Me and Tel Aviv

Shabbat in Tzfat: A Spiritual Ascent

2010-03-09T13:28:00.000+02:00

Hello there! I seem to be one city behind on this series of entries, writing about Tzfat now as I prepare to leave Tiberias. It was really a unique weekend. Met some great people, learned some fascinating things, and had a wonderful time.

I arrived Thursday afternoon, with enough time to get settled and rest up before dinner and the first event at Ascent for the Secret of Joy Shabbat Seminar. As I was hiking up the stairs, an American guy around my age with a full beard and Chadissic look stopped me to introduce himself, Moyshe. He seemed very nice, but at first I was pretty scared. Was this the type of person that signed up for the weekend? If so, I'm a bit behind on my Jewish studies and a bit out of place. Turns out he is living and working in Tzfat for the past few months, and a volunteer for Seminar weekends at Ascent. Phew. I settled into room 28, chatted with him on the beautiful balcony for a few, and waited for other guests to arrive. Before dinner, I met a group of 4 American boys at Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Ashley from LA (who would become my roommate when they realized they had assigned me the wrong room) and 2 girls from Australia Esther and Carmella. And Reuben. How can I forget him? And older man from Mexico City spending the weekend before Sarel, an army volunteer program (with Ricci by the way). They served various salads and stuffed peppers for dinner. Nice to have meals included for a change, even if they are just on paper plates. After dinner was the first lecture, "Think Good and It Will Be Good" with Rabbi Tilles. He shared stories with us relating to the theme, explained some basic Kaballah principles, and intorduced us to the weekend. It was intereting, but I was tired. Next on the agenda was a Forbrengen, like a group discussion/chat over snacks, with Big Mo at 10:30. We felt kind of bad, but the girls left early because we didn't know any of the songs and were falling asleep in the plates of Bamba. Time for a good nights sleep before a big day.

Breakfast Friday was at 8:30. Somehow I made it down in time! This was followed by another lecture entitled "Troubled Waters". Similar to basically every class this weekend, they talked about the week's portion instead of the theme, but that was ok. It was Ki Tissa, my Bat Mitzvah portion from 10 years ago, so I really felt connected and learned a lot. It's a juicy parsha, 10 Commandments broken, Golden Calf, lots to talk about. After the lecture was. as the schedule noted, a "spiritual hike in the Galilee", which took us from just outside to Tzfat to Rosh Pinna, the same town where Mom and Dad stayed during their visit. The woman, Chaya, was a little cold at first, telling us we had to pay for the ride back if we wanted to hike, but she loosened up and it turned out to be very nice. The trail was basically downhill, and despite the moment where I went down and tore my knee open, had a good time. She told us about all kinds of plants we were seeing and we took a nice break to eat the sandwiches they packed us next to a cute little stream. When we got to Rosh Pinna we had the option of staying to walk around the town a bit or heading back to get ready for Shabbat. I decided to head back so I could get a shower in, and since only 2 of us were coming at the time we got a ride with Chaya and her kids.

After my shower, the men left for Ari's Mikveh and the girls to the old cemetary to see the famous grave sites. I was the only girl who went, so they basically just dropped me off there. It would have been fine, except I didn't really know what I was looking for so I wandered through the graveyard watching people pray. Then I hiked back up tons of stairs and walked up a hill back to Ascent. So much for my shower... Rinsed off, got dressed in my Shabbat finest (skirt, elbows covered, the whole shebang), and went down to the talk on Shabbat, Tzfat, and Kaballah with Rabbi Leiter, the one who started Ascent 20 something years ago. After that candle lighting, where Devora helped make sure Ashley and I understood all the steps and traditions. Devora would turn out to be a true guiding light throughout the weekend. Great energy, open and friendly, really made me feel welcome in a place I wasn't sure I belonged. We lit with several other women and children who had come for the weekend with their families, then had Kaballat Shabbat on the roof and got our placements for the evening meal. Ashley and I were assigned together to the Tornek's house, an older couple, made Aliyah 20 or so years ago. Chana used to work as a secretary at Ascent, but unfortunately had a stroke a few years back and was currently in a wheel chair. She had trouble speaking, but was a bright spirit and a pleaure to get to know. As she told us about her children back in the US she began crying several times. When we sat down to dinner, her husband dutifully served, cleared, washed, did all the household duties, as we joked with her he was copying her on. We had a course of salads, then motzo ball soup, then kishke and chicken and rice, and we ate until we were stuffed. We talked about them finding Kaballah and Chabad, their former life on a farm in Colorado, our spiritual problems, advice, and tons more. We didn't leave the table until midnight, missing the evenings Forbrengen completely. That's ok, we had one of our own. Very inspiring couple, and just tugs the heartstrings to see him take care of her as he did. Truly an incredible Shabbat experience already. We got back to Ascent and the girls stayed up chatting until probably 2. Oops.

Set an alarm to make it to breakfast and services on Saturday, as did Ashley, but both of us opted to snooze and sleep through instead. It was a good choice, I really needed it. Made it to kiddush at noon, a talk with Moyshe about bringing the Messiah with Joy and again Ki Tissa, then lunch. After lunch the library was open and it was time for study and relaxing, and several people recommended my some Kaballah books on Education. Really interesting reads actually, and let to some great discussions with Devora. I told her what it is that I do, and it turns out they have been thinking about starting and artsand theatre program at Ascent. They all really wanted to hear my ideas and I told them I would love to be a bouncing off point as they bein the planning. Could be a cool thing to be a part of. She explained that the word for faith (amuna) and for art (amanut) come from the same root. I really like that.

At 5 we left for a tour of Tzfat, which I must say looks very different with all the shops closed and no tourists wondering around. In my Shabbt outfit I blended right in. The tour was followed by musical Havdalah on the roof with a huge group of soldiers also staying there for the weekend, and several families with children. We sang and danced and I played with the babies as we greeted the week. Again, really fun and exciting change of pace for me.

Had some more time to relax before dinner, and a Rabbi came to do personal appointments in the library to read our personal Torah codes. Basically they find your Hebrew name in the portion from the week you were born, and read your fortune from the words the letters are in. My portion is when the Jews cross through the parted sea and turn to see the Egyptians following them and cry out. He told me what the different analyses were for te part of the story, and things they said abou tme like I am good at arranging things and doing puzzles, etc. It was pretty cool. He gave a little printout of the portion and where my name was found. After that at around 10 we had a meal all together, eating and sharing stories, and then headed to bed. Looking back already it was an awesome weekend adventure.

On Sunday morning I woke up for the last talk, about the Tanya, the atomic bomb of Judaism, and then headed out on my own to explore Tzfat a bit before heading out. I went to the artist market, bought cheese from a little factory, and just wandered through the old synagogues. Had a picnic outside, reading my book and eating my cheese and pita, then came back to say goodbye before going on my way. Devora thanked me in advance for her help, saying I was sent there to help them, and gave me a candlestick to keep the ideas of Ascent with me. These people do wonderful things and the whole thing was really an inspiration.

I have to go, I have been hogging the computer for a while, but I'll be back soon to write about Tiberias! Can't believe I'm saying this, but see you Saturday!

Haifa - Baha'i, Beaches, and Balkan Beat Box

2010-03-06T23:53:00.000+02:00

Hi! Writing you from Ascent institute in Tzfat. Wanted to check in about my solo adventures up North. I am loving it so far. Seen Haifa and Tzfat. Two cities that could not be more different and an excellent start to my final adventures.

I left Hod HaSharon for Haifa Tuesday morning. Started off on a good note when the driver gave me a student discount. I got off at Hof HaCarmel and took a local bus to the Port Inn. Right off the bat it ranked up there as one of the better hostels I've stayed in. The lady at the desk let me check in super fast and held my backpack for me so I could run to make the English speaking tour of the Baha'i Gardens at noon. I took the Carmelit, the only subway in Israel, walked down the gorgeous Luis Promonade to the top of the gardens, and made it just in time. The gardens themselves were beautiful, and I had seen them a few times before, but this time having someone explain more about what they actually meant really helped. Unfortunately though, the Shrine of the Bab, the central point on the hill of garden tiers, was covered for construction and not a gleaming dome as it usually is. Oh well. I watched a movie about the Baha'i faith and it was quite fascinating. They pray towards Akko as Jews do toward Jerusalem. The faith is based on the idea of community and diversity and a blend of science and religion and peace and all those good things. There were a ton of Baha'is on pilgrimage staying in my hostel as well and hearing their stories was really quite cool. More on that later.

After the gardens I made my way to a sculpture garden I had read about it my book. The plan was to get fod and sit and eat in the garden, but I didn't find any food on the way. In fact I walked uphill and only got hungirer, so I cut the garden walk short and went to get food. Walked back down the long hill and wandered a bit looking for a bite. I somehow ended up back at the hostel, so I got 10 shekel falafel (including drink) and went back to finish checking in and get settled in the room. I was in a dorm with with about 10 beds. Hadn't met any roommates yet so I headed back out with the plan of catching an art museum. The sign outside of the Chagall House, the free art gallery I wanted to make my first stop, said that it opened again at 4. I was a bit early so I wandered around the area a bit. I found a childrens art center and walked around a bit, looking at the cute projects and art on the walls. When it was almost 4 I went back to the other house, and waited. When it was 5 after 4 and the door hadn't opened, I knocked. Nothing. I looked again at the sign and read, in Hebrew, what I am pretty sure said open 8-1 and 4-7 everyday. Except Tuesday. Oops. Even Frommers lies sometimes. So after wasting a bit of time, I went back on my way.

I walked down Hertzl street, shopping strip, towards Nordauy street, a pedestrian walkway I thought would resemble Ben Yehuda in Jerusalem. As the theme of the day, it wasn't quite what I expected, pretty barren, so I finished up Hertzl street and stumbled upon the Haifa Theatre. I would. Nothing was playing that night, but I got a peek. Since it was Haifa, I had to pop by the port on my way back to the hostel for the night. I got in trouble for taking pictures. (Apparently its treated like a border crossing). Oops again. When I got back top my hostel, I came down to the communal rooms, kitchen and tv room, to explore and see what was going on. There was a family from France, Baha'i Pilgrims, with the cutest little mulatto kids. The boy and I had a brief "laser fight" with our hands, but I couldn't really talk to him since I don't exactly speak French. I went to Abu Yosef, an Arab place, for dinner, and had kubbe and a variety of salads. When I got back I met an older women in my hostel room. She was a bit strange. She had just made Aliyah to be with her daughter who had been living in Israel for 5 years, but didn't know the term Aliyah, nor had she ever been to Israel before. She was entertaining, but talked a lot, and was a bit off. Oh well, she was a decent bunkmate. Another girl in my room, Rosa, was from Peru and didn't speak English. Baha'i. Went downstairs again to see who else was around, and found some American boys my age, Steven and Henry, and spent the rest of the night in the courtyard with them and some others with a beer talking travels. This is why I love hostels. We shared stories of our adventures and those to come. The hostel was a great environment to meet people, and really a fun place. I would recommend it to any solo traveler. A Baha'i girl from Kosovo told us her story, and another from Germany as well. Really cool place.

I convinces Steven to wake up early and come with me in the morning. Henry wanted to sleep, but the 2 of us headed to Elijah's cave bright and early. We took a bus, a bit too far, but found the stairs without too much trouble. Debating on the way what the cave would actually look like, neither of us got it right. the cave where Elijah supposedly hid out was now considered a holy place, and was actually transformed into a little shul. We walked in without really realizing that, onto the women's side none the less. Hope we didn't offend anyone. I wish Frommer's did a better job of telling me what to expect. The cable car that should have been able to take us from there to the monestary on top of the mountain wasn't running, so we asked a man if there was another option. He said we could take the stairs. I think he told us it would take 15 minute so we would do it, but it took a bit more than that. We found another guy we recognized from our hostel, from Poland, and took him with us. Not too bad, but I worked up a sweat. We basically climbed a mountain though. That's my second time in a week! The church at the top was pretty, but not all that spectacular. Took some pictures, then decided to walk back to the hostel.

Partway back we seperated and said our goodbyes, him to go back to the hostel and check out, me to try again for the art museum. This time the door to the Chagall House was open, so I walked in. I was quickly shooed out by a woman saying they were changing the gallery and it was closed. Why they didn't do this on Tuesday afternoon when it was really closed I don't know, but needless to say I never got further than the doorway. Decided to just go to the real art museum not too far away. I was only saving this one for second in case I was "arted out" after one so I could save the entrance fee. Turns out though, somehow, there was no one at the desk when I walked in, and no one ever stopped me for a ticket. So it was free anyways. Thanks Haifa! The museum was pretty small, but had some really interesting stuff. A whole floor of various people's collections, stamps, crests, Holocaust memorabilia bought on eBay, stuffed animals, basically whatever you can imagine collecting. A series of shopping carts photography, a flower photo collage, video art. Really my kind of thing, rather than just paintings on the wall.

I made my way home via Ben Gurion street in the German Colony. That's where all the touristy restaurants are, but I found one Frommer's said wasn't too expensive, Fattoush, and had a laubne platter with veggies and pita for lunch. I love that appetizers can fill me up as a meal. Since I had finished my plan for the day already, and still had all afternoon, I consulted the map for new ideas. I let it lead me to a cemetary, which had some pretty war monuyments, and supposed burial cave, which I never found, and then I made my way to the beach. The firts beach I found was called Quiet Beach, and seemed to be fully blockaded. I figured out this was because it was a religious beach with days for men and for women. Soooo, I kept walking, around Rambam Hospital, till I found a different beach with a boardwalk. It was super windy, which kind of hurt my ears, but I saw tons and tons of windsurfers and kite surfers. Awesome. When I got splashed with salty gross fish water, and the wind was too much for me, I walked to the highway to get a bus back. I had walked FAR. I got back to the hostel and took a nap before my big night.

That night I went to the Balkan Beat Box concert. I learned of this Israeli band from Ricky, a song of theirs was her cell phone ring, which we heard quite often. From that they became a WUJS favorite and some people went to the concert in Tel Aviv. Walking around the day before, a poster had caught my eye. I noticed that the concert was the next day, Wednesday the 3rd, and decided I had to go. I asked Steven and Henry, the boys I had met last night, but they were leaving Haifa that afternoon. They did say they knew someone who was going though and gave me her number. I called Sharon, and she said that she was planning to go, but an exam of hers got changed so she needed top stay home to study. She offered to sell me her ticket. Perfect. She gave me her friend Yonatan's number, and I met him and his 2 friends there, and bought the ticket from him. Worked out quite well for all of us. The concert itself was crazy. These guys have a sort of Reggae sound, not really sure how to describe it, with these power clarinet and saxophones. Wikipedia calls them "Gypsy Punk" whatever that means. Anyways, it was awesome, lots of dancing, and I didn't get to bed until after 1.

Since I didn't have too much planned the next day, and had gotten back so later, I decided to let myself sleep in until 9 (late for travel me) but was woken up by several alarms in my room. First one 5:30, then 6 something, then 7:45, by 9 I was wide awake but still pretty wiped. I made it out before too long, packed up my bag, and checked out. I spent the morning at the Science Museum. Fortunately they helped me out and let me leave my backpack in a closet at the reception so I didn't have to walk the whole museum with it on. I spent 3 hours there too. My favorite room was about puzzles, and had all kinds of physical puzzles to do. Until the large group of children came in screaming, I spent a good deal of time solving various puzzles. Since I was alone, I took a little victory photo every time I solved one. I saw the toy room, science of magic, optical illusions, the whoel shebang. When I had had my fill I got my bag, grabbed a shnitzl baguette for lunch back on Hertzl nearby, and found a bus to Merkaz HaMifratz to head to Tsfat. I have so much to say about Tsfat, and its getting late, so I'll pick up there as soon as I can. Been an amazing Shabbat, eye opening, and I can't wait to tell you all about it. Shavua tov and talk to you soon!

Reverse Exodus to Egypt Part 2: Sinai

2010-02-27T20:13:00.002+02:00

We Arrived in St. Katherine after several hours of driving and checked in to Fox Camp, a Bedouin camp/guest house just outside of the tiny little town of St. Katherine. We had dinner in the camp late. Our room was pretty cold and was basically 3 mattresses pushed up next to each other filling one full wall, but at least it was enclosed not just a tent. It was a little stinky though. We were tired so we slept despite the stinky blankets, and woke up to tour the Monastery of St. Katherine in the morning. The first room we saw was the room of the dead, and it had cages full of skulls and human bones. Crazy. Not exactly what I would call a respectful burial, but apparently it is only the bones of monks and is considered an honor. We went inside a church and were greeted by a relic of St. Katherine, her finger in a box. Something about this place and bones. The church is right next to a mosque, and from the outside you can see the steeple right up next to the minaret. In the grounds of the monastery is the Burning Bush. It was apparently replanted in other places but here is the only place it grows. It is this giant, hairy looking plant growing overhead. Not at all what I expected it to look like. Mohammed knew some of the police men working on the grounds who insisted on taking pictures with us in front of the bush. One even proposed. It was pretty funny actually. We saw Moses' water wheel and a series of paintings telling his story. I didn't know he was considered a prophet in other faiths, but apparently he is. We explored the grounds a bit on our own, and when we had had our fill Mohammed led us outside to climb the surrounding rocks to get a great view of the whole Monastery. We took a lot of pictures then headed on our way.

They took us next to a hotel in town, the Katherine Plaza, for lunch and to relax a bit. I spotted the swimming pool, and since I hadn't showered since Cairo it looked tempting. Tamar drove me the few blocks back to our camp to get my suit and I changed to go swimming. When we got back I went to get in and noticed the pool was absolutely freezing. Like, frigid. I was already dressed and wanted to cool down, but I couldn't even get my feet used to the temp without getting numb. Finally I just jumped in. I scrambled as quickly as I could to get out. 2 seconds was more than enough. I spent the rest of the time walking in circles to dry off and warm up. It was needed, but quite chilly. We had lunch after that in the hotel, another buffet. Tamar took us back to our camp after that and we had to say goodbye to him as he was starting with another group at Taba that afternoon. We had the afternoon free and Ricci and I asked Mohammed to take us into town to explore a little. We walked there, walked around, and basically saw the entire town in 20 minutes cull circle. We went for a drink at the One Day restaurant, and sat drinking tea and resting in a cute little tent of rugs covering the walls. On the walk back we had an interesting talk with Mohammed about the differing marriage customs and traditions in Egypt and North America. He says he does not want to marry an Egyptian woman. It is a very different world and nice to get to know people and talk personally to really get a taste of it. We passed a cemetery on the walk back, marked in a very strange way, basically piles of stones marking the bodies. Don't think they were labeled. Again, a very different world and very cool to experience it in a small town like that. We had the rest of the afternoon free to we relaxed at the camp and read knowing we had to go to sleep early for a big climb the next day. After dinner at 7, we got ready for bed and did our best to sleep.

We left the camp at 1:30am for our Mt. Sinai climb. I think that is officially the earliest I have ever woken up. Generally a time I might consider bed time, but never before morning. Mohammed gave us some fruit we had asked for for morning fuel and we met our guide, a Bedouin man named Hassan, and started the climb from the Monastery a little after 2. I have never seen stars as incredible and clear as we did here. When we started the ascent Hassan asked us where are flashlights were. Ummmm, no one told us we needed to bring them... Oops. Guess we were climbing a mountain int he dark! The first part of the trail was a winding path, steep at times. We had the opportunity to do this portion on camel, and were reminded every time someone passed us offering us one, but we opted to do the whole thing on foot. We took a lot of breaks, took it nice and slow, and went to visit all of Hassan's friends who owned coffee shops along the ascent. The second part of the climb was stairs. Rock stairs. 750 of them. Nice leg workout and I bet my butt looks pretty good right about now. We took it slow again and rested when we needed it. Hassan was very patient with us. We got to the top around 5:30 or 6 or so, and camped out in a little ledge a bit below the crowded top section to watch the sunrise. He brought us blankets and we waited for the sun to come up. It was freezing up there, but an incredible sight. I took a mini nap on Ricci's shoulder and before too long we started the trip down. I noticed my pink Red Sox hat that had been attached to my waist pack was gone. We looked around a bit, but who knows at what point it fell off. : ( Some lucky Bedouin man is climbing the mountain in my pink hat right now. Ooooh well. We decided to go a different route down, and took what was supposedly 3000 steps down. I didn't count, but it was certainly a lot of stairs. It was light out now so we could really experience and enjoy the sights and views from the mountain. Down is easier than up, but I had major jello legs by the time we stopped for a break. We stopped and Hassan opened up a bag of chips for us to share. He picked some leaves from a nearby plant and told us we could taste them. He identified them as mint or something you would put in tea, but I smelled them and said, no, its Hyssop. Used to make zaatar. He was shocked that I was right. Honestly, so was I. I would not have been able to identify any other plant, this was probably the only one I know. I impress even myself sometimes. Cool. We put leaves on the chips and ate little sandwiches. Another guide with a girl from Poland stopped to join us for a few. When we started back on the way, we could see the Monastery, the light at the end of the tunnel, and made it down before too long. What an incredible journey. No one actually knows if this is the mountain where Moses got the commandments, but most stories say so. Regardless, it was awesome and felt really good.

We got back to the camp and had breakfast. Crazy to imagine how much we had accomplished before breakfast. We literally climbed a mountain. Anyways, we ate and packed up and checked out. Loaded out bags into our new ride, a jeep, and hit the road. The plan was to make our way back to Taba but to take the long way through the deserts of Sinai and explore. We drove down the road in this crazy, scary sandstorm. Apparently busses were being escorted by police cars. Our little 4 by 4 did alright, and we just watched as sand pelted the windows. Before too long the winds settled, but then it started to rain. It was just surreal, driving through the desert in the rain. When the weather had settled a bit, we pulled off the road and just drove. I have no idea how the guy knew the way! At first I was really car sick, but once I got used to it it was really fun. We first got out to hike through a canyon. Mohammed pointed out all the different types of rocks as we climbed over and around and made our way through. Some were red, green, yellow, gorgeous. Our driver poured some water on a rock and painted our faces with bright yellow color. Awesome. The next stop we made was at a Beduin family's camp. They served us more Bedouin tea, I swear I've had more tea this week than ever in my life, and showed us some handmade jewelry. They had an area for camels and goats, a covered area where they were all sitting on carpets, and an enclosed area off to the side we didn't get to really see. And the whole family, several generations consisting of maybe 12 people lived there. There was this adorable little boy counting for us in English and drawing pictures in the sand with his Grandfather. Too cute.

The jeep driver asked us a bit later if we wanted to continue in the desert or head to the road. Since my tummy had settled, we decided to stay in the desert. What they didn't tell us until later was that they hadn't gotten the permit or authorization to continue on in the desert, but apparently they did it anyways. It wasn't unsafe, you just needed police permission to bring non citizens into the area. Oops. I'm almost glad they didn't tell us that because it was such a crazy drive. Desert landscape, rain on the windows, just un real. We drove through a garbage dump too. Maybe that's why they don't bring tourists... By the time we got back to the paved road, we were in Nuweiba, the beach town where we were stopping for lunch. We ate at a great fish restaurant with theese amazing, delicious, super fresh pitas. The plan had been to relax on the beach for a bit, but since it was kinda wet and rainy we voted against it. We got some time to walk around, take pictures, see the beach and the area, but then we hopped back into the jeep to Taba.

When we got back to the border, we met Ehab again who had helped us get in, and they helped us through forms etc to get back into Israel. They helped us push through tour groups as well to get through fast, but unfortunately there was a giant group at security so we waited and waited. It took a while, and they had to basically unpack my backpack for some reason, but we made it through. The taxi waiting for us from the tour company in Eilat already had 55 shekels on the meter when we got in. Oops, good thing it wasn't on our bill! We checked in to Motel Aviv to drop off our stuff, then went out to walk the boardwalk a bit and say goodbye to Eilat. I was exhausted and glad we had decided not to take the overnight bus again and to get a real nights rest. We got frozen yogurt for dinner (shhh) and did a little shopping. Ricci went to visit a man she had met last time she was there, but his boat wasn't there and the dock appeared to be rezoned. Oh well. At about 8:30 we went back to shower and go to bed. Slept about 11 hours, but were still tired in the morning. Good thing we had another 5 hour ride to nap a bit more. Went straight from the Tel Aviv station to Hod HaSharon to Tsachi and Einat's, where I am now, to relax for the weekend and prep for the next part of my adventures.

I'll be here to go to work tomorrow, finish up at Eve and transfer all my files, etc and through Purim. I'm planning to go to Adloyada, the Purim parade and carnival in Holon on Monday (postponed a day due to weather) to experience Purim with all the kids like a true Israeli. I'll let you know how that goes. From there, I leave Tuesday morning for my solo adventures up north. Haifa, Shabbat in Tzfat, Tiberias, and Nazareth. If I don't get to write before I leave, Happy Chag Purim, drink until you can't tell the difference between Hamen and Mordechai, and have a great weekend!

Reverse Exodus to Egypt Part 1: Cairo

2010-02-26T21:56:00.001+02:00

Egypt was absolutely incredible. I am so glad I decided to go through with it. Spent a lot of money and I'm exhausted and sore, but it was entirely worth it. I spent all day Sunday in Bat Yam with my class for their final performance. I showed up there with all my gear and left my backpack in the lighting booth. Rehearsals throughout the day were a bit rough, but the performance itself was wonderful and everything came together in the end. I was very proud of them. When the show was over, I grabbed my back pack and hitched a ride with Amy and her fiance to the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv. I met Ricci and we took the overnight bus to Eilat, leaving at midnight. I managed to sleep most of the way, despite the fact that they stop at 2 am for a break and turn all the lights on. We arrived a bit ahead of schedule and at 4:45ish am unloaded to grab some food before our next long ride. We went to a 24 hour bakery for burekas and waited for a call from Desert Eco Tours about our ride. A crazy Dutch man at the bus station tried to get someone to take a granola bar and got angry at every one that said no. Fortunately his crazy rants were in English so we had some entertainment while we waited. A guy names Tomer met us around 5:30 in this cute little jeep to take us to the border and help us get through. We picked up the other for our tour from their hotel, Sam and Robyn, father and daughter from NY, and drove to Taba on the same road to the underwater observatory and beach we snorkeled at, but this time all the way to the end. He helped us through the border without too much trouble, and we met Ehab and Tamar, our driver, on the other side. We were officially in Egypt. Tamar drove the 4 of us through Sinai and the Suez Canal Bridge to Cairo to start our adventure. I slept most of the way.

When we arrived in Cairo, we met our guide Mohammed Ali. Yes, that was his real name. Our first stop was the oldest mosque in Africa. We got there just after prayer time and saw everyone filing out. We had to take off ou shoes and they gave us these big green robes to cover up so we could get inside. They were bright green cloaks. We looked like monks or something. We got a tour of the mosque and learned a lot about the prayer rituals and practices of Islam. It was beautiful, gigantic too, but he said its only full towards the end of Ramadan. When we left they made us pay for the cloak we had been forced to wear. This was the first of many small unexpected charges, but it was all good. After the mosque we went to lunch at a buffet restaurant. Not sure how much of the food was actually Egyptian, but it was sure yummy. Considering our sleep and meal schedule that day, we were really hungry too.

After lunch, we went to the Egyptian Museum. I would have loved to spend the entire day there, making my way through each exhibit, but unfortunately we only had 2 hours. Mohammed led us through the most important things to see, each exhibit reminding me of my former obsession with Ancient Egypt. I can't remember how old I was, but I used to love studying the rituals and characters and gods of Ancient Egypt. I've been Cleopatra for Halloween a number of times, wanted to name my next cat Bastet at one point, and if I recall could write my name in hieroglyphics. This place was like a dream come true. We saw the treasure from King Tut's tomb, including the famous mask from his mummy and all the beds. I wanted the one with the cows. We saw tons of gigantic statues and lots of mummy stuff and it was incredible. Fascinating. Again, I could have spent hours walking through. It was nice to have him telling us everything and guiding us through, but next time I'll do it myself and really take my time. What a museum.

After the museum we went to a Papyrus museum to see a demo of how its made and shop around a bit. The woman showed us how to break down the plant and how to prepare it for the press, press it, etc. She also showed us how to identify fake papyrus, which is generally made from banana leaves. If the grains go horizontally on one side and vertically on the reverse side, its most likely real. If they are woven, it is for sure an imitation. The paintings in this place were pretty cool, lots of great symbols and characters. I wanted something, but I couldn't decide what to get. Ricky got her sister a wedding present, an image of lotus and another plant representing eternity and love. She got them to offer a great deal, so I took advantage of her handiwork and got her to bargain with me for 4 small pictures of various ancient Egyptian figures and hieroglyphics. Should look really cool all framed together. They rolled them up in a little tube and sent us on our way.

In the van, Mohammed told us about our options for the evening. Sam and Robyn had signed up for a Nile dinner cruise/show, which we opted not to pay extra for since dinner was included in our day already, but when they offered the Sound and Light Show at the pyramids, we couldn't say no. They decided to come to that as well and do both. We dished out the extra money, and I'm glad to say it was worth it. We got to the grounds of the Pyramids in Giza a bit early, so we had time to take pictures and look around a bit. The seats for the show are set up so you see this incredible panorama of all three Pyramids and the Sphinx. I literally teared up and fell to my knees looking at them. It was so overwhelming and just incredible. The show itself was of course cheesy, but informative and told the stories of the pyramids and which god/king each was built for. With some cool colored lights on the panorama. Fun.

Ricci and I went for dinner afterwards, and Sam and Robyn went to check into the hotel to prepare for their evening. After dinner it was our turn to check in, and we were certainly ready. It had been a loooong day, and a 4 star hotel was just what we needed. I convinced the guys downstairs to let me use the guest relations computer to e-mail and check in to let Mom and Dad know I had arrived safely. Free wi-fi isn't of much value without a computer, but I was glad they helped me out. In the room we watched part of There's Something About Mary dubbed into Arabic, and before too long went to bed. Much needed bed.

The next day we woke up early to head back to the Pyramids complex, this time for a formal tour. We went right up to the largest one, touching and climbing the gigantic stones. It is just awe inspiring. They told us that it may just be a year or so before they stop letting you come up to touch it. We took in as much as we could. The van took us from there right up to the second one, the middle size, which we bought tickets to go inside. My student id got me a nice discount. Sam, who had become the group Dad, held our bags while us 3 girls climbed through the narrow, sweaty tunnel to see the burial chamber. There was no mummy found, but the casket and tomb room was open for us to explore. If we had been allowed to bring in cameras I probably would have laid in the casket, but without film proof I voted against it. It was kinda damp and sweaty in the room anyways, so we decided to head out. Crouching down to fit through the tunnel, we made our way past those coming in in what was probably not built to be a two way street. Tamar took us from there to a panorama to see all three pyramids, and take some cool perspective shots where it looks like we are poking the tops of them. We did the same thing a bit later at the Sphinx, where it looked like we were kissing it. Basically the reason I came to Egypt fulfilled. On the way to the Sphinx (because we had time) we stopped in the Sphinx Temple where mummys were prepared for burial. If we had only seen the pyramid complex, and not continued the trip to see all the rest we had planned, it would have been enough (to be said in the form of the Pesach chant).

After the Pyramids was some more guided tour tourist crap, unfortunately. The drive through Cairo may have been the best part. There are no traffic lights. In the entire city. Just people on some corners signaling or impatient drivers pushing their way in. Lots of u-turns and rights instead of lefts and interesting techniques. We passed the City of the Dead, a former burial ground where people now live, the Citadel, lots of mosques, women in fully covering Arab garb, and a guy on a bike carrying a basket on pitas on his head. Awesome city. Then the tourist stops began. The essence factory was cool, just a bit unnecessary. We got to smell all the essences and learn their uses. They are basically perfume without alcohol added so they can be used for different things, or made into perfume. They also had gorgeous glass bottles. Everything was a bit too expensive for my taste. Robyn bought herself a set of several scents and bottles. Ricci and I left covered in sample smells, but without making a purchase. The next stop was Cotton Land for some Egyptian cotton souvenir options. Again, we looked around but left empty handed. Robyn and Sam bought themselves and their family lots of things. Our shopping continued from there as we went to the Bazaar. Mohammed told us not to buy anything without haggling down the price big time, which I did quite proudly. I got Lauren a present for basically half of what he originally asked for. Not too bad. Sorry Laur, you were worth the original price, but it wouldn't have been as fun.

From there is was off to lunch. We picked up Mohammed, another Mohammed, who was going to be Ricci and my guide for the next few days of the trip, and said goodbye to the other Mohammed who was leaving us at that point. Robyn and Sam were heading back to Eilat that night too. We ate and then drove all together back as far as Suez bridge. We stopped for a bathroom break, said goodbye to them, then they left with a new driver to head to Taba. We continued on South in Sinai to St. Katherine with Mohammed and Tamar. Got a nice view of the desert along the way. That's about all for part one of the entry. Cairo was a crazy city, and interesting mix of ancient culture with the current modern Arab and Muslim influence. I'd love to have a chance to spend more time there. I'll come back to write about Sinai and the rest of the adventure tomorrow! Shabbat Shalom!

Jerusalem Travels Continued

2010-02-20T20:16:00.001+02:00

Okay, I'm back. Here goes. We woke up early again on Tuesday to head back into the Old City to hit a few more spots. We started the day doing the Ramparts walk, walking along the wall above the city. It wasn't quite as exciting as it sounded. Pretty disappointing. And we had bought a bagel and spent some time prepping pieces with zatar for a snack, which I promptly dropped off the stairs as soon as we started up to the ramparts. Oops. My bad.

When we got down we ran into Autumn, the girl who's apartment we were staying in. We invited her to join us for a bit. She and Ricci went to visit the wall one more time, and I stayed back to wait in line to get into the Temple Mount. We didn't even know there was a line, so I'm glad we walked by and saw it. It is only open to visitors for an hour each day. They came back as the gate was being opened, and we started the security process to get up. I didn't realize it was such a process, but we had to show go through a few different scans before getting up. When we finally reached the top of the ramp, we were just overwhelmed. What an incredible sight. The Dome of the Rock, the gold dome a landmark I've seen from all over Jerusalem, was even more beautiful up close. I didn't realize how detailed the blue tiling was outside the shrine. The mosque nearby was quite pretty as well. Unfortunately neither are open for visitors anymore, but that means a visit to the Temple Mount is free, so its ok. Maybe someday we'll be at a point where they can once again be open for tourists. We walked through the grounds a bit, looking around, taking tons of pictures. Truly an incredible site. We read the information from my guide book, learning what we can, and ended up with tons of questions and curiosities we knew we would have to look into. Fortunately, many of them were answered on our afternoon tour of the Western Wall Tunnels. After lunch with Ricci's cousin Allen, I had delicious sabich, we went to meet for our 4:00 tour of the tunnels.

