Five month marker!!

So this week started out sucking. I felt like I a drain on society and a waste of my own time. Oh, and I got rejected from both art schools I applied to, so I was having a career/life crisis on top of it. But that was just Sunday. 

On Monday, I went to ulpan, which automatically made me feel slightly productive and then I had two (!) people call me back and set up interviews for Tuesday. 

Tuesday, I enjoyed my last day of ulpan (!), had PB and cucumber sandwiches for lunch (weird but oddly delicious) with my friend Ruth, then ran over to one side of Jerusalem, rocked my first interview (!) and then ran across to the other side of Jerusalem and rocked my second one (!!). Now both of these interviews were for non-paying internships, but I think they will be really good work experience and help me network. THEN I went home for about 5 minutes before heading out again to take my adopted little sister to get her hair cut. We had dinner together and hung out for a bit and then I crashed early.

Wednesday, I took my ulpan exam, which I am pretty confident about, though returning to the world of standardized testing was less than enjoyable. But, I met up with my soldier friend afterwards, and got to catch up with him and grab a late lunch. Then I met up with my other adopted little sister and hung out for a bit, before going out with my roomies to play pool. Oh, and when I got home I had an email saying that the first internship (the one I wanted more) hired me as their Events Planning Intern (!) so next week I will be starting at Presentense and learning about how to get social initiatives off the ground.

Today was all about prepping for the big holiday, so after fighting my way through the grocery store and its pre-chag madness, I spent a few hours in the kitchen cooking up a storm. I have once again, made way to much food, a problem I entirely blame on my mother. And maybe a little bit on my sister, as this upcoming holiday is all about the dairy food, so there was a lot of pasta and cheese involved.

Tonight is Shavuot, one of the three big ones on the Jewish calendar. It falls exactly 50 days after Passover, on the day that we recieved the Torah on Mt. Sinai. One of the traditions for this holiday is that we stay up all night learning Torah, and one of the traditions in Jerusalem, is that after that, we do "aliyah ba'regel" which means that we all walk to the Kotel (western wall) for the morning prayers. I have done this twice before and it is incredibly cool. You spend all night learning and then at about 3 or 4 am start walking towards the Old City. The closer you get, the more people you meet and by the time you are passing through the gates of the old city there are hundreds of people walking with you. We all get to the Kotel just as the sun is rising, and everyone prays before heading back home to crash. It is a special mitzva (good deed/brownie points) to walk up to Har Habayit/ the Old City on Shavuot, so this is not something that is done that often. Also, because it is on the holiday, it is a very different feeling from say, Yom Yerushalayim, when we all went to the kotel in a big singing and dancing mass. This is much quieter and relaxed, but still has that holiness and positive energy of thousands of people gathering in the name of God.

Shavuot leads straight into Shabbat, so it is going to be a long stretch of holiday, but I am really looking forward to it and hope it will just be the beginning of an awesome new leaf, as I am hitting my 5 month anniversary tomorrow!

Dancing in the streets

Sexy People! Beautiful People! Smart People! People who love Israel! People who smell good!

 

Today is the 42nd anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem, making it 42 years now that Jerusalem has been under Jewish control and all religions have been free to worship at their holy sites.This is also the first time that Jerusalem has been under Jewish control since we were exiled by the Romans a really long time ago. So, its a pretty exciting time to be living in the Jewish capital :)

Aside from the onslaught of concerts (Idan Raichel, Yehudit Ravitz, Macy Gray [who had two fabulously fat black women shaking it in hot pink dresses backing her up], and Udi Davidi- in under 24 hours!!) and parading through the streets with at least a thousand dancing, screaming teenagers (teens are definatly not this patriotic in America) oh and getting to watch little boys in pink silk shirts singing like the Miami Boys (made me wish I knew Shawn as a child), I also got to sit at the Kotel (the Western Wall) and appreciate the amazing fact that I am here. Thousands of years ago Jews built this wall and for too long it was neglected and mistreated and now it is once again a meeting place for Jewish prayers. And I get to live in Yerushalayim! ahh!

