I'm writing this on Michal's computer, as mine is currently packed away in a suitcase in ramat gan.
Guys, this is scary. and sad. I am SO bipolar about this--i want so bad not to leave, but i miss everyone. This sense of not wanting to leave is something we all share--so much so that my roommate has decided to live in mud huts in Mitzpe Ramon just so she can stay a little longer.
Here I go on my great travel adventure. I am scared, nervous, TOTALLY excited, and I cannot wait to get back and share my adventures here with everyone.
I guess this is my last blog post from Israel.
I hope you guys have liked journeying with me, through it all.
I hope I haven't been too emo, too delinquent, or too excited.
I'm really glad you have been with me through this all--in a weird way, it's really been comforting to have this outlet while I was here.
I began this post when I had 28 days left on the program.
As of today, I have 5.
(Implicit apology for not writing sooner) It's all been happening really fast, and a lot has been happening. let me catch you up on where I am:
1. law school. I'm done with my application to Georgetown--Signed, sealed, delivered. Just waiting to hear in the meantime, and potentially applying to a few other schools if this process takes longer than anticipated to happen (which is already happening, oof).
2. about 2 weeks ago we had some TORRENTIAL rain, VERY off character for the country, and the Negev desert got flooded. It really sucked because not only did our trip to the army base in the south get cancelled, we also had to cancel our camping trip to Mitzpe Ramon, the giant crater in the south, for Sarah's birthday. we were going to stay in bedoin tents---it would have been awesome. Sigh.
3. two shabbats ago, Michal and I decided to go on a jerusalem adventure to the artists market there. We wanted to see if it was anything like the one in tel aviv, which is AMAZING. We show up and, eh, its not so cool. BUT, there was a CHEESEMONGER there!! Ya'll, the cheese. After being basically starved of good cheeses for like 5 months, this WAS HEAVEn. Goat cheese wrapped in grape leaves, and even a BLUE that I liked! very weird. We got this "sampler plate" where we basically just pointed at stuff we wanted and got a ton of cheese all for like 20 shekels (about 5 dollars). It was amaaaaazing. After the little cheese break, we wandered around benyehuda street (think main, judaica shopping street), and met a creepy/nice djembe player who was very friendly and enthusiastic. We hopped a sheirut back to tel aviv, and stopped at our little rinkdink grocery store. Who do I see, but this GIANT (had to be) basketball player, shopping in our store! So we get to talk to him, and it turns out hes playing for Haifa, and used to play for the celtics. I believe his name is John Thomas, but yeah. It was fun.
later that night, we had a multicultural shabbat. We all brought dishes from different countries and it was actually quite tasty. We made a greek salad in like 4 minutes with some toasted pita and really good tzatziki actually.
Sarahs birthday was also really fun--we went to an irish pub and just hung out together and had a generally good time.
4. laterthat week, we had an ISRAELI COOKING CLASS in our apartment!!! It was SO much fun, and we made stuffed bell peppers and shakshuka and tahina and it was amazinggg. yum yum yum, and really fun to just group-cook and learn.
5. THE KIBBUTZ Dude, guys? This kibbutz was freakin off the hook. It was called Kibbutz Ketura, and it was in the middle of NOWHERE in the desert. Really, really, remote. But in the same sense, its own little oasis. Its near eilat, at the veeeeeeeeeeeery tip of israel, and i could probably throw a stone and hit jordan from their property. We hiked, wrote poetry in the desert, ate lots of fresh good food, had tubish'vat services, and had an overall really really amazing time. we also got to see the algae factory, where they produce this insane antioxidant that is used in both cosmetics and in the natural foods industry, and baby cows and camels and cows being milked and date orchards! One of my favorite moments was from our reaaaaally early morning shabbat hike. We went out to exit the back of the kibbutz and climb a mountain, and the security guard for the kibbutz apparently forgot to unlock the gate, so our insanely hilarious guide named Marcello turns to us and says, "PEOPLE OF ISRAEL! we have a problem." haha he then went on to inform us that we had two options: shimmy under the fence, or scale it. This was a HILARIOUS sight to behold, let me tell you. Once we all got across, the hike itself was pretty rad. It was like STRAIGHT uphill, just straight hiking a mountain, and a sandstorm had begun that day so the wind was GNARLY and seriously trying to blow us off the mountain. but we stayed on, only minor injuries. It was funnn!!
5....b. This week was my last week at work. It was very sad, but we got a lot done. I got lots of really really sweet presents from my co-workers and on the last day they threw me a party and I FINALLY BAKED HERE (something I havent really done here at ALL), and it was really sweet. They presented me with all these gifts and it was very moving. Im going back to say bye this week--I am so lucky and so grateful for how taken-care-of I was there. It was really amazing, and an amazing environment to work in.
