Catching Up

It's been a while since I've written, so I have a lot to update you all on. First of all, I did not get the Hine Fellowship, so if any of you loyal readers are hiring I'm available to start in May.

Right now I'm living in Ramat Gan (a suburb of Tel Aviv) with Lenny and Rivka, friends of my mom's friend Judy Martin. Lenny and Rivka have a beautiful house just minutes from Tel Aviv and I sleep on the top floor, which is a converted roof. The entire perimeter of the room is windows and the ceiling is also huge windows. The entire room opens to the sky, and I would live that way but for the winter weather. I moved here to be closer to an internship I’m doing with Leadel.NET, although it still takes me just under two hours to commute (each way)! Like any internship I spend most of my time doing research and menial tasks, but last week I did get to go on a shoot. We interviewed an internationally successful poster artist, Yossi Lemel, and the Grammy award-winning Native American musician, Bill Miller. I learned a lot from both interviewees, and I learned even more from the camera crew.

(Lenny and Rivka on a hike we took last weekend)

That's where I am now, but you missed a few memorable experiences I had before. When I was still living with Linda I met two of her three children, Moni and Raya. Both are beautiful, strong and independent people much like their mother. Home for the weekend from the Army, Moni and his girlfriend Lali took me to the mountain where his father Shay still lives raising goats and making cheese. It was a delicious and muddy excursion.

(Apparently caves are the ideal storage place for aging cheese because of the climate conditions)

The next week Linda and I met Raya in Rehovot where she's studying agriculture. The three of us went to the outdoor market (Shuk) in Ramla. This city is exceptional in the apparently peaceful cohabitation of Arabs and Jews who live there. Linda informed me that this happens mostly in cities that are pretty poor, and that in fact, Ramla has a big problem with organized crime. When we visited it was the week before Purim and I had full-voltage culture shock as I watched Palestinian children walking around in Purim costumes.

(Linda and Raya at the shuk)

The weekend proceeding Purim I went with several of Moni's friends (unfortunately he couldn't get a reprieve from the Army) to a parade at his former high school. Moni and Omer went to boarding school in Sde Boker. The school is on a cliff overlooking a breathtaking view, and the kids learn in an integrative, nature-incorporating atmosphere, the place is like summer camp. Every year the 5 different grades spend three months conceptualizing and constructing papier-mâché parade floats out of waste materials, a process which culminates in the Purim parade and subsequent destruction of the enormous floats. We spent the Friday night prior to the parade cooking food over a campfire by the edge of the cliff, and woke up in the morning just in time to put on funny hats and watch the Carnival-like festivities. The campfire was an interesting experience for me because it was so different from any other campfire I've been to. None of the ex-classmates smoked anything and there was only one bottle of wine. Our dinner was prepared by throwing any kind of food available (vegetarian only) into a cast iron pot called a Poykin. It took a couple of hours to get everything hot, and when it was ready we all shared the few makeshift bowls and eating utensils on hand. When everything was finally ready I was shocked and delighted to hear the only Hebrew I recognize; sitting around the campfire, no one over 26 present, we had a late night Shabbat dinner, Kiddush and all. As we passed around a mug of wine and homemade challah (courtesy of Lali), I was overwhelmed with the joy of being a Jew in a Jewish country.

(One grade had the theme of 'babies')

(I have no idea what this grade's theme was)

I feel like my time here is beginning to end. This Saturday my aunt Julie and her roommate Debbie are flying in for a week, and I'll probably spend much of next week with them. After that Pesach starts on the 8th, and Sharon and I are planning to travel after the Seder (they only have one here). We'll go to Egypt for the better part of a week, and then fly from Cairo to Vienna. The plan is to take the train from Vienna to Croatia and then go up to Budapest. Realistically, twenty days probably isn't enough to see all these places, so we'll see what happens.

I'll try to write again soon!

Don't be afraid to call me: 972504036654 (the country code is 011, and don't forget I'm 6 hours ahead)

And for the fans here's a picture of Linda, who I miss terribly since I've been living in Ramat Gan:

Reuniting With My Unlost Cousin

I appologize ahead of time for the formatting. Blogger.com really has to step it up!

I've found my way to Jerusalem and am now imposing on my wonderful cousin Linda. Linda is actually my grandmother's cousin, but she's about my mom's age. She came to Israel after graduating from veternarian school in her late twenties, met the love her life, and decided to stay. It didn't work out with the guy (long-distance is difficult) but he introduced her to Shy, her future husband and father of her children. For many years Linda lived with Shy in the side of a mountain, without running water or electricity, raising goats and children. I have three first cousins thrice removed: Omer, Rya, and Moni. I've met Omer twice now via Skype, he's in school in California. Tomorrow I get to meet Rya who is also studying (agriculture) but in Israel. I'll meet Moni this Friday when he comes back from his army base for the weekend.