 

Other than reveling in my Jerusalem-ness, I quit my job after realizing I hated it and had no life because I was working until 11pm every night. Dont worry Mom, I am already looking for a new one. And I am studying for my ulpan exam which is next week... and I am cooking for 12 this Shabbat as all my guy friends cant cook and say they would be happy with just cornflakes but we all know they are lying. So I am going to go do that, keeping this weeks short.

 

I hope you all have--- oh my lord I almost forgot, all of my friends are graduating today--- YAY FOR YOU!!!

and I do hope you all have a rocking weekend and wonderful graduatings etc.

 

Oh and just to clarify, I decided to greet yall the same way Macy Gray greeted her crowd of screaming Israelis. and you are all beautiful people.

Afifeur means Pope. Most conversations overheard using this word are not suitable for children's ears.

This week in the world of Kfi, I got yelled at by a  toothless old man, overworked by my boss, and pushed around by the Pope. Oh and saw a little too much of the personal lives of the Syrian bear.

It appears, that while I have found that I naturally blend into many parts of Israeli society, there is one rather particular trait I am missing. I can be pretty chilled out about how no one plans anything, I can feel comfortable getting in cars with strangers and depending on the goodness of mankind, and my skin has the necessary resiliance to put up with the Middle Eastern sun. Unfortunatly, it turns out that I am also a naiive sap. From the internet salesmen to the homeless guys on the street, if someone starts speaking to me in a strong tone of voice I will pretty much do whatever they tell me just to get them to stop yelling at me. Now this is a problem because everyone in Israel yells. You walk through the shuk and they scream "Avatiach!!" in your face that really makes you believe that you must buy a watermelon at that moment. Little old men tell you that they lost their bag in such a forceful tone of voice that you really do feel like a horrible person if you dont go to the bank and take out some cash to give them. Or maybe its just me. Either way, it is a trait that I apparantly need to work on (though I did not go back and give the toothless man money) otherwise I will soon find myself a slave to the pizza shop where I am supposed to be working four hours a night but usually end up working five, or in Thursdays case, six.

My point is I am brace myself when Israelis start yelling at me and try to hold my ground. Except with the Pope maybe, because as the other 25 people on my rerouted bus showed me, there are sometimes that yelling just doesnt do anything. And apparantly when it comes to the safety of the Pope it is totally reasonable to shut down half the streets in Jerusalem and wreak havoc on the public transportation system. Effing Afifeur.

 

Aside from that though, it was a pretty good week, I got to take the oral part of my Hebrew test and I got to go to the zoo. (The Syrian bears were rather publicly occupied in their usual springtime behavior, which was amusing and a little weird.) And this Shabbat I am going camping! Very Israeli style so Im a little worried about the peeing outsidething (I am very outdoorsy I just really dont like dropping trou in the woods) oh and I am going with two married couples and my roomie and her fiancee, but hey, this shouldnt be at all awkward.

Anyway, Ill let you know how it goes and I hope you all have a good Shabbat.

61 years for Israel, 4 months for me

This week was super Israel week. Not only was it Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) followed by Yom Ha'atzmeut (Independence Day) BUT it was the four monthiversary of my aliyah!

I have to say that Memorial Day here has a very different feeling from the one in the States. It is a very somber day, full of ceremonies honoring all those who have died fighting for Israel- both soldiers and civilians. There are also two moments of silence, one the night before at 8pm and one on the day of at 11am. An air raid siren goes off all over Israel and everyone stops what they are doing and stands in silence. The cars pull to the sides of the streets, storeowners come out of their store, everyone stops for a moment. Its kind of unreal. And then they go back to what they were doing, living the life that so many fought and died fort hem to have. I went to a ceremony at the Kotel (western wall) the night before and got to see lots of soliders marching (abba, you would have loved it) and I got to hear the President speak. I didnt understand everything he said, but he has a very nice voice :)

Anyway, as Yom Hazikaron ends, the celebrations for Yom Haatzmeut begin. Like America, these consist mainly of fireworks and barbeques, with alot of parties the eve of.  Unfortunately I was worked 8 hours on Yom Hazikaron and by the time I got off was too pooped to party. But I got my bbqing in the next day, so its all good. 

