i know, i need to update.

pics from various end of may activities

I'm currently wandering around between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and traveling to other places that I haven't seen yet/want to see again before I leave. Living out of a backpack I repack every couple of days or so. Saying goodbye to everyone at school last weekend was really hard, and being in Israel without all of them is kind of weird.

Last week I went to the Dome of the Rock in the old city which was amazing. I thought it was much harder to get in but it's not. You can't go inside the "dome" though unless you're Muslim but it was still cool to be there. Jews are forbidden to go there by Rabbinic law because some areas used to be only for the high Jewish priests called Kohen's and everyday people couldn't go there. Since they don't know exactly where this area was they just say stay away from all of it so as not to be in the wrong place. This works for me though, since my dad is a Kohen so that half is good, and my mom isn't Jewish so...it's also fine to be there. haha. Then I went to the Dead Sea and hiked in Ein Gedi with Michelle and her friend Ariel. Ein Gedi is one of the natural wonders of the world, its an oasis of springs and waterfalls in the desert. pictures of both those things to come once I find my camera cord.

A few weeks ago I went to a restaurant with some friends called Blackout. The whole restaurant is run by blind or partially blind people and it's in the pitch black. You pick what you want before hand or you pick "surprise" and then you all go in, your waiter brings you to your table in a train-like line and tell you where everything is set up on the table and stuff. At first it was pretty uncomfotable with your eyes always trying to see something or make something out but gradually got more and more comfortable as dinner went on. We ended up eating a lot with our hands since that was the easiest, it was a great experience. There are only 11 restaurants like it in the world.

Last weekend I went to visit my friend Daniel at the army base he was at for the weekend. He's in an elite unit and the base he's usually on I can't visit, because he can't even tell me where it is, but this past weekend he was in a course at a different base near Tel Aviv. It was interesting to see the soldiers families and friends all visit on Shabbat and to actually see a base. It makes the army a little more real, although most of it is still so beyond my understanding/comprehension which is frustrating, but such is life.

Other than that I've just been going out a lot and pretty busy everyday doing some thing or another. I have ideas for the upcoming two weeks but nothing solidified yet. Two weeks is not enough time left...

I'll post more pictures and update again when I can.

look at all my pic-a-tures!

Trip to Sderot pictures

hiking up north

random may more to come on this one

oops, it's been a while...

so two weekends ago was the last Building Future Leaders conference...lots of fun, friends, learning, and sad goodbyes, i suck at good byes. Among things like going to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and hearing important people speak, we herded sheep and goats!! One of the best things I've done in my life, let me attempt to explain the amazingness that was this experience... My group went first with no prior knowledge of how to actually herd sheep or goats just the understanding that we had to get them from one place, to another, to another, then separate them and put the sheep in one place and the goats in another. Sounds tough, but do-able. We figure: surround them and bring them together then lead them and they will follow, after all...that's what real shepherds do, right? well, wrong. After pushing and prodding, screaming and yelling, speaking in every language we knew, falling over, and laughing hysterically, we moved the group a few feet only to have them stop again and we had to do the whole process over. These are some damnn stubborn animals. Anyway, after 17 minutes of strenuous work, we accomplished our goal. I could not have had a better feeling than when the animals were actually following us from one destination to the other. I felt a sense of accomplishment as if I had just won an olympic gold, and i wish i were kidding. So the other 2 groups did it in much less time (cause they saw what worked for us and what didnt) but i still felt like i won, for sure. Tips for future sheep and goat herders: the herd has a leader, its a goat, a girl goat, and once you get that one moving...the whole herd will follow. Also, when sheep are scared they huddle together with their heads in the center to protect thier necks...their most vulnerable part, do not try and break them up physically, it just doesn't work, get the goat. And no, of course we didn't have any idea about this until after.

More exciting adventures that I can remember: I met up with Allie in Jerusalem to sign the lease for her apt. Her landlord was kind of scary..a "sabra" or, very typical israeli (note: Allie's face in the picture), but the apartment's pretty nice and in a pretty good location (see: beautiful sunset).










Last weekend I went hiking up north. We did three wonderfully beautiful hikes, went to a hot water spring resort thing that was awesome but smelled like northern Jerz (I mean sulfur), had a campfire/tea/made pitas at a nearby kibbutz (socialist community thing, they're all over Israel), and went "rafting" in the Jordan. Rafting was amazingly hilarious. I attempted to take charge of our 6-man raft trying to paddle but it was quite a balagan (mess/disorder), we couldnt co-ordinate the two paddles and we ended up in a lot of trees/branches on the side. I broke the paddle on a rock and we got laughed at by a lot of arseem (read: Israeli guidos, watch that hilarious video) hanging out on the side of the river.

I went to Ein Hod yesterday which is an artist's village on the way up to Haifa. Super cool village and we got lessons on stained glass from a resident. Went to the beach with Allie today then I went to the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer game. VIP tickets with free food and beer, yea connections :). Maccabi won but the last 3/4 minutes were real close, we scored to go up 2-1 but had to bicycle kick the ball out of the goal in the last 5 seconds to prevent the tie. Going to Sderot tomorrow, if you don't know about the city you should read about it, or i'll tell you about it next time!

I didn't forget about the serious/thinking post I said I would write, I will. And two photo albums to come at some point.

Lauren

yom ha'zikaron and yom ha'atzmaut

I'm tired, forgive me :)

Last Monday night yom ha'zikaron, the memorial day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror, started. In case you don't know Jewish holidays start at sundown the evening before. I went into the city to Rabin Square for a big ceremony. On the way to the square the siren marking a moment of silence went off. Everyone got out of their cars or stopped walking and stood for a minute in silence. I thought I took a video but I never pressed play, slicha. All (Jewish) shops and business were closed around the country, the square was packed with people and the ceremony was beautiful. Various Israeli artists each performed their songs that are connected to the holiday and videos of personal stories and pictures were shown on large screens. Unfortunately, although I understood what was going on and parts of the stories, I didn't understand enough of the Hebrew for the ceremony to be as meaningful as it could be. It is impossible, while standing next to soldiers in uniform and hundreds of other Israeli's, not to think about the fact that almost everyone has a connection to this holiday. It's sad, but true. So of course, memorial day here is very different then memorial day back in the states. My Israeli friend was telling me about how hard the day was for him. He went to Mt. Herzl with his (elite) army unit and first they had a ceremony around the grave of a soldier from their unit with friends and family of the soldier also present. After this, as if it wasn't hard enough, he then went to the grave of someone from his high school class with more friends and family. He tried to describe to me the feelings he had while standing there with the parents of these people but of course, although I can understand, it's not possible for me to really relate to it. His memorial day experience is not unique, either.
On Tuesday Abe and I took the bus into the city and while we were on it the second and last siren went off for two minutes this time. Here is a video of this one, it's not "exciting" as its not supposed to be, but it gives you an idea of what it's like for the whole country to be standing in silence.

