It's been quite interesting in the past few days. But I will start with the least exciting to most exciting part, basically in reverse of order that's happened.
I just came back from a class dinner at my EE Jewry professor's apartment in Rehavia. I think I won't see eggs for the next few days- too much quiche!!! Nevertheless, we talked about Yiddish literature since this was actually a 'make-up" class and after dessert, she read us a Sholem Alecheim short story. Cute. During dinner, we discussed student strikes, tutition/financial aid, and subjects relating to those. The professor finds it very surprising how Israeli parents will pay a good portion of their child's down payment for an apartment but not their university education at all. (By the way, she is an American who made aliyah in the 1970's from Buffalo, NY). It's really something else to watch young Israelis work their butts off for a year or two to earn enough money to be able to go to a university since the universities don't give out a lot of financial aid. By the way, they showed us their collection of traditional Russian toys (they go there a lot for research), including a matryoshka with portraits of famous Russian figures on each doll from throughout centuries. It was really freaky but cool!
Next, I met an American who just finished his Army service two weeks ago. He actually volunteered from Brooklyn. Never, ever I had encountered anyone from the Army who really enjoyed his experience- he said to me, "Party's over!" He showed me a lot of pictures from his camera of his service, including ones that would not be posted publicly (pretty cool!). I felt really relieved just to be able to talk to him, especially with his upbeat attitude, about the Army and what goes in a soldier's daily life. He wasn't fazed by my asking about the Second Lebanon War and he told me how his unit was one of the first to go in Lebanon (counter-terrorism). The more he shared, the more I understood where the Israelis were coming from in terms of their politics and personal attitudes towards the Army and the Israeli government. I just needed the whole story, and here he was, giving me the story, filling in the gaps. What was surprising was to hear what happened during the first days of the Second Lebanon War and why the soldiers who fought in there were so bitter about it- it was basically chaos and lives were lost without justice. We also touched upon other topics relevant to both of us- the idea of returning to the American culture, cochlear implants (his sister is bi-lateral and his niece has one), and colleges. By the way, he told me that there are no swear words in Hebrew! Oh so much for finding a way to curse at someone when I'm being ripped off. The Israelis just do it in Englsh or Arabic. Another interesting thing- he's a Republican and would vote for Guilani! Whhaaaattt??? Anyway, he was fun to chill with and said he'd call me when he got back from his trip to the States for a couple of weeks (doing fund-raising for his unit at various Jewish day schools and events). Even though I'm not crazy about hanging out with other Americans living in Israel, sometimes it's just good to have them for resource- they can tell you things that Israelis can't or won't tell you.
Lastly, Israel is going through a lot now. Namely, the impending war with Hamas, the Winograd Report, and the student strikes. The headlines on JPost are pretty intense with the talks of IDF creating strategies and reports from Hamas about wanting to kidnap more Israelis and do more roadside bombing. I am not too worried since the IDF learned a major lesson from last summer- always be prepared with plans, even if they don't really want to. That leads to the Winograd Report. It's basically a report card for the government and the Army, mostly for the Prime Minister and Defense Minister (Olmert and Peretz). I wish that we had one for the US government (though we did sort of- the Iraq Study Group Report). There are talks about Olmert feeling that he will not be able to make through all the criticism and he's losing support from his party because the party officials don't want to lose their jobs. There's a possiblity for a female PM in the future - Tipiz Livni. (This should get interesting when I bring this up to Kobe who believes that women shouldn't lead Israel- I'll smack him for that). Peretz is determined to keep his job. Before the report, Olmert had only 3% approval- wow, so low. Now it's 0%. It's incredible how much more the Israelis hate their government than Americans do. Even I can say one or two nice things about President Bush as much I want to see him out of the office however. So yeah, the government's pretty corrupted and Israelis are very, very critical about it. One single mistake costs the PM his job. Not a bunch like we allow for our President. There will be a rally in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square tomorrow night (Thursday) for him to "GO HOME!"
By the way, the student strikes have been going on for 3 1/2 weeks. I have one friend who texted me today that he's forgotten what it's like to be in school (while typing his paper...). The students are striking because the public tutition is too high for them. They want more aid and the tutition to decrease by 50%. I saw several buses waiting in front of Hebrew U today for the students to go to a rally. I think the system is really messed up. Why should the Israelis have to pay full price tag when the government is giving olims (new immigrants) practically full rides for their university education? Generally, the olim have more money and can afford the $10,000 price tag (compared to $42,000 in the States!) while the Israelis don't and can't.
This is what I love about living in Israel- being part of the living history. So much is happening in Israel- culturally, socially, economically, and politically and that works pretty well for someone who loves history. I want to be able to tell my grandchildren all the changes I've seen over the years. I feel as if Israel is struggling to create its own national identity, using the Jewish identity as the basis. Exactly how does one define Israel?
By the way, I did actually find some cute skirts for the warm weather- looks like I'll go shopping on Friday! No one here wears their skirts above their knees- either they cover the knees or below or they wear jeans. And I'm getting a little warm to continue wearing my jeans. It's the fashion here-even at the university with the student body being largely secular.
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