After talking with some friends with Reform or mixed religion backgrounds, I discovered a little bit of a phenomena. These friends consider themselves "Jewish" and have desires to connect with Judaism in one way or another, whatever it may be. They grew up in similar environments as I did- in a Reform household where some holidays or traditions were observed and in a community that was largely Christian/non-Jewish.
They shared their fears that after they leave their homes permanently, their parents will abandon all the traditions that they shared with them when they were growing up. They don't think that their parents will have enough incentive to keep going with their rituals and traditions without their children around to share as families. Or even abandon Judaism as a whole and become fully assimilated.
I found this rather shocking actually. My parents are going in the opposite direction. No, they're not going to stop eating pork. But they've taken on greater interest in Judaism and find more ways to connect with their backgrounds. Ever since they returned from their vacation in Israel, they've decided to recite Shabbat prayers every Friday night and take more time with the services. If anything, as opportunities continue to arise, they will continue to find ways to be more involved. They hope that one of these days they will start taking Yiddish classes. My dad has even asked about the class schedule from the JCC for the winter term. They're essentially looking to continue reclaiming their roots.
So I am wondering if we have a new problem that we need to address in the Jewish community: dealing with the empty nesters as they need to redefine their Jewish identity as more than just families. It's the same issue that we're presenting to the youth: Judaism IS about family but it's more about parents and children, but the community as a whole. It's how my generation is discovering their Jewish roots: through organized community activities and birthright Israel trips, all without guidance from their parents. The vast majority of the graduate students at Michigan actually put "strong Jewish community" as one of the top reasons for attending there.
I should keep asking other people but the problem is that many of my Jewish friends now grew up in fairly Jewish areas where they just can't imagine not being Jewish. Maybe somebody in sociology wants to take this up....
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Madroff Scandal
This is a great example of why it's better to be reading the Israeli papers like Ha'aretz or Jerusalem Post for Jewish World issues. They do a deeper coverage from a Jewish perspective rather than a business or American perspective as New York Times dues. For example, Ha'aretz played a photo gallery of people heavily affected by the scandal including owner of Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Stephen Speilberg's foundation, etc. They did a separate article on the implications of this on Taglit Birthright trip. It was very heart-breaking to see how many students the program will be cutting for this comin summer. Last summer alone, they sent 42,000. This summer, they're budgeting for 25,000, maybe down to 5,000 if the majors donors don't pull through because of losses on the Wall Street. New York Times didn't cover any of that.
It really is horrible and devastating to watch this drama being played out in the Jewish community. It used to be that the gentiles picked on the Jews for their "cunning" abilities to wheel in investments and make huge profits, like that greedy Jewish stereotype that would harm the gentiles. Now it's Jew against Jew. So much for family! Especially when so many Jewish charities invested in with this Madroff guy.
Just unbelievable that the world of Jewish philanthropy is beginning to founder. I don't think we'll actually get to the point where we're going to crawl to the gentiles and admit that we have to break Peter Stuyvestant's promise, that we need their help, that we can't take care of our own. We'll manage. Families always manage to come through, if not with some hurt feelings and level of broken trust.
It really is horrible and devastating to watch this drama being played out in the Jewish community. It used to be that the gentiles picked on the Jews for their "cunning" abilities to wheel in investments and make huge profits, like that greedy Jewish stereotype that would harm the gentiles. Now it's Jew against Jew. So much for family! Especially when so many Jewish charities invested in with this Madroff guy.
Just unbelievable that the world of Jewish philanthropy is beginning to founder. I don't think we'll actually get to the point where we're going to crawl to the gentiles and admit that we have to break Peter Stuyvestant's promise, that we need their help, that we can't take care of our own. We'll manage. Families always manage to come through, if not with some hurt feelings and level of broken trust.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Yiddish in Israel?? Oxymoron?
I'm pretty much pushed/required to take Yiddish over the summer by my department. I'm willing go with it to avoid another class with undergraduates and to stay with my friend who just wants this out of the way. The department said, "Do it at YIVO in New York, or go to Tel Aviv, but we like YIVO because A) We really trust it and B) You can get research done!" After talking to another friend who did research and study at YIVO last summer, I am deciding against it. She told me that she literally had no time to do her research because the course was full-time. So, if it's going to be a full-time thing, I might as well go to Israel and use my free time to see my family and friends, right? It's my logic.
But Yiddish in Israel? It would be very weird to speak a galut language in the Holy Land. I know that the haredim do speak it in Mea She'arim because they believe that Hebrew is a holy language and should not be spoke on the streets. As a Zionist, I think that Hebrew should be spoken and understood to some extent by many Jews, wherever they can, in the synagogue or on the streets. Given my lack of practice in Hebrew this year, it would be an upside to go back to Israel and speak it again on a daily basis outside of my Yiddish classes. I doubt that my progress will be a different than if I go to YIVO. You step out of the classroom, there isn't any Yiddish on the streets to unconciously learn from.
I told some of my Israeli friends that I might be back but they question why am I not studying Hebrew anymore. I explained that American Jews spoke Yiddish but not Hebrew so therefore I must study Yiddish. (They keep complimenting how great my Hebrew writing skills are...)
After a semester of Yiddish, I still don't feel that bond. I think it's cool but I'm not crazy about it enough to really devote myself to it passionately as I do with Hebrew. Maybe it's another sign that I've been in Israel too long. But at least I know that it can be a marketable skill if I move to Israel if things don't work out here in the US at all.
Those settler riots are scaring me, to be honest. It's so shameful to see fellow Jews commit acts of violence on others. But I do hope that things will quell after the February election. And to even harm Jerusalem's security, the city that they want to protect and defend fiercely.
But Yiddish in Israel? It would be very weird to speak a galut language in the Holy Land. I know that the haredim do speak it in Mea She'arim because they believe that Hebrew is a holy language and should not be spoke on the streets. As a Zionist, I think that Hebrew should be spoken and understood to some extent by many Jews, wherever they can, in the synagogue or on the streets. Given my lack of practice in Hebrew this year, it would be an upside to go back to Israel and speak it again on a daily basis outside of my Yiddish classes. I doubt that my progress will be a different than if I go to YIVO. You step out of the classroom, there isn't any Yiddish on the streets to unconciously learn from.
I told some of my Israeli friends that I might be back but they question why am I not studying Hebrew anymore. I explained that American Jews spoke Yiddish but not Hebrew so therefore I must study Yiddish. (They keep complimenting how great my Hebrew writing skills are...)
After a semester of Yiddish, I still don't feel that bond. I think it's cool but I'm not crazy about it enough to really devote myself to it passionately as I do with Hebrew. Maybe it's another sign that I've been in Israel too long. But at least I know that it can be a marketable skill if I move to Israel if things don't work out here in the US at all.
Those settler riots are scaring me, to be honest. It's so shameful to see fellow Jews commit acts of violence on others. But I do hope that things will quell after the February election. And to even harm Jerusalem's security, the city that they want to protect and defend fiercely.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Alumni Column - Studying Abroad: Beyond Colgate Education - Commentary
Alumni Column - Studying Abroad: Beyond Colgate Education - Commentary
The alum did NOT go abroad. But then again, this is a cityslicker who found himself in the middle of an American desert that actually existed. I hope some readers picked up the underlying reasons why going to New Mexico might be considered "going abroad." To me, this trip fits in the broader category of "off-campus" study.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Popularity of Travel Blogs
I'm seriously amused by how many of people I know who are blogging from abroad. These are the people who are not usually into this kind of thing- sharing their lives publicly. Currently, I have my friend Ceci's blog (she's been in Morocco since August), a girl from Smith who's in Krygzstan for Peace Corps, and a Colgate friend who's down in Australia for the fall semester. I kept up with others like Lauren's brother Davin who was in China for 9 months. I still follow Dane's although it's turned more domestic. But still, her entries keep me very interested because A) I had never been to the cities that she traveled to and B) she publishes poetry and often she posts her inspirations there.
I'm not saying that I'm a trendsetter (ha!) but it's really a practical thing as people are realizing that. You can post pictures along with your story. You can send a link to anyone who asks for it (or you want to). Also, I think, the big thing for me, it's the feeling of being much more open. I mean, when you write an email, the box where you type in e-mail address is glaring at you, reminding you of who your audience is. When I'm writing my blog, I don't have to think about anything and just spill out more things than I would normally in an e-mail.
Anyway, just an amusing observation that I made while looking at my Feeds. This blog made go under some radical changes as I go through with graduate school because let's face it, my research is going to take me to places other than Israel.
I'm not saying that I'm a trendsetter (ha!) but it's really a practical thing as people are realizing that. You can post pictures along with your story. You can send a link to anyone who asks for it (or you want to). Also, I think, the big thing for me, it's the feeling of being much more open. I mean, when you write an email, the box where you type in e-mail address is glaring at you, reminding you of who your audience is. When I'm writing my blog, I don't have to think about anything and just spill out more things than I would normally in an e-mail.
Anyway, just an amusing observation that I made while looking at my Feeds. This blog made go under some radical changes as I go through with graduate school because let's face it, my research is going to take me to places other than Israel.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Back in the US
After waiting for an hour with Linda and Maayan at the airport to find out the status, we found out that Air Canada was able to take me in as their last stand-by passenger. I don't know what was going through my mind, I had gone this far, and I just couldn't turn around. Maayan had been fantastic setting things straight in Hebrew with the manager. While I waited to get my ticket, we watched the family ahead of us- probably two sisters and a little three year old daughter. The little girl looked almost like me when I was her age with the brown eyes and soft, curly brown hair pulled back in a little ponytail.
Flight home was verrryyy long, much longer than I thought. For some reason I was thinking it was 10 hours but it was more like 12 hours...
Anyway, it was so weird coming back to the US from Israel. It was like stepping in a mirror to another world. Yet, everything was familiar, the hugs of my parents, riding in their cars, finding food in the kitchen... I also felt pretty cold in 70 degree temperatures!
I felt pretty conflicted in the first two or three days, figuring out what I had done. It was almost a snap decision but also a long one too. I realized that coming back to the US will always be difficult as much I enjoy being with my friends and family here. Thoughts of aliyah will be there but what Linda wrote in her last e-mail that it's more important that I make the most of every visit and make them joyful rather than suffer from them.
Even though my trip started out a bit rocky, I always strived to have good days. As Lance Armstrong once said, "There are no bad days, I only have good or great days." I think that this was particularly important to keep in mind when living in a country like Israel. We all kept our chins up, for good or for bad, through everything. Now having been there for another extended trip, I saw why so few American Jews would wish to return for and endure another such trip. It did sound fantastic to be on the beach everyday or explore the Galilee or stroll along the streets of Tel Aviv, it's when you begin dealing with day-to-day issues that took a certain amount of patience, perseverence, and good will to go through them. Especially if you're still learning Hebrew. I could see in my classmates' faces towards the end of ulpan that it was not just the ulpan but living in Israel in general that was getting to them. They're excited to get back to the comforts of geniune customer service, comfortable mattresses, safer roads, and other things that they took for granted in their countries.
In my perspective, there's no such thing as perfect world and we just have to deal with what we're given. Like the ugly and confusing architecture in Tel Aviv and limited choices of pasta.
Flight home was verrryyy long, much longer than I thought. For some reason I was thinking it was 10 hours but it was more like 12 hours...
Anyway, it was so weird coming back to the US from Israel. It was like stepping in a mirror to another world. Yet, everything was familiar, the hugs of my parents, riding in their cars, finding food in the kitchen... I also felt pretty cold in 70 degree temperatures!
I felt pretty conflicted in the first two or three days, figuring out what I had done. It was almost a snap decision but also a long one too. I realized that coming back to the US will always be difficult as much I enjoy being with my friends and family here. Thoughts of aliyah will be there but what Linda wrote in her last e-mail that it's more important that I make the most of every visit and make them joyful rather than suffer from them.
Even though my trip started out a bit rocky, I always strived to have good days. As Lance Armstrong once said, "There are no bad days, I only have good or great days." I think that this was particularly important to keep in mind when living in a country like Israel. We all kept our chins up, for good or for bad, through everything. Now having been there for another extended trip, I saw why so few American Jews would wish to return for and endure another such trip. It did sound fantastic to be on the beach everyday or explore the Galilee or stroll along the streets of Tel Aviv, it's when you begin dealing with day-to-day issues that took a certain amount of patience, perseverence, and good will to go through them. Especially if you're still learning Hebrew. I could see in my classmates' faces towards the end of ulpan that it was not just the ulpan but living in Israel in general that was getting to them. They're excited to get back to the comforts of geniune customer service, comfortable mattresses, safer roads, and other things that they took for granted in their countries.
In my perspective, there's no such thing as perfect world and we just have to deal with what we're given. Like the ugly and confusing architecture in Tel Aviv and limited choices of pasta.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Last Few Days in Israel
Wow, I've been soooo tired and unable to think straight by 9:30, when we finish dinner, to write anything!
On Monday, I spent the whole day in Tel Aviv. I caught the 501 bus out to Azrielli Center, where Air Canada's office was located. I had to give the security my passport for official ID (my student ID was no good, much to my protest that Air Canada might want to see my passport) and a security tag to actually get in. The receptionist was so incredibly nice to help me out. She asked for my booking number and I gave it to her out of my head- it was easy to remember because the first three letters spelled my uncle's name with the vowel missing, the next two were 10 point letters in a Scrabble game, and the last one just reminded me of the A as in Andrew. I really surprised myself! So anyway, she told me that the flights were very full and it would be very difficult to get on but Wednesday night had some empty seats. She said to call her on Wednesday morning to check on the status.
I went exploring the Azrielli mall, supposedly Tel Aviv's fanciest mall. It was quite upscale in its design and some of the stores and food offerings. Then I decided to walk on Kaplan Street which changed into Dizengoff, thankfully given that I knew it would lead me to Dizengoff mall. It intersected with King Goerge so I knew where I was immediately. I stopped in the Dizengoff mall for more air-conditioning time and bought Dubliners, a collection of short stories by James Joyce (later a framework for his masterpiece, Ulysses). I just needed a short and light book to tide me over for a week.
Then I browsed through clothing stores along King George and Shenkin. On Shenkin, I found an amazing designer, The Third Eye, that had incredible, great, bohemian style clothes. This designer is definitely on my list for must-go-back. I bought a green cotton dress that's going to be very easy to wear for anything and in all seasons except for winter. Afterwards, I headed off to the beach for the afternoon. The waves were so ridiculously strong that I didn't even go back in after only 10 minutes of playing in it (and getting wiped out).