This was honestly one of the coolest and most informative tours I've been on since arriving in Israel. We were lucky to get a reservation on such short notice. The tour started with a model and demonstration of how the grounds went from the mountain where Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac (or Ismael, depending who you ask) to the location of the first temple to Herrod's new temple complex, to the Muslim holy place that stands today. We saw the story again from an animated model as well, giving us orientation of what we were about to see. I didn't realize the Wall we pray at today is so small a section of what once stood, both length and height wise. We walked along the length of the wall, underground, lookiung below us at what the excavations were soon hoping to uncover and open for tours, and across at the amazing stones from the original temple complex. We could tell them by the frames carved into the stone. We learned that the reason the Western wall is the most holy is because of its proximity to the holy of holies, the sight of the near sacrifice and location where the commandments were stored in the ark. This is why people apparently pray at the wall on a slight angle towards the spot. We were, on this tour, closer than we could ever have gotten from the outside. There were prayer sections, notes and all, on this lower level too. We saw the original street lining the wall where shops would have been for pilgrims visiting the temple, and so much more. Our guide shared many details filling in gaps of the familiar stories, and I really learned a lot. Powerful and meaningful tour, and I know next time I come more will be uncovered and it will be a completely different experience. Can't wait to see what they find.

After the tour, we wandered back towards Ben Yehuda to find the building where the show we were seeing that night was located. The same actor who I saw in Timekeepers has another show, but unfortunately only playing in Hebrew coming up. I decided to give it a try, figuring I could see the video in English after to clear up any confusion. We grabbed a snack at McDonalds, don't tell anyone, and headed to the theatre building. The piece, called My First Sony, has apparently been touring for years and has gotten great press. Unfortunately, I was tired, and it takes a LOT of focus to get through a one man show in Hebrew. Long monologue, of which I got every few words. I enjoyed it as far as I can tell, but I know I missed a lot, so I hope to see it in English soon to fill in the gaps. We waited a bit after to thank him, but there was a talkback and we eventually decided to just head out. Putting that much effort into watching a show is exhausting. We went back to the German Colony apartments and went straight to bed.

After our long and amazing day, we decided to allow Wednesday to be a more relaxing, chill day. We slept in a little, then headed to the Shuk. I thought I had never been there before, but as soon as we arrived I realized I had been there with my Birthright group. We wandered through, exploring all the side sections looking at the vegetable and fruit choices as well as clothing and stuff, and bought ourselves a nice picnic lunch to bring to the zoo. Ricci got coleslaw and some fruit, and I got a persimmon, malawach and some red pepper cheese to put on top. When we had our bags packed with goodies, we headed to the bus station to catch a bus to the Zoo.

The cool thing about the Biblical Zoo is that every animal they have is mentioned in the Bible in some way. They even have the verses printed on some of the plaques describing what is in each cage. We saw lions and tigers and bears oh my, and tons more. Fell in love with this adorable Red Panda. There was a cute fish exhibit with fish from different bodies of water around Israel and the World called Wet Side Story. We didn't listen to advice, again, and didn't take the train which we regretted later when we discovered it was not a circle but a straight line that forces you basically to walk back through what you just saw in reverse. Oh well. We ate our picnic lunch while watching monkeys, saw some cool things, and stayed till closing. We hoped the train might come around and pick everyone up after closing time, but we weren't that lucky. We waited forever for a bus, got bugged by a woman in an unmarked sherut to get in, and finally ended up sharing a cab to the bus station with an American couple from yeshiva. It always works out in the end.

We felt like a movie that night so we called Yonit, the madricha of the Jerusalem program, to ask if there was a theatre near by. She told us, roughly, where to go, and we went there asking what was playing now. We ended up picking a random Hebrew title with a picture Ricci recognized, and saw The Men Who Stare At Goats. At first I thought it was kinda stupid, but redeemed itself and was actually quite funny. Not sure I would recommend it, but it was a nice relaxing evening and I quite enjoyed myself. We asked for directions at a gas station and managed to get home without too much problem. Again, exhausted from a full day, we passed out quick.

Thursday morning I woke up early to pack up and head out of town. Ricci was staying one more day, but I had to get to Bat Yam for the last rehearsal day with the kids. I missed the bus to Bat Yam, so I ended up having to go from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and taking the local bus from there. Ayn baya. I made it with plenty of time. I had to bring my suitcase to class, and it was a bit of a rough day, but the show is Sunday and should be pretty good. I'll post when I can how it went!

I spent the weekend at Merav's in Tel Aviv instead of in Hod HaSharon since Tsachi and Einat were out of town and I would have been all alone in an empty house all weekend. We drove out there on Friday to do laundry and switch out my bag, and now I've just been here in Tel Aviv stealing her computer to get planning and blogging done. Had a nice dinner with Yael and her boyfriend and his sister as wella s an American guest of theirs, so I wasn't the only one speaking English. Nice. Tomorrow is the show, then I take the overnight bus to Eilat and leave for Egypt from there in the morning. The trip almost didn't happen, as we had some security concerns, but I did some serious research, made some calls, and did some thinking and decided it was happening. Can't wait to tell you all about it. We will be doing 2 days in Cairo, pyramids and museum and more, and then 2 days in Sinai, climbing the mountain for sunrise and hiking etc. After that its 10 days up North solo. Got all my hostels booked for that this weekend, so now its just planning my days and getting excited. Gotta give Merav back her computer, but I'll post as soon as I can, from Cairo, or as soon as I get back. Love!

Let The Travels Begin: Jerusalem

2010-02-20T18:54:00.002+02:00

WUJS has officially ended, been kicked out of my apartment, and I begin the new stage of my time in Israel as a homeless tourist. Different, but quite an adventure already. On Thursday we had to be out of our apartments by 6, and at 6 Ricky came to lock them, and lock us out. She wasn't kidding. Tsachi ahd come to pick up most of my bags the day before so I set out with my backpack and all the things I had left behind for the bus station. I took a bus to Hod HaSharon and followed the map Tsachi had drawn me to their house, since they weren't home. I spent the nigth doing laundry and packign up for my weke in Jerusalem.

Friday morning I went to breakfast with Merav in Hod HaSharon, had delicious spinach shakshuka, then hopped a bus from the center of town to Jerusalem. Since I wasn't planning to meet Ronit and her family until later that day, when I arrived I began trekking around with my pack. I walked from the bus station to Ben Yehuda to do some shopping. Little boutiques are hard to navigate with a frame pack on, but I managed. I found some new alleys and turns I hadn't taken before and shopped around until I was bored and my shoulders hurt. I called Ronit, my coworker whose family I was staying with for Shabbat, and she and her husband came to pick me up when they had finished their shopping. I should tell you about this family. First of all, when I found out I couldn't move into the WUJS apartments (my key to free housing in Jerusalem) until Sunday the 14th, I was talking at work about finding a hostel so I could spend Shabbat in Jerusalem as well. She asked if I wanted to stay at her Mom's place. Of course I said yes, spoke with her, and they basically became my host family for the weekend. When I called Shari, she said "you will come empty handed." I loved this woman already and her amazing Israeli hospitality. And since they were American I knew language wouldn't be an issue, just learning to keep Shabbat. I was a little afraid I would mess up, but I did just fine and had a wonderful time with them. Friday night at Shari's was a big Shabbat dinner including Ronit and her husband, her brother Josh and his wife and baby, their Grandparents, Shari the hostess, and myself. I enjoyed a nice family Shabbat meal, and spent the night at their upstairs neighbor's because Josh, Sarah, and the baby Noam were staying over to drive home after Shabbat. That family also had a little boy, about a year and a half, and I spent the rest of the evening playing with him. We played the "ma ze" game where he asked me what everything was, and I got to practice my hebrew and teach him english when I got stuck. It was pretty fun. Made lots of little friends that night. And Ronit's grandma wants to set me up with her brother in the States. Not too bad at all. I'll let you know how that goes, haha.

Saturday morning I had to wake up kind of early since the neighbor was going to shul, but I went down to Shari's to relax a bit. Did some reading, went for a walk through the parks nearby the Greek colony where she lived, and then came back to grab a snack before heading out for the day. I decided to make the trek into the old city. I had never been to the Kotel on shabbat and thought it was something I needed to do before leaving Israel. I made my way there and wandered through the old city a bit. I finally bought the bracelet I'd been eyeing. I went to the wall, explored the area a bit, and just sat people watching in the plaza. It is one of my favorite places to watch people go by. I decided to do something new for the afternoon, find a place I hadn't been, so I walked over to the Zion gate to explore Har Tzion, or Mt Zion. I found several churches to explore, beautiful, and even the supposed site of the Last Supper. Also on the grounds was King David's tomb, although you can't really see anything its just the spot where they say he was buried. I found out later that Schindler's grave is also located nearby, of the famous list, but I didn't know to look for it. Oh well. When I had had my fill and it started getting late, I sat on a bench in a plaza outside the wall to rest a bit and wait for the busses to start running again so I could get home. A nice old man started talking to me and we ended up spending half and hour just talking about the city and things. He told me I was a "special soul". He spoke to me in Hebrew, which I understood most of (I'm getting pretty good), but I answered in English since I don't really have the words to respond in Hebrew. It was nice though. He was also a teacher, and said he liked to get away for the weekends to get away from the bell. He loved when I said I was a teacher too. He wanted to take me on an adventure, but I decided enough was enough and went to make my way back. It wasn't too far (Mom and Dad, from the old city to Tal Bagel basically if that helps put it in perspective), so I opted to walk since I was now rested. I got Tal Bagel to bring back for dinner, and spent another night, this time in Shari's guest room since the rest of the family had left.

On Sunday morning I slept in a bit since Ricci was coming in from the North, and met her and her giant backpack around 11. She dropped her stuff at Shari's for the day, and we began our tourist adventures. Started the morning touring the Knesset. We took some strange route through a park/garden to get there, but when we finally arrived the tour was really nice. We had to lock our purses up in a little bag with them for security. Our guide took us through the building, explaining us the processes and procedures along the way. We also got to see a temporary exhibit of Da Vinci original notebook pages and sketches. Pretty cool. We got to see the main hall where the Parliament sits and he told us how that all worked, and the voting process etc. Really interesting how different the system is from ours. I asked our tour guide where his English was from since he was basically accentless, and he said he grew up in Chicago. B'emet? I asked him where and it turns out he lived in Morton Grove until he was 12. Pretty funny.

From there we went to the Israel Museum nearby to see the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Ahava statue I had seen so many pictures of. A lot of the building was closed for renovation, but we saw the Shrine of the Book and everything that was opened, for a slightly reduced entrance fee. I also finally got the neckalces of the statue I had been looking for. One for me and one for Mom. Glad I got to go to the museum, because I missed the siyur when the group went.

We took a bus late afternoon back into the old city to visit the Kotel again, and were surprised to discover it was Rosh Chodesh, which apaprently means everyone comes to pray and dance and celebrate in the Kotel Plaza. There were groups of boys dancing around people on loud speakers. We met up with a friend of Ricci's, Dana, who was coming for Rosh Chodesh with her friends. Talked with her a bit, grabbed some pizza, then realized it was pretty late and we should get back. We went to Shari's to get our stuff, and sat down exhausted. We made the executive decision to stay there another night rather than trek out with our packs to move into the WUJS apartment as planned, since it was late and we were tired. Glad we did. And glad she offered. I honestly love this woman. We fell asleep pretty quick after a long jam packed tourist day.

Okay, forgot to warn you this would be a long one. Get ready, I'm still going. We woke up early on Monday. We hopped a bus to Yad Vashem to start our day. We had been told that an audio guide could take a loooong time, and Shari suggested a guided tour, but we opted to just do it on our own and set our own pace. Glad we did, but we set it a bit slow at the beginning. We read almost everything in thye beginning, but then later as the place started getting flooded with groups of students etc, and our feet started hurting, we had to move a little faster. It is a greta museum, but I think its almost too much for one day. By the time we even got to the concentration camps and more interesting artifacts, we were pretty wiped. That's okay though, its free, and i know I'll be back. We saw the childrens memorial, hall of names, and as much as we could, but called it a day after about 4 or 5 hours. From there we headed to Hadassah Hospital, not too far away, to see the Chagall Windows I had missed with Mom and Dad. We got in for the student price, thank you Emerson id, and joined a German tour group. We got the info page in English, but had to listen to the whole demo in German before we asked the lady to start it again in English. It was funny to see all the people keep rotating sides of the room as the demo suggested they do, and us go the opposite way on our own. Each window represents one of the brothers or tribes, and it based on the blessing Jacob gave them. They made a lot more sense when we heard the descriptions in English too. I took lots of pictures before we got yelled at for using our cameras, so Dad and Mom, you can pretend you got to see them too. We grabbed a late lunch/early dinner at Aroma at the hospital, then went back to Shari's to use her computer to finish planning the rest of the week and our remaining travel time together. Debating staying there another night, we decided not to overstay our welcome and moved over to the WUJS apartments around dinner time. Got ourselves settled in, and had an early night. We earned it.

I'm gonna take a little nap break. I'll try to finish the entry later tonight!

Birthday, Blackout, Bonfire, and Byes

2010-02-11T00:51:00.000+02:00

I'm 23! Had a fabulous birthday here in Tel Aviv in a week full of packing and goodbyes. Before I get to that, Goodbye Dinner, Sunday night. The committee (or comity as Ricky wrote), Hallie, Michal, Sarah, and Seth planned the whole thing and kept it as a big secret from all the rest of us. We ended up starting with appetizers and wine at our apartment, then they took us on an out of the way walk to Max Brenner, to avoid ruining the surprise. When we got there there was a long table set up with special custom menus just for us and CDs of our favorite and joke songs waiting at each seat. I had chicken nuggets in sweet chile sauce, which came with a shot of pure chocolate. We had a cute little award ceremony, where we all got paper plate awards. Mine was "Puzzle Enthusiast", for my now famous slogan "never force a puzzle". We had a brief Ricky roast, recalling our favorite moments with her, and gave her a cute little cactus to remember us. I found out we got a discount at the store so I bought some little gifties for my coworkers and a hug mug for myself. Goooood niiight.

I started Monday, the 8th, going into the office for a birthday lunch with my colleagues and to give them their presents. Worked in the morning, then went with Tomer and Ronit to Pasta Mia. I had sweet potato/pumpkin gnocchi with cream sauce. MMmmm. We shared chocolate mousse for dessert, and they asked blatantly in front of my face for the waitress to put a sparkler in it. Of course, I didn't understand, so they managed to surprise me without leaving the table. Not bad. Lunch took longer than planned and an accident prevented the 18 bus from coming, so I hurried home from work in a cab to meet Ricky to get fire wood. We drove to North Tel Aviv to the mall to scout the loading docks for crates we could break down. Hallie, Ricky, and I found what we were looking for, loaded it into the back seat, and I rode home underneath it, ducking my head to fit. Safe. The day was already a crazy scurry, and I headed home from there, unloaded, then rushed to change for dinner. Michal, Jaks, Chelsea and I headed out the door to Jaffa.

They had made reservations at the Blackout restaurant at Nalagat Center. The center hosts a theatre company of blind and deaf actors, a cafe with deaf waters, and this Blackout restaurant with blind wait staff. The restaurant is pitch black, completely dark. Incredible experience. We ordered at the desk before we entered. There are 4 choices on the menu, or a surprise option. I ordered vegetarian surprise, and white chocolate mousse for dessert. Then we met our waiter, and he led us into the restaurant, hands on each other shoulders. He was albino, and had very limited vision, a condition he shared with his sister. He helped orient us with the table, chairs, and items on the table, and we sat down. He helped us find the water pitcher and we struggle to pour ourselves glasses. He suggested putting a finger int he glass until you feel the water level. I didn't do too awful. We ordered a bottle of wine to share, and he brought us bread to start. It was coated in this tomato butter, and was delicious. Dinner was even better. My surprise turned out to be some kind of ravioli with mushrooms and peas and various veggies. It was delicious. At first I was using my fingers to help get the food on the fork, but eventually all of us decided to just use our hands. It was so freeing. No one could see us, we could be as messy as we wanted, and we really got to experience the food. Incredibly liberating. And it came with wet-naps. I managed to spill my wine into Chelsea's lap, which apparently is quite shocking when you don't see it coming. Oops. Dessert was amazing too. And i scraped every last bit out of the bottom with my fingers. Disgustingly delicious. Overall, it was a crazy experience. Really got to taste and just feel. Disorienting, but awesome.

After dinner, we headed back home ot get ready for the bonfire. I picked up a bit more wood from a fruit stand where I had seen crates, gathered materials for banana boats, and went back to the apartment to gather a crew to head over. As the day seemed to be panning out, we didn't leave until way behind schedule. At around 10, when the fire was supposed to start, we left to head over to the beach. We tried to get on the bus with the crates, but the driver wouldn't let us on... We decided to start to walk. Already late for my own party, we started the trek into Jaffa. At one point, some people called us from the beach asking where we were, and sent a random guy that we didn't know, a friend of one of my friends, in a car to come meet us. Only in Israel. He took me and one of the crates to the beach to get things started and the others kept walking. When I finally got there, everyone was waiting. We started jumping up and down on the crates trying to break them into boards, and Oren came to the rescue with his mad stomping power and took over. We got it broken down, and set up to start the fire. Using some cardboard and crumpled up newspaper, we managed to get it started pretty quick, around 11 pm. The wood was thin though and burned quick, so we had to stay on top of it all night. That's okay though, when the others got there with the rest of the wood, we managed to keep it burning until 2 am or so. Not too shabby. We made tons of banana boats, with milk, dark, and white chocolate, and met some cool new people. Lots of people made it out, including a few from the Jerusalem machzor. Great birthday. Despite the chance of rain, which didn't happen, and the many times throughout the week where I thought the fire wouldn't happen at all, it all came together in the end. Thanks to everyone's awesomeness for helping me pull it together.

When I got home, my door was decorated with a Happy Birthday banner and Hebrew caution police tape. And my room was filled with balloons. Love my roomies. Nothing like getting home at 3am to a birthday surprise.

Let myself sleep in a bit on my actual b-day, instead of waking up early to begin cleaning day. We scrubbed and packed, etc, but I made sure to not spend my entire birthday packing. Also had some mac and cheese, and watched some Private Practice. Got a lot done, but took it easy as well. I went to visit upstairs when I got bored of packing, and was promptly told by apartment 3 that I was not allowed in. A bit suspicious, I tried not to think about it. Later, Sarah called me to come up because she "had a question for me". When I got there, everyone was waiting with a cake to sing Happy Birthday. I love this group. Not only was it a cake, but it was a funfetti cake. Which I have been talking about forever. Which doesn't exist in Israel. Sarah's parents, who came this week, brought the mix from Canada. Again, can I saw I love these people. it absolutely made my day. Quite delicious too I must add. We all ate, then put on out matching WUJS TLV t-shirts to head to Jerusalem for the final ceremony.

We got off the bus in Jeru, walked down the block, to discover we were at the wrong building. Soooo WUJS. We called the bus back, got back on, and made our way to the real location for the ceremony. With the Jeru machzor, we ate some bagels, watched the final video update (Watch the Clips, Watch the Staff Updates), sang some songs, heard a few speeches from participants, looked at pictures and wrote down our favorite memories, and all got diplomas. When Ricky called my name she said it was my birthday and everyone sang. Seriously, incredible people I am surrounded by. I wore my birthday crown the whole night too. And cried on the bus ride home.

Since today is no longer my birthday, I had to actually get down to business and clean. With the roomies we scrubbed, mopped, swept, etc. I wore plastic bags on my hands to scrub the fridge. Not fun. Packed up a nice box of goodies for the next group who moves in. We also painted a cute little plaque for WUJS Tel Aviv Apt 1 and signed our names with the year. Hope the next group will continue the tradition. Tsachi came to pick up my luggage, and all that's left is a backpack. We went for a last night dinner to Benedict's, a breakfast place on Rotschild, for some last minute roommate bonding. I had chocolate pancakes. While we were out Matt called looking for us to say goodbye. He was heading to the airport. First to go, and we missed it. Sad. When we got home we busted out a bottle of champagne and toasted to the best memories and each other. Apartment clean, clothes packed, this is it. I am staying up to blog now to put off going to bed because when I do that means WUJS is over. And I'm not sure I can handle that. I guess this is the end of the entry though. Moving to Tsachi and Einat's in Hod HaSharon tomorrow after teaching, then trekking to Jerusalem for a week on Friday. I'll do my best to keep writing as my travels continue. I guess this is the end of the entry. Which means I have to sign off and go to bed. Which means I have to say goodbye. I'm not good at those. This isn't goodbye, its see you later. See you later!

Down to Days

2010-02-06T13:16:00.000+02:00

It's down to days. Not months, not even weeks, but days left of WUJS. I can't even think about it. Cramming as much as I can into the end of my time with everyone. Here's what I've been up to.

Seen 2 plays this week! First, Games in the Backyard at Cameri. It is based on a true story of a rape of a young girl by a group of boys on their Kibbutz. The play is set on the playground, and the actors that play the girl and group of boys also play the lawyers, trying the case years later. The stories parallel very nicely, and even the trial scenes take place on the playground equipment. I really liked it. Artistically done, and with a punch. Saw it in Hebrew with English subtitles. Again, challenging, but I'm glad I got to see it. There was a talk back after, in English, because it was part of the International Exposure. With the actors and playwright and director. Cool. Talked about the differences between this production and the original Israeli one, as well as international productions. Glad I was able to participate.

The other show was called The Timekeepers. This one was one of the artists we work with at EVE, and I have been passing out materials regarding the piece for a while, so it was nice to finally see it for myself. It plays in both Hebrew and English, so I had to wait for an English performance. It was a powerful story about an older Jew and younger homosexual man together at a concentration camp. The older man was a watch maker, and the other pretending he knew the craft to stay alive. They developed a strong connection helping each other over time. Really a great story. The actor I knew and I have been in contact regarding his other work, and I am hoping to see it either here or on a US tour. It's cool to know people!

This week was also my last official day at EVE. It was crazy. I've really grown attached to the position and the people and its gonna be really hard to leave. Even though it was the last official day, I'll still be going in a bit to keep things moving over the coming weeks, and still have charge of the e-mail account. I feel like they are really depending on me, which is awesome, but makes it really hard to let go. Ronit, the old/new Viola is a great addition to the team and I'm sad to be leaving before I really get to work with her. The 2 of them and I had a nice chat on Wednesday about me coming back, that ended in watery eyes on my part. It's not fair. Tomer started playing some sad goodbye song, so of course I had to come back with an "'i'm gone" song. I played Runaway by Love and Theft. He played more don't go music, and we went back and forth having a nice dialogue through lyrics. I told him I listen to country music, there are a lot of leaving songs. Eventually we decided to get back to work. I can't believe I am leaving them. I feel like I created this position from scratch, made it a full time job. Hopefully this new WUJS person will work out and accept the position and I'll be able to help her pick up where I left off. If not, I have a feeling I'll still be working, even if from Chicago. I care too much about the projects to just leave them abandoned. We'll have to see how things play out.

That night, after one sad ending, was the last Ulpan class. We went to our teacher Aviv's apartment to watch a movie. We watched Yossi and Jogger. It is basically the Israeli Brokeback Mountain, a story of 2 boys in the Lebanon war. Was all in Hebrew, but I think I got most of it. Actually, one of the main female soldiers in the movie was played by the same actress I saw at Cameri earlier in the week, as the rape victim in Games in the Backyard. I recognized her. Aviv also had snacks for us and we did one last song together. In class, we often learn Israeli songs in Hebrew as a learning exercise. This time was a sad goodbye song, the title translating to something about a little chick leaving the nest. Guess who teared up again. Before we even heard the song! I'm a mess. He also gave us a CD of all the songs we'd learned over the course of the past few months. Loving the Hebrew slowly taking over my ipod.

Thursday had rehearsal with my kiddies, coming along nicely, then headed to Jerusalem with Hallie in the evening to see Abbie Silber's show at Off The Wall. She performed with fellow WUJies from both TLV and Jeru, some other artists she has met over the last 6 months, and also some of her original songs. It was a great show, and several of us came out from Tel Aviv. After her show, the bar opened for karaoke, this time with English songs. It was awesome. Alli and I sang a rousing version of Goodbye Earl by the Dixie Chicks. Sarah Fortman dominated with The Boots Were Made for Walking, and we also heard some funny Eminem, etc. The beers we were drinking, which were apparently 8-9%, only helped add to the hilarity of the night. I'm really gonna miss these people. At the end of the night, when we realized it was 2:30, we started to head out but had to wait for Seth and Matt to sing Sweet Caroline. Despite the fact that they didn't have it. They sang a capella. Wow. Anyways, we got a sherut home and were in bed by 4. Exhausted, but a great night.

Friday was our last Shabbat all together, so we of course had one of our famous potlucks. We made drunken spaghetti, which is spaghetti cooked in red wine with olive oil, butter, onion, garlic, etc. Italian specialty. Deeeelicious. Saturday morning now, just finished our last of many weekly challah french toast brunches. This time with homemade whipped cream, thank you Chelsea. I'm gonna have to stop writing before I cry again.

I guess I have to go start thinking about packing. Not packing, but thinking about it. We have to leave the apartment on Thursday the 11th. Clean up day, Tuesday, my b-day, and we have to pretty much clear our rooms before then. Oy va voy. Started planning my travels after the 11th. Including a week in Jerusalem with Ricci, Sarah's friend I wrote about, and also 9 days solo up North. I'll let you know how things fall into place! It's down to days...

Kibbutz Ktura Tiyul Continued

2010-02-02T22:52:00.000+02:00

Picking up where I left off...

The night after the Tu B'Shvat Seder, we met for a session on the Arava Institute. The Arava Institute is an institute for environmental studies with an interesting and powerful agenda; to develop a common language for environmental change among nations. The students there are 1/3 Israeli (native born or olim), 1/3 from Palestine, Jordan, and the Arab nations, and 1/3 from the US or elsewhere abroad. One of the required classes addresses the challenges of working and living with the "other" and they said often leads to very heated debates and discussions. As many strong emotions are stirred, these people still do projects and research with their counterparts on a daily basis. In addition to environmental study and research, the institute is a great study as to how these people can work together. People they may or may not have been taught to hate. Really an incredible place. Our panel had a staff member, and former WUJS participant who made aliyah from the US, a student, Palestinian living in Haifa, and an intern, also a WUJS alum from the US living and working in Israel for the year. They shared stories and explained to us the workings of the school. Really incredible people part of a even cooler project.

We woke up early on Saturday (the usual sleep in day) for another hike. I knew I would regret it if I didn't, even though I was missing my relaxation day. I am super glad I did too. It was an adventure before we even started. We got to the end of the grounds of the Kibbutz, to find the gate locked. Our guide, again Marcello, goes "People of Israel! We have a problem... We have 2 choices. Well 1 actually. No, 2, climb over or under." Great security that was. We all hopped the fence and started our hike. It was basically a straight shot up. Windy sandstorms, and steep climbs led us to a mountain overlook where we could see the whole grounds of the Kibbutz as well as the neighboring one, and a huge stretch of desert. Worth waking up for. We were all kind of hoping for a giant inflatable slide to swoosh back down, but we instead had to make our way down the same straightaway we came up. In the wind. Crazy, but fun. Stinky, we went back to the room to shower for our last day.

It was a little late by the time we got cleaned up to make it to morning services, where a few WUJies had aliyahs, but we got there in time for the scheduled kiddush. Unfortunately, they were a bit behind schedule and we had to start our tour, so they packed us a bag for a traveling kiddush. Cute. We started our tour of the date orchards and algae factory, the two big moneymakers on the kibbutz. The date orchards are giant rows of date palm trees, and he basically gave us time to just run through the fields. There were lots of donkeys hanging around, apparently they eat the leaves at the base of the trees to prevent bugs. Also, did you know date palms are really in the grass family, like giant blades of grass, not trees? Now I do! We did our kiddush and ate cookies in the fields.

Next stop was the algae factory. They have miles of glass tubing where they raise algae to maturity, then stick it out in the sun light and heat so it goes into distress, starves itself of oxygen, and emits a bright red anti-oxident called astaxanthin. It is used in cosmetics, anti-aging treatment, cancer research, and as salmon food. Whoever thought of this is a rich rich man, because it sells for $9000 a kilo. Read more about it I'll be sure to post pictures of the endless bright red tubes soon.

After the tours, we went back to the room to pack up and get ready for Havdalla. The coolest part to me, was that from all over the US/World, we all knew the same tunes. We walked by the Australian group after we finished, and they were doing the same thing. Jews are pretty cool like that. All packed up and ready to go, we headed to the lobby area to meet the bus. As expected in this country, nothing worked as expected... They called the bus at 7 when it was 15 minutes late. I had a bit of a headache, so I popped a tylenol pm thinking I would just sleep it off on the bus. They got in touch with the driver, and found out it was at least 90 minutes away still....... Glad I just took a sleeping pill!! Some people sat around singing with their guitars, some people watched a movie on tv in the lobby, I had an ice cream and tried to stay awake. I kept walking into things. It was a crazy feeling fighting a tylenol pm. Anyways, the bus finally arrived, I passed out the second I sat down, and woke up 3 hours later for the bathroom break. Then I fell right back asleep, and woke up turning onto our street. Not too bad. Fastest 6 hour bus ride I've ever been on. We made it home around 1:30 pm, and I went straight to bed since I had work the next day. ZZZZzzzzz.

Overall, the weekend was really incredible. Emotional, meaningful, and a great approaching the end bonding time. I got to know many of the Jerusalem WUJies that I didn't know too well, and get closer with some of the people I live with in a new environment. It's going to be really hard to leave these people. Alright, now I'm getting sad. On a good note though, I finally booked my flight today. I will be leaving Tel Aviv on March 12th, through Philly, to arrive at Ohare morning on Saturday the 13th. See you then!!!

Eilat of Fun on Kibbutz Ktura

2010-02-01T23:21:00.000+02:00

This was really an incredible weekend. One of the most meaningful and enjoyable of the whole WUJS experience thus far. We traveled down South, Thursday through Sunday, to a Kibbutz just north of Eilat. Kibbutz Ktura was founded by a group of Americans from young Judea, and is still primarily inhabited by immigrants from America and elsewhere who have made aaliyah. The people were very welcoming and led us in some great workshops. I'll start from the beginning.

We left Tel Aviv at 6 am, picked up the Jerusalem group, then headed down to Eilat. We started our adventure, after the 5-6 something hour bus ride, with a 3 hour hike. Some people opted not to go and just took extra free time in Eilat, but I excitedly put on my hiking boots and hit the trail. Our guide, Marcello, from the Kibbutz, shared stories and nature facts with us as we hiked a pretty good incline. We took breaks along the way, as the terrain was pretty tough, but it was worth all the sore muscles when we got to the top of Har Tzfachot. We could see to one direction, the beaches of Eilat in Israel, to another the city of Aqaba and mountains in Jordan, behind us in the Sinai in Egypt, and far off in the distance stretches of Saudi Arabia. It was really a great feeling when we exhaustedly reached the top and all of a sudden saw bright blue water and cities below us, not to mention 4 different countries. We hiked down the mountain, and basically right onto the beach front of Eilat. The bus met us there, drove us into the center of town, and we had a few hours of free time to walk the boardwalk and stop by the mall. I finally got ice cream, after talking about it with Mom and Dad, and it was good, better than the mall, but nothing to write home about. We sat on the beach a bit, then when it started getting cold wandered through the mall. Nice and relaxing after a strenuous hike. And the day wasn't even close to over!

From Eilat, we hopped the bus back North a bit to Kibbutz Ktura. We got our rooms, cute little suites, and settled in. I shared a room with Amy and Sarah, connecting with Michal, Chelsea and Jaks and a kitchen area to share. We showered and had a delicious barbecue with the other guests of the kibbutz, a group from an Australian and British program similar to ours. We also got an introduction to the kibbutz with videos from the opening ceremonies and the 20 year anniversary, and a moonlight tour of the grounds. We saw the cows (one just about to give birth), milking sheds, baby camel, algae factory, and a ton more. More on that later. Tired from a looooong day, we watched a little tv (!!!) and went to bed early.

Day 2 started with a large breakfast in the heder ochel, the a workshop called Duty Free Israel. We walked around a room with a selection of items and images, and we had to rate them 1 to 10 in terms of their "Israeliness". We were only allowed six 10s for the most Israeli items. We all picked up cards from our top 6 and met in small groups to discuss. On my list was the solider uniform, Herzl, cow chocolate of course, kibbutzim, and some more i can't remember. I was surprised when we categorized our choices that none of mine fit in the category of religion. I guess I connect with the cultural aspects more than the religious ones. In our small groups we all shared our choices and reasoning, then talked about a few of them more in depth; the solider uniform and the holocaust. We discussed the military society and the positives and negatives, and had a really great debate. I found myself saying "our army" meaning Israel's, and got kind of emotional catching myself taking ownership like that. The things that came out of this workshop really were incredible.

After that, there was a coffee break, they never stopped feeding us the entire weekend, then we were given our assignments for the arts workshops. The choices were sand painting, rock sculptures, desert poetry, making dreamcatchers, and desert filmmaking. I ended up in the film making group. We sat down and brainstormed the plot and characters, then our guide helped us find locations to film. We had to do everything in order as there was no option for editing, so it was hard, but we had a great time. Our movie was about 2 boys wandering through the desert, dehydrated and tired, having a hallucination of a desert party oasis/mirage, one of them falling in love with one of the women there in a Tony/Maria moment, only to wake up and find out they were dancing with cows... Strange I know, but entertaining. All the girls (cows) put on black and white, and I got to play the love interest character. We filmed some cheesy moments, the lean in for a kiss, then him waking up being licked by a cow. Awesome. We finished it off by all dancing in the cow pen. Yea, it was a little stinky and pretty darn muddy. But amazing. We managed to film the whole thing in just a few hours, with a nice kibbutz style lunch in between. Time well spent. After lunch each group presented their projects. I filmed the screen when we viewed our final product, but I'm not sure how it came out. I'll post it if its any good.

