-Visited two new countries (Cyprus and Jordan)

-Extensively explored the State of Israel

-Hiked more than I ever thought I would all over the country

-Witnessed a full year’s worth of Jewish holidays, many of which I had never even heard of

-Learned to windsurf (not very well but I still learned)

-Learned a new language

-Fully explored and consequently fell in love with Tel Aviv

-Took a road trip from the very north to the very south of the country

-Attended a workshop on becoming a medical clown

-Took a class in Krav Maga

-Witnessed speeches by Benyamin Netanyahu and Natan Shiransky

-Went skydiving

-Met a variety of new people from everywhere from California to Israel to Russia

-Made some very closer Israeli friends that I surely will not be forgetting any time soon

-Taught elementary school students about American customs

-Discovered that I definitely DO NOT want to make a profession out of teaching

I’m sure there is more that I am forgetting but this list will do for now. As I said, there have been highs and there have been lows but looking back on this list, not too shabby! You could say I have been very privileged to experience and do what I have experienced/done.

The next step: After I leave my program, I will embark on a month-long trip around Israel with 26 Jewish teenagers from North America and France. I can tell you it will definitely not be easy but it’ll definitely be interesting for sure. By the end of July, I will be able to say that I hiked 40 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee, spent multiple days/nights living in the desert and exposed 26 teenagers to the country in which I have been living for the past ten months. I can only hope they will take as much away from the experience as I have.

I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this and I will see you all on the other side of the pond.

The week after Pesach brought in Yom HaShoah, which kicked off probably the most somber/depressing week in the Israeli calendar. Yom HaShoah is Holocaust Remembrance Day. At 10 AM, a siren sounded off throughout the whole country and everything literally stands still. I’m talking in schools, at work, in the supermarket, even on the highway. Everyone stops what they are doing, stands still for a moment of silence in remembrance of all Holocaust victims, then just carries on with what they are doing. It was definitely a surreal experience seeing kids stand perfectly still for a minute then carry on with what they were doing  as if nothing happened.
A week later is Yom HaZikaron, Day of Remembrance for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror Attacks. Considering most of the country has served in the army and knows someone that has died, I would say this day is taken as seriously as (if not more than) Yom HaShoah. This time there are two sirens: one at night and one in the morning. Due to some amazing connections, we were invited to a ceremony at the military cemetery of Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, where we saw a speech by Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and appearances by President Shimon Perez, Natan Shiransky and other higher-ups in the Israeli government. It was a pretty powerful ceremony and I am still shocked that we were at such a prestigious event.
As soon as the sun goes down, Yom HaZikaron turns into Yom HaAtzmaut, or Independence Day. The mood instantly turns from completely somber to out of control celebrating. Yom HaAtzmaut is very similar to American Fourth of July, with the addition of street parties galore and crowds of people partying in the streets. My night/day included bar hopping (including the new experience of the police kicking everyone out of a bar), an air show on the beach and roof top grilling. Considering I’ll still be here during 4th of July, that will have to hold me over until next year.
With that ends April and the eight month mark of my time in Israel…and basically the beginning of the end. While it has been a jam packed month, I have a feeling things are only going to get crazier and busier from here. I’ll try to keep you all updated as much as I can, but I can’t make any promises.

Let’s start with the mitzvot of Purim: 

1) Listen to the Megillah. 

Done. The Megillah is the Scroll of Esther, which describes the story of Purim.This was actually much less painful than I expected it to be. Considering the rabbi read ten thousand miles a minute, it seemed like we were done in ten minutes.

2) Send Gifts of Food

Well, I didn’t SEND gifts of food, but I sure as hell received a ton of it. Candy, snacks, cookies, not a healthy morsel in sight. It’s mitzvot like this that keep me convinced the Jewish people have a hidden agenda of keeping people fat and happy.

3) Eat a Festive Meal

DONE AND DONE. I’m pretty sure this is also the mitzvah that includes a clause about getting so drunk you can’t tell the difference between Mordechai (the good guy) and Haman (the bad guy). Count me in, good sir!

Beside the performing of mitzvot, Purim lasted somewhere between 2-4 nights depending on who you asked. That’s right. AT LEAST 2 nights of dressing up in costume, drinking, parades, street parties, the works. Alright I need to stop talking about this because it’s somehow already making me nostalgic.