6. Last night was our last shabbat :(. It was really nice with everyone together, just talking and reminiscing about fun memories and "remember when so-and-so did thats" and stuff. We also made a BALLER dish--Drunken pasta (pasta Alla-Ubriesco?) cooked in red wine and finished with butter and onions and garlic and chives. It was amaaaazing. and it was purple pasta. so yeah, pretty nuts.
7. As my time here comes to a close, I'm just really trying to live it up. To experience everything, and to be totally grateful for my time in this wonderful city. Tomorrow night we have our surprise final dinner, which should be really nice. Afterwards, us crazy kids are camping out at a local pub to watch superbowl 2010. Which starts at 1:30 am here. HEHEEHEH. On monday for Becky's birthday, we are going to the Blackout restaurant, which is a restaurant totally in the dark, where you are guided/served by blind waiters. Its supposed to be an amazing experience: you can read more here: http://thisistheworldwelivein.com/2010/01/16/a-real-blind-date/
That's about it for now. I'm super excited for my trip to turkey(greece?), which is good because its taking my mind off the fact that I'm leaving Israel. Guys? I am so bummed about leaving. 6 months has gone by like 6 weeks, if that, and I'm just going to miss so many things. My little corner coffee shop, getting 2 shekel (50c) falafels at random hours, max brenner dates, trying new foods, giving directions in hebrew, actually understanding some hebrew, working at suzannedellal, walking through nevetzedek every morning and afternoon, barth's crackers with carraway seeds in them, goldstar beer, SOUPS, my rooftop, having a shabbat dinner alltogether and then shabbat morning french toast with the roommates, laughing ourselves silly, exploring, and learning as much as possible wherever i can. On tuesday, ricky gave us the envelopes we wrote at the beginning of the program. In them, we wrote a note to ourselves '5 months from today...' and opened them, well, five months from when we wrote them. Most people wrote realistic goals, stuff about learning hebrew or getting a job--me? I wrote one word: change. It really hit home, that that was the reason I came here--to grow and mature in some way, to have this wonderfully difficult place open my eyes in a way I never could in the states, and to just take time to get to know MYSELF. To not have to define what I want at every second of the day--to just know that growth is my goal in any way that it happens.
I will be stateside the 23rd, and will probably try to blog once or twice more before I whirlwind leave for my travels. I already know I am going to be utterly culture shocked when I come home, so be prepared for me to be MIA for awhile. Im going to need time to process, heal, deal, and just re-define my life when I get back.
HWOTD: carli. it means "IM COLD" and has come in handy quite a lot this week.
me playing in the sculpture garden at the TA Art museum
Zadok Ben-David's art, at the Tel Aviv Art Museum
The coolest art exhibit. Ever.
Alice in wonderland, anyone??
the everpresent posters for the local biannual fashion market.
IMSORRY i'm a delinquent. I'm thinking of changing the name of my blog to that, because its much more fitting for the blog. Believe you-me, I am definitely having adventures in the motherland. I'm just slackin hard on sharing them with you. Forgive me?? (insert brown puppy eyes here)
OK, so beginning where I left off. I'm going to try as hard as I can to stay chronological. We'll see if that happens or not. Last week, we went on a Siyur to Massuah, a holocaust museum in Israel (close to Tel Aviv, actually right near an Ikea which was hilarious to see). It was really informative--there was a whole section on the Eichmann Trial that happened in Israel--Really interesting. There was also an art exhibit that was very eye-opening and fascinating--I'm glad we went. It was nice to see Israeli manifestations of dealing with the aftermath of the Holocaust, because I have studied the American aftermath of it (from one aspect of Jewish American Fiction). I have also read a David Grossman book about it--he's a very prolific Israeli author. I also got to see a movie based off of a book by him, called Someone to Run With--it was one of those really beautiful innocent stories that's just so heartfelt and gripping. Really Nice.
Last Shabbat was also really really fun. Jacks and I woke up early and went with one of our Israeli friends Yoni, and we plated a rousing game of tennis. Jacks actually 'kept score' (in quotations becuase she was spacing, lol) and Yoni and I played. He's not bad at all, and I only got beaten 4-6 (and heck YES i got some aces in there). Pretty respectable for not playing tennis in, oh, about 8 months. The only BAD part of that excursion was that I went running for a crazy shot, and accidentally rolled my ankle. Hard. I dont know wether it was because I was already on advil for my sore muscles, or if it was the adrenaline, but for some reason it hurt really bad initially, but then it went away. And i played 9 more games on it.