We cleaned up, changed for Shabbat, and lit candles outside before Kaballat Shabbat in the synagogue. My first time in services since I've been in Israel. Weird. Dinner that night was a Tu B'Shvat seder, including a presentation by the kids where they all acted out different fruits, a dance from the kindergarten complete with farmer and flower costumes, and lots of plates of delicious fresh dates and dried fruits. We ate well this weekend, let me tell you.

I gotta go to bed. I'll finish this entry tomorrow...

Not Camping, The Beatles, and Shakshuka Lessons

2010-01-26T23:02:00.000+02:00

I had mentioned to some people that we were going camping in Mitzpe Ramon this past weekend for Sarah's birthday. Because of the rain, and flash floods in the area, we decided it was in our best interest not to go. We made a good choice. Pictures of the roads in the area are insane. Does this work? Sandy, muddy, waterfalls in the desert. There were multiple deaths as people went down south to watch the floods rush by, and got swept away. Needless to say, we stayed home. Ooooh well.

I did manage to have a very productive weekend though. Friday, spent the day at Loveat, my new favorite cafe, applying for jobs for when I get home, then went to a bar to celebrate with Sarah and the gang that night. We found 70 shekels. Shhh. Don't tell anyone. We got a bottle of white wine to share to spend our recently acquired fortune. . Saturday, went into Jaffa with Sarah and her friend Ricci who was visiting. We wandered through the old city, just exploring, trying to find places open on Shabbat. The weather was great, and we had some yummy abulafia pastries and smoothies. Ricci has been in Israel for 6 weeks so far, volunteering, and is now staying until June or July to travel and do some more volunteer programs and workshops. I'm super jealous. Actually, her and I decided to do some traveling together that last month I'm here. I was planning on backpacking around anyways, so she and are are talking a few options to hop around the country. I think she'll be a great travel buddy. I'll keep you posted as we make more plans!

On Sunday, a bunch of us went to the Opera House to see an Israeli band called "The Sixties" perform with the Tel Aviv Orchestra. They did the entire Beatles Sargent Pepper album. It was pretty cool actually, and they were really good. They spoke in Hebrew between songs, but nailed the accents on the vocals and you would have never known they weren't British if you didn't know any better. Quite an impressive cover. Jacob saw the show advertised a while ago, and convinced a bunch of us to go in so we ended up getting a group discount and each got a ticket for 95 shekels. Not too bad. I really enjoyed it too. A nice group night out.

Monday night was Allison's bday celebration, at a club on the port. Mine is next!! Thinking about doing a big bonfire on the beach. Not something I'll ever get to do in February at home, and could be a really cool closing to the program as well. I'll keep you posted as we plan.

Today, Tuesday, we didn't have a siyur since we are leaving Thursday for our tiyul. That'll be the next post. Anyways, I went into work for the afternoon, then came home for or Israeli cooking class! Ricky chose our apartment to host, and her friend came over along with almost the whole group to cook together. Everyone had jobs, washing, chopping, sauteeing, stirring, etc, and we worked together to make stuffed peppers with rice and veggies, and shakshuka. They also brought super fresh pitas and taught us how to make tehina from the sesame paste mix. The shakshuka was made with all fresh ingredients, no canned anything or tomato paste, and it was awesome. Can't wait to make it for you all at home. The peppers were great too. You put the rice in with the veggies, fill the peppers, then cook them in a pan of tomato based sauce. They cook over time, the rice soaking in the flavors. Yummmmmm. I know I talk about food a lot, but hey, in Israel its hard to resist.

That's about all for now. Have a job interview in Bat Yam tomorrow for a Young Judea overnight camp. I'll let you know how that goes. Wish me luck!

Locked In!

2010-01-23T13:19:00.000+02:00

Occurrences in the past week make me feel like I should give you an update on Ulpan. Here it is. Although I am not as far along with my Hebrew as I thought I might be by this point, I am happy with what I have learned and feel very good about my progress. Since we switched to the new location and started working with Aviv, things got a whole lot harder and a whole lot better. The first quiz he gave us, not so hot. I didn't understand most of the questions, so even if I did know the answers... Anyways, I suppose I failed if there was a grade for this class. I wasn't the only one who struggle though, so he let us make corrections and helped us work through it. The next quiz, just a week or so ago, was hard, but I managed to pull an 86%. Not too bad considering everyone else in my class went to a Jewish day school or have Israeli parents. I was quite happy. I also wrote a 2 page letter, in Hebrew, for an assignment which Aviv was very impressed with. I was impressed with myself if I may say so.

Anyways, the reason this Ulpan update came to be is because of last wednesday's class. We got there at 6 and there was a woman cleaning our classroom/office. Didn't think much of it. We worked till 7:30 as usual, and went to leave, only to find that the door leading to the outside was locked. From the inside. We were locked in to the Jewish Agency. Ummmm... Since it was after hours, we were the only ones there. The other class starts at 7, so the 4 of them and their teacher were still in class. Aviv went to get their teacher to ask her if she had any ideas. We started by looking through people's desks to try to find a key. No luck. We did manage to find some cookies though. Which we ate a few of. Shhhh. We did find a big box of keys, and tried each and every one on the door, but to no avail. We made a few calls, trying to figure out how to get out of this building. Seriously though, what if there was a fire? I guess we'd have to break the door down. Aviv went back up to the second floor where our class meets and attempted to make a window escape. He climbed out the window, and attempted to find something that resembled a ladder or at least something he could shimmy down. No luck. We were all freaking out watching our teacher crouched outside a second floor window, but he reassured us with "I was in the army, don't worry." I felt a little better, haha. So he climbed back in, unsuccessful, and decided to trigger the security alarm, thinking maybe it would call someone to come. All that happened was the noise was really loud, causing the other teacher to let her class out early, and someones phone rang. Hmmm. We finally got a hold of Ricky who was in Raanana with her family. She had to drive from Raanana, to Petach Tikva to get a key from someone, and back to Tel Aviv. Sitting in the building, plotting our demise, thinking about stealing a bottle of wine we found in the kitchen area, using random people's computers to play music and facebook to pass the time, and playing bumper cars with office chairs, an hour and a half into our imprisonment, Ricky finally arrived with a key to let us out. I have never been so happy to see her.

So, that's about that for Ulpan. Not sure how I feel about going to class on Monday...

Anyways, other adventure of the week was Thursday night in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Arts Track of WUJS had their final showcase. I hate that I just used the word final. Grrr. So the Tel Aviv group got a bus to take us to see the gallery and performance in the German Quarter near where they live in Jeru. The event was called "After Lights." We had an hour to snack on wine and cheese and cookies while we looked through the gallery of all the visual arts people. There was photography as well as paintings, and even some video art. It was cool to put faces to the work, especially because I don't know many of them very well, just have seen them around on trips etc. I also ran into Ally Tick, a girl I know from DHS. I recently found out she was in seminary in Israel through facebook, and found out that she went to college in Rochester with Hallie, another WUJie. She was at the exhibition to see a friend of hers from camp perform. So there we were, Ally, Hallie and I, all knowing the other two from different settings, weirdly reuniting. I love this country. I can't say that enough.

At 9 we went into the theatre space for the performance portion. It opened with a video/dance collaborative piece where Dahlia danced with a video version of herself in various Jerusalem locales. Then Sarah Fortman sang a few songs, jazz, musical theatre, and opera. This was followed by 2 singer/guitarists, one, Abby Silber, who sang 3 of her own original pieces. Matt read a children's story he had written, and played a song he wrote as well. It was cool to see how these artists have used the past 5 months to work on their respective crafts and let Israel inspire their work. Pretty rockin.

That's about it for now. Trying to keep the entries shorter for your viewing pleasure. Next up, an update on the plan for my return. I keep putting off booking my ticket, as it means I actually have to leave, but I assure you I will return, and I will tell you all about the plans very soon. Love!!

Israel Update and Lost on the Yarkon

2010-01-16T19:53:00.001+02:00

Hi again! I'm back in the swing of things! A few more stories, and I should be all caught up. I am currently sitting at an adorable cafe down the street, Loveat, drinking tea and writing since our internet is down. Again...

I'll start with Sunday. On Sunday afternoon, we all left work a little early to meet Vivian and her boss at their office. Her boss, Gad, used to work as Rabin's press secretary and media advisor. He gave us some background information on his consulting firm and his background, and then opened the floor to questions. It was nice to have a perspective other than Sheldon's offering us political opinion. We asked him about Gilad Shalit, Israeli settlements on the West Bank, his views on Obama, and basically whatever was on our minds. He had some great insight, and strong opinions. It was incredible informative, and I didn't feel like he was forcing his opinion on us. I'm glad he was able to share his time with us. As we were leaving, Ricky offered a few of us a ride home since she had extra seats in her car. On the way she pointed out the landmarks, an amusement park and gas station, that would help us find her on Tuesday for the siyur. I jotted down what she said, and therefore ended up in charge of leading the group that Tuesday. That's where the fun begins.

We were told to meet her at the gas station she had pointed out near Yarkon Park to go boating and have a picnic. We all left the apartments at 10, as we had been told, and waited over 30 minutes for bus 28. When it still hadn't come, we called Ricky, and she said we could also take the 42. One pulled up, and we all piled on. When we had been on for the half hour I had expected, and I still didn't see the amusement park, I called Ricky, asking her where we should be. She asked for a landmark, we told her the mall we were passing, and she goes "You're in Ramat Gan. Get off the bus!" Haha. So we did. She hadn't bothered to mention that to take the 42, the landmarks we had been looking for wouldn't show up... We had gone too far. So she directed us to walk across and find the nearest stop going the other direction. We all waited at a stop outside of the mall, and asked the first bus that pulled up if he went to the place we were looking for. He said no. The next bus came, he also said no. At this point, I resigned as PM (or got impeached) and we called Ricky. Not 5 minutes later she pulled up in her car and shuffled a load of us to the park. She came back one more time, loaded everyone into taxis, and took one more trip in her car. Turned out we were pretty close. Wasn't my fault, I promise, but we got to the park about an hour or so behind schedule. No biggie.

We were hungry, so we voted to eat our potluck picnic first, and boat later. What we hadn't eaten while stranded at the bus stop, we chowed down on on a nice big sheet blanket on the lawn of the park. We had brought pasta salad with grilled veggies, another apartment another kind of pasta salad, some fruit salad, cucumber sandwiches, and Ricky brought jachnun. Jachnun is a traditional Yemenite Jewish dish made from rolled dough which is baked on very low heat overnight. It is traditionally served with a crushed/grated tomato dip and hard boiled eggs. This answers the question, Mom and Dad, of what we ate at our hotel in Eilat. We missed the topping though. Now I know!

After we ate, some people played a soccer esque game, and I along with some others took a little nap on the grass, then we went boating. Although we had been told "sailing" and "canoeing" we found ourselves in paddle boats, ya know the ones with the foot peddles. Super cute. We rode around an artificial lake with a cute little island. I was in a boat with Amy, Jacob, and Ricky. My ulpan class, plus Ricky! After about half an hour, the guide came around in a put put tossing out balloons. We had a contest to see which boat could gather the most balloons from around the lake. It became quite competitive. To prevent them from flying away, we tied all of our balloons in a bundle. This was a great plan until, in a mad dive to get a balloon before the boys, our entire bundle fell back into the lake. Oops. We raced to go pick them up before another boat got all of our hard work, and I managed to snatch them up just in time, losing only 1 in the process. It was quite fun.

We managed to get home with much less trouble. We took a different bus though, and ended up near the Shuk, so Chelsea and Melanie and I decided to take a little detour through Nachalat Benyamin, the craft and artist market. As soon as I walked in, I looked up and recognized a face from High School. Jeff and Brian Glickman. Turns out they were here on Birthright, and had been given some free time to shop. We caught up a bit then headed on our way. Not 10 minutes later, I look over and see Teri Herbstman. Assuming she was with them, I stopped to say hello. Teri also went to DHS, and was a participant on WUJS in Jerusalem last fall machzor. She was not with them in fact, and was equally as shocked to have seen 2 separate groups of people from High School. It was like a mini Deerfield Reunion, all by chance. I love this country.

Worked from home on Wednesday, since Tomer is in London and Maayan was at class all day. Got a lot done actually. Thursday I had my year course class, and we started working on our show. I'm not sure how much I have explained about this, but I'll go again just in case. I have found myself teaching an acting class for Year Course, another MASA program for post high school students during their gap year. There are 6 students on the performing arts track in the class which I co-teach with Amy Gross. We have elected to do a short play festival with them as their final project, and after a few weeks of fun acting exercises and scene work, have finally begun working on that. We started with The League of Semi Superheroes. It's a play I bookmarked a while ago, but hadn't yet found the right group to direct in it. This was it! It was a perfect cast of 6, and they really have done a great job with it so far. I'll be sure to update you as we move further on teh rehearsal process and get closer to performance. It is really nice to be directing again, and working with people. As much as I love my internship, I am so not cut out for an office job, and being back in the classroom had confirmed this. I need to work with people. Yay. I chose the right career track.

Friday was an excellent sleep day, and today Michal, Chelsea and I had a wonderful adventure. We went down to the port for this clothing and accessories sale we have been seeing posters for forever. It reminded me of the jewelry shows Mom and I went to with "Things Boutique", but not quite so cheap. Only cost 15 sheks to get in, and everything was on a discount, but still designer merchandise is designer merchandise. Lots of clothing boutiques had booths, and we saw some awesome pieces as well as of course some crazy stuff. Michal and Chelsea both bought cute headbands and I treated myself to a cute pink belt. Can't wait to wear it. It was a wonderful way to spend Shabbat, and gave me a much needed excuse to get out of bed and do something with my day off. Yay for roommate adventures.

Well, I think I have officially caught up. I'll try to get back on schedule from here on out. Next course of action, label pictures. I am trying to figure out why the link to the right doesn't work, but regardless when I have captioned and arranged, I will post a new link here. Hope all is well, and can't wait for you to see all my pretty pix! Love!!

Catching Up

2010-01-15T13:37:00.000+02:00

Hello Hello!

I would like to begin by apologizing for not writing like I used to. I still have so much to say, and I still have so many exciting adventures to share, but I am also realizing that my time in Israel is slowly shrinking and I need to savor every moment. So instead of writing, I am having even more adventures on the streets of Tel Aviv. I know you'll understand. So here goes a little bit of catch up on this nice Friday morning, relaxing in bed after another crazy week.

So after Mom and Dad left, I attempted to get back in the swing of things at work, but unfortunately my body didn't seem to think that was a good idea. I went to work Wednesday, went home not feeling well and spent the day in bed. Feeling a bit better I went in Thursday and Tomer sent me home. From that moment I spent the next few days in sweatpants in bed. Got me some nice Israeli flu meds, acamol, and did my best to rest it off. I managed to crawl out of bed to go out for a few hours on New Years, but only so I didn't feel like a total loser falling asleep before midnight alone. We went to a bar in Tel Aviv, and I toasted everyones champagne with a nice bottle of water. Spent the next few days back in bed, watching endless marathons of Law and Order SVU on my laptop and listening to the new Phil Vassar CD. Couldn't have found a better way to pass the time while I felt crappy.

After not too long I was feeling better and back in the swing of things at work etc. I went to movie night with the WUJS gang, hosted in our apartment this time, and we watched "Someone to Run With". Not bad, interesting movie. After that I went to meet up with a few friends of mine from Birthright NEXT who were in town on birthright. Mara, whom I met on the shabbat camping trip I took this summer was a participant, and Aleza, the Chicago campus coordinator and birthright recruiter who I met through the Hebrew class I took was staffing a trip. Their busses, and some others, had rented a bar in Tel Aviv, Alice, for a private birthright party. A friend and I went to meet up with them, have a drink, and catch up. It was really great to see them, and a lovely reunion in the holy land.

That Tuesday our siyur took us to the Massua Institute for Holocaust Studies. It was a museum, but took on a very different perspective from Yad Vashem and others I've been to. We focused on the aftermath, the second generation, the media responses, etc, as well as the current relationship Israel has with Germany. We watched some movie clips, saw footage from the Eichmann trial in Israel, and explored an art exhibition by the son of a survivor. Some very interesting and powerful discussions followed. It was a nice new understanding, and I'm glad we went there instead of a traditional museum.

That night, another wonderful reunion followed. I met up with Rachel Gore, a former student of mine from Newton North, the one who directed Urinetown that I advised, and her father. They were in town visiting family, and Adam Brown had suggested they get in touch with me. I am really glad they did. It was great to see them both, and I got caught up on a lot of the gossip and happenings around Newton. We walked around town a bit, and had dinner at Max Brenners. Rachel shared a beer with her Dad, her first legal drink, and we all laughed at the face that she was toasting with her Dad and teacher. Its funny though, she graduated in May, and is really not very much younger than me. I had spicy mexican hot chocolate in a hug mug following dinner, and have discovered my new weakness. Another excellent reunion as well.

The theme of this entry seems to be social events, so I'll throw in a few more. Michal and I have been bonding listening to Sugarland, kareokeing, and watching the airplanes out my window. And we had an excellent roomie bonding session the other night over some late night chicken nuggets and chocolate shots from Max Brenner. I've been there a lot lately. You don't have to remind me. Last Friday night I went over to Amy Gross's for Shabbat dinner. She is the WUJS recruiter, and the co-teacher of my theatre class. Her fiance, an Israeli, cooked a gigantic vegetarian/dairy meal for Amy, myself, Allison (another WUJS participant, Amy's intern), Ricky, and another Young Judea staff member. We ate a ton, and it was delicious. That night was also Matt's birthday, so Ricky drove Allison and I straight from dinner to Mike's place, the American bar on the beach, for his surprise party. We missed the surprise, but it was still a fun night. All of us together, as well as a giant Taglit group, basically took over the bar. A bunch of people wanted to go to a strip club with Matt that night to celebrate. Hallie and I followed them to the Port, but decided not to go to "Pussycat", and had an adventure of our own on the port. We met a group of Israeli boys our age and ended up spending the night with them. Really cool people. One in particular. Seen him a few times since then in fact. Don't worry though, I'm not making Aliyah just yet.

Anyways, sharing all these adventures with you, I am just about caught up. I'll try to write again tomorrow to get back on track. I'm just living up my remaining time here, making friends, exploring, and figuring out what comes next in my life. I'll let you know as soon as I do...

Mom and Dad's Visit - Part 3

2010-01-08T15:52:00.000+02:00

Welcome back. The southern end of our adventured together. Enjoy!

We woke up crazy early on Friday, Christmas, not to open presents but to be the first to the Budget office to rent a car. We were on the road by 8:30 attempting to leave for Eilat, but we were on the wroooong road. We finally found the track we wanted to be on, almost regretting our lack of GPS, and started our desert tour on the way down. Our first stop was Kumron Caves where the dead sea scrolls were found. We bought a pass for 3 national Parks pass and went to explore. You cannot go all the way to the caves, but could see the important spots from the overlooks. Next we went to Ein Gedi and went in for a hike to the waterfall. I had been there on both Birthright and WUJS, so we just did a quick exploration. We ended at a pretty waterfall. Lots of people were swimming, but we just looked and touched the water. Not sure if we completed the hike we set out for or not, but it was pretty and we got a bit of our nature on, so it was all good.

We got back in the car for our next stop on the "tour", Masada. Saw some ibex, and hit the road. We opted for the cable car instead of climbing due to our time restriction, but watched the movie and still got a good chance to explore. We explored the ruins of the fortress, giving ourselves a walking tour from the packet the whole way. I liked the food storage areas, and some of the living quarters. Mom is always asking how they could know all of this and identify which were rooms and which were just rocks. Good question, but I guess theres a whole field of science for that. Hot, tired, and having had our fill, we took the cable car back down and continued our drive. Next stop, food. We drove south through the desert looking for an oasis. From a distance we spotted Ein Boqeq, a strip of hotels and a little town off the dead sea. We were not excited but he lunch options, but we managed to find something. We decided as long as we were there this was our chance to hop in the Dead Sea. There was a changing room in a bathing suit shop which we were allowed to use after we bought a towel, but would have had to pay for otherwise. I hate tourist towns. The water was super cold, but we took the obligatory tourist floating photo, showered, and changed. We had had a full day and it was getting late, so we drove the rest of the way straight to Eilat and checked into the Nova Hotel. It was cute, like a little one bedroom apartment. I had my "own room", otherwise known as the living room couch bed. We went down to the beach boardwalk and explored a bit. All the stores were open late, and there were lots of touristy little kiosks. We watched a light up bungee ball ride, but you couldn't have paid me enough to go on it. We had a yummy dinner at the Giraffe Noodle Bar where we shared some good squid inked noodles and lemon chicken. We walked around a bit more, people watching, then were off to bed after a long, full day.

We woke up Saturday in Eilat for our relaxing day. Much needed. We slept in a bit, then set up our Petra tour for Sunday and got a free snorkling rental in the process. Busted out the bikini. It had been a while since the warm beach day in Tel Aviv. We drove down to Migdal just past the port was on the southern end. We rented our free snorkel gear, and watched in fear as everyone else was getting in in full wetsuits. We sucked it up, and I sure am glad I did. The snorkeling was awesome. We barely had the leave the beach to see some awesome coral and pretty fishies. Mom stayed out a lot longer than I did, but I got to see a lot of stuff. Wish I could have taken pictures. After relaxing on that beach for a bit, we drove back to the boardwalk beach for lunch and to relax some more. We had lunch at Café Café, then settled into some 15 shekel chairs on the Zahav beach and relaxed until the sun went down. Again, much needed time off in the sunny sun sun. After we got back and changed, we drove around looking for something to do. We discovered that there was very little night life, probably because it was Saturday, the end of the weekend here, and all the Israelis seemed to clear out. We found a kids amusement park place, but it didn't look too exciting. We ended up back on the boardwalk, for a late dinner, then bed. A great break day in the middle of our exciting adventures.

Sunday was back to early wake up tourist time, and we got picked up around 7:30 for our Petra tour. The bus picked us up at the hotel and we headed for the border crossing into Jordan. The bus ride and the border crossing honestly took more time than the tour itself. At the border crossing, they collected our passports for a good long time. Not sure what they were doing. Could have been photcopying for all we know... When we finally got them back, we got with our gigantic group and got on another bus to Petra. We drove through Aqaba, a source of national pride for Jordan and a growing city, but I slept most of the 2 hours down the "silk road". We stopped at a gift shop for a bathroom break and then finally arrived. Mohammed, our guide, walked us through the caverns and trails, explaining the history and excavation process all along the way. We learned about the aquaducts and water diverting to keep the area from flooding, and saw all the houses and temples carved right into the rock face. Kind of like Cappadocia in Turkey. When we got to the turn before the big temple, he told us to turn around to this incredible view of the carving peeking through the rocks. Very cool. Our tour was about 4 hours, and we barely even cracked the surface as to what there is to see. Could have spent 3 days. We saw the theatre though, which was awesome, and some really incredible sights. We bought some souvenirs, Genie lamp for Laur, and a pink headscarf for me. Had to send that home with Mom and Dad, as I don't think its an appropriate pattern to sport here in Israel. We decided not to ride the camels, horses, or buggy things back, and did the trek by ourselves, exploring as we went. After the tour, our bus took us to a Jordanian buffet. A giant spread of delicious, undefinable food. Who cares that we didn't know what it was though. I ate my fill of mystery dishes, finished up with white jello, chocolate jello, something pink, and something gooey with apples and nuts, and hit the bus. It took as back to the border, we waited forever again, got our pretty stamps, then back to Eilat. We spent the evening at the mall, since we had concluded there was nothing to do. We had been craving ice cream the entire time, so we finally got some from a stand at the mall. It was far from satisfying. Not sure I've ever had bad ice cream, but this was the closest I've ever come. I did finally buy a purse though, which I've been needing for a while. Well, Dad bought me one. Thanks! Success.

On Monday morning I was gonna wake up early to waterski before we hit the road, but I didn't feel like getting wet and changing and everything, so I opted out. We had our last hotel buffet breakfast and started our journey home. Of course with a lot of stops along the way. First was the Timna Mines. We got an audio CD guide to play in our car as we did the tour, and it told us when to play things and then explained the formations etc. First we saw the Mushroom and a Half, or "a loaf of bread and something else" as they said it could also have been on our guide CD. The real Mushroom formation was much cooler, formed like the fairy chimneys in Cappadocia with a softer rock underneath a harder one, eroded differently over time. Solomon's Pillars were huge and amazing, definitely the best part. We also saw the remains of the copper smelting plant and alter etc in the plant. We also saw some cool cave drawings on the walls of ostriches, ibex, chariots, soldiers, and a bunch of random animals. Our last stop was the man made lake at the visitors center where made our own small sand bottles. Not as cool as the ones with camels and words like we saw in Petra but fun none the less.

Next stop was Mitzpat Ramon, a gigantic grand canyon like crater. We stopped in the visitors center to ask about the "prisms" and she told us we were 10 minutes to far. We bought a map, then went around back to check out the view. As soon as we got there I got this weird sense of recognition and immediately stories started to play out in my mind. This was where my birthright group had gone repelling, and ate ice cream,a nd watched the fighter planes fly overhead. Weirdly almost perfect memory. We stopped to take pictures with some ibex int he parking lot, then went back to see the Prisms we had missed. We discovered we remembered passing the turn off because if was called "carpentry" and we almost turned off just because we were curious. This time we did, and it was pretty damn cool. We climbed up a hill on a curving wooden walkway, and figured out we were looking at the prisms all along. The sandstone splintered off in the cool formations when baked in the sun. It looked like a pile of bricks, but it was all natural. We went back to "town" for lunch. Mom and I shared a giant bagel toast with cheese and mushrooms and Dad had the best shnitzl sandwich of his life. We watched a bunch of plain clothed "soldiers" with guns, trying to figure out what they were doing there. Still not a clue. We ate, then got back on the road.

Last stop, Rehovot, to visit Yehuduth. We got a little lost on the way there and missed the nuclear reactor Dad wanted to see, but thats ok. We found her apartment, following Tsachi's landmark directions. We turned not at the first sign to Rehovot, but the second one, then took a left at the 3 tall connected buildings, and pulled over by the tall bushes. We were exactly where we wanted to be, and she buzzed us in the gate and we went in to see her apartment. We had some orange juice and talked a bit with her, learning more about what she does. What I didn't know was the she not only worked for the Weitzman Institute, but she was very famous for some of discoveries. She is responsible for finding a small organism in soybeans that prevents insects but doesn't harm humans and is completely natural. It was studied for use as a pesticide, and she even won the Israel Prize. Cool! We went out for an awesome seafood dinner with her. I ordered something off the English menu that was no longer available, so the waitress suggested something. I wasn't quite sure what I was ordering, but it was awesome. Pasta with calamari and shrimps and a bunch of other yummy yummy things. Good work waitress. We dropped her off and headed back to Tel Aviv, following some confusing directions for what we thought was an easier way, and we ended up making a giant circle. A cool guy at a pizza shop helped us get me home. Tired after another exhausting but awesome day of adventure, I went to bed.

Tuesday was Mom and Dad's last day. I went on the siyur with my group to the Supremem Court knowing I would meet up with them later int he evening. We got a tour of the Supreme Court in Jerusalem in the morning, learning a bit about the architecture, and then a bunch about the court system in Israel. Very different from the US. No jury system, and an interesting appeals process. The Supreme Court gets all appeals from level 2 courts as well as all human rights cases. We sat in on the start of a trial as well, saw the Judge (1 not 3 unfortunately), and made sense of what we were seeing as best as we could. Chels, Michal and I had an awesome time wandering through the grounds, taking a photo shoot skipping, running, and jumping through the greenery and sleek designs in the courtyards. In the afternoon we went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Chelsea and I were hoping to see some of the people we had worked with there through our internships, but we didn't. Instead a guy took us to a lecture hall type room and explained to us a lot about their goal, branding Israel with a positive image and promoting culture and the things we want to be known for. Most people picture the image of the Palestinian boy throwing a rock at the Israeli tank, where as Israel wants them to think of music and theatre and dance and family life and all the happy proud cultural things Israel has to share, rather than just war and "occupation". We watched clips from a fascinating focus group type thing where people described a neighborhood of "houses" each one from a different country. We watched them explain Italy as friendly, lots of food, wine, laughing, stories, etc, and Israel as a big steel wall, cold, guns, unfriendly, guarded, not a place they wanted to visit. I was unaware that non jews had this distorted image of Israel. Crazy. He talked about how they are trying to change this and what is being done. It was really fascinating, and I have never been prouder of what I do at my internship.

Mom and Dad had the day to kill, so they wandered around a bit and did some shopping a the Nachalat Binyamin craft market. I met back up with them for a late lunch near my apartment. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the shuk, because Dad needed one last fix of baklava before he left. The guy was just closing up and gave us an excessive amount of sticky options. It wasn't even that good. ,I walked them back to their hotel via Dizengoff grocery store. Did some quick shopping, after finally finding the store that seems to move around that confusing mall every time. I dropped them off, helped them re pack and arrange everything, then said goodbye to head home as they left for the airport. It was awesome to be able to spend 2 weeks with them. Saw some new parts of Israel, and got to play tourist. Overall a really good time, and I am really glad they were able to come. Next time with Lauren! Thanks for the visit, I had a blast. Miss you already!!

Mom and Dad's Visit - Part 2

2010-01-08T13:38:00.001+02:00

Here we go again. Picking up where I left off. Again, may be a doozy.

On Monday Mom and Dad left for Jerusalem via train in the morning. I stayed back because I had to teach my class then go to Ulpan in the evening. They had a great tour of the Old City. On Tuesday, I went on my siyur with the group to Moshav Bnei Atarot and to the Eretz Israel Museum. We were supposed to go to an Air Force base, but due to some security issue we had to change the plans that morning. At the Moshav we learned about its formation and a bit about how the village works. It was slightly boring, but a way to experience their way of life and the structure of the farm town. The Eretz Israel Museum was much cooler. There was an exhibition of World Press Photos from around the world and within Israel, featuring news photography winners in several catagories. Some of the pieces were truly incredible, really powerful. Saw a series of Michelle and Barack Obama on the campaign trail, and 2 feet down a series from Gaza. Really a cool exhibition to see. I'm glad our change of plans forced us to go. We had some more free time in the Museum, wandered around a bit and saw the history of the Israeli postal system, and of course the gift shop.

On Wednesday morning, I woke up early to catch a sherut into Jerusalem to meet Mom and Dad. I heard all about their 6 hour adventure at Yad Vashem their quick stop to Mount Herzl over breakfast at the hotel. This time I was an official guest, so I didn't have to pay... Our first Jerusalem stop was to buy tickets for the Tower of David show. We decided to get the combined ticket and visit the museum as well. We learned a lot about the history and filled in the gaps of our knowledge about Jerusalem. Also was a great chance to peek out over the city and see some really amazing views. Also loved the cheesy cartoon movie. A lot of heads were chopped off... Next we headed to the City of David through the dung gate. We did the dry version of the water tunnel tour, following some girls seminary groups and listening in on their guides. For a while there we thought we had gone the wrong way and were stuck getting wet, but we found our way to the narrow tunnel passageway. A lot shorter than he water one, but oh well. After the tunnel, we tried to follow a sign to the Shiloah pool. First route was under construction so we took the alternate route which took us down and down and down a steep road basically through an Arab village. On our way down we saw a cute little girl, maybe 4 or 5 years old, walking up the steep incline all by herself carrying her Dora the Explorer backpack. I bet she does that every day! At the bottom, we found a less than exciting pool of muddy water. From there we tried our hardest not to walk back the way we came, but it appeared as though we had no choice. Fortunately it was not as bad as we had anticipated. We made it out alive.

After that we went back into the Dung gate and made one more visit to the Kotel. Walked up the Via Delarosa and saw a few of the stations and had pizza right at the place where Jesus fell down for the first time. They claim to be the best pizza in Jerusalem and that even Jesus ate there. It actually was pretty good. We wandered through the confusing alleys, and eventually found the Church of the Holy Sepulchure and went inside. The church was really ornate and full of beautiful hanging lamps and decorations. There was a big stone at the front entrance of the church, the stone of unction, where Jesus was prepared for burial. People were stopping to kiss it and rub it. We did not wait in the line to go to the “holy” spots that many people were there for, especially because we didn't know what most of them were, so we just explored and watched people's rituals. Beautiful. We went on to do a bit of shopping and explore some more. Mom bought the same star she saw in Jaffa and regretted not buying, for a better price! Glad she waited.

Plans were to meet Milton and Shaynie for dinner at Tal Bagel. Traffic was pretty bad, so instead of hopping on a bus we walked into the German Colony. It was a bit of a hike, but we found Tal Bagel and had a nice dinner with the cousins. We learned the whole family history. Took a bus back to change before the light show, and went back to the Tower of David. It was so incredible. The entire city was taken over by projections and lights and we basically saw the history of the city play out before us in huge 3D images. I was shocked at how they were able to achieve such perfect perspective on the rough stone walls of the buildings. The entire area surrounding the courtyard became part of the show. So glad Tsachi suggested it. Definitely a Jerusalem experience not to be missed. Stopped by the Waffle Bar after that for a late night snack and all shared a Banana Boom waffle extravaganza thing. Super delish.

We woke up on Thursday, Christmas Eve, for our adventure to the other side of the wall, Bethlehem in the West Bank. Chelsea met us at the Jaffa Gate, and we went to the Damascus Gate to find the blue and white striped busses we had read about. According to the website, the 21 bus was our best bet to get all the way into town and not just to the crossing, so we spotted it and gave it a go. For 6 shekels, we got on with all the Palestinians and made our way to Bethlehem. We ended up having to hop a cab from where they dropped us off because of some areas we couldn't get to due to closed roads, but we eventually made it (close) to Manger Square. We basically walked into the middle of a huge Christmas celebration. We watched the parade of drum corps for a while, packed into the crowds of people. We walked into the church of the Nativity which was very cool, through a tiny little door. Lots of news cameras around, wonder if we made any big network broadcasts. Again, the church was very ornate and had lots of beautiful mosaics. I got yelled at for sitting on the bima/alter/whatever they call it because I crossed my legs... Hmmm... In the church we met a kid from LA who had been traveling around and exchanged contact info since he was staying in Israel. We chatted with him a bit, then left the church for the Milky Grotto Church. This is supposedly where Mary nursed her baby and dripped a drop on the stone. People believe that miracles happen when you go there, and women who are suffering from infertility or anything of the sort went there to eat the stone and pray. We saw lots of monks and priests in our journeys. It was Christmas Eve after all.

