I think I'm looking forward to being in real classes again.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Recap of my week:
So, it's been a little while since I've posted about what I've been up to, so here's my past week/week and a half:
Later that night we went out to dinner with a friend of Kira's from Pacific and two of his Israeli Volleyball playing friends. It was actually really nice! It was good to talk to people and be normal teenagers out for the night. Unfortunately, when we tried to actually go out for the night, we found that most Tel Aviv clubs are 22-23+ which we, 18 and 19 year old girls, couldn't pass for (the guys were older, but they still couldn't get us in). On friday we ran some errands, had an absolutely delicious breakfast, went to a craft show, and spent an hour or so on the beach. Then we came back to Jerusalem in time for Shabbat.
We decided to do another home stay shabbat, and it was another interesting experience. We met up with our host, Reb Chaim, at the Kotel. Reb Chaim is quite a character. He's american orginally, and he's actually from Minnesota which was exciting, but immigrated to Israel about 5 years ago. He opens his home for shabbat every week. He had 15-20 guests that night, almost all pretty young people like my age. Half of the group were these girls from a Yeshiva in the south. They were all very sweet, but I couldn't believe some of the things they said. For example, at one point during the meal Reb Chaim made each of us ask a question, any question, as long as it wasn't related to Jewish Law. And one of the girls asked: "Reb Chaim, which do you think is worse: a Black president or a Woman vice president?" all of us on the other side of the table almost choked and died and Amelia muttered to me "How about the racist sexist person sitting across from me". Oy, statements like that really make me miss Carleton.
Reb Chaim also gave each of us a blessing, his blessing for me was that I should always have Peace in my family and that my parents should trust me and stop nagging me (sorry Mom and Dad!) There were many more awkward, outrageous, and interesting moments, which added up to a pretty entertaining evening and a unique way to spend a friday night.
I'm sure that I spent saturday doing what I always do: Sleeping, Cleaning my room, and doing work. I'm not sure what I will do when I go back to carleton without these completely down days, it might be rough.
The school week started pretty normally but I got sick starting sunday night and at it's worse on monday. I skipped class which was a tough decision since missing 5 hours of Hebrew kind of sets you back... I also missed class on Thursday to make my second trip into Tel Aviv to get my Tourist visa for Jordan and to pick up a package.
The mail system here is horrible, basically, any package that contains electronics, DVDs, or other expensive things gets held up in Customs in Tel Aviv, so basically, don't send me those things ever. While in Tel Aviv we also went shopping! That was ok, but a little scary. I find Israelis intimidating to begin with, but they're worse when they're trying to help you in a store. I just like to be left to shop in peace! oy.
On a really good note- I had a semi-light-bulb-aha moment in class on thursday, and I think I might actually be understanding the material! (a really good thing considering I have a 5 or so hour final on thursday...)
This weekend has more or less been boring. We had a very frustrating night out on Thursday, stayed in all day yesterday, and have been home today. Is it bad that I really like weekends like this? Last night we went to another home shabbat. This time it was within the walls of the old city- it was really powerful. For some reason as we walked out of the home where we ate and down towards the Kotel I just had a grin on my face. My roommate claims it was a side effect of the half-shot of whiskey I did with everyone else, but I think there really was something nice about being in the old city on shabbat. The coolest part was walking down to the Kotel at 11:30pm on Shabbat. It was virtually empty and silent. We got to walk right up to the wall, press our hands and our foreheads against the stone and have some time for silent prayer, really cool.
I'm about to start up the most hectic week ever- which will involve lots of cramming and studying for our final and planning the details of our trip to Europe! I really can't wait, it should be a really great time!
Oh my goodness! I almost forgot about the most important part of our weekend last weekend, our apartment flooded! Something under the sink broke and water poured out everywhere. We had standing water in almost every room- and one of my roommates had to run to security to get help. It was absolutely wild. Luckily I don't think anything was destroyed, but we have had many a joke about the "Great Flood" of apartment 151
Last thursday after ulpan me, Kira, Amelia, and Erica went to Tel Aviv for the night. It was actually my first time in Tel Aviv so that was pretty cool. We stayed at a hostel that was only mildly sketchy and had a nice time! The first thing we did once we were settled was go down to the beach right in time for sunset. Actually, we missed the sun by like a minute, but it was still beautiful. It was really nice to be in a city by the water, it felt like we could have been anywhere. 
(This is one of my favorites from that night at the beach)
(This is one of my favorites from that night at the beach)Later that night we went out to dinner with a friend of Kira's from Pacific and two of his Israeli Volleyball playing friends. It was actually really nice! It was good to talk to people and be normal teenagers out for the night. Unfortunately, when we tried to actually go out for the night, we found that most Tel Aviv clubs are 22-23+ which we, 18 and 19 year old girls, couldn't pass for (the guys were older, but they still couldn't get us in). On friday we ran some errands, had an absolutely delicious breakfast, went to a craft show, and spent an hour or so on the beach. Then we came back to Jerusalem in time for Shabbat.
We decided to do another home stay shabbat, and it was another interesting experience. We met up with our host, Reb Chaim, at the Kotel. Reb Chaim is quite a character. He's american orginally, and he's actually from Minnesota which was exciting, but immigrated to Israel about 5 years ago. He opens his home for shabbat every week. He had 15-20 guests that night, almost all pretty young people like my age. Half of the group were these girls from a Yeshiva in the south. They were all very sweet, but I couldn't believe some of the things they said. For example, at one point during the meal Reb Chaim made each of us ask a question, any question, as long as it wasn't related to Jewish Law. And one of the girls asked: "Reb Chaim, which do you think is worse: a Black president or a Woman vice president?" all of us on the other side of the table almost choked and died and Amelia muttered to me "How about the racist sexist person sitting across from me". Oy, statements like that really make me miss Carleton.
Reb Chaim also gave each of us a blessing, his blessing for me was that I should always have Peace in my family and that my parents should trust me and stop nagging me (sorry Mom and Dad!) There were many more awkward, outrageous, and interesting moments, which added up to a pretty entertaining evening and a unique way to spend a friday night.
I'm sure that I spent saturday doing what I always do: Sleeping, Cleaning my room, and doing work. I'm not sure what I will do when I go back to carleton without these completely down days, it might be rough.
The school week started pretty normally but I got sick starting sunday night and at it's worse on monday. I skipped class which was a tough decision since missing 5 hours of Hebrew kind of sets you back... I also missed class on Thursday to make my second trip into Tel Aviv to get my Tourist visa for Jordan and to pick up a package.
The mail system here is horrible, basically, any package that contains electronics, DVDs, or other expensive things gets held up in Customs in Tel Aviv, so basically, don't send me those things ever. While in Tel Aviv we also went shopping! That was ok, but a little scary. I find Israelis intimidating to begin with, but they're worse when they're trying to help you in a store. I just like to be left to shop in peace! oy.
On a really good note- I had a semi-light-bulb-aha moment in class on thursday, and I think I might actually be understanding the material! (a really good thing considering I have a 5 or so hour final on thursday...)
This weekend has more or less been boring. We had a very frustrating night out on Thursday, stayed in all day yesterday, and have been home today. Is it bad that I really like weekends like this? Last night we went to another home shabbat. This time it was within the walls of the old city- it was really powerful. For some reason as we walked out of the home where we ate and down towards the Kotel I just had a grin on my face. My roommate claims it was a side effect of the half-shot of whiskey I did with everyone else, but I think there really was something nice about being in the old city on shabbat. The coolest part was walking down to the Kotel at 11:30pm on Shabbat. It was virtually empty and silent. We got to walk right up to the wall, press our hands and our foreheads against the stone and have some time for silent prayer, really cool.
I'm about to start up the most hectic week ever- which will involve lots of cramming and studying for our final and planning the details of our trip to Europe! I really can't wait, it should be a really great time!
Oh my goodness! I almost forgot about the most important part of our weekend last weekend, our apartment flooded! Something under the sink broke and water poured out everywhere. We had standing water in almost every room- and one of my roommates had to run to security to get help. It was absolutely wild. Luckily I don't think anything was destroyed, but we have had many a joke about the "Great Flood" of apartment 151
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Scaredy Cat
I feel like I'm letting fear overrun my life right now.
My fear of rejection, or, even worse, awkward and repetitive introduction conversations keep me from socializing much beyond my apartment. (Please, just don't make me repeat that I'm from Baltimore, Maryland- and yes, I may or may not know your Jewish friend that lives there, that I'm a junior, just here for a semester, not a year, I go to Carleton College, never heard of it? yeah, it's in Minnesota, yeah, it does get pretty darn cold up there and I'm in the third level of Ulpan, yes, I can understand everything pretty well, no, my verbal skills aren't quite up there, etc. etc.)