Fortunately for me, Linda no longer lives with Shy in the mountain. She lives in a gorgeous house in Bet Zayit, a tiny moshav (village) outside of Jerusalem. The house was made by Linda's landlord's late husband, who apparently knew very little about insulation and plumbing. It's cold. And the toilets don't work. But it's very beautiful. I wish I had pictures to post, but it's been gray and rainy since I arrived. I consider this a good omen, because Israel is in its fifth year of a nasty draught. I'm staying in Rya's room on the second floor, and the thunder and rain are so loud that everynight I'm lulled to sleep within minutes.

Linda's been taking me on the rounds, showing me off to some friends and family. She was disappointed that Sharon and I were going to be leaving so soon to work on a kibbutz, but luckily the kibbutz decided they didn't have enough work for us. Now, we have to find something else to keep us occupied, housed, and fed for a month. Linda has opened her home to us, as have Sharon's cousins, which is extremely generous. I told Linda that I wanted to do some volunteer work with Palestinians or Israeli Arabs, and she told me she had the perfect family to introduce me to. Actually, whenever I tell Linda about any of my interests she seems to know the perfect someone to talk to. In this case, it was a woman named Namate, who lives with her family in an Arab village, called Abu Ghosh, outside of Jerusalem. Yesterday we visited Namate and I was offered the best tea of my life, and the opportunity to stay with her and work at a joint Israeli-Arab school that some of her daughters have gone to. This excites me even more than the prospect of working and living on a kibbutz, but we'll have to see what, if anything, pans out. I also have a tenative meeting with one of Linda's friend's son, Amir, who happens to be a cameraman for documentary films. Amir just moved back from California to Tel Aviv and describes himself as 'underemployed', so I doubt he'll be able to give me any work, but hopefully he can give me graduate school advice and more people to talk to. Hopefully I'll meet with Amir on Wednesday, because I'll be in Tel Aviv anyway, meeting with the national kibbutz association to see if they can help Sharon and I find a kibbutz (if that's what we decide to do). It's nice to have so many options! Linda also has a call in to one of Moni's friends who's working on a pepper-picking farm. It's hard work, but they have guest housing, and it would be an excellent opportunity to meet young Israelis.






Basically, Linda's hooking it up. She's at work right now (she owns her own veternary clinic) and I wanted to help her out by starting the fire before she got home, but as you may have guessed, fire-starting is not part of my skill-set. I felt very much the city-girl this past hour, huffing and puffing trying to coax up my meager flames and blowing them out instead. In my defense the wood is damp. If she were here I'm sure Sharon would be laughing hysterically at me as I grow increasingly dirty, smelly, frustrated, and cold. Sharon's still in Herzilyya at her cousin's, where I left her on Friday. She's suffering from what might be strep throat, so it's probably good that she's warm and cozy in the suburbs. On Thursday when I come back f rom Tel Aviv, she'll come with me.




It occurs to me that some of you have never seen Sharon so I'll end this entry with some pictures I've taken of her.


I took this one while we were still on Birthright. It's a suprisingly good photo considering I took it just after calling her name as she was walking away from me. This was one of my favorite days of our group trip. On this day we met with two other Birthright groups from Russia and Argentina. We spent the morning doing team building exercises that culminated in group tree planting. In the afternoon we went to a museum of Jewish history, and got to have political conversations with Jews from four different countries, it was revealing how Jews from different parts of the world conceptualize Israel - there were distinct differences between opinions from people according to their respective country of origin. That night we all went to a club together and danced - one of those few activities that translates perfectly. Although there was a language barrier (especially with the Russians), I had a mind-blowing experience getting to know Jews from other cultures. What a perfect day to turn everything I thought I knew about Jewish identity on its head.


I took this one in Petra. I just really like this one.



Obviously, I didn't take this one, but it's very cute. (Photo credit: Sarah Parkington - thanks Sarah!) This was taken when Birthright arranged for us to ride camels. It was pretty lame and kind of painful. Half of us rode camels for about a quarter of a mile in one direction, while half of us followed on foot. Then we switched and rode the quarter of a mile back. Good photo op I guess!