After the churches, we wandered through the streets and some markets. One place was a vegetable market int he center, surrounded by hanging animal carcasses. Chelsea almost died. The butcher was literally slicing steaks off the hanging animals, tails and all. Most of the stores were selling random clothing items or Jesus memorabilia. Chelsea and I bought matching knee high athletic socks. Cute. Dad was most excited by the wood carving place, and we managed to get our own little tour of the workshop. We bought fresh falafel for lunch, which we watched the guy form and fry right in front of us. Dad had shwarma. We bought a mystery drink from a guy with a big silver tank on his back because everyone was buying it and curiosity overcame us. He bowed over and poured the drink from a spout into our cup. We do not know what it was but we think some kind of plum spice tea. No one really liked it. Pretty damn nasty if you ask me. But for one shekel, worth watching him pour. We watched a little more of the parade while we ate, and then decided to head back to Jerusalem. We walked back towards the checkpoint. On the way we passed some cute little arab kids and gave them the roses that people had given away at the parade. They were so excited and even posed so we could take their picture. Adorable. Ending the conflict one friendship at a time.

When we finally hit the separation wall, we were simply overcome. The entire lower half of the wall was covered with graffiti, some of which was really cool. There were lots of nasty statements about wanting the wall torn down, but also some incredible imagery and powerful messages/metaphors. You have to check out these pictures. We followed the wall all the way to the checkpoint, not to confident with our path the whole time, but we eventually found it. We got through the checkpoint easily on the palastinian side and then had to do a little more, show our passports, xray machine, etc, on the Israeli side. We wanted to see Rachel’s tomb once we crossed, but we could not figure out how to get there. We were tired and Chelsea had to get back, so we gave up and got into the 124 Arab bus and headed back to the Old City. We asked the guy to get off at the Jaffa gate and said goodbye to Chelsea. Now I can say I have spent 2 Christian holy days in the place where it all happened. Christmas Eve in Bethlehem and Easter in the Vatican in Rome.

After our adventure, we headed to catch a bus to see the Chagall Windows at Hadassah Hospital. As we walked to the bus stop, a bus drove by with a sign on the front saying Bnai Tikvah. I spotted it and freaked out a bit. We looked through the window and spotted Marcia Sloan and waved. I tried to chase them down but they drove off. We gave up on the bus idea and got in a cab. The taxi took us through terrible traffic to the hospital only to find that the entrance to the windows had closed an hour before. Tried to get the janitor to let us in but to no avail. We snuck around, tried everything we could, but had to just take pictures fromt eh outside. We had to look at pictures and postage stamp images of the windows. Oh well. We also found a list of Hadassah groups with many focused in Illinois, and a memorial stone for some family in Highland Park. Weird. We went back to the hotel for a rest and then went for dinner at the Ticho House. Yummy food but way too much. We walked back to the hotel to get to bed before our big drive.

I'll stop here and start a new entry, make it a little easier to read and navigate.

Mom and Dad's Visit

2010-01-04T18:23:00.000+02:00

It's been forever since I wrote an entry. Sorry all. These past few weeks with Mom and Dad were crazy busy, then I was sick, icky, but now I am all better and here to tell you all about it. Stolen from Mom's journal, with my own twists and input.

This begins part one of 2 long ones. May require a snack break.

Our siyur Tuesday the 15th, the day Mom and Dad arrived, was to the Bahai Gardens in Haifa and Druze village nearby. We arrived around 5 to 12 for our 12:00 tour, and were told the tour was full and we couldn't go. Bummer. Jaks and I had visited the Gardens from the bottom of the hill previously, but not taken the tour so I was looking forward to it. There was nothing we could do though, so we just went into the free access points from the top. It was a nice view, and at least different from the last time we were there. No big deal. They tried to blame it on us for being 5 minutes late to the bus, but seriously, they should have made the meeting time earlier then... Oh well. After that we went to a Druze village where a man took us into his house and explained a lot of the culture and religion to us. We learned about the colors on the flag, and how each represents a pillar of the religion; soul, nature, brain, can't remember the rest. Then they brought out giant trays of traditional foods, and we feasted. Big lafa, rice with cinnamon, some kind of kebab meat, cous-cous, the whole shebang. Yummy yummy. We ate our little hearts out then hopped the bus to continue to part two. Since we had missed the tour earlier, we were a little ahead of schedule so we went to Ein Hod, an artists colony. We learned about how artists become a part of the village and a little bit of the history, then got a tour and to see some galleries. Some of the work I really liked. Hopefully I'll get back there some time for a workshop of class with one of the artists. Our guide mentioned that the place was also known for their home brewed beer, so of course the group voted to stay and spend some time at the bar. We got there and the door was closed, so we called the phone number posted on the door and the man came back to a surprisingly large group of thirsty visitors. He offered us lots of options, and I tasted a few kinds of beer other people ordered. Not bad, but I was anxious to get back and see Mom and Dad.

Their plane had landed right about that time, so I called to check in. Since it was too late to meet them at the airport, they went back to the hotel and I got on the bus with the group back to Tel Aviv. Halfway home Ricky suggested I get off and go straight to their hotel because of traffic. I hopped on a local bus to Dizengoff and found them at the Cinema Hotel in Kikar Dizengoff. We trekked from Dizengoff toward my apartment via Rothchild Blvd to find something to eat, and decided to go to Max Brenner's, a chocolate restaurant. Mom and I shared sweet potato gnocchi and mushroom ravioli. Dad had a spicy chicken sandwich. Since it was a chocolate restaurant we had to try something and shared a banana crepe for dessert. The selection was incredible. As mom said, Auntie Laurie would have had a field day. We stopped back to meet Chelsea and Michal and then sent Mom and Dad home to sleep.

Wednesday Mom and Dad headed up North, intending to hit Haifa and Akko, but Tsachi called and they changed their plans to stop by the Golan Heights due to the weather. They checked into the zimmer, or guest house in Rosh Pinna called Villa Tehila. I went to work.

Thursday morning I took a 3 hour bus ride to Rosh Pinna to meet them. It was a long ride, but there were lots of yummy soldiers with big guns, so I survived. Mom and Dad had bought an umbrella before meeting me and I'm glad I brought mine because it was a rainy day of rainy days. Mom's word of the day was "geshem". The GPS got us to Tzvat with a bit of difficulty. We made one wrong turn and poor Schlomo (the GPS) got very confused. We finally found the town, parked and got out. We got totally soaked trying to find the old city and artist colony. Dripping wet and tired, we gave up and went back to the car. Then we pulled into a alleyway following a sign to the artist colony, only to find that it was not intended for cars as there were stairs at the end of the alley.   We turned around and parked at the community center to try again to find the Tzvat we were looking for. Walked down some the stairs we almost drove down, and followed some more signs and finally found an artist. We continued to follow the artist colony path until I found a square with blue fences that I recognized. I excitedly led Mom and Dad to Avraham, the crazy guy from Michigan who spoke to both her birthright and WUJS groups on mystical art imspired by kaballah. Dad knocked on his door, and I almost died when he answered. We saw his art and he gave us directions to the covered artist market we were looking for. Finally, we were on the right track.

We foudn the artist market and were glad to get out of the rain for a while. We looked at some really cool jewelry, art and judaica, and were of course harassed by the salesmen. We bought some awesome mezuzot and a necklace for Sarah Mason from Amy Ticho who promised that the bat mitzvah gift was being sent from Israel. Slightly more dry, we went to see the Sephardic synogogue and the rubble of another synogogue that survived the earthquake. I told them what I remembered about the story of the shul coming from Spain and the torah that refused to leave the ark. Every time it was taken away, the person who moved it died and the torah returned.   Stopped for lunch and to warm up at what we concluded was the most expensive place in town, Maximillion Café. Quiches. Not worth what we paid for them.

By the end of the adventure we were one umbrella down and totally soaked to the bone.   After following all of the convoluted alleys and pathways through the artist colony, we were amazed at our ability to actually find our car again. We used landmarks, and eventually process of elimination to get back to the car and turn on the heat. Yikes.

Our next destination was Hula Valley to see the bird migrations. Followed Shlomo the GPS’s directions again we went down some windy back road, only to realize that the GPS was set for avoid highway. Shlomo had another brain spasm directing us to dead end and having us go both directions at the same time turning left into a forest with no street. We finally straightened out, and after traveling though intense fog, very slowly, bringing back strong memories of Costa Rica rain forests, we arrived to find the park closed and the sun going down yet again. Israel called on account of darkness. Ooooh well. This day was kind of a wash anyways. Get it?? Wash??

Drove into Kyrat Shmonah to kill time at a nice dry mall. The guard at the parking garage let us right through. We decided that they did not search us because, apparently terrorists do not rent cars from Budget. The guard at the mall entrance searched purses on the women and then proceeded to ask Dad something in Hebrew to which he responded “ma?” only to get the same Hebrew question. Once the guard realized we were clueless, he asked in English if he had a gun. We all laughed and went inside. I had to teach Dad that saying "ma" doesn't exactly portray that we don't speak Hebrew well... We bought some buy one get 2 free books in Hebrew including The Wizard of Oz and Cat in the Hat after a very long time of pondering the books we could not read anyway, chose Flat Stanley. We wandered through the mall a bit more, played tourist in the grocery store llooking for krembos for Dad to try, and finally left to go back to the hotel. It was adorable, at the top of a long staircase. Now I know why the woman called and asked me if "they were very old people". We relaxed for a while and then went to dinner at Chocolate, in Rosh Pina. Again, at a restaurant called Chocolate we had to get dessert, so we shared a trio of truffles. We decided to change our plans for the next day due to incoming rain again, and head back to Tel Aviv to have an indoor day at the museums. Hoping to stay dry this time.

We woke up early to hit the road. Stopped at Café Café for 3 of the 4 croissants we ordered and coffee to go. She just did not understand our English and attempted Hebrew. Good anyway and we started driving. The rain was on and off and happened to be off when we saw a sign for Beit Shearim so we stopped. Decided to be Israeli and play the day by ear. It was really cool. It was a burial ground for many with really cool caves and sarcophagi. They even let you in the caves and allowed to touch the relics. It would never be like this at home. It was the burial place of Yehuda H’nassi and many of his disciples. We went into as many caves as we could that did not have flooded out entrances from the rains. We ended up paying on the way out as no one was there as we went in.   And we thought we would get away with it too...

The weather was still mostly dry so we returned to our original plan and drove on the Cesearea hoping for the best. We arrived at Cesearea just as the rain stopped. Someone was clearly looking out for us. We found the entrance gate to the park and as luck would have it, the intro movie in English was starting in 15 minutes. All is good with the world. Movie was interesting history of the site from early romans, greeks etc. From there we went to lunch at a rather expensive but good sandwich place. We seem to find all the expensive stuff. Anyway, rain was only a drizzle and soon stopped again as we finished and went to explore the ruins. Really cool tile floors and marble columns still remained after 1500 years. Truly amazing…and they let you walk right through them. We saw the old Roman theater and the hippodrome. Everything was a little flooded but that did not bother us. The grounds were gigantic, and although the path we took didn't make much sense, think we covered it all. We were just heading back to the car as the rain started again. Like I said, someone was watching over us.

When we had had our fill at Caesaria we finished the drive back to Tel Aviv and Mom and Dad checked back into the Cinema hotel again. Showered and changed and they picked me up to head to Hod Hasharon for dinner at Tsachi and Einat's with the family. First, of course, the whole WUJS gang came over to say hi and light Hanukkah candles. We kept the car a few more hours to get us to dinner where Mom and Dad were able to meet the entire Israeli branch of the family tree including Tsachi, Einat, Yael and Merav, and Yael’s boyfriend, and also Yehudith, Ohad, Ruti, and their kids, Michael and Yonaton. We lit candles again and had a wonderful dinner. Ohad played the piano and tried to coax me to sing with him. It just wasn't happening. After dinner Tsachi helped us to plan out our entire route to and from Eilat as well as a list of not to miss places in Jerusalem. It was a fantastic evening. We left there at 10:30 and they dropped me back at home and went to return the car. This part is best told in Mom's own words, straight from the journal:

"We then went on to return the car to the airport. No problem until we tried to get gas to top off the tank. Most gas stations were closed for Shabbat so we went to the one near the airport that we had been promised would be opened.   After driving around a little, we found it, self service tanks, no attendent.   Tanks only had Hebrew directions that we just could not seem to figure out. Found a different style tank with a button that said English. Getting excited that we may have figured everything out, we moved the car only to find that the English button did nothing. We asked a guy pumping his gas for help but his English was not good enough. After two or three more tries, we found a nice guy to help. It was asking for our license plate number and then he said you need to punch in your ID number. What ID number, we were American and this was not a debit card?   Finally figured out that it wanted the social security number of the card owner. WOW, never would you get that in the US! Filled the tank and returned the car. Taxied back the hotel around 1: 15 AM.   That sure was harder than expected."

On Saturday, I went to join them at the hotel for buffet breakfast. They charged us shekels for me to join them. What a rip off. I ate as much as I could, trying to get my money's worth, haha. After breakfast, we walked to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, one of the few places opened on Shabbat. We met up again with Tsachi, Einat, and Yehudith to tour the Human Nature exhibit by Zadok Ben David I had heard so much about. It was incredible. Yehudith told us great stories about the artist him since she was friends with his father. The sculptures were made from cut steel and looked like trees but shaped like people and other things. The tree branches often had hidden people in them. It was really awesome, very unique. The other part was an amazing piece made of hundreds of tiny hand cut steel flowers growing out of a bed of perfectly smooth sand. One side of the flowers were black and the other bright colors. From sideways, they were so thin, they almost disappeared.    It was incredible to see people's reactions as they got to the other side of the room and noticed the colors. After that, the Israeli side of the family left us and we walked around the other exhibits in the art museum for a while. Saw some neat stuff, and some not so neat stuff, as usual with art museums. We of course hit the gift shop on the way out, but I had to be put on the waiting list for a neckalce I wanted. Hopefully soon!

With everything closed for Shabbat, we just walked around town a little, saw Rabin Square, and went back to the hotel for a rest. We went to a late lunch/early dinner at 3:30 at a falafel place, and then headed off to the Experiment 7 theater festival. Tomer had arranged for us to get tickets. I think he told Gil, the festival director that we were important guests from Chicago... We played along. It was definitely some of the weirdest, most out there theatre I've seen in my career. wThere were strange displays and ushers dressed as waiters with invisible food on their trays, videos playing on toilet tanks and a variety of weird performance pieces. The first one we saw fell under the genre of “object theater”. The narration, totally in Hebrew, was accompanied by a guy creating people out of a pipe with a mustache and a woman made out of a perfume bottle. We kind of understood most of the story, we think. The second one was silent but sooooo strange. Called "Halav Tzahov" or "Yellow Milk". It started with a man and woman battling for posession of chairs and then 2 other women walked around drinking and spitting out milk. Milk was poured out into a laundry basket, a big plastic tub and then spit into. The spit bucket then became a foot bath. At one point the guy stuck his face in the milk spit up. Not sure we understood what was going on. Definitely entertaining though. Between the 2nd and 3rd show, we went outside and saw a girl with a motorcycle helmet doing a strange dance involving taking off layers of clothing and hitting herself on the helmet. Really out there! The last piece we saw was a woman singing in Hebrew, no clue what it was about, and some guys accompanying her with a violin, guitar, trumpet and diggerido. Again, we just did not get it but the diggerido was really cool. The only words I could translate were earth, wind , fire and water. I had a pretty bad headache so I hopped on the bus home. I ran into Ariel Ephraim Ashbel on the bus, which was weird because I had just finished telling Mom and Dad about his show. It was like I willed him into existance. Mom and Dad stopped at Go Noodles, one of our favorite for Pad Thai take out.

Saturday I opted out of the expensive breakfast, and met them for our day around Tel Aviv and Jaffa. We met at the Shuk to browse fruit and veggies, pastries, and random stuff. I knew they would get a kick out of it. Dad got dragged into shoving his hand into a pile of lafa to feel how warm they were. I just thought about how many other people touched it before it was finally purchased. Dad bought kippot, I bought sunglasses, and to share we got a container of olives and some gummy candy. From there we took the 25 bus to the office so Mom and Dad could meet Tomer and Viola and see where I've been spending all my time. Wasn't sure Viola would be there, since the baby was due any day now, but sure enough she was, pregnant as ever. Tomer made me leave so he could talk about me... Only good things they promised.

We got back on the number 25 to head into Jaffa for the rest of the day. The man at the tourist office didn't seem to know what was going on and didn't understand when we asked for the audio guides for the walking tour... Clueless... We did it on our own with a map and walked around old Jaffa to see the churches and houses, Andromeda’s rock, and the port. Fun mix of old world buildings intermixed with new. We stopped at the Nalagaat Center, the deaf/blind theater but unfortunately there was no show today. They have a blind - blackout restaurant but we could not get a reservation. We picked up some post cards, Mom got the alef bet in finger spelling.   We weaved through the windy streets more, visiting artist galleries and flea markets, and just explored the town. Some of the streets were named for the signs of the zodiac and had really beautiful street signs. We walked across the zodiac wishing bridge, touched our zodiac signs looking at the sea and made our wishes. Ate lunch at Dan’s Hummus for the complete hummus foul experience, and were clearly the only tourists there. We shared a yummy plate of hummus with beans, falafel and a traditional Israeli salad. From there we went for dessert at Abuelafia Bakery, the famous one, where we got some yummy baklava and other sweet stuff. We walked around some more exploring the fun shops and the beautiful seaside boardwalk.

Deciding what to do on the way home, we realized we were close to Neve Tzedek, so we headed that way. We did some upscale window shopping and stopped by Suzanne Dellal. When we had explored and seen what there was to see we walked back to my apartment so I could get ready for Karaoke night. Just had to ditch the parents for that. Int he music school on our street just below our building, we met with some of the students as well as our Tel Aviv University friends for the karaoke adventure. Turned out they only had like 12 English song options, so it wasn't quite what we expected. I sang "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" from Banner, one of the only ones I liked from the list, and was reminded that I had tons of Banner karaoke songs on my laptop. I went to get it and they hooked it up so we had more options. No lyrics though, so we had to make them up. Jaks, Sarah, and I sang "Get This Party Started". Jacob was the only one who sang in Hebrew, but he was in Jewish a capella group so he had an unfair advantage. Ricky even sang! The boys did some crazy group numbers and it was overall a fun night, despite the lack of selection.

After karaoke, the roomies and I met back up with Mom and Dad for a sushi dinner at Moon. Dad's glasses broke, missing screw, earlier in the night so he showed up with them taped together with a bandaid. Amazing. We couldn't find a place that sold a glasses repair kit, but he managed to get through the yummy dinner no problem. We tried some interesting new rolls and had a great time chatting and laughing. It was awesome to have my "family" here meet my real family. We stopped at the hotel to drop Mom and Dad off and pick up a bag they didn't want to bring to Jerusalem with them, and then took a cab back to the apartment. It was a late night. We parted ways at that point to meet up again in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning so I could go to work and Ulpan before the rest of our adventures. Tune in soon for part 2 of the family trip!!

Cultural Delagation, and Hanukkah!!

2009-12-16T22:38:00.001+02:00

Chag Sameach! Happy Hanukkah! It's been a busy past week or so, and now Mom and Dad are here. I want to catch up on the past week before I talk about my adventures with them, so here goes.

The Cultural Delegation. I believe I mentioned this before, but the Cultural Delegation of Israeli Theatre and Music, as well as the International Exposure for Israeli Dance took place this past week. The Delegation was a 5 day presentation of theatre pieces, (professional, independent, in progress, student work, all sorts) from all throughout Israel to an audience of theatre artists, festival directors, critics, and writers from all over the world. We had around 30-40 guests from Japan, Turkey, Korea, Philippines, Netherlands, Germany, Bulgaria, Canada, and the US among others. Since EVE, my company represents a lot of fringe and independent productions, a large percent of the presentations were artists and creators we work with. Instead of going into the office for those few days, Tomer and I helped facilitate events and introduce productions, and help keep things moving. The cultural differences I have noted in Israel became even more apparent in this professional atmosphere. Israel has a severe lack of formality, which is all good, but in some instances (like this one) it was noticeably missing. The Canadian clan tended to flock to me with questions and frustrations, many of which I shared. Although it was a tough position to be in, wanted to organize where there was a severe lack, it was fun to play hostess for a while. In doing so I got to see all the shows being presented. Many of the pieces were half hour sections from larger pieces, with a few full shows thrown in. I watched as much as I could.

I saw Hamlet, in Hebrew, at Cameri to open the week. I felt as though I knew the show relatively well, so I tried not to follow the subtitles, but instead just watch and take it all in, and check in every once in a while with the projected translation. I loved it. Such a great take on the show. The audience sat in swivel chairs, in two sections facing each other, separated by an aisle. The action took place in the aisle as well as on both sides. The audience would simply shift focus and move their chairs to see the scene taking place. It was so cool. Hamlet was incredible as well. It was nice to see the famous "to be or not to be" speech and not focus on the words, just on the emotion. Refreshing. I also really enjoyed the student work from the School of Visual Theatre in Jerusalem. One pair did a object theatre piece using apples as puppets, cutting them and manipulating them throughout the piece to tell their story. Awesome. I also got to see a lot of the pieces I have been marketing live for the first time. I have felt a severe lack of theatre going since I've been here, because its harder to find things in English or that I will understand. A cutback from my show a week habit in Boston. This week made up for it. In addition to the Delegation, my siyur that week was to see a show at Cameri. We saw Johnny Walked, with english subtitles. I liked the play overall, but the lighting was very stark and the subtitles were very hard to read. It was a little more of a challenge than it was worth. Unlike Hamlet, I couldn't just watch and take it in. Oh well. It was cool to experience it with the whole WUJS group.

Adding to my incredibly cultured week, the week continued with the International Exposure for Israeli Dance. Many of the guests from our exposure stayed through for this one as well, so I made sure to be a part of it as much as I could. Chelsea works as an intern at Suzanne Dellal, the dance theatre hosting the events, so I had an official name tag. We had to wait until all official guests and ticketed patrons were in, but if there were remaining seats our staff tags got us in. We saw a lot a lot a lot of dance. Many of the shows were 1 hour shows divided into 3 segments to showcase 3 difference choreographers. We saw a few of these sampler platter shows, as well as some full dance shows. One was Trout, a modern dance piece that took place on a stage covered in 3 inches of water. The piece was nightmareish, and mentioned it took place in a world like the bottom of a well. It was some weird stuff, but a cool concept. I was in the front row, which I soon discovered was what they refer to at Sea World as the "splash zone". Except this time it was without warning, and they didn't hand out ponchos... It was all good, I only got a few splashes, but I have to say it was the first dance show I've seen where I walked out damp. We saw Vertigo, another dance troupe as well, which was probably the best of the pieces I saw. There was one I really wanted to see, called Quiet or Sheket in Hebrew, but it was full. The good thing about this exposure as a promotional event though, is that every group had videos! I picked one up and can now see the piece from the comfort of my own home. Between the Theatre Delegation and Dance Exposure I left with a good amount of swag, and lots of DVDs to watch. Bonus! Plus we got a lot of interest, so I am looking foreward to talking with the people I met and sending our work abroad. Successful week I'd say.

Adding to the awesome long and busy but cultured week, it came time for Hanukkah. My first Hanukkah in Israel has certainly been amazing. Sufganiot on every corner. Dreidels with פ instead of ש. Everyone, and I mean everyone, storeowners, etc, saying chag sameach. Love it. We had an awesome group Hanukkah party as well. For the first night, we all got together in our apartment and had a whole evening of festivities. It started with a Latke Contest. Each apartment would submit an entry, and our guests would judge. We decided to enter a trio of latkes as our entry. Michal, culinary expert, designed the menu. We made traditional potato latkes with applesauce, sweet potato latkes with cream and fried sage, and zucchini/potato latkes with dill sour cream sauce. Yummy. Someone else entered a chili sweet potato recipe, some traditional potato recipes, and one with red peppers served with hot sauce. It was awesome. We grated potatoes for hours, but it was worth it. Our sweet potato entry tied with the other sweet potato entry as the winner. Yay! Next part of the evening was a potluck style dinner. We ate well let me tell you. Salad, meatballs, eggplant parm, rice with broccoli, and of course latkes. Next was a gift exchange. Organizing that was my assigned role for the evening, so we did it white elephant style like at Nicolet. Everyone brought a wrapped gift valued between 20 and 25 shekels. I bought a collection of games and puzzles. We played by choosing hebrew letters from our aleph bet magnet set out of a hat, and then going in order. Each person could either choose a wrapped gift from the middle, or steal. Someone got a toilet plunger gift set, someone a viking hat and beard, a few people chocolates and candy, and I ended up with a dollar store collection of games and things including a ping pong set, a chia pet, and a bright orange Athens Olympics 2004 hat. Quite a success I must say. We intended to end the evening with a dreidel game and an 8 bar pub crawl, but we only ended up at 2 due to rain and us being tired. It was also Michal's birthday at midnight, so we turned it into a celebration for that. We also went out for her b-day the next day, starting the day as we do every Saturday with challah french toast, and then seeing some dance pieces from the Exposure and having an incredibly decadent dinner complete with sparkling wine at a great restaurant in quaint Neve Tsedek. Mmmm. I love birthdays. Happy Birthday Michal!

The week was jam packed, but really awesome. Seeing theatre, and spending time with friends. What more could I ask for. I also started teaching the theatre class for Year Course, which I'll talk more about later. It seems like its going to be great, and its nice to be teaching and lesson planning again. More on that later. Now, I'm gonna head to bed and wake up early tomorrow to head up North and meet Mom and Dad. Can't wait to tell you all about it.

Links

2009-12-14T10:34:00.001+02:00

Hey all!

Sorry its been a while since I've written anything. I've been crazy busy with the Cultural Delegation/International Exposure. Can't wait to tell you all about it. Until then, check out my Turkey pictures - finally posted - but not sorted or captioned yet. Sorry. I ran out of room on the old photo site, so catch the link to the new one to the right of the posting. I'll let you know when they are organized!

Also enjoy more video updates:

WUJS Video 7 - but they forgot to mention Turkey!!

WUJS Video 8

Thanksgiving Break in Turkey - Part II: Escape to Cappadocia

2009-12-05T17:07:00.003+02:00

Day 1 in Cappadocia:

We pulled into a parking lot in what we assumed was the right place, and just as confused as before, showed people our tickets. We got sent to a minibus. It took us somewhere, and we unloaded and went to a tourism office. The guy there gave us a map, circled our hotel, and the Flintstones Cave Bar he recommended we visit later, and called us a ride to our hotel in Goreme, the Local Cave Hotel. Because it was still just 8:30 our room wasn’t available for check in so we left our stuff in the lobby, changed in a bathroom, and waited for our tour group to pick us up. We ate breakfast there too, not sure it was for us, but they didn’t stop us.

Our tour van picked us up, we met some others we would be spending our day with, and hit the road. The landscape in this place is jaw dropping. An entire city, literally carved out of the rock. Our guide Fahti led us through Devrent Valley, to see the fairy chimneys. Fairy chimneys are formed from the settled volcanic dust, formed into tower, and then topped by harder rock that settled. Over time, the lower rock has been shaped by the wind, leaving pyramids with caps. You have to see it to understand, just check out the pix.   He showed us cave churches, houses, castles, the unbelievable city formed by stone. Just awe inspiring. We had a nice lunch, included in the package, at a cave restaurant. Three courses including soup, pottery kebab, and dessert options, of which I chose more rice pudding. In the afternoon we toured the Goreme Open Air Museum, which is a reserve of more rock formations and houses, and saw some beautifully painted church caves. More lookouts, more stops, and a visit to a pottery shop where we learned how to make pottery the traditional Turkish way, then spend way too much time trying not to spend money in the endless ceramic shop. Hallie won a prize for guessing what the man was forming on the wheel, and Jaks got to make something herself. Unfortunately she didn’t get to keep it.

We were dropped back at our cave hotel, and this time were able to check in. Our bags were still in the lobby, exactly how we had left them. They unlocked our rooms, and despite the fact that we had asked specifically for 1 room for all of us (to save money, and avoid splitting up) and him telling us it wasn’t possible, the first door opened to reveal 2 twin beds and 1 double bed. We looked around, saw the other room, and just decided to all stay in one. Bummer he made us pay for 2 even though we specifically tried to avoid it. We claimed beds, Jaks and I ended up in the double, and promptly all fell asleep for a good 2 hours. Guess we needed it. We woke up, showered, and got dressed for dinner. We walked through the town of Goreme, looking for some cheap local eats in the tourist town. It was the off season, and extremely dead. A ghost town. Except for the restaurant owners who, as in Istanbul, harassed us with deals and offers as we passed their restaurant. We finally gave in to one of them and had a nice Turkish meal. Jaks and I shared Turkish ravioli with yoghurt sauce and a meatball dish, and Ellen and Hallie shared a chicken something and pottery roasted veggies. Yumm and yumm again. The ravioli were tiny and triangular. And delicious. I have eaten more meat this week than in the entire past year.

After the restaurant, we decided we had to take the man’s advice and check out the Flintstones Cave Bar. How could we not? It was super cute, with a fire place and little tables, across from a stone bar. We ordered a bottle of local wine to share and a nargila, and the man we soon recognized as the guy who suggested the bar to us, joined us at the table. Our first thought was that he came to see if we had taken his advice and to join us. Ick. Then he told us our nargila was on the house. Uh oh. We found out pretty quickly through conversation then that he owned the place. Oh, thanks for the suggestion. He very quickly fell in love with Ellen as well. This would become an interesting night. We played a game of shesh besh,, me against Ellen (who had never played) and the owner (who was really good). Awww, just like Israel. Soon, A little guy, probably 20 something, hopped up and started dancing. Like Michael Jackson. The soundtrack of this bar was mostly oldies American music, with an eclectic mix of modern English pop. Jaks joined him before to long, and next thing we knew the 4 of us, and everyone else at the bar was up on their feet. We started a mega dance party. Because of the owner’s little crush, our glasses never seemed to get empty, and we drank at least 2 bottles and a few beers. After several attempts to drag her outside, he finally gave up and sat all sad in the corner. We felt bad, but its not like we asked him to get us drinking for free all night. We met some Australian girls, a group of International students studying in Turkey, 1 American. Turned into quite an adventure. Needless to say, we were glad we napped that evening. Before it got too late, we hit our very comfortable cave beds and went to bed.

The next morning we woke up, packed up, and went to the lobby for another breakfast spread. Unlike the morning before when we had snuck meals from the buffet, this time they brought us pre made plates. Just not the same. And no eggs. Oh well, we ate our fill and met our tour van again at 9. They picked up our luggage and dropped it at the fancy hotel in Urgup (the other town) where we picked up more group members since it would be easier for us to get it there later. Fahti and our adorable driver led us through another exciting adventure through the valleys and caves of Goreme and Urgup. The morning started out with a 4k hike through Red Valley, White Valley and Rose Valley. Named for the colors of the rock of course. The Moroccan Man from our group kept wandering off, and quickly became the joke of us as well as the guide. He kept popping up in random places.   We passed the time talking with a couple we met, around our age. Holly from Australia, and Dan from New Zealand had met in Greece sailing. They had since lived in England, 3 more years in Greece sailing, and were now working on week 3 of their “one week” trip to Turkey. I would have loved to live their lives. Here begins the adventure of the sunglasses. Ellen had in her bag a pair of turquoise sunglasses she had borrowed from Justin. They were falling apart, the turquoise color chipping off leaving paint specs on the wearer, and just kinda gross. Jumping off of Holly’s idea, we decided it would become the new project of the trip to get pictures of as many people we met as we could wearing the glasses. This included various group members, our guides, and basically everyone we could convince. When lunch led us to eating at a long table in the hall of the Culture Museum, our sunglass adventure began to include manikins as we snuck into exhibits to snap a shot. Awesome.

We saw more churches and houses, and then explored an underground city. Tourists were only allowed to explore 4 floors. That’s okay though, that’s more cave village than I’ve seen before. We crawled through tunnels and passageways, saw stone doors as we entered wineries, stables, living rooms, etc all carved in the underground stone. I could live there! Well, except for the cold and fact that it was underground and stone. There were even chimneys for fresh air and ventilation. Too cool. We got a few sunglass shots in various cave crevasses, then returned to the surface. We stopped for some more free time at a few more lookout points as we worked our way back.

The last stop of the day was the Onyx factory. Again, a cheap plea to get us tourists to spend money, but we just watched the demo and then tried on the biggest and most expensive rings and bracelets they had. Holly kept making Dan uncomfortable talking about them being too small. Love these guys. From there Fahti and our driver, who we now knew was named Numan, started the rounds of drop offs. Since we had a few hours to kill before our night bus back, and no hotel, we asked nicely if they could drop us in the city of Urgup at the Turkish Bath. Ellen had been talking about getting one since day one in Istanbul, so we decided this was our chance. The bath, or Hamam, was not quite what they had described in the books. We asked if they accepted women, since we had heard there were separate sections in most hamams, and they said yes. They gave us keys to changing rooms and handed us red plaid cloths to put on and green croc like sandles. The first time my passport had left my body since we arrived in Turkey, we locked them and all of our belongings into the rooms and strapped the keys to our wrists. Wearing our new garments, and matching the men up front, they lead us in. We found ourselves in a big hot room, with several smaller rooms off of it. They took us to one side, and asked us to rinse off in the shower. We did. Then they showed us the sauna and told us to get comfortable. We all awkwardly sat down in there together, not quite sure what to do, and decided that we might as well get the real hamam experience and dropped the towels to our waists. It was just us after all. And then through the window of the sauna we saw another couple walk in. A couple we recognized, from our tour group. We gathered our cloths back up, and all awkwardly greeted each other. Hmm, maybe that’s why this one was so cheap, its coed. They laid down on the stone block, steaming, waiting for us to finish. When we had had our fill, we traded places, relaxing on the warm stone, waiting for someone to tell us what was next. The hamam man, not large hamam woman as we had expected, came to take the first 2 for the massage. Ellen and I stood up and followed them into a different section where they laid us down on more stone tables. I started at the washing station, Ellen at the soapy massage. Again, didn’t know this was a group project. My guy began scrubbing me with an abrasive cloth to remove dead skin. It was disgusting to see what came off of my body. I guess I needed this. He washed me, washed my hair with bar soap, and rinsed me with little bowls. Weird. Then Ellen and I switched and I began my soapy bubble bath massage. This guy was good. He cracked my back so hard, I giggled. Seriously though, after sleeping on a bus, I needed nothing more. In heaven, Ellen and I were sent back to the hot stone room while Jaks and Hallie got their treatment. We laid there blissfully until they returned, then went to cool off and get our towels. I have never felt so clean. We dried off, went back to our rooms to change back, and received our nice free glasses of apple tea. The amount of free glasses of apple tea we have received on this trip cannot even be counted. I love Turks. We dried our hair, bundled back up for the cold, paid our 20 lira, and ventured back outside, refreshed.