Towards Tuesday even people start saying "chag same'ach" Happy Holiday. Why, on such a sad holiday, would people say this? Because Tuesday evening at sundown yom ha'aztmaut, Independence day, starts!! What a happy, exciting and proud day this is! When the two holidays are so close, almost overlapping even, it really makes one understand that you have to know where you came from and what sacrifices were made...it actually makes you see the impact of those who gave their lives so Israel can exist.

Let the celebrations begin! 61 years and going strong! Fireworks, tons of shaving creme (left) on everything and everyone (they market special shaving creme just for independence celebrations), typical 4th of July things like glow necklaces and big blow up things as well as bbq's and such. Bigger parties though, like this one (bottom left) on the beach...
Wednesday I went to the beach with Adam and Itamar, played ultimate with them and others, then went to Itamar's for a little bbq get together wednesday night.

This past weekend was my last Building Future Leaders conference. It was a lot of fun, and helpful for my project (which I still have to write about), and very sad to leave everyone. I herded sheep and goats! It was one of the best experiences I've had, too. My group went first and it was sooo frustrating when the animals wouldn't move and cooperate (we had a "mission" to accomplish). We tried many different tactics but the animals were very stubborn. I can't explain, however, the feeling I had when we got the sheep and goats to follow us. It was like we were real shepherds, we were walking and they were following in a herd! (and NO it is NOT as easy as you imagine it to be!). I felt like I was on top of the world, so lame, but so true. Those sheep and goats really taught me a lot, for sure. Also, AMAZING (shout out: Yaniv's AMAZING group) news from the conference: Parallel Lives, a program that brings together special unit IDF soldiers with diaspora Jews, wants to bring the soldiers from my BFL to my synagogue at home in cooperation with my project! AHHH!! How GREAT this would be!! Let's cross our fingers and it could become a reality as early as this fall.

a pics from holidays, BFL graduation, etc.

That's all for now; interesting, deep, serious post to come soon. Be excited to really get in my head.

A Lovely Shabbat

tangent: Last Thursday night I saw Balkan Beat Box perform for Earth day, good stuff. Very typical Israel does Earth Day...let's turn on ALL the lights around the square so people notice when we turn them off for an hour then we'll turn them ALL back on again. good energy conservation skills. (although, to give them credit, they did power the lights from people riding stationary bikes and by using the excess oil from falafel stands, haha).

For the past Shabbat I went to Jerusalem to my friend Daniel's. I was pretty nervous since my Hebrew isn't superb and I was going to be eating dinner with his family. Plus the typical concern: I didn't know they're Shabbat customs and I didn't want to, basically, make myself look like a fool for doing something stupid. Well I got there, we hung around, went up to some part of what I guess would be the "country-side" of Jerusalem to watch the sunset over the city/valley, then went back for dinner. Daniel's mom is from France, she made Aliyah here when she was 22 and his dad is from Argentina and came here when he was 15. Ohh, Zionism. So that means his mom speaks French, Hebrew, and English, his dad Spanish, Hebrew, and English and him all 4. His dad's mom was at Shabbat dinner as well, and she speaks Spanish and Hebrew, no English. I would soon find this out when I tried to respond in English and she stared at me blankely. Dinner was delicious, and the conversations were plenty, although almost entirely in Spanish and Hebrew. yayyy Spanish! I haven't listened/spoke in so long! I actually understood a lot more than I thought of the Spanish but that was probably because his grandmother speaks really slow. I paid attention very well in hopes to not be so left out, and I actually followed the conversations pretty well. I kept getting caught up in the moment though, thinking about the situation I was in and how cool it was that I could understand, and then I couldn't understand cause I had stopped listening. Saturday we went on a mini hike to a spring and enjoyed beautiful sites.
All in all, it was a wonderful Shabbat and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Updates on Yom Hazicharon and Yom Ha'atzmaut (memorial day and independence day) when I have time to process. Big Independence pick-up ultimate game today then the last leadership conference tomorrow.

61 years and going strong :).

camera's working again..

long album, over pesach break

short album, maccabi tel aviv basketball game




during the siren that sounds for 2 minute on yom hashoa to remember the victims of the holocaust. Everyone in the entire country stops what they're doing and stands, even on the highway they get out of their cars. (well, everyone except that person on the "tus tus" or scooter that rides by.)

pesach break

fairly long update of break.

so I decided to change the title of the blog for the last time since I decided to spend my time here traveling in Israel, and not around other middle eastern countries. I wish I could do it all, but money and time make this not possible. (Except, I WILL go to Jordan before I leave.)