Israel

Hi everyone! I know I promised I'd blog while I'm abroad, but internet access has been scarce and expensive! The big news is that I'm a finalist for the Hine Fellowship! I had my interview on Monday, and I offered to send pictures to show how my aesthetics have improved since I made the work I originally submitted. I would have emailed them, but I thought this would provide me with a format to give context for the images and you all would finally get a look at some of what I've been up to. Sharon and I started our adventure on a ten-day group tour of Israel through Birthright Israel. Birthright is nonprofit organization funded in equal parts by private donors, congregations, and the Israeli government. Without Birthright we would never have been able to do this three-month trek, because Birthright provided us with free plane tickets (as well as 10 days of free hotel and travel accommodations, food, museum fees, etc). Of course, nothing's free, so we had a lot of political discussions, supplemented by our accompaniment of eight Israeli soldiers. The soldiers were (I presume) hand-picked by the army for their relatability, passion, patriotism, and proficient English. I loved every one of them and their intelligence and openness helped me see Israel from their perspectives - job well done IDF! Even when I expressed dissenting views, the soldiers were open to my opinions and enthusiastic to share theirs. Of the eight of them, six have invited Sharon and me to stay with them and their families during the remainder of our trip. There are many companies that take young Jews on Birthright trips, but we chose to do Israel Outdoors for its alleged emphasis on outdoor activities. Unfortunately, we spent the majority of our time on the bus, but I think the people who choose to go with Israel Outdoors self-select for down-to-earth, liberal groups. Needless to say, I got along swimmingly with my fellow travelers and I now have couches to stay on all over the U.S. My new friend Emilie (who you can see raising the roof to the right) is the perfect example of how special my travel buddies were. Emilie, a vagabond actress, is currently teaching a class at the Freedom Theater in Jenin, a city in the West Bank notorious for the amount of suicide bombers it has produced. I was familiar with the Freedom Theater before this trip because I saw a documentary called Arna's Children about the theater's creation. Arna, an Israeli Jew who married a Palestinian man and moved to the West Bank, started the Freedom Theater during the First Intifada. Her son, Juliano Mer Khamis filmed his mother working with her first class. Six years later, Arna died of cancer and Juliano returned to Jenin with his camera to find out what happened to her former students. This piece is the perfect example of the power of documentary films, and I recommend anyone reading this to rent it. I'm anxious to hear from Emilie about her experience there. Part of the reason I decided to take such a long trip to Israel was to explore the political reality here. I arrived with minimal information and conflicting emotions. I still have conflicting emotions, but I'm gaining more insight everyday. It's incredible how pervasive the political situation is here in everyday life. Whenever we enter any public building we walk through a metal detector and a security guard checks our bags. Frequently we're asked for ID at these checkpoints, and it's telling to see how powerful our little blue passports are. We flash our American smiles and sometimes they don't even check our bags. While we were on Birthright we had a rifle wielding security guard with us at all times:That's Rave. He's obviously the coolest security guard ever. I'm not sure if you can see in the picture but he's wearing a Clockwork Orange t-shirt. Rave and I bonded over films and music and after the trip he took a few of us to his dad's bowling alley outside of Tel Aviv and kicked our butts. Besides the people, we've been able to see some of Israel's most awesome sites. I have no pictures of the Western Wall because we were there on a Friday evening and taking pictures on Shabbat is forbidden. Likewise, I have no pictures from the Dead Sea because I didn't want to expose my new camera to sand and salt. I did get some other good pictures though. To the left is the view from above Jerusalem. The architectural differences here are noticeable. In Jerusalem, all of the buildings have to be faced with limestone, so they all have a clean, ancient look that is exemplified by the wall in my picture.
Almost all of the municipal buildings in Israel are built with architectural symbolism in mind. For example, the Knesset (Israeli parliament) is built with Greek columns to represent the importance of democracy in Israel.


I took this picture outside of the Knesset. It's a close-up of a famous menorah, made by the Jewish sculptor Benno Elkan. The menorah depicts different events, idioms, and characters from Jewish history. This particular branch is David poised to throw his rock at Goliath.




I don't have much more time to write right now, so I'm just going to upload some other good pictures:

I had to include this one! This is apparently what lifeguards in Tel Aviv look like:

This one is beautiful. It's my friend Becca on top of Mount Masada at sunrise.
These last three are from our trip to Petra after Birthright was over. I'll have to write about it later because it was so amazing. We met Bedouins on our first day who took us on an impromptu three hour hike off of the main trail. The next day they took us and some friends we'd made at the hostel to the monastery. Afterward they invited us back to the Bedouin village where we had tea and prepared ingredients for authentic barbecue that we made later at a campfire in 'Little Petra'. There were about 12 of us in total, and we took turns singing for each other. I got video of the Jordanian songs on Sharon's camera. Hopefully I'll figure out how to upload that soon.

Impromptu hike:
The highest point of the ancient city of Petra:

A Bedouin man sitting on top of the world (but really sitting on top of the monastery).