We walked around Urgup, found a doner kebab place to get food, and then walked back to the Cappadocia Palace Hotel where our luggage was being held. Again, we walked in and it was sitting there piles up just how we had left it. Numan, our driver, and some other guys we had met along the way were waiting for us. We changed in the bathroom and drank, yes, more free tea. They made more jokes about marrying us, which we started to realize may not have been a joke. We were a perfect Harem of 4 after all. They all got excited when we asked to become facebook friends. I seriously gained a whole crew throughout the week.

We got a ride to another strange parking lot, where we boarded a bus. Our tickets were close to the back, but not quite as bad as last time. There were tons of people gathered for what we discovered was a send off party to the army. He was probably the only kid to leave this tiny town, and everyone was there to say goodbye. The kid and some others boarded the bus, and as everyone cried and waved we pulled away. The bus seemed really empty and I was excited again to move up and spread out. We stopped at the bus station to pick up more people, and once everyone was settled we spread out a bit. After about 40 minutes of driving, the bus stopped in another small town, and we looked out the window not just to see tons of people waiting, but men and women loading our bus with giant sacks of potatoes. What? They were angry there was too much luggage and were all crowding around shoving at the sacks, loading the carrier. Apparently we were on the food transport to Istanbul. I have to move back to my original seat next to Hallie as a small child was placed next to me and the mother yelled at me in Turkish. The older daughter, looking so excited to use her English, saw my confusion and said “Seat. Me.” I moved, all four of us in a row, and we curled up as comfortable as we could on the bus and tried to sleep the night through. We stopped again at the pay to pee in a hole place, and got to Istanbul in the morning.

When we got off the bus, we were expecting to see someone from our travel place with a van, as we had been informed. After exploring and not seeing anyone, we got in a shuttle to Sultanahmet, the center of town, with another couple who were even more lost than we were. Thankful it was actually free, we arrived back in town, and went to the travel agency to leave our bags, as they had also told us we could. No one there. So, we went back to Alkan’s shop around the corner. He wasn’t there, but we told the guy there the situation, and he called our friend. Waking him up as we later learned, Alkan gave us permission to use the basement as storage again. Since nothing was opened yet, we went to Starbucks across the street to change and get a hot drink. Like any good American tourist. As if by perfect chance, what other American tourist do we see with the same plan? Will, our San Francisco friend from the tram a few days back. He had also just come in on an overnight bus, and had a few friends with him he’d met along the way. We discovered he was on the same flight as us back to Tel Aviv, so we decided to spend the day together. We waited a bit, but he had to go fight with the agent who booked his tour and try to get some money back for things he didn’t receive. After things weren’t going his way, we exchanged numbers and left him behind to go to the Bazaars.

We got directions to the Grand Bazaar to do some last day shopping. This place is a giant, covered, street market, with stands and stores selling jewelry, lamps, scarves, souvenirs up the wazoo, basically anything you could imagine. I tried to avoid spending money, and did pretty well. Ellen bought lots of jewelry, and Jaks and Hallie got some things as well. I just enjoyed the bargaining. Someone offered to “change my life” if I entered their shop. No thank you. One guy offered me a deal because it was his birthday. I wonder if he says that every day. Will called us and asked where the shop was so he could leave his stuff there and meet us. When he finally found us in the Bazaar, he informed us he had met Alkan and gotten a full breakfast spread. Maybe we should have waited for him! Will showed up with the crazy Mohawk man from the shop, who proposed marriage, then pointed us out the path to the Spice Bazaar. Now a team of 5, we trekked for more shops and more bargaining. This Bazaar had spices, teas, and tons of Turkish delight. We again sampled as much as we could, and bought from the cheap one to take home. Will decided he would send us on a mission. He wanted a half kilo of instant apple tea, and a half kilo of natural. For 15 lira. We decided to divide and conquer. Most places would give us a full kilo of instant for that, but not the combo he wanted for less than 20. Hallie finally got an offer of 16. We all rushed over, and Will said he would take the deal if they threw in the teacup set for 25. They said 30. He said 25. They said 27. He gave them 25 and they reluctantly handed over the bag. Well done. Well done.

Souvenirs in tow, we made our way to a food stop. Jaks, Hallie, and Will wanted fish sandwiches again from the boat. Ellen and I got chickpea/rice/chicken on the street on the way. We of course stopped for more mussels. I should mention that our count for the whole trip, between the 4 of us, had now reached 59. At 50 cents each though, I was okay with the 10 or so I had eaten over the 6 days. We boogied back to Alkan’s to gather our stuff, a little later than we had planned. He said he would call his taxi friend for us. Another helpful friend of Alkan’s. I love our fated meeting. We ran into Will’s friend at the airport, mailed our postcards, and got settled at the gate. At this point we decide Will would come back with us and sleep on our couch, and that some of us would show him around Jerusalem the next day. Unfortunately I had to go to work. Our gate changed a few times, the plane was an hour delayed, but despite expected travel hitches flying into Israel from a country they don’t like, we made it home safe and sound by 8:30ish.

Overall, the trip was an incredible experience. Fate, luck, and a ton of friends along the way really made for an awesome time. With most of the people we met, we avoided telling them we had come from Israel, due to the political unease. We had gotten caught up in extensive lies at one point, but it made us feel better so it was ok. Spent a lot of money, but saw some incredible things, ate great food, and really got a taste of the culture and language. Couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my break.

Now, its back to work, and the Cultural Delegation for Israeli Theatre and Music coming quickly next week. Can’t wait to tell you all about it. As they say in Turkey “bye bye!” I’m serious. That’s what they say. See you next time!

Thanksgiving Break in Turkey - Part I: Misadventures in Istanbul

2009-12-04T17:40:00.002+02:00

Wow. Just wow. This trip was incredible. Maybe it was the travel bug I caught at the Castle having been stifled all this time, coming back out to play, but whatever it was, Turkey was amazing. This is gonna be a big one.

Hallie, Ellen, Jaks and I left early Friday morning, the 27th. We knew we were off to a great start when our cab driver looked at us and blasted club music at 7:30am. The flight there was relatively uneventful, 2 hours, smooth, and we arrived at Istanbul Ataturk Airport. We waited in line for our visas, which cost us $20, but Jaks, the Canadian of the group, had to pay $60. Isn’t it usually Americans that get the bad travel name?? Whatever. We went outside, grabbed a cab, and the driver looked exactly what I imagined a Turkish man to look like. Exactly. He had long curlyish hair, and leather jacket, like a Turkish Uncle Jesse. We sat in traffic for a while, maybe because of the Feast of the Sacrifice starting that day. Our book had recommended not traveling the first few days of the Holiday, and we were hoping we wouldn’t regret not listening. The cab driver didn’t speak English, and didn’t know where the hostel was, and we had the phone number but not the address, so Uncle Jesse called from his cell phone. Next thing we knew, a large Turkish Man met us on the street and walked us there. How sweet! He was the owner of the Chambers of the Boheme, and he turned out to be a great asset on our adventures. We dropped off our bags, and set out on our first adventure in Istanbul.

Because of the Feast of the Sacrifice, we had been informed most things would not be open, so we didn’t have much of a plan for day one. We had also been told that families sacrifice goats and sheep on their lawns to commemorate the day, and we half expected to run into a sacrifice. Good news though, the ritual indicated that the family eats 1/3, shares 1/3 with neighbors, and gives 1/3 to strangers and the poor. We could have ended up with a goat sandwich! But we didn’t. Instead we ate every, and I mean every street food we passed. This included Doner Kebab (Turkish showarma), Mussels stuffed with seasoned rice, which the guy shucked and fed us, roasted chestnuts, popcorn, chocolate fountain dipped fruit, all cheap and (almost) all delicious. We walked the trek from our part of town South across the bridge into the old city, just exploring along the way. We walked through alleys covered in graffiti of fists and eyes, across the bridge full of fisherman selling their catch, and just explored the city at sundown. Looking for a Turkish Bath, we ended up in a rather sketchy part of town, so we turned back and just went to see the Mosques in the dark. We stumbled upon a Mosque accepting visitors, and took off our shoes to enter just in time for prayer. It was beautifully tiled and decorated floor to ceiling. We watched a bit, then left as the place closed after prayer. We found out later it was the New Mosque. We walked down the main streets of the city from there, sampling Turkish Delight at every store with a tray out, but not buying anything. Rude? Maybe. Cheap. Certainly. On the way home, through the streets of Istanbul, we had more mussels, which quickly became a trend on the trip, some honey pastry stick things, stopped to use the McDonalds bathroom, and walked back across the bridge home to Taksim Square.

Back in Taksim, the restaurant, shopping, and bar centre of city on the North side of the bridge, we decided to find a place to go out for some food. Yes, more food. No judging. We were experiencing culture. We got a apple/mint nargila and an appetizer platter of traditional Turkish snacks. The guys working there spent most of the evening in the upstairs section with us, telling us about the country and what we should see. They invited us to come out the next night, which didn’t happen, but it was still the first impression we got of how nice and friendly Turkish people were. Another trend we would discover.

Day 2, Saturday, we woke up to our free breakfast in the Café Boheme next to our hostel. Sufficient meal, certainly, of hard boiled eggs, bread with various spreads, and some veggies and olives. We decided to take the shuttle/tram into the old city this time, with the goal of first visiting Topkapi Palace. We asked an orange vested man in the station, and he circled Topkapi Station for us and told us how to get there. We got off at Topkapi, a lot further down than we thought it was, and a nice man approached us asking if we needed help. When we said we were looking for the Palace, he laughed. We were in the completely wrong place. Fortunately, he was headed the direction we were supposed to be going, so he offered to lead the way. On the way, we mentioned we were thinking of planning a few days in Cappadocia or Ephesus and asked if he had any suggestions which. He said his friend was a travel agent, and he would take us there. We got off the tram, stopped by the gift shop he owned, and then he took us to MYSIA Travel Agency to introduce us to his friend. We told him what we were thinking, and $230 later we had booked a travel package to Cappadocia. It was fate. 2 overnight busses, saving us both plane fare and 2 nights of hotel, 2 full days of tours including lunch, 1 overnight hotel in Cappadocia, exactly what we needed. A lot of money, but based on the circumstances that had led us there, we knew we had to go for it.

After that, Alkan, our friend from the tram, led us to the visitor sights in the old city. Instead of Topkapi as we originally planned, we decided to first visit the Blue Mosque, which had been number 1 on my list. He took of his shoes and joined us inside! “Don’t you have to go to work” we asked? No! It’s a holiday! Perfect, our own private guide. The mosque, called Sultan Ahmet to the non tourist crown, was incredible. Large, gorgeous, again floor to ceiling decorations. Alkan led us through the square, pointing out monuments, then went on his way, leaving us at the entrance to Aya Sofia, telling us to meet him at his store later. Aya Sofia, or Hagia Sofia is the Church of Holy Wisdom. The others talked me into paying an extra 10 lira each to get a guided tour. A nice Australian family joined us, as our guide, a history teacher, led us through the church converted to a mosque , telling us stories of the artists, designers, and worshippers along the way. Turns out it was the world’s largest Christian place of worship for a while, before converted in 1453 and the artwork covered over by Islamic work. When the place was declared a museum, the work was uncovered, perfectly preserved by accident. Cool.

After the tour we went back to the gift shop, where Alkan took us to meet another friend of his, a restaurant owner. Is there anyone we need on this adventure that he doesn’t know? He joined us, and got us a 7 lira price special for a sampling of everything the guy had made hat day. We ate in style, nice home cooked comfort food. Its nice to be full on a budget! After our late lunch, we went to the Basilica Cistern, since we didn’t want to limit our time at the Topkapi Palace and put that off for the next day. It turned out to be amazing. An underground cistern, full of red lights illuminating pillars, and this dark, wet, eerie air. In one corner was 2 Medusa heads, one on its side and one upside down. No one knows why apparently. It was really one of the coolest places I’ve ever seen, not sure I can even place why.

After the old city, we headed back to Taksim area to do some shopping and walk the streets. On the train we met a guy from San Francisco, who we chatted with for a bit and found out he was visiting Turkey after a wedding in Tel Aviv. He was overnight bussing to Cappadocia that night, as we were doing the next day. More on him later. In Taksim, again, the streets were packed with people, mostly men. We stopped at the hostel for a nap, then went to meet Buket, a friend of Hallie’s from her study abroad in Australia who lived just outside of Istanbul. She took us to a restaurant she would have gone to with her family, good, classic, Turkish cooking. We had beef in this cream and eggplant sauce that was so rich and sooo delicious. Dessert was rice pudding and shredded wheat pastry with pistachio and cheese. Wow. We ate well that night, and like a local. Buket then took us to the bar area of Taksim and we hopped a few different places trying local beer and wine. Pretty tired, we said our goodbyes and went back to the hostel.

That wasn’t the end of that night though. Hallie crawled into bed, and on the way to the bathroom to get ready for bed, we met the boys across the hall at the hostel, whom we had said hello to earlier. Jarkko from Finland, Egert from Estonia, and Gabriel from Italy, all studying together in Ankara. We referred to them as Finland, Estonia, and Italy, and they called us Chicago, Texas, Canada, and New York respectably. They were about to head out, and wanted us to come with. Because Hallie had already turned in, we convinced them to stay in the hostel and they went out to get beers and snacks. We ended up staying up crazy late talking Israeli Politics (one of them was in a class and studying the topic on the plane), and life. At almost 3:00, I decided since we were planning to wake up at 8 that I would head to bed. Sometimes I hate when people aren’t smart, because Ellen and Jaks stayed up almost all night with them. In the morning, at 8, Hallie and I woke up and started getting ready. When they weren’t moving, we told them they were leaving without them and they both slept an extra few hours. Hallie and I trudged through the rain to Dulmabahce Palace, on our side of the bridge. We had student ids, so we got in for a full guided tour for 1 lira, as opposed to the usual 15 I think. Nicely done. We saw incredible chandeliers made of red crystal, crystal staircases, and some gorgeous curtains, rugs, and wall décor. The tour lasted an hour, and we had a ways to walk to meet them again, so we had to skip part 2 of the tour, the Harem and family quarters more in depth. For 1 lira, though, a-ok with me. We walked back, uphill this time, and met Ellen and Jaks just in time for the end of our free breakfast.

We found the boys again, woke them up, and said we would be back to pick them up to go to Topkapi Palace (finally) in 45 minutes. We went shopping. Over an hour later, we were still trying to pick out which lanterns we wanted to take home. I settled on a purple/blue/white one that glowed red. Jaks and Ellen both got different shades of browns and golds, and Hallie got a small yellow one. Can’t wait to have a nice place to hang it. Late, we headed back to find the boys, feeling kind of bad but toting our new souvenirs. We ended up running into them on the street, and they informed us they had left us a note saying they wouldn’t have time for the palace since their flight was earlier then they thought. We took a group shot, said our goodbyes, and went home to pick up our stuff. We lugged our suitcases (glad I had my frame pack) on the tram back into town, and left our stuff in the basement of Alkan’s shop. Again, quite a helpful friend we made. We spent around 2 hours in Topkapi Palace (a 20 lira ticket : ( ) but didn’t do any guided tours or anything, just walked around the grounds. Huge, could have been an all day endeavor. We saw the treasuries, gardens, lots of rooms across the grounds, but unfortunately again didn’t have time to tour the Harem and family quarters before they closed. Oh well. Really pretty regardless.

We stopped for dinner along the bridge at the boat we had been saying we should eat at since we first passed on day 1. These boats lined the shore, rocking back and forth, full of grills where men in funny outfits cooked fish, allll day. They passed the fish, in a hard roll with lettuce and onion, across the gap from water to land, to more men who served them to customers at little tables. For 4 lira, we ate fish sandwiches with lemon juice. Mine had a lot of bones. But that’s ok. For 4 lira, it was wonderful. And quite an experience.

In a bit of a hurry, we went back to the Alkan’s shop, and changed for our overnight bus. The travel agent met us there, walked us around the corner to his shop, where we played with his cats, and one tiny baby kitten, while waiting for the shuttle to come get us. The shuttle dropped us off in a random parking lot, where we, very confusedly, loaded our luggage and ourselves onto a coach bus. We found out we had the back seats, which for a 10 hour bus ride did not excite little carsick me. Once we had stopped at multiple pick up points, I found an empty seat close to the front and fortunately was able to spread out across two seats. The other spread out in the back. I took a Tylenol PM, and attempted to sleep my way to Cappadocia. Didn’t do too badly actually, despite the fact that the bus stopped every 4 hours for a bathroom. A bathroom that we had to pay for… And that wasn’t a toilet… Just a hole in the ground in the stall… Whatever, it was the last bathroom for a while and we had to make due. Passed out again on the bus, and at 7am arrived in Cappadocia.

TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO BECKY, HALLIE, JAKS, AND ELLEN NEXT, TUNE IN NEXT TIME! THANKSGIVING IN TURKEY PART II – CAPPADOCIA, COMING SOON!

Tiyul Up North! a.k.a. Mini Birthright

2009-11-26T22:18:00.000+02:00

Trying to squeeze a blog entry in between trips so I don't forget everything I want to say! Just got back from a 2 day tiyul with WUJS up North. We traveled with the Jerusalem group of our program, which made for a nice change of group dynamic, and crammed a ton into our time together. It kind of felt like a mini birthright; samples of lots of different cities, tours, lectures, hikes, awesomeness.

We got picked up at 7 am, the Jeru kids already on the bus for an hour, and promptly found out that our hikes that day were not approved due to wet and slippery conditions. Bummer. They told us we were going to tour Acco instead. Ha! BeJAcco take 2! We asked if we could be the tour guides. The official tour guides of cool. They said no. That's okay, we don't know the history anyways, just whats pretty and has a good view. We entered the same complex/courtyard where the theatre festival had been held, and where I had come on birthright. We wandered the underground cities, learned the history of the Crusaders from our tour guide Etai, all while carrying around the super dorky lunch boxes they gave us that morning. Then they took us to the Shuk. Jaks and I remembered the incredible baklava place we had gone with Viola and Tomer, so we grabbed a few people and took them there when they released us for free time in the market. I put on a glove to pack up a box for us, and we ended up getting 99 shekels worth of pastries for the 5 of us. Covered in honey. Amazing. We ate our box lunches and our plethora of pastries at the tables outside. Yes, I know Dad, more food entries. I can't help it. It is Thanksgiving after all. We saw a gutted shark hanging in the shuk. Didn't want to forget to mention that. Anyways, Acco adventure take 2.

After Acco, replacing our hike, we moved on as planned to Tzfat. Love that city. Tzfat is the home of kabbalah and spiritual judaism, and you can just feel it in the air. We learned a lot from Etai and Shlomit (the Jerusalem Ricky) about the city and why everything is painted blue (so when the demons come down to get you they think it is still the sky and miss you). We also visited Avraham, whom I saw on Birthright, and remembered quite well due to the fact that he's quoted several times on my trip t-shirt. He is an artist, originally from Michigan, who apparently came on WUJS and now lives in Tzfat. He is incredibly spiritual and believes in spreading the word of the kabbalah, and speaks to groups like birthright and us for free to share his knowledge. He manages to sell plenty of his works to group members too. All of his art reflects different elements of kabbalah. He is a crazy, hippie-esque Jew, describing everything from the history of his name to the spiritual nature of meditation as "awesomely awesomely awesomely awesomely awesome" and "4 thoooooouuuuuusand years of awesome". Despite teasing him, he is incredible knowledgeable and a fascinating perspective to listen to. We stopped by the candle factory store, which I love, and I bought the apartment some pretty candles for Hanukkah and some gorgeous decorative shabbat candles. Can't wait to put them on display. We were also given some free time in the artist lane, and looked at beautiful jewelry and judaica, but I couldn't decide on anything to buy. Guess I'll have to go back!

After Tzfat we headed to the kibbutz where we were staying the night. I roomed with Hallie, Donna, and Esther. We ate a wonderful kibbutz meal, a spread of meats and salads, and then they attempted to set up a movie for us to watch. After fiddling with the projector for 30 minutes, they gave up and sent us back to our rooms. We had tvs though, which was a nice exciting change, so we were content. We watched some random shows and a bit of a crazy zombie movie. Hallie and I slept on a double bed/two twins awkwardly pushed together, and Donna ended up on a trundle bed. Adorable. I slept quite well actually.

In the morning, we ate a wonderful israeli breakfast of eggs, cheeses, spreads, cereal, everything. Straight out of birthright. Love. We packed ourselves lunches (and snuck some cheese spread on to our sandwiches, shhh) and hit the road. Fortunately this hike was still going as planned. Although there were 2 options, an easy hike and a slightly more strenuous hike, we all ended up staying together on the "challenging" trail in Banyas. We learned all about the site, a christian holy site, and hiked the pretty shaded trails to a waterfall. It wasn't the most beautiful hike, but I really enjoyed it, and learning about the history of the site really adds to the adventure. We also made a stop to eat our lunches in the Golan Heights and had an incredible discussion/debate about the land situation, peace with Syria/Lebanon, Gilad Shalit, the I.D.F., Israeli Politics in general, and so much more while overlooking the border. Really a great discussion. It makes such a difference to be in the places, talking about them looking over the land, rather than watching the news. Intense. From there we stopped by another place I recognized from birthright (by the giant metal dinosaur statue). It was an old army bunker, overlooking Syria, where we ran through the trenches, and shivered our butts off learning about the sight. Hallie and I took a detour down some stairs, but found another tour group looking at the bunkers, and decided to leave before we got in trouble. Etai and Shlomit lead another great chat, and, although really cold for the first time since I got here, learned a lot.

We rode the bus home, about 3 hours, stopping every hour for a bathroom break at a gas station : /. Being Thanksgiving, and already 7 pm, I wasn't quite sure what my dinner situation would look like. I got home and not long after Michal and Chelsea showed up to start cooking. I munched on their mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, etc, and had a brief makeshift Thanksgiving. Not the real thing though without cranberry sauce, orange jello, and cork volleyball. I'm thankful though for being in this incredible country, for learning a lot these past few days, for my family and friends safe at home where there is peace, and so much more. A weird Thanksgiving away from the family, but a good one. Besides, who needs to eat turkey when you are GOING THERE TOMORROW!!

I apologize for my lack of detail. I may add in more later, just wanted to get the framework down. I kind of want to go to bed since I'm going to Turkey Tomorrow!!! So psyched. Can't wait to tell you all about it. Happy Thanksgiving, hooray hooray hooray, aren't you glad you're not a turkey on this Thanksgiving day!

A Jew and a Christian walk into an Arab Bar...

2009-11-20T16:09:00.001+02:00

It's been a while since I wrote! Sorry for keeping you all waiting to hear about my adventures. I should start with Jerusalem. Yes, again, Jerusalem to meet a friend. This time, it was Emma Wiegand, a good friend of mine from Emerson. She was visiting Israel with her godfather, and staying with a friend of his, an Irish priest. And no, to answer your question, Emma is not Jewish. This made for a very different Jerusalem experience. I took a sherut in to the city around noon on Saturday, and wandered through the shopping on David St. waiting to hear from her. She didn't have a cell phone so I had to just wait until she could reach me. Fortunately it wasn't too long, and she said they were on their way back from Bethlehem and asked to meet at the Damascus Gate, near where they were staying. I guess I should explain this now. They were staying with Brendan, their Irish Priest friend, at a church in the Muslim quarter. This meant little Jewish Becky walking by herself from the Jewish Quarter, into the Muslim quarter, and out the gate to meet them. I confidently strode through the Old City, watching as the clothing changed from American tourist garb to long skirts and full head coverings, and items being sold changed slowly from Judaica to spices. I made it through allright, no worries, just a whole new view.

I took Emma back around to the Jaffa Gate, the main entrance to the Jewish quarter (this time around the outside) to do some shopping since she hadn't been yet. We both bought hamsa charms, wandered around through the Jewish, Christian, AND Muslim shopping areas, and just chatted catching up. We bought some cool looking pastry balls from an Arab place. The guy explained them to me in Hebrew, I heard d'vash, or honey, and we decided to go for it. They were these gooey, sticky, shiney, honey balls, and were amazingly sweet and quite tasty. This was just the beginning of my new view of Jeru though. We decided to head back to Lion Gate near where she was staying to see the church and rest for a few. We got lost several times, got several sets of directions, in Hebrew and English, and eventually found it. We talked Israeli politics for a bit, rested our feet, and then met back up with her godfather and Brendan. We decided to join them for dinner, and made a reservation at a restaurant. This restaurant turned out to be outside the old city, and not on the Jewish side. The signs in the area were all in Arabic and English. The first signal we were out of Jewish territory. When Emma ordered a Goldstar from the menu, my favorite Israeli beer, and they replied "We only serve Palestinian beers here", I decided using my Hebrew probably wasn't the best idea. It wasn't necessarily uncomfortable, just different. I've gotten used to being surrounded by Jews, and actually felt like the minority. In Israel. Weird.

I explained to them what some if the menu items were, and Emma and I both ordered labaneh and salmon sandwiches, basically lox and cream cheese on toast. Yuummmmy. They were asking me the same political questions Emma did, and it was nice to feel like the one in the know for a change. We had some fascinating conversations actually. I was really glad to have met them all. It was great to get to catch up with Emma. I tried to convince her to stay for the nest weekend and come to Tel Aviv, but alas, she could not.

Another exciting adventure of the week, Chels and I got free tix through her work for a dance show at the Opera House. Jaks interns there, and made several of the props for the show. It was a nice hybrid of my roommates work. Called, Rooster, it was a crazy new dance show choreographed by Barak Marshall. A mix of several stories, and really entertaining. Confusing, and a bit strange, but I tend to like that kind of thing. We met up with Chelsea's supervisor afterwards, who invited us backstage to the opening night party. We wove through the halls of the Opera House to a rehearsal studio, with a giant buffet table and little cafe tables. We met Barak Marshall and saw lots of the dancers, and enjoyed a nice free glass of wine. We go to the theatre in style around here!

Whew. Field trip time. This Tuesday we went to the Ayalon Institute in Rehovot and Palmach Museum in Tel Aviv. The Ayalon Institute is the site of the Kibbutz that disguised an underground bullet factory during the war of independence. We watched a video, then took a tour of the underground factory. We couldn't enter through the laundry as they did back then, but we entered through the bakery where they brought in equipment. We wandered through room by room, with cheesy sound effects and cut outs of people, and even learned how to make a bullet. We learned that the people living on the kibbutz who did not know what was going on under their feet were known as giraffes, and there were quite a lot of them. The factory workers had to go tanning and eat special food supplements to be and look healthy enough to keep the secret that they were working underground instead of the fields as they told people. Interesting story behind everything.

The next stop of our tour was the Palmach Museum. It is an interactive museum telling the story of a group of Palmach soldiers during the war of independence and the beginning of the I.D.F. Instead of just looking at things and reading, it was like walking through time into different rooms decorated like different environments with projected videos and various things around. I feel like the Hebrew playing overhead was much more exciting than the English translation in our headpieces, but still, a great way to experience history. I learned a lot on this trip. And I wasn't even bored doing it. That's the way it should be I feel, interesting enough that you don't realize you are learning history. Well done Sheldon Shulman, well done.

News! I got a haircut. A big one. I went to a school called Shiki Zukri Duri, for a 35 shekel cut with one of the stylists in training. Between that and the language gap, I didn't quite get what I asked for, but I am quite happy with the outcome anyways. A short bob, shortest its ever been I think, and side bangs, for the first time since I was a little kid. I like it. Different, but good. I'll post pix soon soon!

And now for your video update of the week.

Jacob's WUJS videos:
WUJS Video 5
WUJS Video 6

A video I made for work, about our company, for U of I entrepreneur week. Long story. Later. Just watch for now. Don't laugh, its a little embarrassing.
My EVE Video

And a tribute to my friend Matt Starring who died of Lukemia last week. He was in my theatre ed program at Emerson and a great kid. Very talented actor, singer, and teacher and an incredible person. Wish I could have known him better.
Mattsgiving
Matt's story

Article

2009-11-12T11:48:00.002+02:00

Article in Haaretz about programs like mine. Mike, the WUJS director is quoted.

Read it!

Enjoy.

Goat Herding and Pita Making

2009-11-11T22:26:00.000+02:00

Shalom! Had a double long Ulpan on Monday, so I'm enjoying a nice night off tonight. Figure I might as well share it with you. So what has happened this week? Can't recall if I mentioned this yet or not, but Chelsea now has a new internship at Suzanne Dellal, a dance center in Neve Tsedik, and is doing a job similar to mine. We probably even have some of the same contacts which is cool. She got free tickets to a dance show last Thursday which was really cool, a group from Korea. The 3rd and last piece of the performance was this incredible duet between 2 amazing male dancers, perfectly in sync, and was just jaw droppping. The first 2 were good, but this one was great. Really glad I went. We have tickets to another show tomorrow, one that Jaks actually worked on at the Opera House which I am really excited about. It's great that Chels is getting me back into dance!

Friday night I went out with the Birk family for Yael's birthday. The entire family was there, all of whom I had met except for Merav. It was awesome to finally meet her. We've been in touch on the phone and via facebook, but now that we have met in real life I am looking forward to making plans and getting to know her better. It's nice to get away from the "dorms" for a bit and hang out with other people so i am hoping to have plans soon. Everyone is doing well and sends their love. I even got some nice cozy socks! (I'm wearing them right now) I love getting gifts on other people's birthdays.

Saturday night, we went to a rally in Rabin Square, a memorial concert for Yitzhak Rabin. We met Michal's brother, ran into Ricky, and just sat around the crowded square listening to music and speeched in Hebrew. It was really cool to be a part of it. We got lots of שלום עכשיו stickers. The four of us went to grab ice cream, and discovered it was much cheaper to get a half kilo to share than 4 individual cups, so we each picked a flavor which the lady packed into a big tub, and we went at it with 4 spoons. Best 10 shekels I ever spent.

So, Tuesday, siyur day, was one of our best yet. It was a place called Neot Kedumim - check out their website. It is a biblical landscape reserve, and they host groups for leadership training and stuff like that. We started off with a few cheesy communication/bonding games. This place is basically covered in trees and plants mentioned in the bible. And animals. Our next exercise in communication was a sheep/goat herding challenge. The first half of our group stepped into the fenced area, and were given the task of gathering the animals and leading them from one marked circle to the next as a herd. They got off to a rough start, but eventually succeeded. They started yelling "Yalla" which means let's go in Hebrew, and used giant sticks like a staff. My group then had to re gather them together and lead them across the pasture to a hay bail, preventing them from touching or entering the marked circle. We got off to a good start, but finally failed trying to get them to walk up the hill to the hay bail. I made friends with one brown goat, who was listening to me at first, but after shoving his butt for a few minutes with him stubbornly standing there, I moved on to other tactics. We learned later that the trick is finding the natural leader of the group and getting it to move, then following behind the herd to keep them in line. We attempted this, looking for a strong looking male, but we learned that the leader is always a goat, not a sheep, and always a female. Oops. "To lead the people, walk behind them", that's what my stage management teacher always used to say. Now I really get it.

Covered in sheep yuck, it makes perfect sense that the next stop would be to make food. We all doused ourselves with purell, then were given a quick lesson on the spice zaatar. We have learned to love zaatar since moving here, and immediately recognized the smell when our guide showed us fresh hyssop leaves. We promptly chewed them. Hyssop is apparently known as the humble plant, needing very little care and providing a lot. The cedar on the other hand is the strong, dominating plant, but is very difficult to grow properly. Our guide made some serious biblical metaphors from that. She then gave us some dried leaves from the plant, to which we added some lemony sumac seeds, and crushed them with a mortar and pestle. She gave us little baggies, which we filled with our new green spice, made the obligatory "can't go through customs with this" and "200 shekels a bag" jokes, and pocketed our fresh, homemade seasoning. From there, we scrubbed up, and set out to an area covered in fire pits and circles of benches. I called fire building duty and Jamie and I camped out next to one pit, a small group of boys by another. We made a one match fire, thank you very much, and made other people gather wood. It was a good deal. Other people went to work making pita dough. We laid a metal hood over the fire, and cooked our very own fresh pitas right on it over the fire. I made 3. Sooo good. We dipped them in olive oil and our fresh made zaatar, and in date honey, which is my new favorite. Incredible snack. Our guide also helped us toast wheat over the boys fire, with olive oil, which made a popcorn like snack. Full of pita and honey and snacks, I barely ate my lunch.

After lunch, we left the reserve for The Jaffa Institute. Site! One of our WUJies interns there. It is a not-for-profit that has various programs set up to help end the cycle of poverty in Jaffa-Tel Aviv. They have after school programs with a hot lunch and homework help, job skill training classes for women, food delivery, and a ton of great stuff like that. We all volunteered, packing up boxes of dry food to be delivered to needy families. I hope someone has a good meal because of the cereal and pasta and chocolate spread I packed. After that we went to visit one of the sites of the after school programs and got to meet and play with some of the kids in the program. I forgot how much I miss teaching. I spoke to them only in Hebrew (yay!) and had a really good time. They were incredibly rowdy, and not very well behaved, but they were doing a fun code breaking/puzzle game, which I helped some of them with. A lot of people got bored or frustrated, but I jumped right in to do whatever I could. It reminded me a lot of my Coyote Playwriting class actually. I miss spending time with kids, and teaching, and all that. I e-mailed the woman in charge to see if I could come in and help out again, teach a theatre game or two, but she said she couldn't take someone who didn't speak Hebrew because the kids "need strong discipline and will take advantage of a situation where you might not understand them" Sad, but I guess I understand. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to come back to Israel and teach English or something one of these days... Still a great day regardless.

Honestly one of my favorite field trips. Homemade pita and playing with 10 year olds? What's not to love. I hope we have more siyurim like this, not so much tour based, but just cultural and fun. Love this country, as usual.

Shalom!