After tennis, I went back to the Tel Aviv art museum with Michal and Jacks. I had gone with my mom and Joel, but we only had about 45 minutes there the first time, and there were a lot of exhibits that I didnt get to see. It was really really cool, and the Ben-David Exhibit? Well, I can't really put it into words, and since I have no hallucinatory-drug experience to rely on, I'm lacking, but the best I can say is: I felt like Alice in Wonderland. Or Dorothy, when everything goes from black and white to color. It is just AMAZING. I could have spent 10 hours in that one room with that one piece of art. WOW. The pictures above really dont do it justice. It was at the museum that the pain in my ankle really kicked in--OUCH. So, me being the stubborn one about it, decided to walk home. THough, in the end I'm really glad we did becuase we happened upon this RANDOM store/apartment--it is like 3 struggling urban artists who have an apartment and turned the front half of their apartment studio into a store. And their bedrooms is the dressing room. What a surreal experience--like changing with a bunch of random girls in some random girls room. Hilarious, but very NOT what I'm used to!!! Michal got a really pretty shirt, and it was a really really cool experience. They had these kind of creepy dolls, and these pictures of these creppy dolls. I, of course, loved it--my roommates thought I was nuts. Awesome.
Other fun adventures of last weekend: me and Jacks bought tickets for an upcoming concert that we're really excited about--It's a group called balkan beat box, and they're from brooklyn/israel. Good songs. However, we had some problems getting tickets. We were so proud cuz we navigated the website in hebrew really well, figured out all the lines for Credit card info, and......nothing. I called the company--apparently you can only buy tickets online if you have an israeli credit card. The next part is good--I asked him, "So, how do we get tickets now?" and he said, "Oh, don't worry, I have a guy in Florentin (my neighborhood). Here's his number."
....you read that right. We had to meet some sketchy dude and complete this transaction straight out of Goodfellas. But, it's Israel. So naturally, Jacks and I don't blink an eye as we call the dude, set up a time and place to meet (in a square complete with cops, thank you. SO not sketchy, haha), and hand over some cold hard cash. For some tickets. HAHA I love it. Such a great/fun/sketchy/weird/totally Israeli experience. Yayyy.
FOOD SECTION!!!! haha, what would a blog entry be without a section on food. I have made three great discoveries this week: first and foremost, Barth's Crackers. I do not know if it's going to be possible to get these crackalackers in the states, and that is going to be a really really big problem. I think they put crack in the crackers (ha, chelsea made a funny), becuase they are just BOMB. I first had them at a little wine bar around the corner (We call it the gaybar, becuase, well, I think it kind of is), and I was insistent that they made them themselves. And then the next day I found myself face-to-face with them in AM-PM, our local grocery hotspot. They're made in Petach Tiqva, I think, and the ones i am obsessed with have caraway seeds in them .They look like crepes, except really small and cracker-ish. I love them. ooh wah.
Next, and I shall lump them together becuase they are kind of similar: Jachnun and Malaweh (pronounched jock- or if you're really jewish, jochhhhh (with the throat throttle)- noon) (and malaweh; just think malawi and add an -eh on the end). They are Yemenite bread-shabbat foods, and they are GOOD. What I got about the gist of it is that you make some dough, roll it into logs, place some eggs on the tray, and bake it overnight at low heat for like 12-14 hours. And then you literally take a grater to some tomatoes, add some salt and garlic, and slice the eggs (which turn brown in the oven). Reallllly yummy dudes. And malaweh is just the not-logged version of it--looks more like a flat crispy yummy pita.
I'm really gonna miss food here. Everything is SO FRESH and veggies are omnipotent and SO cheap--its really easy to be a vegitarian here. Like, really easy. So easy I think I've almost turned into one. And the lemonade---oohwah. Everyhwere sells it, It's so cheap, and just so yummy. They do NOT make it like this at home.
The reason i had Jachnun for the first time this week was because of our siyur. Ricky, our madricha, took us to the park for a picnic and a boating excursion in the park (really fun on the paddle boats.) She made us Jachnun for her portion of the 'picnic' (read: potluck), and told us we would be 'sailing' (read: paddleboating). It was still really fun though--everything was normal and nice, minus the hilarious fact that we were all being circled by two ultra-orthodox men in a speedboat. SO random.
