So said my dad when I came home. "You were this low, then this high, then this low..."
I nodded. As much I really hated to leave Israel, I just had enough for this year. Everyone who knew about my trip this year (or at least almost everything) could understand the situation of how I was feeling and why I wanted to get back to the States. I also really wanted to get my hands on my credit and debit cards! (Which are now activated and safe in my wallet.)
The last day was extremely hectic. I got up early again (annoying my roommate once again) to do my laundry so I wouldn't have to deal with doing laundry and I needed to roll all of my clothes in order to fit everything in my duffel bag. Then I went to class and learned a few new things. Somehow I felt that I had made peace with Naomi or something. She handed me my essays back and said, "Well, I didn't think you were doing anything in the last few weeks but you're actually doing good work!" I looked over the essays, there were some corrections but not as many as when I was finishing up Yiddish at Michigan. I noticed that I had improved my word order in my sentences and using proper cases (accusative versus dative). But my verb patterns were still off. I was happy! I was able to do decently in Yiddish while having a blast in Israel! I said that I would try to get the essays re-written this afternoon before I head to the airport (which I never did because time flew by too fast while I was trying to prepare to leave). I also told her that I was glad that my Yiddish reading and writing improved because I was getting daily doses of Yiddish for the last few weeks. Now I feel a bit better about moving on in Yiddish, taking my hand at the rest of texts that I have that I can practice for the month of August with Zev. Naomi was a good teacher, she's just mellow and easy-going.
During break, I went to the bookstore to pick up my copy of Night by Elie Wiesel in עברית!
After class, I met up with my old high school classmate, Mike, for lunch at Aroma. It was fun talking with him about Israel and what we're doing nowadays. It was just kind of weird to see somebody from Rochester here in Israel. Maybe that's just me to see any American in Israel on a visit. It's like, okay, our topics are going to have to be based on how many times and how long you've been in Israel.... This was his first visit back (I think) since our birthright trip in 2005. Certainly a lot has changed since!
Then I went to the office to check out. I needed to meet Shiri at 2:30 and by then I was getting to be late. The staff member said that he could meet me in my room at 3:30 but not later than 4. Dammit! So I called Shiri and tried to explain the situation. But it all ended up with me just walking over to the dorms while letting her just park at the mall and wait for me there. Once I got the dorm thing all checked out, I went over to the mall to meet Shiri.
We grabbed some late afternoon snacks- her some soup and bread and I with my last cup of iced coffee and a scoop of gelato. It was funny when she gave me a strange look when I made my order in Hebrew because she had expected me to speak English. She couldn't figure out what I was saying when I said gileda to the waitress (who was awful by the way).
After we said our good-byes, I picked up a few things around the mall for my family. I would've liked to bring back one of the cakes but my suitcase was getting tight.
I went back to my room to finish packing. Man, it was so hot and humid that I was literally sweating the whole time. I couldn't be bothered to shower at all because I would just sweat again.
The whole afternoon just flew that every time I looked at my watch to determine my next move, it was already getting closer to my departure time- 7 pm! I wanted to catch the 7:40 train to the airport so I'd get there at 8:05 to start standing in the line.
But problems with the guard ended up costing me some time. He didn't want to hold onto a bag of things that I had for the Ravids to give back and Shlomi called back at the same time. So I got the two of them connected and Shlomi won the argument. I took the digital camera out and left everything else with them.
Then I got my bags out of the dorms. Oh my god, the pink duffel bag was way, way, way too heavy! It was not close to 50 pounds but certainly heavier than 30. I had a little help getting it down the stairs to the curb. There, I waited for the bus. But I was getting anxious and began looking for cabs too. I eventually flagged down one.
The driver looked at me and my bags and said, "25 shekels." I looked at hime, pleadingly, "Give me a break, please, I'm trying to get to the airport!" He shrugged and said, "well you're putting these in my car! I can't do less. But I can take you to the airport." How much? "130 shekels." I shook my head. It was comical at that point because the two of us were just standing there, having a stand-off. Then I said, "Fine, I'll wait for someone else then." He began walking towards his door and looked back, "Okay, if that's what you really want..." Then I muttered, "oh fine, just get me to the train station for 25 shekels." He put the bags in the car. Off we go.
In the short 4 minute drive to the train station, he learned that I was an American and that this was not my first time in Israel, that I was studying at Tel Aviv University, that I have family friends.... it was all enough for him to beg one more time if I could just please look in my wallet for anything more than 70 shekels that I had said when we first started driving. I meant to pull out the 50 and 20 shekel bills but ended up pulling out the 100 and he saw that. Then he said, "Okay, you have a 100! I'll take you for 120, beseder?" I rolled my eyes, he was actually pretty good company and I'd pay for that (as opposed to a silent driver who'd prefer to listen to music and the radio chatter). So I said, fine, take me to the airport. I was also very nervous at the thought of trying to carry my very heavy pink duffel through the station.
We had a very good chat on the way. I just had to hope that I could make it out otherwise I'd be left with 50 shekels for the rest of my stay without borrowing money. He was originally from Spain and made aliyah with his whole family 25 years ago. His family knew that they were always Jewish. He gave me some opinions about Americans and Obama. He actually liked Obama to some degree. Unlike Hadar, he agreed that Sarah Palin was a terrible choice for Israel. (I was really amazed that the Israelis knew who she was!). Israelis really loved talking about American politics as if they could participate in the US' electoral system.