Work/Networking Update

2009-11-05T21:43:00.000+02:00

As promised, here is an update on what I've been up to at the internship. It is still going very well, and I am really starting to get my own responsibilities which is great. Tomer is in Paris this week, and I'm on my own with Viola. I'm I'll be e-mailing him, and have a list of questions, but it'll be nice to be independent.

So, as you probably know, most of my correspondence is with people and companies outside of Israel. I did do some good business with a woman at the New Center for Arts and Culture in no where else but the great city of Boston. And about the exact halfway point between my North End apartment and Campus. Meaning I walked past this office everyday without even knowing it existed. Nothing is finalized, but it looks like there is good potential they will book Eshet for sometime in the future, and that means I may be able to see my handiwork for myself one of these days back in the States. Yay. Also, I want to share with you a bit from an e-mail I received from a nice woman in London. Unfortunately, her company won't be able to host our show, but she was kind enough to say, "It fills the heart with much pride that such wonderful work is being created in Israel and that so much talent is to be found in this small country." Definitely posted that on our new facebook page! Facebook has been my fun new project. I asked if I could make the page because our current facebook profile is in Hebrew and deals only with local productions. Hebrew is of no use to me and my international market, so I made a new one in English focusing on the plays I am marketing abroad. Check it out here and feel free to become a fan or post a comment. I am hoping to beef it up a bit, but I think its pretty cool so far. I also made a LinkedIn page today for the company (and myself while I was at it) but I'm pretty clueless as to how the site works so I'll have to play with that one before I can really use it. Feel free to find me if you have a profile.

If you want to read a bit more about my job and the company, WUJS did a feature article about me for the website recently. Pretty cool. Read it AND my video profile is up on youtube. Watch it

Today, Amy, Mike, Ricky, and their intern Allison (all from WUJS) came to visit me at work. I got to take a little break from the computer to tell them what it is that I do exactly and a bit about the company. It was nice to fill them all in (and I felt kind of important). I also learned that Amy is teaching a theatre class for the Year Course program (MASA post high school - pre college). When I mentioned my background was in theatre education, she got excited and said we needed to talk. I hope I can offer her lesson plans or games and maybe even help out in the classroom a bit. I'll keep you posted.

Speaking of networking, I may have mentioned earlier that Ricky asked me to be on a panel at the JCCs of North America convention. The panel consisted of Me, Seth, another guy from my program, and 2 other girls, one who just made aliyah and one who completed Career Israel last year and is still here... The discussion was about how the JCCs can reach our age group, college and post college, where they felt they were lacking. They are hoping to develop more programming to bring our age group to the JCC and basically to promote Israel without relying on Taglit-Birthright. Fair enough. I haven't set foot in a JCC since Shining Lights and unless they change their programming wasn't planning on it probably until I have kids of my own. Haha. So, we told them what would bring us in. We discussed how we can get Israel news on our own, but Israeli culture would be a big draw to an organized facility. Israeli movie night (with free food and Jewish singles), an Israeli cooking class targeted to college students (with free food and Jewish singles) or a concert from an Israeli band (with free food and Jewish singles). I also explained how it could be cool to collaborate with Hillels from local colleges. That way Hillel could do cooler things with their financial support, and the JCC could get a great social database. I also mentioned how cool it would be if they hosted a theatr eproduction/workshop from Israel (hint, hint, through EVE). They all laughed, but I did manage to get the business card of one of the JCCs of America Program Directors and a local actor who works as the arts representative for Makom Haaretz, a section of the local liberal English newspaper. He invited me to see his show next week, and although I am not sure I can go, I am hoping to sit down and talk with him and see if we can collaborate at all. I would love to get him to post a story about EVE or one of our shows. Overall, it was an awesome opportunity to talk, and a great chance to network. I also feel, that as I was talking to them about Israel, and telling them my story, that I solidified a lot of thoughts that have been floating through my head. As the only one on the panel not considering or in the process of aliyah, I had a different perspective to share, but I also confirmed for myself that this won't be my last time here. Now, after spending time here, I am eligible to staff Birthright, which means an endless supply of free trips back here. Don't worry Mom, I'm not moving here, just not planning to let it get too far behind me.

That's about all for now, just a quick plug. If any of you know of any Jewish Theatres, JCCs, or anything of the sort that may be interested in hosting an Israeli production, let me know. We are hoping to do a North American tour of Eshet in late 2010/early 2011 and would love to get as many stops as possible. Shameless marketing, I know, but figure its worth asking. Check out the facebook page again for info/pix from Eshet and some of the other shows, and please pass it on to anyone you know who may be interested. Thanks a bunch! Love and miss you all : )

Another week gone by... HALLOWEEN SAMEACH!!

2009-11-01T19:29:00.000+02:00

I think this is the longest it's been since I wrote since I started this thing! Hard to think back almost a whole week.

Tuesday our siyur to the embassies was cancelled, but hopefully rescheduled soon. Instead we took a walking tour of Jaffa. I recognized a lot of things from birthright, and its a pretty port town, but overall it was pretty unstimulating. We had a bit of discussion about coexistance and the arab population within the city, but mostly just walking around seeing the sights. We did get to sleep in though, which was quite a plus. Had a nice day off to just relax and do nothing. Much needed I might add.

Wednesday, work and ulpan. Nothing too exciting. Thursday, went to work and then since our hiking in Israel information session was canceled for the THIRD time, got to take a nice nap after work. Thursday night went out with my new Israeli friends. Had my first sabich, eggplant and hard boiled egg in a pita with various toppings. Yummy. Galit would be proud.

Friday, I slept most of the day, and then went out with the gang to a club for a bit. The only reason we got in is because there were 8 American girls. The first time standing out and being obnoxious speaking English worked in our favor... It was nice, but I really miss the smoking ban. Israeli bars are much stinkier than Boston or Chicago.

Saturday, I took a sherut into Jerusalem in the morning to see Kyler again. I realize I never explained before to those of you who don't know him. Kyler was a good friend of mine from Emerson, an actor/director I worked with a lot. He graduated after junior year and recently went on a program to Tanzania to teach HIV and AIDS education to villages, and learned Swahili. Crazy, I know, but awesome. Basically, we haven't spoken in over a year, but leave it to us to reunite in Israel. I went out in the morning and my sherut driver was super nice, so he took me right to the Zion gate to meet them without charging me more. Awesome. Granted it took a bit for me to find him and his family, winding through the Old City, but we finally connected and I joined his family and some other folks from their temple trip. Kyler wasn't kidding when he said they were the youngest of the group, and the next youngest was his mother. Anyways, I followed them around a bit, then a bunch of them went back to their hotel and Kyler, his Mom, Aunt, and I ventured into the markets of the Old City. Kyler was on a mission to buy a few gifts, and also to find a rug for his new apartment in NY. He exercised his bargaining skills, and quite successfully I might add, and foudn what he was looking for. The first few rugs were way, way, out of the price range, but he finally found a nice brown and tan patterned one that was already half price according to the owner, and got him down (in dollars) from 75 to 60. Not too shabby. We grabbed a falafel/shwarma for lunch, wandered a bit more, then went back to their hotel. The David Citadel, a fancy shmancy hotel in fact. We crashed a lecture with their tour guide briefly, then we met up with the rest of their family a little later to wander Jerusalem some more, and decided to stop at a burger place. They only had dollars left, but they fortunately took credit card so we were a-ok. Kyler and I had already eaten so we had Tuborg, a beer I like here, and he attempted to sound out all the English named cocktails spelled out in Hebrew on the menu. We went back to the hotel again, and I just relaxed while they all showered and finished packing.

Lucky me, crashing a temple tour group, but I got to join them for dinner. Waiting for the bus at the hotel I explained to a lot of curious temple folk who I was and what I was doing there, and for the first time I was the token Hebrew speaker of the group, teaching random people vocab of the things in the room. I then rode the bus with them and their luggage from the hotel to Beit Ticho. It's a dairy/vegetarian restaurant, and we were served an endless supply of family style goodness. Quiches, salads, mushroom blintzes, yummy. And not to mention a large plate of various cakes to share. Delicious. Their tour guide did a closing speech, as it was the last night of their trip, and then they filed out to the bus to the airport. I had been planning on riding the bus with them from Jerusalem to the airport, as the airport is much closer to my apartment, but it turned out their travel guide guy lived in Tel Aviv and had driven to Jerusalem to meet them that night. He offered me a ride back into the city and ended up dropping me off at home. Very nice and very convenient. We talked travel plans as well, and he offered to help as I was planning Israel travel with Mom and Dad. I'll talk to you about it soon. This guy also happens to have a sister in theatre in New York, and pretty much booked Kyler an audition on the spot. Kyler is now moving to New York city one step ahead. Look at that, networking in the Holy Land.

So, I got home at a reasonable hour thanks to my tour guide friend, and had plenty of time to get ready for Halloween. Halloween in Israel, an interesting day. No one does anything really, as they have Purim, but we did manage to find a party at a bar called the Culture Club. Pretty much all Americans, but fun none the less. I dressed up as a butterfly, or par par in Hebrew. Had to be extra creative this year, and make things from what I had with minimal spending and materials, so I ended up wearing black tights, little pink shorts, a black tank top, wings made out of a bath mat, and antennas made from a blue coat hanger. The bath mat was formally feet, but I cut off the toes and the shape and pattern worked surprisingly well. Pictures coming soon. Again, I have to say, I really have learned to appreciate the smoking ban in the bars and restaurants I go to at home. It was pretty bad. Overall though, a really good night and a fun excuse to party on a work night.

Lot's more to talk about regarding work and WUJS, but I'll save that for the next entry. Halloween Sameach!

Maccabi! Maccabi! Maccabi!

2009-10-26T22:03:00.001+02:00

Sooo, Saturday night, after a long lazy day of doing nothing, we decided to go on a spontaneous field trip to the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer game against Ramat Gan. I was hesitant to go, not sure i would enjoy it, but the roomies convinced me. I decided if I was doing it, i was doing it right, so I decked out in team colors. In yellow shorts over my leggings and a blue shirt, we ventured on the bus to the stadium. We got in line to buy tickets, but found out we were on the Ramat Gan side. You couldn't even by tickets for Tel Aviv, so we walked around the stadium and waited in the much longer, much bluer and yellower line. Tickets were 80 shekels, although we found out later that girls can get in for the kids price, 40 shekels. There were less than 20 women in the entire stadium so that makes sense. Too bad we didn't know to ask for them. Oh well, next time. We got our tickets, got Maccabi scarves to fit in with the crowd and have a nice souvenir, and waited in line to get in. Security, as in most of Israel, was airport tight, and we got frisked, patted down, and every bag in my purse was opened and dug through. Guess I feel much safer knowing they do that though.

The stadium was loud, and only the Maccabi side was full. Lots of yellow and blue, very little red, just a small section on the side. The Maccabi stands on the other hand, had an entire section devoted to screaming, jumping, shirtless men. Unlike in the States, they weren't selling alcohol, so these guys were running on pure fan mayhem. They did not stop jumping and leading the crowd the entire game. Ramat Gan scored early on a penalty kick, and although they weren't playing that well, Tel Aviv picked up in the second half and won the game 3-1. Even though I hesitated, I'm glad I went. It was an awesome experience, people watching, etc, and I would definitely do it again.

Also that night, some of our WUJS friends were participating in the Nike Night Run - Human Race 10K. It was a global event that weekend, and we hoped to catch the end of the race and cheer them on. Unfortunately it was a bit late, and we didn't know where they end was. So, we decided to go to the start, Rabin Square. We pretended to run our own races, in flip flops and our crazy team spirit, and found a nice man to ask how far the finish line was. He said 10 kilometers. Haha, very funny. Direct walk, he said it was around 2K, so we started the trek. Still wearing our scarves, we literally got stopped by runners on every block asking what we soon found out meant "did we win" and "what was the score". We taught ourselves to say "3 - 1 to Tel Aviv" and made a lot of friends on the way. Lots of sweaty, fit, attractive, runner man friends. I have never had so much fun walking down the street dressed like a maniac.

When we got to Yarkon Park and the finish line, most people were done running and on their way out, but we got to see a few stragglers cross. We also, by incredible chance, ran into Harold, Sarah, Jamie, and Vivian, the 4 WUJS runners. None of them had cell phone so we weren't sure we would. They were rosy cheeked matching their fancy red t-shirts and drinking giant water bottles. Looking good. We walked around a bit, then headed back to where we came from to catch a bus home. I was tired, and all I did was walk about 5K, but it was almost midnight. What a jam packed fun adventure.

To continue the crazy weekend, Sunday I went to work, came home and took a nap, then met the group to take the bus to Jerusalem (take 3) for the Idan Raichel concert. It was a MASA event for all the MASA sponsored groups (high school in Israel, year course, post college programs like ours). They definitely had ulterior motives though, as they began the night with several speakers talking about making Aliyah and being ambassadors and advocates for Israel upon returning home, if we returned home. Don't worry, I will. But anyways, after that an Israeli dance troupe performed a mutli cultural dance number, a show choir type group performed Halleluyah, and they showed videos of 3 MASA program participants before and during their Israeli experiences. Finally, the Idan Raichel Project took the stage. Idan Raichel is an Israeli musician/singer/pianist, with amazing dreadlocks, and the group is made up of singers and musicians from several countries. They sing in several languages, including Hebrew, Spanish, and English. Definition of world music. I only knew a few songs that I had looked up in anticipation of the night, but I really really enjoyed it. First thing I did when I got home was buy a CD on iTunes. Really glad I went, opened my eyes to the genre for sure. If you get a chance, check out "Boee" or "Chalamot Shel Acharim" on youtube.

Guess I gotta go, its Chelsea's bday tomorrow and we are going up on the roof tonight to celebrate for a bit since we have a late day tomorrow. Birthday shout out if you're reading this!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELS! YOM HULEDET SAMEACH! Love from the holy land, and talk to you soon!

Jeru Take 2; A Spiritual Quest B.C.

2009-10-24T14:16:00.002+02:00

Shabbat Shalom! This may be another one that requires a cup of coffee, so put down the newspaper and get comfy.

This weekend consisted of surprise after spontaneous surprise. Firstly, I see on facebook on Wednesday Kyler Taustin "Leaving for Israel tonight". What? We quickly exchanged numbers and he called me as soon as they landed. I picked up the phone, asking if he was tired yet, because I had gotten theatre tickets. He laughed, but he and Cole, his brother, met up with the 4 of us and Tomer and his friend that night to go see "Telekinesis", a piece by one of the artists we represent, Ariel. Before the show, all the audience waited in a cafe like space, so Kyler and I got a chance to catch up. It's crazy how long its been since we've talked. Cole bonded with Michal and Chelsea over culinary arts, and we talked theatre and life. I love reunions like this. The show itself was a crazy dance/theatre/movement piece, with thankfully very little text. I can't even really explain it. Let's just say it involved some sexual imagery, balloons, red high heels, and the Single Ladies dance as perfomed by three amazing male dancers.

We didn't have much time to chat after the show, because we had the official WUJS party with the Jerusalem kids at a bar called Alice. Kyler and Cole were toooo tired, so they went home, but the 4 of us hopped a cab to the penthouse bar on the 16th floor. The bar was packed with WUJies, and several of the Israeli friends we've met along the way. Had a few drinks with Ricky, Amy, and Mike, and the gang, and made some new friends along the way. Since the Jerusalem kids were all in Tel Aviv for the party, they had hired a bus to take them back into Jerusalem at 1am. Chelsea and I were planning to trek Jerusalem for the weekend, so we made arrangements to take the bus with them and sleep on someone's couch that night to get an early start in Jeru. Perfect plan, right? Hitch a free ride? Of course it was too perfect. Apparently the only people who knew we were coming were drunky mcdrunk drunk and at 1:00 when we got outside, the bus was driving down the road. Shocked that anything in Israel would actually leave on time we ran around a bit and tried to get a hold of them, but to no avail. Angry, we hiked home instead. Glad we had been lugging our backpacks around to the theatre and bar...

We decided we were going anyways, got a good night's sleep in our own bed, and woke up early. By 9:00 we were on our way to the bus station for Jeru Take 2. We took a bus to Central Station in Jerusalem, planning our day on the way there. We brought our MASA guide to Israel and wrote down all the things that looked interesting. Both of us had gone on birthright and done most of the important tours, so this was more of an exploration day. Turned out quite well actually. We got off the bus, and found central station on the map. After wandering a bit, and not finding any streets we recognized, we asked for the first time of many, "aifo the fuck anachnu". Excuse my french. We walked into the Jerusalem Gate Hotel, where I stayed on birthright actually, and asked them to point us on the map where we were. Turns out we weren't looking at the right station, so we got our bearings and hit the road. We first ventured to an area on the map that looked like a park. We found the Supreme Court, a rose garden, a cemetery, and the Knesset. On Fridays you can only get so close to the Knesset, but we explored a bit, and latched on to an English speaking tour group for a few minutes.

We decided, to continue our spiritual quest that was one day in Jerusalem by finding the Greater Diskin Orphanage. Pappa Sel e-mailed me explaining "When my mother's sister Freda Berlin died, she remembers in her will the Greater Diskin Orphanage in Jerusalem. Each year, Roquel and I have been sending them a contribution." He requested we make a visit if ever in the area so we gave it a go. We saw Diskin street on the map, close to where we were, so we asked the Knesset Guard if he had any idea where the place may be. We had an address, but couldn't find it on the map and there was no answer to the phone number we had. The guard recommended we walk to Diskin street and asked there. We trekked uphill, asked around, and no one had any clue. We decided to get in a cab, ask if it was close, and if not just head towards the old city and give up. He said 3 km, so we went. He dropped us off on Reines street, and we went through the gate of the Beit Diskin Educational and Charitable Institution. It was a beautiful building, and we walked through the grounds to take some pictures. Within a minute or 2 a group of Yeshiva students started yelling at us in Hebrew. Not sure what they were saying, but understanding the tone, we decided taking pictures in t-shirts and shorts probably made us look a bit out of place, so we left. Unfortunately we didn't get to talk to anyone, as nothing seemed open, and we were in trouble, so we left. After looking online later we discovered the building now operates as an ultra religious boarding school. It all makes sense now. Regretting not asking the cab driver to wait for us, we made our way back to a main road through a rather religious neighborhood. We got a lot of awkward looks, and walked pretty quickly. We found a new cab and set out for the next leg of our spiritual quest.

He dropped us off just outside the Jaffa gate. We ventured into the old city and wandered through the shops on David street. We decided on the train that we were going to see the Muslim quarter that day, so we looked around for some scarves so we were dressed appropriately. Mine for my knees, Chelsea her elbows. We found some beautiful pashminas, and the salesman was a nice young guy. He offered us the 40 shekel scarves for 30 shekels. We said how about 2 for 50. He hesitated, said 55, and without us saying a nother word said Ok 50. Amazing. For 25 sheks each. Starving, from there we went to find lunch. We wandered through the old city and bit found a nice looking restaurant close by. They had no menus, so he just told us what they had. We decided on chicken shwarma and chicken kabobs to share. He told us to go get our extras from the salad bar, self serve. And asked if we wanted hummus. Thinking he meant with the shwarma I said yes. That was my first mistake. We ate our salads, he brought us hummus, and pita, and chips (fries) and our chicken, and we stared at the feast in front of us. We ate, as much as we could, then asked for the cheshbon and bags to go. The service was pretty crappy, but eventually he came to us with a calculator. He added up each individual item. Literally, each. individual. item. Despite the fact that we didn't ORDER the fries, or the salads, he just brought them, we were charged. We argued a bit, but there was only so much we could do. We paid the bill, but didn't tip. We brought home as much as we could, so at least we get 2 meals out of the outrageous cost. We also learned a valuable lesson about being American tourists...

On the train we had read about the Via Delorosa walk, where Jesus walked with the cross, and decided it could be an interesting experience. On Fridays, at 3:00, the trek was supposedly led by Monks. As long we we're here, why not follow the monks. We checked with some police men to make sure we were okay to enter the Muslim quarter today, and they said as long as we covered up we were fine. We wrapped ourselves in our new discounted scarves and followed the map. A bit lost in the maze of the old city, we saw a monk running by. He must have been late. We declared "follow that monk" and did our best to run after him. We lost him, but looked up and saw we were exactly where we wanted to be. We followed the trail backwards to the start. We found station 2, and a large crowd gathered outside of a churchy building, but couldn't find 1. We walked down a bit more and ran into a group of people discussing in English the same quandary. We joined forces and attempted to find the beginning of the trail, a Muslim school. We talked with our new friends, and discovered one of them was from Australia, spending 6 months in the Middle East reading the bible and visiting all the places he read. He had just come from 2 months in Syria and 2 months in Jordan. We assured him he was sure to find a few places here in Israel as well. The other men he was with asked where we were from. I said Chicago, he smiled so I asked where he was from. He said the Chicago area as well, Highland Park. I laughed and said Deerfield. He asked me if I knew John Scornavacco, a former DHS principle. Of course I know who he is, and he went on to tell me they graduated from HPHS together. Funny coincidences here in the holy land. We figured out at that point that the churchy building we were at before must have been the school, so we went back and latched on to the procession, now moving. There was someone leading the way, or perhaps a few people, telling the story at each stop into a microphone in about 6 languages. There was a very, very attractive monk next to us carrying a speaker. We followed the procession for a few stops, from the Muslim Quarter into the Christian Quarter, until we veered off the path into the Jewish quarter. We literally went from the "Jesus Trail" to the Kotel in 3 minutes.

We went through the metal detectors into the Kotel, watched a bit, and left our notes in the wall. Its always nice to just watch other people, wondering about their stories and backgrounds. There were lots of families with young kids too, perhaps a Friday afternoon weekly event. From there, we wandered through the Jewish Quarter a bit, just exploring a people watching, admiring the architecture. A nice man stopped us on the street and asked us, in American English if his tie was straight. Not sure how he knew we were American right off the bat, maybe we were emanating tourist, but we helped him out. Turned out to be a yeshiva student from California off to meet his parents. After sending him on his way, we exited the old city though the Zion Gate and began our urban hike to find a way home. Since no busses run on Shabbat, and sundown was approaching, we went with a Sherut. Chelsea had read you could get a sherut from Jeru to TA for 30 shekels from Zion Square. We found it on our map, and started down the ride. The sidewalk ended and we almost got hit by several tour busses, but we made it out of there. It was a loong walk, but eventually we found Zion Square. Unfortunately all we saw there was a taxi and a man shouting for rides to Tel Aviv. We asked him how much and he said 300 shekels, but for us 200. No way. Despite the fact that we said thanks and never mind, a sherut was only 30, he kept trying to convince us. I don't understand why he though he would win. A nice man overheard our battle and stepped in to tell us the sherut station was across the street and one block up. Thank you for saving us. We escaped the taxi man's clutches and found a small parking lot where 2 sheruts were parked. Tov Meod! We got in, payed our 30 sheks, and waited for the van to fill so it could take us home. An hour later, we found ourselves back at the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station. Beautiful. We had officially taken on Jerusalem in one day. Couldn't have been a better adventure. Next time, we decided, we are going to the Biblical Zoo. Can't even wait. What a great weekend.

Check out my Jeru pix!

We made it home just in time for Shabbat dinner with the group, a serious potluck style buffet on the roof. I had promised Jacob his sister could stay in my room that night, since I was originally gonna be in Tzfat for the whole weekend, but when plans changed to a day trip to Jerusalem, and I was suddenly home, I was stuck. I told her she could have my room still, and I tossed my pillow in an extra bed upstairs in Ellen's room, she was off camping for the weekend. Not too bad a deal. After dinner, we camped out for a game of Risk, in Hebrew, and although I owned all of North AND South America at one point, when we decided to break and go to bed, my troops were thinly spread over half of North America. It's gonna be a quick second half of the game when we pick back up. Can't help but think of the Seinfeld episode either... Should we have trusted the boys with the board all night? Find out next time, same blog time, same blog channel.

Why Can't We All Just Get Along!?

2009-10-21T23:49:00.001+02:00

Here I am on the first day after a crazy heat wave. Never thought I'd find myself complaining about the heat in October, but it has been in the 90s for the past three days and not fun. Our siyur was especially stuffy and sweaty, so I'm glad we were back in the 70s today. I guess I don't have much right to complain, since I hear people have seen snow already, but still. Hot.

Our siyur this week took us first to Kibbutz Metzer. Just across the road from an Arab villiage, Messer, they share water and many other things. In fact, the two communities have a strong relationship. At the same time, they face a lot of challenging differences, considering they are located right at the Green Line. The towns have a long history of working together and helping each other, despite the political and literal fences between their communities. Dov, from the Kibbutz, and Said, from Messer both spoke to us about their opinions and lives living in this torn country. Said calls himself Arab Muslim Palestinian Israeli - a complicated name. It was interesting to hear about the issues, especially for a Palestinian Israeli regarding Army service, from someone who actually lived it. We had lunch on the kibbutz as well, and then Dov took us for a walk. We walked along the Green Line, dividing Israel from the West Bank, and looked again at the security fence. He showed us the original border markers, and the new road divider, which is less of a border as it is a ceasefire line, and temporary marker. We literally had one foot in Israel and one in Palestine. As I mentioned, though, it was miserably hot and hard to focus.

After that we got back on the bus and went to Atlit, a detainee camp for illegal immigrants seeking refuge in Palestine after the Holocaust. Considering many who stayed there were recent Holocaust survivors, it was surprising how much it resembled a concentration camp with showers and a disinfectant room at the entrance. We watched a movie about a group coming over on a boat, getting caught by the British, and being sent to the camp. Supposedly, it was pretty nice considering, and although men and women were separated and quarters were tight, people were happy and not there for very long. It was simply a holding place to make sure people entering the country were at quota. Again, pretty stuffy to be touring mock ups of the barraks on such a hot day, but we made it through.

We voted in favor of stopping for glida on the way home, and the driver let 25 Americans loose is a McDonalds. My first 3 shekel cone had a hair in it, but I said "slicha, ma ze, ani lo rotzah" and they replaced it with a nice big new one and I pretended it didn't happen.

Today I went to a presentation EVE was putting on in Petah Tikvah and saw several short excerpts from some of the pieces and creators we work with. The first half was tough, pretty text based, but the second part of the show was primarily physical theatre, object theatre, etc in the form of workshops, and I really enjoyed it. Commedia dell'Arte, I know pretty well so even the parts with text I was able to follow, and the mask and physical theatre demonstrations had very little text except in the explanations which I followed pretty well too. One of the pieces was in Spanish/gibberish, which of course I am fluent in, haha. Overall, a nice Hebrew practice and fun day of theatre. I was only really lost during the Q and As at the end. I got a ride there from one of the directors and had a nice long chat about the cultural differences between Israel and elsewhere and the complete lack of formality that exists here. More on that later, but lets just say I have certainly noticed.

By the way, I got a 94% on my Ulpan quiz today. Yay!

Anyways, I'm pretty tired and need to start sleeping more. For some reason, maybe its because I am in ISRAEL and savoring every moment, I find myself cramming a lot into my days and am often tired. Oz achshav, ani tzricha lishon. Bedtime. Lila tov!

Hiking and the Hundreth

2009-10-18T23:10:00.000+02:00

I'm noticing all of my blog entries are starting to sound like a title from an episodes of Bones...

What a weekend. Despite staying up almost all night Friday, we managed to have a full day Saturday as well. I had e-mailed Tsahi earlier in the week to get ideas for a hike for Chelsea, Jaks and myself, and Saturday was the day. He gave us directions to take a cab to the end of Habarzel street, and to walk around the buildings when we saw the bagel shop. Excellent directions. The cab driver told us an amazing joke about 3 druggies that get out of prison and meet a crocodile on a hike by the river. Awesome. So, we walked around the bagel shop, found a bike path, and after calling Tsahi to confirm, ducked around the bike path and started walking along the Yarkon River on a dirt path. It was a very strange hike I must say, the river to our right, orchards to our left, and skyscrapers in the near distance. Joking that Tsahi would come check on us, Jaks looked at every biker that passed and said "Tsahi?", "Tsahi?" When we sat down, an hour or 2 in for a granola break, Jaks looked up at a biker coming towards us and said, "Tsahi?" Sure enough, it was. He told us we would probably not make the end of the trail, the Yarkon source, before dark, so he led us a different way to make sure we would get to a bus. We ended up going off the trail a bit and climbing up a dirt covered landfill, which had an amazing view. Laughing at the fact that we had just climbed a gigantic pile of garbage, Tsahi pointed out all the cities we could see around us from our trash pile lookout. Unexpectedly great afternoon!

Tsahi lead us to a bus stop in Hod HaSharon, and we called Merav to say hello and get some information about the centennial party we wanted to go to that night. Tsahi said she might know, and she proved very helpful. She helped us figure out how to get to the Port, but unfortunately was unable to join us. So we took an Egged bus into Tel Aviv, then from Arlozarov station a Dan bus to the port. We followed the masses of people to the water, not quite sure what we were going to find. We ended up walking along the promenade, where there was a crowd of people watching a street performer, some guys selling balloons, and tons of people, and we found a nice Suhi restaurant. We went to the bathroom to change out of our hiking clothes and stinky shoes, and came out fresh and ready for a nice sushi dinner. From there, we wandered down the promenade till we found the party. It was the closing celebration of all the Tel Aviv-Yafo Centennial events. There was a huge concert in a parking lot, Donna Berger and some other guy who I really liked but never quite got his name. We met up with Michal and bunch of other WUJies and moved up close to the stage to watch. After the performances, a DJ took the stage and the entire parking lot turned into a giant dance floor. There were big balloons being tossed around the crowd and tons of people dancing. This went on for quite a while before they directed everyone to a show on the water. There were giant globes with projected images from around Tel Aviv, and a movie of people projected onto a stream of water, like that show at Disney World. Cool.

Tired from our hike and spontaneous dance party, we headed home and straight to bed. It's nice to sleep in an air conditioned room for a change, instead of having to leave the door open to get the AC from the hallway.

Just got back from Israeli Movie Night with the group. We watched "Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi". Hebrew with English subtitles. Pretty good movie if I do say so myself. Highly recommended. Gotta go finish my Ulpan homework. Pictures coming soon.

In With The New...

2009-10-17T13:18:00.000+02:00

Hello from Y. L. Peretz 7! We are here, settling in to the new place, stealing internet from wherever we can get it.

So, the move itself was chaos. Not to mention waiting around all morning, but then when I finally gave up and went to work, the movers gave my roommates quite a struggle. One room was obviously a single, and Michal claimed that one no problem. The first bedroom in the apartment had an extra little closet area, so we decided it made the most sense to make that one the double, and that I would take the middle room as a single. The movers apparently declared that due to the arrangement of the doors and where the closet is located, they couldn't get 2 beds in. Great planning for a double bedroom... So, they kicked my roomies out and made decisions, and I can home to one bed, my room in the largest room with a storage closet, and Jaks and Chelsea in the middle room. Fine, no big deal, the closet is communal storage, it just feels like a waste of space that could be valuable to them. Oh well, we'll get over it. I also have no drawers now, but I found space for all my stuff and have my underwear in a box on the shelf, so its all good. We are pretty much over complaining now, and just getting settled. In all fairness, I do have a nice large single room and as guilty as I feel about it, it's very nice. The shower is also fabulous, I just miss the bathtub ledge for keeping things and shaving. Pictures of the new place to come very soon.

Anyways, to celebrate the move, and mostly the end of this limbo state we've been in for the last few weeks, we had our first Shabbat celebration in the new apartment last night. Michal and I went shopping at the Dizengoff grocery store, but not before stopping at the food market. Inside this mall is a huge market of different vendors selling homemade creations of all nationalities and types. We had a gnocchi mixture (potato, tomato, pesto, sweet potato) and spinach lasagna with mushroom sauce, a sweet potato dumpling with teriyaki sauce, and fried cauliflower. Yumm. We got a second round of food to go, which will probably be dinner today. So, after stuffing our faces, we hit the grocery store. Bought materials for this chicken mushroom risotto/rice dish Michal makes and Israeli salad. We also had a plethora of pudding, left behind by the previous tenants of Hertzl that we rediscovered while packing the kitchen, and decided to make a trifle. So we went to buy bananas. All the bananas were green, and we must have looked disappointed, because the guy offered to go in back and look for better ones for us. He came back with an equally green banana, and after saying toda raba and never mind, he pulled us back into the stock room and asked us to pick out our own. Can't say I've ever done that before, but we were able to dig and find some bananas ready for use that evening.

We had Shabbat dinner just the four of us, then met up with the boys across the hall and some of the girls upstairs for dessert and tea. The trifle was a huge success. I slaved away making 3 boxes of pudding (2 chocolate fudge, 1 vanilla) and Jaks worked hard crushing tea biscuits, and it certainly paid off. I had spoken to Amit, the security guard/medic from my birthright trip earlier in the week, and had invited him to join us that evening. When Jaks heard I was inviting a friend, she invited her friend Yoni, her cousin's neighbor whom she had met on Sukkot. A few other people invited people and it turned into a WUJS and Israeli Friends party on the roof. The best part, just wait. Yoni arrived earlier, and joined us for dessert. We went up on the roof to meet everyone, and a bit later Amit arrived. Yoni looks up and goes, "oh, that's my cousin". We just about died. The circumstances that had led to them meeting up on our roof deck had so many minute details, and we just lost it. They, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed. Israel is a small country, yes, but we still found this to be an insane coincidence. Anyways, we drank a few bottles of wine, played Set, Stores, Rummicube, Spoons, game after game and had a really great time. The boys had the hookah out, and just an all around good day. Still shocked by the random cousin reunion, we hung out until about 4am in the apartment, and sent our new friends on their way. I hope we will be seeing more of them, its nice to hang out with Israelis for a change!

So, despite the struggles and difficult move, it has turned out to be very cool all living in the same building and I look forward to more evenings like this and all the adventured yet to come. It's like being in the dorms again. Anyways, all is good, more stories soon. Lehitraot!

Out With The Old...

2009-10-15T11:54:00.001+02:00

So, here I am waiting for the movers to come take our stuff. We had to wake up at 7:30 to be ready, and Ricky came by to exchange keys promptly then, but it is now 11:30, and still no movers at our place. Hmmm... We had a nice breakfast of borekas from AM PM (our soon to be former neighbor) and ice coffees from City (our Central Perk, which will now be several blocks further away) and toasted to the move on the balcony (for the last time). Now, we are blasting 80s music and laying on our bare mattresses. Playing the waiting game.