Worse than that, though, is my complete fear of speaking Hebrew. To be more specific, it's really more a of a fear of making a mistake. I know enough Hebrew to know when I'm saying something wrong. So, instead of asking a bus driver a rough translation of "do you walk/"go" to Mount Scopus" because I don't know the words for "do you stop/drive/does your route include Mount Scopus", I just won't ask. I'm more afraid of being the idiot who messes up her Hebrew phrases than just being the American tourist. The worst thing is when I know about half of the words in hebrew, so I start up in hebrew and then get stuck and have to switch to English. Wouldn't it just be easier to start in English and save myself the embarrassment?
But how can I not have this problem? I'm trained in Hebrew, sure, but it's academic Hebrew, not Hebrew for the market on Ben Yehuda. I can write a 10 page paper in Hebrew about the influence of Holocaust survivors on their children in Israeli literature and film, but I can't name all of the ingredients I want in my salad at lunch. I can read articles in newspapers or listen to an entire lecture and take out the main points, but I can't ask someone on the street how to get on a bus to get to the central bus station. I have no worries about my writing, Stacy's class more than prepared me, and it's shown by my essentially constant A's on all written assignments here. But I do this well because I understand construction, and I've mastered the dictionary. On the streets, in the market, on the bus, I can't write out a rough draft- I get one chance, and if I do it wrong I end up in Elat instead of Tel Aviv, with a pet chicken instead of a chicken sandwich for lunch. But at least when I get there I can tell the first Israeli I find the story we learned in Ulpan yesterday, of Alegra and Jabra and their forbidden Jewish-Christian love?
My fear of rejection, or, even worse, awkward and repetitive introduction conversations keep me from socializing much beyond my apartment. (Please, just don't make me repeat that I'm from Baltimore, Maryland- and yes, I may or may not know your Jewish friend that lives there, that I'm a junior, just here for a semester, not a year, I go to Carleton College, never heard of it? yeah, it's in Minnesota, yeah, it does get pretty darn cold up there and I'm in the third level of Ulpan, yes, I can understand everything pretty well, no, my verbal skills aren't quite up there, etc. etc.)
Worse than that, though, is my complete fear of speaking Hebrew. To be more specific, it's really more a of a fear of making a mistake. I know enough Hebrew to know when I'm saying something wrong. So, instead of asking a bus driver a rough translation of "do you walk/"go" to Mount Scopus" because I don't know the words for "do you stop/drive/does your route include Mount Scopus", I just won't ask. I'm more afraid of being the idiot who messes up her Hebrew phrases than just being the American tourist. The worst thing is when I know about half of the words in hebrew, so I start up in hebrew and then get stuck and have to switch to English. Wouldn't it just be easier to start in English and save myself the embarrassment?
But how can I not have this problem? I'm trained in Hebrew, sure, but it's academic Hebrew, not Hebrew for the market on Ben Yehuda. I can write a 10 page paper in Hebrew about the influence of Holocaust survivors on their children in Israeli literature and film, but I can't name all of the ingredients I want in my salad at lunch. I can read articles in newspapers or listen to an entire lecture and take out the main points, but I can't ask someone on the street how to get on a bus to get to the central bus station. I have no worries about my writing, Stacy's class more than prepared me, and it's shown by my essentially constant A's on all written assignments here. But I do this well because I understand construction, and I've mastered the dictionary. On the streets, in the market, on the bus, I can't write out a rough draft- I get one chance, and if I do it wrong I end up in Elat instead of Tel Aviv, with a pet chicken instead of a chicken sandwich for lunch. But at least when I get there I can tell the first Israeli I find the story we learned in Ulpan yesterday, of Alegra and Jabra and their forbidden Jewish-Christian love?
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
On Monday I went on two field trips: One with my Ulpan class and the other with a group of other sudents.
With my class I went to Mount Herzl. First we did a tour of the museum, which was actually really cool. We had a tour guide and we basically moved through all of these different rooms and screens came down from the ceilings and played movies and we had to keep turning around to watch different screens. It was very engaging. I think my favorite room was one set up to look like where the first Zionist Congress was held. It was 2 stories and we entered at the top and had to walk down and sit among these plastic figures. There were chandeliers hanging from the cielings and it was just really cool. But I was constantly worried that one of the plastic people was going to move and grab me, luckily they were not motorized.
It was cool because the entire tour was in Hebrew, the movies didn't even have Hebrew subtitles. While I'm sure that I missed some details, I got the main points of the tour. And I understood enough to be inspired to take a course on the History of Modern Israel.
Mount Herzl is also the home to a huge cemetery and Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial (but we didn't go there). To the right is Herzl's grave, he is buried at the highest point on the 'mountain'- so that he can look out into the country he worked so hard for.
After Herzls grave we walked through the graves of important political figures like Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin's grave is on the right, and it's different than the tombstones marking everyone else's graves because he was assassinated and did not die of natural causes. His gravestone is in Black and his wife's is in tan. They make a half circle to remind passersby of his unfinished life and work. Mt Herzl houses a large military cemetery as well as memorials for other groups of people (I'll get more into that later)
Above are pictures of Hannah Senesh's grave. She is a very well known Israeli parachuter and poet. The story goes that she was captured and tortured and her mother (who was not even living in Israel) was also captured and tortured, but she would not reveal information about Israel, and she was killed. When we got to her grave we all got together and sang her most famous poem "Eli, Eli" which roughly translates as: "My God, My God, I pray that these things never end: The sand and the sea, the rush of the water, the lightening in the sky, the prayer of the man". It's really a beautiful song. I also really loved how adorned her grave was.
We also walked through the memorial I have pictured to the left. This is probably my favorite picture from the day. This is a memorial for sailors lost at sea when an Israeli submarine disappeared. It was only actually found recently.
The layout of the memorial is really cool, though, because it's underground and kind of looks like a submarine. And every person from the submarine has a remembrance plaque, since the bodies were never found.
To the right is a picture of a memorial for people killed in suicide bombings. It was an incredibly powerful memorial because of its size. Imagine long walls filled with black plaques inscribed with hundreds of names, it's horrible.
There was even a plaque honoring those killed in 2008, it's scary to think about people still dying so much after the establishment of Israel, simply because they are there and there are people around them who don't want them to be.
To the left is a memorial that really caught my eye because of the projects I did last winter in Hebrew and Jewish Ethics about the Holocaust. This is a memorial for survivors of the Holocaust who were then killed as soldiers in the War of Independence. It's shaped like an upside down house, to symbolize the hope these survivors had of finding home and safety in Israel, that was then lost when they were killed defending it.
The second field trip of the day was to Hebron. I was really excited to go to Hebron because I did a report on it in Hebrew Class last year. It's also an incredibly important city for Jews, so much excitement.
Hebron is a very controversial city, however. It has a rich history of Jews settling and then being kicked out, and then coming back, etc. Right now there are 87 or so Jewish families living in Hebron. They live in the 20% of the city where Jews are allowed. The other 80% is run by the Palestinian Authority, and Jews cannot enter.
To the left is a picture of one of the many Israeli soldiers we saw in Hebron. They are everywhere. Since the Jewish population there is spread out into 4-5 different neighborhoods, there are guards everywhere making sure that things remain calm between the Jews and there Palestinian neighbors.
To the left is a picture of some Jewish boys playing. I thought it was pretty cute. It's really incredible that those 87 or so families equal over 1,000 Jews in the city. These are huge families and people are incredibly devoted to living in Hebron. Hebron is known as the place where Abraham and Sarah once lived as well as, much later, King David. Exciting stuff.
The big sight to see in Hebron is the Maarat Ha'Machpela (which I'm sure I am butchering in English, but I could write it in Hebrew, but then you wouldn't get it). Maarat Ha'Machpela is the supposed burrial place of the mothers and fathers of Judaism: Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, and Leah. It is mostly controlled by the Palestinian part of town, but Jews are allowed into a small section, including where Abraham is supposed to be buried. The picture to the right is Abraham's grave. It's a little confusing, because in fact, all of these people are actually buried underground, these shrines are built over their supposed burial spots.
Jews believe that about 7 steps up, next to the cave, is directly next to where the mothers and fathers are buried. (This comes from a whole lot of stories including Jews sneaking past Arab guards to go down into the cave and look for the graves). Many Jews gather to pray there, at the spot of the 7th step, to honor them. On the right is a picture of a man doing just that.
