February 15, 2011
I have now been living in Israel for a total of about three days. I am already diving into my experiences head first, and loving every minute of this so far.
Coming back from the lovely, peaceful kibbutz into the city of Tel Aviv was bizarre. I am used to living in a city so it felt really familiar, like coming back from the countryside into the hustle of this jungle of a city. But it was also very strange. I was not yet settled into any apartment, and I had no idea where I was geographically. We had to rely on our guides to escort my group of new roommates and me to our new place.
Our new apartments were just that; new. So dust was scattered around the common areas, the washing machines were not set up, oven didn’t work, no internet, pieces missing from some Ikea furniture in some of the rooms. It was baligon (crazy.) Things are slowly improving, but what can you do? Kacha, ma la'asot!
The bathrooms are the funniest thing. There is no separate shower area. There is no divider along the floor to keep shower water in a contained area. So when you’re done showering, you take a squeegee broom and sweep the water to the drain. And if you forget to turn on the boiler about 5 – 10 minutes before a shower, you will not have hot water for quite awhile!
Our neighborhood is really traditional, modest and fascinating. On many warm nights (thank you, winter in Tel Aviv!) you can see a ton of bats flying through the trees around the park across the street. They pop up in the warm glow of the street lights and it’s very eerie! There are stray cats everywhere, jumping out of garbage bins as you walk by. I jump, startled, 5 feet in the air every time! There is a peacock living around the parks in Kiryat Shalom (the specific neighborhood I’m residing in), that crows all the time.
I have begun touring different volunteer places and I’m getting really excited to start my service. “Omanoot” (art, be-ivrit) was really cool. It’s a young non-profit grassroots organization whose focus is to reveal the cultural, educational, and diplomatic power of Israeli art. They have what’s like an Israeli YouTube, where you can watch documentary films and learn about events, music, and arts. They are trying to create a substantial online community, and need people like me to create multi-media and blogs, interviewing artists in the community for press releases and the like. One of the perks would be to cover events around the city for free.
Tomorrow is a little more intense. I will be touring “Mesila,” which assists migrant workers who live in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, who have families and young children. There are many toddlers and young children who come to this unrecognized kindergarten, as in like, up to 40, and they are not getting the affection, nurturing, and stimulation they need to develop. There’s just not enough supervision. You have to work in pairs, and you’re only allowed to work for two hours a day, once a week. It is THAT draining. I’m very anxious to see what this is all about and see if it’s right for me.
There are seven other places I am checking out, so stay tuned for more of that.
One thing I want to touch on is that I am picking up a TON of broken, conversational Hebrew that has been helping me get around the city. Well, for the most part. Sometimes people look at you and say, “Just speak English!” But I still speak every single Hebrew word I know and always try my hardest, and people really do appreciate it. I’ve had ONE class so far, but friends from the group comment that I am picking it up really fast. Also, they comment that every time I speak any Hebrew in public I get this ridiculously huge smile on my face from being excited.
Yesterday I shopped for groceries for the first time and it was hilarious. EVERYTHING is in Hebrew. Great story: I was standing in front of a huge display of bread. There was every kind of bread, EVER, with all their packaging covered in Hebrew print. And I just stood there, looking up at all these loaves of bread, and started cracking up. I grabbed the loaf closest resembling wheat and carried on, browsing through rows of cheeses that all look the same, and soy milk that was only differentiated by random color coding. I have never felt more out of my element, and it was a GREAT experience.
One more thing I want to touch on is how well I am making my way around. I am very impressed with myself, and have really proved that I am very capable. For example, today I was hanging out with one of my friends at his house for awhile, and needed to start heading home to change for the evening festivities. Our apartment is only about a 30 minute walk away. I loaned my map to a girlfriend the night before so I didn’t have one on me, but grabbed directions and took off by myself. I was a bit scared, totally alone, and it was dusk. There were times I was unsure if I had gone too far, or not far enough, however I made it to my street with no real problem! I did ask where a street was at one point, but the guy didn’t speak any English, and my Hebrew isn’t good enough for non-English speakers to really communicate yet. But I pressed on, used some good old fashion intuition and was just fine! I even stopped in a flower shop on the way and bought some for my friend (today’s her birthday).
