They Say It's a Religion Major's Playground...: November 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!

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.