After the beach, I thought I'd get some ice coffee but felt the craving for pizza so I bought a slice off the street from a guy who thought it was wonderful that I was from America. It's really true that Israelis love Americans but too bad he wouldn't let me have a free slice! :) Then I decided that if I really wasn't going to be in Israel after Wednesday, I ought to visit the little Russian market down further on Allenby. After the visit and a couple of Russian chocolates, I realized that this was really a pseudo Russian market in comparison to the one in Haifa and not really go back there again. I also found my "3 DVDs for 100 shekels" guy but didn't really see any DVDs that I wanted to get.
To get my excerise, I walked all the way back to where I was dropped off this morning.
To pacify my little homesickness for pizza, Yasmin decided that we'd order pizza for dinner as Linda was working late at her nursing job. I knew that she or somebody would want olives (it's treated like pepperoni in Israel- super popular topping) so just as she asked if I liked olives or mushrooms, I told her to make it half and half because I didn't like olives.
Tuesday, I took my time and decided that I would stop in Tel Aviv's Carmel Market first just to see if there was anything and then go to Jerusalem. I took the 48 bus which dropped me off right near the market. I found nothing and began walking towards the bus station (where I was yesterday). On the way, I found a cute red dress but decided that I really, really didn't need it and would get it if I was still in Israel on Thursday. Then I saw Iceberg, a gelato place highly recommended by Einut, my Israeli roommate in Haifa. Although I just had the Druze pita snack, I hadn't had any gelato.... so I got half dark chocolate and half tiramusu. That was quite worthwhile and delicious- I could really taste the flavors! Then I got right to the bus station and caught the bus on time.
When I got to Jerusalem, I stopped by the shuk to pick up Syrah from Yarden (2003) that I liked so much from last Friday, some olive oil for Mom, and some mangos and breakfast pastries from Marizpan. Since my processor still wasn't working properly, I decided to try out lip-reading in Hebrew. When I discovered that I could, I smiled when I gave them the correct change! Slowly, but surely, I'm getting that down pat too. I'd like to meet some deaf Israelis though so they can tell me what to watch out for when lipreading in Hebrew.
I made my way down to Rehavia to visit the Pollacks. I used my Hebrew to find the street since Rehavia wasn't all neatly and organized in terms of its streets. I also used my memory from when I walked there on Shabbat with Grandma and Zev. But the first people I asked didn't really quite know where Hanassi was so I gave them another street- Palmach. Then a young guy on Palmach knew where to go and he gave me the directions. I wanted to bring them flowers but I couldn't find any good flower shops along the way.
Moshe and Phyllis were doing great and finishing up preparing a dairy dinner for their daughter, Danna and her family, including her three children and in-laws. Phyllis listened to me explain what was happening with my processor since she works in occupational therapy with a lot of children who have cochlear implants. She offered to set up an appointment with her friend who does cochlear implant but I told her the main problem was getting insurance to cover the appointment. Then we talked about my trip thus far and my graduate school plans. When her family asked about my plans on returning to the US, I said that I wasn't one-hundred percent sure yet and Phyllis looked at me and insisted that I was on stand-by for my flight Wednesday night.
During the dinner, a lot of the conversation was in Hebrew. I could pick up words here and there and really paid attention to the children since they're harder to understand. But from my experience with children, it's a great way to learn a language because they're also learning it and figuring out how to express themselves. They all said that they liked to speak in Hebrew better, especially the seven year old girl with soooo many gaps in her mouth because she lost a lot of teeth recently. One boy told Moshe (his grandfather) that he could also read in English too! Just as I was missing salmon, Phyllis served it! So I was happy having the salmon, some tuna patties, humuus from the shuk (yes, it's really that much better than the ones in the stores), and pita. Then I began wondering why do I need to back to the US.
That's just the most difficult part. As I began thinking about going back to the US while my processor was holding steady, I asked, why do I need to leave Israel? But when I turn it off and then back on, then I wished that I was back in America. These past few days have been a real emotional rollercoaster just trying to deal with the worst hearing aid problem I've ever had. I asked Phyllis before I left what she meant by saying that I was brave (Course, I knew I was always brave to be in Israel and dealing with Hebrew), she said exactly what I thought she meant. Then I asked her about my speech. She bluntly said that "it could be better" and felt that she really needed to ask me to slow down and speak clearer. I sort of felt that punch that I should really try to do the stand-by tomorrow night as much I didn't really want to leave the country, only for my own good.
Moshe gave me a ride to the CBS, thankfully. We quickly talked about the shekel value against the dollar and real estate in Jerusalem (he's in real estate). He thought on the long run, the dollar would be better to use for real estate than the shekel. he predicted that the real estate bubble in Jerusalem will collapse because of the bad economy in the US and affect investment in Israel. It's always a risk to invest in real estate in Israel because of the security concerns, he said.
I quietly said shalom to Jerusalem and tried hard not to think much about the next twenty-four hours.
On Wednesday morning, I decided to stay in Herzliya. I didn't feel any need to go into Tel Aviv and I just wanted a quiet day. I eventually called Air Canada around 10:30 AM to break the suspense. First, it took me, what felt like ages to turn on the processor, and I just hit the boiling point. I held on as I called Air Canada around 10:30 AM to find out the story. The woman told me that the flight tonight was full and absolutely no seats left unless I wanted to pay over a thousand dollars for a first-class seat. After I hang up, I broke down in tears as I called my parents, waking them up at 3 AM. I wasn't sure what to do. I wanted to stay so much but I was just so tired of dealing with the processor and just go home and not have to wear it ever again.
Finally, I calmed down a bit and decided that I would go to the beach just for the sake of being the last time. Ahout a third of the way, I kept thinking that I really should go for a run. It had been a week because A) It was so hot out and B) I wanted to try giving my knee a little break. But I needed someone to tell me to go for a run.... eventually I turned around, bought a bottle of cold water, and threw on my running clothes and went out. I ran out to the beach and back (though actually walked the last mile because the heat was really getting to me). I did 5 miles in 48 minutes, very good for 93 degree heat index! I did feel much more relaxed when I came back.
I took a shower and went to the mall for some Cafe Aroma. When I got up to get a cookie, some idiotic employee cleared away my table of my Ice Aroma, a Sudoku puzzle that I was working on, and everything else I had, along with my trash. I got pissed off and turned around when I saw my cleared table and met the employee's eyes immediately. She realized that she had done something wrong and dashed back to get my stuff. I glared at her as i took my stuff from her and set the stuff on the table. Then I realized that I hadn't finished my Ice Aroma so I went over and explained to other employees who were standing about and one of them referred me to the manager. The manager dutifully went over and got me another Ice Aroma, free of charge. Now that's what I call customer service!!!!
I told Linda of this little incident when she came home and was shocked. I said that I knew that you're not really supposed to leave bags around in Israel but I went past the security and I had my stuff spread out so it wasn't like.... I intentionally left it behind to create a bomb attack. She agreed.
Shiri, one of my cousins, finally called to say that she was back in Herzliya and we made a time for me to go over to her place. I finished up packing, which wasn't any more difficult than when I left Haifa. My main concern was the bottles of wine and olive oil. I wrapped the olive oil in the bubble wrap that my mother gave me and my blue bath towel. For the wine, first, I wrapped it in my white-and-yellow beach towel, then my long green skirt, and finally, my black Colgate stadium blanket. We'll just have to see if this can make it.
Shiri was so happy to see me that she held on longer than I expected when we hugged in greeting. Her sister, Olga, was also home along with Rahel. As we ate a light dinner, everyone updated me about their family, including Steven, who recently had a baby. Zev, no wedding date yet..... Then Rahel showed me her documentary about her travel with a group and Shiri to the birth place of her family in Ukraine. It was very interesting in a way that it's almost like a "birthright trip." As I watched it, I could imagine what my experience might be like when I have a chance to visit Lithuania and Belorussia, where my dad's family emigrated from. Although the setting have changed as the Germans destroyed a lot of the towns, it barely changed. It was still largely a peasant town, relying mostly on agriculture, horse and buggy, and simple life. Although very little of Jewish life survived, the memory remained as evident by memorials, either in a large statue form or a cemetery. It seemed like visiting Russia's former Soviet states and Poland would be quite bit like visiting Prague and Germany, where people just move on without the Jews and have memorials in place to remember them by. It was a good film overall and I told Rahel that I think it would have success in the US since American Jews are interested in their roots and probably will feel the kinship more so than the Israelis because so many of us were Ashkenzai and grew up in a Yiddish-Eastern European dominated culture. (And I was craving for my Eastern European food.)
Now it's time to head off to the airport to see what happens... I could feel that I really wanted to stay but the volume was definitely not holding up as much as it should as everyone's voices around me began to get softer and softer.
On Monday, I spent the whole day in Tel Aviv. I caught the 501 bus out to Azrielli Center, where Air Canada's office was located. I had to give the security my passport for official ID (my student ID was no good, much to my protest that Air Canada might want to see my passport) and a security tag to actually get in. The receptionist was so incredibly nice to help me out. She asked for my booking number and I gave it to her out of my head- it was easy to remember because the first three letters spelled my uncle's name with the vowel missing, the next two were 10 point letters in a Scrabble game, and the last one just reminded me of the A as in Andrew. I really surprised myself! So anyway, she told me that the flights were very full and it would be very difficult to get on but Wednesday night had some empty seats. She said to call her on Wednesday morning to check on the status.
I went exploring the Azrielli mall, supposedly Tel Aviv's fanciest mall. It was quite upscale in its design and some of the stores and food offerings. Then I decided to walk on Kaplan Street which changed into Dizengoff, thankfully given that I knew it would lead me to Dizengoff mall. It intersected with King Goerge so I knew where I was immediately. I stopped in the Dizengoff mall for more air-conditioning time and bought Dubliners, a collection of short stories by James Joyce (later a framework for his masterpiece, Ulysses). I just needed a short and light book to tide me over for a week.
Then I browsed through clothing stores along King George and Shenkin. On Shenkin, I found an amazing designer, The Third Eye, that had incredible, great, bohemian style clothes. This designer is definitely on my list for must-go-back. I bought a green cotton dress that's going to be very easy to wear for anything and in all seasons except for winter. Afterwards, I headed off to the beach for the afternoon. The waves were so ridiculously strong that I didn't even go back in after only 10 minutes of playing in it (and getting wiped out).
After the beach, I thought I'd get some ice coffee but felt the craving for pizza so I bought a slice off the street from a guy who thought it was wonderful that I was from America. It's really true that Israelis love Americans but too bad he wouldn't let me have a free slice! :) Then I decided that if I really wasn't going to be in Israel after Wednesday, I ought to visit the little Russian market down further on Allenby. After the visit and a couple of Russian chocolates, I realized that this was really a pseudo Russian market in comparison to the one in Haifa and not really go back there again. I also found my "3 DVDs for 100 shekels" guy but didn't really see any DVDs that I wanted to get.
To get my excerise, I walked all the way back to where I was dropped off this morning.
To pacify my little homesickness for pizza, Yasmin decided that we'd order pizza for dinner as Linda was working late at her nursing job. I knew that she or somebody would want olives (it's treated like pepperoni in Israel- super popular topping) so just as she asked if I liked olives or mushrooms, I told her to make it half and half because I didn't like olives.
Tuesday, I took my time and decided that I would stop in Tel Aviv's Carmel Market first just to see if there was anything and then go to Jerusalem. I took the 48 bus which dropped me off right near the market. I found nothing and began walking towards the bus station (where I was yesterday). On the way, I found a cute red dress but decided that I really, really didn't need it and would get it if I was still in Israel on Thursday. Then I saw Iceberg, a gelato place highly recommended by Einut, my Israeli roommate in Haifa. Although I just had the Druze pita snack, I hadn't had any gelato.... so I got half dark chocolate and half tiramusu. That was quite worthwhile and delicious- I could really taste the flavors! Then I got right to the bus station and caught the bus on time.
When I got to Jerusalem, I stopped by the shuk to pick up Syrah from Yarden (2003) that I liked so much from last Friday, some olive oil for Mom, and some mangos and breakfast pastries from Marizpan. Since my processor still wasn't working properly, I decided to try out lip-reading in Hebrew. When I discovered that I could, I smiled when I gave them the correct change! Slowly, but surely, I'm getting that down pat too. I'd like to meet some deaf Israelis though so they can tell me what to watch out for when lipreading in Hebrew.
I made my way down to Rehavia to visit the Pollacks. I used my Hebrew to find the street since Rehavia wasn't all neatly and organized in terms of its streets. I also used my memory from when I walked there on Shabbat with Grandma and Zev. But the first people I asked didn't really quite know where Hanassi was so I gave them another street- Palmach. Then a young guy on Palmach knew where to go and he gave me the directions. I wanted to bring them flowers but I couldn't find any good flower shops along the way.
Moshe and Phyllis were doing great and finishing up preparing a dairy dinner for their daughter, Danna and her family, including her three children and in-laws. Phyllis listened to me explain what was happening with my processor since she works in occupational therapy with a lot of children who have cochlear implants. She offered to set up an appointment with her friend who does cochlear implant but I told her the main problem was getting insurance to cover the appointment. Then we talked about my trip thus far and my graduate school plans. When her family asked about my plans on returning to the US, I said that I wasn't one-hundred percent sure yet and Phyllis looked at me and insisted that I was on stand-by for my flight Wednesday night.
During the dinner, a lot of the conversation was in Hebrew. I could pick up words here and there and really paid attention to the children since they're harder to understand. But from my experience with children, it's a great way to learn a language because they're also learning it and figuring out how to express themselves. They all said that they liked to speak in Hebrew better, especially the seven year old girl with soooo many gaps in her mouth because she lost a lot of teeth recently. One boy told Moshe (his grandfather) that he could also read in English too! Just as I was missing salmon, Phyllis served it! So I was happy having the salmon, some tuna patties, humuus from the shuk (yes, it's really that much better than the ones in the stores), and pita. Then I began wondering why do I need to back to the US.
That's just the most difficult part. As I began thinking about going back to the US while my processor was holding steady, I asked, why do I need to leave Israel? But when I turn it off and then back on, then I wished that I was back in America. These past few days have been a real emotional rollercoaster just trying to deal with the worst hearing aid problem I've ever had. I asked Phyllis before I left what she meant by saying that I was brave (Course, I knew I was always brave to be in Israel and dealing with Hebrew), she said exactly what I thought she meant. Then I asked her about my speech. She bluntly said that "it could be better" and felt that she really needed to ask me to slow down and speak clearer. I sort of felt that punch that I should really try to do the stand-by tomorrow night as much I didn't really want to leave the country, only for my own good.
