אני אוהבת את המוס'קה של עידן רייכל

I have found my first Israeli music obsession- Idan Raichel. I am in debt to my roommate for constantly playing his music and obsessing over his piano playing stance. Thanks to her, I was well prepared to see him in concert. 

Candid on the steps by the church.

On Monday, we took a break from our usual Ulpan and study day and headed off to the Arab village of Abu Gosh, 10 km from Jerusalem. Might I just add that this fantastic village was in the Guinness Book of world records for the largest dish of hummus (jackpot)! So naturally as soon as we were off the bus we were off to taste this delicious treat. As we passed each restaurant each respectivet owner ran out into the street in hopes that we would try his hummus, a group of my friends and I decided on the restaurant that advertised itself as #1. I mean, how could we go wrong with that? There is no shame in advertising that you are above everyone else- it certainly caught my attention. The hummus was delicious as ever, considering that we only had ten minutes to order and eat- not exactly a problem when there is hummus and fresh pita in front of me, not to mention the complimentary pickles. 


After our hummus break, we were met by Rabbi Ron Kronish, president of the Interreligious Coordinating Council of Israel (side note: he showed all the signs of a typical Florida Jew). He hosted a discussion between us and a local Arab from the village, Isa. Isa opened up the floor to the current Arab/Israeli conflict and with the possibility of an Arab state, the reactions that he foresees among the Arab populations. We then set off to visit a church tucked away in the folds of Abu Gosh that has been acquired by the French Government in 1899 and now provides residence to 12 Benedictine monks and nuns. Brother Jean-Michel met us as we stepped through the stone doorway that divides the church grounds from the rest of the village. As he guided us through the grounds to a place where we could talk, his white robes flowed against the green and flowered landscape. He spoke to us about his feelings having lived as a brother in this particular church for close to 16 years. He also touched upon the reactions and impact of Pope John Paul 11's visit to Israel in 2000. He led us down to the entrance of a crypt below the church and then up the stairs into the main sanctuary of the building. Although faded, the artwork popped from the walls and created a beautiful and antique atmosphere within the walls of the church. 

looking down into the crypt

We left the church and headed to the fairly new community center of Abu Gosh. There, we met with a group of Arab women who spoke with us about the ongoing adaptations to traditional Arab culture in respects to their place within the structure. These women spoke about the influence the community has played in their lives. Only a few years ago they were unable to leave the house and now their husbands' know that on Mondays they are busy at the community center. The women are eager to learn about healthy living, especially in raising their children, and are hoping to learn English in the near future. I couldn't help but be in awe of these women. Their radiating faces and passionate speech highlighted the positivity brought on by their new place within the community and their ability for growth.


We said our goodbyes to the women and once again loaded onto the bus to head into Jerusalem for the MASA opening event. (MASA is the foundation from who I received my scholarship and also sponsors a number of programs in Israel). After some free time to wander the streets of Jerusalem and enjoy some dinner, we all met to go to the Jerusalem International Convention Center. The event began with speeches by members of the Jewish Agency (in my opinion a few of the speeches bordered a little too closely with brainwashing) and short segments on four current MASA participants. Each participant's short film was followed by a dance performance including fire dancers and rope climbers. It was a pretty flashy experience. All this entertainment was simply setting the stage for the man himself, Idan Raichel. Along with Idan Raichel himself, the band includes members from all over the world that fuse together to create incredible melodies. My favorite has to be the Uruguayan drummer whose hair is nothing short of out of control and his drumming skills do not fall short. You can listen to one of my favorite songs here: Chalomot Shel Acherim (Other People's Dreams). I will be shocked to hear that you were not dancing while listening to this. 
I can even picture my dad's dance to the beginning beat. Let me know what you think. 


The concert was amazing and proved a great success to the MASA opening event, considering the fact that I thought I was going to have to drink the Kool-aid 5 minutes into the speeches. We arrived back in Tel Aviv close to midnight and crawled into bed in order to function enough to get back on the bus at 9:15 the following morning to head to the Druze village of Isfiya on top of Mount Carmel. Our tour guide provided us with very open commentary to the Druze lifestyle. Here's a little background on the Druze culture: At the age of 15, a person chooses to be religious or secular. If one chooses to be secular, he/she can never open the Kitab Al Hikma (the holy book) and are not even allowed to enter the place of worship. As a secular, one can attend discotheques and do not have to keep their heads covered. The Druze believe in 5 prophets, each represented by their own color. The Druze believe in reincarnation and this applies whether or not one is religious or secular and, unlike the Hindu belief in reincarnation, the concept of karma does not exist to the Druze. Once the physical body is no longer, the soul immediately reincarnates into another human body. If a Dru marries a non-Dru that person is excommunicated from the village, and there is no possibility of conversion into the Druze religion. There are only about 2 million Druze people located around the world,  including Israel, Syria, and Lebanon. 

