Today is our first Shabbat in Tel Aviv. It is also our first weekend off in Israel (no programming). It was rainy and cold yesterday, so my roommates and I (Rose and Leora) just went to the grocery store and made shabbat dinner for ourselves and 7 friends from the program. Because of the lack of a real kitchen (only one hotplate) and utensils, we have to make do. For instance, we all drank soup out of styrofoam cups! Today is probably just going to be a lazy day. I have a cold (considering half the people in my program are sick, it's no surprise), so it will be nice to just hunker down. Ulpan starts up againt tomorrow. It is going to take a while to come to terms with the fact that Sunday is just a normal workday here!
On Thursday we met with Ethiopian Israeli students and then heard a lecture from an Israeli General who led Operation Moses, which is the operation that snuck 400 Ethiopian Jewish kids out of Ethiopia and brought them to Israel in 1984. He was a very animated speaker and it was a fascinating story. Many of us were in tears at the end. Thursday night most of us hung out on a rooftop terrace near the beach.
There is something called a "dude" here. It is the device that turns on the hot water heater. You need to turn it on like an hour before you want to take a shower and then turn it off right after. If you leave it on, they warned us that it could blow up and cause floods or fires! The hot water lasts about 3 minutes, and then turns cold--not even lukewarm, but cold. It is not fun.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Traversing Israel by Myself
I had a meeting today with Ruder Finn (the company I'm working for). Those living in Jerusalem met with their employers when we were in Jerusalem last week, but my contact person there was at a conference so I was told to meet with her today. So I was extremely worried about traveling from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem all by myself. I had to leave ulpan early, and then caught a little bus from near where we are staying to the central bus station. The central bus station is massive..its like a mall and a large airport combined! I showed my paper with the address and the bus numbers it says to take and I ended up on one bus that I was told was what I needed. After we pull away I mention to the lady sitting next to me how I will just take a cab once we get to Jerusalem. She says "Jerusalem?! This bus isn't going to Jerusalem!" So I yell at the bus driver that I need to get off and he gives me my money back and basically just pulls over and lets me out. So I promptly burst into tears..I'm in a shady neighborhood in a strange city in a foreign country and I have no idea where to go! Then this nice lady sees me crying and asks "Slicha? Beseder?" (Excuse me? Are you okay?) I explained my situation to her and she was so sweet--she walked with me all the way to the bus station and through the station to the correct bus. It turns out the bus numbers the program gave me were for once I got to the bus station in Jerusalem (would have been nice if they had written that down). By the time I got to the bus station in Jerusalem (also huge) I didnt want to mess around looking for my right bus, so I just took a cab. The meeting went well. It basically lasted ten minutes! I will be working Sunday-Wednesday. Starting a workweek off on Sunday will take getting used to! She introduced me to people in the company. There are also nine employees there and they are all like in their 20s and 30s. They all seem very friendly. I then took a cab back to the bus station, somehow found my way onto a bus for Tel Aviv, and then took another cab back to our apartments. So it was a stressful and expensive (like $50!) ordeal for a 10 minute meeting. Fantastic.
Ulpan is difficult. I like learning the hebrew letters (in block and script) because that is easy for me (basically just remembering) but the speaking part is hard! She is throwing so much vocabulary at us. Five hours a day is a pretty long time to sit in a classroom learning one thing
Another interesting aspect about Israeli society: There are security guards at the entrance to all grocery stores and large stores. They look through bags and purses and carry a metal detecting wand. Definitely not something you have to go through to go to a Walmart in America!
Ulpan is difficult. I like learning the hebrew letters (in block and script) because that is easy for me (basically just remembering) but the speaking part is hard! She is throwing so much vocabulary at us. Five hours a day is a pretty long time to sit in a classroom learning one thing
Another interesting aspect about Israeli society: There are security guards at the entrance to all grocery stores and large stores. They look through bags and purses and carry a metal detecting wand. Definitely not something you have to go through to go to a Walmart in America!
Monday, February 23, 2009
First full day in Tel Aviv
I had the first day of ulpan today. I'm in the lowest level my program is offering! Its Monday through Thursday from 9:30-2:30 for 3 weeks. So it is definitely a lot of learning! We learned common phrases today and went over some of the letters in both block and cursive. The letters were easy for me, since its just a manner of remembering what I learned years ago in Hebrew school. The language seems like a hard one though. I keep getting it confused with Spanish, because the masculine and feminine are backwards from what spanish is. For example masculine "you" is ata, while female "you" is at, which just seems wrong! We went for a tour of downtown Tel Aviv today. Tomorrow I plan to run on the beach, which I always love.