Our field trip also took us to the sight of Rebecca's grave, in Bethlehem. This was probably the weirdest experience because Bethlehem is right on or in the Gaza Strip. So, we entered the building with the grave, but outside were huge fences with barbed wire and guards. It was eerily quiet and, for me, just strange. It was weird to think of a whole other world beyond those walls, but still in the same country. The other weird thing was that we took a bulletproof bus for the entire field trip. The bus itself wasn't really all that different, except for the double glass in the windows, but it was just weird to feel like we needed to be in it.
With my class I went to Mount Herzl. First we did a tour of the museum, which was actually really cool. We had a tour guide and we basically moved through all of these different rooms and screens came down from the ceilings and played movies and we had to keep turning around to watch different screens. It was very engaging. I think my favorite room was one set up to look like where the first Zionist Congress was held. It was 2 stories and we entered at the top and had to walk down and sit among these plastic figures. There were chandeliers hanging from the cielings and it was just really cool. But I was constantly worried that one of the plastic people was going to move and grab me, luckily they were not motorized.
It was cool because the entire tour was in Hebrew, the movies didn't even have Hebrew subtitles. While I'm sure that I missed some details, I got the main points of the tour. And I understood enough to be inspired to take a course on the History of Modern Israel.
Mount Herzl is also the home to a huge cemetery and Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial (but we didn't go there). To the right is Herzl's grave, he is buried at the highest point on the 'mountain'- so that he can look out into the country he worked so hard for.
After Herzls grave we walked through the graves of important political figures like Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin's grave is on the right, and it's different than the tombstones marking everyone else's graves because he was assassinated and did not die of natural causes. His gravestone is in Black and his wife's is in tan. They make a half circle to remind passersby of his unfinished life and work. Mt Herzl houses a large military cemetery as well as memorials for other groups of people (I'll get more into that later)
Above are pictures of Hannah Senesh's grave. She is a very well known Israeli parachuter and poet. The story goes that she was captured and tortured and her mother (who was not even living in Israel) was also captured and tortured, but she would not reveal information about Israel, and she was killed. When we got to her grave we all got together and sang her most famous poem "Eli, Eli" which roughly translates as: "My God, My God, I pray that these things never end: The sand and the sea, the rush of the water, the lightening in the sky, the prayer of the man". It's really a beautiful song. I also really loved how adorned her grave was.
We also walked through the memorial I have pictured to the left. This is probably my favorite picture from the day. This is a memorial for sailors lost at sea when an Israeli submarine disappeared. It was only actually found recently.
The layout of the memorial is really cool, though, because it's underground and kind of looks like a submarine. And every person from the submarine has a remembrance plaque, since the bodies were never found.
To the right is a picture of a memorial for people killed in suicide bombings. It was an incredibly powerful memorial because of its size. Imagine long walls filled with black plaques inscribed with hundreds of names, it's horrible.
There was even a plaque honoring those killed in 2008, it's scary to think about people still dying so much after the establishment of Israel, simply because they are there and there are people around them who don't want them to be.
To the left is a memorial that really caught my eye because of the projects I did last winter in Hebrew and Jewish Ethics about the Holocaust. This is a memorial for survivors of the Holocaust who were then killed as soldiers in the War of Independence. It's shaped like an upside down house, to symbolize the hope these survivors had of finding home and safety in Israel, that was then lost when they were killed defending it.
The second field trip of the day was to Hebron. I was really excited to go to Hebron because I did a report on it in Hebrew Class last year. It's also an incredibly important city for Jews, so much excitement.
Hebron is a very controversial city, however. It has a rich history of Jews settling and then being kicked out, and then coming back, etc. Right now there are 87 or so Jewish families living in Hebron. They live in the 20% of the city where Jews are allowed. The other 80% is run by the Palestinian Authority, and Jews cannot enter.To the left is a picture of one of the many Israeli soldiers we saw in Hebron. They are everywhere. Since the Jewish population there is spread out into 4-5 different neighborhoods, there are guards everywhere making sure that things remain calm between the Jews and there Palestinian neighbors.
To the left is a picture of some Jewish boys playing. I thought it was pretty cute. It's really incredible that those 87 or so families equal over 1,000 Jews in the city. These are huge families and people are incredibly devoted to living in Hebron. Hebron is known as the place where Abraham and Sarah once lived as well as, much later, King David. Exciting stuff.
The big sight to see in Hebron is the Maarat Ha'Machpela (which I'm sure I am butchering in English, but I could write it in Hebrew, but then you wouldn't get it). Maarat Ha'Machpela is the supposed burrial place of the mothers and fathers of Judaism: Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, and Leah. It is mostly controlled by the Palestinian part of town, but Jews are allowed into a small section, including where Abraham is supposed to be buried. The picture to the right is Abraham's grave. It's a little confusing, because in fact, all of these people are actually buried underground, these shrines are built over their supposed burial spots.
Jews believe that about 7 steps up, next to the cave, is directly next to where the mothers and fathers are buried. (This comes from a whole lot of stories including Jews sneaking past Arab guards to go down into the cave and look for the graves). Many Jews gather to pray there, at the spot of the 7th step, to honor them. On the right is a picture of a man doing just that.Our field trip also took us to the sight of Rebecca's grave, in Bethlehem. This was probably the weirdest experience because Bethlehem is right on or in the Gaza Strip. So, we entered the building with the grave, but outside were huge fences with barbed wire and guards. It was eerily quiet and, for me, just strange. It was weird to think of a whole other world beyond those walls, but still in the same country. The other weird thing was that we took a bulletproof bus for the entire field trip. The bus itself wasn't really all that different, except for the double glass in the windows, but it was just weird to feel like we needed to be in it.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Travel Plans!
We're now in week 5 of Ulpan and, to be honest, I think we're all about ready to be done. It's pretty exhausting.
The most exciting thing about this past week has been finalizing plans for traveling in the end of september/october. Here's my itinerary:
- Thursday September 25th is our last day of Ulpan. We have a final exam that day until 1pm. The we'll go home, pack, party, whatever, and at 7am on Friday we'll leave Tel Aviv for Vienna, Austria.
- We'll spend the weekend in Vienna touring around and staying at a really cool looking Hostel then on Monday afternoon we'll leave and fly to Copenhagen. We'll be there monday night, tuesday, and wednesday (which is perfect because Chuck and Lynsey- and the rest of DIS don't have classes on wednesdays) and on thursday morning we fly out to Paris.
- We'll spend the weekend in Paris and fly back on sunday morning.
Here's where the month gets interesting:
-We fly in on October 5th and have our first classes on the 6th and 7th. Then we are off on the 8th and 9th for Yom Kippur. Then it's the weekend.
- We have classes on sunday the 12th and then we are off from the 13th-the 23rd for Sukkot.
- My dad flies in on sunday the 12th and will chill in Jerusalem for a day or so.
- On monday we'll drive down to Petra in Jordan and see the sights there for a day
- On tuesday night we'll fly to Cairo and tour around there.
- On friday we'll board a nile cruise until sunday/monday then fly back to Tel Aviv!
I'm so excited. No wonder I can't wait for Ulpan to be over...
The most exciting thing about this past week has been finalizing plans for traveling in the end of september/october. Here's my itinerary:
- Thursday September 25th is our last day of Ulpan. We have a final exam that day until 1pm. The we'll go home, pack, party, whatever, and at 7am on Friday we'll leave Tel Aviv for Vienna, Austria.
- We'll spend the weekend in Vienna touring around and staying at a really cool looking Hostel then on Monday afternoon we'll leave and fly to Copenhagen. We'll be there monday night, tuesday, and wednesday (which is perfect because Chuck and Lynsey- and the rest of DIS don't have classes on wednesdays) and on thursday morning we fly out to Paris.
- We'll spend the weekend in Paris and fly back on sunday morning.
Here's where the month gets interesting:
-We fly in on October 5th and have our first classes on the 6th and 7th. Then we are off on the 8th and 9th for Yom Kippur. Then it's the weekend.
- We have classes on sunday the 12th and then we are off from the 13th-the 23rd for Sukkot.
- My dad flies in on sunday the 12th and will chill in Jerusalem for a day or so.
- On monday we'll drive down to Petra in Jordan and see the sights there for a day
- On tuesday night we'll fly to Cairo and tour around there.
- On friday we'll board a nile cruise until sunday/monday then fly back to Tel Aviv!
I'm so excited. No wonder I can't wait for Ulpan to be over...
