Middle East 08

since my last email, work continues to rock.  The president of my Nepali Women’s Voice group teamed up with another friend of mine, Bhuvan, and have created their own magazine, almost all in Nepali, except for the articles by yours truly. So, that was great news for me, my group, and of course, my new friends.  Since my last blog installment, I’ve had a couple of articles published. Not earth-shattering news, but words that people other than my mother and father read.  Unfortunately, none of these publications are on the internet.

Last Saturday was the beginning of the Passover holiday here in Israel, and for Jews around the world. In short, for those not in the gang, Passover celebrates the Israelites exile from Egypt, and is commemorated with a traditional seder meal using certain foods to represent the hardships that the Jews endured. It is, in fact, a very happy holiday – celebrated with lots of songs, food, and a whole week off of work (unless you’re me and work with the foreign community). The weekend before Passover, I attended a seder for the foreign community held at a local temple.  Like many of the events I attend, there were a couple of dance and song performances by kids of membersof the organization I volunteer for. there was also an abbreviated seder, and a handful of speeches, the best by an African immigrant who feels especially close to Israel during Passover because of the likeness of his story here.  The seder was great, the kids were awesome as usual, and the guests were friendly and a real pleasure to meet. I met one woman from the Phillipines who I am now giving private computer lessons to.

 The weather has been great, although very hot here.. which leaves a lot of beach time. No complaints here though. The majority of my work is done at night, and out of the office, so the days are great!  Last week I attended a seminar here in Tel Aviv about the Ethiopian Aliyah, which was incredibly interested.  We had an American who was a soldier for the Israeli army come talk to us for part of it about his experience… 20 years ago he was flown to Sudan to lead 400 children to Israel. I was supposed to go to Egypt for a few days over the Passover break, but, because of some heightened security issues in Gaza, my plans were shattered.  So, I booked a last minute trip to Turkey with 15 other people from my program.  The trip was great – although it was a cruise. We sailed to the Turkish Riviera and visited a town called Alanya.  I have to interject here and say that i am anxious to see Istanbul, and much, much more of Turkey, but due to time and money constraints, this is what I did get to see…. So, the boat left Israel on Monday.  I took a bus to the Azrieli center where I hopped on a train to Haifa, walked to the port, and got on the ship.  We spent the night at sea, and arrived in the morning in Turkey.  I had signed up for the day’s excursion, which was a trip to a traditional Turkish Bath House.  IT WAS INCREDIBLE, although I have no pictures to show (sadly). So, we got to the bath house and got into bathing suits. there was an order in which the process was to be done. First, was 5 minutes in a sauna, followed by 5 minutes in a mentholated steam room. Next, a jump in a freezing pool, followed by the hot tub. Then, we entered this huge marble steam room with an enormous marble block in the middle, where everyone lined up lying down for a hot water massage by nice turkish men wearing mitts to exfoliate. Next was a “bubble rub down”.. followed by a trip to the igloo room to cool off, and this was all topped off with an oil massage. not a bad way to spend a day/ $20.  After the baths, I ventured into town with a few friends instead of going right to the boat.  Now, keep in mind, alanya is a port city(read:tourist) in a Muslim country.  They are aware when boats are coming in from Israel, so I was pretty on guard. However, everyone I met was nice and interesting. I stopped into a store and had a nicechat with my friend, Mustafa, whom, I believe, should run for office in Turkey.  Over some apple tea and nargila, he told me his beliefs about Turkey entering the UN, the “book” of Turkey, that does not outline a specific religion, although it is encouraged, and finally, his favorite thing to do, which is sit in his tiny shop and meet new people.  After that, I went back to the boat for dinner, followed by the midnight buffet, followed by a crazy night out on the town.. Alanya is like Mexico, where you walk down the street, and EVERYONE tries to lure you into their bar with free drink promises, music, flowers, anything… just to get you and your money into their bar. It worked for a few… but i returned to the boat for a nice night’s sleep.  The following day, a bunch of people from my group hired a private taxi for a tour. the excursion offered from the boat was all in Hebrew, so, this was a logical choice. We started the day with a long drive by Memet (our driver’s name) to a waterfall, followed by a tour of a crappy cave, and lastly a dissapointing castle. Not bad though…  After the tour, I went back into town.. got a decent shwarma from a nice man named MUSLEM. those turks.. very creative. back on the boat for sail around the riviera and back to the holy land.