Our delicious lunch at the Druze village. 

That is just the basics behind the culture and I find the rest to be extremely fascinating. We walked through the Druze village, about 600 km above sea level, and experienced the physical differences between the religious and the secular first hand. I can't forget to mention that we were treated to tea and delicious date-filled cookies The Druze belief really hit me as visited the village cemetery. We walked up a hill to find ourselves looking out onto, as strange as it seems, a beautiful cemetery. The stone covered graves had intricate plaques covered in Hebrew and Arabic. The guide informed us that these were the graves of the soldiers. (I forgot to mention that the secular Druze fight in the Israeli Defense Force). The gravestones depicted the young ages to which these people were taken from the world and a metal structure housed a candle in front of each one. This cemetery remains strictly for soldiers. The tour guide then led us behind a wall and into the "normal" cemetery. I cannot even describe the shock of what stood before us. It was basically a parking lot, cement and all, that stretched the distance covering the bodies of past Druze. To the Druze, burial is not a ritual, there is no mourning the dead. Once they are gone, it is believed that their souls are immediately reborn, therefore the dead body has no purpose. He even explained that after a few years, they have no qualms digging up a dead body and burying another one of top of it. Sitting there looking out on this nonconventional graveyard, I finally felt the unique spirit that resides in Israel. There are so many different culture and beliefs in a relatively small land. It is unbelievable to me. After the cemetery we headed back to the the guide's house to enjoy a typical Druze meal. I know this sounds strange after visiting a grave, but we had been looking forward to this lunch the whole day. We sat down in the living room and after separating into groups of five, a large silver platter was set down in front of us that balanced the plates of hummus, rice, and various vegetable and meat dishes. I don't think it will surprise anyone to hear that I took full advantage of this free and delicious lunch. The meal ended with another round of the flavorful tea and even better date cookies, powder sugar on top and all! 


We once again loaded back on to the bus and fell deep into food comas, making the ride back to Tel Aviv more enjoyable. In other news, the animals at the nature school I volunteer at have some sort of fever because the are babies popping up every where. Right now there are 4 baby rabbits (Arnaveem) and 9 chicks. I am going to start volunteering at a fourth organization, SACH- Save a Child's Heart. SACH is an organization that supports families as their child travels to Israel for heart surgery. Families travel from countries in Africa, Asia, and the West Bank to benefit from this amazing group. This was an organization that I really wanted to volunteer with, but I was unsure how my schedule would work out. I will start volunteering there on Wednesdays from 4-6. I will begin visiting the SACH house and eventually make may way to visiting the hospital. 


I am continuing to explore the different areas of Tel Aviv and have been taking note of any delicious restaurants just in case someone decides to come visit- is that incentive for anyone?

Hiking, kabobs, and sandal tans...

And I survived my first group trip. As the five rental cars hit the road with Anna and I screaming loudly in they way back of the minivan-true little kid style-the 26 of us headed north to Cesarea. (I think there is a reason why the two of us were confined to the bank of the van). *I'll just note that we left an hour and a half later than scheduled time, traveling in true Israeli fashion. This is one aspect of Israeli culture that I am having a hard time adjusting to. I guess I can thank my parents for instilling promptness into my every move. First stop on the trip, Binyamina winery. Of course 11 am is an appropriate time to bring a group of twenty somethings to a winery. After the tour and the wine tasting (I have to say being the wine connoisseur that I am, the wine was just okay), we set off to the Arabic village of Faradis. The trip there was a little hazy considering I passed out in the back on the van (a little wine and the hot sun= immediately passing out). 

Anna and I in the back seat of the van

We arrived at Faradis to speak with an Arabic woman who has spent the majority of her life sticking it to the man (literally, since the Arabic society is male oriented). Although her name escapes me at the moment, this woman has and continues to make an impression in her community as well as worldwide. She spent time learning about meditation and peace circles and now conducts these ceremonies with the women in her community. In Arabic societies, their "politicians" are decided based on clans or families. The men are nominated within their clans and the deciding factor directly relates to how many members are in the clan. With that basic description of the system, it should be clear that is impossible for a woman to be involved. Well, this particular woman did not feel threatened by this traditional process and she did the unthinkable; she ran for office. Despite her persistence throughout the village, she knew that the she would still hear one of the village men rejoicing in his victory, but this daring move made a serious impression on the sexist barriers present in this particular Arab society. 