That being said...I got back last night from traveling around the country for the past week and a half/two weeks with my sister. First, we spent some time up north in and around Haifa. We did a little hike on a trail called "Little Switzerland" which I guess looks like Switzerland? either way it was pretty cool. Then we went to the Bahá'í gardens, Daliyat-a Druze village, Mt. Carmel/the Carmelite monastery, and Zichron Ya'kov-one of the first Jewish settlements in Israel. In one day we saw four different religions (Bahá'í, Druze, Carmelite Christians, and Jews) which exist in one area of the country. Sidenote: If you haven't heard of Bahá'í or Druze before your should check them out, they're really cool religions.
Back to TA then to J'lem in the morning. My friend Daniel took Allie and I out to an area in Jerusalem that wasn't Ben Yehuda street! (The area where everyone goes out in J'lem...it's fun but c'mon, I knew there had to be more, haha). Then the next day we went back up to Haifa for the Passover seder. We stayed at the grandparents house of Allie's friend Adina for a few nights and went to her family's seder at her great aunt and uncle's house nearby. The night was fun, interesting, and similar yet different to what I am used to. There were about 30-35 people at the seder and the whole night was in Hebrew. Much of the joking around went over my head but I still had many laughs and enjoyed myself all the same. Then it was back to TA for the following Shabbat.
Friday Allie and I thought it would be a good idea to ride our bikes to the shuk (market) and the artist's fair in Tel Aviv, typical day usually, but we totally forgot it was holiday and the city would be PACKED. If i'm ever here for Passover again I'm leaving the country, it is SOO busy!! Anyway, Saturday night was the long awaited dinner with Abe's parents! We went to Havana, a Cuban restaurant Darya and I went to one afternoon and it was just as amazing as the first time. We had never met Abe's parents before but the feeling of having known them for a long time was mutual for some reason. Went out in TA, I met Abe's friend Ari finally, came back to the university, then we were off to J'lem again Sunday morning.
Sunday night we went to Be'er Sheva and stayed with Allie's friend Yoav for a few nights. Be'er Sheva is south of J'lem, kind of desert but not quite desert yet. We explored Be'er Sheva a little and got to meet up with friends including Adam, our friend from Ultimate Peace who is studying in Be'er Sheva :)!!
Back to J'lem where Allie and I parted ways. I met up with my friend Gili from the leadership program I'm doing and we hopped on a bus to the dead sea. Gili and I met up with Daniel and his friends for the second night of a festival on a kibbutz right by the sea. The night was really fun we saw Mosh Ben Ari and Aviv Geffen! This was the fourth or so consecutive day of hanging out with Israeli's/people that speak Hebrew and it started to really frustrate me, a lot, that I can understand the gist of conversations but I can't communicate back much. Of course they all speak english as well but I don't want to talk in english, I want to know more hebrewww. Moving on, we got back to J'lem around 7am yesterday morning and promptly went to Daniel's to go to sleep. Traveling from place to place came to an end last night when I arrived back in TA for probably the remainder of break (until Sunday). Today I'm bumming around, tomorrow I'll probably go to the amuzement park nearby with friends, and I'm not sure what Saturday and Sunday will bring. I surprisingly have some work to do before school starts again, lame.

my computer decided to stop recognizing my camera so here are some old pics for now.

Until next time.

Ultimate Peace in the Middle East

Last Tuesday I went to Hayarkon Park, a park about a mile and a half from where I live that I run and bike through a lot, to help set up for Ultimate Peace in the Middle East. When I got there I helped do some odds and ends things but since the company delivering most of the equipment didn't show up until about 630 the day wasn't as productive as I thought it would be. Instead, I went to lunch and played a lot of ultimate with new friends, I even learned a few new games! Wednesday I wasn't able to help with the clinics and teaching of the coaches (the israeli and palestinian children's local sports coaches) because I was in class all day. Thursday, was the day that the Israeli and Palestinian children played together! The Palestinian children came from areas in the West Bank and the Israeli children from within Israel. Many of the Palestinian kids are not Israeli citizens but since they are under 16 the laws are less strict on allowing them in the country. After getting a quick briefing on "rules" like how we could only speak english not hebrew and how the guys should wear hats not kippas and tuck in their tzit tzit (all so as to not preference the israeli kids), we were off to go teach ultimate! Although the children predominantly speak two different languages, an outsider could barely tell any difference. The kids were playing together and enjoying learning a new sport together. And to add to it, the kids were wearing jerseys of teams like Bodhi, Brute Squad, Ironside (left), Hodags, Dartmouth, Riot, Sockeye, PoNY, Revolver, and other teams that I am familiar with.For those of you not involved in the ultimate culture, these are some of the best club and college teams in the US, many from the Boston area. As you can probably imagine, I did not wipe a smile off of my face the entire day.
Friday and Saturday were the hat tournament. In ultimate they call it a "hat" tournament because of the way they pick (or I guess used to pick teams), by putting the names of everyone who signed up in a hat and randomly choosing. We played 4 games each day with two byes and a lunch break in the middle. My team went 8-0 and won the tourney (below)!! I learned some new games, taught some new games, and played many familiar games like "wah" and miniature tanks (for those of you that know what those are).
Sunday some of the UP staff went into the Palestinian villages to play with the kids some more. Unfortunately it's not so easy to get there on your own since you have to cross the "green line" aka into the west bank and they didn't have enough room in the cars and vans for everyone.

So UP in the Middle East was an amazing event, and I'm glad to hear from the staff that they think it is only the beginning. By September they intend to have Ultimate as a high school sport in Israel! Peace through spirit of the game, such a simple concept, now let's all cross our fingers. And as a plus, I have so many more friends to play with my last few months here!



Pictures:
Ultimate Peace in the Middle East

another update of pesach break adventures to come soon, hopefully.

end of month two and BFL two...

a little catch up....

Time is flying by. Classes are going pretty well, we had our first hebrew test of the semester last Thursday and I feel confident, good stuff. Haven't had environment in two weeks because my professor has been in the states but he'll be back for this week's class, yayy, i love that class. Last weekend I went out with Abe and co. Thursday night and then Allie came for Shabbat. On our walk on Saturday we got chased by the University undercover security guards or whoever they were. Apparently we were walking on some private property we weren't supposed to be on (ohh, that's why we had to duck under those closed gates to get through there...). After the questioning we got escorted off the property and continued our walk. I'm kind of sad because that was a good short cut, oh well.

Oh yea, I got a bike finally! It's pretty good, actually, and was only 200 shekels, about $50. The guy said I can sell it back to him when I leave, too. I haven't taken a picture of it yet but I'll post that eventually. (Actually, my picture taking is seriously lacking). I made Challah this week for my first time, exciting! It was pretty good I must say.

