Middle East 08

The last few days have been pretty whirlwind. School has gotten better, I’m learning a lot and understanding more and more each day.
Our afternoon activities have been okay, but are getting  increasingly controversial. This week, we had a few panels with more conservative Rabbis that have basically become debates with people from a more reform background. There was also an afternoon in Jerusalem in a  Haredi neighborhood that offended a lot of people from my program. Luckily, I didn’t take that trip. It was the evening that the shooter entered the Yeshiva in Jerusalem right in the city center where my program was. It turned into mayhem, but everyone from my program eventually made it back to the kibbutz safely.

I feel the need  to address the safety of my program, but unfortunately, this is a country constantly under attack. Although there is no “true” safe place, I am always aware of my surroundings and try to stick to areas with the highest security. I get text messages whenever there is somewhere we are not to go, and as soon as anything happens, with the exception of Gaza. The general feeling here yesterday and the day before was sadness because of what happened. We held a service for the Yeshiva members who were killed, and for the ones injured as well. The kotel was deemed an unsafe place for us yesterday, although I’m sure that it was filled with people mourning. I will continue to make safety my main concern. As they say though, life here does go on.

The nights this week have been fun. We held a party in the room where I have my ulpan, which started just like a high school dance.  Luckily, I had a date so it wasn’t so awkward. My friend Dan brought me a flower and escorted me to the splendid evening. 2 guys from France bartended, a guy from Canada was the DJ, and the rest of us were entertainment in the form of awful dancing. All in all, a great night.
 I also left the kibbutz another night to get a real meal and some food for my room. Kibbutz food is not bad, but definitely
 nothing to blog home about. Sometimes a gal just needs her falafel.

 I had a free weekend this weekend, and was supposed to go to Tel Aviv for friday night. I decided after my ulpan to stay at the kibbutz for the night to get some much needed R&R. Almost everyone in the program left, which made for a beautiful shabbat dinner. After school, I learned to throw a football correctly, and did so for about an hour. I layed in the sun for a while catching up on my journal and studies
before taking a shower. I went to the dining area for an
 incredible meal. It was me, 2 other Americans, 2 girls from England, a girl from Brazil, a guy from South Africa, a guy from Argentina, and 3 people from France. It was a little UN Shabbat. After dinner, I went to play basketball with a friend and ended up getting challenged by 2 Israeli’s who live on the kibbutz. I don’t know how to say dominated in Hebrew yet, but needless to say, we did.

 It is now Saturday afternoon, and i’m sitting outside with most of the people from last night. Its a beautiful day, we’re all studying and playing, and I have an overwhelming feeling of happiness that I am here and on this program.

 back to studying for now…

I have a mandatory program in 10 minutes… so just the facts. This is what i’ve been doing:
went to the city of david for a tour, supreme court and outside of knesset. spent the night at the kotel before touring the underground tunnels at midnight. they recently found a spot closer to the holiest place on earth for the jews, so, now that the excavation of the spot is complete, we were able to actually go and touch the holiest of the holy spots. Very holy. We then went to Yeshiva Pardes in Jerusalem. I attended a class on original sin and participated in a beit midrash for discussion that was very intense. I then took a bus to tel aviv to check out my future accommodations. more to come on those..

Next, i went to meet with the organization where I will be volunteering. I met with one of my future bosses, Michal, and talked about what i’ll be doing. so far, i’m involved in 3 projects: I’ll have my own class on Sunday mornings of Nepalese refugees. I will be teaching very, very basic business ethics and interviewing skills. I’m also working with Ha’aretz and the Jerusalem Post to get the word out about Mesila, the organization. Lastly, i’ll be leading a women’s group of a different group of refugees and helping them adjust to life here in Israel. I’m teaching the class on sunday mornings at the Phillipine Embassy, and the rest will be in Tel Aviv at Mesila’s headquarters. They’re in a crappy part of Tel Aviv, but right by the central bus station, so, sababa! After the meeting I took a sherut (small shared taxi) back to Jerusalem and went to the Idan Reichel concert. It was amazing.

The next day, I finally left Jerusalem for the Negev. We went to a huge crater (machtesh) in the negev for a packed lunch. Next went to a family’s winery in the middle of the desert, then to the new hostel for shabbat preparation. We lit candles in a seperate room from dinner, sang songs, then went to eat. After dinner, the program participants all had a sing along, with half of the songs in hebrew, some in french, and some in english. it was awesome.

Saturday, we woke up for an amazing hike and to visit Ben Gurion’s grave. i split my jeans. had havdalah and candle lighting, more songs, and then went to an awesome dinner at a bedoin tent and had a drum circle that turned into a rave/dance party. The next day, Sunday, we had a really tough hike in Ein Ovdat that loooked just like the grand canyon but with some water falls. they stopped us to let us know what is going on in Sderot and Ashkelon, and i can assure everyone that I am still safe… the rockets that are now being launched out of Gaza are Qassam rockets, and so far, cannot reach further north of there. It is about 40 minutes south of Tel Aviv. After the hike, went to a legit bedoin village to a family’s hut for more tea and coffee. it was amazing. we visited an ashalim student village before coming to our new kibbutz where I am attending ul pan.

Yesterday I started ulpan (intensive Hebrew studies). It is ridiculously intense. not a word of english is spoken-and it is very overwhelming. i have class for 5 hours a day for the next 3 1/2 weeks, plus a lot of homework, but it will be great. we had a free afternoon yesterday, so I hopped on a bus for Tel Aviv to take care of some phone issues and meet an Israeli friend for dinner. Had a great dinner, came back to the hostel, played some basketball, and went to sleep to do it all over again this morning for school!

A quick note, the kibbutz i’m on , Kibbutz Harel is just like being at camp. We all have cabins, I’m staying with 3 other girls in a room the size of my closet at home, but its great. We eat all together in the mess hall, and we’re in a beautiful, woodsy area, and the weather has been great.