Let me tell you a little more about this move. For those of you that know Emerson, here is a comparison. It's like moving from 100 Beacon to Piano Row. Yes, Beacon (Hertzl) was run down and old and grungy, and yes Piano Row (Peretz) is more modern and nicer looking, its just not the same. The character and homey feeling just doesn't travel to sterile white walls and perfect tile. I know it'll be nice once we are settled, but I'm really gonna miss this place. Those who haven't lived here won't understand, its just the feeling.

Things I am going to miss about Hertzl 89:
-front balcony
-neighbor stalking
-kitchen balcony with ghetto 70s table
-big bedrooms
-2 bathrooms (1 toilet, 1 sink and shower)
-Michal as my roommate : (
-a hanging rack in my closet
-the bathtub
-doing laundry in the bathtub
-AM PM downstairs for last minute stops
-City Coffee on the corner
-Casbah where we got amazing cherry drinks and pancakes and french toast (we can still go, its just a few blocks further now...)
-all the other cute little bars, gelato, and sushi stops on that strip (same thing)
-shouting down the balcony to the boys
-the laundry man who "tore up" my laundry basket

Upon arrival, I will post a new list about upgrades and things I love about the new place. Don't you worry. Until then, I'll just sit here and wait for the movers to come take my stuff away so I can go to work. And then tonight/tomorrow, unpack all my clothes and stuff. And re hang my posters. And arrange the kitchen. And who knows what else. Sorry, now I'm just whining. Let's just get this balagan over with. Talk to you from the new home! Y. L. Peretz, here we come.

Laramie Update and the Hike/Grottos

2009-10-14T15:43:00.004+02:00

Hello Hello!

I am in the process of packing everything I own in order to move the 7 blocks to the new apartment tomorrow. Taking a well needed break to update you, my loyal followers, on my week. Here goes.

Laramie Project: Very cool. I had read the script in advance, so I made a game of following along in English while I watched the reading in Hebrew. The Israeli performance was cut down slightly int he translation, so I couldn't just follow page by page, but I was able to understand enough of what was going on and recognize enough names that I could follow along rather well. I only got lost once, but I found my way again. Viola was impressed. I was especially drawn to the Russel Henderson and Aaron McKinney sections, the 2 who beat and eventually murdered Matthew Shepard. Neither have done interviews in quite some time, so even the fact that they let these members of the Tectonic Theatre Project see them was huge, let alone the things they had to say. Awesome that, through theatre, their words can reach the world. Overall, it was really great to be part of this worldwide project. Knowing people in Boston and Chicago and all over were seeing this same show with this powerful message is such a moving thought. I took a poster from the event, and as soon as we move, it'll hang in our apartment, and at home to remind me of the sheer power of theatre if nothing else.

The hike: This week's siyur took us to first to Mt. Meron in the Upper Galilee. We woke up super early. We walked to meet the bus, and found it, but the driver wasn't there. Everyone looked at me. Love it. It was about a 2-3 hour drive up north, near Tzfat. Since we left at 7am, I along with most of the group, slept on the bus. How nice. Glad I didn't actually have to drive... When the guide, Nadav, woke us up, he pointed out the mountain out the windows of the bus, and told us this was the mountain we were going to climb. Looking at this giant peak, we all looked around anxiously. He then said, don't worry, we're going to climb it in the bus. When we get to the top, we'll get out and climb down and around. Ok. Much better idea. The hike itself was really nice actually. Firstly, it was relatively shady and the surrounding area and lookout points were beautiful. Nadav pointed out the Lebanon border, telling us you could tell where Israel ends by where the tree line ends. Some of those trees he referred to may even be planted in our names, hehe. Secondly, this was the first optional hike so only people that wanted to be there and enjoyed hiking came, so there was significantly less whining. Jacob taught us an important lesson though: "pee pee tzahov, ze lo tov, pee pee lavan, metsuyan". I'll leave that to you to translate. We hiked about 2 and a half hours, then met the bus to grab our lunches and picnic outside. An awesome morning.

From there, we drove to Rosh HaNikra. I knew it had sounded familiar, but it wasn't until I got there that I recognized I had gone there with my Birthright group. We took a cable car down to the water, watched a movie that sprayed water and blew fans to match the images for effect, and wandered through the grottos. Thinking these caves were formed entirely by water really puts time in perspective. When I get a chance, I'll compare my pictures with the ones from Birthright and see how many of the same shots I took. Should be a good laugh. We also got a chance to peek through the fence at the Labanese border. We were just looking at an Israeli base, not Lebanon itself, but still worth peeking.

By this time it was late afternoon and we headed back to the bus. We took a vote whether or not we should head to the beach nearby, or just go home. I wanted to go to the beach, why not? Most people were tired though, and at a vote of 8 to 7 (thanks to many people who didn't vote...) we went home. Oh well. Took another good nap on the bus ride back, then made mushroom soup (in the kum kum) and grilled cheese upon arrival. Not sure why, considering it was 80 degrees out, but a good comfort food after a long day was kind of nice.

Click View My Gallery on the upper right to see new pix.

Now, in the process of packing. I am glad the movers don't have a bag limit, or weight limit, like the airlines, because I don't feel like trying that hard to compress. Right now I have my big duffel,my suitcase, and a few backpacks. Works for me. Let's just hope it works for them. The tough part is going to be splitting up our dressers. One has a hanging section, 1 drawer, and a few high shelves, but really no space for folded clothes. The other has several drawers and shelves, but no place to hang things. Hmmm. We're going to have to make this up as we go along, or keep things in each others rooms. Michal and I decided we are going to have Shabbat sleepovers too though, which is fun. Really, I just can't wait to get this thing over with and settle back into the new place. Next post may be from Peretz street!

Hope all is well at home. Sad I missed the poker game, but thanks for all the updates from the homefront. It's great to hear from everyone. Love you, miss you, and wish you were here. Later!

Laramie Night!

2009-10-12T19:23:00.000+02:00

In the office right now, helping set up the reception for the Laramie Project Ten Years Later: An Epilogue. I read the script, incredibly powerful, and I can't wait to see it take form tonight. In Hebrew, but still, I am excited to be a part of this worldwide project. Anyone at Emerson seeing the Majestic performance or anywhere else that is seeing the show tonight, please comment! I would love to know how it was everywhere else. I'll be sure to write later with an update after the performance.

Apartment Tour/New Video

2009-10-10T01:54:00.002+02:00

So, my friend Jacob just got a new internship doing videography for WUJS (our program), and here is his amazing first creation. It includes a video tour of our apartments to commemorate before the move (hosted by Jaks and myself), some clips from the Matisyahu concert, and a profile of Harold at his internship. Enjoy!

Watch it!

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Another Week - From Silence to Blasting Reggae

2009-10-08T19:57:00.000+02:00

I have opted to take on a new format for this entry. The following is a list of all blogworthy occurrences in the past week or so:

Michal spilled superglue on her computer.

Don't worry, it still works.

We went to see גשם של פלאפל (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, or literally Rain of Falafel) but it was only playing in Hebrew

We saw Up (למעלה) instead in English with Hebrew subtitles

We went to the Invitation to Silence Museum in Holon, a alternative sensory experience lead by deaf guides and wearing noise cancelling headphones

It was quite literally an eye opening experience, and although it had the potential to be really cheesy was actually informative and powerful.

We watched a motorcycle protest go down our street from the balcony.

Seriously, there were motorcycles filling the streets and honking for at least 4 blocks both directions. They are protesting higher insurance rates and taxes for motorcycles in Israel.

We all took a private rented bus to Jerusalem to see Matisyahu in concert.

Reggae isn't really my style, but it was still a really cool experience to see him live, and in Jerusalem of all places. Almost our entire group went, and we saw Michal's brother too.

I just found out the German show we saw in Acco was in fact an Israeli troupe pretending to be German.

They fooled me! Oh well, at least we got to dance with them.

My profile got put up on the WUJS website!

Click here to see it!

And the biggest news of all - WE'RE MOVING

None of us wanted to, and its going to suck to have to pack everything up, but the new building is much nicer and more modern. Although we won't get to spy on our neighbors anymore, it'll be nice to have the whole program living together, and we'll have the whole building to ourselves too which is cool. Pretty sure I'll have my own bedroom as well, which will be a nice upgrade. More on that later.

Quickest blog so far! That was easy. It's been a busy week, and now the weekend has arrived to just relax. Details and pictures coming soon : )

The BeJAcco Affair - Becky and Jaks take... Haifa??

2009-10-06T21:55:00.001+02:00

Hello there! As many of you know, my co-workers invited me and my roommate Jaks to join them to the Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre these past few days. I had seen signs for this festival while in Acco last summer on birthright, and was very excited to find out I was able to go this year. What we got, was more of an adventure than we had bargained for, and it turned into an amazing few days. I guess I'll start from the beginning, so grab a cup of coffee and get comfortable for this one. It's gonna be a long but exciting story.

Jaks and I left the apartment around 7:15 am, yikes, to venture to the train station. Tomer and Viola, my co-workers, were getting on to meet us at a later stop, so we were on our own. Despite leaving half of our breakfast on the bench at the station, we found it no problem, and after about 2 hours on the train, arrived up North in Acco. I guess I should begin this story by giving you the same warning Tomer gave me about this festival. It's not the most organized, and because we know many people and have helped a lot with the organization, we aren't getting tickets in advance, we are going to use our connections and play everything by ear. He said, don't be dissappointed, trust us, and roll with the punches. Fine. I can live with that. Not paying for tickets? I won't complain if we don't make our 10 shows in 2 days goal. I was excited.

So we arrived on schedule, grabbed a snack of corn on the cob from a street vendor, and found the festival grounds. This complex, beautiful old buildings surrounding the court yard, looked very familiar, and I realized that I had toured the crypt with my birthright bus. Crazy! We went to catch our first show at 11:00. Tomer and Viola hadn't picked up their badges yet, so we couldn't get into the building and it was too late to buy tickets. No big deal. We miss 1 show, there's 9 more on the schedule. We ventured into the famous Shuk instead, a large open air market with food, clothing, and basically anything you can imagine, winding through the walls of the ancient city. Within the market, is Hummus Sayid, apparently the most famous hummus in all of Israel. Despite the line, we waited a little over 20 minutes to squeeze into a table. Jaks and I shared a plain hummus with pita and a hummus ful, which has basically baked beans on top. I have to say, I'm not sure I see what all the fuss was about. Granted, it was very yummy, and the texture was the smoothest I'd ever had. "Like Butter" as Jaks said, thanks Rachel Ray. After our brief detour, we headed back to the festival grounds.

The next show on our schedule, was at 3:00. Now Tomer had received his badge, and also an extra lanyard. I had no pockets, but the plan was for Jaks to wear the lanyard to get into the building, and then we would find people who knew us inside to get seats. Plan foiled again when I couldn't get past. "Are you sure I can't just buy tickets Tomer?" "No. They owe us favors." Okay, whatever you say. 3:00 show? False. Oh well, still 8 in our plan? Hmmm. We got some fresh squeezed pomegranate juice, with so much iron in it you can feel it on your tongue, and took a seat at one of the tables set up in the courtyard. At this time, the festival organizers decided it was sunny and that they should set up some shade. Ask people to move while they string up the tent? Neh, this is Israel, let's just drag it over their heads. They won't care. Well, we didn't, but it was quite funny to sit at a table holding up the fabric so it didn't spill our drinks. If this was in the States, there would have been a lot of angry people yelling. Here, just some laughs and picture taking. I love this country.

At 4:00, we finally got in to see our first show, with physical tickets in hand. Not sure who paid for them, but we knew we could get in the door this time. The theatre space was incredible. All the underground caverns and crypts had been converted, room by room, into different theatre spaces for the Festival. Amazing to think I had been there before in the dark looking up at a ceiling covered in bats, and now was seeing a play there. "Tateh" was not a play originally on our list, but a play all the same. It turned out to be this very obscure, non realistic, very weird show entirely in Hebrew. At one point, someone ate some noodles, and there was a guy with a keyboard singing. They also sang each others cell phone rings and had some serious fog machine overuse. Jaks and I didn't understand a thing, but apparently those who spoke Hebrew were almost as lost as we were. At least we can recognize bad theatre without understanding the dialogue! "Show didn't go as planned? Oh, then let's eat." Could have been the phrase of the trip. This time we had a collection of baklava like pastries. Viola excitedly packed up a box of honey soaked sweets and we camped out outside the bakery to enjoy. We tried these bright orange ones with a cheese like substance inside, that were apparently made from carrots. We had postachio layered, and peanut layered, and everything layered flaky "dope" covered snacks. We corrected them to "dough" and taught them some new English words as they explained what each one was. See pictures to get the full effect. Basically, to sum it up, yummmm.

Our next show at 7:00 was called "Sanatorium" and was a dance theatre piece without words, so we were excited we'd have the same experience as the Hebrew speakers this time around. We had tickets again, so Jaks and I got in, but with badges Tomer and Viola had to wait until everyone was seated to see if they could get in. It turned out to be sold out, so they weren't able to get in. The show was interesting, to say the least, but a bit too long for what it was and pretty sloppy. They had this great effect with these big white curtains opening and closing at different angles to isolate different rooms in the hospital, but it really didn't live up to its potential. A good idea of a show, and great for us English speakers, but needed some work.

We got outside to find the rest them again, and were greeted with some interesting news. A. Sanatorium was supposed to be the best show in the festival. Yikes. B. They were less than impressed with the Festival organizers and our housing for the evening fell through so we were going back to Tel Aviv for the night. WHAT?? I didn't come all the way here to go home that night. Tomer and Viola attempted to explain the situation, and we understood, but decided we simply wouldn't do it. Having been told all hostels and hotels in Akko would be booked and we had no other option, Jaks and I had a private pow wow to come up with a plan. Tel Aviv; just over 2 hours, South. Haifa; about 20 minutes by train. We came to see new things, not to sleep in our own beds. We were staying in Haifa for the night whether they liked it or not. Armed with just a blackberry and a cell phone, in less than 10 minutes, we looked up a hostel, made a reservation, and hit the road. No other option you say? Ha! We came for an adventure, why not get a spontaneous vacation out of it as well? What more of an adventure could we ask for? So glad I did 4 months in Europe and knew how to do this...

Hostel office closes at 10 you say? It is currently 9? GO!

We got a cap to the train station and got on the same train as Tomer and Viola. Jaks and I left them at the Hof HaCarmel (Mount Carmel) stop. We sprinted to find a cab, read him the address, and 5 minutes later, at about 9:59 we arrived at the hostel. The beds were 97 shekels each, which isn't bad at all, and we got a clean room, shower, and included breakfast. There was only 1 other girl in our room, from Germany, about our age. She was already in bed when we got there, so we dropped off our stuff, sat outside eating our leftover hummus from the afternoon for "dinner" and then went to bed pretty early. I think we got more sleep that night than we have most of our nights at home. We knew the Haifa detour was a great plan already.

We woke up early for the buffet breakfast. This was one serious Israeli buffet. Israeli salad, with or without cheese, fried eggs, hard boiled eggs, tuna, yellow cheese, salty hard cheese (like Feta), cereal, olives, everything 2 girls on a spontaneous adventure vacation could ask for. We capped off our morning feast with hot tea, and ...pudding? I don't complain when someone offers me chocolate pudding for breakfast. Lama lo? The new catch phrase of the day. Why not?

The plan was to make our way north and meet Viola and Tomer back in Acco for the afternoon.We hopped a bus from the hostel, backpacks in hand, for the Carmel beach nearby to begin our day. Not having couldn't ruin our day. Wade in the water anyways? Lama lo? Jaks took off her leggings, down to just her short "dress" and we waded in up to my shorts, leaving our packs on the shoreline. The beach was much cleaner than the ones we go to in Tel Aviv, and definitely less crowded. In fact, the only people there seemed to be over the age of 60. Whatever. We relaxed in the sand a bit, walked through the waves, and then went out to explore. Leave it to us to find an empty outdoor amphitheater. We took turns putting on shows for the camera and a collection of confused onlookers. Jaks told the story of our adventure so far, while I chose to share the tale in the form of interpretive dance. Click to see it for yourselves. One man stopped I assume to ask what we were doing, and when we responded "anachnu lo medaberot Ivrit" he said "oh well, Hebrew is a lousy language anyways." In case I haven't said it enough, I love this country.

Some nice people we met at the bus station suggested we walk around the German Colony, or Moshava Germanit. You say it this time. Lama lo? We got on a bus and, although the bus driver didn't speak English, a very nice man told us when to get off. It was then we realized we had, again, left our leftovers behind. The rest of the pita and hummus was in the fridge at the hostel. We were unknowingly leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind. Oh well. We got off the bus at the top of the German Colony. We found ourselves in this gorgeous neighborhood, looking up at the Baha'i Gardens. We decided to start uphill and work our way down, so we began with the Gardens. The security guard at the gate was from Texas and couldn't have been older than 20. That makes perfect sense. We were only able to go up 2 levels without joining a formal guided tour which left from a different location, but that was fine with me. We watched some workers pruning the trees through the gate, and explored the areas that were open. We made friends with a local Israeli there, saying he was being a tourist for the day, discovering things he'd never seen in his own country. I'm gonna do that one of these days. We said our farewells and walked down the stairs to walk the streets in the Colony. We explored alleyways and restaurants and just had a nice leisurely stroll through the beautiful city, looking up at all the houses above us on the hill. We stumbled upon the Haifa Museum, which happened to be free for Sukkot. This days just keeps getting better. We saw images and paintings from the founding of the city, old knives and swords, early photography, and lots of old maps. The best part of the museum, though, was the security guard at the entrance. He asked to check our bags, in Hebrew, and then said something else we didn't understand. "English?" Pointing to our backpacks he replied "When will blow up?" I'm so glad they can have a sense of humor about that here.

We then looked at our Haifa map to pick our next adventure. It looked as though down by the port there was a Turkish Market. Lunch soon? Dare I say it again? Lama lo? It took us a while to find it, and it wasn't exactly what we expected, but we did pass a train station on the way. We looked inside, train to Acco at 12:50. Perfect. We can make that. I asked the woman, entirely in Hebrew, how much a ticket would cost, and thus concluded my first full Hebrew Q and A. It was only a 14 shekel ride, so we decided to go for it. Why go back to where we started when we can improvise? We had just under an hour before th train was leaving, so we went to get food. We stopped in a small storefront, Turkish I believe, and got a collection of pitas for lunch. I looked at one, asked chatzilim? (eggplant) and she nodded, so one we knew was eggplant and cheese, the other some sort of meat with onions, and the third not quite sure. It resembled tuna salad pizza. We found a nice strip of grass, a tuffet if you will and sat down to eat. After a few bites we concluded it was not in fact tuna salad pizza, but whatever it was it was good. We wandered back to our new found train station, and got on the train to Acco. BeJAcco take 2.

When we got off the train, a man was yelling "Sheirut to the Festival!". Perfection. A Sheirut is kind of a cross between a taxi and a bus, with a specific route, but more like a shared taxi van. 5 shekels. When the man told us we were there, though, we were slightly confused. All we saw were kiddie rides. Could there be a different festival? He assured us it was just down the promenade, so we got off. So glad we took the long walk there, because we watched festival workers setting up stage after stage and vendors setting up booth after booth. We had discovered the street theatre section of the Festival. We knew where we would be spending that night!

We found Tomer and Viola and they had tickets for us to 5 short plays. He told us rather than the other competition shows we were planning to see, this one had a large non-verbal part and we would understand more. It was in fact pretty cool. Tomer introduced us to the professor who's students' works were being showcased and we entered the theatre. We sat down on a large rug facing the stage. After the first show, they announced something in Hebrew which we watched around us and concluded it meant, "turn around". The next show took place in a different space on the other side. This one was my favorite of all of them, and was completely no text, and very symbolic. For the next piece, we again followed the crowd and were lead outside the theatre to a dinner table. The actress served food to the audience members while delivering a monologue about her brother who had died in the army. We were very confused at the time, but the explanation Tomer gave us afterwards helped us piece it together. The next one, facing the stage again, involved a giant house of cards. Didn't understand the monologue, but I think got the basics as to what it was about. The last piece involved a Marilyn Monroe character in some strange contraption, and I think might have come close to making sense if we understood the recorded voices. Oh well. Can't get 'em all.

We wandered through the alleys of Acco a bit more while waiting for Tomer and Viola to get out of "Sanatorium" which they had missed the previous day, and had some dates and banana chips from a stand at the Shuk. At 6:00, we were supposed to go see Viola's show. It was an open room, with the 5 actors spread out and you walked around for one-on-one monologues. The only one that was in English, happened to be the actress we had come with, so of course we wanted to go. We knew only that the show was called StageFright in English, so we asked around to try to find the space. No one seemed to know, and we discovered we were pointing to the wrong picture in the booklet. A nice guy who had seen us circling the grounds looking lost offered to help and we together found Viola's name in the program and figure out which show. Succesful, yes, but he then sent us to a theatre down by the waterfront where we had seen the street theatre shows setting up. Ok... We walked all the way there, and no one seemed to know where it was. We decided to just hang out there and wait for Tomer to get out of his show to take us to see Viola. Soo glad we did, because the street shows turned out to be the best part.

We had only pictures to help us choose, so we looked at times and found things that looked interesting. It was almost easier to just wander the promenade until something looked interesting. We saw a crazy dance piece where the dancers were in a tide pool just off the shore. Talk about creating art to fit the theatre. We saw some antelope creatures in gorgeous masks dancing through the streets on stilts. There was a parade of scary puppet children. We found a kids show of a monkey-man in a cage trying to get bananas. We read the Hebrew, and discovered it was Tarzan. Although we stood in the back with the adults, we cheered him on screaming the Tarzan wail with the kids up front. This guy was so strong, swinging back and forth in the cage on a harness around his waste. We waited until he acrobatically got his bananas, cheered, and then went to find a show we had picked out from the book. All we knew was what we got from reading the Hebrew title "פלופנבאך וצופנהיים" Plupenvach and Tzopenheim? Flufenvach and Tzufenheim? Sounded German, and looked cool. We knew we were there when we heard the extremely German music. Flufenbach and Zufenheim turned out to be the best find of the weekend. It was a cast of actors, all with Hitler mustaches, dressed stereotypically German, and speaking only German. We watched them do several hilarious scenes, and very animatedly squeeze orange juice. They called out for volunteers and next thing I knew I was onstage helping them. I was the orange inspector. It ended with a game of something like Simon Says, and I was a little slow. A very nice, crazy, German man helped me out. See for yourself! Thanks Jaks for getting the ENTIRE thing on camera. When I figured out he was asking me, in German, for my name, I told him. Later in the show called me back onstage by name. Of course. This time Jaks was up as well and I didn't have time to leave my bag behind. In the middle of dancing with my crazy German friend, the program that had been tucked into my purse fell out, and he twirled on top of it, breaking the staple and scattering the pages everywhere. The actors proceeded to kick pages of my book all across the stage, dancing and tripping right over them, and laughing. Next thing I knew, my dance partner had a "gun" to my head and was yelling at me in German, probably for the mess I had made. The other actors protected me though, don't worry. Wish we could have gotten that one on film, but Jaks was busy dancing with the fat man, who resembled William Barfey from Putnam County Spelling Bee. I did get a cool sticker though for my troubles. Great find, great find.

We decided to make our way back to the main festival center to meet up with Tomer and see Viola's monologue. We were unable to get back though, due to a blockade in the road. Knowing Israel and large crowds, we had our assumptions as to what was going on. We walked away to get some food, I had a gooey banana crepe with caramel and coconut. Sitting on a rock, eating, waiting for the blockade to clear, an announcement came on. I didn't understand anything other than, "we don't know how long", so we assumed it was about the road block. Not sure what they said, but when a huge boom sounded 5 minutes later, we seemed to be the only ones in shock. Either the Israeli public is used to bomb diversions and were unfazed, or they announced what it was and that there was nothing to worry about, but either way we stood out like a sore thumb. Never will know what the announcement was about or the mysterious piercing boom. Maybe its better that way.

Just a few minutes later, they were letting people through again, and we found Viola's show, in the exact spot we had first looked. Her monologue was a sweet Israeli's broken English plea for funding and support for culture in Israel to the wealthy foreigner, complete with bar graphs and an American song. Adorable, and a really great character for her. Being 5 months pregnant didn't hurt either. We waited for her to finish her last performance of the evening, and then boogied to the train station. We got there with about 10 minutes to spare before the last train after a difficult time getting a cab, and discovered the rest of the actors from Viola's show were not there. Viola explained the situation to the conductor, but fortunately they pulled up just in time and we all boarded the train back to Tel Aviv. I was exhausted after a jam-packed amazing day, and Jaks slept most of the way. We got to the Tel Aviv station around midnight, spotted our bus across the street, ran, and headed home. Of course that couldn't be the end of our adventurous day. An orthodox family, with 6 kids between the ages of 1 and 10 got on the bus with us. They were all dressed alike in plaid tops and navy bottoms, except for one boy, in a cute little vest and tie, and all with matching peyos. One slept in a stroller in the aisle. What 6 young kids were doing up at that hour I will never know. Ima and the oldest child, the only daughter sat across from us, with the youngest in her lap. The cute little one decided my backpack was his private foot rest. I didn't mind at all, but the sister kept laughing she watched him him kick my backpack and rest his feet in my lap the entire ride. Within 5 minutes 2 of the kids were asleep, one passed out leaning on a stranger in the seat behind me. When the the mother noticed, instead of going to pick him up, she proceeded to burst out laughing. We all shared a nice giggle, but the man-pillow looked less excited. Only in Israel.

We arrived home not long after that. What better ending for our 2 day adventure. We dubbed the trip a "balagan yafe" or "beautiful mess". Honestly, though, I wouldn't have had it any other way. So what if the Festival shows were less than impressive. The street shows turned out to be the best part! So what if our plans changed last minute. We got to tour Haifa on a whim! An incredible experience, and lasting memory for sure. I'm exhausted, but it was worth every minute. Please check out the pictures! I'm going to take a nap.

We Are Gonna Build A Sukkah (Sukkah)

2009-10-03T14:54:00.000+02:00

Sukkot! A forgotten holiday at home! I remember when we used to build our Sukkah every year, order chinese food, and eat outside every night. What an awesome time that was when we were little. Things seem to have gotten busy in the last few years, because its been a while since we put it up. This year, the holiday really came back to me. We don't even have Ulpan this week, that is how prominent the holiday is here. Welcome back into my life Sukkot!

My first encounter regarding Sukkot was ont he way home from work. Crossing through Rabin Square to catch my bus, I found myself in the middle of a Sukkot Market. Stand after stand, selling nothing but lulovs, etrogs, and sukkah decorations. Awesome. I wish I had an excuse to buy everything. There was an etrog inspector, who checked and smelled and approved of everyone's purchase before getting it boxed up. In my excited picture taking of the market, I hear my name and look up to see 2 other WUJS friends, Sarah and Harold also exploring. We looked around together a bit more and even went into the kids section. Harold avidly watched the puppet show and Sarah and I made crafts at the kids table. We made little foil etchings of a smiley lulav and etrog pair. See pictures. The best part about this chance encounter, was when we heard our name called out again. Jaks had been riding the bus home from work, seen us out the bus window, and darted off to join us. Our happy little family wandered around a bit more, then we headed home.

We went out that night with one of Jaks' friends Meytal and a few people from our program, Sarah, Jacob, and Chelsea. We decided to explore a new neighborhood and found some cute bars not too far from us. I have to say though, I really miss the smoking ban...

Friday, many of the people on our program had gone to be with family for the holiday or gotten a host family, but I decided to stay back and just take it easy. Chelsea and I decided to cook a Sukkot meal for ourselves, and went to work menu planning. We decided, since it was Sukkot, we had to base our meal about fruits and vegetables. We settled on quinoa salad with mango. Chelsea had bought quinoa a while back, and my mind kept drifting back to this dish I used to get in the dining hall at Emerson. I never thought I would be making recipes inspired by a cafeteria, but I had this memory of quinoa salad with green onion, mango, etc. We googled around, and found a recipe that sounded good. Scallions, mangos, cilantro, lime, paprika, what could be bad? We went to the shuk, bought the necessary ingredients, and came back to start the cooking process. While cooking, we watched the Olympic votes. Sad to see Chicago get eliminated first, but ohhh well. We decided we needed a makeshift sukkah of some sort, so we strung up some ribbon on our porch and hung necklaces and jewelry and sparkly things. Its no plastic fruit, but it served its purpose. Leehe, our sukkah guest, came over and we feasted on our themed meal, the quinoa salad, lime marinated chicken, and mango juice in our pretend sukkah. Sooo good. In fact, I am eating leftover salad right now, soo glad we doubled the recipe. Since is was Shabbat we lit candles, said the kiddush over our mango juice (its fruit, it counts) and had challah. I am really enjoying our shabbat traditions.

After dinner, we sat down for a game of Texas Hold 'Em. Leehe had never played before, so we taught her. The challenge, though, was playing a poker game without chips. We searched around the apartment for something we had a lot of, and concluded on agorot (Shekel cents), razor blade refills (multiple brands), and credit cards/giftcards. It was pretty funny actually. We played a nice long game, and when Chelsea got out I gave her a nice loan, considering I was rolling is razor blades. She made an amazing comeback actually, wiped Leehe out, and we went head to head. After a long time of going back and forth with the lead, we called it a day and ended the game. Technically, I won because she should have been out a while ago, but we got bored and stopped before finding a real winner. She's gonna laugh if she sees I typed that.

After poker, we watched some episodes of Glee. Stupid show, but I have to admit I enjoy it. Somehow it became 1 am, and we headed to bed for our weekly sleep as late as you can on Shabbat. Now, just taking a nice relaxing day, and may even leave the apartment eventually. We should adopt this Shabbat resting day at home, its quite nice. That's all for now. Check out pix of our Sukkot adventures on the picture site. Later!

Wine Before Noon

2009-10-03T14:25:00.000+02:00

I realize I never wrote about me field trip last week! This will be a quick one.

Chelsea wasn't able to join us this week, she was taking her LSATs. We wished her good luck and hit the road. We left early as usual, and after a bit of a bus ride up North we arrived at a gorgeous Binyamina winery. We got off the bus, filed in, and all started taking pix and taking in the surroundings. About 5 minutes later, after talking with the guides, Ricky called for us all to get back on the bus. Apparently, we were at the wrong winery. There are 2 in the town.

Anyways, we drove a bit more and arrived at Tishbi Winery. We got a tour of the facilities, learned a bit about the process of wine and brandy making, and saw all the barrels and presses etc. We then sat under this gorgeous leaf covered terrace and had a wine tasting. She showed us how to properly open a bottle of wine, as well as the steps to a tasting. I feel like I can be really cool at a restaurant now! We tasted a semi-dry white French Reisling, 2 Cabernet Sauvignons, 1 aged in oak barrels one not to see if we could taste the difference, and a delicious sweet dessert wine, Muscat. She gave us the option of spitting the wine into the tub things or drinking it. It was about 11am, so we did a combination of both. It was a nice relaxing morning, and we learned some really cool stuff.

Our next stop was interesting, but not my favorite of our trips so far. We went to the Ahronson house and the N.I.L.L museum. N.I.L.I. or נ.י.ל.י is an acronym for נצח ישראל לא ישקר or in English, "The Eternity of Israel will not lie". It was basically an underground movement to help liberate Palestine from the Turks during the Ottoman Empire. We watched a movie learning about the movement and the important figures, mostly members of the Ahronson family and their associates, and then got a tour of their houses on the estate. Although it wasn't the most exciting our our trips, I am glad I learned about this new part of history I was pretty unfamiliar with before.

On the way home, we got stuck in horrible traffic behind a truck that had overturned on a ramp. We sat in the same place for probably 45 minutes before moving an inch. Needless to say we all got a nice nap time on the bus. I watched an old Grey's Anatomy on my ipod. When we finally got home, we had our group meeting. We always have them Tuesdays after the siyurim. We played Jeopardy that Ricky had made with the categories Israel, Tel Aviv, Florentine, WUJS, Staff, and Other. Some of the questions were really easy, like "what they sell on our street" (furniture, furniture, and only furniture) or "What is Becky's boss's name" was one of the questions since most people had met him, but many were really hard, "What is Mike's (our program leader who we've met once) wife's name". It was fun and I was surprised by how much we knew about our neeghborhood and about Israel so far. Ricky passed out our 1 month goals that we wrote on the first day to see if we accomplished them. I wrote "see a play in Hebrew and get a basic understanding". I did see a show in Hebrew, but it had English subtitles. Does that count? I don't know, but it was shocking to conclude we had been here a whole month already. Time is flying by, but I am savoring every moment.

Empty Streets and Puzzles for Yom Kippur

2009-09-29T22:28:00.000+02:00

This week has really put the holidays into a new perspective. It started out with another group Shabbat dinner Friday night. We made chicken schnitzle this time, and as usual, the food was a big hit. We capped off the night by all sitting around singing, Jaks and Sarah on guitar, and starting a jigsaw puzzle. Let me explain this puzzle; put it in perspective. 500 pieces, all black and white (what was Harold thinking), of an Eiffel Tower scene. Let's just say we worked for 5 hours Friday night, until my back was sore and our eyes hurt to much to keep going. We were about 2/3 done... Never thought I would get sore from puzzle doing, but this was the olympic trials...

Saturday was another wonderful beach day, after sleeping till about 1:00, our first sheirut trip, and then my first real theatre adventure in Tel Aviv. Tomer got Jaks and I tickets to 'Thrill My Heart" at Cameri theatre, one of the biggest commercial theatres in the city. The Opera House, where Jaks interns is in the same complex, but we still found ourselves arriving not quite sure what to do. Tomer had called me earlier saying we had tickets on reserve, but they were in the balcony which wasn't good enough, so we were to ask for Ron when we arrived. We asked around until someone knew Ron, and explained ourselves several times until Ron knew what we were asking, and the kind usher helped us find better seats. We were still on the balcony but front and center, so it was all good. The show was in Hebrew, but one of the special nights with English projected subtitles. Cool, but I definitely think some of the jokes were lost in translation. Timing was also not quite right the whole time, so sometimes people would burst into laughter and we had already read the punchline, so we missed the laugh. It was still a great experience though, and I'll definitely go back.