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Reincarnation
So as promised, here is my post about the Jewish view of reincarnation:
On sunday the speaker at ortho house talked about reincarnation. Every week there is a speaker there for their dollars for learning program (which we fondly call dollars for brainwashing). Basically, if you sign up and agree to go to their weekly lectures and spend an hour talking to a tutor and write up what you learned, they will give you money. I find the whole thing kind of sketch and I don't really agree with some of their views, so I don't do the program. Also I just don't think brainwashing is as fun as everyone says it is... Anyways, they always have a free dinner and a speaker and since this out sounded interesting and there was chinese for dinner, I decided to go.
The speaker told us about the mystic view of reincarnation in Judaism. Some Jews believe that souls are reincarnated into new bodied to fix a mistake made in a previous life or to improve themselves from their previous life. Reincarnation is not ideal- you don't want to be reincarnated multiple times because it's painful to the soul to watch its body decompose. Once the souls have done everything they have to they will not be reincarnated and go to some higher unknown realm and that is what our souls strie for. The idea is that each new soul has 3 lives to do something right, if in one of those lives something improves then the soul has an infinite number of chances/lives but if nothing improves in those three lives then something bad happens- he didn't really go into it.
Scholars claim that the soul has a knowledge of what it must do, fix, or improve and we can see it in a certain unexplained draw to study something or do something- that unexplained draw is out soul yearning for what it lacks or has lacked in the past. Also, if we have a problem or tendency to do something bad our soul could be showing us what its weaknesses are, what it needs to overcome.
I think the part that I found most interesting was that he told us that there is a finite number of souls in the world and that everyone alive now is a reincarnation. The belief is that once every soul has done what it has to it, it stops being reincarnated and the Messiah will come. The idea of a finite number of souls is what really intrigues me, though. I aksed about it, because it seems to me that if we believe that then we are believing that this world is full of souls that couldn't get it right. We're the screw ups- shouldn't that have an effect on the mystical veiw on today's society? I'm not sure that knowing that, I would have faith in the people of this world to bring about the Messiah. When I asked that question he didn't really have an answer except to say that instead of seeing this as a world of screw ups he sees right now as the epitome of God's forgiveness- at the point where he's given us the most chances.
I'm not sure that I buy that. I'm not sure that I buy any of it, actually. But it's interesting to think about, especially after learning and fighting with the Buddhist concept of rebirth all of spring term. Really it's closer to the Mahayana than the Theravada definition of reincarnation, but I won't go into all of that.
I've realized, as I always do, that I don't completely worry myself about life after death, I simply believe that there is something. I believe we can't know, and this guy and his misticism and reincarnation is just as likely to be right as anyone else. Amelia and I had a whole conversation about the speaker: she thought he was crazy- I didn't have a problem with him.
We believe what we can, we believe what we can imagine and feel- so I do what I can, and I focus on doing good things. In the end, I hope, I will learn what is true and what is right and I might be completely wrong. I guess I just don't think it will matter what I believed but how I lived it.
On sunday the speaker at ortho house talked about reincarnation. Every week there is a speaker there for their dollars for learning program (which we fondly call dollars for brainwashing). Basically, if you sign up and agree to go to their weekly lectures and spend an hour talking to a tutor and write up what you learned, they will give you money. I find the whole thing kind of sketch and I don't really agree with some of their views, so I don't do the program. Also I just don't think brainwashing is as fun as everyone says it is... Anyways, they always have a free dinner and a speaker and since this out sounded interesting and there was chinese for dinner, I decided to go.
The speaker told us about the mystic view of reincarnation in Judaism. Some Jews believe that souls are reincarnated into new bodied to fix a mistake made in a previous life or to improve themselves from their previous life. Reincarnation is not ideal- you don't want to be reincarnated multiple times because it's painful to the soul to watch its body decompose. Once the souls have done everything they have to they will not be reincarnated and go to some higher unknown realm and that is what our souls strie for. The idea is that each new soul has 3 lives to do something right, if in one of those lives something improves then the soul has an infinite number of chances/lives but if nothing improves in those three lives then something bad happens- he didn't really go into it.
Scholars claim that the soul has a knowledge of what it must do, fix, or improve and we can see it in a certain unexplained draw to study something or do something- that unexplained draw is out soul yearning for what it lacks or has lacked in the past. Also, if we have a problem or tendency to do something bad our soul could be showing us what its weaknesses are, what it needs to overcome.
I think the part that I found most interesting was that he told us that there is a finite number of souls in the world and that everyone alive now is a reincarnation. The belief is that once every soul has done what it has to it, it stops being reincarnated and the Messiah will come. The idea of a finite number of souls is what really intrigues me, though. I aksed about it, because it seems to me that if we believe that then we are believing that this world is full of souls that couldn't get it right. We're the screw ups- shouldn't that have an effect on the mystical veiw on today's society? I'm not sure that knowing that, I would have faith in the people of this world to bring about the Messiah. When I asked that question he didn't really have an answer except to say that instead of seeing this as a world of screw ups he sees right now as the epitome of God's forgiveness- at the point where he's given us the most chances.
I'm not sure that I buy that. I'm not sure that I buy any of it, actually. But it's interesting to think about, especially after learning and fighting with the Buddhist concept of rebirth all of spring term. Really it's closer to the Mahayana than the Theravada definition of reincarnation, but I won't go into all of that.
I've realized, as I always do, that I don't completely worry myself about life after death, I simply believe that there is something. I believe we can't know, and this guy and his misticism and reincarnation is just as likely to be right as anyone else. Amelia and I had a whole conversation about the speaker: she thought he was crazy- I didn't have a problem with him.
We believe what we can, we believe what we can imagine and feel- so I do what I can, and I focus on doing good things. In the end, I hope, I will learn what is true and what is right and I might be completely wrong. I guess I just don't think it will matter what I believed but how I lived it.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit
Wow, it's September!
I didn't even think about it until someone mentioned it on the way to class today. I've been here almost a month and I should be on my way home in almost exactly 4 months. 5 months seemed unbearable, but 4 will be 3 before I know it- especially with travel plans at the end of the month. And 3 will be 2 super fast since our semester will have been about 10 days long by the time October is over- then is will be 2 months which seems like a small amount of time, weird. Follow that train of thought?
This weekend was pretty chill and relaxing- exactly what I always feel like I need at the end of a week of Ulpan. On Thursday night we decided to be social and go to the Jerusalem Beer Festival. It was pretty fun- we mostly just hung out with other Ulpan people and I got to meet some new people including a girl from Canada who had a whole conversation with me about accents and weird American phrases- for example: She asked us what 'quarter of seven' meant. We told her it meant 6:45 and she said she didn't think that made sense- a quarter of an hour is 15 minutes so a quarter of 7 should be 7 and a quarter- 7:15. She may have had a point there. I also met a guy from Emory and we talked about how it's changed since my parents were there.
(this is me and Kira at the beer festival, the one picture that I actually like from the night)
A couple highlights from the Beer Festival:
- Erica was looking for a particular beer and saw a man with it. He happened to be a huge tattooed man but she asked anyways. Once she got what she wanted she went back to him to say thanks. She asked where he was from and he said Holland, when he asked back she said Tokyo to which he replied "you don't look very Tokyo-an" and she said "yeah, you don't look very Dutch" and he answered "touche" and they clinked glasses. It was great.
- Peach Beer! It is so good and kind of tastes like ginger ale (or maybe was a really expensive peach flavored ginger ale? hm)
- Lo mein! They had a stand there selling lo mein and egg rolls and it was delicious.
- While me and Erica were eating our lo mein sitting to the side on the ground a photographer came up and started photographing us- I wonder if our picture is on the website.
- At the bus stop on our way back I met a guy who lives one street up from us (in Baltimore) and went to my lower/middle school. Craziness!
On friday we almost did an outdoor tourist activity but then we realized it was 95 degrees outside so we went and bought a toaster over instead. Of course, the one day we were lugging around a toaster oven was the day there was an outdoor concert on Ben Yehudah Street... we wondered around for a bit and then went home to chill. That night we caught a taxi to the western wall to meet up with the family we were set up with for Shabbat dinner. It's a shabbat hospitality program and we thought we'd give it a try. We met at the wall and 3 of us along with 4 other people we didn't know were sent to follow a semi-orthodox looking man. He was really nice and spoke English (I think he was originally from the US) but walked really fast. We walked from the kotel through part of the arab quarter of the old city including the arab marked and into downtown Jerusalem and beyond. We walked for about 45 minutes, it was intense. When we arrived we were greeted by a giant dining room table with room for 25 or more. There were children everywhere and adults from all over the world too. We talked to some other Americans who made aliyah (immigrating to Israel) about 10 years ago. They talked a lot about how it's really difficult to make a life in Israel- and I find that so interesting. One man runs 3 bussinesses to survive. I find it really inspiring that people put themselves through so much hardship to live in Israel- and they do it because they believe so strongly that they should be here. It's neat. There were also some people from the neighborhood and some random Australians, I'm not really sure where they fit in.