Moshe gave me a ride to the CBS, thankfully. We quickly talked about the shekel value against the dollar and real estate in Jerusalem (he's in real estate). He thought on the long run, the dollar would be better to use for real estate than the shekel. he predicted that the real estate bubble in Jerusalem will collapse because of the bad economy in the US and affect investment in Israel. It's always a risk to invest in real estate in Israel because of the security concerns, he said.
I quietly said shalom to Jerusalem and tried hard not to think much about the next twenty-four hours.
On Wednesday morning, I decided to stay in Herzliya. I didn't feel any need to go into Tel Aviv and I just wanted a quiet day. I eventually called Air Canada around 10:30 AM to break the suspense. First, it took me, what felt like ages to turn on the processor, and I just hit the boiling point. I held on as I called Air Canada around 10:30 AM to find out the story. The woman told me that the flight tonight was full and absolutely no seats left unless I wanted to pay over a thousand dollars for a first-class seat. After I hang up, I broke down in tears as I called my parents, waking them up at 3 AM. I wasn't sure what to do. I wanted to stay so much but I was just so tired of dealing with the processor and just go home and not have to wear it ever again.
Finally, I calmed down a bit and decided that I would go to the beach just for the sake of being the last time. Ahout a third of the way, I kept thinking that I really should go for a run. It had been a week because A) It was so hot out and B) I wanted to try giving my knee a little break. But I needed someone to tell me to go for a run.... eventually I turned around, bought a bottle of cold water, and threw on my running clothes and went out. I ran out to the beach and back (though actually walked the last mile because the heat was really getting to me). I did 5 miles in 48 minutes, very good for 93 degree heat index! I did feel much more relaxed when I came back.
I took a shower and went to the mall for some Cafe Aroma. When I got up to get a cookie, some idiotic employee cleared away my table of my Ice Aroma, a Sudoku puzzle that I was working on, and everything else I had, along with my trash. I got pissed off and turned around when I saw my cleared table and met the employee's eyes immediately. She realized that she had done something wrong and dashed back to get my stuff. I glared at her as i took my stuff from her and set the stuff on the table. Then I realized that I hadn't finished my Ice Aroma so I went over and explained to other employees who were standing about and one of them referred me to the manager. The manager dutifully went over and got me another Ice Aroma, free of charge. Now that's what I call customer service!!!!
I told Linda of this little incident when she came home and was shocked. I said that I knew that you're not really supposed to leave bags around in Israel but I went past the security and I had my stuff spread out so it wasn't like.... I intentionally left it behind to create a bomb attack. She agreed.
Shiri, one of my cousins, finally called to say that she was back in Herzliya and we made a time for me to go over to her place. I finished up packing, which wasn't any more difficult than when I left Haifa. My main concern was the bottles of wine and olive oil. I wrapped the olive oil in the bubble wrap that my mother gave me and my blue bath towel. For the wine, first, I wrapped it in my white-and-yellow beach towel, then my long green skirt, and finally, my black Colgate stadium blanket. We'll just have to see if this can make it.
Shiri was so happy to see me that she held on longer than I expected when we hugged in greeting. Her sister, Olga, was also home along with Rahel. As we ate a light dinner, everyone updated me about their family, including Steven, who recently had a baby. Zev, no wedding date yet..... Then Rahel showed me her documentary about her travel with a group and Shiri to the birth place of her family in Ukraine. It was very interesting in a way that it's almost like a "birthright trip." As I watched it, I could imagine what my experience might be like when I have a chance to visit Lithuania and Belorussia, where my dad's family emigrated from. Although the setting have changed as the Germans destroyed a lot of the towns, it barely changed. It was still largely a peasant town, relying mostly on agriculture, horse and buggy, and simple life. Although very little of Jewish life survived, the memory remained as evident by memorials, either in a large statue form or a cemetery. It seemed like visiting Russia's former Soviet states and Poland would be quite bit like visiting Prague and Germany, where people just move on without the Jews and have memorials in place to remember them by. It was a good film overall and I told Rahel that I think it would have success in the US since American Jews are interested in their roots and probably will feel the kinship more so than the Israelis because so many of us were Ashkenzai and grew up in a Yiddish-Eastern European dominated culture. (And I was craving for my Eastern European food.)
Now it's time to head off to the airport to see what happens... I could feel that I really wanted to stay but the volume was definitely not holding up as much as it should as everyone's voices around me began to get softer and softer.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Caesarea!
I knew I wanted to visit Caesarea just because it's a good tourist stop and it was supposed to be scheduled on my taglit trip but we never made it. I never made to the park when I visited it with family and friends in the extremely upscale neighborhood. When I mentioned this to the Ravids, they looked at me as "how the hell are you planning to get there?" I shrugged and asked them if they had any better ideas than taking the train. They said no....
I arrived at Caesarea train stop without a hitch. The rumors about Israeli trains being quite nice inside were very true- they beat NJ Transit and LIRR trains with a little table for your drinks and more comfortable seats! When I got off the train, suddenly I could tell that I was in for a bit of an adventure because A) the station was tiny and practically non-existent B) the sea was nowhere in sight and C) the place did not look one bit familiar as I remembered. So I began walking around looking for the sea or signs to the park. After wandering for half hour and almost walked along the highway, I decided to head back to the train station. I began thinking, "I hate Caesarea already. This isn't Israel. That joke ring so true- it's 10 minutes from Israel." I considered giving up and just going back to Herzliya if the cab didn't come within reasonable time. A cab came to drop off a passenger but a family of girls beat me to it even though I already called for a cab. I grumbled and sat around for another 10 minutes even though I already overheard the cabbie calling for another cab to come and get me. Finally that cab came. The driver wanted 40 shekels to get there and I figured that sounded reasonable giving that I didn't see any signs of life relating to the old park during my wanderings. I realize that the train station must be built exclsuively for the businesses in "Caesarea Park," a largely business oriented park like office parks in the US. Idiot Israelis for making this completely untourist-y friendly.
After a 10-15 minute ride, I made it to the more familiar sights of beautiful houses and old ruins. There was a guy right at the entrance selling cut up watermelons and offering to squeeze oranges for a freshly squeeze OJ. I was tempted to buy the watermelons but since it was 12:30, I had no idea how long those things had been sitting out... I paid for my ticket at student discount and made my way in.
Caesarea has a very interesting history, a bit of reminder of Jerusalem's history, where many different rulers took over the city and reshaped it each time. Some parts of Caesarea were built over by later rulers. It used to be a huge, huge place to be because it was a port and King Herod wanted to make this one of the grandest cities in Palestine aside from Jerusalem. Obviously, this was dedicated to King Augustus Caesar. After the Great Revolt in 60-70 C.E. and Jerusalem was destroyed, the Romans made this the capital of Roman Palestine. Caesarea was also a place where the father of the Misnah, Rabbi Akivah, was tortured and executed by the Romans a bit later on. After Caesarea fell under Muslim hands, the flourishing city dwindled into a little Arab village. When I examined the different sites and found evidence of changing rulers, Caesarea did indeed remind me of Jerusalem except it isn't just as well perserved.
So as you can see from the photographs that the archeaologists never really "fixed" the place like they did with Masada. It made it more tricky to navigate the grounds with a pair of flip flops. So wear sneakers!
I arrived at Caesarea train stop without a hitch. The rumors about Israeli trains being quite nice inside were very true- they beat NJ Transit and LIRR trains with a little table for your drinks and more comfortable seats! When I got off the train, suddenly I could tell that I was in for a bit of an adventure because A) the station was tiny and practically non-existent B) the sea was nowhere in sight and C) the place did not look one bit familiar as I remembered. So I began walking around looking for the sea or signs to the park. After wandering for half hour and almost walked along the highway, I decided to head back to the train station. I began thinking, "I hate Caesarea already. This isn't Israel. That joke ring so true- it's 10 minutes from Israel." I considered giving up and just going back to Herzliya if the cab didn't come within reasonable time. A cab came to drop off a passenger but a family of girls beat me to it even though I already called for a cab. I grumbled and sat around for another 10 minutes even though I already overheard the cabbie calling for another cab to come and get me. Finally that cab came. The driver wanted 40 shekels to get there and I figured that sounded reasonable giving that I didn't see any signs of life relating to the old park during my wanderings. I realize that the train station must be built exclsuively for the businesses in "Caesarea Park," a largely business oriented park like office parks in the US. Idiot Israelis for making this completely untourist-y friendly.
After a 10-15 minute ride, I made it to the more familiar sights of beautiful houses and old ruins. There was a guy right at the entrance selling cut up watermelons and offering to squeeze oranges for a freshly squeeze OJ. I was tempted to buy the watermelons but since it was 12:30, I had no idea how long those things had been sitting out... I paid for my ticket at student discount and made my way in.
Caesarea has a very interesting history, a bit of reminder of Jerusalem's history, where many different rulers took over the city and reshaped it each time. Some parts of Caesarea were built over by later rulers. It used to be a huge, huge place to be because it was a port and King Herod wanted to make this one of the grandest cities in Palestine aside from Jerusalem. Obviously, this was dedicated to King Augustus Caesar. After the Great Revolt in 60-70 C.E. and Jerusalem was destroyed, the Romans made this the capital of Roman Palestine. Caesarea was also a place where the father of the Misnah, Rabbi Akivah, was tortured and executed by the Romans a bit later on. After Caesarea fell under Muslim hands, the flourishing city dwindled into a little Arab village. When I examined the different sites and found evidence of changing rulers, Caesarea did indeed remind me of Jerusalem except it isn't just as well perserved.
So as you can see from the photographs that the archeaologists never really "fixed" the place like they did with Masada. It made it more tricky to navigate the grounds with a pair of flip flops. So wear sneakers!
The entrance to the park through one of the old watch towers.
The seats for the public baths.... they didn't look too comfortable!
The seats of the amphitheater. 
The amphitheater was shaped in a U to allow for horse chariot races (like in the movie Ben-Hur). It was pretty cool to scale it given that I'm an equestrian fan and imagining all the entertainment that went on here.
The amphitheater was shaped in a U to allow for horse chariot races (like in the movie Ben-Hur). It was pretty cool to scale it given that I'm an equestrian fan and imagining all the entertainment that went on here.
I decided to climb on some "roofs" but I think that the actual roofs were gone and these might've been the floors of some of the houses. That was very cool to see mosaics and they were in pretty good condition considering it's been thousands of years! My most exciting find all day.
Some more places but can't quite remember what they were...
Oh, this was the view from the upper palace!
After I passed the amphitheater, I went up to see the grounds of the upper palace and this enormous theater. It totally reminded me of the Mega Event on my birthright trip because we had a similar Roman-style theater. It was definitely beautiful. And that was all of it. I went back to the entrance along the beach. Much to my disgust, I found that the sand unappealing as it was quite heavy and had to manually clean out my flip-flops and feet to get rid of it- it's more heavy rocky sand like in Maine. I explored some of the artisan shops that had Roman glass beads. The jewelry was very pretty. There was supposed to be a Cats' Quarter but I think it's just a joke that the cats just make their home in that particular area of the park. Then I saw the signs for more sites- the Church. The Church grounds were shaped like an octogan.
Then I stopped for a quick lunch of roasted eggplant with labaneh and bread and drank some ice coffee (I had been drinking my big water bottle...). Afterwards, I stopped in Ester S's shop and there, I saw the most beautiful Israeli art pieces I have seen thus far in Israel. (http://www.ester-shahaf.com/). She had the most gorgeous Shabbat candles but I couldn't decide whether to get them or not but I opted to get a wall decoration of a Star of David with Israel written on it for my new apartment in Michigan. I'd love to have more of her stuff. I asked her if she sold at the Carmel Market and she said no but has small collections in stores all over Israel but this was her flagship and she sells them at face value rather than additional profits that her sellers get.
I went for a little walk to see how far away the famous adaqucents were but it turned out a little too far. So I rounded around another ancient site that I wasn't sure exactly what it was. By then, it was 4 PM and I figured that I could have the next half hour or hour to jump in the water to cool off. Then I found out that it cost 20 shekels just to get into the beach and I told them to forget it. Finally, I asked the woman at the entrance if there was a bus out and she said the next one wouldn't be for another 2 hours and asked if she could call a cab for me and I said fine.
The cab driver took me to the wrong train station- to Binyamin instead of Caesarea. I told him that I had a ticket from Caesarea to Herzliya and he came with me to the ticket counter in Binyamin to make sure my ticket would still be good and the woman said I should be fine. So I waited a goooodddd half hour for the train. Yes, Israel Railways need some work on its frequency. But the train wasn't crowded as I feared for some reason.
I was very glad to be back at the kibbutz and went straight to the bathroom to clean off my dirty feet! I realized that every since I landed in Israel, I wore my sandals nearly everyday except for one or two days. I did wear my sandals a lot when I interned in D.C. but I wore my sneakers aplenty during my commute. It was just weird thinking about how my feet have rarely been clean.
For dinner, all the girls were home and Linda made chicken and pineapple stir-fry with a light touch of soy sauce. It was fun seeing what life would've been like if i had sisters... the conversation was definitely different than say... with my own brother! Suddenly, things revolved around boys, Yasmin's crazy beach hair, the awesome necklace that Maayan had on... I could see that Shlomi was bored by all of this but I think he's proud to have such independent daughters who can think for themselves.
Tomorrow, off to Tel Aviv to see what Air Canada's up to.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Weekend in Herzliya #1
Thursday night went without a hitch. Linda and Shlomi had to leave for a dinner for Linda's work so I had the house, the dog, and the (nasty) cat to myself for a couple hours before Yasmin came home from hanging out in town on her way back from Beersheba (where she's studying). Yasmin and I caught up a bit while she made a mess in the kitchen because one of the cake pans leaked. I was really tired so I crashed around 10:30- very early for me.
I slept in late again- about 9:30 AM. I slept in Ofek's bed which, I late found out, has two mattress on top of one and another. Yasmin joked that Ofek's so sensitive like that story of the Princess and the Mattress. But they're going to give one of the mattresses to the Sudanese soon anyway. Linda brought over two Sudanese to help them pick up an old washing machine in Tel Aviv and drive them back.
Adam and Mohammad were very nice and chatty. They had great English but so-so Hebrew (they just finished Bet). While Adam pruned one of the trees, Mohammad and I practiced our Hebrew a bit and I learned that he came here just a few years ago and his family would come soon and on their way (they just have to survive the minefields of Egypt, I mean, it's practically a death zone). They were very pleasant and I could see that they worked very hard to survive and live in Israel- I was told that although they're supported by an organization, they still have to pay a lot of things that Jewish olims don't have to like ulpan.