After the Faradis village, we headed to our campsite located in the Carmel mountain north of Zichron Yaakov. The ecological campsite branched out from the most beautiful tree that created an oasis of shade from the hot sun beaming down on Mount Carmel. The trees branches, just barely skimming the surface, created a shelter to the woven mats, wooden tables, and tapestry-covered mattress that decorated the open floor. The owner of the campsite has dedicated his post-army life to living on the other side of the line- to live his life as ecologically friendly as possible. As he stood in front of us, he prefaced his talk by apologizing for his basic English, but as he started with "My mission is to create sustainability..." we all couldn't help but burst out in laughter. I wish my basic Hebrew included words like mission and sustainability... 

The campsite included a full outdoor kitchen, ecological showers and toilets, and a whole lot of hammocks. As the dinner crew cooked up a hot pot of turkey chili, the rest of us laid around, the smart ones claiming their hammocks for the night ahead. After dinner and eating a delicious chocolate and walnut bubke that my genius of a friend Katie had baked for the trip, we all sat around smoking nargila (hookah), drinking homemade tea from the local herbs, and singing songs to Leah's guitar melodies. This night could not have been more relaxing- special thanks to the massage circle. Thanks to the time limit of the generator, we all found ourselves curled up in our sleeping bags around 10 pm. Let me tell you, getting into a sleeping bag laid on top of a skinny hammock is not the easiest thing to do, but once I accomplished this feat I was ready to lay under the night sky. Laying in my hammock listening to my friends, with the bright moon shining above, the talk came to a stop and we all succumbed to the peacefulness of the outdoors. The hammock cradled me through the night, sheltering me from the falling acorns. Apart from the tense in my lower back, sleeping in a hammock was a clutch choice. I woke up to homemade coffee cake and a nice spread to make sandwiches for the day's hike. 

Ready to hike. 

Armed with sneakers, bandannas, and a whole lot of water (and an amazing hiking backpack), we were ready to conquer the downhill hike of Mount Carmel, leading into an Arabic village, and ultimately ending on the beach looking out at the Mediterranean Sea. After watching a movie about Baron Rothschild and his contribution to the land of Israel we strolled through the gardens that he generously and carefully created (the place that would ultimately be the resting place for he and his wife). What we saw of the gardens, due to a tight schedule, was beautiful and I hope to return and visit all of the different gardens. 
We hiked about 6 km down Mount Carmel, passing ruins of wine presses, eating Carob from the tree to hold us over until lunch, and trying to watch our steps as we stared out at the town below and out to the sea. Thanks to my new hiking shoes, I avoided falling down the mountain. 

Anna and I

After the hike we drove to another beach to relax for a bit then corralled back into the cars to head back to Tel Aviv as the end of Shabbat came near. Covered in dirt, still armed with our bandannas, myself and a few others went to this restaurant about a 5 minute walk from our apartment. For 22 sheckels, Anna and I split a chicken kabob sandwich, with our choice of delicious fillings, and an endless Israeli salad bar. This is now my new favorite restaurant- I can't deny endless pickles, eggplant, salad- and the fact that it opens on Saturday night after Shabbat has really pushed it to the top. 


This pretty much sums up the main events of the first group trip. Last week the majority of the group met for a pot luck Shabbat dinner that was delicious. One of the girls is an excellent baker and her challah is superb. She is going to teach me her tricks, so hopefully I will come back to the states being able to make something that somewhat resembles her challah. I joined a gym (tonight) and could not be happier. I need to work off all this hummus and pita somehow. Volunteering has been taking up a lot of my time and I am really happy with my placements. I spend a lot of time preparing for my English class and I love going to teach. My students are so eager to learn and are the nicest people. Here's one funny story from class for you: On the first day I went over introductions and how to express one's age. I have one student who is no doubt older than the rest and when I went up to him to ask his ask, he responded with 25. I think that he just repeated what the other students had said and didn't necessarily understand the concept of age, but my friend Marissa who had been helping me in class, burst out laughing as we explained to him that he couldn't be 25. His grey hair really gave this away. Since then, Mustafa, has worked so hard to keep up with the class and he always has the biggest smile on his face. The majority of my class is from Sudan but I have one student from Ethiopia. Two of the woman who are sisters, bring their children to class and despite the random screaming breakouts, the children have also become my loyal students. Except instead of writing exercises in the book, they prefer to draw all over the wall...in pen. They really keep class interesting. The other night I introduced a Beatles song and went over the lyrics with them. I'm trying to keep class interesting and the more classes I teach the more I realize how confusing English is! 


