Middle East 08

Today, we woke up, packed our trusty backpacks, grabbed some lunch, and walked to the bus station in Wadi Musa.  Now, this is truly the first time that I’m really frustrated about not having pictures postable on this blog. 

The bus station was a total joke. It wasn’t so much a station as it was a parking lot with signs in Arabic.  It is important to note that there is no bus schedule – the drivers arrive with the minibuses and wait until they’re filled before leaving.  We figured taking this public transportation would not only save us money, but would give us a chance to see even more of Jordan than we would if we had taken a taxi.  I’m confident that we would have seen exactly the same 3 hours of desert in a taxi, but possibly with air conditioning.  It was a trip.

We arrived in Amman around 5, walked around a little and looked for cheap places to stay. Decided on a nice little dive called the Concord or something cheesy.

We grabbed dinner at Al-something, where they had chicken rotisseries in the window.  We walked in, and immediately 30 men are staring at us. See, in Jordan, there are women out in the streets (definitely more so here, in Amman, than in Wadi Musa), but, they are completely covered up.  Knowing that this is an Arab country where women are viewed differently, I dressed modestly, a long skirt, hat,  and collared shirt, but I think these men are mesmirized by my ankles. So much for low self-esteem.

 Anyway, Amman is a huge city, the city is on the bottom of a huge hill, and the houses are on top. It’s nice.. you know, for an Arab city.  We passed signs today on the mini-bus for turn-offs for the Iraqi and Saudi Arabia border crossings. I had forgotten how close I really am.

 Don’t worry.. I won’t risk it.

Leaving the day after tomorrow for India, where the posts are sure to be more interesting and less frequent.

Today, we woke up at a ridiculous hour to go to Petra.  Petra is an ancient city built by the Nabateans, an ancient Arab tribe who came from the Arabian Peninsula.  The city is filled with enormous carved monuments, and is a 6 or 7 hour round trip hike.  The hike begins through As-Siq, an incredible 1200 meter long, deep narrow gorge.  It has crazy geological formations, colourful rocks, water channels cut into cliffs, and dams.  Through As-Siq brings you to Al-Khazneh (the Treasury) – this is where one of the Indiana Jones movies was filmed.  Words can’t describe how enormous all of the monuments are, and, unfortunately, I still can’t upload pictures to show it.. 

I’ll skip the rest of the monuments except for the final one; Ad-Deir, the Monastery.  It’s set on top of 800 stairs cut into the rock, with incredible views on the way up.  It’s huge in size and is beautifully awesome.

 Okay, so throughout the entire hike, all of the Bedoins and children are offering “Donkey Ferraris” , or Taxis (horses or camels). It’s really cute, and exhausting.

 That said, that is my installment. I’m leaving on the public bus tomorrow morning for Amman, which should be ridiculously hot, and hopefully provide me with an internet connection strong enough for me to upload pictures.

Jordan is pretty crazy.  We stayed in Eilat last night for one more night of attempted debauchery (I’m too old) and crossed the border this morning at 8am into Jordan.  I think there should be a Saturday Night Live skit about border crossings here. It was similar to that of Egypt, where, in the span of less than 1 city block, I was asked for my passport 14 times, by 9 different people – yet, they barely glanced at the huge backpack I carried in from Israel.  

 So, once in the country of Jordan, we went through the standard of negotiating a price for the 2 hour taxi ride to the Petra area.  Really lucked out with the driver – a nice Jordanian man, Hatem, who lived in.. wait for it… Nashville for 20 years.  Anyways, his English was better than mine, and he told us a lot about Jordan, the Middle East, and Country Music.  We stopped once for water and vine leave flavored Lays potato chips – pictures of my stellar breakfast to come.

 We got dropped off in Wadi Musa, at the top of the hill down to Petra, which we are hiking at 6am tomorrow to escape some of the heat – or at least try to.

Like the taxi negotiation, hostel neg’s are equally fun. We were pretty beat by the time we got here, so got the guy at the first hostel down to 15 dinar for the two of us, and settled in.  Our room has two wooden planks for beds, a “shower”, no hint of air conditioning, and a television with over 300 channels, 297 of which are in Arabic. So, we indulged in some Arab infomercials and soap operas before setting out for a long walk.