Stay tuned next time for…another holiday! Pesach (aka Passover) starts in two weeks so expect a (hopefully) fun and adventure filled post from me when I return!

A few weeks ago was my birthday week and things were hectic to say the least. Let’s start with windsurfing again on Monday in which, despite being completely off balance the entire day, not only did I get up and stay up, I (somewhat) learned how to turn around on the board, which is no easy task.

Tuesday, we had a workshop from a real life clown on how to be medical clowns (the clowns that go to hospitals to cheer up patients)…and no I am not messing with you. The clown taught us how to find our inner child inside and channel that into making children laugh. After a series of improv-type exercises, we learned to develop our own clown walk and how to make balloon animals. At the end of the workshop, we all received certificates and red noses. That’s right, I am a (somewhat) certified medical clown!

Wednesday was my birthday and despite having to send some students back to their teacher because they wouldn’t sit down and listen to me, it went very well. Starting off with some delicious Mexican food, tasty margaritas and other latin-inspired beverages (have I ever mentioned my love for fajitas and margaritas?), and free birthday flan, we soon moved onto a bar in the Florentin district of Tel Aviv for 60 shekel all-you-can-drink beer. That’s slightly over $15 for as much beer as my heart desired. Not a bad way to celebrate my 24th anniversary, I’d say!

After 2-3 hours of sleep, it was time to embark up to the Golan Heights for our first seminar with the new Israel Pathways groups. Let me just say that the north is by far my favorite part of Israel. It’s just so green, relaxed and full of life. After activities such as making our own chocolate bars at a chocolate factory, touring the second kibbutz to be formed in Israel, wine tasting, some light hiking, a tour of Tel Hai, and a frisbee-filled Shabbat, I would say it was a pretty successful weekend.  I thought I would have tough time adjusting to the newcomers but it was actually much easier than expected. Everyone is pretty cool and there are already some solid friendships forming there. Thus ended one of the more hectic weeks of my stay in Israel.

Just one other small little update, of which I’m sure many of you will not approve: I was recently chosen to lead a teen tour of Israel over the summer so there is a chance I will be here until the the end of July, instead of the beginning of the month as originally planned. Sorry to disappoint those that were expecting a hasty return from me.

Expect another post from my pretty soon of my experiences with Purim. From what I gather, it should be like a combination of Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day, in which it is supposedly a mitzvah to “get so drunk that you cannot distinguish between Haman and Mordechai”. Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.

While my program is only halfway through, the other three Israel Pathways programs have completed and most of my friends have gone back to their lives in America. After a weekend filled with going away parties, I am starting to realize that I have really been taking living in Israel for granted. While I have traveled around the country, I haven’t seen nearly as much as I would have liked to by now. I have decided to fix this. The first step is Tel Aviv. I have been to Tel Aviv more times than I can count (I have been there four times just in the past week) but I still feel like I haven’t seen much of it. I have decided to start exploring more (probably this weekend) . Yes, that requires money but Tel Aviv is also a 10 shekel (roughly $2.50) bus ride away so I don’t really have an excuse to not explore. Then from there, hopefully I can get off my lazy butt and start seeing all the cities and awesome things that I have been putting off for far too long.

Anyway, it’s been a while since I’ve written and I apologize for that. There has been a good amount to talk about but I’ve just been feeling pretty uninspired.

First let’s talk about our latest seminar. During our Chanukah break, Israel Pathways travelled to the Judean Desert for a seminar with theme of freedom. While the theme was only examined sparingly, it was still pretty amazing. Highlights of the trip included a six hour hike through the desert (including a completely vertical climb up a small cliff using metal rings nailed in the rock), hike up Massada, a break at Ein Gedi Spa, swimming in the Dead Sea, and a leisurely walk through the Ein Gedi Natural Reserve.

ZICHRON YAAKOV

After the seminar, we still had most of the week off to do whatever we wanted. A few of us took a day trip up to Zichron Yaakov, a small town about an hour north of Netanya most notable for the Carmel Winery. It was a cute little town which felt more like Europe than Israel. En route to the winery (of which we were unfortunately unable to get a tour), we befriended five religious Israeli girls that are in the National Service in the nearby town of Rehovot. In true Israeli fashion, they immediately invited us to their home for a Shabbat dinner sometime. I swear, it’s like every Israeli has a Jewish grandmother inside of him/her. Soon after they insisted that we come with them to Eilat to vacation with them.  Probably not happening but it was a nice thought!