I am shocked at how expensive Israel is. Food and groceries are much more expensive than in the US. Just a box of cereal (like Kellogs) can be like 25, 30 shekels, which is 7 bucks! It is like that for everything. It really is ridiculous.
I am shocked at how expensive Israel is. Food and groceries are much more expensive than in the US. Just a box of cereal (like Kellogs) can be like 25, 30 shekels, which is 7 bucks! It is like that for everything. It really is ridiculous.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
My time in Israel so far has been a sleep-deprived whirlwind—very reminiscent of birth right. It’s been exhausting and amazing, even with my .streak of bad luck! We have been staying up til 1 or 2 every night so far and been up by 7:00
My plane rides en route here were not bad at all. I lucked out and got a whole row to myself on the long overnight trip from Houston to London. In London is when things started going slightly downhill. I’m not sure if it’s all planes or just British Airways, but the planes sit about a mile from the actual airport. Passengers take a shuttle from the plane to the gates and again from the gates to the shuttle. I had exactly one hour to make my connection, and I was unaware that I had to go through security all over again. My ticket said to be at the gate by 8:10 and at 8:10 I was far back in the security line. So I ducked underneath 3 ropes to a “fast lane by invitation only” and cut in front of about 40 people. I made it through security and ran madly through the terminal of a huge airport I had never been to before. I made it to the gate 15 minutes late—the last person—but the shuttle was actually waiting for me I think. We then sat on the runway for an hour and a half because of a mechanical problem. When I arrived in Tel Aviv I watched the baggage go around and around until everyone from my flight was gone. One of my biggest fears—none of my luggage had made it. I waited nervously for almost 3 days to receive my luggage. But it’s all here, so I suppose alls well that ends well.
My first day here, February 17, I went with Yocheved (the lady whose house I stayed at) to Ben Yehuda Street—a very famous street in Jerusalem full of shops and restaurants of every kind imaginable. There are entire stores devoted to just kippas. I then met up with my program at a beautiful hostel. I talked to over 50 people that night from all around the world. The next day we had a tour of Davids City and all the tunnels. It’s unbelievable how these tunnels were constructed so elaborately thousands of years ago. I had had a stomach ache the entire day and I promptly threw up my lunch on the bus (my bad luck continued). I felt better the next morning thank goodness. That night we went to the Jewish Quarters of the Old City, The Kotel (the Western Wall), and the tunnels under the Kotel. I find the Kotel to be really special at night, and its beautiful with the Dome of the Rock glowing in the background. It’s so surreal when you there. It’s such a holy place that it’s difficult to believe you really are there. Notes are crammed into every imaginable nook and cranny. People are praying at the wall, kissing the wall, sobbing.
The following day we had a speaker come who has worked in Israeli intelligence. He spoke to us a little about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the security measures being taken by Israel. We toured many of the border areas and saw the fences and walls separating Israel from the West Bank. It’s really quite unbelievable how close the Palestinian neighborhoods are to the Jewish ones. They are truly right next door. That night we had an Arab Israeli come and speak to us and the conversation became very heated when some of the people in my program strongly disagreed with what he was saying. It was just a microcosm of the situation and the conflicting beliefs and opinions concerning the situation there. We then went out to a karaoke bar on Ben Yehuda Street. Most of the people in the bar were people from my program but there were of course some Israelis there as well. Everyone drank a fair amount (including myself!) and it was a blast.
February 20 we went to the shuk in Jerusalem which is a large open air market with vendors selling dried fruits, nuts, candies, delicious looking breads, and an assortment of other things. The vendors are screaming at people announcing what they are selling—it is almost as though they are having a competition on who can be loudest. Israelis are unbelievably loud, aggressive, and direct. It is common for Israelis to just literally push through a crowd—they don’t believe in lines. They have none of the boundaries or censors that Americans have.
Israel is also a very expensive country. I was shocked walking through the drugstore. A small thing of deodorant goes for like 30, 40 shekels (4 shekels to a dollar), Neutrogena face wash is 70 shekels! I’m glad I brought most of the toiletries I use from home. Food isn’t necessarily cheap either.
Shabbat was nice and relaxing. We actually got to sleep in Saturday morning! We had services Friday night, Shabbat dinner, text study Saturday night, then we all just hung around playing cards and reading and talking. We are leaving for Tel Aviv today for the ulpan. I'm going to be rooming with an Ariella! She's orthodox so I just hope I remember not to flick on the lights in our room on Shabbat!