It is nighttime now, I’m sitting on the second floor of an internet cafe with a stellar view of men, goats, and rocks.  The call to prayer is obscenely loud, and it’s about time for some more Middle Eastern food for dinner (as if I haven’t had enough in the past 5 1/2 months), and then bed. 

 Will hopefully figure out the picture issue and have some real winning photos from Petra tomorrow.

I have resolved to be better about writing these.. I spent this past week on the Sinai Peninsula. For those of you who don’t know, the Sinai Peninsula used to be part of Israel, but was overtaken.  In 1979,  Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in which Israel agreed to transfer all control over Sinai to Egypt, despite the fact that they had recently found oil reserves in Sinai.  Subsequently Israel pulled out of Sinai in several stages, ending in 1982.

Because of a series of bombings in Sinai over the past few years, Israel for the most part no longer visit. It’s unfortunate, because it’s absolutely gorgeous, incredibly relaxing, and unheard of inexpensive. Ironically, the day that I left, a warning was issued for the entire Peninsula, mainly the East coast (where I was), because of some recent kidnappings.

Here is the alert:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1002388.html

So Sinai – there isn’t a ton to do, except relax. That is, after finally crossing the border. Both sides (Israel and Egypt) are weary of anyone crossing, and it’s double-frustrating because there is now only one pass through open (the other is in Gaza). Once I arrived on in Egypt territory, my backpack was searched extensively. The guy checking my bag found an “In Touch” magazine that a friend brought me from the US last week. He looked through the entire magazine, then called over 2 other guards to look specifically at one picture. I wanted them to just confiscate the mag, but eventually they gave it back. I took note of the page they were so concerned with and looked after I was deemed safe. It was a picture for an allergy medication of a dog walking with an 8 pound bag on his back. Go figure.

So, last Thursday, I took an 8am express bus from Tel Aviv to Eilat. It took about 4 and half hours to get down to Eilat, then another bus from the station to the Taba border, then an hour and a half to cross the border, then finally, haggled a cab from there to Dahab (another 2 hours), and finally got to our destination. Upon arrival, it’s very confusing.. there is a main road, and then one “street” over is the water. Dahab is located on the Gulf of Aqaba – the part of the Red Sea that separates Egypt from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was shockingly close. Anyway, the “boardwalk” next to the water is filled with Bedoin Cafes. There are tables, which no one chooses to sit at, and tons of Bedoin style seating – rugs on the floor with huge pillows to lean on. Across from every café is a guest house of sorts and a dive center. Each offering the same up front prices, but after haggling everything is drastically different from one place to the> next.

Anyway, the first night settled on a place called the Diver’s House, for about 5 bucks a piece. A pretty nice room – considering. The food is pretty much the same at every place, and is pretty good. Every day I got the “Egyptian Breakfast”, which was around 13LE (Egyptian pounds, which were 5.3 to the dollar). It was a very cheap week I spent in Dahab. Time escapes there, I was supposed to go to Sharm El Sheik, but was enjoying my time so much in Dahab that I couldn’t be bothered to leave. I’m now trying to return after the India – Jordan leg of my trip. So, the majority of my time was spent relaxing – no Foreign workers, no Israeli babies, no Israeli’s period.

It was a vacation I didn’t think I deserved, but really did enjoy.

> My two big things were snorkeling and hiking. One day we took a jeep ride to an area called the Blue Hole, stopping in Asilah on the way, which I thought I wanted to stay at, but am glad that I didn’t. The Blue Hole is fantastic snorkeling, and we had a guide who didn’t think we saw enough, so took us on foot another mile past the Blue Hole to an area where there was NO ONE but us, the camels, and the fish. It was incredible and beautiful (and about 3 bucks).

My absolute favorite thing that I did was Monday night. We got picked up at 11:30pm and drove an hour and a half with a bunch of Egyptian kids in Med School to Mount Sinai. There, we got a bedoin guide and started to hike Mount Sinai. Here’s the thing about taking these trips – people conveniently leave out important information such as “bring a flashlight, it’s dangerous, it’s 6 kilometers, it’s freezing at the top, hiking shoes are a must”. So anyway, it was crazy. After about 2 and a half miles (up, at a steep incline, and no path – remember this is IN THE PITCH BLACK), one of the Egyptian Med students admits to speaking English and tells us that we still had halfway to go plus 700 stairs. It was unbelievable. We finally got to the top in time for sunrise. Words can’t describe how absolutely incredible it was. After hiking for 5 and a half hours in the dark, to see what we hiked through, and the sheer beauty of it is indescribable. So I won’t try.