When I got to the airport, I bummed around for 20 minutes before going to the first round of security. My security guard was pretty good with me, waited for the PA to be over before talking with me again. He smiled when he saw that I had been in and out of Israel 5 times (4 times from the US, 1 time from Prague). I was basically harmless. So he let me through. I went over to the counter and found at least 5 or 6 groups waiting ahead of me. When I got to the counter, they said "Stand by number 12, go behind the wall to the ticketing counter." Uh oh. I had checked the number of seats before and there were 8.... When I got to the ticketing counter, there was a family, one woman, and one guy. The one guy was chatting with the ticketing counter person. Then the woman and the family decided to leave the line for... I don't know. So I moved up. I said, "This is for Continental stand-by right?" He said yes. While the one guy was on the phone, he dealt with me. He told me, "Okay you're on stand by but I don't think your chances are very good..." I said, "Where am I on the list?" He replied, "You're number two." Then I looked at him and said, "Two? Who's number one?" He pointed to the guy who was on the phone before. He and I stared at each other almost awkwardly and said, "Oh, hi there." We almost cracked up.
I spent the waiting time eating my dinner (leftover falafels and pita and salad from Hadar), talking to Mor on the phone, and re-writing my Yiddish essays, just for the heck of it. In fact, I stayed at the table for so long that one of the security guards came over to see what I was doing and asked for my passport!
When I got back up, I began chatting with the Number One to find out his situation. He had to fly back to Mexico City for an unexpected meeting the following day. Ok, that's legit. Then again, anyone could say that. We got talking about Maccabiah games as that's what he was doing in Israel- playing soccer for Mexico. I asked about swine flu and he said, it's all true, everyone really stayed home and all the streets were empty. He blamed the US media for overblowing the whole swine flu situation. In all, it was fun chatting with him. Boy, I was having a good day meeting random people! Then the airline staff called as over. We stood there, waiting with our passports. A whole family of 5 checked in and went with security to the gate. Oh no.... not good. Then a guy claimed a medical excuse and paid up. Then there were 6 of us left on stand-by. One of the staff helping out with the seats looked at us and her supervisor, "A'hat (pointed to the Mexican guy), shaim (me), v'sholosh (the guy waiting at the far end of the counter)." I realized that there must be three seats left and they were looking for them on the map. Finally they called the Mexican guy up and after tense three minutes, they called me up. Wow. Then I went to my bag to find my credit card.... my wallet wasn't in my backpack! I looked at them and freaked out, "I can't find my wallet! It's downstairs!" The supervisor said firmly, "No, you need to get on the plane now!" I groaned a little because I had enough of losing things.... but I kept it in perspective realizing it's only 50 shekels in there, plus my parents' credit card.
On the plane, I discovered that I would be sitting next to two children, probably about 6 and 8 years old. I gritted my teeth, I didn't exactly want to be sitting next to Israeli children (who typical did not behave very well). Surprisely, they seemed to be very quiet. My seat was also a window seat so I coaxed them to take it and neither looked at me and shook their heads, nooooo way. I couldn't believe it! These children didn't want to sit next to the window??
Actually, turned out that these children were Americans as I saw them again at the passport control in Newark. So that's why they were so quiet and well-mannered....
When I waited around Newark, I felt a sense of disappointment. I mean, one minute I'm in Tel Aviv, and the next I'm in the United States.
Did I make the right decision to leave Israel? Israel never makes life easy for me.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
No Pictures
I was going to take some more pictures of my visit at the Nalaga'at Center. But it's just one of those things that you just have to be there to truly appreciate what's being done in this place and how these people are so thrilled to have a community and a place to demonstrate that they can do things too.
As it was time for us to part, quite a few of the deafblind came up to me to thank me, and wish me good luck, and say good-bye. One of them, Genia, took my hands into hers and touch signed while speaking in Hebrew to say her own good bye. It was so sweet and yet, it felt a little funny to have her fingers moving around in my palms. It's something to get used to. It was absolutely a Kodak moment however to see us smiling and communicating. I only had wished that Mom and Dad were there.
As it was time for us to part, quite a few of the deafblind came up to me to thank me, and wish me good luck, and say good-bye. One of them, Genia, took my hands into hers and touch signed while speaking in Hebrew to say her own good bye. It was so sweet and yet, it felt a little funny to have her fingers moving around in my palms. It's something to get used to. It was absolutely a Kodak moment however to see us smiling and communicating. I only had wished that Mom and Dad were there.
Monday, July 20, 2009
The Cook of the Best Falafels in Israel Wants to Move to America?
I could barely get up for class today at 8:45 AM. I couldn't wait for the coffee break to get some tea in hopes of getting some buzz. Fail! After class, I got an e-mail saying that I had to go to the Overseas Students office to fill out some customs forms in order to get my new cochlear implant. That was annoying to think about because I was really tired and I wanted to nap! So I spent some time filling out some forms and I was originally told that it would take some time for the forms to be processed. Uh oh. The marchariah called the customs to see how to expediate the process in case I fly out on Thursday. If I could get the form in today, they would bring the package tomorrow! Good! Then I was told to bring a copy of passport. Ugh.