When they left, including Maayan and Yasmin who were heading to the North for some friend's party, I set out to check out the mall in Herzliya, near the kibbutz, to see what Cellcom had to offer for cellphones. It was pretty hot! I did find some possible running routes that will keep me in shape but I don't know. It really is hot here and I have to wear that knee brace... Anyway, I made it to the mall and it felt great to be in an air conditioning building! The mall was pretty busy! I stopped at Steinmisky's to pick up J-Post and then to Cellcom. They didn't have much of anything that I wanted so I might have to try another Cellcom store in Tel Aviv. I also stopped by the computer store to check out the laptops. There were some very nice laptops that I'd like to have to replace mine. I wondered if it would be cheaper to buy one here since I can get a VAT. The one I was interested in the most, HP Pavilion Dz2700 series for 4300 shekels ($1,230) with the tax in it. The guys didn't know how much the tax was... so I just left the store.
I came back and we had a quick hot lunch. I tagged along with Linda to run errands and pick up Anat. For the rest of the afternoon, we all just hung out and read papers and watched movies on tv. I catnapped a bit.
I slept in late again- about 9:30 AM. I slept in Ofek's bed which, I late found out, has two mattress on top of one and another. Yasmin joked that Ofek's so sensitive like that story of the Princess and the Mattress. But they're going to give one of the mattresses to the Sudanese soon anyway. Linda brought over two Sudanese to help them pick up an old washing machine in Tel Aviv and drive them back.
Adam and Mohammad were very nice and chatty. They had great English but so-so Hebrew (they just finished Bet). While Adam pruned one of the trees, Mohammad and I practiced our Hebrew a bit and I learned that he came here just a few years ago and his family would come soon and on their way (they just have to survive the minefields of Egypt, I mean, it's practically a death zone). They were very pleasant and I could see that they worked very hard to survive and live in Israel- I was told that although they're supported by an organization, they still have to pay a lot of things that Jewish olims don't have to like ulpan.When they left, including Maayan and Yasmin who were heading to the North for some friend's party, I set out to check out the mall in Herzliya, near the kibbutz, to see what Cellcom had to offer for cellphones. It was pretty hot! I did find some possible running routes that will keep me in shape but I don't know. It really is hot here and I have to wear that knee brace... Anyway, I made it to the mall and it felt great to be in an air conditioning building! The mall was pretty busy! I stopped at Steinmisky's to pick up J-Post and then to Cellcom. They didn't have much of anything that I wanted so I might have to try another Cellcom store in Tel Aviv. I also stopped by the computer store to check out the laptops. There were some very nice laptops that I'd like to have to replace mine. I wondered if it would be cheaper to buy one here since I can get a VAT. The one I was interested in the most, HP Pavilion Dz2700 series for 4300 shekels ($1,230) with the tax in it. The guys didn't know how much the tax was... so I just left the store.
I came back and we had a quick hot lunch. I tagged along with Linda to run errands and pick up Anat. For the rest of the afternoon, we all just hung out and read papers and watched movies on tv. I catnapped a bit.
While I was talking to Linda in the car, she asked about my summers in DC and I told her how much I loved working for the USHMM and living in DC. I told her that I had gone back for a couple days in June and just basically forgot how much I enjoyed working with these people and living in the city, She basically said that as much she loves living in Israel, it's still hard for her to gain reputation in her workplace and it was important to go where I have good reputation for my first serious job. That's going to be something to ask Allie and the Pollacks about when I see them.
We had Victoria and her new husband, Dani, over for Shabbat dinner. She cut her hair which made her look older but she looked pretty anyway. It seemed like it had been a while since they had gotten together with the Ravids so there was some conversation of catching up and jokes. I enjoyed it all very much. Victoria made a delicious apple-walnut salad that I should e-mail her for the dressing recipe. Linda attempted to make a whole fish- it was huge! It didn't cook thoroguhly at first so we ate a bit while we waited for it to finish. I'm not sure if people were thrilled to see the fish, especially its bones and the head, or not...
On Saturday, I got up a bit late and showered while Linda made breakfast. I stayed inside pretty much the whole day because I was flipping out and trying to rectify the problem with my processor. I began considering leaving Israel early just because if it wasn't going to cooperate and hold out long enough for me to see Melissa on Sunday, then what was the point? I wanted to be able to give my audiologist a big time frame to work with. It's not always easy to wait for the US to wake up since it's 7 hour difference! I kept myself occupied by catching up with the inews online and reading some more J-Post and worked on some Hebrew translations. Then Linda made a hot afternoon lunch and I talked about my research interests in relation to the Diaspora and about my friend Ceci's upcoming Watson fellowship travel trip around North Africa/Middle East to explore the Muslim perspective of the Jewish emigration to Israel. They listened to everything. Talking it out a bit made me reailze although I love learning about the society in Israel, the Diaspora holds greater interest because of the ultimate internal Jewish connection. Once you're in Israel, you're always surrounded by Jews and living on the land but Diaspora has greater challenges of keeping Jews connected from afar.
After lunch, I talked with my parents a bit to discuss my hearing aid issue. Then I went for an hour long walk to clear my head and explore central Herzliya. I came back and Maayan and Yasmin returned from their party which was literally on the Syria-Israel border. After Yasmin left to visit Jerusalem for the night, Maayan did all the story-telling. They had driven up to Akko and Nahariyya to eat some hummos, dirt cheap candy and dried fruit, visit some cousin of their friend, basically just wandering along the road. The party played "trans-music" which in Maayan's definition is techno-music. Ew, I'm glad I definitely didn't go. It did sound very weird- I think it was their first time doing such thing- where it's pretty secretive and people don't know the exact location until at least several hours beforehand and you have to be inside the network. Uh-huh... From the way Maayan described people's dress and behavior, it was Woodstock in Israel with people being high and in dreadlocks.
After all that, we had dinner and I eventually went to sleep.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Jerusalem in 24 Hours
I finally made it to Hebrew U right around the time I predicted I'd be there- 5:30. Woot. I thought that we'd go out somewhere very Israeli (aka Sima's) for dinner but the girls wanted to eat everything in the apartment before they leave tomorrow night. So I met Melissa, an Evangalical from Idaho, who is deciding what to do for her masters, a girl from England, one from Washington (Seattle) who knew Jessica, my old roommate.... the British girl's accent wasn't very strong much to my surprise. So I asked where she was from and she said Norwich and her family's from the southern part of England. I told her about Anna, the girl in my Hebrew class who had a very thick British accent. She asked where she's from and I said "Birmingham." Ah-ha, she said, those people have very strong accents that even she can barely understand them herself. Cool, this was fun meeting the Brits and learning about the UK- definitely better than studying in London!
We had a big dinner of schintzels (frozen, then cooked), pita, hummus, lentils/couscous, beans/eggs, and vegetable pasta soup. We finished up with pancakes for dessert- yummy. Meredith and I both thought it was crazy but definitely not as crazy as our brownie fiasco from the year before. While talking about, someone popped in for something and she asked me where did I come from and I said that I just came in from Haifa. She had a friend there in the ulpan and apparently this person agreed with me- the girl said that it sounded like she was pretty lucky to be studying at Hebrew U instead of Haifa.
Unexpectedly, I ended up meeting my old boyfriend. To put it in short, we realized that our values clashed more than we thought and just parted ways on a neutral note.
I slept in for the first time since my first day back in Israel- until 9:30! I was soooo happy! Katie made some eggs with mozzerella cheese- she stopped going to classes after 2 weeks. She just didn't want to study anymore and would rather play. So she's been around Jerusalem and central Israel for the past 3 weeks and surprisely, still hadn't been to Tel Aviv! After chatting for a while, it was time for me to head out to meet Zvi Feine for lunch at the Joint (JDC). I wanted to walk. So I left her to finish cleaning out the apartment.
I walked pretty much from Hebrew U to Ramban/Diskin in the center along Route 1 (Bar Ilan). It didn't feel as long as my first time and I felt that if I came back here next year, I could do this on more regular basis. When I realized that I had about 5 minutes before I was supposed to meet him, I decided to catch a cab on a meter. My guess that it would cost about 15 shekel but the meter went to 17. Close enough.
JDC building is so weird but definitely as weird as some places in Tel Aviv. It was beautiful nevertheless. I met Zvi in his office and then we went for lunch downstairs. He told me about his trip to Poland, some stuff about the Ethiopian aliya plans, other people in the room, etc. He pointed out a guy who has been working for JDC since like 1944!!! I was so tempted to go over there and ask him to tell me about his early days on the job but I figured that he spoke only Hebrwe or Yiddish. Zvi also told me how he uses Yiddish a lot for his job which surprised me- including during his trip to Poland. "The older people speak Yiddish, the younger people speak English," he said. So if I can learn Yiddish, I might be able to get around a bit in Poland after all- don't need to know the Polish language! There's really something about Zvi that you can't help but smile how much he enjoyed his life and is proud of what he's done. Next week, he's taking his grandson on a trip to Tanzania to see the world's largest animal reserve park. So his schedule was tight as mine but I was glad that I saw him. Next time, he said, his apartment will have finished the renovations and I will be able to come over.
Afterwards, I talked to Meredith and it turned out that they needed to turn in the apartment by 4 PM and wouldn't be able to go to the shuk beforehand. So I thought that maybe I'd just walk to the Old City to pick up dirt cheap ibuprofren but at the end, I stopped on King George and caught the bus back. I helped the girls throw out the trash and whatever else they needed. I thought about going with them but given the time it takes and the fact I needed to get to Tel Aviv by 7 if I wanted Linda to pick me up with my heavy bags, I decided against it. So the three of us waited at the bus stop for 28 and I wanted to get an apple but was afraid of missing the bus. Meredith offered to run in Mr. Zol's and while she was in there, 28 did come by. But I could wait another 15 minutes. I didn't say anything to her when she came back out. We were sorry that we didn't spend more time together but hopefully at least if we're together again next year, we'll definitely have the time!
I went to the bus station without a problem as usual even though it was crazy time (5:30 PM). The bus drivers were definitely picky about not overloading the buses, especially that there were 2 480 buses going at the same time. Off to Herzliya/Tel Aviv for a week... thankfully because I don't really want to be carrying my suitcases for a good while...
We had a big dinner of schintzels (frozen, then cooked), pita, hummus, lentils/couscous, beans/eggs, and vegetable pasta soup. We finished up with pancakes for dessert- yummy. Meredith and I both thought it was crazy but definitely not as crazy as our brownie fiasco from the year before. While talking about, someone popped in for something and she asked me where did I come from and I said that I just came in from Haifa. She had a friend there in the ulpan and apparently this person agreed with me- the girl said that it sounded like she was pretty lucky to be studying at Hebrew U instead of Haifa.
Unexpectedly, I ended up meeting my old boyfriend. To put it in short, we realized that our values clashed more than we thought and just parted ways on a neutral note.
I slept in for the first time since my first day back in Israel- until 9:30! I was soooo happy! Katie made some eggs with mozzerella cheese- she stopped going to classes after 2 weeks. She just didn't want to study anymore and would rather play. So she's been around Jerusalem and central Israel for the past 3 weeks and surprisely, still hadn't been to Tel Aviv! After chatting for a while, it was time for me to head out to meet Zvi Feine for lunch at the Joint (JDC). I wanted to walk. So I left her to finish cleaning out the apartment.
I walked pretty much from Hebrew U to Ramban/Diskin in the center along Route 1 (Bar Ilan). It didn't feel as long as my first time and I felt that if I came back here next year, I could do this on more regular basis. When I realized that I had about 5 minutes before I was supposed to meet him, I decided to catch a cab on a meter. My guess that it would cost about 15 shekel but the meter went to 17. Close enough.
JDC building is so weird but definitely as weird as some places in Tel Aviv. It was beautiful nevertheless. I met Zvi in his office and then we went for lunch downstairs. He told me about his trip to Poland, some stuff about the Ethiopian aliya plans, other people in the room, etc. He pointed out a guy who has been working for JDC since like 1944!!! I was so tempted to go over there and ask him to tell me about his early days on the job but I figured that he spoke only Hebrwe or Yiddish. Zvi also told me how he uses Yiddish a lot for his job which surprised me- including during his trip to Poland. "The older people speak Yiddish, the younger people speak English," he said. So if I can learn Yiddish, I might be able to get around a bit in Poland after all- don't need to know the Polish language! There's really something about Zvi that you can't help but smile how much he enjoyed his life and is proud of what he's done. Next week, he's taking his grandson on a trip to Tanzania to see the world's largest animal reserve park. So his schedule was tight as mine but I was glad that I saw him. Next time, he said, his apartment will have finished the renovations and I will be able to come over.
Afterwards, I talked to Meredith and it turned out that they needed to turn in the apartment by 4 PM and wouldn't be able to go to the shuk beforehand. So I thought that maybe I'd just walk to the Old City to pick up dirt cheap ibuprofren but at the end, I stopped on King George and caught the bus back. I helped the girls throw out the trash and whatever else they needed. I thought about going with them but given the time it takes and the fact I needed to get to Tel Aviv by 7 if I wanted Linda to pick me up with my heavy bags, I decided against it. So the three of us waited at the bus stop for 28 and I wanted to get an apple but was afraid of missing the bus. Meredith offered to run in Mr. Zol's and while she was in there, 28 did come by. But I could wait another 15 minutes. I didn't say anything to her when she came back out. We were sorry that we didn't spend more time together but hopefully at least if we're together again next year, we'll definitely have the time!
I went to the bus station without a problem as usual even though it was crazy time (5:30 PM). The bus drivers were definitely picky about not overloading the buses, especially that there were 2 480 buses going at the same time. Off to Herzliya/Tel Aviv for a week... thankfully because I don't really want to be carrying my suitcases for a good while...
Last Few Days in Haifa
I will never use Talk N Save to rent phones again. Ever. My phone finally came in today (after a week and a promise it'd be here by last Thursday). I might check around for my own Israeli phone but not buy one yet. I can my own permanent number but I think it just means that I have to get a SIM card.
In terms of ulpan, we're actually finishing the first half of the book. I think that the book is just badly organized and doesn't give clear explanations. I am amazed how Roni's very focused on little things that will help us decipher Hebrew when we encounter new words such as recognizing verbs as nouns (like I'm going "running"). All that will help me when I prepare for my reading proficiency exam in graduate school. I learn new random things in class from Roni like the Japanese don't have a word for "joke" because they don't know how to joke! I do actually feel good and am glad that we're moving along. Bet isn't hard as everyone says, maybe it's just Hebrew U is very intense. We also did a couple more presentations. The most interesting one was about Marshall Islands- yes, we actually have a student from Marshall Islands. So we asked more questions about it. My class is actually pretty diverse- 2 from France, 1 from Switzerland, 1 from UK, 1 from Germany, 1 from Marshall Islands, 1 from Greece, 1 from Sweden, and everyone else is from the US.