It was a really great dinner- and the food kept coming! If you recall the drunken rabbi story, there was only one food course in that shabbat dinner- but in this one we had a salad/fish/hummus course then soup then meats and vegetables then dessert. But, surprisingly (to me at least) they did the shot thing at this dinner too! I really need to do some research about the drinking during shabbat dinner. It's interesting because it's not like an adult glass of wine thing, it's honestly shots of scotch or vodka in between courses. This family even had a giant bottle of smirnoff with a pump at the top (like a soap despenser). Really different. I will research and let you know.
Saturday, as usual, we hung out, watched movies, did homework, and cleaned. It's a nice routine, but I think we're going to try to go to Tel Aviv or Hertzlya this weekend. We'll see.
Another weekend over!
For the next post: Judaism's veiw on Reincarnation
I didn't even think about it until someone mentioned it on the way to class today. I've been here almost a month and I should be on my way home in almost exactly 4 months. 5 months seemed unbearable, but 4 will be 3 before I know it- especially with travel plans at the end of the month. And 3 will be 2 super fast since our semester will have been about 10 days long by the time October is over- then is will be 2 months which seems like a small amount of time, weird. Follow that train of thought?
This weekend was pretty chill and relaxing- exactly what I always feel like I need at the end of a week of Ulpan. On Thursday night we decided to be social and go to the Jerusalem Beer Festival. It was pretty fun- we mostly just hung out with other Ulpan people and I got to meet some new people including a girl from Canada who had a whole conversation with me about accents and weird American phrases- for example: She asked us what 'quarter of seven' meant. We told her it meant 6:45 and she said she didn't think that made sense- a quarter of an hour is 15 minutes so a quarter of 7 should be 7 and a quarter- 7:15. She may have had a point there. I also met a guy from Emory and we talked about how it's changed since my parents were there.
(this is me and Kira at the beer festival, the one picture that I actually like from the night)A couple highlights from the Beer Festival:
- Erica was looking for a particular beer and saw a man with it. He happened to be a huge tattooed man but she asked anyways. Once she got what she wanted she went back to him to say thanks. She asked where he was from and he said Holland, when he asked back she said Tokyo to which he replied "you don't look very Tokyo-an" and she said "yeah, you don't look very Dutch" and he answered "touche" and they clinked glasses. It was great.
- Peach Beer! It is so good and kind of tastes like ginger ale (or maybe was a really expensive peach flavored ginger ale? hm)
- Lo mein! They had a stand there selling lo mein and egg rolls and it was delicious.
- While me and Erica were eating our lo mein sitting to the side on the ground a photographer came up and started photographing us- I wonder if our picture is on the website.
- At the bus stop on our way back I met a guy who lives one street up from us (in Baltimore) and went to my lower/middle school. Craziness!
On friday we almost did an outdoor tourist activity but then we realized it was 95 degrees outside so we went and bought a toaster over instead. Of course, the one day we were lugging around a toaster oven was the day there was an outdoor concert on Ben Yehudah Street... we wondered around for a bit and then went home to chill. That night we caught a taxi to the western wall to meet up with the family we were set up with for Shabbat dinner. It's a shabbat hospitality program and we thought we'd give it a try. We met at the wall and 3 of us along with 4 other people we didn't know were sent to follow a semi-orthodox looking man. He was really nice and spoke English (I think he was originally from the US) but walked really fast. We walked from the kotel through part of the arab quarter of the old city including the arab marked and into downtown Jerusalem and beyond. We walked for about 45 minutes, it was intense. When we arrived we were greeted by a giant dining room table with room for 25 or more. There were children everywhere and adults from all over the world too. We talked to some other Americans who made aliyah (immigrating to Israel) about 10 years ago. They talked a lot about how it's really difficult to make a life in Israel- and I find that so interesting. One man runs 3 bussinesses to survive. I find it really inspiring that people put themselves through so much hardship to live in Israel- and they do it because they believe so strongly that they should be here. It's neat. There were also some people from the neighborhood and some random Australians, I'm not really sure where they fit in.
It was a really great dinner- and the food kept coming! If you recall the drunken rabbi story, there was only one food course in that shabbat dinner- but in this one we had a salad/fish/hummus course then soup then meats and vegetables then dessert. But, surprisingly (to me at least) they did the shot thing at this dinner too! I really need to do some research about the drinking during shabbat dinner. It's interesting because it's not like an adult glass of wine thing, it's honestly shots of scotch or vodka in between courses. This family even had a giant bottle of smirnoff with a pump at the top (like a soap despenser). Really different. I will research and let you know.
Saturday, as usual, we hung out, watched movies, did homework, and cleaned. It's a nice routine, but I think we're going to try to go to Tel Aviv or Hertzlya this weekend. We'll see.
Another weekend over!
For the next post: Judaism's veiw on Reincarnation
Friday, August 29, 2008
Now that you are all full of suspense....
I left off that last post with the sketch guys in the shuk. When I found Amelia and he saw that I wasn't alone he disapeared. It was weird, during the whole incident I was annoying but not scared. I was prepared to yell at him in Hebrew and go to the security guard who I saw when I walking in if he didn't go away. But by the time I found Amelia and knew he was gone I started shaking- it was scary!
So, after shopping we had lunch and went back to campus, rested, then got picked up to go to shabbat services. Kira had family friends in Jerusalem who rented cars for their stay. They picked us up and took us to the Reform synagogue Amela knew about. Tere were two problems with this situation however: 1. The father of the family thought my name was Amy so he kept calling me that and 2. We couldn't find the synagogue and since I knew the most Hebrew in the car I had to ask for directions. First they made me ask a man jogging on the street, then I asked someone in a gas station. No one knew where we should go but we eventually made it.
The service was nice, but I was very aware of my conservative background. In this service the Rabbi actually instructed us to take cleansing breaths at various times. Conservative Rabbis couldn't care less how deeply we're breathing during services. The other very obvious difference in the services was the text of the prayers. For example: traditional prayers might say something like: "Bless us like you blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." The reform revamping says: "Bless us like you blessed our mothers and fathers, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Leah, Jacob, and Rachel." I don't have a problem with the changes per se, I just don't like things changing from what I know. For 8-some years I prayed every day during the school year- I know many prayers by heart- so it throws me off when I'm going through them.
At the end of the service I ran into one of my campers from the service camp this summer. Everyone always says you'll see people you know in Israel, but it's a really weird experience. I knew that I knew her, but it took me a good 2 minutes of thinking to place her. Very strange.
We got back to our apartment ready for dinner, but we didn't feel like cooking. We did know of a free shabbat dinner in the complex, though. We headed over around 9 and proceeded to be very very awkward. Tere were some people there and some people still setting up (even though we came half an hour late). After some amount of time of awkwardness we finally sat down and the Rabbi came out to lead the service. He was very much the typical Rabbi- with a beard, black hat, and black coat. We soon found out that the dinner was semi sponsored by Chabad. Chabad is a group that is part of the Hasidic movement (for those of you without a lot of Judaism knowledge- they are the really religious looking Jews although they are not considered the same as the 'ultra-orthodox').
So we pray and everything and start eating. Basically what's on the table to eat is Challah, hummus, and salads. We eat for a while and the Rabbi dissapears. He comes back in a few minutes with bottles of vodka, banana liquor, and chocolate liquor. He says: "I have good news and bad news: The bad news is that we don't have a second course tonight, there should be a meat course as well. The good news is that we have alchohol!" and he proceeds to pour a shot for everyone without taking no for an answer. The night continues like this and soon he is passing out song books and trying to get everyone to sing. We didn't really sing, but we were endlessly amused by the inclusion of the song "Puff the Kosher Dragon" in the song book. The Rabbi continues doing "L'Chaim's"- aka saying l'chaim! and taking shots- so he was pretty gone. At that point he decided to give his dvar torah (commentary on the torah portion of the week). It was hilarious- he started talking abotu Moses recieving the 10 Commandments and breaking them upon seeing the Jews worshiping the golden calf but his first problem was that he couldn't say Deuteronomy- he just couldn't get the words out. He also called worshiping the golden calf "boogying with the golden calf" and basically said boogie as much as possible.