This weekend was our second BFL conference in Jerusalem. Although I was excited to go, I was also pleasantly surprised at how connected I actually felt to the other participants and how happy I was to be with them again. We had the usual great speakers and discussion groups, and went out in Jerusalem and to the kibbutz pub. Friday morning we worked with an organization called "shachen tov" or good neighbor. This organization does many things, but one of them is collecting food and delivering it to families to have for Shabbat meals/food throughout the week. The 50 or so of us went to the shuk in J'lem to ask the shop owners and shoppers to donate anything they had to help out the less fortunate. At first I was a little skeptical and nervous, mostly because my hebrew isn't all that great yet, but it was amazing!! We all managed to get sooo much food, (most) people were very receptive and generous. After one hour we filled the entire bottom of the coach bus with boxes full of food. After that we went on an "accessibility" tour down one of the streets in J'lem. We were wheelchairs and experienced first hand how difficult it is to get around in this country if you are disabled. Most of the time, actually, things are not difficult, they are simply impossible. Hopefully by 2012 more places will be accessible, since that is a law now, but that doesn't really mean anything here since there is practically no one to enforce it. The weekend was great, although not as intellectually stimulating as last time, I still spent a lot of time thinking. Seeing new friends was awesome, and thinking about how we're 2/3 done with the program was sad. I need to seriously start thinking about my project for the program and really develop it further. I'll tell about my project idea at another time, when I have more figured out.


This week has much in store: momma's birthday Tuesday, Ultimate Peace in the Middle East starts tues/wed!!! And Pesach break starts Friday as well.

-Lauren

P.S. I booked my flight, June 30th at 5am. Hopefully I'll be spending the last month on a Kibbutz, more of that to come as well.

פורים שמח!

" Purim Same'ach" Happy Purim, and a happy purim it was! and quite long as well!

Quick overview of the holiday: Purim is a holiday where Jews celebrate the deliverance of the Jewish people from the Persian Empire and Haman's rule. The Megilla is the book that tells the story of Purim. On the day before the night of Purim religious Jews fast because Queen Esther fasted for three days in the story. During Purim you are supposed to do 4 things: 1. read the megilla, 2. give mishloach manot (gifts, technically 2 things to one person is enough) 3. give charity to the poor and 4. feast and drink, a lot. Jerusalem and a few other cities who had walls around them at the time of Joshua celebrate Shushan Purim...which is the day after Purim everywhere else. Also, very importantly, Purim is like Halloween, you dress up, except no one is too cool, adults, children, everyone! its awesome!

Monday night Allie came with me to a Purim costume contest party thing, the first of many parties with free food and alcohol. Afterward we went out in Tel Aviv. Florentine and the surrounding streets were packed for blocks and blocks and blocks. Soooo many people in the streets partying. We couldn't even make phone calls because cell phones wouldn't work, haha. Allie, Darya, and I eventually managed to meet up with Abe and his friend Jackie and walked to the Diner on the beach :). Tuesday Darya and I went with Allie back to Jerusalem. We went to the party at her absorption center and then went out with her friends in the city there. Wednesday we went to the Old City to celebrate Shushan Purim with all the relig Jews, hung out on the roof tops, saw some interesting sights, good times. Thursday we just went out in Tel Aviv, no more Purim, and then Friday Estelle, Julie, Allie and I went to Kibbutz Ein Herod, Estelle's family's kibbutz, for their Purim party! First, the kibbutz was great, such an awesome community. We had home cooked meals and I watched TV for the first time in 6 weeks or something? haha. But the party was great too, free to get in, free alcohol (even a white russian machine?!) and lots of food. All in all, I definitely got my moneys worth out of my Peter Pan outfit (although I was 80's for half of one night, haha) and I'm glad I finally experienced a true Purim :).

pictures will be up shortly, the photo uploader wasn't cooperating..

Building Future Leaders conference

This past weekend I participated in a leadership conference put on by MASA. Thursday we heard Bogi Ya'alon speak who is most likely going to be the next Minister of Defense over here. He talked about his "solution" to the conflict, which doesn't involve a two state solution (because that is not solution, nothing will change, he says) instead Israel needs to make the Palestinians recognize its right to exist. As he was Chief of Staff of the IDF and is going to be Minister of Defense, I think you can guess how he thinks we should "make" the Palestinians recognize Israel's right to exist. There were mixed reactions after hearing Bogi speak, many Israeli's and pro-Zionists thought he was great, and the more liberal of the bunch didn't necessarily agree with what he was saying. Thursday night we went to the Idan Raichel Project concert! Idan is great,you should listen to them if you haven't before, they are made up of 12 or so members most from all different countries around the world. Allie spoke at the show about Israel, her WUJS program she was on last year, making Aliya, and she gave a shout out to us BFL'ers. She was amazing and inspiring, per usual! After the concert I went out with her and her friends in Jerusalem, it was nice to meet some more of the people at her Ulpan.
Friday we went to the Herzl and Begin museums to learn about "where we came from" in terms of the Jews being in Israel and such. We heard a speech after Shabbas dinner about a lot of the problems Israel has, and how it's not this great land/place that it was intended to be. There were mixed reviews about this speaker as well, but I thought it was really important that he raised awareness about problems in Israel that no one wants to mention or think about like the failing education, divide in the society, homeless youth, and so forth. Next the soldier BFL participants held a panel like discussion. They are all in the most elite unit of the army, and are directly responsible for the day to day safety of the people living in Israel. We would not be able to do things like ride buses here without their unit, they physically stop the terrorists from committing acts of violence by going to their houses and arresting them and such. It's kind of hard to imagine even when you talk to them about it. After long discussions about everything the soldiers took a bunch of us out in the city, to a nice, authentic, typical Israeli pub. Just kidding, it was an Irish pub, haha. The conversation and company wonderful. You can't feel any more safe when you're out with these guys, two of which are carrying pistols in the belt of their pants...hmm.
Saturday consisted of more discussion/workshops and an inspiring speaker who is working with at risk youth. The weekend was packed full with intellectually stimulating conversation to the point where I almost felt like I couldn't think anymore at times, but it was sooo good to challenge myself like that. If I'm going to be here I need to seriously think about how I feel about a lot of the issues and resorting to "I don't know how I feel about it yet" is becoming less and less acceptable to me. Beyond the actual conference, forming friendships with the participants was great. I really enjoyed asking tons of questions (what else is new) and having conversations about things that had nothing to do with the conference. Great environment, great food, great friends, and I can't wait to go back for the next session in a few weeks!