NEW YEARS

Unfortunately New Years is not really celebrated in Israel (makes sense considering the Jewish New Year  is in September). This meant making New Years plans as slightly difficult. In my usual fashion, I did not have plans until about 10 PM that night. This meant getting to the bar where we met our friend literally as the clock hit midnight. We spent the majority of the night at an American party in Tel Aviv. Considering I spend all of my time with English speakers, it is strange that I was so thrown off by the amount of English spoken at that party. Anyway, when the party wound down, we moved on to the beach and got to a bar at about 4 AM, where it was still decently packed. Topping off the night with watching the sun rise on the beach, I would say it was a good night.

We are getting ready to start another week soon but are actually leaving for Jerusalem on Thursday for one last seminar before the other Israel Pathways groups leave (the other three programs are all 5 month programs). Maybe this time I’ll actually blog about it in a timely fashion…maybe.

Check out photos from trips here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/100041323550009491997/EinGedi?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPXxjcfPzuaqNw&feat=directlink

The people behind Sea Scouts felt that these teenagers could additionally benefit from learning English, with the same concept that it would ideally raise their views of self worth and make them better people. Thus, four or five of our Israel Teaching Fellows group volunteer there, teaching English to these youngsters. As opposed to the classroom, where we are teaching based off of a curriculum, this is more informal where they learn different marine related terms and other basic English they may need.

As a result of our volunteering, the Sea Scouts are letting us take advantage of their facilities free of charge as a thank you.

Yesterday was our first of hopefully many experiences with them. To start things off, they gave us the option of sea kayaking or windsurfing. Yours truly chose the later and it was a blast.

Let me tell you,windsurfing is definitely a tough sport. First off, you need to learn to balance on the board in water. It’s just a tad harder (read: a lot harder) than balancing on say a snowboard or skateboard. Next, just picking up the sail out of the water can be tough for a weakling like me. After that, you need to know how to move the sail, based on where the wind is blowing, in order to actually move at all. Apparently I am pretty good…at least at first. It only took me about ten to fifteen minutes to get up on the board and pick up the sail without falling. With some guidance, I successfully sailed around for a bit, almost running right into the nearby jetty.

After about an hour or so, my success rate started declining fast. By the end of our two hours, I could barely get back onto the board, let alone pick up the sail. Falling, getting back up, picking up the sail; it is all freaking exhausting. Regardless, it was an amazing experience and I am officially in love with windsurfing. While we will have scheduled group activities there every month or so, they claimed that we could come back as much as we would like. I definitely plan on coming back as much as I can, at least until they decide I am abusing the privilege.

Twelve hours after departure, after a sleepless bus ride and two taxi rides, we arrived in Petra. In case you are not aware, Petra is an ancient city that was carved into sandstone about 3000 years ago, which has seen the rise and fall of many empires. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was chosen by BBC as one of the 40 places you need to see before you die (I wholeheartedly agree).  I’ll spare you the history lesson but rest assured that it is very old and very awesome.

Let’s begin our picture tour. We start with a walk through the Siq, a winding and surprisingly colorful canyon. 

The most magical thing about the Siq is the way it unveils the incredible Treasury .   You may recognize this gorgeous piece of architecture from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, as the resting place of the Holy Grail. Upon arrival at the Treasury, we found ourselves bombarded by Bedouins selling camel and donkey rides. It took some convincing/negotiation but eventually we decided to take a donkey ride to the Monastery, the prize of Petra.

Let me just say I felt really bad for those donkeys. Never mind the fact that they are treated terribly, they also had to deal with a climb up 900 absurdly steep stairs with us on their backs (I’m pretty donkeys are not meant for climbing). Nevertheless, they were troopers (Love you Monica, Lily, Spiderman and Chauncey!) and I’m definitely glad we took those donkeys because rather than taking three grueling hours to hike, it only took half an hour. But holy hell, it still would have been worth it. I was more impressed with the Treasury but the view from the top of the mountain (canyon? I don’t know but we were high up) was amazing. I’m not one to really gush but this literally took my breath away. Of course, my camera died as soon as I got up there so I don’t have many pictures as proof but rest assured, pics wouldn’t even do it justice.