So I went back to the room and had a small lunch. I intended to nap for 20 minutes in order to get back to the office by 3 PM to hand in my passport. I ended up napping for an hour! I threw on my running clothes quickly, packed my little gym bag, and ran over to the office. When I'm in a situation like this, I'm always happy that I can run effortlessly! And it's quite useful! So I got the copy in and everything was all set.
Then I went to the gym to run 4 miles on the treadmill. After some quick stretches, I went back to my room to shower and dress for my train ride to Haifa.
Mor told me to meet her on the train (or "first wagon north" in her SMS... which I corrected her later as in "first car"). I got to the train station just barely in nick of time so I basically rushed through buying my ticket that later I doubt that I got right change back. And I missed 2 calls from Mor, trying to reach me and tell me that she had to get on the next train due to some problems at her station at Azrelli Center. And I had already gotten on the train. So we just ended up meeting in Haifa. I was actually slightly grateful that we missed each other because people didn't really talk on the train. So we would just have been keeping each other company.
We drove to her house and met Or outside. She had just finished her driving lessons! How excited she was to be driving! Then we went inside and I greeted Hader. I could smell the falafels cooking. Mmmm... I requested that she make some falafels because I've never been able to find good falafels as hers since I tried them two years ago at a family BBQ. We set up the coffee table in the living room so we all could eat together. I really enjoyed it.
One of the first things Hadar said, "I want to move to America. I told my children to go to America. Study in America." I was surprised. Last year she expressed no interest and complained that America was too big. I said, why all of sudden? She complained about the security situation and really fears Israel. But her husband wants to stay. I told her that I didn't like Chicago, where her uncle lives, because it's all steakhouses and pizza...but whatever. Mor and Or laughed and told me that they told their mother that within one week, she'd be back on the plane to Tel Aviv. True.... I mean, later, I mentioned that I heard from other Israelis that they felt that Israel was much safer than the U.S., and I was inclined to agree.
She was certainly all mad about me voting for Obama because "he's a Muslim! I don't like Muslims!" I pointed out that once I learned about Sarah Palin's views, I just couldn't do it. Not for women's rights. She shut up.
We tried to call Zev a few times without success so I just left a voicemail. We spent time watching the Israeli version of American Idol (Hebrew translates into "A Star Born") while eating some cake and fruit (and Or put together some ice cream...).
There was some miscommunication over whether I was staying for the night because before I had said that I could spend the night. I had meant if it was Thursday night, not when I have class the next day. So they were a bit disappointed that I was staying for a few hours... but I didn't want to get up at 6:30 AM to catch the 7:!5 AM train with Mor!
They also bought me two tops. Hadar bought a nice printed top that looked pretty good on me actually. Mor and Or shopped in Tel Aviv and got me a black dress. They admitted that they liked their mother's choice. I felt so bad, they're always giving me gifts and I never have anything for them from the States! Next time, I must get something from the U.S. for them.... hmmm....
I'm frankly surprised to hear every Israeli, as much they love and enjoy me, tell me to go home and see my parents when the heard how my summer was playing out. Yes, I was and am having a crazy but fun summer of traveling but it's important to see my parents for my parents' sake as being parents. But that's also very Israeli- family is number one, family come before friends.
So I went back to the room and had a small lunch. I intended to nap for 20 minutes in order to get back to the office by 3 PM to hand in my passport. I ended up napping for an hour! I threw on my running clothes quickly, packed my little gym bag, and ran over to the office. When I'm in a situation like this, I'm always happy that I can run effortlessly! And it's quite useful! So I got the copy in and everything was all set.
Then I went to the gym to run 4 miles on the treadmill. After some quick stretches, I went back to my room to shower and dress for my train ride to Haifa.
Mor told me to meet her on the train (or "first wagon north" in her SMS... which I corrected her later as in "first car"). I got to the train station just barely in nick of time so I basically rushed through buying my ticket that later I doubt that I got right change back. And I missed 2 calls from Mor, trying to reach me and tell me that she had to get on the next train due to some problems at her station at Azrelli Center. And I had already gotten on the train. So we just ended up meeting in Haifa. I was actually slightly grateful that we missed each other because people didn't really talk on the train. So we would just have been keeping each other company.
We drove to her house and met Or outside. She had just finished her driving lessons! How excited she was to be driving! Then we went inside and I greeted Hader. I could smell the falafels cooking. Mmmm... I requested that she make some falafels because I've never been able to find good falafels as hers since I tried them two years ago at a family BBQ. We set up the coffee table in the living room so we all could eat together. I really enjoyed it.
One of the first things Hadar said, "I want to move to America. I told my children to go to America. Study in America." I was surprised. Last year she expressed no interest and complained that America was too big. I said, why all of sudden? She complained about the security situation and really fears Israel. But her husband wants to stay. I told her that I didn't like Chicago, where her uncle lives, because it's all steakhouses and pizza...but whatever. Mor and Or laughed and told me that they told their mother that within one week, she'd be back on the plane to Tel Aviv. True.... I mean, later, I mentioned that I heard from other Israelis that they felt that Israel was much safer than the U.S., and I was inclined to agree.