Stay tuned for updates on Purim, the most ridiculous holiday I clearly have never experienced correctly before!

media

The tractor that a Palestinian man drove into a police car and attempted to hit others on Thursday March 5th in Jerusalem. Luckily the policemen were only lightly injured in the attack, the bulldozer driver was shot by both policemen and a taxi driver and killed. This is the forth incident like this since July 2008. The program coordinators on our trip told us what happened and I took this picture out of the bus window as we drove by. People asked a few questions but it seemed like no one was surprised, especially the israeli's and soliders with us. I wish it weren't like that here, the desensitization, but this is an example of why it is. And for all you wondering, YES it's safe here! It's hard to explain that to people who haven't been here though.


randoms and weekend adventures:


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Jerusalem:


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Eilat elle l'a

our weekend rendition of the song ella elle l'a that they play at everyy club here.

I went to Eilat, "The Miami of Israel," last weekend and it was great. It's the southern most Israeli city (in between Jordan and Egypt and on the Red Sea). The weather was much nicer than in Tel Aviv last weekend but it wasn't quite beach weather, although we did stubbornly try. Friday was the warmest, and luckily that was the day we had planned to go snorkeling. At first I had a hard time trusting myself but once I just relaxed I was in heaven floating with the fish and exploring the coral. I saw Dory and Nemo and my new favorite fish, the Parrot fish. Google it, they're gorgeous, I wish I could have taken underwater pictures. Tangent: I learned in my Israeli Environment class that the Red Sea is the most diverse ecosystem in the world. And also that in 25 million years it will be an ocean because of the way the plates are moving. Anyway, Eilat is pretty small, you can walk around the main part of the city very easily. It was nice to shop, party, and explore around a different city, though. I am planning to go back there after classes in June to do a 5 day SCUBA certification thing, yayy!
Speaking of classes, they started yesterday. So far I have had "The Struggle for Palestine: Roots of the Arab-Israeli Conflict" and "Israeli Environment." The former has a terribly dry teacher but I may stick it out as it seems as if the class will be taught from more of a pro-Arab than pro-Israeli point of view which I thoroughly enjoy as a much needed change. The latter is amazing, the teacher, Stuart, (he said it's an insult to call him doctor or professor unless he's really old. I'm not sure if that's for everyone here or just him) is hilarious and very entertaining. I'm really excited to learn a lot and go on fun trips in that class. More on other classes later possibly, but that stuff is boring anyway. This weekend I'm going to the Idan Raichel concert and Allie is actually speaking at the concert! She's speaking about a leadership program that she did two years ago that I (surprise surprise) am also doing this weekend and two other weekends. More on that laster as well. The organzation that runs the leadership program is setting up the concert so she has to speak in front of 2,500 people or something. crazy!
That's all for now, Passover break is in a month, I should figure out what I'm doing. Pictures to come soon!

as Darya would say: Shalom out!
Lauren

weekend in Jerusalem

Thursday we didn't have Ulpan because we went on a tiyul to Jerusalem. The trip was actually much better than I expected it to be. I figured we were going to have a "Birthright tours the old city, again," but it wasn't like this. By this i mean seeing and learning about mostly only the Jewish aspects of the Old City (the Old City is what Jerusalem consisted of a long time ago), but we learned and toured places that are holy and important to all the three major religions there. We went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, walked through the Muslim quarters, and learned about all 4 religious people living there, the Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Armenians.
A bunch of us decided to spend the night/weekend in Jerusalem instead of going back with the group. Once we found our hostel, which was quite the expedition as it was in some back alley way in the Old City, we were pleasantly surprised at the condition of our room. If we had spent more time there or had it been warmer we would have enjoyed our own private terrace and we were nicely secluded from the rest of the guests. We went out in Jerusalem Thursday night to a pretty cool bar and then a really fun dance bar with sweet 70's music. It was really interesting to see a bunch of religious Jews hanging out drinking in the streets, as Tel Aviv is quite secular and this doesn't happen. Friday we bummed around the old city shopping in the markets of the different quarters. A few of us got lost in the Muslim quarter for an hour. I didn't think the old city was even big enough to get lost but once you start turning corners everything looks the same and eventually you find yourself being denied enterance to the Dome of the Rock, twice. Only Muslims can enter and we were clearly lost tourists, not muslims. After finding our was back to Jaffa gate I went to meet allie in the center of Jerusalem. Allie, Darya, and I ate at an amazing little restaurant just before shabbas started. It was super cheap, the service was unbelievable for Israel (kind, considerate, friendly, etc) and there was great live music. Anyway, later on Allie and I walked about an hour and a half to eat Shabbas dinner with a woman that I met here and her family. Dinner was delicious and the company was great, her husband was really funny and so nice and they have a 7 month old baby who is adorable, of course. The only downside was we had to walk back and it started raining quite heavily towards the end. ze b'seder, it's alright, Israel needs all the rain it can get. Saturday Allie and I ate Shabbas lunch at her and Abe's friend Alana's place. Again, great food, met new people, good times. This time, however, we took a cab as it was downpouring, still.
So today we submitted our form for our classes and started our last week of Ulpan. Tonight I'm going to Rivky's class again for more religious discussion and free dinner. (side note: this is who's house we ate at for Shabbas dinner). I'm going to try not to stuff my face just because the food is free...I'm having a hard time with that concept.

-Lauren

sad news...

Before the sad news, some catch up...this weekend was a lot of fun, the usual, went out, explored Ramat Aviv on Shabbat (found a lot of open restaurants within walking distance) rested, etc. Sunday after Ulpan I went to an exhibition with Darya and Maresa called “Postcards from Gaza.” The exhibit was interesting, but not what I expected. It wasn’t very big and didn’t have much of an explanation. It was really tough to look at the postcards, which were mostly just pictures not so much art, of war stricken areas of Gaza. The exhibit was put on by a humanitarian aid group wanting to get word out of the situation. I would have been interested to see photographs from other cities that were affected as well like Sderot and Ashkelon. It’s frustrating that this group isn’t concerned with aid for everyone who needs it, Israeli’s and Palestinians, why does everything have to be one or the other, can’t we see the similarities of everyone affected? Yes, of course, some areas and people are worse off than others but does that make it okay to only focus on them? I’m not sure, it’s a tough topic. Anyway, Sunday night I went to my first (probably will go weekly or bi-weekly) discussion group through this program with a religious woman. They give you food and 20 sheks ($5) per class you go to, yea incentive, and you just listen and learn about various topics relating to religious Judaism. Some of the things seem a bit ridiculous to me and I just dont agree, but alas, I enjoy learning none the less. Afterwards we went to a dance bar for an “OSP party.” It was cool because that many people from the program never go out together since we have our own circles of friends and everyone ends up splitting up going to different bars. I am going to another discussion group tonight with a Rabbi (again, sucker for these things) entitled “Judaism, Israel, the 21’th Century and I” and yes, that’s what the flyer says. I'm excited for tonight because I think it is going to be more appealing to my way of thinking. One of the topics on the flyer is "why in modern ages are people preventing couples in love to get married only due to differences in religion." We shall see what this Rabbi has to say about that. Oh, and there is free food, again. Before the sad news I will conclude with...I need to get back to eating healthier (but so much delicious and sometimes free pastries and chocolate!), I need to run more, and I will buy my bike tomorrow (hopefully).