And how have I been working off all that jachnun, you ask?? By bellydancing, of course!!! It's been really fun--my friend amy and I found a class at our gym and have gone twice now. The teacher is this really interesting ex-pat who moved here like 30 years ago but still has the MOST american accent i've ever heard, and the class has a range from like 20 year olds - 70 year olds. Its really really fun though, and kinda hard I must admit, but COOOOL! hahah And, really, how am I supposed to pass up bellydancing in the middle east?? I'm not. Thats the correct answer.
Work is going really well--I am having a bunch of fun and i love working with my boss. I also especially love my walk to work every morning--i put on Israeli music and wander through this quaint neighborhood of Neve Tzedek, and just take it all in. People watch, wander, photograph: I am SO lucky.
Speaking of luck, it turns out I am going to be able to extend my ticket and travell around for a bit after the program ends. I am planning on going to Turkey and possibly Greece, and am SO EXCITED I cannot even stand it. We are planning it, and I am just stoked beyond belief. We have also enlisted the help of Michal's brother and friend, Smadar, in getting us the best deals possible cuz we be poor college kids!!! (I'm kinda ready for that phase in my life to be over, lol. Not being able to afford ANYTHING is so not fun!! aha)
This shabbat has also been really really fun. On friday, me, Jacks, Hallie, and Sarah went to loveat, an AMAZING new organic coffee shop that we found, and had coffee and sat on NachalatBinyamin watching all the birthright groups work their ways through the artists market. Then, jacks and I braved the shuk on a friday (Note: NEVER, EVER go to the shuk on a friday. Seriously. Its mayhem. I have to mentally prepare everytime i do it. Which I try to avoid at all costs.) to get veggies for our salad for shabbat dinner, and I accompanied her as she shopped her way through Nachalat. It was reallllllllly sad becuase i found this bench/winestorer/really cool piece of wood art, and its liek 75 SHEKELS HOLY COW (under $20), and my roommates arent letting me buy it. Why? becuase of the teeensy problem that I have no way to get it home. They said this about adopting a weimerainer puppy here too, for free. Stupid pessimists ;)
Shabbat shabbat was also really fun--we decided to have another themed shabbat, and the theme was "PJ SHABBAT!!!!" It was really fun, all of us girls and boys all cute in our PJs....oh I love us. We also made a BALLLLLER salad with dried cranberries and goat cheese and arugala (which I can't eat for the life of me properly) and spinach and other veggies. And i made a vinegarette for the first time. YAY! Today, we decided to go on an adventure. We had seen these really cool street arts around the city, this girl in hot pink all decked out, and it seemed to be some kind of sale. LAST NIGHT, michal figures out from her brother that it's the biannual artists and designer's market in north Tel Aviv, so we decided to go on an adventure to find it. Me being the broke college kid didnt buy anything, but it was SUCH a fun adventure, and such a nice day. Very cool to people watch and keep an eye on Israeli fashion.
My life this week, and last week, and well, lets be honest, my consciousness for the past few months has been consumed by my personal statement and application to georgetown law. I am so close I can taste it, but I am still not done. It has been a TOUGH journey, complete with tears and tantrums and procrastination and fights and writers block, but I am almost there. I hope to have my app in in the next 3 days. HOORAY. You all best believe I will be celebrating when it's over. And then, after i get my decision in three weeks!!!!!, either a celebratory trip to turkey/greece, or a pull-chelsea-out-of-her-sorrow trip to turkey/greece. I promise to keep ya'll posted.
Next weekend, we are taking a trip for Sarah's birthday--we are going camping at Mitzpe Ramon, a giant crater in the south of Israel. yes, CAMPING. you heard right. after all these weeks, I still haven't gone camping, and I have REALLY wanted to. So we are going camping in a crater!!!!!! YAYYYYY!!!!!!!!! In other random news, Romanian house music is really hot here. And has permanently stuck itself in my head. Example here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&v=p-Z3YrHJ1sU
I can't believe i'll be back in the states in a month. It's just surreal. I do NOT feel like I've been here that long, but I do feel the changes. I am stronger, more outspoken (oh shit, right mom??), and more sure of myself and what I want in life. I have made great friendships and have had surreal and mind-altering experiences. My eyes have been forced open wide, and I love everything I see. The good and the bad have taught me so much, and I am SO utterly grateful for this experience.
WooP.
HWOTD: muchan/ah? It means, "READY?!?!?!" I use this word a lot for my roommates. hahahah.
WHOOOOOOOOOO what a ride it's been this week!! I've had some very fun times, some 'wow im super homesick right now' times, but overall its been a great week.