My plane rides en route here were not bad at all. I lucked out and got a whole row to myself on the long overnight trip from Houston to London. In London is when things started going slightly downhill. I’m not sure if it’s all planes or just British Airways, but the planes sit about a mile from the actual airport. Passengers take a shuttle from the plane to the gates and again from the gates to the shuttle. I had exactly one hour to make my connection, and I was unaware that I had to go through security all over again. My ticket said to be at the gate by 8:10 and at 8:10 I was far back in the security line. So I ducked underneath 3 ropes to a “fast lane by invitation only” and cut in front of about 40 people. I made it through security and ran madly through the terminal of a huge airport I had never been to before. I made it to the gate 15 minutes late—the last person—but the shuttle was actually waiting for me I think. We then sat on the runway for an hour and a half because of a mechanical problem. When I arrived in Tel Aviv I watched the baggage go around and around until everyone from my flight was gone. One of my biggest fears—none of my luggage had made it. I waited nervously for almost 3 days to receive my luggage. But it’s all here, so I suppose alls well that ends well.
My first day here, February 17, I went with Yocheved (the lady whose house I stayed at) to Ben Yehuda Street—a very famous street in Jerusalem full of shops and restaurants of every kind imaginable. There are entire stores devoted to just kippas. I then met up with my program at a beautiful hostel. I talked to over 50 people that night from all around the world. The next day we had a tour of Davids City and all the tunnels. It’s unbelievable how these tunnels were constructed so elaborately thousands of years ago. I had had a stomach ache the entire day and I promptly threw up my lunch on the bus (my bad luck continued). I felt better the next morning thank goodness. That night we went to the Jewish Quarters of the Old City, The Kotel (the Western Wall), and the tunnels under the Kotel. I find the Kotel to be really special at night, and its beautiful with the Dome of the Rock glowing in the background. It’s so surreal when you there. It’s such a holy place that it’s difficult to believe you really are there. Notes are crammed into every imaginable nook and cranny. People are praying at the wall, kissing the wall, sobbing.
The following day we had a speaker come who has worked in Israeli intelligence. He spoke to us a little about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the security measures being taken by Israel. We toured many of the border areas and saw the fences and walls separating Israel from the West Bank. It’s really quite unbelievable how close the Palestinian neighborhoods are to the Jewish ones. They are truly right next door. That night we had an Arab Israeli come and speak to us and the conversation became very heated when some of the people in my program strongly disagreed with what he was saying. It was just a microcosm of the situation and the conflicting beliefs and opinions concerning the situation there. We then went out to a karaoke bar on Ben Yehuda Street. Most of the people in the bar were people from my program but there were of course some Israelis there as well. Everyone drank a fair amount (including myself!) and it was a blast.
February 20 we went to the shuk in Jerusalem which is a large open air market with vendors selling dried fruits, nuts, candies, delicious looking breads, and an assortment of other things. The vendors are screaming at people announcing what they are selling—it is almost as though they are having a competition on who can be loudest. Israelis are unbelievably loud, aggressive, and direct. It is common for Israelis to just literally push through a crowd—they don’t believe in lines. They have none of the boundaries or censors that Americans have.
Israel is also a very expensive country. I was shocked walking through the drugstore. A small thing of deodorant goes for like 30, 40 shekels (4 shekels to a dollar), Neutrogena face wash is 70 shekels! I’m glad I brought most of the toiletries I use from home. Food isn’t necessarily cheap either.
Shabbat was nice and relaxing. We actually got to sleep in Saturday morning! We had services Friday night, Shabbat dinner, text study Saturday night, then we all just hung around playing cards and reading and talking. We are leaving for Tel Aviv today for the ulpan. I'm going to be rooming with an Ariella! She's orthodox so I just hope I remember not to flick on the lights in our room on Shabbat!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The Day Before
I can't believe I leave tomorrow for Israel! I'm so nervous. I'm excited too of course, but the nerves are overriding the excitement for right now. Hopefully the nerves will abate soon. This day came up so unbelievably fast. I'm going to spend time with Grayson tonight and enjoy our last night together for the next six months. :(
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Preparing for the Journey
Two weeks from today I will be on my way to Israel. I'm very excited, but I'm also growing more nervous and anxious as the day approaches. I think I have pretty much everything I need and it is in a growing pile in the corner of my room. I probably will procrastinate on packing as long as possible. I have never traveled overseas by myself, so I'm actually a little bit nervous about just getting there with all my luggage. It looks like it will be two large suitcases, a 75L hiking backpack (for my backpacking trip through Europe after the Israel program), and my laptop case. I'm sure it will be quite a sight to see me lugging all that through foreign airports! My itinerary to Israel looks like this:
Feb 15 Leave El Paso 10:48 AM on Continental Airlines 1hr, 52 min
Arrive Houston 1:40 PM
Leave Houston 4:25 PM on British Airways 8hr, 50 min
Arrive London 7:15 AM Feb 16
Leave London 8:30 AM on British Airways 4hr, 40 min
Arrive Tel Aviv 3:10 PM
My second cousins sister-in-law (!) lives in Israel with her family. Although I don't know her I have been in contact with her and she has been kind enough to offer to pick me up at the Tel Aviv airport and let me stay at her house that night. My program starts the next night in Jerusalem. Here is the tentative itinerary the Career Israel program sent:
It sounds pretty amazing. I'll try to blog as much as possible about my adventures!