So unfortunately it's true, although I'm not sure I believe it yet. Mom and D aren't going to be able to come. Medtronic global assignments sucks and took too long figuring things out for my mom and now it's too late, she can't come. It seemed unreal that we would all (Allie, me, mom and dani) in Israel together anyway, and I guess it was. Too good to be true. I'm sad that we can't all experience this country together, but I'm more sad that right now Dani and mom don't get to experience it at all. This just means that something else will come along for them, another great opportunity, exciting, new, adventurous, something will come. And also, of course, that they will have to come to Israel at another time.

-a very sad Lauren

Haifa v'bechirot

Monday night I went up with Haifa to attend a journalism coverage night with some other OSP (overseas students program) students. The panel consisted of a reporter from CNN, a journalist from Haaretz (Israeli local left-wing newspaper), and an editor from IBA (Israel's only local english news station). The discussions were informative about the many challenges of news coverage both within and about Israel. The woman from CNN got heated at times, it was actually kind of awkward but interesting none the less. Darya and I decided to stay with Abe in Haifa for the night since we had Tuesday off from Ulpan due to the bechirot, elections. Abe took us to Barbarossa, a nice bar in Haifa. Tuesday we went to Abu Shakar, an AMAZINGG Arab (of course, they make it best!) hummus place. Abe is pretty much best friends with the woman who works there and ordered for us in Arabic although he wasn't all that sure which types we were getting, haha. Anyway, after eating an absurd amount of hummus and other delicious dishes, we took the Carmelit, Israeli's only "subway" to a cafe to study.

The Carmelit is the smallest subway system in the world as it only had 6 stops. A portion of Haifa is built on Mt. Carmel and the Carmelit goes from the top to the bottom. The seats on the train are actually slanted to seem more level since the train travels on a slope. This makes for an interesting feeling at the point on the route where the track is more level, since you can't really figure out if you're level or the floor or the ground at the station. I'm not sure you can really tell, but here's a picture...

After the cafe we got some gleeda before heading back to Abe's. That's an important word morah Gil taught us last semester...ice cream :). It was actually gelato and it was delicious. After waiting for a bus that wasn't running for far too long Darya and I finally made it to the train back home.

So the elections...I'm not going to pretend I know enough about Israeli politics because they are so complicated that would be just be a lie, but I have learned some things. So currently it looks like Tzipi "won" with the Kadima left-of-center party and their 28 of the 120 seats in the Kinesset, Israeli Parliament. Israel, however, has a multi-party system and the 120 seats are going to be split between 12 parties (it depends on how many votes each of the 30-something parties gets in the election). Netanyahu and his right-of-center Likud party most probably have 27 seats, and here is where one begins to understand the complexity. Basically, if the majority of the newly-elected seats agree to have Tzipi lead the government, then they form the coalition. If not, it will be Natanyahu. We shall see in the next few days.

-Lauren

ATV Chabad trip

Yesterday morning I woke up at 4:40, far too early since we didn't leave until 6:50, for a trip up north. Although I should, I don't remember the exact name of the town we were in but we went ATVing and zip lining somewhere near the Kinneret (sea of Gallilee) which was great. We stopped at a restaurant for our first of 4 free meals with excellent humus before heading to the hotel. We had a wonderful Shabbas complete with services, dinner, lunch, and dinner again with inspirational and slightly brainwashing speeches from the Chabad crew. Chabad is one of the biggest Hasidic movements in Orthodox Judaism. My first experience with Chabad was at the Brandeis Chabad house and I must say they were great times. This Shabbas I was fortunate enough to learn much more about the lifestyle and set of beliefs from the inspirational speeches and through talking with the religious women and men. Although it is not the way I choose to lead my life, there is no doubt that the speeches and conversations throughout our Shabbas were very eye opening and sparked many conversations among friends. There were many ideas such as "everyone has a story," the five levels of pleasure, and "people are like trees" (seems weird at first but think about it, roots, trunk, branches, always growing, etc.) that were of course, easy to understand and relate to. There were also many things I had a hard time accepting, hence, I am not an Orthodox Jew. It was interesting to talk to Dani and Yomi who were both 23 and have only been religious (note, in Israel "religious" is pretty synonymous to "Orthodox," different than America) for two years. They told us about growing up and their typical American college experience and how they got from there to where they are now, religious, shomer negiah, and living in Israel. Someone who is Shomer Negiah or, "observant of Negiah," does not have physical contact with the the opposite sex with a few exceptions (spouse, children, parents and a few others). Clearly talking with them influenced many conversations back in the hotel room.

I learned a lot, had more stimulating conversation, took a real shower, slept in an actual bed, and saw the beautiful yet severely low Kinneret. Speaking of the beauty...the Kinneret looked so beautiful when we were on the beach I actually was speechless. The bright sun hitting the silver water that came to a white line where it ran into the foggy outline of the mountains which met the subtle blue sky was unbelievable. Of course, although breaking Shabbas, I tried and failed miserably to capture this in a picture but there are a few good ones when the sun was lower in the sky.
All the pictures from this weekend: http://picasaweb.google.com/SpivackL/ATVTrip?feat=directlink


Bed time for now, good adventures to come this week. As well as a new title for my blog, my mind is racing and I'm too indecisive right now. Also, I passed a Medtronic logo on the side of a building in Hertzliyah, I think that's a sign for mom!

