Israel - 02.15.2011

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!