I would just like to point out that it is almost the end of October and I still have an extreme sandal tan. I love the nice weather, but I am over this tan line. I know this is a petty complaint, but that's what a blog is for, right?

מתנדבת

Sorry for the delay in posts, but it has been hard to find time to sit and write since my days consist of going to the beach, napping, eating, rummaging through the shuk, and the occasional night out (and lazy morning after). Living so close to the beach has been quite the perk. In a strange way, believe it or not, the beach reminds me of Fenway. As you lie there trying to fall asleep to the somewhat melodic noise from beach paddle ball, it's hard to ignore the people walking by trying to sell food. (Ang- we need to perfect our game before trying to compete with the Israelis). I have been tempted to buy the ice cream more than once, but so far I have resisted the 5 sheckel banana chocolate delicacy. But I'm sad to say that my beach days may now be restricted to Friday and Saturday- the Israeli weekend, I still haven't gotten used to starting the "work" week on Sundays. Despite the decrease in beach time, I am excited to start volunteering. I don't think 20 hours a week can compare to the 45 I was putting in last year. 

Picture courtesy of Sara. 

For the next 9 months I will be volunteering at three places. On Sunday mornings, my friend Sara and I will walk the whole 5 minutes from our house to the Multipurpose Day Care Center. We went yesterday to introduce ourselves to the staff and found ourselves 2 hours later sitting at a table with 6 toddlers eating soup and pasta. I must say I am very impressed by their ability to get most of the food into their mouths. Sara and I were a little surprised that we weren't given bibs (I'm sure pretty sure I left with some soup on my shirt. Not sure if it was my fault or one of the kids...). After 3 hours of getting balls thrown at my head, playing telephone, and trying to put together a puzzle, we learned that there are some crucial phrases that we need to learn in Hebrew. It is hard enough to understand kids in English, but now I will be trying to decode their Hebrew jibberish. Good thing they don't know how to read yet, because they asked me to read them a book and I pulled the terrible move of reading select words on the first page and immediately turning to the last page. The girl didn't really seem to mind because she was using the book more as an object to throw around.  I'm sure after volunteering here for the next nine months I will be a pro with kids, just in case anyone in the family is thinking about having a little baby, perhaps a little aaron or raquel? (hint, hint)  

On Sunday and Thursday nights, I will be teaching a beginner (abc level) English class to a group of African Refugees. This class is set up by the ARDC (African Refugee Development Center) and I will be teaching with this adorable 60-year old Israeli man named Avi, but unfortunately he is roaming the streets of Italy right now and has left me to teach the first weeks by myself. He did leave me with the encouraging words that he think I will do a great job. My students are mainly from Sudan, but I have a few from Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Colombia (not sure how the latter fits in yet). After calling all of my students to remind them of the class days and time, I realized I will be jumping into this sans training. My previous mentality of -well English is something I already know (somewhat well), how hard can this be?-got a little shake when I hung up after calling my last student. I do believe the phone added an extra obstacle to the communication level, but it did provide situations in which my broken Hebrew came in handy. My friend Marissa is also teaching an English class at ARDC and we took the opportunity to go to the delicious Aroma to order their addicting ice coffees; a necessary procedure in order to  formulate lesson plans. In less than 8 hours, I will be at the front of the class, speaking only English, to a group of people eager to learn, who may or may not understand anything that I'm saying. I have to say that good thing I have a lot of expression because that may save me, and don't worry dad, I will not mumble. 

On Wednesday and Thursdays I will be at Beit Bateva, which is an establishment that focuses on nature and natural living. Kindergarten classes from all over Tel Aviv take field trips to Beit Bateva to learn about plants, animals, and food, among other things. I know that little L 5 years old Lisa would have loved to take a field trip to Beit Bateva (and a 23 year old Lisa). I hope that I will be allowed to play with the chinchillas, rabbit, and guinea pig, but I think I might stay away from trying to pick up the the chicken. I am actually going to visit Beit Bateva in an hour to figure out the times I will be volunteering and the expectations. I really hope there is a kindergarten class there so I can join in on the fun. You are really never too old to play dress up or make a paper mache volcano. 

On Mondays and Tuesdays I will continue to have Ulpan and also discussions about Jewish identity and Israeli life and one Tuesday a month is set aside for a day tour. Now you guys can know what I am doing....most of the time. 


I finally put pictures up on my wall and I hate to break it to everyone, but Gertrude and Edward have the highest picture ratio. Really no surprise there. I mean who can resist looking at those precious faces? I will post pictures soon to give you guys a visual of what's going on.