Our story starts in that little town of bethlehem. Actually, it doesnt, it starts in Jerusalem, on Christmas Eve morn. I joined up with becky and her family to go to Bethlehem for Christmas eve. Now, I know you must (might?) be thinking: why would 4 jews want to go to Bethlehem for Christmas?? Let me tell you--because its AWESOME. And, because its like one of those 'when in Rome' things. I mean, how am i NOT going to go to bethlehem on Christmas eve?? So anyways, I meet becky and her fam in Jerusalem, and we walk over into east Jerusalem and hop on a Palestinian sheirut to bethlehem. Now, this bus driver must have had some freaky in or some mad awesome back route or something because we didnt pass the checkpoint---we didnt go through the wall at all. SOMEHOW, we just ended up in Bethlehem. Shweet! After getting to Manger Square (ha ha), we were greeted immediately by a parade that we literally walked into. It was so cute seeing all the kids playing instruments in the parade, and i mean SERIOUSLY, i made so many bad 'little drummer boy' jokes it wasnt funny. So we watched the parade, and then we made our way to the Church of the Nativity--where they had a bunch of cooool old mosiacs and priests on cell phones (gotta love it) and a star on the rock that jesus was apparently birthed onto. There were also these underground grotto/cave things that were really cool, underneath like linking 2 churches, and that was fun to walk around in. I also practiced my latin (which i really havent used since 7th grade, so like, 10 years ago??) and managed to read a placard from a mosaic (something something sweet angel joseph something dream) hahaha I was proud.... We basically spent the day watching parades, people watching *what an interesting city to do that in* and exploring the city. It was so nice to feel some of that christmas cheer that is so contagious, and I have admittedly been missing in Tel Aviv. We decided to walk to rachel's tomb, which we actually never ended up being able to see, vut what we DID do was MUCH cooler: we walked along the separation wall and got to see all of the AMAZING graffiti that was along it. I took SO many pictures: to check them out (they are part of my facebook album, they are the beginning of the album) here's the link:
So I had a nice Christmas--lounged, took it easy, cleaned, the usual for a shabbat. Lots of skyping with the family, and opening my Christmas stocking that my Gran sent, which was nice too. It was still weird for me, and it made me quite homesick, but it was still good.
This week was fun too--on Tuesday we took a siyur to the Supreme court of Israel (nerd me was rejoicing) and to the MFA (ministry of foreign affairs), the people who deal with israel's image and contacts with everyone else in the world. It was really interesting to see how blind study groups viewed Israel, and how they are now trying to market it with a more positive, less war-based image. The Supreme court was also really interesting--its so intriguing to me to see how another countries' legal system works, and comparing it especially to the US. I think once i get to law school (I KNOW I KNOW IM GETTING ON IT) it would be nice to take a comparative law class--i find that stuff very intriguing.
I had a really fun new years, even though I missed my sis a lot :( We all (and by all, i mean LITERALLY almost all of my program....oyyyrollin out 20 people deep is SO fun/not) We went to a Funk Revival party, at a venue called The Block, which was AWESOME because, well, it was funk music. It wasnt as groove funkayyy as I wanted it to be, but it was still really fun, and everyone came out and just had a BLAST. New years is called Sylvester's here, and it apparently is a big deal with my generation but is not with the older generation--its kinda weird having two new years in this country, ya know?? And there was also a street party that we tried to find, but ended up in the wrong place so oh well.
One of the guys on our program, Seth, has a brother who's currently visiting who started a blog, well, its more like a job, but just check it out: http://thisistheworldwelivein.com/ It's super interesting and a wonderful insight into places like the African Refugee Center, which I live right next door to. Yall should check it out. <3
At the Siyur last week, Ricky handed us our final calendar for the program. HOLY JEEZ we have like 37 days left (who's counting, im not counting, put 'em up, put-'em-uppp) and that realization is SO SCARY TO ME and I dont want to leave. There I said it. I mean, I DO want to come home and I miss everyone like crazy and this place is insanity-inducing but its quirky and fun and Im hiding from real life and I love it. Words literally cannot express how happy I am that I made the decision to come here, and all of the amazing times that I have had. The end is nigh, and i want it to be far farrrr away. Because I know, sneaky sneaky world, that 37 days might as well be 37 hours. But I'm going to rev it into full gear, and try to see as much and do as much as I possibly can in the next 37 days.
HWOTD: (well phrase) Hineaniba- it means HEEERE I COME!!!!!
Chelsea is a spunky 22! year old Jew leaving her cozy life on the coast of Virginia for a six-month adventure in Israel. Feel free to encourage the dream and help her explore--just no more warnings about coming back either married or in a wooden box.