She was certainly all mad about me voting for Obama because "he's a Muslim! I don't like Muslims!" I pointed out that once I learned about Sarah Palin's views, I just couldn't do it. Not for women's rights. She shut up.
We tried to call Zev a few times without success so I just left a voicemail. We spent time watching the Israeli version of American Idol (Hebrew translates into "A Star Born") while eating some cake and fruit (and Or put together some ice cream...).
There was some miscommunication over whether I was staying for the night because before I had said that I could spend the night. I had meant if it was Thursday night, not when I have class the next day. So they were a bit disappointed that I was staying for a few hours... but I didn't want to get up at 6:30 AM to catch the 7:!5 AM train with Mor!
They also bought me two tops. Hadar bought a nice printed top that looked pretty good on me actually. Mor and Or shopped in Tel Aviv and got me a black dress. They admitted that they liked their mother's choice. I felt so bad, they're always giving me gifts and I never have anything for them from the States! Next time, I must get something from the U.S. for them.... hmmm....
I'm frankly surprised to hear every Israeli, as much they love and enjoy me, tell me to go home and see my parents when the heard how my summer was playing out. Yes, I was and am having a crazy but fun summer of traveling but it's important to see my parents for my parents' sake as being parents. But that's also very Israeli- family is number one, family come before friends.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
A Day with an "Old Lady" and old friends
I got up early this morning to catch a ride with Shlomi to school to drop off my stuff. I got on the bus to Jerusalem about 9:30 so I arrived there around 10:15.
First, I walked to the shuk to get some pastries from Marizpan that I had been looking for. However, I decided to stop in a spice stall to find this Moroccan spice for Grandma. The first two didn't know a thing. The third, the largest one, had it. So I began my shopping spree for spices for me, Grandma, and Mom. I got them all, about 8 or 9 of them, for less than 1/2 kilogram per bag at about 50 shekels. Pretty darn cheap. Then I went over to Marizpan and ate some of the pastries on the way to Phyllis and Moshe's place. Uh oh, Marizpan had gotten rid of the spinach burekas because what I thought was spinach, ended up being olives. YUCK! But the pizza ones were just fine!
I managed not to get lost on the way to their apartment. Moshe greeted me and we talked for a bit while we waited for Phyllis to come up. We mostly talked about Zev's living situation and health, as well as my thesis project in San Francisco. Then Phyllis came home. We got ready to go back out to spend the afternoon together.
First, we stopped in a bookstore at a theater near them, thinking that we'd have time for lunch before her dentist appointment. We didn't so we browsed around a bit. She offered to buy me a book so I tried to find one, even though I really didn't need another book at the moment. But we found an appropriate book- The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million. Then we went to her dentist appointment and I read some magazines.
Finally, we took a cab (or two...) to the new Mamilla mall next to David Citadel hotel. Toby had told me how beautiful it was so I was curious. I was very impressed. It almost felt like walking in the mall near Stanford University in the open air, surrounded by white stone. In other words, this would what the Old City would look like if it's scrubbed down to the last layer of dirt and grime). The place was combined with residences as well so it was "upscale" as Jerusalemites described the mall. It was certainly filled with foreign stores like Nautica, North Face, Tommy Hilfinger, and coming soon, Israel's first GAP! It's not that upscale but in Israeli terms, it's certainly was. I know that the Israelis will be happy to see the Gap since they're always asking their American families and friends to bring back quality clothes.
While we walked, I could really smell the spices! I apologized to Phyllis, "I'm so sorry but can you smell the spices that I bought?" She said "Yes, what did you buy???" I explained why I got so many spices... The bags' ties weren't pulled tight enough so I had to stop at some point to get them tighter to trap the scent.
Phyllis and I sat down in a cafe to have lunch. I got some eggs- very happy to be eating them after not having had them since I left the U.S.! We had a very nice conversation about a lot of things and I appreciated her perspective as a long-time Jerusalemite and occupational therapist. She urged that I order dessert even though it was getting late and I wanted to be hungry for dinner. I gave in and ordered a white chocolate filled chooclate mousse cake, which was delicious. Afterwards, I mentioned that I needed to get some olive oil for Mom. So she took me to this Liv-O, a specialty store in olives and olive oil. The oil also came in a tin can, which was convinent for flying but I worried that the taste might be different. So I stuck with glass bottle and got it bubble-wrapped.
After I left much appreicated Phyllis who thanked for taking the time to spend a whole afternoon with "an old lady". I said it was not a problem at all and I appreciated spending time with her as well. I went over to the Old City to find that olive wood store to buy that horse. On my way down to Via Dolorosa, I ran into Meredith and her friend, Ted, from her program who was studying Arabic in Alexandria, Egypt. It's always so funny running into people around Israel! We tried to find the olive wood store and walked up and down the annoying steps at least 3 times until we figured out that this pair of closed doors belonged to that shop and it was closed. Maybe it wasn't meant to be!