I am doing well in Hebrew, I think. Lilach, my roommate, is a big help. The other night, she seriously stood besides me while I finished up my Hebrew homework! She helped me to get it done quicker by translating some of the phrases/words I didn't know. We converse both in Hebrew and English and I learn to pronounce words a little better. When I asked her if she ever learned how to read/write in cursive, she didn't know what I meant until I showed her a list of all the states in cursive (doodling in class...). She couldn't believe it! Not that I care for cursive but it can make writing go a little faster with practice. We got into a conversation last night about how American Jews perceive themselves and how its divided by denominations like Orthodox and Reform/secular Jews face tensions because of different observance levels. She asked if American Jews cared about marrying someone who isn't from their background like a Sephardi marrying an Ashkenazi. I told her no, because 95% of American Jews is Ashkenazi so no one really thinks of it.
On Sunday after class, I just went for a walk down to Horev Center. It was a little too late to go to the beach and it was pretty cool out. When I came back, the program was showing the movie "The Syrian Bride." It's quite good and humorous and I recommend it.
Monday, I went to the beach for the last time even though I kind of had enough and I knew it wouldn't be quite warm down there. I was right- it wasn't. I did finish my homework there and took a walk along the shores, and then I packed up. I stopped by the Haifa Mall just for a bit while waiting for 46 to come along. I'm amazed how Israeli malls can be "all-in-one" like just about every one of them has a supermarket, big pharmacy, and some kind of a home depot. It reminds me of why and how much I like farmers market and more local stores because at least you're getting real customer service and interacting with people. When I came back, I went to a lecture on Israel and Feminism. I had expected that she'd talk about feminism in Israel in sense of cultural and social norms. I wanted to know what Israeli women think and view their roles in modern Israel. Instead, the lecturer gave a laundry list of women who contributed to Zionism and the State of Israel. I got a little research idea when she talked about Russian Jewish women contributing something during the Russian Revolution. I began wondering about Russian Jewish women- both observant and secular- and how they contributed and defined the women's movement in the Soviet Union in its early days (I did a paper on Soviet women in the gulags and how they were disillusioned by Stalin's propaganda by being arrested and sent to camps where the camps attempted to humilate them as women by stripping them of their female identities).
Tuesday, I did my laundry and packed. I was actually down to my last pair of underwear! It felt very strange to pack everything- I did a very good job of packing only the most necessary things. I had a few things that I never used/worn that I just put to the bottom of my suitcase. I was kind of sad that I brought only the basic stuff- no frills but I just hate overpacking.
Around 6 or so, I went to Mor's to see Or, Mor, and their parents for the last time. Hadar cooked me a sampling of her usual Iraqi food. We talked about Obama and Israeli politics and current events over tea. I am finding it interesting that the older Israelis are very staunch Republicans- in a sense they'd vote for McCain while the younger Israelis are more apathetic. I'm going to keep surveying in the next two weeks. Hadar thought that the Israeli government should give in Hamas' demand of releasing 1,000 prisoners that the IDF captured during the second intifada to get Schalit back. I also talked to them about getting an Israeli cellphone but found out that they're definitely not cheaper here (despite being very widely used). Hadar thought that my new phone probably cost about 1,000 shekelim ($330)- yikes!
On the bus ride home, Sylvia found me. It was pretty funny so we chatted on the way back. The ride seemed so short! When we came home, we found that our fridge was broken. Fortunately, I was leaving so I didn't care about the food so I told them that it's fine to throw out anything. In the meantime, I finished up packing and sorted out clothes I'd need in the next day.
In terms of ulpan, we're actually finishing the first half of the book. I think that the book is just badly organized and doesn't give clear explanations. I am amazed how Roni's very focused on little things that will help us decipher Hebrew when we encounter new words such as recognizing verbs as nouns (like I'm going "running"). All that will help me when I prepare for my reading proficiency exam in graduate school. I learn new random things in class from Roni like the Japanese don't have a word for "joke" because they don't know how to joke! I do actually feel good and am glad that we're moving along. Bet isn't hard as everyone says, maybe it's just Hebrew U is very intense. We also did a couple more presentations. The most interesting one was about Marshall Islands- yes, we actually have a student from Marshall Islands. So we asked more questions about it. My class is actually pretty diverse- 2 from France, 1 from Switzerland, 1 from UK, 1 from Germany, 1 from Marshall Islands, 1 from Greece, 1 from Sweden, and everyone else is from the US.
I am doing well in Hebrew, I think. Lilach, my roommate, is a big help. The other night, she seriously stood besides me while I finished up my Hebrew homework! She helped me to get it done quicker by translating some of the phrases/words I didn't know. We converse both in Hebrew and English and I learn to pronounce words a little better. When I asked her if she ever learned how to read/write in cursive, she didn't know what I meant until I showed her a list of all the states in cursive (doodling in class...). She couldn't believe it! Not that I care for cursive but it can make writing go a little faster with practice. We got into a conversation last night about how American Jews perceive themselves and how its divided by denominations like Orthodox and Reform/secular Jews face tensions because of different observance levels. She asked if American Jews cared about marrying someone who isn't from their background like a Sephardi marrying an Ashkenazi. I told her no, because 95% of American Jews is Ashkenazi so no one really thinks of it.
On Sunday after class, I just went for a walk down to Horev Center. It was a little too late to go to the beach and it was pretty cool out. When I came back, the program was showing the movie "The Syrian Bride." It's quite good and humorous and I recommend it.
Monday, I went to the beach for the last time even though I kind of had enough and I knew it wouldn't be quite warm down there. I was right- it wasn't. I did finish my homework there and took a walk along the shores, and then I packed up. I stopped by the Haifa Mall just for a bit while waiting for 46 to come along. I'm amazed how Israeli malls can be "all-in-one" like just about every one of them has a supermarket, big pharmacy, and some kind of a home depot. It reminds me of why and how much I like farmers market and more local stores because at least you're getting real customer service and interacting with people. When I came back, I went to a lecture on Israel and Feminism. I had expected that she'd talk about feminism in Israel in sense of cultural and social norms. I wanted to know what Israeli women think and view their roles in modern Israel. Instead, the lecturer gave a laundry list of women who contributed to Zionism and the State of Israel. I got a little research idea when she talked about Russian Jewish women contributing something during the Russian Revolution. I began wondering about Russian Jewish women- both observant and secular- and how they contributed and defined the women's movement in the Soviet Union in its early days (I did a paper on Soviet women in the gulags and how they were disillusioned by Stalin's propaganda by being arrested and sent to camps where the camps attempted to humilate them as women by stripping them of their female identities).
Tuesday, I did my laundry and packed. I was actually down to my last pair of underwear! It felt very strange to pack everything- I did a very good job of packing only the most necessary things. I had a few things that I never used/worn that I just put to the bottom of my suitcase. I was kind of sad that I brought only the basic stuff- no frills but I just hate overpacking.
Around 6 or so, I went to Mor's to see Or, Mor, and their parents for the last time. Hadar cooked me a sampling of her usual Iraqi food. We talked about Obama and Israeli politics and current events over tea. I am finding it interesting that the older Israelis are very staunch Republicans- in a sense they'd vote for McCain while the younger Israelis are more apathetic. I'm going to keep surveying in the next two weeks. Hadar thought that the Israeli government should give in Hamas' demand of releasing 1,000 prisoners that the IDF captured during the second intifada to get Schalit back. I also talked to them about getting an Israeli cellphone but found out that they're definitely not cheaper here (despite being very widely used). Hadar thought that my new phone probably cost about 1,000 shekelim ($330)- yikes!
On the bus ride home, Sylvia found me. It was pretty funny so we chatted on the way back. The ride seemed so short! When we came home, we found that our fridge was broken. Fortunately, I was leaving so I didn't care about the food so I told them that it's fine to throw out anything. In the meantime, I finished up packing and sorted out clothes I'd need in the next day.
Wednesday, I decided to sleep in a little given that I was up a little too late packing and was getting tired. So I came to class and Roni was giving last minute lessons on another future verb tense. Then we did the program evaluation together as a class and in Hebrew. Roni wrote down everything. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who actually liked the computer drills! People did complain a bit about the homework not being productive. I suggested that she assign more readings in the future rather than just grammar drills. After our break, we had a class party. That was cool and we finally did our final exam. I didn't think it was too difficult and was comparable to the midterm. I understood the entire text section so I'm sure I got everything right there. Oh well, I am hoping to get a B or better.
After class, it was finally time to finish up cleaning my room and say good-bye. Sylvia was the only one home so I said good bye to her. She wanted to help me carry my bags to the bus stop. I looked at her, a petite who's at least a head shorter than me, and declined her offer but if she really wanted to try... then fine. She attempted to pick up my smaller duffel and she could barely pick it up. I teased her if she even been in the army! I knew she didn't do the tough physical work.
For a send-off party, the program had the Druze over to make their special snack treat- yogurt and toppings wrapped in huge pita. Then I caught the 2 PM bus and took an uneventful ride to Jerusalem.
As I watched Haifa go by, I thought how fast those 3 1/2 weeks went by. It wasn't really all that terrible. I appreciated that I was able to speak Hebrew more easily with confidence and to ask for proper pronounication without embarassment. I found the Russian market, enjoyed the beach, and had gorgeous view all the time. The only real drawback was the location of the university and in relation to the public transportation system that makes going places take longer than in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. I would rate this program as "good" and for those very concerned with improving their conversational Hebrew skills (as I was). But not the program to do if people want to focus more on reading and less speaking. So I would do another month ulpan with Haifa but not my top choice. I also realized how much easier it was to reach anywhere in the North, including Tiberias, than from Jerusalem.
Anyway... off to Jerusalem!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Encore! Shabbat with the Israelis!
I left for Jerusalem around 12:15 after doing my long run (survived 9.5 miles..yay) . I made it just fine after an annoying incident involving a young family bringing a puppy onboard and the puppy makign some kind of yucky mess in two seats front of me. The mother decided to throw the puppy's mess in a plastic bag and put the bag in a garbage can right behind me. I tried adjusting the fan above me but it didn't work and I was only 20 minutes away from the city! I resorted to moving to the back of the bus. I just sat there, totally peeved.
I sighed with a relief when I walked out of the Central Bus Station onto Jaffa. I began walking along Jaffa, just taking in the cityscape. However, the sight of Jaffa, nearly sliced in half, one side being a road, and the other being a construction site, shocked me. As I studied the construction below, I realized that the new light rail will be running along Jaffa. For something that's been talked about for years and non-existent last year, it was incredible to see some work done! The light rail is scheduled to be completed by 2011... but this is Israel... who knows. I began thinking about how much Jerusalem will change in the next 10 years and maybe, just maybe, I will want to live here now that there will definitely be light rail connecting to Tel Aviv, more gourmet restaurants coming for my taste buds, and generally improving quality of life for me. The only problem will be housing, expensive housing.
I made it to the shuk and soaked in the craziness of people running around buying food for Shabbat. I picked up some pita (they're really terrible in Haifa- can't even cut them well to make pockets), a roll, and 30 shekelim worth of Marzipan's chocolate rugalechim. Half would be for the Israeli family as a thank you for coming to Israel, and the other half for my roommates in Haifa as a thank you for being great to me. The trick was to see if I could deliver these without eating them! I bought some pizza rolls as late lunch. Once I was out of the shuk, I began walking to King David hotel, where the Israeli family was staying. I smiled the whole way there. I didn't care if I had to carry my duffel bag for 1 1/2 hours from the CBS to the shuk to King David.
I met Aunt Nancy and the gang. Then Ron's cousin, Yehudit and her family came over to join us for some pool time before Shabbat. She had two kids, ages 10 and 13, perfect for Ben and Alec. She also brought along another cousin, Tamar, who's 14, for Ella. So all 6 of them played in the pool while all the adults sat on the deck and talked. They talked a lot about Max, Yehudit's brother, who lives in New York. It was getting cold after a while that I actually put my clothes back on- I shouldn't have changed into my bathing suit.
When we went back up to the room to prepare for Shabbat, I called up Meredith to see what was going on as I was planning to leave after dinner to Hebrew U. As it turned out, she wouldn't really have much time- the next day, she'd be going to the church until 2 (which I understood) and then leave right after for Ramallah. I froze a bit just hearing that and asked her questions. She and her friend(s) were taking a bus and their friend would pick them up in a tiny car. I decided, partly for comfort, partly for my safety, and partly the need to get back to Jerusalem by 8:30 to catch the 9 PM bus to Haifa, it would be best that I didn't go to Ramallah. She and my aunt both individually thought that I should stay with the Israelis for the night and just stay with them for the weekend, and then I would come back to Jerusalem on Wednesday after the end of ulpan. So that was that. I was a little smitten at the thought of being able to stay at King David for the night, even if it meant sleeping on the couch in their suite.
Around 6:30ish, we took cabs out to northwestern part of Jerusalem, to Chana's (Ron's aunt, on father's side) and Zoobie's (sp.?). They live in a small apartment building that they built in 1981 for their family. They live in one apartment, their son lives in another, and Max used to live in the third (and now some people rent it). They had a beautiful view of Jerusalem Forest, which equalled to a great sunset. The Israeli family and Chana went over to Ron's grandmother in her nursing home while I hung out with Zoobie and Etai, their grandson (who was very cute by the way!). They set up the BBQ and some of the dinner (isn't that nice, men taking care of the cooking a bit?). I took the opportunity to call Linda to update her and then I called Dad to say hi.
Finally, everyone came around 7:30ish. Aunt Nancy asked me if I had told Dad that she had let me with some strange relatives for an hour. I said to her that I was just so happy to be in Jerusalem that it didn't matter at all! So at dinner, we had about 25 or so people- half adults and half kids. It was all family and the atmosphere was quite inviting and warm. Dinner was lamb beef patties (Zoobie told me that generally ground meat in Israel is 50% beef and 50% lamb, which I wish I had known!), rice, stuffed peppers (Mexican style), carrots glazed with grapes, some Israeli salads, and pita. All so delicious that I wish I could take some with me! For dessert, Chana served parve cheesecake (it tasted parve...), watermelon, and chocolate cake loaf. Consequently with all the food, Nancy, Ben, and I did not sleep very well that night and had crazy, bizarre dreams (I dreamt of Cutie, my old pony, who I hadn't thought of in a while!).
I met a couple, the Yerushalamis, who had connections to Rochester Jewish community. The wife, Judy, who made aliyah 15 years ago, still has some relatives there. I told them that I worked on a thesis and am still working on it, relating to the Jewish community there. She gave a hint that she might be able to give me more clues of the German immigrants in the 1930s and 1940s. I got her email. That was quite exciting for me! In Israel! We also talked a bit about challenges of making aliyah like support and jobs.