And yes, I said I worked. I have a new job! At a little restaurant in Rehavia, which is min. wage and not that exciting, but its chill and my boss is nice and most days I will be running the place myself so that is exciting. 

Anyway, in honor of super Israel week I have made a new list. My favorite things about Israel. (Dont worry, Ill do an American one come July)

1. Jews. It is super cool to be in a place where Jewish is the status quo.

2. Hanging flowers. What Israel lacks in terms of grass it more than makes up for with an effluence of viney hangy flowers.

3. Shoko B'Sakit. As I may have mentioned a few times before, chocolate milk in a bag is the greatest invention ever.

4. Tremping. Hitchhiking is by far the cheapest and most entertaining way to travel. Plus it has a goodness of mankind factor.

5. Hiking. Not only is it gorgeous but almost everywhere you walk you can say "Insert Biblical Name walked/lived/sacrificed animals here". I think thats pretty cool.

6. Abusive salespeople. They dont pretend they like you here, they yell in your face and enjoy arguing about prices. Its very genuine of them.

7. Pita and Chumus. 

8. Settlers. When was the last time you believed in something so much that you were willing to go live in a shipping container to protect it?

9. Hebrew. We revived an ancient language and now use it in the streets. Eize Magniv.

10. Attitude towards immigrants. Aside from a few people who think I am crazy for wanting to live here, Israelis welcome immigrants with open arms and praises. We are not rejected or feared but appreciated and integrated.

אני ממש מרגישה ישראלי

This week I felt like an Israeli.

Firstly, I have finally reached a point where I feel like this is my neighborhood. Not only do I know the streets, but the guy that owns the pizza store recognizes me and the man at the framing shop knows my name. I ran into three people on my way to lunch on Shabbat that I knew and even got invited to my neighbors for dinner. 

Secondly, I spent most of Sunday hiking through Ein Gedi and then spent most of Tuesday hiking through the Golan. I love that I get mitzva points for hiking here. And while I still kind of prefer the green fields and mountains of the Golan, that dry white sandy thing going on down south is beginning to grow on me. 

Thirdly, I tremped (hitch hiked) from the Golan back to Jerusalem! All by myself! And not only did I save myself 50 shekel and meet some pretty cool people, but I didnt die. Or get lost. And I hitch hiked with an Egged bus. Like an en route, with people on it, official bus. And I tremped with him!

Fourthly, I have read 138 pages of a Hebrew book since Shabbat! And were not talking about really long childrens books. This is a real made for adults book. 

Fifthly, (this one doesnt really make me feel more israeli, but still) I had a job interview at a gift shop on Monday and I have one at a restaurant tomorrow. That one will be in Hebrew so I am a little more nervous, but well see how it goe

47 Pancakes

Highlights of the past two weeks in no particular order:

1. One Seder. That right there is a reason to move to Israel. We recounted the story of leaving Egypt while lounging on mattresses on the floor and eating from low tables. We sang and talked about what it means to redeem ourselves every year. And we ate alot of Matza. yum.

2. I went for a hike that turned into a mud cave excursion. 

3. I, and a few hundred other Israelis, decided to take advantage of the lovely weather and vacation time and go to the beach in Tel Aviv. I think I spend more time in transit/ fighting in lines at the Central Bus Stations than I did at the beach. Still, I got to go to the beach :)

4.Yesterday morning I went out for breakfast and actually spent the extra dollar for an additional basket of bread because it was just so good and I had missed it so much. 