Then we began walking towards the shuk and detoured through Ben Yehuda. There, we ran into Rebecca even though we didn't need to meet her for another 45 minutes! We all headed up to the shuk to do some shopping. I stopped in Marizpan to get 25 rugalechs as a gift for the Nalaga'at group as I was extremely thankful for them, and a few little treats for me later on. Meredith did her own shopping for a few things. Then we began walking down Jaffa, which was extremely difficult because the sidewalk was destroyed so there were lots of bumps and rocks along the way. I had a hard time looking at Rebecca and talking to her about her national service. She was volunteering in a home for Holocaust survivors and just basically being there for them. She told me how National Service worked and it sounded like a very nice option. As we walked along Jaffa to a vegetarian restaurant, I realized that the road was pretty much closed. Soon enough, I think, buses and cars won't be able to travel along this section as the light rail will take over (Phyllis thought it was all a waste of money and time).
At dinner, we all talked about the Middle East and Ted's life experiences (he's 31). It was unbelievable to hear what he had done in his 20s- gone to Colby for undergrad, went to Indiana U for MA/PhD in German but dropped out after 2 years, converted to Mormonism, went to Italy for missionary work, then he taught ESL in China, and then came back to the US to start the Middle East Studies program at U of Utah (that's how Meredith and Ted knew each other). And while living in SLC, he taught some languages, mainly German and Italian, in high school. It was enough to make me dizzy. With his degree, he hopes to work in the government even though he really enjoyed teaching and having meaningful dialogues with students. We also attempted to book a ticket for him to go back to Eilat in order for him to get back to Cairo to pick up his bags for his Wednesday flight back to the U.S. He had been traveling around Jordan and Israel in the last week... lucky him for being a guy!!! He reported that the Arab countries are loving Obama and have signs and such devoting to him like "We (heart) Obama!!!" It was shocking. Even more so, they now love Americans and treat them with more respect. I guess, finally, after 8 years, it's safe to be in the Middle East an American without getting harassed. (Ironically, I had read an article about Bush's After Life in Newsweek while waiting for Phyllis at her appointment... it was strange that we survived him.)
Then it was getting late for me as I still needed to get back to Tel Aviv. So I left the group and took the bus to the CBS. Normally, I'd walk but I was so tired that I couldn't think about navigating Agrippas and onto Jaffa. I caught the 9:30 bus and made it back to the University dorms around 11....
I'm so ready to sleep for a whole week after Friday.
First, I walked to the shuk to get some pastries from Marizpan that I had been looking for. However, I decided to stop in a spice stall to find this Moroccan spice for Grandma. The first two didn't know a thing. The third, the largest one, had it. So I began my shopping spree for spices for me, Grandma, and Mom. I got them all, about 8 or 9 of them, for less than 1/2 kilogram per bag at about 50 shekels. Pretty darn cheap. Then I went over to Marizpan and ate some of the pastries on the way to Phyllis and Moshe's place. Uh oh, Marizpan had gotten rid of the spinach burekas because what I thought was spinach, ended up being olives. YUCK! But the pizza ones were just fine!
I managed not to get lost on the way to their apartment. Moshe greeted me and we talked for a bit while we waited for Phyllis to come up. We mostly talked about Zev's living situation and health, as well as my thesis project in San Francisco. Then Phyllis came home. We got ready to go back out to spend the afternoon together.
First, we stopped in a bookstore at a theater near them, thinking that we'd have time for lunch before her dentist appointment. We didn't so we browsed around a bit. She offered to buy me a book so I tried to find one, even though I really didn't need another book at the moment. But we found an appropriate book- The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million. Then we went to her dentist appointment and I read some magazines.
Finally, we took a cab (or two...) to the new Mamilla mall next to David Citadel hotel. Toby had told me how beautiful it was so I was curious. I was very impressed. It almost felt like walking in the mall near Stanford University in the open air, surrounded by white stone. In other words, this would what the Old City would look like if it's scrubbed down to the last layer of dirt and grime). The place was combined with residences as well so it was "upscale" as Jerusalemites described the mall. It was certainly filled with foreign stores like Nautica, North Face, Tommy Hilfinger, and coming soon, Israel's first GAP! It's not that upscale but in Israeli terms, it's certainly was. I know that the Israelis will be happy to see the Gap since they're always asking their American families and friends to bring back quality clothes.
While we walked, I could really smell the spices! I apologized to Phyllis, "I'm so sorry but can you smell the spices that I bought?" She said "Yes, what did you buy???" I explained why I got so many spices... The bags' ties weren't pulled tight enough so I had to stop at some point to get them tighter to trap the scent.
Phyllis and I sat down in a cafe to have lunch. I got some eggs- very happy to be eating them after not having had them since I left the U.S.! We had a very nice conversation about a lot of things and I appreciated her perspective as a long-time Jerusalemite and occupational therapist. She urged that I order dessert even though it was getting late and I wanted to be hungry for dinner. I gave in and ordered a white chocolate filled chooclate mousse cake, which was delicious. Afterwards, I mentioned that I needed to get some olive oil for Mom. So she took me to this Liv-O, a specialty store in olives and olive oil. The oil also came in a tin can, which was convinent for flying but I worried that the taste might be different. So I stuck with glass bottle and got it bubble-wrapped.