After lots of looking out into the distance and picture taking, we made our decent. Considering how exhausting it was just walking down those steps, I seriously can’t imagine walking up them. By the time we got back to our hotel (around 5:30 PM), we were all completely drained. After a nice Jordanian dinner involving lots of meat and Turkish coffee, we were in bed and passed out by around 8:00.

Day 2: More donkey rides, more hiking. Our donkeys did not seem nearly as receptive to climbing as they were the day before. In fact, there were several moments where I was sure my donkey would topple over. After hanging out in the High Place of Sacrifice, we hiked back down the mountain, stopping for a nap/tanning break at the Roman Garden. The rest of the day was spent exploring Royal Tombs and perusing Bedouin jewelry. Once again, our night came to a grinding halt super early (aren’t you impressed I haven’t mentioned drinking at all thus far?).

Day 3: Time to leave Petra. Sad, I know but had to come to this eventually. Anywho, next stop: Wadi Rum Nature Reserve. Basically a desert valley with lots of cliffs and mountains (with a few dunes sprinkled in there along the way). Apparently Lawrence of Arabia was filmed in this area, thus there were lots of references I did not understand during our six hour jeep “tour”.  To call our jeep ride a tour and our driver a ”tour guide” is definitely taking a few liberties. Our driver basically drove us around the desert, stopping every now and then at something cool or at a Bedouin tent where one of his friends was working, where we would be served some of that delicious Bedouin tea. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining at all. It was amazing and definitely money well spent.

A spring in a mountain in the desert

That night we stayed in a camp in the middle of the desert where we spent the night star gazing (I don’t even know the last time I saw that many stars in the sky) and taking awesome pictures such as this:

ADVENTURE!

Needless to say, I was sad for our Jordanian trip to end. Now it’s back to the daily grind, at least for the next three weeks until Chanukah. They certainly love excuses to take time off from work.

Moral of the story: If you’re going to take one thing from this post (or in case you just skipped ahead to the end), it is go to Jordan and especially GO TO PETRA. You won’t regret it, I promise. I’ll leave you with this belated Thanksgiving greeting: http://www.twitvid.com/SUKC6

Let me start with Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is one of the most seriously regarded days of the year, not only in the Jewish faith but also in Israel. As a result, literally everything was closed (even the Russian convenience store across the street which never closes for holidays). Not only were stores closed, the streets might as well have been too. Many Israelis spend the day in services, while others just use it as an excuse for a day off. Of course, this is how I treated it, although you should be all be proud that I successfully fasted.

Literally no cars on the highway except for an ambulance and a cop car. It was like something out of a zombie movie. Eerie

Oh you know, just going for a walk on the highway. No big deal.

Highway baseball!

Sukkot is the Jewish fall harvest festival, which of course means Israelis need to take a break from everything for a week.  My time off was defined by new experience and new friends. I started off my break with a nice three night cruise to Cyprus. I’m not going to lie, the ship wasn’t exactly what you would call nice and the food was kosher (therefore terrible) but this was my first experience with a large cruise ship so I can’t complain (except for the heavy rocking that stayed with me for two days after I got off the boat). We only spent about 24 hours landed in Cyprus, the rest of the time being a sea, but it was definitely a nice break from Israel.  While in Cyprus, I had my first experience with octopus,

Mmmm octopus

, saw the beautiful Church of St. Lazarus, which holds the supposed tomb of Lazarus (the man which Jesus resurrected), and spent a night in the tourist party town of Ayia Napa. The way I thought of Ayia Napa is it’s like an amusement park for adults. There is what seems like an endless strip of bars that all have different themes (Flintstones, Pirates of the Carribean and Titanic themed clubs for example) and all of them have people standing outside trying to convince you to come to their bar with enticing drink deals. It was one hell of an experience, that’s for sure.

Ooohhh pretty.

After the cruise, I spent a few days hanging around Netanya, going to the beach and recuperating from the rocking of the ship. Once I was back to 100%, I went with my friend Ben and a few girls from another program to Eilat, a beautiful city at the very south of Israel, in the Negev desert but also on the Red Sea.