After the show we headed to meet some of the boys at this bar called Mike's Place on the beach. As it sounds, Mike's place is quite American, and literally next to the embassy. I changed into my Red Sox shirt upon arrival, to match Matt my fellow Bostonian, and we all watched the Red Sox/Yankees game. We were definitely more into the game than anyone else there, but it was fun to feel like we were back home for a few hours. There we met a British and an Australian tourist who mentioned they were heading to Jerusalem the next day. Neither were Jewish, so we warned them about touring around on Yom Kippur. We explained how absolutely nothing would be open and no busses or cars would be going, but told them it would also be a very unique experience. I wish I could check in with them to see how it was. As prepared as we were though, experiencing Yom Kippur in Israel was a very unique experience.

We got together with some of the others in the Herzl apartments for burrito night, early, on erev Yom Kippur. A food we had all been missing and craving, and I have never been so excited to have real cheddar cheese. We finished the puzzle that night, another 3-4 hour endeavor that culminated in 3 pieces left with 4 spots, but Harold quickly found the last one under the couch using the headlamp, which we all placed in together as we belted "We Are the Champions." Epic. We then headed out in to the streets to see what all the fuss was about. As we had been told, there was not a store open and not a car in sight. We went for a walk, down the middle of the street of course, along with half the city. Many people, especially kids, rode their bikes around the empty streets. We went for a long walk, Chelsea and I found ourselves doing pirouettes in the middle of the busiest intersection in our neighborhood, Yaffo and Ha'Aliyah. At one point, we all laid down with our heads in a circle, just staring up and watching the traffic lights change. This lasted a good 20 minutes. Some man on a bicycle rode several circles around us too, quite strange. We decided he either put a curse on us, or sealed us in the book of life. One of the two. We played some cheesy games in the road, just cause we could, including human knot and some trust circles. I have never enjoyed being a dork quite as much as I did that night. When we started getting hungry, and completed our victory celebration, we went to bed, preparing for a unique and special Yom Kippur.

Since none of us were going to shul the next day, since most people around here weren't, we aimed to sleep in as late as we possibly could. I woke up around noon, but stayed in bed for another few hours watching tv on my computer and reading. By 3:00, I decided it was time to start my day so I got up and showered and prepped for break fast. It made for a very different kind of fast. I was hungry of course, but really able to just think about it and think about myself, making the holiday more personal and special than it has been in the past. We left the apartment a little before sundown to walk the streets a little more, taking advantage of the empty quiet, and decided to find some synagogues in the area. We listened outside of one for a while, before moving on to find another. This one had the door open, and there were quite a lot of people gathered outside. Jaks and I decided to stick around and wait for the Shofar, which was another 20-30 minutes, but worth it. When we heard the shofar, everyone gathered around the door and stood in the street. Since it was just past sundown, cars were starting up, and a car turned to pull down the street where we were all standing. No one even looked up, and no one moved. The car was given no choice, and eventually backed up and out of the way. Powerful. When the shofar was done, we made our way to the new apartments for break fast, running into Jacob and Spencer (the 2 from our group who did go to shul) outside of services. They kindly grabbed up dates and cookies from inside, the best juciest date I have ever had in my life mind you, and we broke the fast. At the new apartments they had a buffet set up in one apartment and a long table in the other. Lox and bagels, kugul, fruits, cake, burekas, eggs; an endless spread of Jew food. All the traditional break fast items I could have hoped for. We all ate our little hearts out, had another wonderful sing along, this time with almost the whole group and a great collection of classics, and reflected on our new found appreciation for Yom Kippur. Not a happy holiday, but a time to truly reflect. This year has given me a whole new perspective, and will definitely change the way I view the day. So far I am enjoying this spiritual yet secular take Tel Aviv has on the holidays. In fact, I am enjoying everything about Tel Aviv. I can't believe we've already been here a month! Wow. Time certainly flies, but I am loving every minute. Hope everyone else had a meaningful fast as well! Back to work tomorrow after a nice long weekend. Talk later!

Work Week, and a Wedding!

2009-09-25T18:48:00.000+03:00

I'm just going to start out by saying that I am proud of myself for writing this much. When I left I wasn't sure I would, but I'm really enjoying telling all my stories, and I hope you enjoy reading them.

So this has been another awesome week here. We had more sushi (right down the street!), more gelato, watched some House, and even had a mixer with some students from Tel Aviv University. Some of them came out with us after the event, and showed us some new places around town. Very cool. In addition to a great week of social events, I've had an awesome week of work as well.

For those of you who don't know what I do at my internship, let me explain. I'm working for the Association of Independent Theatre Creators in Israel, specifically heading up the International department. My job is to research and get in contact with theatre/dance/puppetry festivals as well as Jewish theatres all over the world, and spread the word about Israeli theatre. We represent a lot of the fringe and independent theatre creators all over Israel, so lot so different types and genres. I spent most of my time so far researching and making lists of festivals. Half of the time, researching one festival would lead me to a new list of festivals to browse, leading me to new ones, and I found myself making lists from a never ending supply of lists. Then the best part, I found a list, in the same format as mine, with almost 400 puppet festivals on it. Most of it was in Czech, and a lot of information was missing, but it gave me a nice head start. I called it my "czech list". Once I had made a big dent in the festival seeking, I started getting in contact with them, and later sending out dvds and postcards and info sheets about our shows. Office work, but certainly tolerable.

This week, though, I scheduled a meeting with one of the artists, Michal, to talk about her show and how to market it to festivals, what she was looking for, etc. It turned out I led the whole meeting by myself, Tomer was there for about 15 minutes of our hour and a half together. It really feels good to know he has enough trust in me to get things done by myself. I knew it was gonna be a good day when she walked in with a Wizard of Oz themed purse. I complimented her on it, and she asked if I like the movie. When I excitedly said yes, she showed me her ruby slipper necklace. I responded by showing her the ruby slipper bracelet I was wearing. It was perfect. We chatted a bit, and had a very successful meeting. It was a good day!

That same day, I found out about a great project we are working on involving The Laramie Project, a play I know and love. Laramie Project tells the stories of residents of Laramie, Wyoming surrounding the events following Matthew Shepard's death in a documentary style play. Now, 10 years later, members of the Tectonic Theatre Project have gone back to the town to get back in contact with those people, and reinterview them about how the town has changed now in the aftermath. These interviews have been made in to a new play, the Epilogue, and the piece is being performed in almost 150 theatres all over the world on the same day, October 12th, the 11th anniversary of the murder. We are acting as the producing organization for the Israeli cast. I am really glad to be a part of such a powerful project, and can't wait to find out more about it. The Lincoln Center performance and event in NY will be streamed live on the internet as well, so we can all be a part of this moment together. I'll post information here closer to then for those interested in watching.

Other big event of the week, following the W theme, a Wedding!! Yehudith invited me to join her and the rest of the family to a wedding this morning. Einat picked me up in Tel Aviv, and we made a quick stop at the hospital where she works on the way. We went to visit a 4 year old boy who had major heart surgery that she oversaw on eve of Rosh Hashanah. He seemed a little down in spirit, but was recovering and they were optimistic he would overcome the complications. The children's hospital, and the ward we went to, was full of tiny tiny babies, all hooked up to lots of equipment and tubing. Sad, but many of them were active and smiling. After a quick tour of the cardio ward, we went to pick of Tsahi. He broke down my relationship to the groom on the car ride there. Once I remember, I'll write about it...

Anyways, the wedding was a wonderful experience. We arrived to appetizers outside. I was surprised to see many people in jeans, but I guess I have to get used to the casual style here. The chuppa was gorgeous, white and soft, blowing in the breeze, with a small lake in the background. I am not sure I followed the entire ceremony, but I can comment it was incredibly quick. Parents of the bride and groom walked down the aisle, then the bride and groom, said some blessings, read the ketubbah, kissed, broke a glass, the end. All to an awesome Beatles soundtrack. How nice! The we went inside to a beautiful building for the reception. They had sushi, as any good wedding should, and an awesome buffet. I met a ton of new cousins, of all generations, including my 4th cousin Johnathan who got out of the army... wait for it... yesterday! I also met a distant cousin who went to school in the States at Brandeis, and said he took a screenwriting class at Emerson! How weird! It was great to get to fill in more of the family tree, which was again a HUGE hit. Thanks Pappa! And just nice to see people. Feels good to know there is family close by.

On that note, I'm going to go finish up dinner for Shabbat with the gang, and head out. Shabbat Shalom and happy fasting until we meet again!

This One Time... On the Gaza Strip...

2009-09-22T19:00:00.000+03:00

Yes. Today was the Siyur we've all been thinking about. I am home safe and sound, but it has been a very interesting, enlightening, and emotional day. I'll start from the beginning.

We left our apartments at 9 this morning, picked up Sheldon, our guide, as well as our good friend the medic and his gun, and headed to Sderot. I was familiar with the name of the town, because it is the known target of Qassam rockets, and not very far from Gaza, but never thought I would find myself there. In fact, the city is about a mile away from the border, meaning you have maximum of 15 seconds from the moment the Tzeva Adom or Color Red alarm sounds to run to a bomb shelter. The air had been clear for about a month, until this past Sunday when two rockets were launched and the alert sounded. This left us Americans a little nervous to enter the zone, but we trusted our guides and prayed for clear skies. The first thing they did when we got off the bus in Sderot was point out the nearest shelter and explained what to do should the Tzeva Adom alert sound. There were small bomb shelters at every bus stop, and in all of the schools and city buildings, including the building where we began our tour. The conference table we sat at was the location where police, fire men, government officials, etc meet up during days of heavy fire, to discuss options and make plans. Around the very same table, we met with a representative from the Sderot Media Center (Jacob, who recently made Aliyah from Maryland) who explained to us the feeling of being in constant fear of attack, daily life in Sderot. He showed us several videos of children running for the shelter and people of the town dealing with the missile threat. Some of them you may be able to see on their website, http://sderotmedia.org.il/ It was a very eye opening experience. Many children experience post traumatic stress disorder at a very young age, and the town exists in a constant psychological state of terror. The trauma hospitals are losing funding quickly. One thing he shared with us that I really connected to was the use of theatre as therapy. A group of high school girls have formed a troupe, and created a theatre piece telling their story and sharing their feelings. The play is called Youth of the Qassam Way. I picked up a few articles about it, and will definitely read up on the project. If I can get the guts to head back to Sderot, maybe I'll even go see a performance.

The next person to talk to us was a woman named Shula, whose house had been directly hit in one of the most recent attacks. She explained the us the situation her family was now in, and how the government compensated, but didn't come close to covering the expenses required to rebuild her house and her life. She spoke Hebrew and Jacob translated as she shared her story with us. At the end, they opened up for questions, and we of course asked why she didn't move. She explained very simply that this was where her family was, and that this was the town she knew and loved. Hard to imagine, but hearing it from a woman who lived and breathed this lifestyle is the closest I'll ever get to understanding for myself.

After that, we went to the police station to see the missile museum. Its basically a large shelving unit full, and I mean full of missiles, fragments, and remnants of the rockets that had landed there over the years. We were able to see them up close and personal, including the one that had destroyed the house of the woman we just met. Yikes. From there we walked through the streets a bit, all a little anxious I'll admit. Sheldon, our guide, told us it was the same street Obama had walked during his visit last year. We were able to see some houses with bomb shelters in their backyards, and some houses with roofs being fixed from previous attacks. He told us that every house on the street had taken a direct hit at least once over the past 8 years. We turned a corner to approach a school, and were surprised to find bomb shelters decorated and built to blend in with the playground equipment. A giant yellow caterpillar in the park, for play as well as for protection. Something so foreign to most of us, yet such an expected sight around Sderot.

We got back on the bus and rode to a field near Nir'am. We were told to get off the bus, and leave our cameras behind. We found ourselves looking over the border into Gaza, able to see the buildings of the city and surrounding towns. We could see the fence surrounding the region, and the power station in nearby Ashkelon that provided the power for both the Israeli city and for Gaza. If I didn't know any different, it may have looked like a city I would have wanted to visit, or even live in. Its just painful to think of how beautiful a region it could be for tourists and locals alike if only some sort of solution and peace could be reached. Sheldon then told us we couldn't take cameras due to possible snipers int he area, and we all scurried quickly back to the bus.

Next stop was Yad Mordechai, a kibbutz and museum not too far from there. The kibbutz was named for Mordechai Anilewicz, who led the uprising from the Warsaw Ghetto. This kibbutz and town was also the site of a major battle, and basically the last stop preventing the capture of Tel Aviv. A guide showed us around the museum, both commemorating Mordechai Anilewicz and the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, and the history of the town and the battle there. Part of the museum included a mock up of a bunker like the one Mordechai would have lived and planned in, and a clip from the movie "Uprising". Outside the museum was a staging of the battle with metal soldiers in the field where the fights had taken place. Nearby was a giant statue of Mordechai Anilewicz. Also part of the kibbutz, a cemetery for those who fell in the War of Independence. Quite a touching experience.

We rode the bus home with a new frame of mind. Having experienced the fear of terror firsthand, seen the Gaza Strip for ourselves, and witnessed a major site in a war that helped make Israel what it now is, all the lectures Sheldon had given and all the history and current events we had learned had a new life to them. I can say I'll be paying better attention now that I have the personal connection. Overall, it was a tough day, and quite scary at times, but I learned a lot and I am very glad I went. I have now lived to tell the tale of a trip to both the West Bank and to the Gaza border, and in addition to a new sense of trust in Ricky and Sheldon, I have a new personal relationship with the conflict and with the state of Israel. I can't believe I've only been here 3 weeks, and already have crammed so much into my time. Your eyes are probably tired, so I'll stop here, but I'll check in again soon. Pictures from today and earlier trips/adventures are posted on my photo site at http://picasaweb.google.com/price.rebeccaa. Check them out, and feel free to comment here, there, or send me an e-mail. Can't wait to hear from you all! Love from the Holyland!

1 Cousin, 2 Cousins, Old Cousins, New Cousins

2009-09-20T20:33:00.000+03:00

Happy New Year!

I just got back from a wonderful weekend of Rosh Hashanah celebrations, eating, meeting family, eating again, and meeting more family. It was fantastic. I went to stay with Tsachi, Einat, and Yael in Hod Hasharon for the weekend, my 3rd cousins once removed and 4th cousin respectively. I know this because of the wonderful family tree Papa Sel made me before I left. There was a long letter outlining the family history of the Prusanski (Price) as well that we all enjoyed reading very much. I met several other members of the family as well at Rosh Hashanah dinner, including Yehudith, Ohad and Michael. Dinner was delicious, and the company was great. My favorite part was chatting with the little cousins. Their English was about as good as my Hebrew, so we had great conversations helping each other practice. One girl, Noa, was 13 and really had great English, and she insisted that she talked to me in English and I answer in Hebrew. It was fun and I learned something as well. I'll have to do this more often to supplement my Ulpan.

The weekend itself was quite nice as a whole as well. Merav, their 24 year old daughter is currently in California, so I stayed in her bedroom and had my own room, bathroom, and TV. It was my first TV since I got here so I hate to admit how much I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the opportunity to relax and have my own space, and even though I had just met them it was nice to be with family.

Tsachi also took me on a bike ride on Saturday. It was my first Rosh Hashanah not in shul, so I figure I would do something different and give it a go. I've done my share of biking, but this was certainly not a beginners trail. He gave me a few options, and I chose a path to Jerusalem. Granted, I thought I chose a path. Path in my words means paved and maybe uphill, but smooth pavement. This was not only uphill, but also gravel, rocks, and sand. It was a little rough, and my knees are certainly angry at me right now, but it was beautiful so worth it in the end. After several hours of the uphill and "flat" riding, we got to the outskirts of Jerusalem and decided to take a road back. We rode the whole way back downhill on the road, coasting and just letting the bike go. I have to say I enjoyed that more. Oh! How could I forget to mention the rain. I happened to be riding my bike through the first rain of the season in Israel. As soon as it started I could hear cheers. In the end, I was exhausted and sore and wet, but it was a great adventure.

I spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, reading, and working on my Hebrew as I attempted to understand the conversations going on around me. They would switch back and forth from English to Hebrew and sometimes stop to translate, usually when something was funny and everyone laughed but me, but I also enjoyed just picking out the words I knew and trying to piece things together. It was a nice challenge and helped my Hebrew skills for sure. Overall, it was a great weekend and I will definitely be back to spend more time with them. Nice to know I have a house to escape to if I ever need to get away.

Hope everyone had a great Rosh Hashanah. Shana Tova and have a happy, healthy, and exciting new year.

Photos

2009-09-17T18:43:00.001+03:00

My photo website is now up and running!

My Photos!

I'll try to post a link here whenever I add a new album.

Enjoy!

.

Art and Archetechture

2009-09-17T12:46:00.000+03:00

I got the day off today, a loong weekend for the holiday, so the plan is as follows: sleep in (it is now 11:20, CHECK), blog (in progress, obviously), laundry, relax. Can't beat that. So here's what's been going on since I last wrote.

I finally met Jen! My long lost cousin as I've been describing her. Since we never met up when I arrived to the the flight delay incident, we made plans to meet up the other night. A bunch of people from WUJS were going to a beach party, and afterwards several of us went to meet up with her and osme of her Tel Aviv U friends to see one of their classmates play at a bar. It was called the English Pub and reminded me of a bar out of Boston. Everything was English, and it was mostly Americans there, so it was a nice blast back home for a few hours. A lot of hours actually. Her friend was really good and we stayed to see his whole set until around 3am. I told you, this city never sleeps. We ended up walking home, and going to bed around 5am. Those of you that know me have probably figured out this is not something I do often, but in TLV I couldn't resist and we lounged around and ate falafel in bed the next day recovering. It was quite an adventure. We definitely plan to have a Tel Aviv U/WUJS reunion one of these days.

One a more cultured note, there is a really cool art set up going on in the city right now. For the 100th birthday of Tel Aviv, there are art galleries spread all over town set up for the month of September called arTLV. For my friend's birthday we went out for lunch (had shakshuka again) and then wandered around to explore some of them. We didn't enter any of the buildings that required tickets, but we still managed to have a nice long day of free art. Some of the stuff was really interesting actually, junk art as I like to call it, pieces created out of wires and chunks of clay and old cans and random things. Really cool. One of the galleries had an old fashioned hair dryer chair and when you sat in it and put the shield down it talked to you... In Hebrew... I later learned that it was a meditation tape telling me to relax and breathe deeply. I picked up post cards and explanation packets along the way, and soon will make a collage to decorate my white walls. We had some ice aroma after a long day of walking through the city (Aroma is the starbucks of Israel, and ice aromas are these frappaccino like coffee/coconut/icee drinks that are simply amazing), and enjoyed our first Shabbat without the beach.

Have I successfully, culturally redeemed myself from my all night partying? If not, get this. I went on an architectural walking tour of Tel Aviv with the group for our Siyur this week. We learned about Bauhaus style, and saw some beautiful houses from important people, including the founders of Tel Aviv. Along the way we got a bit distracted from the guide by a smoking trash can, and us silly Americans, instead of running away thinking it could be dangerous, decided to stop and watch it smoke and smolder and eventually burst into flames. Someone around us called the fire department and several guys with fire extinguishers went to work on it. It appeared to be out by the time we pulled ourselves away and continued on our tour, just an exciting (and potentially dangerous) distraction along our way.

Another part of the arTLV exhibitions was a giant flower carpet set up in Rabin Square for the new year. My office is right near there so we stopped after our lunch break at work yesterday to see it. It was this beautiful spread of 500,000 flowers laid out in several tiles spanning across the square. I'll post pictures soon. I'm glad to be in the city during this important time, the Tel Aviv-Yafo Centennial, and to be able to be a part of all the celebrations along the way.

Other big news, we went out for SUSHI. If you know the Price family, you know about all of our sushi adventures, and apparently Tel Aviv is the third largest sushi market in the world (in per capita terms) behind only New York and Tokyo. I have to say it wasn't the best I've ever had, but we sure enjoyed sounding out "shrimpim tempura" and "fotomaki" in Hebrew on the menu. We followed our sushi dinner with a visit to Iceberg, a fabulous gelato place that Galit, my Hebrew teacher from this summer told me about. I had half lemon mint, half passion fruit. Holy cow amazing. I will certainly be back. They have a lot of obscure flavors too, like halava, and red fruit with taragon, so it'll be a while before I've sampled them all and can give a true recommendation.

Well, that's all for now. I should start my day. Heading out for the holiday tomorrow morning, but I'll update you all when I get back on Monday. L'Shana Tova and a happy, sweet, New Year to everyone in Israel and Abroad. Have a good Rosh Hashanah and eat some yummy food for me. I'll be sure to do the same.

Talk to you next year!

Check us out on YouTube!

2009-09-12T18:05:00.000+03:00

One of our group members made this video. Enjoy!

WUJS 1st Week Video

I'm not in too much of it, someone who lives in the other apartment building made it, but its still a great record of our first week here.

Shabbat Shalom

2009-09-12T12:11:00.000+03:00

Another week gone by. It is now Shabbat, our day of sleeping in and relaxing. We had another potluck style Shabbat dinner last night. this time organized all on our own. We ate quite well, split a few bottles of wine, some folks pulled out the nargila on the porch, and we later played a rousing game of spoons. Now, it is noon, and I am curled up in bed in my pjs. As soon as I drag myself up, we'll head over to the beach. I'm enjoying getting used to this.

Wanted to do a recap of some excitement from the last week before we reset for another week of work. This week, hmmm, so much has been packed in its hard to choose the highlights. I'll start with the Tuesday siyur. We went to Har Adar, or Radar Hill as its called in English. One of the highest points in the country, it has been an important military location in Israel, and now, for us, a great chance to see the spread of the country. It is technically on the West Bank, although not over the dividing fence, but our guide Sheldon assured us we were safe. In addition to the lookout tower where we could see the entire width of the country including a foggy distant view of our new home Tel Aviv, Sheldon explained to us what regions we saw would become Palestine and how the country would divide should the two-state solution come through. It was informative, but above all a great view.

After Har Adar, we got back on the bus and stopped at a gas station/restaurant to eat. Most of us brought our lunch, but when we discovered that the restaurant was Elvis themed, we had to go in anyways. There were statues and murals outsise, and a complete 50s style diner look inside, complete with Elvis memorabilia and a gift shop. Seriously? We flew 11 hours out of the US to see Elvis in the holy land? Love it. Got some great pictures, especially of the Elvis statue wearing a star necklace. We were supposed to go to a monastery after lunch, but it was closed for some reason when we got there. Oh well.

Other exciting news of the week... Ulpan! We have had 2 classes now, and despite my worry I remain in level 2. There are only 2 levels, so some of us aren't exactly getting what we need, but I think it'll work out in the end. Because of the way they split the levels up, I am too advanced for level 1, but still not quite ready for level 2. There are people in my level who are much better than me, but the teacher is pretty good about catering her questions and discussions with each of us to give us what we need. She asked one of the girls next to me what she wanted in life, and they had a long discussion about wanting love and marriage and kids and a dog and the whole shebang. She came to me next, asking me what I wanted, and I responded "ani rotzah eshcoliot", meaning I want grapefruit. It may not have been philosophical or deep as the others, but I was able to answer her follow up questions so it did its job. I'll give it a little more time, and if I need to move down a level I will, but for now I am enjoying the challenge. I will surely keep you posted.

Well, I think that is all for now. I should probably begin my day eventually. The phone is up and running, so call me whenever. I would love to hear from you.

Shabbat Shalom!

SHAKSHUKA!

2009-09-09T23:18:00.000+03:00

I am starting to fall into a routine here, but it still feels so surreal to think I am living in Tel Aviv. Insane. The theme of this entry: FOOD

I mentioned Michal has been teaching us authentic Israeli cooking, and let me tell you, we are eating well. Everyday we have our spread of various dips and pita to go with the main course, a very Israeli thing to do. In addition to the basic hummus, we have chatsilim (various eggplant), labne (a kind of cross between sour cream and cream cheese with zatar spice), and a ton more. We have made Chavita (egg fritata things), challah french toast (not necessarily Israeli but damn good), and of course shakshuka (eggs poached in seasoned tomatoes with onions, etc). Yummy. Although sometimes I feel like Alice, when I watch her cook amazing things and then do the dishes in exchange for a full tummy, but its totally worth it. I promise to make them all for you when I get home.

On another note, I am currently sitting on my balcony with a bunch of people, and the people across the street from me have their windows open. I'll admit, we are definitely watching them. Without a tv, we have to turn somewhere for entertainment and drama in our lives. News: she has left the building and walked downstairs. Convenience store? Who knows. I will keep you posted.

Alrighty. Work tomorrow (I sent 58 e-mails to almost as many countries today), then beach party tomorrow night and finally meeting Jen, my long lost cousin. Then making Rosh Hashanah plans and just enjoying my time here. Our air conditioner is now officially working, so its a lot easier to enjoy when we're not dripping with sweat.

Oh, she's back. But what is in her hand? Cookies? Pudding? We may never know. That's all for now! Peace, love, and neighbor stalking.

EVE

2009-09-07T14:16:00.001+03:00

Correction: Tomer is not my boss - he is my colleague. I have my own job title and everything.

Spent most of my day working through websites in Hebrew and, believe it or not, French. And watched some awesome clips of theatre and dance. I honestly love this job!

Week 1

2009-09-05T20:41:00.000+03:00

Shalom!

I am settling in nicely to my new neighborhood, and adjusting to the weather as much as I can. It has been HOT. We spent the day on the beach today. Apparently that's what people here do on Shabbat, because it was busy and very crowded, but still nice of course. Week one is coming to an end, and it has been amazing. Here's a run down of what we've all been up to since we arrived.

On Thursday, we met up with the Jerusalem group for a hike to Ein Gedi. We packed up our backpacks and got our first taste of Israeli wilderness, as we hiked through a dry riverbed to a waterfall. It never felt so good to swim after several hours of hiking when we finally arrived. I will be sure to post pictures soon. It was hard, but a nice bonding experience with the group and the others as well, since we hadn't gotten a chance to meet them before. I can't wait to go camping on my own in a smaller group to really set our own pace and stay overnight under the stars.

I mentioned that Wednesday I got a chance to meet Tomer, my boss, and he invited me to come see a show at a new play festival later in the week. Jaks, my roommate and I went to see it Friday afternoon. It was called A New Man and was put on by some German company. It wasn't a play in conventional terms, as there were no actors. It was a large room, with chairs on each side, and each "audience member" received a headset with their own private recording. Each of us went through the experience in 4 different stages in different orders, so some of the time was spent as a spectator and some as a more active participant. It was all about audience interaction and challenging the notion of what theatre and movement are through the studies of 4 different theorists. Laban, who I have both studied and taught, Meyerhold, Brecht, also both practicioners who's work I know well, and Charlie Chaplin. There were some moments where we came very close to random strangers through eye contact or some kind of interaction, but after a while we forgot how to feel self conscious and just gave over to it. It was a really cool experience, bringing some of the textbook theatre history I've done to life in a whole new way. I am very glad I went. I can't wait to see what other kinds of theatre I am introduces to through this job placement and exploration of what the Israeli Fringe scene has to offer.

We had a potluck dinner for Shabbat last night, each apartment making a dish. We made an Israeli salad of tomatoes and cucumbers as well as a traditional israeli dessert, chocolate balls. It was fun to make and something I will definitely bring home to the states. Michal has really helped us discover Israeli cooking, and I can't be more grateful. In fact, we are about to start dinner for this evening so I should go help out! Feel free to comment if you have any questions of things you want to hear more about! Thanks for reading : )

-Becky

I'm Here!!

2009-09-02T21:57:00.000+03:00

Hello Hello!

Sorry it's been a few days, but I'm just settling in and adjusting to my new home. My apartment is in Florentine, an adorable neighborhood in South Tel Aviv, and my roommates are awesome. Michal, the girl I share my bedroom with, was born in Israel and has been quite a useful asset when it comes to shopping and navigating the area considering none of the rest of us speak much Hebrew. The other two girls in my apartment, Jaks (Jaclyn) and Chelsea, are also really sweet and we are getting along great. Jaks is working at the Tel Aviv Opera House while here, working int he props department, so we've been bonding over theatre stories and planning thetare outings together. It already feels like I've known them forever. The apartment is not exactly new, but it is really cute, and we have 2 balconies. One connecting our two bedrooms overlooking the street (where the Israeli boys can serenade us Romeo and Juliet style) and another off of our kitchen with a table where we spend most of our time. We all cooked dinner together last night and ate outdoors. I can tell I'm going to enjoy this life here.

After a few days of orientation, meetings, tours, and getting to know you games, we all got a chance to visit our internships today and explore the city on our own. I met Tomer, my new boss at the Association for Independent Theatre Creators (EVE), and he seems like a really cool guy. After talking about the fringe theatre industry and what EVE is all about, he sent me home with several DVDs of shows they've worked on in the past and some that are still touring. I can't wait to watch them all before my official first day on Sunday. The office is in Northern Tel Aviv near Rabin Square, and I am looking forward to exploring the area more. Although Ricki, our group leader, or counselor as it kind of feels, dropped us off today, we had to navigate home from our offices on our own. Although I missed the bus stop at first, I did manage to realize that and get off at the next one, and found my way home no problem. With a little help from Michal on the phone. Quite proud I must say.

After that, I met up with Jaks and Chelsea and some others and we headed to the beach. We walked 20 minutes towards Jaffa, and found this enormous, sunny, stretch of sand. I have never lived this close to a beach before! The water was so warm, and after swimming for a while, I took a nice nap on my beach towel in the sand. Again, I could get used to this life. We walked home, grabbed falafel from a stand down the street, and changed for our evening group meeting. The falafel man was very patient as we attempted to order in half english half hebrew and pretended we knew what he was putting on our pitas. I'm hoping to be able to do it entirely in Hebrew before too long. I'll keep you posted.

Tomorrow we are hiking as a big group with the Jerusalem machzor, and getting our first chance to really meet them. Excited for that, and to see the Israelil landscape. More on that later!

-Bex

PS - Anyone who has tried to call me on my Magic Jack number, I blew out the phone with the wrong converter I think, so I'll let you know when I get a new one. For now, I can get voicemails, but not call you back. Hopefully that will be fixed soon.

This isn't how it was supposed to go...

2009-08-31T00:34:00.000+03:00

So, remember when I said that was my last post from the states. Well I lied. Here I am in Philly posting again. Why you ask? My flight from Ohare to Philly was delayed 3 hours due to some mechanical problem with the reverse whatevers that slow the plane down when it lands. I met a nice Israeli woman, Yochi, while waiting for the flight so we worked together with the costumer service folks to get a new flight, and the airlines put us up for the night at a hotel in Philadelphia. Despite sitting on a still plane for 3 hours, all seemed okay for the moment.

We got to the Renaissance hotel, without seeing our bags, so I woke up this morning, put on the same clothes I wore yesterday, and tried to figure out what to do with my day. I met a Delta flight crew staying at my hotel, and we split a cab into town. They seperated to do the Philly Cheese Steak tour, and I found a Macys, hit the sample counter, and put on some makeup to start my day. I then wandered through town, following my map, and found the science museum.　It was pretty good, and I got in for free which is a plus. I walked through a giant heart, saw a planetarium movie about the telescope, and saw a live dissection of a cow's eye. Intriguingly disgusting. After a nice tour of the museum, I made my way back to the train, to the airport, back to the hotel to get my stuff, and back to the airport. Yochi had switched to a different flight so she could fly business and she had originally planned, but we said our goodbyes and may even see each other in Tel Aviv. Beginning my journey for real this time, I got there plenty early, and even met up with a bunch of other WUJSers at the gate. Some from Jerusalem, and some from my Tel Aviv program, but it was nice to have some friendly faces around and when we arrived. The flight was long, almost 11 hours, but not too bad. I made it out alive. When we got to Tel Aviv we were all put in busses or cabs and taken to our apartments for an opening meeting. The group in TLV is 25, from all over the US, Canada, and even Greece and Brazil. I can tell already that it is a great group. Can't wait to get to know them better. More to come once I am settled in and have some stories to share! Love from TLV!!

-Becky

Last Post From The States!

2009-08-29T02:08:00.000+03:00

Hello Hello!

This is my official goodbye posting, and my last post from here in Deerfield. Banner has come to an end, and I've just been enjoying my time off the last few weeks, getting ready for WUJS.

I leave for Tel Aviv, via Philly (weird I know) tomorrow afternoon. I am staying with a cousin, Jen Polin, Sunday night before I move into my apartment Monday morning. I'll be sure to update on the apartment, roommate, and neighborhood as soon as I can when I arrive. Right now, I'm just finishing up my packing, and attempting to get everything I own into 1 suitcase and 1 duffel bag. It's been quite a process, let me tell you. Dropping the fishies off with their new family tonight, sushi dinner with the family, and then heading out tomorrow am. I can't wait to begin this adventure. I've been planning it all for so long, just thinking its actually here is insane. Can't wait!

As I mentioned last time, I have a 224 phone number, aim (BroadwayBex29) and will be checking my g-mail (Price.RebeccaA@gmail.com) often, so I'll still be around to chat. I gotta get back to the suitcases, but I hope to hear from you all soon! Next year in Jerusalem (by next year I mean tomorrow and by Jerusalem I mean Tel Aviv).

<3 Bex

One Month to Go!

2009-08-03T01:43:00.000+03:00

Hey!

The countdown to my Tel Aviv arrival has officially begun. With Hebrew classes and tutoring well underway, and Kosher Camping this past weekend with Birthright Next, I am getting extremely excited. In 27 days I'll arrive in Tel Aviv to get settled and begin my 6 month adventure.

Most recent update: I have an internship!! I will be working for the Association for Independednt Theatre Creators in Israel. The organization works with Fringe theatre companies and on theatre festivals throughout Israel, involved in some wsay with over 30 productions a year. I will be working primarily with the international department, organizing and coordinating festivals in Israel with theatre companies from all over the world. What could be better than sharing Israeli theatre with artists across the globe, and being a part of what they have to offer.

Also, I have figured out my phone situation. I will have a cell phone in Israel for local calls, but also have a Magic Jack to talk to people in the US while I'm gone, with a voicemail all set up. I have a 224 phone number, so all calls are local. Let me know if you want the phone number!

As I have said many times over, I am very excited and can't wait for my arrival. 27 days and counting!!

Talk soon!

<3 Bex

2009-05-22T00:35:00.000+03:00

Hi!

Welcome. Thanks for stopping by!

So, here's where I stand. 1 week left student teaching at Newton North, starting up at Banner as soon as I get home, and in the process of finding an internship in Tel Aviv for next fall. I will be in Israel starting August 31st, and hopefully posting updates here as much as possible. I'll be sure to keep you posted as plans fall into place and I know more about what I'll be up to out there. Talk to you then!

-Bex