After I left much appreicated Phyllis who thanked for taking the time to spend a whole afternoon with "an old lady". I said it was not a problem at all and I appreciated spending time with her as well. I went over to the Old City to find that olive wood store to buy that horse. On my way down to Via Dolorosa, I ran into Meredith and her friend, Ted, from her program who was studying Arabic in Alexandria, Egypt. It's always so funny running into people around Israel! We tried to find the olive wood store and walked up and down the annoying steps at least 3 times until we figured out that this pair of closed doors belonged to that shop and it was closed. Maybe it wasn't meant to be!
Then we began walking towards the shuk and detoured through Ben Yehuda. There, we ran into Rebecca even though we didn't need to meet her for another 45 minutes! We all headed up to the shuk to do some shopping. I stopped in Marizpan to get 25 rugalechs as a gift for the Nalaga'at group as I was extremely thankful for them, and a few little treats for me later on. Meredith did her own shopping for a few things. Then we began walking down Jaffa, which was extremely difficult because the sidewalk was destroyed so there were lots of bumps and rocks along the way. I had a hard time looking at Rebecca and talking to her about her national service. She was volunteering in a home for Holocaust survivors and just basically being there for them. She told me how National Service worked and it sounded like a very nice option. As we walked along Jaffa to a vegetarian restaurant, I realized that the road was pretty much closed. Soon enough, I think, buses and cars won't be able to travel along this section as the light rail will take over (Phyllis thought it was all a waste of money and time).
At dinner, we all talked about the Middle East and Ted's life experiences (he's 31). It was unbelievable to hear what he had done in his 20s- gone to Colby for undergrad, went to Indiana U for MA/PhD in German but dropped out after 2 years, converted to Mormonism, went to Italy for missionary work, then he taught ESL in China, and then came back to the US to start the Middle East Studies program at U of Utah (that's how Meredith and Ted knew each other). And while living in SLC, he taught some languages, mainly German and Italian, in high school. It was enough to make me dizzy. With his degree, he hopes to work in the government even though he really enjoyed teaching and having meaningful dialogues with students. We also attempted to book a ticket for him to go back to Eilat in order for him to get back to Cairo to pick up his bags for his Wednesday flight back to the U.S. He had been traveling around Jordan and Israel in the last week... lucky him for being a guy!!! He reported that the Arab countries are loving Obama and have signs and such devoting to him like "We (heart) Obama!!!" It was shocking. Even more so, they now love Americans and treat them with more respect. I guess, finally, after 8 years, it's safe to be in the Middle East an American without getting harassed. (Ironically, I had read an article about Bush's After Life in Newsweek while waiting for Phyllis at her appointment... it was strange that we survived him.)
Then it was getting late for me as I still needed to get back to Tel Aviv. So I left the group and took the bus to the CBS. Normally, I'd walk but I was so tired that I couldn't think about navigating Agrippas and onto Jaffa. I caught the 9:30 bus and made it back to the University dorms around 11....
I'm so ready to sleep for a whole week after Friday.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Is this Rochester? No, this is Israel!
Wednesday was just another day... until I decided that I wanted to go for some grilled meat in Hakivah Quarter at Busi's. There's only one bus from Ramat Aviv to there so I got the feeling that it would indeed take a while for me to get home. The restaurant itself was just okay, nothing spectacular as the ones in Jerusalem (granted, this was my first in Tel Aviv). I just got lamb shilshik rolled in lafta bread with hummus, Israeli salad, parsley, and chips (how fancy the Israelis are to call fries "chips" like the Brits). When I waited for my bus (#7) to come, I saw so many 16 buses that I wondered if it would be more convienent if I took one of them to the CBS and get on #27 to Ramat Aviv. So I got a shreut around 9:50. I got off at the CBS and went inside to find it. Unfortunately, the last #27 was at 9 PM and the next one would be at 7 AM the next day. I sighed. Then I went out and caught #5 to Allenby where I walked quite a while to the bus stop on HaMelech George to catch the #25 or #24 back. What I thought said #24, I got on. I fiddled with my Blackberry a little. Then I decided that maybe the bus ride felt a little too logn so I looked around. Everything looked unfamiliar so I went to the bus driver and inquired if we were still in Ramat Aviv. The passenger next to me said that we had passed it a bit ago. I almost broke into tears because I absolutely hate getting lost at night because of my nightblindness. The bus driver was nice enough to write a short note on my pass to give me a transfer. I got off and went searching for the bus stop. I found one for the bus that I was on to go back. I called the Dan hotline to check out the time table. Every 30 minutes. So I decided to find out where the hell I was. Then I saw #24 zoom by in one direction perpeticular to the road I was on. So I went over to that road and looked for the bus stop. Then I found one with an Israeli guy waiting. He looked to be around 17 or 18 and spoke decent English. He was heading back to Tel Aviv so it was the right stop. As soon we talked a little, I felt much less alone. Just the presence of another decent human being made me feel a lot better because then he's there to help when I need it. Turns out he's 23 and is an university student. When #24 came by around 11:15, we got on together and sat together to TAU. Then I got off.... one stop too soon. So I actually didn't get home until almost midnight. That was probably my most scary night in Israel for as long I can remember! Yet, I knew it could be far, far worse... like what if this was in the United States where crime rates were much higher?