We finally left after 10 PM. I pretty much crashed with everyone else.
The next day, we got up and went down for breakfast. The breakfast spread was just beautiful- they had cinnamon and chocolate brioche! We met Zvika around 9:15 and began driving. I was worried that the Dead Sea would be very hot and thought we'd need to go sooner so we wouldn't melt on Masada. As it turned out, it was pleasant weather! We drove through the West Bank and made a pit stop at this little tourist attraction- the Sea Level point. Remember, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth, below the sea level.
Aside from this little sign (and a big one), there was a man with a camel. Obviously, he took advantage of being the only guy to sell tourist stuff and photo-op with a camel. The kids got on it- all together! They had a lot of fun. I wasn't quite into it- just because I'm not a fan of camels. I think they're rude and arrogant. Anyway, the Israeli family all together managed to get a photo op. While they played with the camel, I took a picture of this:
It looks so much like a painting but it's for real! I love it. Afterwards, we all hopped back in the SUV and began driving non-stop to Masada. I wish I had remembered to bring my bandana- I thought I was not going to be going on this leg of the trip... So I ended up wearing a baseball hat and needed to buy water. Zvika was quite admant over everyone drinking water. I kept telling him that I've been here, not just in the desert, and I know how much water I need to drink! We took a cable car up. Before we went through the gate at the top, we went the steps on the snake path to see where the Jews stored water inside the mountain. I didn't remember seeing that. Then we did our tour. I felt that Zvika was very good in telling the history of Masada and knowledgeable of the area. Maybe I didn't pay too much attention to Ron, my parents' tour guide. I pointed out to Aunt Nancy and Ella the Roman ramp and the south side of the mountain where I had gone on my birthright trip. I told them that even though it's my third time on Masada, it's still important to me because that's when I made my kesher (connection) with Israel- through the martyrdom of the Jews in history.
After Masada, we went down everyone got orange and watermelon juices. I was still feeling a little full so I opted out of the watermelon juice. Aunt Nancy never failed to stop asking Alec if he wanted any juice (he's not a fruit eater). While waiting for people to use the bathroom, Zvika challenged me to a water chugging contest to see if I could drink more than what he had left in his water bottle (I had a big bottle and he had the medium size). I thought, "You're challenging the wrong person. If you knew about Colgate's reputation and my past as a milk chugger..." Whatever, I held out longer.
After Masada, Zvika drove into the desert a bit to show us the remains of the Dead Sea from thousands of years ago. On the way here, he had given us a lecture on the Dead Sea. The sight was amazing- I couldn't believe all the salt-rock formations!
We stopped at the Ein Gedi restaurant to grab some lunch.
It was also the same place that my family had lunch too. They didn't have chicken schinztel so I just got baked chicken. Then we went across the road to Ein Gedi Reserve Park. Again, I felt a little unprepared given that I didn't bring my sneakers to walk in. Fortunately, we didn't have to walk very far to the waterfall and pool we'd be dipping in for a bit. I was literally sweating when I got there 15-20 minutes later! Ella was a very good help by offering her shoulder for balance support while I navigated in my birkenstocks. The water was cold but felt great! Zvika said that the Israelis call this the "second waterfall" because the really good ones were up further (where my friends and I had gone several weeks ago). I'm glad that I know where this waterfall is now so I can take my family there next time they come back to Israel. The kids explored behind the rocks (not shown here) while I sat on the rocks observing the nature. They had watershoes on and I was going barefoot so I couldn't really join them. Also I get a little nervous around water when I don't hear anyway.
Finally, we drove out to the Dead Sea- to the beach fairly close to the West Bank chekcpoint- Desert Oasis. It was a very small, narrow beach. I liked it- at least I can go down here from Jerusalem quickly instead of riding all the way down. The water was very warm. The twins and I floated together. Alec floated for a bit but his skin was... too sensitive so he went to the showers pretty fast. It seems like the more time I spend in the Dead Sea, the tougher I get! Ron has all the pictures, by the way. I was on the look out for mud but it didn't really seem to be in plain sight anywhere. So I got out of the water and showered off and then when I came back, the kids and Ron found some mud. So I joined in. We didn't leave much time for the mud to completely dry as we had to get going back to Jerusalem. Before we left, we met Zvika in the bar restaurant and he was smoking some hookah. He explained how the hookah worked. I didn't give a whirl- hookahs aren't really my thing.
I closed my eyes for a bit on the way. When we reached the hotel, I thank Zvika for everything and it was a pleasure to meet him. We all went upstairs to shower and pack. I told Aunt Nancy that I couldn't really leave until Shabbat was over anyway. So I stuck around and had a light dinner with them. Alec and Ben were facsinated by the chocolate syrup decor on their chocolate milk. No one seemed too thrilled that there wasn't anything hot to eat because of Shabbat so most of us ordered tea for drinks. It was also getting very cool out and we were sitting outside on the deck- at the same table where my family had drinks a year ago! I mentioned that to Aunt Nancy and she thought it was funny.
After good-byes and thank yous, I set out to walk to the bus station. I had about an hour. I figured that buses wouldn't actually start running until I would be close to the bus station. But I was just so happy to be in Jerusalem that the bag felt lighter than it did the day before and the walk didn't seem very long even though it was about 45 minutes. At the CBS, things were starting to get nuts! I couldn't get on the 9 PM bus to Haifa and had to wait for the 9:15 one (the next one would be 9:40). I was a little worried that my round-trip ticket would be no good because it was supposed to be good for 23 hours but I knew I could argue that it was still Shabbat at 12:!5 PM! The bus driver took it without problem thankfully. The bus drivers, I noticed, for both buses were carefully not to allow any standing room, given that its a two-hour ride and the buses were running more frequently than on a typical day. I wound up sitting next to some weirdo girl who watched some kind of strange sci-fantasy movie on her laptop.
When I got back to Haifa, I saw that the first bus, 133, I'd take wasn't going to leave for another 20 minutes, I decided that I just wanted to get back to the university before I fall asleep on Horev Street, waiting for 37 to take me back to the university. So I nabbed a cab. I learned my lessons about cab drivers in Haifa- they're actually very fair and won't rip anyone off because this wasn't like Tel Aviv or Jerusalem where there are many ways to different places. Besides, the standard price in general seemed to be around 40 or 50 shekelim anyway between the university and French Carmel/Carmel Center and the universitty and the CBS.
I am very glad that the Israelis were able to visit Israel while I was there. I am thankful for the opportunity to see other parts of Israel that I hadn't seen before. I wanted to do this because I know that once I go off to graduate school in Michigan, it will be more difficult to see them other than Thanksgiving (and the upcoming bar mitzvah). So I didn't just go for the sights, but to spend time with them.
I realized, from this experience, that although it sounds easy to point out things that are important to me, it's hard to convey my emotional connections. I have to really explain why and how. Maybe it sounds easy because I have such vivid imagination. Or maybe sometimes I expect too much. I think that all I want for my family and friends is just to see what I appreciate about Israel and why, however they're feeling about being in this country. For example, when I stood out on the balcony at Chana's watching the sunset over Jerusalem forest, I largely thought about what it had meant for me to live in Jerusalem and to be able to overcome the large stereotypical picture of the city as "very religious" to a picture of a beautiful city where old meets new and changing demographics. I also didn't need to be in the desert to see this beautiful sunset either. How Jerusalem had become much more than the expectations that people have of the city- as very old, ancient place situated in a desert where it's just all sand...
I sighed with a relief when I walked out of the Central Bus Station onto Jaffa. I began walking along Jaffa, just taking in the cityscape. However, the sight of Jaffa, nearly sliced in half, one side being a road, and the other being a construction site, shocked me. As I studied the construction below, I realized that the new light rail will be running along Jaffa. For something that's been talked about for years and non-existent last year, it was incredible to see some work done! The light rail is scheduled to be completed by 2011... but this is Israel... who knows. I began thinking about how much Jerusalem will change in the next 10 years and maybe, just maybe, I will want to live here now that there will definitely be light rail connecting to Tel Aviv, more gourmet restaurants coming for my taste buds, and generally improving quality of life for me. The only problem will be housing, expensive housing.
I made it to the shuk and soaked in the craziness of people running around buying food for Shabbat. I picked up some pita (they're really terrible in Haifa- can't even cut them well to make pockets), a roll, and 30 shekelim worth of Marzipan's chocolate rugalechim. Half would be for the Israeli family as a thank you for coming to Israel, and the other half for my roommates in Haifa as a thank you for being great to me. The trick was to see if I could deliver these without eating them! I bought some pizza rolls as late lunch. Once I was out of the shuk, I began walking to King David hotel, where the Israeli family was staying. I smiled the whole way there. I didn't care if I had to carry my duffel bag for 1 1/2 hours from the CBS to the shuk to King David.
I met Aunt Nancy and the gang. Then Ron's cousin, Yehudit and her family came over to join us for some pool time before Shabbat. She had two kids, ages 10 and 13, perfect for Ben and Alec. She also brought along another cousin, Tamar, who's 14, for Ella. So all 6 of them played in the pool while all the adults sat on the deck and talked. They talked a lot about Max, Yehudit's brother, who lives in New York. It was getting cold after a while that I actually put my clothes back on- I shouldn't have changed into my bathing suit.
When we went back up to the room to prepare for Shabbat, I called up Meredith to see what was going on as I was planning to leave after dinner to Hebrew U. As it turned out, she wouldn't really have much time- the next day, she'd be going to the church until 2 (which I understood) and then leave right after for Ramallah. I froze a bit just hearing that and asked her questions. She and her friend(s) were taking a bus and their friend would pick them up in a tiny car. I decided, partly for comfort, partly for my safety, and partly the need to get back to Jerusalem by 8:30 to catch the 9 PM bus to Haifa, it would be best that I didn't go to Ramallah. She and my aunt both individually thought that I should stay with the Israelis for the night and just stay with them for the weekend, and then I would come back to Jerusalem on Wednesday after the end of ulpan. So that was that. I was a little smitten at the thought of being able to stay at King David for the night, even if it meant sleeping on the couch in their suite.
Around 6:30ish, we took cabs out to northwestern part of Jerusalem, to Chana's (Ron's aunt, on father's side) and Zoobie's (sp.?). They live in a small apartment building that they built in 1981 for their family. They live in one apartment, their son lives in another, and Max used to live in the third (and now some people rent it). They had a beautiful view of Jerusalem Forest, which equalled to a great sunset. The Israeli family and Chana went over to Ron's grandmother in her nursing home while I hung out with Zoobie and Etai, their grandson (who was very cute by the way!). They set up the BBQ and some of the dinner (isn't that nice, men taking care of the cooking a bit?). I took the opportunity to call Linda to update her and then I called Dad to say hi.
Finally, everyone came around 7:30ish. Aunt Nancy asked me if I had told Dad that she had let me with some strange relatives for an hour. I said to her that I was just so happy to be in Jerusalem that it didn't matter at all! So at dinner, we had about 25 or so people- half adults and half kids. It was all family and the atmosphere was quite inviting and warm. Dinner was lamb beef patties (Zoobie told me that generally ground meat in Israel is 50% beef and 50% lamb, which I wish I had known!), rice, stuffed peppers (Mexican style), carrots glazed with grapes, some Israeli salads, and pita. All so delicious that I wish I could take some with me! For dessert, Chana served parve cheesecake (it tasted parve...), watermelon, and chocolate cake loaf. Consequently with all the food, Nancy, Ben, and I did not sleep very well that night and had crazy, bizarre dreams (I dreamt of Cutie, my old pony, who I hadn't thought of in a while!).
I met a couple, the Yerushalamis, who had connections to Rochester Jewish community. The wife, Judy, who made aliyah 15 years ago, still has some relatives there. I told them that I worked on a thesis and am still working on it, relating to the Jewish community there. She gave a hint that she might be able to give me more clues of the German immigrants in the 1930s and 1940s. I got her email. That was quite exciting for me! In Israel! We also talked a bit about challenges of making aliyah like support and jobs.
We finally left after 10 PM. I pretty much crashed with everyone else.
The next day, we got up and went down for breakfast. The breakfast spread was just beautiful- they had cinnamon and chocolate brioche! We met Zvika around 9:15 and began driving. I was worried that the Dead Sea would be very hot and thought we'd need to go sooner so we wouldn't melt on Masada. As it turned out, it was pleasant weather! We drove through the West Bank and made a pit stop at this little tourist attraction- the Sea Level point. Remember, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth, below the sea level.
Aside from this little sign (and a big one), there was a man with a camel. Obviously, he took advantage of being the only guy to sell tourist stuff and photo-op with a camel. The kids got on it- all together! They had a lot of fun. I wasn't quite into it- just because I'm not a fan of camels. I think they're rude and arrogant. Anyway, the Israeli family all together managed to get a photo op. While they played with the camel, I took a picture of this:
It looks so much like a painting but it's for real! I love it. Afterwards, we all hopped back in the SUV and began driving non-stop to Masada. I wish I had remembered to bring my bandana- I thought I was not going to be going on this leg of the trip... So I ended up wearing a baseball hat and needed to buy water. Zvika was quite admant over everyone drinking water. I kept telling him that I've been here, not just in the desert, and I know how much water I need to drink! We took a cable car up. Before we went through the gate at the top, we went the steps on the snake path to see where the Jews stored water inside the mountain. I didn't remember seeing that. Then we did our tour. I felt that Zvika was very good in telling the history of Masada and knowledgeable of the area. Maybe I didn't pay too much attention to Ron, my parents' tour guide. I pointed out to Aunt Nancy and Ella the Roman ramp and the south side of the mountain where I had gone on my birthright trip. I told them that even though it's my third time on Masada, it's still important to me because that's when I made my kesher (connection) with Israel- through the martyrdom of the Jews in history.
After Masada, we went down everyone got orange and watermelon juices. I was still feeling a little full so I opted out of the watermelon juice. Aunt Nancy never failed to stop asking Alec if he wanted any juice (he's not a fruit eater). While waiting for people to use the bathroom, Zvika challenged me to a water chugging contest to see if I could drink more than what he had left in his water bottle (I had a big bottle and he had the medium size). I thought, "You're challenging the wrong person. If you knew about Colgate's reputation and my past as a milk chugger..." Whatever, I held out longer.
After Masada, Zvika drove into the desert a bit to show us the remains of the Dead Sea from thousands of years ago. On the way here, he had given us a lecture on the Dead Sea. The sight was amazing- I couldn't believe all the salt-rock formations!
We stopped at the Ein Gedi restaurant to grab some lunch.