Feb 15 Leave El Paso 10:48 AM on Continental Airlines 1hr, 52 min
Arrive Houston 1:40 PM
Leave Houston 4:25 PM on British Airways 8hr, 50 min
Arrive London 7:15 AM Feb 16
Leave London 8:30 AM on British Airways 4hr, 40 min
Arrive Tel Aviv 3:10 PM
My second cousins sister-in-law (!) lives in Israel with her family. Although I don't know her I have been in contact with her and she has been kind enough to offer to pick me up at the Tel Aviv airport and let me stay at her house that night. My program starts the next night in Jerusalem. Here is the tentative itinerary the Career Israel program sent:
Track 1: Orientation and Ulpan
Tuesday, February 17
17:00: Arrival
18:30: Dinner
Evening: Group ice breakers
Overnight in the Yehuda Youth Hostel
Wednesday, February 18
Morning: Two options:
- David’s City and Hezekiah’s Tunnel
-or-
- The Davidson Center and South Kotel Excavations
Afternoon: Lunch downtown
Free time to rest at the hostel
Evening: Meet Career Israel staff, review program procedures and expectations
Dinner at hostel
Visit the Kotel Tunnels
Overnight in the Yehuda Youth Hostel
Thursday, February 19
Morning: Lecture “The Arab Israeli Confict”
Tour of border areas in Jerusalem and the security fence
Packed Lunch
Afternoon: Lecture “Israeli Arabs”
Evening: Dinner in Hostel
Hebrew tests and Rooming lists
Overnight in the Yehuda Youth Hostel
Friday, February 20th
Morning: Check out of the Yehuda Hostel
Tour of Nachla’ot and Machane Yehuda “Jerusalem preparing for Shabbat” including lunch
Afternoon: Check in to Tziporri Hostel
Evening: Group Shabbat dinner and acivity
Overnight at Tziporri or Bayit Vegan Youth Hostel
Saturday, February 21stMorning: Text Study session
Afternoon: Optional walk through Mt. Herzel
Overnight at Tziporri or Bayit Vegan Youth Hostel
Sunday, February 22
Morning: Tour of Supreme Court and government areas
Afternoon: Transfer to Tel Aviv
Move into the Career Israel apartments
Overnight in Tel Aviv
Monday, February 23- Friday, February 27
9:30-14:40: Ulpan
Afternoons: Orientation tour in Tel Aviv, Lecture “Israeli Politics”, Volunteer Opportunities
Sunday, March 1- Thursday, March 5
9:30-14:40: Ulpan
Afternoons: Tour options in Tel Aviv, Lecture “Hi-Tech in Israel”, Volunteer Opportunities, Idan Reichel concert
Sunday, March 8- Tuesday, March 10
9:30-14:40: Ulpan
Afternoons: Purim Lecture and party, Volunteer Opportunities
March 11th
Purim
March 13-15: Negev Tour
Tour includes: Hikes in the area, visit to un-recognized Bedouin Village, Visit to the Ayalim Student Village, Sde Boker and more
Friday and Saturday overnight in the Sde Boker Field School
Sunday, March 15-Tuesday, March 17
9:30-14:40: Ulpan
Afternoons: Workshop on “Bridging cultural gaps” and preparation for internships
* On the afternoon of the 17th, Jerusalemites will move to Jerusalem
Good Luck in your internships!!!
Track 2: InternshipsMarch
18: Begin Internships
31: Optional Evening program “Excellence in Israeli Society” sponsored by Masa
April
2: Tour of Haifa
8-15: Passover Holiday
19: Optional Yad Vashem tour
26: Seminar Remembrance and Celebration in Israeli Society
May
8-9: Dialogue Seminar with Israeli Students in Ein Gedi
21: Seminar Day “Disengagement from Gaza and Sderot”
June
10-13: Trip to the North
21: Seminar Day
July
1-2: Ending Seminar
10: Program conclusionIt sounds pretty amazing. I'll try to blog as much as possible about my adventures!
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