Although everything is still very different and overwhelming, I’m doing great. Just learning to take deep breaths, and if you know me, you know that is a good sign.
Tonight the group is going out for Evin’s birthday. Can’t wait to see what the night has in store! We all need a drink and to release some energy, I can tell it might be “baligon!!”
Miss you!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Israel - 02.11.2011
February 11, 2011
We are leaving Kibbutz Hannaton tomorrow after a three day stay. Time to learn about life in a secular communal, surrounded by Muslim, Jewish Orthodox, and Christian Muslim communities. This kibbutz was located in the lower Galilee, where you can see the landscape of a water reservoir that would serve all of Israel up to two weeks of water in case of emergency. About 40 families reside here, working together and raising their children. There was a house for mikvah, next to a couple grapefruit trees that used to be an entire orchard. Unfortunately, there was no profit in grapefruit sales, so only a few remain.
My group had a chance to get to know each other better over these days, and connection and comraderie grow every day. Ice breaker games, collage making, and movie night in a bomb shelter were some of the cute activities that really helped us laugh and open up to each other.
Everyone has to make time to talk to Elin, our madricha (counselor), about who we are so she can get to know us better. I sat down with her on a picnic table looking out over the beautiful landscape, sun on our faces, and told her about my life. It felt good to talk to her, she’s a skinny, blonde Israeli girl; friendly and warm and always smiling. I told her about how I feel like I'm in a good place in life, & what I've accomplished throughout the years relative to what I can bring to the program. As we were chatting we heard the Muslim community’s Call To Prayer. I've heard it once before. It is so beautiful, and we stopped in our tracks to listen. I think that was when it hit me that I am here in Israel. It’s taken a few days, but that sound was so eerie & amazing, and sitting in front of the vast scenery, it just simply took my breath away.
Today was Shabbat, and I decided to go to the conservative service. I never really went to services in a temple growing up (that is unless I wanted to stay home from school on Jewish holidays!), so I wanted to check out a service on a kibbutz. Some group members and I walked in and sat down, and as the rabbi started, more and more people arrived with their children running around like crazy. A select few parents attempted to shush their little ones to pay attention, but 97% of the parents just prayed and sang and paid no mind to their kids running amuck. All the kids knew each other since they all go to a pre-school on the kibbutz, so they entertained themselves with random toys and children’s books left next to the siddurim. These kids (aged between 1 and 4, respectively) checked my group and me out a lot, a little confused who we were, then would go back to running around. One little boy even fell in love with Ma’yan, a girl in my group sitting next to me! It was hilarious.
Oh, and on the topic of Shabbat, we all made our own Challah today. That was pretty cool. :)
More in a week or so... if you have any questions for me, please email me or post a comment. Photos are coming very soon. Miss you all.
We are leaving Kibbutz Hannaton tomorrow after a three day stay. Time to learn about life in a secular communal, surrounded by Muslim, Jewish Orthodox, and Christian Muslim communities. This kibbutz was located in the lower Galilee, where you can see the landscape of a water reservoir that would serve all of Israel up to two weeks of water in case of emergency. About 40 families reside here, working together and raising their children. There was a house for mikvah, next to a couple grapefruit trees that used to be an entire orchard. Unfortunately, there was no profit in grapefruit sales, so only a few remain.
My group had a chance to get to know each other better over these days, and connection and comraderie grow every day. Ice breaker games, collage making, and movie night in a bomb shelter were some of the cute activities that really helped us laugh and open up to each other.