It was also the same place that my family had lunch too. They didn't have chicken schinztel so I just got baked chicken. Then we went across the road to Ein Gedi Reserve Park. Again, I felt a little unprepared given that I didn't bring my sneakers to walk in. Fortunately, we didn't have to walk very far to the waterfall and pool we'd be dipping in for a bit. I was literally sweating when I got there 15-20 minutes later! Ella was a very good help by offering her shoulder for balance support while I navigated in my birkenstocks. The water was cold but felt great! Zvika said that the Israelis call this the "second waterfall" because the really good ones were up further (where my friends and I had gone several weeks ago). I'm glad that I know where this waterfall is now so I can take my family there next time they come back to Israel. The kids explored behind the rocks (not shown here) while I sat on the rocks observing the nature. They had watershoes on and I was going barefoot so I couldn't really join them. Also I get a little nervous around water when I don't hear anyway.
Finally, we drove out to the Dead Sea- to the beach fairly close to the West Bank chekcpoint- Desert Oasis. It was a very small, narrow beach. I liked it- at least I can go down here from Jerusalem quickly instead of riding all the way down. The water was very warm. The twins and I floated together. Alec floated for a bit but his skin was... too sensitive so he went to the showers pretty fast. It seems like the more time I spend in the Dead Sea, the tougher I get! Ron has all the pictures, by the way. I was on the look out for mud but it didn't really seem to be in plain sight anywhere. So I got out of the water and showered off and then when I came back, the kids and Ron found some mud. So I joined in. We didn't leave much time for the mud to completely dry as we had to get going back to Jerusalem. Before we left, we met Zvika in the bar restaurant and he was smoking some hookah. He explained how the hookah worked. I didn't give a whirl- hookahs aren't really my thing.
I closed my eyes for a bit on the way. When we reached the hotel, I thank Zvika for everything and it was a pleasure to meet him. We all went upstairs to shower and pack. I told Aunt Nancy that I couldn't really leave until Shabbat was over anyway. So I stuck around and had a light dinner with them. Alec and Ben were facsinated by the chocolate syrup decor on their chocolate milk. No one seemed too thrilled that there wasn't anything hot to eat because of Shabbat so most of us ordered tea for drinks. It was also getting very cool out and we were sitting outside on the deck- at the same table where my family had drinks a year ago! I mentioned that to Aunt Nancy and she thought it was funny.
After good-byes and thank yous, I set out to walk to the bus station. I had about an hour. I figured that buses wouldn't actually start running until I would be close to the bus station. But I was just so happy to be in Jerusalem that the bag felt lighter than it did the day before and the walk didn't seem very long even though it was about 45 minutes. At the CBS, things were starting to get nuts! I couldn't get on the 9 PM bus to Haifa and had to wait for the 9:15 one (the next one would be 9:40). I was a little worried that my round-trip ticket would be no good because it was supposed to be good for 23 hours but I knew I could argue that it was still Shabbat at 12:!5 PM! The bus driver took it without problem thankfully. The bus drivers, I noticed, for both buses were carefully not to allow any standing room, given that its a two-hour ride and the buses were running more frequently than on a typical day. I wound up sitting next to some weirdo girl who watched some kind of strange sci-fantasy movie on her laptop.
When I got back to Haifa, I saw that the first bus, 133, I'd take wasn't going to leave for another 20 minutes, I decided that I just wanted to get back to the university before I fall asleep on Horev Street, waiting for 37 to take me back to the university. So I nabbed a cab. I learned my lessons about cab drivers in Haifa- they're actually very fair and won't rip anyone off because this wasn't like Tel Aviv or Jerusalem where there are many ways to different places. Besides, the standard price in general seemed to be around 40 or 50 shekelim anyway between the university and French Carmel/Carmel Center and the universitty and the CBS.
I am very glad that the Israelis were able to visit Israel while I was there. I am thankful for the opportunity to see other parts of Israel that I hadn't seen before. I wanted to do this because I know that once I go off to graduate school in Michigan, it will be more difficult to see them other than Thanksgiving (and the upcoming bar mitzvah). So I didn't just go for the sights, but to spend time with them.
I realized, from this experience, that although it sounds easy to point out things that are important to me, it's hard to convey my emotional connections. I have to really explain why and how. Maybe it sounds easy because I have such vivid imagination. Or maybe sometimes I expect too much. I think that all I want for my family and friends is just to see what I appreciate about Israel and why, however they're feeling about being in this country. For example, when I stood out on the balcony at Chana's watching the sunset over Jerusalem forest, I largely thought about what it had meant for me to live in Jerusalem and to be able to overcome the large stereotypical picture of the city as "very religious" to a picture of a beautiful city where old meets new and changing demographics. I also didn't need to be in the desert to see this beautiful sunset either. How Jerusalem had become much more than the expectations that people have of the city- as very old, ancient place situated in a desert where it's just all sand...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Exciting Conversations!
Ulpan is picking up a bit, slowly but surely. My partner, David, and I did our class presentation yesterday on Eliezar Ben-Yehuda. We turned it into a skit. I played an unhappy talmud student and David was Ben Yehuda and it was Ben Yehuda's job to make the student excited about learning Modern Hebrew. We did pretty well and Roni didn't interrupt too much compared to other presentations- yippee. It was our goal. The room we were in was soooo cold that I had to get a cup of cappuccino to warm up!
Roni finally taught the future tense today but I didn't think she taught it too well. She was trying to cram two concepts instead of separating them. Like there's a common tense but certain final letter of the shoresh reqires a slight change in the first and second persons. At least we're moving on. In the final period of class, we went to the children's section in the library. We formed groups and each read a book and acted out in front of the class. Danna, Naomi, and I read Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham (actually in Hebrew it roughly translates "I'm Not Hungry, I Don't Like It" (לא רבע לא אוהב)) Obviously the story didn't rhyme but it was great. Danna acted out while Naomi and I took our parts. Other people picked Where the Wild Things Are, The Giving Tree, and Good Night Moon. It was the best part of ulpan class so far!
I went to the beach yesterday. I totally missed the 46 bus so I hopped on the 37 to transfer and just missed the 133. So I waited like half-hour for the next one, ugh! The waves were still good but very strong that I actually ducked underwater when the waves came over! I almost lost my bikini bottom (I guess my body has changed quite a bit since I was 17 and had more fat on my body, even though I weighed less then!). The beach where I was was very busy that I didn't get a chair for a while so I laid out on my towel as usual. I definitely wished that I had a surfboard!
When I came back, I made my dinner and Sylvia and Einuat also made their dinners. The three of us actually sat down and talked about Israel and our backgrounds. My apartment is very diverse but everyone (except for Liora) is Sephardic. Einuat's father immigrated from India and her mother came from Egypt (and her lineage go back to France in 1880s). Sylvia's family was from South Africa (though she's white like us). Bat-El's parents were from Yemen. And Lilach's from Iran and Iraq. They're all quite traditional in their practices with Bat El and Lilach coming from Orthodox families. Einuat and Sylvie also talked about their opinions towards the Israeli government and the Second Lebanon War. Contrary to my beliefs and the grapevine, they, as young Israelis, don't care for either presidential candidates- they think Obama is a good person.
Today, I had planned on going to Tiberias after class as I had been hankering to go for a couple hours. But I ended up having lunch with Rahel and her friend. Rahel's from Switzerland and has the most lovely accent so I love listening to her talk. She's not Jewish but her mom's very into Jewish culture and also gave one of her brothers a Jewish name- David. The girls were curious about my cochlear implant and thought it was a very cool thing that it existed and that I could lip read.
Afterwards, I went to the international student office to see if my cell had come in yet. Nope. I need to try again on Sunday. Sigh.
Then I went back to my room and got dressed quickly for the beach. I caught the 46 today-
yippee! Bat-El was also on the bus so we sat together to the station. A girl in front of us said that it was her first time riding the bus to the beach and one thing after the other, I learned that she's a Smithie! Her name's Chantel and she's from Santa Barbara. Go figure that she loves the beach. We decided to buddy up and go to the beach together. We spent the next 2 1/2 hours talking and doing our Hebrew homework. Even though I know I left Smith, I still love meeting up with Smithies. She also lived in Albright and has Justin Cammy, my old Jewish Studies advisor, for her advisor. She's studying Hebrew this summer to fulfill her major requirements for her Jewish Studies major. I'm proud of her!
Now I'm glad that I didn't go to Tiberias! Maybe I'll try again on Monday or next Wednesday though... I want to do it from Haifa- it's just easier to do it than from Herzliya or Jerusalem.
Tomorrow, off to Jerusalem!!
Roni finally taught the future tense today but I didn't think she taught it too well. She was trying to cram two concepts instead of separating them. Like there's a common tense but certain final letter of the shoresh reqires a slight change in the first and second persons. At least we're moving on. In the final period of class, we went to the children's section in the library. We formed groups and each read a book and acted out in front of the class. Danna, Naomi, and I read Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham (actually in Hebrew it roughly translates "I'm Not Hungry, I Don't Like It" (לא רבע לא אוהב)) Obviously the story didn't rhyme but it was great. Danna acted out while Naomi and I took our parts. Other people picked Where the Wild Things Are, The Giving Tree, and Good Night Moon. It was the best part of ulpan class so far!
I went to the beach yesterday. I totally missed the 46 bus so I hopped on the 37 to transfer and just missed the 133. So I waited like half-hour for the next one, ugh! The waves were still good but very strong that I actually ducked underwater when the waves came over! I almost lost my bikini bottom (I guess my body has changed quite a bit since I was 17 and had more fat on my body, even though I weighed less then!). The beach where I was was very busy that I didn't get a chair for a while so I laid out on my towel as usual. I definitely wished that I had a surfboard!
When I came back, I made my dinner and Sylvia and Einuat also made their dinners. The three of us actually sat down and talked about Israel and our backgrounds. My apartment is very diverse but everyone (except for Liora) is Sephardic. Einuat's father immigrated from India and her mother came from Egypt (and her lineage go back to France in 1880s). Sylvia's family was from South Africa (though she's white like us). Bat-El's parents were from Yemen. And Lilach's from Iran and Iraq. They're all quite traditional in their practices with Bat El and Lilach coming from Orthodox families. Einuat and Sylvie also talked about their opinions towards the Israeli government and the Second Lebanon War. Contrary to my beliefs and the grapevine, they, as young Israelis, don't care for either presidential candidates- they think Obama is a good person.
Today, I had planned on going to Tiberias after class as I had been hankering to go for a couple hours. But I ended up having lunch with Rahel and her friend. Rahel's from Switzerland and has the most lovely accent so I love listening to her talk. She's not Jewish but her mom's very into Jewish culture and also gave one of her brothers a Jewish name- David. The girls were curious about my cochlear implant and thought it was a very cool thing that it existed and that I could lip read.
Afterwards, I went to the international student office to see if my cell had come in yet. Nope. I need to try again on Sunday. Sigh.
Then I went back to my room and got dressed quickly for the beach. I caught the 46 today-
yippee! Bat-El was also on the bus so we sat together to the station. A girl in front of us said that it was her first time riding the bus to the beach and one thing after the other, I learned that she's a Smithie! Her name's Chantel and she's from Santa Barbara. Go figure that she loves the beach. We decided to buddy up and go to the beach together. We spent the next 2 1/2 hours talking and doing our Hebrew homework. Even though I know I left Smith, I still love meeting up with Smithies. She also lived in Albright and has Justin Cammy, my old Jewish Studies advisor, for her advisor. She's studying Hebrew this summer to fulfill her major requirements for her Jewish Studies major. I'm proud of her!Now I'm glad that I didn't go to Tiberias! Maybe I'll try again on Monday or next Wednesday though... I want to do it from Haifa- it's just easier to do it than from Herzliya or Jerusalem.
Tomorrow, off to Jerusalem!!
I know, I look ridiculously tan. Maybe the Olympics on tv will keep me out of the sun while I stay with the Ravids...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Immigration Museum and Elijah's Cave
I felt so bad this morning. I tried to get up for the gym but the monitor didn't get there on time. Other people and I waited for a bit but after half-hour, I just really wanted to go back to bed. I didn't want to go to class. So I went back to sleep for another hour or so. I woke up very refreshed, especially with a shower.
First, I went to the secretary's office to tell her which phone I wanted. TalkNSave would be sending one out today and I'll get it tomorrow or Thursday, before I go to Jerusalem. Yay!!! Then, I went to class. Apparently, everyone knew that I got stung by a bee. I guess my classmate told everyone why I didn't show up. Roni was cool with it. Then she went on *gasp* another "therefore" lesson... all the stuff she posted for lessons today were repeats. So much for progress. Some people improved while others still struggle a bit to speak more naturally in Hebrew. I felt that my conversations with Lilach helped me out because I just snapped a sentence or two out of the air when we had to say sentences.
After class, I ran off to my room and quickly packed my lunch and began waiting at the bus stop. The Immigration Museum would be closing at 4 and I had no idea how long the ride would be or how big the museum was. I mistakely stepped on 36 bus when I should've taken the 24. So the 36 bus took me to the north bus station. That was good for me to know though when I want to head out to Tiberias for a day. (Haifa has two central bus stations- one in the south to serve all places south of Haifa and another one in the north to serve the Golan and Galilee areas). I switched to 114 that would take me along the route to the south station. I went too far past the museum so I ended up having to walk quite a bit.
The Museum was a bit tricky to find as I had to stop at the Maritime Museum to ask for directions. As it turned out, I had to go down the stairs. I hated the stairs- they're the very gradual kind and it's hard to step down without short-stepping or gliding. The security guy was very frisky- he really checked me over and asked for my ID (passport but I gave him my student ID). My ID was almost unacceptable!
I paid 5 shekels and went in. First, I went to see the audiovisual movie. It was a little hard to understand but it talked of the illegal immigration of DPs. After that, I walked the exhibits (I had about 30 minutes left). Almost everything was in Hebrew.
"Aliyah Bet" was an illegal immigration operation to save thousands of DPs and Holocaust survivors using the ships, which were later converted for the Israeli Navy to fight in the 1948 war. At that time, Palestine was still under British Mandate with heavy Jewish immigration restrictions. Only up to 1,250 Jews could immigrate legally to Palestine. Britian had planned to expand immigration and partition the state to a Jewish state and an Arab state but the Arabs shot down the idea in 1939. To pacify the Arabs while needing the oil and weaponry for the upcoming war against Hitler, Britain abandoned any ideas or promises to give Jews more opportunities to be in Palestine. Jews were very unhappy especially that the Jews in Eastern Europe needed a place to escape. During the war and after, the British Navy created a blockade to prevent any illegal immigration to Palestine. Aliyah Bet operated in the 1930s and from 1946 to1948, bringing in 50,000 safely to the shores of Palestine. Another 50,000 were captured and deported to Cyprus by the British. Many of the ships and resuce efforts came from American and Canadian Jews.
