מא פתאום?ּ!? It's May Already!?!

the "chevreh"

Wow, I actually can't believe that it is the middle of May already. So let me try to catch up on the events since my visit to the Hai Bar. Well, unfortunately, the month started off with two of my good friends leaving Israel to head back to the states (poor decision on their part, I must say). As some of the participants in my program headed off to travel during the Passover break, I stayed in Tel Aviv and "lived it up" with my friends. Over the past 8 1/2 months, there has been a group of 5 of us that have really bonded and so in true Israeli fashion, we have started to refer to ourselves as a chevreh (a group of close friends). I can confidently say that this chevreh had a good last few weeks together in Israel. With beach days, dinners, parties, and of course nights out hitting the Tel Aviv bar scene, the chevreh traveled in style. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to my friends, but thanks to the advances in technology, aka skype and email, we have been able to stay in contact despite incredible annoying time differences.

Jodi and I at the air show

May has also been a month marked by holidays. It took me a long time to learn, but now I know that Israeli holidays go from sundown to sundown. From the night of May 1st to the night of May 2nd, Israel observed Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. On the morning of May 2nd, my friends and I went outside to the busy Rothschild Boulevard to witness the minute long siren the resonates throughout the city. It was unbelievable to see people stop their cars and get out to bow their heads in respect to the memory of the Holocaust. Kinda comparable to the 24 hour play of A Christmas Story, the only television shown on this holiday were those programs related to the Holocaust (not exactly the same message as Christmas). Tel Aviv has become a thriving metropolis, but to see the effect of one minute of silence was really eye opening. It really is unbelievable to live in a city where the majority of people share a common bond. The week following Yom Hashoah was marked by Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day, which led into the festivities of Yom Hazmaout, Independence Day. It may seem quite strange to observe Memorial Day and then completely switch mindsets in a matter of hours to celebrate the independence of the state. I have talked to many people about this, and the common theme I concluded is that people need to mourn those who died in order to fully celebrate the independence of the State of Israel (to be honest, I think it is a Jewish thing). On Sunday, the start to Yom Hashoah, I headed over to Rabin Square (named after Yitzhak Rabin) to observe a memorial service. The memorial service really shed light on the realities of the army and the pain that it can cause to families. The mood was really set with a variety of musical performances focused on the occasion and a screening of videos depicting family testimonies. Although the videos were in Hebrew, I found it impossible not be touched by the stories being displayed. The somber atmosphere was apparent by all the tears and absence of clapping throughout the ceremony, despite the musical performances. On my way to the market on Monday morning, I stopped by the daycare where I volunteer and I experienced the holiday on a different level. As with Yom Hashoah, there is a minute long siren to commemorate those who passed in Israeli battles. It was so interesting to be in daycare watching the 3 year olds listen to the siren and hand their head, but not exactly sure why there were doing so. As soon as the siren stopped it was back to running around the playground and climbing all over me. On Monday night it was clear that Yom Hashoah had come to an end and the real party of Yom Hazmaout had started. Now, since I have been in Israel I have seen my fair share of street parties, but honestly, nothing compared to this. In every neighborhood that you walked into, you found yourself in a middle of a street party being fueled by the beats of at least one DJ. It was actually liked I had walked into a different city. As much as I love a good party, I thought the day time celebrations were a little bit more my speed. Yom Hazmaout is typically celebrated by a bbq....in the middle of the city. All the parks and open spaces in Tel Aviv were filled with families celebrating the 63rd birthday of this state. I started the morning with a trip to the beach to see an air show, put on the air force. I then headed back home to cook for the bbq that would soon take over my house. We might not have the best kitchen supplies, but we sure know how to make some fine bbq. It was great to spend the day with my friends here who have basically become my family (cliche, I know).

 my roommates (minus one_

The weekend in between the holidays marked the second to last group trip of the program- "A Wandering Hike." Basically, a wandering hike means that we get of a bus which happened to be  in the Galilee, give all of our overnight stuff to a logistics team and start walking hoping to find the logistics team and are stuff sometime before nightfall. With a trust guide Reut back in the front, there was no chance we could get lost. After hiking for about 6 hours, we made it to the logistics team to find our tents already set up and hot soup waiting for arrival. This pretty much seems to be the only way to hike. As tradition, we held a kabbalat shabbat and treated ourselves to a great dinner. Walking all day sure makes you hungry. Despite a little bit of rainfall, the tents were actually quite comfortable. Thankfully, my tent was one of the ones with a tarp on the top. The next day we continued our hike following marks of the Israel trail (a trail that goes the whole length of the country which I hope to see more of in the future...).

Katie, Million, David and I

A few months ago, I began tutoring a woman from Eritrea. One of my roommates works with her and helps her with childcare. Tutoring Million has become a highlight of my week. First of all, she works in an Eritrean restaurant and this is where I go to help her. We go over English for about an hour or so and then we eat lunch together. We usually have injera, a sponge like bread, topped with what she calls tahina (not at all like the Israeli tahina). I have perfected eating with only my right hand and using the bread to soak up the tahina. I think Million is getting a little sick of the tahina because it doesn't fill her meat craving, but I just can't get myself to eat red meat. So, a few weeks ago, while we were eating, Million switched the tv to wrestling. Um, hello Lisa in middle school! It must be hilarious for people to walk by and see two women watching wrestling. Surprisingly it's a great way for Million to learn English and for me to regress back to being 13. I did learn that The Rock is still involved in the wresting world. About a month ago, Million and her son David come over to our house for a home cooked meal and in return, Million said she is going to teach us how to cook Eritrean food.

This past Saturday I met up with Cheryl and Herb at their swanky hotel and had a great lunch with them. We then walked along the beach and enjoyed the beautiful Tel Aviv day. They even brought me honey wheat pretzels- they really know how to get to my heart. It was crazy for me to see family in Israel. Speaking of which, the countdown has now reached 2 days until my dad arrives. Israel better watch out...