Then Thursday night, I got a special treat. My angel, Karen, got me and this man from Jerusalem connected. His name was Mordy. So we agreed to meet at Azrelli Center as I didn't feel like making the trip all the way out to Jerusalem, given the journey I had the previous night. So we met up on the bridge over Begin. I followed him inside and to Yohavta restaurant (fantastic, I love that place!). I noticed immediately what he could see with his current vision field. I almost felt like asking him if he needed help guiding through the mall but I stayed behind and watched out for him. I just wanted to see how comparable his vision was to mine. So we went in the restaurant and he stopped to chat with a waiter... in Israeli sign language. Cool, I thought, there's a deaf waiter here! I realized that it was perhaps the reason why he wanted to meet here instead of some cafe in Tel Aviv. We chatted for a while before making our orders. Then another waiter came by and talked to him in ISL. Two! Then we caught one waiter to take our orders but he was beng an idiot so the first waiter came back to help us out.
Throughout the next two hours, I was so surprised to see a lot of deaf waiters. Mordy counted about five or six of them. I told him that the hiring manager must have some ties to the Deaf community as it often happens in Rochester. We talked a little about our families, background, education, and so forth. He mostly used ASL and used his lips to talk. It was really challenging for me so I think I got probably at least half of what he said. I used some ASL that I could remember and talked at the same time. We talked about our connections to the Deaf culture and community. Like me, he didn't have many Deaf friends growing up due to our living environment. Now he's in Israel and has been able to connect with the Deaf community here. He said that eight of his friends had Usher's. I was excited when I heard that. We talked bit about the reasoning behind why Israel has quite a number of deafblind Jews- one of the genes traced back to an Ashkenazi Jewish community in Germany. He was from German Jewish family, and I... my family suspected that somebody on my grandfather's side had to be German because of the last name. I felt that he was opening more doors to the community in Israel and I was just amazed. It became harder for me to think about returning to the States where I'm shunned from the Deaf community for my CI. I told him that I wanted to embrace my deafness so much but with the politics in the Deaf community in the US, how could I? Like the people at Nalaga'at, he respected my oralness and CI. He understood that CI was no by means a miracle nor a solution to deafness. He had Telex when he was young but never liked it so like my friend, Jeff, he just never wore hearing aids. Also, since he was 10 years older than me, it was understandable that he probably would've have heard much about CI in the early 1990s.
On the same note about treatment from the Deaf community, I asked how was it being treated in Israel as compared to the United States. He pulled out his disability card that he shows if he needs accomodations, including riding buses for free. He felt that sometimes Israelis ignore him and make fun of him because he couldn't hear. I said, "Well, isn't it like that in the States?" I've seen it when I'm with my Deaf friends, maybe to slightly less extent. I told him that all these times I've been in Israel, I've been treated nothing but respect. He was surprised that it's one of the reasons why I love Israel and another reason was all the haggling and arguing involved in the culture. I knew that my CI gave me an advantage in being able to communicate with the Israelis, but still, there's always lip reading.
Like other deaf I've met, he hated speech therapy and said "NINE years! Nine years I was in speech!" I looked at him and said with a smile, "Try seventeen years!" He was shocked. I told him that my parents were very intent on having me to become oral and wanted to find solutions to everything. We talked about our blindness. I asked him how he got around and what did he do at night. He didn't really have any answers. I told him that it's possible to "see" at night because of memory image reconstruction from walking around a lot during the day. I didn't think he believed me, but just have to try it to believe it. I admitted to him that if I was suddenly put in a new place in the dark without having a chance to see it during the day, then I have a lot of trouble and have to ask for help. Then he asked about hiking trips on Taglit and we could just relate on that! We loved seeing the nature but hiking had become to difficult for us to handle. Then we laughed about glasses on table, running into glass doors/walls, cars, etc. He didn't really learn to drive and was happy to learn that I still could drive (with limits of course). He encouraged me to keep driving just for as long as I could. I was inclined to agree since driving was such a big part of American culture and symbolized freedom. Also, it's always good to keep a driver's license for emergencies.
Then I had to call it quits since I had to get back to do some laundry. He was sad and asked to keep in touch. I walked away from him feeling very happy about myself that I had a chance to practice some signing without reproachment for my oralness and CI. And I was finding my own group in Israel, at last.
Friday, I had class. Then I went to the beach for a couple hours. I missed the last bus to Herzliya so I had to fight with other people for shreuts in Ramat Aviv. But too many shreuts were full and there were about five or six of us waiting and then Linda called to see where I was. She decided that she'd just come over and get me. I brought her some flowers and Jerusalem Post (My guess is that she doesn't read Hebrew well enough to be able to read a whole paper from cover to cover). Anat and her boyfriend came over for dinner so it was all good time.
Today, I slept quite a bit, read the paper, ate meals, and talked with my family on Skype. While the Ravids went out to demonstrate in Tel Aviv for the protection of illegal foreign workers (mostly Sudanese) who were going to be deported, I went out for a 12 mile run. I had to do six laps around the mall, about a mile away.... fun. It wasn't so bad at first but once the sun started going down and it was getting cooler, I was very hot so it wasn't all that helpful that the air was becoming cooler! Seeing a few other runners kept me going. Oh the things I have to do sometimes to keep up with my marathon training, especially those long runs.