Tagline: "The best way into the Red Sea since Moses"

Now that the break is over, we have finally started teaching. I can tell you it is definitely not going to be easy.  I am slowly learning how to work around the language barrier but for now, I am pretty terrified. Most of the children I am working with speak little to no English, which makes things difficult considering my Hebrew is pretty minimal right now. Fortunately, we also started Ulpan (Hebrew lessons) this week. Apparently my incessant studies of my Hebrew book and Rosetta Stone are paying off because not only do I understand everything that is going on in our classes, some of it is actually review for me! It’s craziness. Anyway, I think I hear a nap calling me so I bid you all adieu.

ROSH HASHANAH

My mom’s coworker, Shay, invited me to his wife’s family’s home to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. For all you goyim out there, Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and it is quite a festive and food-filled occasion (then again, what holiday isn’t?).

They live in Kfar Saba, a beautiful family friendly area about 20 minutes from Netanya. The family consisted of Shay, his wife and two kids, his wife’s sisters , brothers and parents. Of the 15 people there, maybe 5 of them spoke any English. I have to say it was really refreshing to get out of my Teaching Fellow American bubble. Of course I enjoy being able to understand the conversations around me but at the same time, it was definitely nice to be completely immersed in Hebrew for once. Of course there was a massive amount of food with everything from chicken to Israeli salad, cabbage, pickled carrots to beef tongue. You would all be impressed that I did not eat myself into a coma this time around, although I’m not sure whether that means I am learning self control or my stomach is just expanding. Either way, I was proud of myself.

The family make up was an experience in itself, including a younger sister with dreadlocks who just got back from a two month trip to India where she did nothing (no exaggeration, that’s how she put it to me), her boyfriend who was bald with the exception of a patch of dreadlocks coming out the back of his head, and an older brother (in his late 30s/early 40s) with a shirt that read “Budapest Triathalon: Eat, Drink, Fuck”. I couldn’t make up this stuff if I tried.

SCHOOL

The biggest news of the week, though, is that we received our placements within our schools and spent the last few days observing school and basically just trying to become acclimated with the situation. There are 24 Americans in our program, so they split us into pairs in twelve schools around Netanya. I have to say, my partner, Rachel, and I really lucked out. Even though we have only spent three days at the schools, there are already a few pairs that either can’t stand their schools/teachers or are having major problems (including one pair whose teacher flat out told them she doesn’t need their help).

Our school, Be’eri School, is beautiful and our host teacher is really sweet. Even the kids are obedient, which is rare based on what I’ve heard from pretty much every other pair. I was kind of expecting to go into the school with the principal and teachers resenting us (I mean who are we to come from America and tell someone who has been teaching for 20 years how to do her job?), but you can tell she really wants us to feel comfortable at the school, giving us tons of freedom. In fact, she came in on her day off to welcome us and introduce us to the school (including bringing us a falafel feast). She already wants to set me up with her daughter and mentioned wanting to invite us for Shabbat or a holiday some time.

It seems that, at least at my school, we will be more of tutors than actual teachers. In other words, our teacher will give us a few students that need help each day and then Rachel and I will work with them.

After a few days in the classroom, I can tell you this is definitely not going to be an easy job. All of teachers during training stressed that we would not need to know Hebrew in order to teach English to these kids, but let’s be serious, that is definitely not the case. Especially with the multiple kids that did not know even a hint of English that I had to help this week. To say there was a language barrier is an understatement. My Hebrew is starting to come together but nowhere near coherent. Fortunately I do know a few words that helped me get through those lessons. Luckily we will be starting Ulpan (Hebrew lessons) after Sukkot so that should definitely help me out.

JERUSALEM

Tuesday night after a day at schools, all 24 of us Teaching Fellows along with another Israel Pathways program, went down to the Old City in Jerusalem (about a two hour drive from Netanya). The point of the excursion was to make our way to the Western Wall (only the holiest place on the planet for the Jewish people). We got there at around 9 PM and the Old City (in which the Western Wall lies) was completely packed. This is not normal and is merely because the time of the year. The time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is one of the most important times of the year, when Jews start asking forgiveness in preparation for Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. Thus, people flock from all over, not only to pray, but also to people watch. It was total mayhem. I would say there were at least a thousand people within the plaza outside of the Wall. I didn’t even bother trying to go up to the wall but others who did definitely had to put up a fight.

I am officially on holiday for the next sixteen days for Sukkot (the harvest festival) so it’ll be a while until my next post. When I come back, expect to hear all about my cruise to Cyprus as well as my travels around Israel!

Chag Sameach!