Everyone has to make time to talk to Elin, our madricha (counselor), about who we are so she can get to know us better. I sat down with her on a picnic table looking out over the beautiful landscape, sun on our faces, and told her about my life. It felt good to talk to her, she’s a skinny, blonde Israeli girl; friendly and warm and always smiling. I told her about how I feel like I'm in a good place in life, & what I've accomplished throughout the years relative to what I can bring to the program. As we were chatting we heard the Muslim community’s Call To Prayer. I've heard it once before. It is so beautiful, and we stopped in our tracks to listen. I think that was when it hit me that I am here in Israel. It’s taken a few days, but that sound was so eerie & amazing, and sitting in front of the vast scenery, it just simply took my breath away.
Today was Shabbat, and I decided to go to the conservative service. I never really went to services in a temple growing up (that is unless I wanted to stay home from school on Jewish holidays!), so I wanted to check out a service on a kibbutz. Some group members and I walked in and sat down, and as the rabbi started, more and more people arrived with their children running around like crazy. A select few parents attempted to shush their little ones to pay attention, but 97% of the parents just prayed and sang and paid no mind to their kids running amuck. All the kids knew each other since they all go to a pre-school on the kibbutz, so they entertained themselves with random toys and children’s books left next to the siddurim. These kids (aged between 1 and 4, respectively) checked my group and me out a lot, a little confused who we were, then would go back to running around. One little boy even fell in love with Ma’yan, a girl in my group sitting next to me! It was hilarious.
Oh, and on the topic of Shabbat, we all made our own Challah today. That was pretty cool. :)
More in a week or so... if you have any questions for me, please email me or post a comment. Photos are coming very soon. Miss you all.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Journey Back to Israel - 2.07.2011
February 07, 2011
So I’m on the plane. My first real adventure as a young adult. Although I don’t know if I qualify as a young adult anymore since I am almost 27 years old. I’m kind of out of that "box" now (ya know, 18 - 25 box... now I'm in the 26 - 30 box)...
Anyway, having never truly written a blog before I’m pretty sure I’m going to be pretty irrelevant most times I write. So, my apologies in advance if I'm all over the place. But hey, it’s my blog. Haha… blog.
Getting to this point has already been quite a journey, and TODAY my official journey begins.
When I got back from Israel the first time, I was definitely on a high. Traveling around another country, meeting Israeli’s my age, talking to other Americans about Jewish identity, it was all new and very fascinating. Now, being that I’m not religious and had really never talked with others about Judaism, my eyes were open to ideas and an awareness that Judaism was not really all about religion, but also about an amazing culture and a long history – like, a REALLY long history. A history that I want to pass down to my kids, keep alive in my life. So, you could say last July a new part of me woke up and felt something significant.
Now, that leads to the email. Tikkun Olam was just one of many organizations to track me down and inform me of opportunities to go back to Israel. Study, live, volunteer! That definitely peaked my interest. After long thought, I decided to go for it. Apply. Why not? Sure, there was plenty to think about. I have a perfectly well paying bartending job, my photography passion keeps me happy, I now sing in this incredible rock band that’s making small moves to some BIG things, and I live in the best city ever with amazing friends and a family that’s close by.
But, when it comes down to it, I figured these things will most likely be here when I get back. Why miss out on an opportunity to live abroad and dedicate a small chunk of my life to helping others in need. I am obviously not getting any younger – remember, I’m not even in the “early 20”s” box anymore.
Saving money was probably the most important part of getting prepared to travel. After living in SF for 8 years, I had for the most part lived pay check to pay check. For the first time in my life, I started disciplining my spending routine. First step? Move home with Mom and Dad. I’m pretty sure at first my parents were thinking, “Uh, crap, we got ourselves a boomerang kid.” I mean, my dad spends countless amount of money for me to have straight teeth, a roof over my head, and a college education for me to move to Israel for five months and skirt my adult responsibilities? But as it turns out, my folks rarely saw me. Everything for me was in the city; my job, my band, my friends. I would be home for a total of 2 days a week, so it became kind of an inside joke. Saving money was slightly easier with no rent and I definitely
learned to quit eating out as much.