-Lauren

stimulating conversation..

Shalom,
I'm sensing stream of consciousness...
Anndd, we have internet. We called to order the internet and then it started working for free so we called to cancel our order. I hope these people don't lock their wireless. This week has been wonderful, the weather was great, high 60's to mid 70's and sunny. Some highlights: I bought Aladdin and Goldilocks and the Three Bears at the book store to read in Hebrew. I would have bought a Disney movie in Hebrew but the selection was poor, I will buy one soon. I went to the beach today with friends. You couldn't swim at the part of the beach we were at, I'm not sure why but there were a lot of people fishing, maybe that has something to do with it. I found lots of pretty shells and sea glass and one of the fishermen gave me two awesome shells. I plan on finding a way to jazz up the apartment with my collecton. I finally found people to play fris with on our breaks at Ulpan and Darya and I tossed a bunch at the beach today :). Ulpan is pretty challenging but it's okay, I'd rather it be that way. Fortunately, I think I did really well on my exam today I knew everything. Tonight we had a potluck dinner with people from my program. I made a cold pasta salad with veggies, lemon juice, garlic, etc. I'd say it was pretty good for coming up with the idea and making it in about 45 minutes using only food I already had.
At the pot luck I finallyy had an intellectually stimulating conversation with an Israeli (yay! first of many). I talked to Liran about a lot of things but mainly politics, the army, and the Gaza war. He was very open and while we didn't agree on everything, of course, it was refreshing to be able to talk to him about his experiences as a commander in the army and as someone who is from Ashkelon, a city just north of Gaza which has been under constant rocket attacks from Gaza for a year now. If you've heard of Sderot, it is kind of like the new Sderot. Liran made sure to explain to us that the situation in his home city is not as dramatic as people make it seem. He said it was "not a big deal" when the rockets come. The sirens go off, everyone goes to the shelters, and then they come out. I was interested to hear this point of view, although the fact that it is daily routine is upsetting, no one should have to live like that, Jews or Arabs. He said he would introduce us to his Arab friends here which is awesome, I can't wait to have a similar yet completely different conversation with them.
Since I am waking up in 4 hours to attempt to go on an ATV-ing trip up north (we didn't sign up but we're going to still try and go) it is time for bed. I really hope we can go on this trip, it seems like a lot of fun.

Oh yea, mom got a "no" today but some people who are pulling for her were furious so the negotiating is back on, as well as the waiting game. We're still crossing our fingers.

-Lauren

a bike would be nice..

Ulpan is awesome. It goes by pretty fast, we have two breaks, yet I get out for the day and I feel like I have learned sooo much. Of course I learn so much that I can't remember it all, but such is life. Getting out at 1 and having the afternoons free is awesome, too. Last night I was going to go into the city with friends to watch the superbowl at an American-ish bar but since the game was on at 130 AM our time I figured getting back at 4 or 5 was probably not the best idea while I'm getting used to waking up early for Ulpan. Alas, I wussed out. Today after Ulpan and 8 shekel falafel (2$) I went to the park to meet Shirley and the little boy she was babysitting so I could listen to all the kids speak Hebrew. I think I will make this a regular event. Those 3 year olds speak much more simple and they sing songs that I think could really help me, haha. I finally went for my first Israeli run. This also meant spending too long trying to get my lack of hair in a pony, only decently successful. I decided to run to find the beach, and I was successful this time! Unfortunately, because of the air force base on the shore, it is (im guessing due to running time) about a mile and three quarters to make it to the waters edge. Kind of a bummer since the actual water is closer. I was there as the sun was setting over the sea and it was beautiful though, so my only complaint is that I had to turn around and run back before it was too dark.
My Hebrew is improving constantly, and I am trying my hardest to say my sentences in Hebrew whenver I can. I labeled many things in my apartment today so I can learn the words for the rooms and the object easier. Well, time to head back to the apartment for a study party with (shout out) Darya, the coolest girl everrrrr!! Yea, I know you'll read this girl.

I would realllly like to find a bike soon. Cross your fingers that Israel is not too cheap to let my mom come and stay in a nice apartment (because her company won't let her stay in anything less).


-"Looren" (vowel sounds just aren't the same in Hebrew)

ech om'rim and first Shabbas!

ech om'rim and ma ze...how do you say and what is....very useful terms for trying to learn hebrew.
It is Saturday night, after Shabbas has ended, Allie and Abe both just caught the bus and train back to Jerusalem and Haifa respectively, and I am sitting on the steps outside the cafe to get internet, will get my own by the end of the week. Anyway, on Wednesday we went bowling and it was funny because it was like night/club type bowling at 11am. After bowling I hung around on campus and met lots of new people, yayy!! Wednesday night I made my first and only terrible purchase of 6 Goldstar beers, which are like local cheap beers, for 66 sheks (about 16.50), won't do that again, it’s way cheaper elsewhere. Anyway, then we went out to a dance club called Apartment 98 where my roommate Shirley’s cousin works. We got on the list, but you are supposed to be 24ish to get in. Since the drinking age is 18 there are some clubs that say you have to be 23/24 to get in so that they don’t have a lot of younger kids mixed with the older crowd…makes sense. So after dira 98 we went to Friends, which is Estelle’s uncle’s bar. Both places were very cool, although I have to get used to the excessive cigarette smoking everywhereeee. On Thursday, Estelle and I went to shuk h’karmel, the carmel market, in the city. The shuk is amazinggg, everything is SO cheap. I bought three clementines, two apples, and a green pepper for 1 USD. We got other things for our apartment too. Oh, and cheaper alcohol.
Allie came Thursday evening and it turns out she used to go to Friends all the time last year when she lived in Tel Aviv. We decided to go back again that night with some friends and we met her friend Dvir there. When we were leaving Friends we went next door and had amazing gourmet grilled cheese things on a croissant, it made me miss late night back at BC! Friday Allie and I went back to the shuk to get things to make for Shabbat dinner with Abe, our friend that we met on Birthright. There was an artists market next to the shuk which was awesome, I can’t wait to go back, it is there every Tuesday and Friday. The shuk was a little busier than usual because everyone was getting things for Shabbas since many places close Friday evening and a lot of people don’t go out much on the "day of rest". We met Abe back at my apartment and we made…well, mostly Allie made…a wonderful pasta and veggie dish with delicious fresh challah and pastries. It was SO nice for the three of us to actually be together again. Although Shabbat here is a little more calm than the other days, I want to visit Allie in Jerusalem for Shabbat to get a feel for “real” Shabbat. I think it is very refreshing and important a lot of weeks to have an actual day of rest, I could really get used to it.
Today Abe, Allie, and I went on quite the adventure to find the beach for the first time. We walked to the end of the street because you can see the water but there was an air force base between us and the beach. We could see people walking around and flying kites but we couldn't figure out how to get there...such a tease. Once we had enough walking we put our blanket down on the grassy area in the middle of the street for a little while (see pics). It was warm and sunny, but I will have to figure out the best way to get to the beach soon!
Sidenote: I just witnessed my first Israeli car accident, pretty hard rear ender but nothing too serious. They are crazy drivers here. Never cross the street while the walk sign is red, even the Israeli's, as impatient as they are, wait EVERY time for the green walk sign. I was told only Americans cross when it is red because the Israeli's all know they will get hit.
So Ulpan starts tomorrow bright and early, I am in level 1B. The levels went A, AA, AB, 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 4A, 6A, 8A, so I think 1B is not so bad for me! We will see when it actually starts but I am happy with my placement so far. I have learned a lot already, but I am learning so many new sayings and vocab words that I don’t remember them all. When Allie, Abe and I were playing cards we were saying the numbers in Hebrew so I can get faster with my numbers and not have to count up from 4 or 6 anymore, haha. I ask sooo many questions to my sister or my roommates or anyone really, I cannot wait until I know more Hebrew! That’s it for now, I will learn to make my posts more concise given time.