The ship, which held the audiovisual movie.
The exhibits themselves were alright. I saw photographs and objects from the operation and camps in Cyprus. There were also a bunch of old Ha'aretz newspapers.
What a dwelling looked like at a camp in Cyprus
Finally, I walked into an exhibit on the history of the Israeli Navy. I thought it was very interesting that the Israeli Navy was literally born out of claudestine immigration (PC term used by those involved) because they used the same ships and basically some of the people who participated in Aliyah Bet became fighters for Israel in the War of Independence. The exhibit covered many of the major battles fought- in 1959, 1967, 1973, 1982... The Navy also captured many terrorists. It was definitely the most interesting part because it seemed like Israel really prided on its navy to protect the fragile state and there were some pretty cool operations against the Egyptians and Syrians.
After the museum, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity of being across the street from Elijah's Cave. So I put on my white button down shirt and went up the stairs/ramp. I was expecting a big, big cave. Like a real cave that you see in Biblical movies. Instead, it was like a synagogue in a moutain. Elijah was one of the prophets and rumor had it that he stayed here on his way to a momentous confrontation with the prophets of Ba'al on the Carmel. "And Elijah said...Now Therefore send and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel." (I Kings 1B). This is one of Israel's most sacred caves.
The view from across the street
Men's side
Women's side
After the cave, I set to walk along Allenby Street towards Hadar to catch a bus back. It was a longer walk than I thought but mostly flat, thankfully. I decided to catch a sherut when I got tired but oops, I should've kept going to another bus stop because I finally saw a 37. Oh well. So the sherut dropped me off near Herzl street. Much, much to my joy and this greatly lifted my spirit- a Russian market!!! As I've mentioned Haifa has a pretty large Russian speaking population and I have yet to find an ethnic market until today. So I went in to look for Russian chocolates. I sampled one but it wasn't what I was thinking off. Then I looked in the refridgerated cases and looked at the prepared foods. Yum... one of the young Russian girls gave me several samples, which were all yummy. I picked out two potato pancakes and a sweet pancake. I also got several pieces of chocolates for Aunt Nancy to give to her on Friday and some chocolate covered marshmallows. I also picked out what I thought was a slice of honey cake (but later found out it wasn't). I was very happy and nothing seemed to matter for the moment.
By the way, here's a picture of McDonalds' on Herzl and thought you'd enjoy the little "McWall" sign. In Israel, the Israelis don't say "take-outs." Instead, they say "take-away." I would imagine it'd be confusing in a restaurant if you wanted to tell the waiter to "take-away" your food as in clearing the table..
While e-mailing with another graduate student, she talked about her research papers and such and I mentioned how I hadn't done anything this summer. Then I realized that when I'm in Israel, it's so hard for me to even think about research project ideas. Everything relating to graduate school is basically thrown out of the window when I land in Tel Aviv because my mind warps to "survival-mode." Whether it's a matter of being able to understand Hebrew or just... survival in a semi-state of war country, I just don't think about anything except making it to the end of the day alive and gaining more knowledge of Hebrew. No wonder why I wanted to make aliyah so badly a year ago- it was too hard for me to imagine any research ideas or maintain my interest in the Holocaust or American Jewish history. Or even want to go to graduate school. It's funny because when I was in Germany or Czech Republic (or Japan and Spain), my train of thought keeps running. In Israel, the tracks go nowhere in particular.
Monday, July 21, 2008
More Beach Time and Cellphone Craziness
I had my midterm on Sunday which was fairly easy. I got a B+ on it (84). So I'm happy, especially that I didn't really need to study for it. But because it was so easy I just didn't want to write 6 pages of it so it took me as long as the first person to finish it (1 1/2 hours).
I couldn't wait to get out of class but we had a speaker, an Israeil student who is from Ethiopia. We asked her a bunch of questions about her background and what she thinks of things. I was surprised that one of the Israeli students (well she is Israeil by nationality but moved to Sweden) didn't know the difference between Ashkenzaim and Sephardim and where those people came from. I was feeling that as much I like learning Hebrew quickly, maybe I don't really need to be in another ulpan... at least only one more and then just be all done with it because these things just get old for me. I don't know how Melissa manages going through several ulpanim! Another reason why we tend to run overtime quite bit was that Roni likes to talk a lot.
Finally, I got out and grabbed my stuff (almost forgot my towel!) and took a sherut to meet the Israelis at the hotel. They had just returned from a day trip exploring Haifa, including the family cemetery and Ron's old school. The kids were very tired- Ben kept falling asleep on the spot wherever he was. But the parents and I got them up and moving for the beach. Sometimes I have a hard time believing that the kids still need to be told what to do and get organized... all three of them. I thought back to what the days used to be so easy when our family had only those twins! Aunt Nancy and Uncle Ron certainly have amazing patience to keep talking in order to get each kid moving in his/her way. Like you think that someone's dressed for the beach and then you go off telling another kid to get off the bed, and then you look at a third one who's playing with a camera and then you realize that the kid still hasn't gotten dressed...
Anyway, we took cabs down to the beach. Ron stopped at one beach and I was praying for him to keep going down further south, where I go. The place he thought we'd go wasn't what he expecting so I was happy when we drove down another 1/4- 1/2 mile.
Then we just hung out at the beach from 4:30 to 7 PM. I spent time talking to Aunt Nancy, working on my Hebrew dialogue, and sitting in the waves. The kids either played in the waves or running around in the sand. Ben and Alec were interested in collecting pretty cool rocks. I played frisbee with them. I was surprised that Ben's actually very good at it, given that he doesn't have great coordination (like me). And for Uncle Ron? He was so happy to be at the beach. When he went in the water, Aunt Nancy said to me that she was glad that Ron was in the water with Alec because the kids went out further than expected. When Ron came back, she said that to him and he said that it wasn't exactly what he was thinking... he just wanted to be in the water. Ha.
We also got ice cream, yum. For dinner, we went to one of the restaurants by the beach so we could look out to the water and sunset. I love doing this- sitting outside and having a meal. I ordered a salad with sauteed mushrooms and friend bits of halumi cheese. Ella ordered some shrimp. Everyone else had more Israeli fare- chicken schinztel. The waitress also brought in Israeli salads- including marinated eggplant! Yes!
Then we went to catch cabs to get back up on the mountain. I got in mine and then just went we left, I forgot my purse! (I had a backpack too). The cab driver was so nice to drive back and wait for me. The restaurant still had it- plus my extra tank AND someone's sunglasses. Very nice.
Today, class got a little more interesting. Not only Roni was actually teaching us new stuff but we also got to play on the computers doing verb drills. It didn't take me very long as I knew how to type in Hebrew. I know where the letters are but it's not quite becoming automatic yet as I do in English. The verb drills on the computer were neat and better than the ones I had at Hebrew U (although the program was designed by Hebrew U!).
I took some time to work on my cellphone issue. My family kept telling me that it's the phone that's the problem. So I sat with the assistant secretary to sort it out. She called TalkNSave to see what's the deal. TalkNSave said that I could try out certain models at the local Cellcom store and tell them which one I want and they'll send me a new one. I am hoping to have this sorted out before I go to Jerusalem.
So that meant scratching the idea of going to the Immigration Museum and go to the beach and stop at the Haifa Mall. Tomorrow, I will go to the Immigration Museum.
The beach today was the best one- there weren't many jellyfish around! So I actually stayed in the water and played in the waves for a while! I was much happier than before. But I forgot my pen to work on my Hebrew homework with. Oops.
After the beach, I went over to the Haifa Mall. I stopped at the counter in the aisle but the woman didn't speak enough English and directed me to visit the store upstairs. So I went over there. It was... a madhouse. It was much better than Verizon or any of the other cellphone companies! There were 12-18 desks and you actually need to get a punch ticket and wait for your turn. But I went up to one of them when it was free and told them I don't know enough Hebrew and blah, blah. I also needed to find that slip that the secretary gave me that had instructions on it in Hebrew to give to someone. So while waiting for someone to come with me downstairs, I went through my notebook again. Finally, I found it and told the manager thanks and I'll just go down and try again. But... that scene was just crazy... I hope that if I make aliyah to Israel, my phone had better be good!
I went back down and showed the woman the slip. Ah-ha, she got it. Then we started communicating in Hebrew by writing on a piece of paper with a pen. I understood enough that she couldn't help me for some techincal reasons. She wanted to help but couldn't let me try anything. But the models that I am allowed to upgrade are all Motorola or Nokia. So I'm just going to ask for one of the Motorolas.
So it took me a while to get back home.... And I got stung by a bee while working on my blog. Funny that Alec asked me the other day whether a jellyfish sting hurt more than a bee sting. I had told him that I hadn't been stung by a bee since I was like 8. Now I can tell him that bee stings hurt A LOT more than jellyfish! I actually cried for a bit.
After putting ice on it with the help of my classmate and my Israeli roommates, I went back down. I talked to Dad via AIM- that was a good way to end my day. I felt a little better as I was missing my family. I realized that I usually start missing home when I'm in third week of being away. So hopefully after this weekend, I will feel a little better with a trip to Jerusalem and a new cellphone.
I couldn't wait to get out of class but we had a speaker, an Israeil student who is from Ethiopia. We asked her a bunch of questions about her background and what she thinks of things. I was surprised that one of the Israeli students (well she is Israeil by nationality but moved to Sweden) didn't know the difference between Ashkenzaim and Sephardim and where those people came from. I was feeling that as much I like learning Hebrew quickly, maybe I don't really need to be in another ulpan... at least only one more and then just be all done with it because these things just get old for me. I don't know how Melissa manages going through several ulpanim! Another reason why we tend to run overtime quite bit was that Roni likes to talk a lot.
Finally, I got out and grabbed my stuff (almost forgot my towel!) and took a sherut to meet the Israelis at the hotel. They had just returned from a day trip exploring Haifa, including the family cemetery and Ron's old school. The kids were very tired- Ben kept falling asleep on the spot wherever he was. But the parents and I got them up and moving for the beach. Sometimes I have a hard time believing that the kids still need to be told what to do and get organized... all three of them. I thought back to what the days used to be so easy when our family had only those twins! Aunt Nancy and Uncle Ron certainly have amazing patience to keep talking in order to get each kid moving in his/her way. Like you think that someone's dressed for the beach and then you go off telling another kid to get off the bed, and then you look at a third one who's playing with a camera and then you realize that the kid still hasn't gotten dressed...
Anyway, we took cabs down to the beach. Ron stopped at one beach and I was praying for him to keep going down further south, where I go. The place he thought we'd go wasn't what he expecting so I was happy when we drove down another 1/4- 1/2 mile.
Then we just hung out at the beach from 4:30 to 7 PM. I spent time talking to Aunt Nancy, working on my Hebrew dialogue, and sitting in the waves. The kids either played in the waves or running around in the sand. Ben and Alec were interested in collecting pretty cool rocks. I played frisbee with them. I was surprised that Ben's actually very good at it, given that he doesn't have great coordination (like me). And for Uncle Ron? He was so happy to be at the beach. When he went in the water, Aunt Nancy said to me that she was glad that Ron was in the water with Alec because the kids went out further than expected. When Ron came back, she said that to him and he said that it wasn't exactly what he was thinking... he just wanted to be in the water. Ha.
We also got ice cream, yum. For dinner, we went to one of the restaurants by the beach so we could look out to the water and sunset. I love doing this- sitting outside and having a meal. I ordered a salad with sauteed mushrooms and friend bits of halumi cheese. Ella ordered some shrimp. Everyone else had more Israeli fare- chicken schinztel. The waitress also brought in Israeli salads- including marinated eggplant! Yes!
Then we went to catch cabs to get back up on the mountain. I got in mine and then just went we left, I forgot my purse! (I had a backpack too). The cab driver was so nice to drive back and wait for me. The restaurant still had it- plus my extra tank AND someone's sunglasses. Very nice.
Today, class got a little more interesting. Not only Roni was actually teaching us new stuff but we also got to play on the computers doing verb drills. It didn't take me very long as I knew how to type in Hebrew. I know where the letters are but it's not quite becoming automatic yet as I do in English. The verb drills on the computer were neat and better than the ones I had at Hebrew U (although the program was designed by Hebrew U!).
I took some time to work on my cellphone issue. My family kept telling me that it's the phone that's the problem. So I sat with the assistant secretary to sort it out. She called TalkNSave to see what's the deal. TalkNSave said that I could try out certain models at the local Cellcom store and tell them which one I want and they'll send me a new one. I am hoping to have this sorted out before I go to Jerusalem.
So that meant scratching the idea of going to the Immigration Museum and go to the beach and stop at the Haifa Mall. Tomorrow, I will go to the Immigration Museum.
The beach today was the best one- there weren't many jellyfish around! So I actually stayed in the water and played in the waves for a while! I was much happier than before. But I forgot my pen to work on my Hebrew homework with. Oops.
After the beach, I went over to the Haifa Mall. I stopped at the counter in the aisle but the woman didn't speak enough English and directed me to visit the store upstairs. So I went over there. It was... a madhouse. It was much better than Verizon or any of the other cellphone companies! There were 12-18 desks and you actually need to get a punch ticket and wait for your turn. But I went up to one of them when it was free and told them I don't know enough Hebrew and blah, blah. I also needed to find that slip that the secretary gave me that had instructions on it in Hebrew to give to someone. So while waiting for someone to come with me downstairs, I went through my notebook again. Finally, I found it and told the manager thanks and I'll just go down and try again. But... that scene was just crazy... I hope that if I make aliyah to Israel, my phone had better be good!
I went back down and showed the woman the slip. Ah-ha, she got it. Then we started communicating in Hebrew by writing on a piece of paper with a pen. I understood enough that she couldn't help me for some techincal reasons. She wanted to help but couldn't let me try anything. But the models that I am allowed to upgrade are all Motorola or Nokia. So I'm just going to ask for one of the Motorolas.
So it took me a while to get back home.... And I got stung by a bee while working on my blog. Funny that Alec asked me the other day whether a jellyfish sting hurt more than a bee sting. I had told him that I hadn't been stung by a bee since I was like 8. Now I can tell him that bee stings hurt A LOT more than jellyfish! I actually cried for a bit.
After putting ice on it with the help of my classmate and my Israeli roommates, I went back down. I talked to Dad via AIM- that was a good way to end my day. I felt a little better as I was missing my family. I realized that I usually start missing home when I'm in third week of being away. So hopefully after this weekend, I will feel a little better with a trip to Jerusalem and a new cellphone.
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