Here is a history lesson: According to Bedouin tradition, this is the mountain where God gave laws to the Israelites (the Ten Commandments). It’s 2285 meters tall, and, in classical rabbinical literature, Mount Sinai became synonymous with holiness.

So after hiking the 2 and a half hours down, we went to tour Saint
Catherine’s Monastery and to see the burning bush. It’s no longer burning.

> Okay, one more thing about these Bedoin cafes. There are CONSTANTLY little Egyptian girls coming to the table, sitting down, and throwing handmade bracelets at you (both males and females). Their sales pitch is “buy one”. They are amazing.. They have a rebuttal for EVERY excuse (I’m currently wearing 3 bracelets). They’re cute, playful, and fun to haggle with, and to be honest, they kick those chiclet wielding kid’s butts.

A few days before I left, I took a group of 26 Filipinos and their children to Ramat Gan to a zoo safari. We had a bus that my organization paid for, and had a picnic dinner after. The safari was really cool – the first part of it is in the car. I’d heard about these places where you go in your car and the animals come up to the car. They didn’t so much come up to the car, but it was cool to see the animals running freely and to be relatively close. After that portion is a regular zoo. Very fun, and the kids enjoyed it very much. I will have a link to those pictures in the next highly anticipated Jamie update (I’m not on my computer)

> If anyone is interested, here is the link to some of my the pictures from
> Sinai.

> http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=135164&l=28a2a&id=882065248

> Something I forgot to mention in my last update was a trip I took to the West Bank. The West Bank is a landlocked territory on the west bank of the Jordan River in the Middle East. To the west, north, and south the West Bank shares borders with mainland Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the country of Jordan. The West Bank also contains a significant coast line along the western bank of the Dead Sea. Since 1967 most of the West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation.

Prior to the First World War, the area now known as the West Bank was under Ottoman rule as part of the province of Syria. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War saw the establishment of Israel in parts of the former Mandate, while the West Bank was captured and annexed by Jordan, who destroyed any existing Jewish villages. The West Bank was captured by Israel during the Six-Day War. With the exception of EastJerusalem, the West Bank was not annexed by Israel. Most of the residents are Arabs, although a large number of Israeli settlements have been built in the region since 1967.

> We went to a couple of different neighborhoods “inside the green line”. We learned about life there, how some streets Israeli’s drive on they are constantly pelted with rocks, but choose to live there because it’s still a nice life. Also, we went to a Haredineighborhood, the largest in Israel, called Beit Ilit. This is for the ultra ultra orthodox, as no one else would feel comfortable. The average family has something like 13 kids. It was a different experience to say the least. The point of the trip was really to see how many different groups of people are currently living in the West Bank, and to see how beautiful it is. It’s beautiful, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to live there.

TODAY, Israel traded Hezbollah members for the bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, 2 Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah years ago. Here is the article so I don’t mess it up… as of now, they are still confirming that the bodies they received are in fact these two individuals.

> http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g_1sNh-s2y5awFnfghf9Hpbo-uRA.

Okay, I checked again before sending and it was confirmed. this is a better article:

> http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/16/2305933.htm

> Luckily I was babysitting and got to watch it on the news..

 You know how sometimes you get really, really into something, and are dilligent for a while, and then forget about it, life takes over, you fall behind, but still think about it… but it seems like you have neglected it for too long to start up again? That’s how I feel about these updates..

 So much has happened in the past month and a half that i don’t really know where to begin.  I’ll break it down;

 1. My parents and brother came for a FABULOUS week.  We spent quality time in Tel Aviv and Jaffa, and they went to Jerusalem for a day as well.  Toward the end, we went to Haifa, Acco, and Tsfat for a fun filled day as well. It was inexplicably incredible to see them.

 2.  I have taken some more trips – 1 up to the Golan Heights, for a
 lot of hiking and rafting on the Jordan River.  I also went down south a few times, and also to the Kinneret.

 3.  I got the flu. Being sick in Israel is no fun – because of mytraveler’s insurance, it is impossible to do anything in a timely manner, like go to the doctor and get blood work done, dealing with Israelis is one thing; dealing with Israeli Insurance Agents is quite another.  I’m feeling better, although still lethargic, and waiting to find out where in this country I am allowed to get my blood taken.