and of course, Happy 21st Weener!!! and Happy Birthday Aunt Becca as well!!!

Pictures thus far...
http://picasaweb.google.com/SpivackL/IsraelWeekOne?feat=directlink

starting to get settled...

Hey all, quick update of today.
We had orientation today. It was a little disorganized with a lot of down time (no complaints)...such is Israel. I am currently at an Aroma cafe with my roommates (all three this time). We still don't have internet in our apt...although we're working on it (we're too cheap to just buy a router so we're exploring options). We're going to the supermarket soon then we have a security meeting at 9:30. I think we're going to go out tonight with a bunch of people in our program, maybe into the city. I'm in Ramat Aviv...its a little bit outside of the city but within walking distance to the beach! yay! We're going bowling at 10am tomorrow, and it includes lunch (too good to pass up). Then we are free until Sunday when Ulpan starts. We took our test for Ulpan levels today, I could do the first two pages and a little bit more (toda raba morah Gil). Hopefully I'll be above beginner, haha, we'll see in the next few days. I'll write more serious details when i have time, right now I have to go buy groceriesss!
-Lauren

Arrived Safely!

I wrote this first part last night but I don't have internet in my apt yet....
I’m here!! The past “27” hours but really 20 hours have been pretty good. My Aunt Becca met Kevin and me at the airport and brought us sandwiches, chips, and brownies. After a teary good bye I eventually got myself together and went through security. Apparently my husky dog stuffed animal and tear soaked pillow looked suspicious because the airline chose me for random search. Besides the regular security search, I had to stand in a glass box while they said all these things in code, eventually they let me out the other side of the box and I was on my way. I was lucky enough to have a window seat on both flights with no one sitting next to me on either! I had extra leg room on the flight to London as well. Besides the delay leaving London the flights were fine, watched Friends, Flight of the Concords, and Man on Wire, in between trying to sleep as much as I could.
Allie saved my life by meeting me at the airport. We took a train to Tel Aviv U, couldn’t get a hold of the person I was supposed to call, found our way to the dorms (via a free bus ride around campus so we didn’t have to walk up 120 stairs with my two suitcases), and checked me in. Room/Apt D45. The apartment isn’t so bad, Allie says it’s better than hers (eeek). There are two rooms with two of us in each, a room with a toilet, one with two sinks, a shower, a “dining room” and a “kitchen.” Pics to come. None of my roommates were in the room although some of their bags were already here so Allie and I went to the supermarket to get some crucial things like toilet paper, PB, bread, goldfish pretzel things, etc. Allie and I parted ways and I came back to unpack. A little while later two of my roommates came, Julie and Estelle. Julie is from Indiana and Estelle is from Vancouver. They both speak wayyy better Hebrew than I do (not hard to do) and my third roommate is Israeli (although she may live in America? She’s still not here). I just got back from the coffee shop “Greg” right on the corner for some free wi-fi and coffee/tea with Julie and Estelle tonight. Tomorrow we have orientation and our Ulpan (language school) starts on Sunday. The week here goes Sunday-Thursday, Fri and Sat are the weekend. Time for bed, more Israeli travels soon to come.
-Lauren

final preparations

So, I figured I should finally give this thing a try...
First, I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow! A year and a half of waiting and it's finally here, weird. I'm not really nervous yet, I think mostly because it hasn't hit me, but I am very excited! I have been slowly but surely getting all my things ready and I am pretty much done. Two suitcases (both under 23 kg) a back pack and a purse.
The past month has been wonderful, I saw pretty much everyone I was hoping to, including Kasey, Katie, and Bryan who I haven't seen in a while. Goodbye's were sad with home (except Erin cause we never actually said bye), school, and work friends. I thought I would be able to make it back to BC one more time but I couldn't quite fit it in, bummer. Grammy and Bubba's goodbyes were tough as well. Thankfully I don't really have to say much of a goodbye to Mom and Dani since they will be joining Allie and me in Israel very shortly (still don't know when, could be as early as next week!).
Anyway, I just finished writing down all the phone numbers and information that I need for my flights, train ride, check-in at school, and other odds and ends. In a little bit Kevin and I are going to stop by his house and I'll get to say goodbye to his family. He's going to stay here tonight and be so kind and drive me to the JFK airport tomorrow :). That will be one more tough goodbye. Allie is going to try and meet me at the airport on Monday when I arrive which would be awesome.
That's all for now, next time will be from Israel!

-Lauren