So it might not have been my typical friday night at Carleton, but it was pretty entertaining and very strange.
I spent most of the day on saturday sleeping and rediscovering House and cleaning. I've grown to really love cleaning my room on saturdays- it's so reqarding and I love starting the week with a clean room.
In other news: me and my dad are trying to figure out a vacation to take in the beginning/middle of October during my Sukkot break. it will be interesting because we have a week of more off between Ulpan and the Semester and a week into the semester we have another 10 day break. I'm going to be doing a lot of travelling during the end of September/October. I'm excited, but I just hope we can get everything figured out. Kira and I are going to sit down and figure out our Big Europe Trip- so all you people studying in Europe: get excited, we might be coming your way!
As far as me and my dad are concerned, right now it's looking like Turkey and Greece are possible destinations.
Another weekend is here, but I will save stories from tonight for another post.
So, after shopping we had lunch and went back to campus, rested, then got picked up to go to shabbat services. Kira had family friends in Jerusalem who rented cars for their stay. They picked us up and took us to the Reform synagogue Amela knew about. Tere were two problems with this situation however: 1. The father of the family thought my name was Amy so he kept calling me that and 2. We couldn't find the synagogue and since I knew the most Hebrew in the car I had to ask for directions. First they made me ask a man jogging on the street, then I asked someone in a gas station. No one knew where we should go but we eventually made it.
The service was nice, but I was very aware of my conservative background. In this service the Rabbi actually instructed us to take cleansing breaths at various times. Conservative Rabbis couldn't care less how deeply we're breathing during services. The other very obvious difference in the services was the text of the prayers. For example: traditional prayers might say something like: "Bless us like you blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." The reform revamping says: "Bless us like you blessed our mothers and fathers, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Leah, Jacob, and Rachel." I don't have a problem with the changes per se, I just don't like things changing from what I know. For 8-some years I prayed every day during the school year- I know many prayers by heart- so it throws me off when I'm going through them.
At the end of the service I ran into one of my campers from the service camp this summer. Everyone always says you'll see people you know in Israel, but it's a really weird experience. I knew that I knew her, but it took me a good 2 minutes of thinking to place her. Very strange.
We got back to our apartment ready for dinner, but we didn't feel like cooking. We did know of a free shabbat dinner in the complex, though. We headed over around 9 and proceeded to be very very awkward. Tere were some people there and some people still setting up (even though we came half an hour late). After some amount of time of awkwardness we finally sat down and the Rabbi came out to lead the service. He was very much the typical Rabbi- with a beard, black hat, and black coat. We soon found out that the dinner was semi sponsored by Chabad. Chabad is a group that is part of the Hasidic movement (for those of you without a lot of Judaism knowledge- they are the really religious looking Jews although they are not considered the same as the 'ultra-orthodox').
So we pray and everything and start eating. Basically what's on the table to eat is Challah, hummus, and salads. We eat for a while and the Rabbi dissapears. He comes back in a few minutes with bottles of vodka, banana liquor, and chocolate liquor. He says: "I have good news and bad news: The bad news is that we don't have a second course tonight, there should be a meat course as well. The good news is that we have alchohol!" and he proceeds to pour a shot for everyone without taking no for an answer. The night continues like this and soon he is passing out song books and trying to get everyone to sing. We didn't really sing, but we were endlessly amused by the inclusion of the song "Puff the Kosher Dragon" in the song book. The Rabbi continues doing "L'Chaim's"- aka saying l'chaim! and taking shots- so he was pretty gone. At that point he decided to give his dvar torah (commentary on the torah portion of the week). It was hilarious- he started talking abotu Moses recieving the 10 Commandments and breaking them upon seeing the Jews worshiping the golden calf but his first problem was that he couldn't say Deuteronomy- he just couldn't get the words out. He also called worshiping the golden calf "boogying with the golden calf" and basically said boogie as much as possible.
So it might not have been my typical friday night at Carleton, but it was pretty entertaining and very strange.
I spent most of the day on saturday sleeping and rediscovering House and cleaning. I've grown to really love cleaning my room on saturdays- it's so reqarding and I love starting the week with a clean room.
In other news: me and my dad are trying to figure out a vacation to take in the beginning/middle of October during my Sukkot break. it will be interesting because we have a week of more off between Ulpan and the Semester and a week into the semester we have another 10 day break. I'm going to be doing a lot of travelling during the end of September/October. I'm excited, but I just hope we can get everything figured out. Kira and I are going to sit down and figure out our Big Europe Trip- so all you people studying in Europe: get excited, we might be coming your way!
As far as me and my dad are concerned, right now it's looking like Turkey and Greece are possible destinations.
Another weekend is here, but I will save stories from tonight for another post.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
So I've failed a bit at updating this week- but once a week updates seem appropriate until my life gets exciting. Recap of last week:
-Headaches (I know this is why you all read my blog): for some reason every day this week I got bad headaches. We're not really sure what's causing it, but I do know that 3 advil and some coke seem to fix that up- so that's good. Oh, and I'm addicted to Advil now?
- Ulpan: I'm pretty sure that if the world ended, I would still be required to go to Ulpan. Though I curse getting up at 7 every day (7:02 to be exact), I value having something scheduled and constant here. My grades are consistently A's for writing and mid/high B's on tests, so I'm feeling comfortable in my class and level. I've had some nights of tons of homework- but I've realized that not everything has to be done and Ulpan is what I make it. The exciting thing is that my spoken hebrew is getting much better, especially in shops and the shuk. Most exciting thing: part of my dream the other night was in Hebrew!
- Academic Orientation: We finally got to sit down and talk abotu the upcoming semester. It got me very excited for classes to start. They have an honors program here which requires 2 upper level seminars and one middle level seminar. I know it's something I could definitely handle, but of the three upper level seminars offered, I'm only interested in one, and I don't have the prerequisite for it. Also, even if I took that one seminar it would interfere with the class that is required with the internship I want to do. One thing that is neat about this program is that ability to do one of 40-some internships around Jerusalem. There is a coordinator and we meet with her and tell her what we want to do. Then she sends out our C.V. to the place we want to work at, and then we hear back. We have to work 8 hours a week and take a course once every other week. The internship that I think I want the most is in the Hand-in-Hand school, which is a joint Jewish-Muslim school working on coexistence and understanding. It is totally right up my alley and although it might be a lot of office work, at least I can be in that environment. I hope I get it!
Weekend: This weekend was very good and NOT stressful, thank goodness. Thursday I wasn't feeling well, but Erica and Amelia dragged me out for dinner anyways, which ended up being a lot of fun. We got off the bus and went to the first restaurant we saw- chinese! It was strange to eat chinese in Israel, butit was actually really good and we ate so much. It took us forever to get out bill though, because in Israel people are really aggressive about getting checks, the restaurant won't just bring it out to you, you have to ask.
Friday we got up reasonably early and caught the bus to the shuk. We had a very successful trip to the shuk with one scary part: I got separated from Amelia and Kira at one point and was walking and kept being pushed by someone behind me. It wasn't like a one time accident push, it was like someone right behind me completely pushing forward. I tried to get out of the way and looked behind me and there was this semi old- maybe around 50 year old- man. He smiled and said slicha (sorry or excuse me) and lifted his arms which with both carrying large bags. I smiled and said (in hebrew) that it was fine, thinking it really was an accident and he was being pushed around with all his bags just like I was. He walked past me and I turned around to keep walking and a few seconds later I was being pushed again- I looked behind me again and there he was! We both said 'slicha' and I kept walking, faster this time. He kept up so I mustered up my best annoyed look, stopped, looked behind me, said 'slicha!' in a way that meant I wasn't actually sorry and that he better get away, and made a U-turn, weaving through people until I found Amelia. It was very very creepy and I can still see his sketchy grinning face in my mind. oy.
I will continue with the post about my weekend tomorrow, now I need to sleep. So stay in suspense! Things to think about: did the creepy shuk man go away? how did we celebrate shabbat? who is the special guest who will appear in the next post (hint, he wears a big black hat and carries around chocolate liquor and shot glasses)?
-Headaches (I know this is why you all read my blog): for some reason every day this week I got bad headaches. We're not really sure what's causing it, but I do know that 3 advil and some coke seem to fix that up- so that's good. Oh, and I'm addicted to Advil now?