Then Thursday night, I got a special treat. My angel, Karen, got me and this man from Jerusalem connected. His name was Mordy. So we agreed to meet at Azrelli Center as I didn't feel like making the trip all the way out to Jerusalem, given the journey I had the previous night. So we met up on the bridge over Begin. I followed him inside and to Yohavta restaurant (fantastic, I love that place!). I noticed immediately what he could see with his current vision field. I almost felt like asking him if he needed help guiding through the mall but I stayed behind and watched out for him. I just wanted to see how comparable his vision was to mine. So we went in the restaurant and he stopped to chat with a waiter... in Israeli sign language. Cool, I thought, there's a deaf waiter here! I realized that it was perhaps the reason why he wanted to meet here instead of some cafe in Tel Aviv. We chatted for a while before making our orders. Then another waiter came by and talked to him in ISL. Two! Then we caught one waiter to take our orders but he was beng an idiot so the first waiter came back to help us out.
Throughout the next two hours, I was so surprised to see a lot of deaf waiters. Mordy counted about five or six of them. I told him that the hiring manager must have some ties to the Deaf community as it often happens in Rochester. We talked a little about our families, background, education, and so forth. He mostly used ASL and used his lips to talk. It was really challenging for me so I think I got probably at least half of what he said. I used some ASL that I could remember and talked at the same time. We talked about our connections to the Deaf culture and community. Like me, he didn't have many Deaf friends growing up due to our living environment. Now he's in Israel and has been able to connect with the Deaf community here. He said that eight of his friends had Usher's. I was excited when I heard that. We talked bit about the reasoning behind why Israel has quite a number of deafblind Jews- one of the genes traced back to an Ashkenazi Jewish community in Germany. He was from German Jewish family, and I... my family suspected that somebody on my grandfather's side had to be German because of the last name. I felt that he was opening more doors to the community in Israel and I was just amazed. It became harder for me to think about returning to the States where I'm shunned from the Deaf community for my CI. I told him that I wanted to embrace my deafness so much but with the politics in the Deaf community in the US, how could I? Like the people at Nalaga'at, he respected my oralness and CI. He understood that CI was no by means a miracle nor a solution to deafness. He had Telex when he was young but never liked it so like my friend, Jeff, he just never wore hearing aids. Also, since he was 10 years older than me, it was understandable that he probably would've have heard much about CI in the early 1990s.
On the same note about treatment from the Deaf community, I asked how was it being treated in Israel as compared to the United States. He pulled out his disability card that he shows if he needs accomodations, including riding buses for free. He felt that sometimes Israelis ignore him and make fun of him because he couldn't hear. I said, "Well, isn't it like that in the States?" I've seen it when I'm with my Deaf friends, maybe to slightly less extent. I told him that all these times I've been in Israel, I've been treated nothing but respect. He was surprised that it's one of the reasons why I love Israel and another reason was all the haggling and arguing involved in the culture. I knew that my CI gave me an advantage in being able to communicate with the Israelis, but still, there's always lip reading.
Like other deaf I've met, he hated speech therapy and said "NINE years! Nine years I was in speech!" I looked at him and said with a smile, "Try seventeen years!" He was shocked. I told him that my parents were very intent on having me to become oral and wanted to find solutions to everything. We talked about our blindness. I asked him how he got around and what did he do at night. He didn't really have any answers. I told him that it's possible to "see" at night because of memory image reconstruction from walking around a lot during the day. I didn't think he believed me, but just have to try it to believe it. I admitted to him that if I was suddenly put in a new place in the dark without having a chance to see it during the day, then I have a lot of trouble and have to ask for help. Then he asked about hiking trips on Taglit and we could just relate on that! We loved seeing the nature but hiking had become to difficult for us to handle. Then we laughed about glasses on table, running into glass doors/walls, cars, etc. He didn't really learn to drive and was happy to learn that I still could drive (with limits of course). He encouraged me to keep driving just for as long as I could. I was inclined to agree since driving was such a big part of American culture and symbolized freedom. Also, it's always good to keep a driver's license for emergencies.
Then I had to call it quits since I had to get back to do some laundry. He was sad and asked to keep in touch. I walked away from him feeling very happy about myself that I had a chance to practice some signing without reproachment for my oralness and CI. And I was finding my own group in Israel, at last.
Friday, I had class. Then I went to the beach for a couple hours. I missed the last bus to Herzliya so I had to fight with other people for shreuts in Ramat Aviv. But too many shreuts were full and there were about five or six of us waiting and then Linda called to see where I was. She decided that she'd just come over and get me. I brought her some flowers and Jerusalem Post (My guess is that she doesn't read Hebrew well enough to be able to read a whole paper from cover to cover). Anat and her boyfriend came over for dinner so it was all good time.
Today, I slept quite a bit, read the paper, ate meals, and talked with my family on Skype. While the Ravids went out to demonstrate in Tel Aviv for the protection of illegal foreign workers (mostly Sudanese) who were going to be deported, I went out for a 12 mile run. I had to do six laps around the mall, about a mile away.... fun. It wasn't so bad at first but once the sun started going down and it was getting cooler, I was very hot so it wasn't all that helpful that the air was becoming cooler! Seeing a few other runners kept me going. Oh the things I have to do sometimes to keep up with my marathon training, especially those long runs.
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