 4.  I turned 27. Had a great weekend with friends here – celebrated on the beach with my entire program and some other local friends.

 5. Work is still fantastic. I’m not sure what I’ve discussed in past emails, but I completed teaching one course, and am currently in the middle of my second course, this one at the Phillipine Embassy.  I am doing one more for the African community here later in the month.

 6.  I organized and took a trip with 45 ridiculously fun Nepali women\ (and 2 Nepali men) to Mini Israel, which is technically a small town here, but all that it is is a small model of the entire country.  Small enough that you can see it in a day, but big enough that you need a guide and 4 hours to get through the whole thing.

 7.  I have been babysitting an exhorbitant amount – which is good for the wallet,  but also exhausting.  I have 3 families that I babysit
 for – 1 has a baby (9 months) and a 4 1/2 year old terror, I mean child; both other families have 8 month old girls.  In addition, it’s customary here for babysitters to also do housework, so, I’m really putting that Bachelor of Arts in Communications to good use.  it’s not
 bad.. just folding laundry and doing dishes, but, needless to say,it’s hourly, and it’s not a lot per hour.

 8.  I continue to write for the magazines and newspapers, I have articles in 5 publications, usually in every issue. Each publication comes out at different times, one is bi-monthly, one weekly, one monthly, etc. So, it’s fun to see them all the time.

 9.  I just realized I’m numbering these and I have no idea why.

 10.  I booked a flight to India!! I’m going to Jordan for a few days at the beginning of August, and flying from there to India for 6 weeks. I’m going to try to make it to nepal as well, to stay with some of my new friend’s families, but, will see how time permits. It’s the height of monsoon season, so I will be “flying by the seat of my pants” upon arrival as to where I go.

 11. Sadly, I have also booked my flight home… I’ll be back in the U.S. September 22nd. No guarantees on how long (at least for the 2
 weddings I’m going home for)…

 12.  I’m trying to book a trip to Egypt within the next 2 weeks. I need to leave and re-enter the country before the 24th, as my visa is
 expiring, but, the India Embassy has my passport right now with no guarantees when I’ll get it back.. So, stay tuned on that one.  if anyone gets a call from the immigration police, you don’t know me.

Cheers! JaMIE

 I spent another day in Jerusalem at the Jewish Agency, learning about the two holidays here in Israel this week.  In addition, I got to see a movie that was done very intimately depicting a family who’s young son is missing after a bomb exploded at his bus stop while he was on the way to his base. Tuesday at 7pm began Yom Haatzmut; the official Memorial Day for fallen Soldiers (as opposed to Holocaust Rememberence Day, Yom HaShoah, last week).  At 7pm, everything in all of Israel shuts down,there is another siren signalling everyone to freeze for 1 minute; same drill, cars stop in the middle of the road, people freeze, life stops.  We went to Kikar Rabin for the event.  There were thousands of people gathered at the square (Kikar Rabin is the memorial for Yizhak).  There were performances of all sad songs, ones that we learned about at the Jewish Agency,  huge screens showing people talking about loved ones they’ve lost, and a real feeling of togetherness.  At 11am Wednesday, a 2 minute siren signalled the end of Yom Haatzmut, and the beginning of Yom Hazikaron.  Below is a link..

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgFaxP0Xx7U&feature=related

 Yom Hazikaron in Israel is the equivalent of the 4th of July.

 However, Israeli’s are so incredibly proud of their country and independence, that they take it to a whole new level.  This year is Israel’s 60th birthday.  I have no idea how this compared to the 59th, but, holy sh*t.  I though Israeli’s were crazy before.  Last night, I went to a barbecue on a rooftop, 1 or 100 that I had heard about.  From there, we could see the fireworks and lazer show at the beach.

 There were again, crazy performances going on at Kikar Rabin.  After the barbecue, we stopped by a couple of places of friends on the way to an area of the city called Florentine.  Florentine last night had the makings of disaster.  I imagine its like the running of the bulls in Pamplona.  I’ll be uploading videos later of the craziness that happened. there were thousands of people in the streets, everywhere, people dancing on cars, concerts everywhere; it was total mayhem.  fun mayhem.  I danced with a crazy sect of Nachman Jews.  Good times by all.