- Ulpan: I'm pretty sure that if the world ended, I would still be required to go to Ulpan. Though I curse getting up at 7 every day (7:02 to be exact), I value having something scheduled and constant here. My grades are consistently A's for writing and mid/high B's on tests, so I'm feeling comfortable in my class and level. I've had some nights of tons of homework- but I've realized that not everything has to be done and Ulpan is what I make it. The exciting thing is that my spoken hebrew is getting much better, especially in shops and the shuk. Most exciting thing: part of my dream the other night was in Hebrew!
- Academic Orientation: We finally got to sit down and talk abotu the upcoming semester. It got me very excited for classes to start. They have an honors program here which requires 2 upper level seminars and one middle level seminar. I know it's something I could definitely handle, but of the three upper level seminars offered, I'm only interested in one, and I don't have the prerequisite for it. Also, even if I took that one seminar it would interfere with the class that is required with the internship I want to do. One thing that is neat about this program is that ability to do one of 40-some internships around Jerusalem. There is a coordinator and we meet with her and tell her what we want to do. Then she sends out our C.V. to the place we want to work at, and then we hear back. We have to work 8 hours a week and take a course once every other week. The internship that I think I want the most is in the Hand-in-Hand school, which is a joint Jewish-Muslim school working on coexistence and understanding. It is totally right up my alley and although it might be a lot of office work, at least I can be in that environment. I hope I get it!
Weekend: This weekend was very good and NOT stressful, thank goodness. Thursday I wasn't feeling well, but Erica and Amelia dragged me out for dinner anyways, which ended up being a lot of fun. We got off the bus and went to the first restaurant we saw- chinese! It was strange to eat chinese in Israel, butit was actually really good and we ate so much. It took us forever to get out bill though, because in Israel people are really aggressive about getting checks, the restaurant won't just bring it out to you, you have to ask.
Friday we got up reasonably early and caught the bus to the shuk. We had a very successful trip to the shuk with one scary part: I got separated from Amelia and Kira at one point and was walking and kept being pushed by someone behind me. It wasn't like a one time accident push, it was like someone right behind me completely pushing forward. I tried to get out of the way and looked behind me and there was this semi old- maybe around 50 year old- man. He smiled and said slicha (sorry or excuse me) and lifted his arms which with both carrying large bags. I smiled and said (in hebrew) that it was fine, thinking it really was an accident and he was being pushed around with all his bags just like I was. He walked past me and I turned around to keep walking and a few seconds later I was being pushed again- I looked behind me again and there he was! We both said 'slicha' and I kept walking, faster this time. He kept up so I mustered up my best annoyed look, stopped, looked behind me, said 'slicha!' in a way that meant I wasn't actually sorry and that he better get away, and made a U-turn, weaving through people until I found Amelia. It was very very creepy and I can still see his sketchy grinning face in my mind. oy.
I will continue with the post about my weekend tomorrow, now I need to sleep. So stay in suspense! Things to think about: did the creepy shuk man go away? how did we celebrate shabbat? who is the special guest who will appear in the next post (hint, he wears a big black hat and carries around chocolate liquor and shot glasses)?
Sunday, August 17, 2008
So I know that I need to post about my weekend, but I'm not really sure what to write. So I thought I would post some pictures I took this weekend and write about those to give a general idea of how my weekend was.Have I mentioned that everyday on my walk to class/the bus stop I pass a cemetery? I think it's for foreign soldiers that died in wars in Israel before it was established, or something. It's kind of strange to walk by a cemetery every day, so I try not to think about it. But it is very pretty.
On Thursday night (or first weekend night) we met up with a friend of Kira's cousin on Ben Yehudah Street. We did some shopping and I bought myself a cheap guitar! I'm excited about being able to play and practice while I'm here.We also went to a couple of bars and got a taste of the night life in downtown Jerusalem- now we know where to go next time we want to go out one weekend.
This is a picture of Ben Yehudah street at night. There are lots of people everywhere, most of the shops are open, and there are a lot of street performers. My roommates tried to convince me to get out the new guitar and play some songs for money, but I refused.
On friday morning (which was actually early afternoon) we went into the Old City of Jerusalem. We still haven't entirely figured out the bus system here... we're working on it.Our first stop was the kotel (the western wall). It's really so amazing to think about the kotel and it's importance to Judaism. For those of you who don't know, the kotel is the last remaining wall of the Temple which was built and destroyed and rebuilt and destroyed centuries ago. Jews all over the world pray in the direction facing the kotel.
Another tradition for Jews is putting notes, prayers, hopes, etc in the wall when we pray in front of it. This picture is of some notes pushed into the cracks and holes in the wall. It's really an amazing sight, and also really powerful to think about how important these notes are for some people. Most Jews are lucky to visit the kotel once in their lives, so the note they leave is really a big deal. Also, I think it's really interesting that the kotel never seems to be "too full" to put any more notes in. You can always find a place for your note.
On our way out of the kotel prayer area we were approached by a woman asking for tzedaka (charity) and offering us a red string. The whole background of the string is based in Kaballah, though I don't really know the story.OK- just did some research and the story goes that the Matriarch, Rachel was burried and her tomb was wrapped in red string. And since she is seen as a symbol of protection, the red string is too. The bracelet is supposed to protect the wearer against evil- and everything I've read said it has to be placed on one's left hand. Sad times that we all got ours put on our right hand... oh well, we did get a nice prayer said over us and she prayed for each of us to find good husbands, so that's always a bonus.
I am so enamored by the Dome of the Rock. I think part of it is that I associate the Jerusalem skyline solely with that image and because I never realized how beautiful it is beyond the gold roof. I really wish it were open to tourists/Jews. Interestingly, I just read a Wikipedia article that said that even when the Dome of the Rock was open to non-Muslims orthodox Rabbis forbid Jews to visit for some reason. Also I'm not competely convinced that tourists are not allowed in, so I'm going to do some research on that front.
Last but not least- I am completely in love with my new camera. I got this amazing picture of the moon last night. The camera has some weaknesses when it comes to taking certain pictures, and I did get called at from cars when I was trying to get good pictures last night... but it was all worth it for this picture. So cool. I'm a fan.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Real Mailing Address
Ok- this is my mailing address until January, unless you are sending me a package:
Abigail Malis
Scopus Student Village
2 Lahamei Hagetaot St.
Building 1, Floor 5, Apt. 1, Room 2
97880 Jerusalem, Israel
that's a mouthful
Abigail Malis
Scopus Student Village
2 Lahamei Hagetaot St.
Building 1, Floor 5, Apt. 1, Room 2
97880 Jerusalem, Israel
that's a mouthful
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Yafo! Yofi!
Yesterday I went on my first planned field trip- to Tel Aviv and Yafo (Jaffa, for you non-hebrew speaking ones). It really turned into an all Yafo tour, but that was fine too. The picture to the right is of the Tel Aviv shoreline from the highest point in Yafo.
This is a really pretty monastery in Yafo. It supposedly marks the place and time when Christianity officially separated from Judaism. The story goes that St. Peter had a vision while visiting Yafo in which God told him not to follow the laws of Kashrut (kosher laws) and this marks the separation of Christians from Jews, because before that Christians followed the same laws as Jews.
Both of these pictures are from the same sculpture on the highest point in Yafo. The sculpture depicts 3 big events in Jewish Biblical history (I only have 2 of them here). On the left is the conquering of Jerusalem, maybe? I don't remember the story but it has to do with Jews surrounding a city and blowing shofars and God helping them conquer the city. To the right is Abraham's attempted sacrifice of his son, Isaac.
One of my favorite things about Yafo was the Wishing Bridge. You were supposed to find your astrological sign on the bridge, put your hands on it, close your eyes, face the sea, and make your wish, and it would definitely come true. Pretty exciting. I made the same wish as I usually make at 11:11- figuring this could be my ultimate wish that would definitely come true,
or something.(also, side note: military time makes me very sad because I can only catch 11:11 once a day and I'm always in class)
I think my very favorite part of the trip, however, was being able to capture
a beautiful sunset over the ocean.
Homesickness this week has been tough, but after some quality alone time and a good amount of sleep today, everything seems so much better.
I also have my first essay due tomorrow and my first test tomorrow as well. I find myself relieved that I'm not getting any Carleton credit for the Ulpan, because that means I can just try my best, take some risks, and not worry about acing every test and every paper. Hebrew Update: I'm starting to crave talking in Hebrew and get disappointed when people talk to me in English once they realize I'm American. Also, today we did an hour long campus tour entirely in Hebrew, and it didn't even phase me. This is so cool!
Tomorrow is our last day of class for the week, and we plan on being social tomorrow night and stopping by the bar on campus- exciting! Also, Kira's cousin is going to show us around the new part of Jerusalem to tell us what's hot and what's not, and we want to go into the old city on friday morning before shabbat starts.