5. I learned this week that it is illegal for me to go to Ramallah. My friend is studying in a coexistence program here and her Palestinian friend offered to show her around Ramallah. Anyway, I was going to go and see a side of Israel I have never seen, but apparently Israelis are not allowed into the larger Palestinian cities like Ramallah and Jenin. Also, its not so safe, so it is a good thing I didnt go. Instead, I went through the Arab market in the Old City of Jerusalem and prayed at the Kotel (Western Wall).

6. I rose before dawn and went to pray on a hilltop with over 200 other people. Every 28 years the Jewish people say a special prayer thanking God for creating the sun. This happened to be one of those years, so as we watched the sun rise, we all said the blessing that thanks God for His creations. 

7. I went and BBQed with a base full of Israeli soldiers. One of them even took me up to the tower that overlooks the whole area and I got to watch the sun set :) Also I got to use night vision goggles. Crazy cool toys. 

8. I went to a Sefardi Memunah, which is a post-passover party where we eat lots of leaven. I think I devoured about 47 pancakes.

I tried to think of another two so I would have a nice even ten, but I couldnt. Thats ok though, 8 is a nice number. And doesnt really get all that much attention. So this email will be brought to you by the number eight. And bread. Mmm, bread.

The State of Being Funky

I never know how to start these emails. I usually spend like the first two minutes starting at my screen saying "Hey Again!, no, how about Heya, or yo, nope too gangster, or Greetings, nope that sounds too alien..." and so on and so forth. I couldnt decide this week so I just started typing and I hope you all will just imagine your own favorite opening line inserted here. or rather in the place of this short rant. 

This past Shabbat I went down to Kibbutz Ketura to visit my friend who is studying at a co-existence program on a conservative kibbutz. This translates into me praying with the men and eating friday night dinner with a group of arabs. My friend is one of two people on the kibbutz who are shomer shabbat (keeping all of the laws of shabbat, as in, not using electricity or writing or driving etc) but despite that it was still clearly Shabbat on the Kibbutz, which was kind of cool. They still had services and all the stores and the pub were closed and everyone was still treating it as a day of rest. Anyway, my friend Alana and I hiked up one of the nearby mountains and got a tour of the kibbutz with the Ben Gurion University kids who were also visiting for the weekend. I got to see a new born cow (one hour old!) stand up for the first time, and I learned that algae under stress turns red and that donkeys make the most amazing noises. All in all, it was a wonderful Shabbat, totally worth the miserable 3 hour busride back to jerusalem on saturday night.

The rest of the week was not as entertaining. I woke up Monday morning in a funk. This is apparantly a word that not everyone is familiar with so I looked it up in the dictionary so that I could give you a more coherent definition. Dictionary.com defines a funk  as 1.state of great fright or terror or 2. a dejected mood. (other options were 3. music having a funky quality, 4. the state of being funky, or 5. a strong smell; stench)

The funk I was in was more #2, but I think there was some underlying terror of the "what am i doing with my life" persuasion. (And I like to think that I am always in a state of being funky.) In response to my funk, I went to Efrat aka my comfort place. After a few days there and some therapeutic cleaning (Shosh, I think almost all semblance's of my former slobbiness are gone) I felt better and went back to Jerusalem to have dinner with a group of soldiers who were being taken out by the group I volunteer with. And even more exciting than the endless train of meat being brought out to us was the plethora of young, english speaking soldiers. And even more exciting than that, was finding that one of them was my friend Abe, who I met about a year ago and hung out with for one Shabbat but havent really seen since then. Anyway, we chatted for most of the meal and exchanged numbers and all that, and while, sadly, he is going back to the states for Pesach, I now have one more friend in Jerusalem when he gets back. 

Next week will be kind of crazy with Pesach (haha all you who have to do the three day chag and double sedarim) but I will try to write at some point in the next two weeks. I hope you all have a wonderful Pesach, or for those of you who dont have to give up the leaven, a lovely two weeks. At this point you can insert a well worded, friendly reminder (of your choice) to write to me :)