I for sure couldn’t have saved as much if it weren’t for friends and family who donated to my desperate ass, or who hired me as a photographer, or who bought my fine art. That’s really an incredible part of this whole journey thus far. Finding out who is genuine and valuable in my life. When you live somewhere for so long you make so many friends along the way, and these last couple of months has really shined some light on who is, for example, a Facebook friend, and REALLY a friend.
Which makes me a little sad now that I am sitting on this plane to London for an awesome 8 hour layover, and realizing I’m moving away for a very small but substantial amount of time for the first time EVER!
I don’t know what adventures await me. I’m nervous, thrilled, and excited. After all the preparation these last five months (and, believe me, I only touched on a couple things in this blog), I think I’m READY.
So stay tuned.
So I’m on the plane. My first real adventure as a young adult. Although I don’t know if I qualify as a young adult anymore since I am almost 27 years old. I’m kind of out of that "box" now (ya know, 18 - 25 box... now I'm in the 26 - 30 box)...
Anyway, having never truly written a blog before I’m pretty sure I’m going to be pretty irrelevant most times I write. So, my apologies in advance if I'm all over the place. But hey, it’s my blog. Haha… blog.
Getting to this point has already been quite a journey, and TODAY my official journey begins.
When I got back from Israel the first time, I was definitely on a high. Traveling around another country, meeting Israeli’s my age, talking to other Americans about Jewish identity, it was all new and very fascinating. Now, being that I’m not religious and had really never talked with others about Judaism, my eyes were open to ideas and an awareness that Judaism was not really all about religion, but also about an amazing culture and a long history – like, a REALLY long history. A history that I want to pass down to my kids, keep alive in my life. So, you could say last July a new part of me woke up and felt something significant.
Now, that leads to the email. Tikkun Olam was just one of many organizations to track me down and inform me of opportunities to go back to Israel. Study, live, volunteer! That definitely peaked my interest. After long thought, I decided to go for it. Apply. Why not? Sure, there was plenty to think about. I have a perfectly well paying bartending job, my photography passion keeps me happy, I now sing in this incredible rock band that’s making small moves to some BIG things, and I live in the best city ever with amazing friends and a family that’s close by.
But, when it comes down to it, I figured these things will most likely be here when I get back. Why miss out on an opportunity to live abroad and dedicate a small chunk of my life to helping others in need. I am obviously not getting any younger – remember, I’m not even in the “early 20”s” box anymore.
Saving money was probably the most important part of getting prepared to travel. After living in SF for 8 years, I had for the most part lived pay check to pay check. For the first time in my life, I started disciplining my spending routine. First step? Move home with Mom and Dad. I’m pretty sure at first my parents were thinking, “Uh, crap, we got ourselves a boomerang kid.” I mean, my dad spends countless amount of money for me to have straight teeth, a roof over my head, and a college education for me to move to Israel for five months and skirt my adult responsibilities? But as it turns out, my folks rarely saw me. Everything for me was in the city; my job, my band, my friends. I would be home for a total of 2 days a week, so it became kind of an inside joke. Saving money was slightly easier with no rent and I definitely
learned to quit eating out as much.
I for sure couldn’t have saved as much if it weren’t for friends and family who donated to my desperate ass, or who hired me as a photographer, or who bought my fine art. That’s really an incredible part of this whole journey thus far. Finding out who is genuine and valuable in my life. When you live somewhere for so long you make so many friends along the way, and these last couple of months has really shined some light on who is, for example, a Facebook friend, and REALLY a friend.
Which makes me a little sad now that I am sitting on this plane to London for an awesome 8 hour layover, and realizing I’m moving away for a very small but substantial amount of time for the first time EVER!
I don’t know what adventures await me. I’m nervous, thrilled, and excited. After all the preparation these last five months (and, believe me, I only touched on a couple things in this blog), I think I’m READY.
So stay tuned.
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