As always, I miss you! I would love to hear about what's going on in your lives!
a beautiful sunset over the ocean.
Homesickness this week has been tough, but after some quality alone time and a good amount of sleep today, everything seems so much better.I also have my first essay due tomorrow and my first test tomorrow as well. I find myself relieved that I'm not getting any Carleton credit for the Ulpan, because that means I can just try my best, take some risks, and not worry about acing every test and every paper. Hebrew Update: I'm starting to crave talking in Hebrew and get disappointed when people talk to me in English once they realize I'm American. Also, today we did an hour long campus tour entirely in Hebrew, and it didn't even phase me. This is so cool!
Tomorrow is our last day of class for the week, and we plan on being social tomorrow night and stopping by the bar on campus- exciting! Also, Kira's cousin is going to show us around the new part of Jerusalem to tell us what's hot and what's not, and we want to go into the old city on friday morning before shabbat starts.
As always, I miss you! I would love to hear about what's going on in your lives!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
4 Aleph!
Yesterday was one of the most frustrating days since we've been here (which is surprising considering how frustrating move-in day was) but it was also one of the most rewarding.
I started the day feeling homesick and exhausted- not a great way to feel at 8am on my walk to Ulpan. But class was pretty good- there's something I'm starting to really like about being surrounded in Hebrew 5 hours a day, or at least I find comfort in it somehow. The one problem with class yesterday was that I managed to run into people from the ortho house (It's kind of a long story, but on friday night we were dragged to this Jewish student center house for kiddush and dinner and then guilted into going for dinner the next night. The people who run the center love to guilt trip and are quite religious so we fondly refer to the place as the ortho house) every time I left my classroom. They are nice but pushy, and I can't deal with pushy people.
Highlight of Ulpan: we talked about the fake debate over whether or not to make the word for computer male or female (in Hebrew all nounse have a gender). The female side of the argument wanted the word to be male and the first fake reason in the fake debate is roughly translated as: "the word for computer should be male because in order to get to its heart/ to get it to do what you want, you have to turn it on." Oh, Israelis....
After Ulpan I finally got to take care of some things- I sent postcards, set up my computer account on campus, bought my textbooks, and got some snacks. Samantha introduced me to this chocolate with pop rock type stuff inside- as if pop rocks weren't trippy enough by themselves, and it's pretty delicious too. Then I went to the dorms and finally got my internet set up- probably the most exciting part of my day- so find me online or on skype- I want to talk!
Remind me never to experiment on public transportation again.
Tonight I'm going to Tel Aviv! Very exciting!
I started the day feeling homesick and exhausted- not a great way to feel at 8am on my walk to Ulpan. But class was pretty good- there's something I'm starting to really like about being surrounded in Hebrew 5 hours a day, or at least I find comfort in it somehow. The one problem with class yesterday was that I managed to run into people from the ortho house (It's kind of a long story, but on friday night we were dragged to this Jewish student center house for kiddush and dinner and then guilted into going for dinner the next night. The people who run the center love to guilt trip and are quite religious so we fondly refer to the place as the ortho house) every time I left my classroom. They are nice but pushy, and I can't deal with pushy people.
Highlight of Ulpan: we talked about the fake debate over whether or not to make the word for computer male or female (in Hebrew all nounse have a gender). The female side of the argument wanted the word to be male and the first fake reason in the fake debate is roughly translated as: "the word for computer should be male because in order to get to its heart/ to get it to do what you want, you have to turn it on." Oh, Israelis....
After Ulpan I finally got to take care of some things- I sent postcards, set up my computer account on campus, bought my textbooks, and got some snacks. Samantha introduced me to this chocolate with pop rock type stuff inside- as if pop rocks weren't trippy enough by themselves, and it's pretty delicious too. Then I went to the dorms and finally got my internet set up- probably the most exciting part of my day- so find me online or on skype- I want to talk!
Since we were feeling so accomplished- we decided to make out way to Malkha Mall- the biggest mall in Israel (where we went last week) to get things we still needed. We knew what line we needed to take to get there and we thought we knew what side of the road to catch the bus on. We waited for about a half an hour for the bus to come and got very excited for our trip.
(My apartment-mates waiting for the bus the first time- when we were still optimistic and liked each other)
About 5 minutes later we found ourselves in the main building of Hebrew U with the bus driver telling us we had to get off. We went around to the other side of the bus terminal at Hebrew U and waited another 30 minutes for the bus to come back going the other way. By that time it was rush hour in Jerusalem and we spent an hour and a half or so getting to the mall. It was an interesting ride at first because we rode through some really religious neighborhoods and I people watched, but it soon got long and frustrating. We finally got to the mall with less than 2 hours until closing and we were already exhausted. We did quick runs into office depot and a home depot-esq store and then had dinner and were back at the bus stop. We waited another half hour for our bus home and when it still didn't come, 3 of us decided to take a cab back. The ride was only 15 minutes! The two that took the bus back finally got home an hour after us.
(My apartment-mates waiting for the bus the first time- when we were still optimistic and liked each other)Remind me never to experiment on public transportation again.
Tonight I'm going to Tel Aviv! Very exciting!
Pictures!
Me and my apartment-mates (left to right): Amelia, Me, Kira (who looks really happy), Erica, and Samantha.
View of the old city on our walk to Shabbat Services.
My room! It's a lot messier at this moment, but this is it at it's best. Highlights: my cool Israeli bedding, wall of pictures, and, of course, Chilo.
My desk area- with my homemade calendar and favorite pictures!Saturday, August 9, 2008
My first Shabbat in Israel was pretty uneventful. I slept until noon, but could have slept much later. I spent the rest of the day making my room beautiful. I put up pictures, cleaned, and made my very handy calendar. It was a good day, but in general I don’t really like sleeping in that late because it makes me feel like I have lost a whole day.
(pretend that there is a picture of me and my roommates here, I've tried to upload it 3 times, but I think I need a stronger internet connection to do that... oy)
I suppose now that pictures are here it is a good time to talk about my apartment-mates. First there’s Kira- she’s the slightly short one with long dirty blond hair. Kira was the first person I met on this trip, she stood in front of us while we were in line to check in. Pretty exciting. She’s quiet but very sarcastic, and she’s a junior studying international relations at the University of the Pacific in California. Next there’s Erika, the one with short blond hair, who I also met in the airport before we left for Israel. Erica is from Tokyo, and everyone here gives her this really weird look when she tell them that, like it never would have crossed their mind that though she’s obviously not ethnically Japanese, she or her parents have lived there for some amount of time, she goes to school there, and thus she is from Japan. I’m surprised she puts up with it so well. Erica is taking a gap year between high school and starting College at Oberlin next fall. My third apartment-mate is Samantha- she has long brown hair and bangs. Samantha is originally from California but lives in North Carolina now and is going to be a junior at Syracuse. Fun fact: me and Samantha have the same Hebrew name, Shimona! Lastly there’s Amelia- she joined our apartment late, but we’ve been getting along well. Amelia is from New Jersey, she spent last spring’s semester on another program in Israel, and she’ll start at Brandeis for second semester this year.
I like my apartment-mates a lot because their very chill and we have a lot of fun together. They are all very sweet, and also have their specific quirks, which keeps things interesting.
So I’m sitting alone in my room unsure of what to do with my Saturday night. To be honest, there’s not much to do tonight, because right as Shabbat ended, Te’sha be’av started. I’m not incredibly familiar with Te’sha be’av, but from what I’ve figured out it’s the day that marks the destruction of the second temple. A group of people were going down to the kotel (western wall) tonight to welcome Te’sha be’av in, but Samantha and I decided to skip that activity. I know it’s a holiday that religious Jews take very seriously, but it’s not one I grew up with and don’t really feel a connection to it.
Tonight we went to dinner at the Jewish Student Activity center place and one of the adults there gave a d’var Torah (commentary on the weekly Torah portion). He ended his talk with a comment about the day the messiah will come, which he hopes will be very soon. This interested me, because I feel like I practice a form of Judaism that rarely if ever mentions the coming of the messiah. I understand the concept, and know that as Jews we are still waiting for the coming of the Messiah (unlike Christians, for example), but it is not a thought that ever really enters my mind, nor do I remember talking much about it at Schechter. I don’t think I even fully understand the concept of the messiah. Will he/she come when the world is at it’s lowest, or when we’ve “proven” that we deserve his/her arrival? Why would anyone come to save humanity now, when we are so undeserving- or is that the point exactly?
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