 Today, there is an air show down at the beach, parties all along the coast, and the party continues through the day.  The air show was awesome.. until one parachuter misread the wind and ended up injuring a bunch of people.  But, the beach was fun, tons of people, all very proud of their Air Force and their Country.  Its a much different feeling here than the 4th of July in the States.

 School was off for the week, and, the woman I had been babysitting for got fired, so I’m out of that job.  Tonight is Shabbat; I’m once again having a big potluck Shabbat on the roof of our apartment and taking it easy after that because I have a lot of work to do for the coming week.  One of my women from my Nepali Women’s Group was invited to speak at a Human Trafficking Seminar on Tuesday in Haifa, so I’m going to accompany her up there and then rush back to make it back to ulpan!

Everything else is good. i hope everyone had good weeks~ a shout out
 to all of the Mommies on the list – HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!!!!!

This isn’t a terribly exciting update, so below is an outline of the
 contents (in case you want to skip the super boring parts)

 1. Complaining
 2. Israeli Memorial Day and my day in Jerusalem
 3. Plagarized Jewish stuff
 4. Bragging
 5. Hebrew School Stuff
 6. Empty Promises

 1.  I mentioned in my last email that I was feeling pretty sick since my return from Turkey. The sea-legs didn’t go away until yesterday,  which was weird because I was only on the boat for a couple of days. And, my cold, or bronchitis, or whatever was wrong with me, was awful
 this week.  Lots of oranges purchased at the shuk… But, alas, today I’m feeling like myself again and even treated myself to a morning at the beach.
2.  This past Wednesday, my program had a program to commemorate Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Rememberence Day. We toured the gardens of Yad Vashem, then went to Mount Herzel, the cemetary of fallen soldiers.  After a little free time, we went to a play about some court jestersduring the Holocaust. It was awful. As they say in Hebrew, “nap-time”.
3.  In the early 1950s, education about the Holocaust (Shoah, meaning catastrophe, in Hebrew) emphasized the suffering inflicted on millions of European Jews by the Nazis. Surveys conducted in the late 1950s indicated that young Israelis did not sympathize with the victims of the Holocaust, since they believed that European Jews were “led like sheep for slaughter.” The Israeli educational curriculum began to shift the emphasis to documenting how Jews resisted their Nazi tormentors through “passive resistance” – retaining their human dignity in the most unbearable conditions – and by “active resistance,” fighting the Nazis in the ghettos and joining underground partisans who fought the Third Reich in its occupied countries.

 (Not plagarized Jew Stuff)

 The next day, the actual day of rememberance, at 10AM i went up to the roof to watch the siren that sounds.  Since the early 1960s, the sound of a siren on Yom Hashoah stops traffic and pedestrians throughout the State of Israel for two minutes of silence.  Every single person walking on the street freezes, cars pull over suddenly and the drivers and passengers all get out, and people in office buildings all go stand at their windows.  It’s absolutely incredible.  Quite different from our Memorial Day in the U.S.  All radio programs during this day are connected in one way or another with the Jewish destiny in World War II, including personal interviews with survivors. Restaurants, movie theaters, all stores, and even the kiosks are all closed.

4. Thursday, I was woken up my volunteer coordinator who received a copy of a new publication that I’m in called Zarim. The editor, whom I met a few weeks ago, put my article first, and included all of the pictures I submitted, and included an editor’s note about me and my experience here in Israel.  It was exciting news, not only to be in a brand new publication (I’m going to the launch party tonight), but also to have the first article. I also found out that I got into another magazine that I’ve been submitting articles to for a few weeks; they finally published me!  And, I had two articles in the main magazine that I’ve been writing for. A big week in the Jamie Swartz Foreign Literary World.  Wednesday I also had a meeting at the Filipino Embassy about the business class I’m teaching; and am currently looking for outside speakers to come and discuss starting one’s own business, being one’s own boss, and basically anything so that the students don’t have to listen to me the entire time.

5.  Thursday night, I started ulpan (Hebrew School) again.  Because its not a part of my program, it extra and out of the way, but I’m really excited about it.  My class is basically all adults from all over the world, and I’m the youngest by a couple years, which is nice. And, a lot of them read my publications! There are a handful of people from Singapore, Turkey, Germany, and Switzerland. And a woman from Australia who thought I looked familiar. Odd. So, school was great; I’m excited to learn some more.  It’s also about 2 miles away, which is a nice walk while it’s still relatively nice out. That’s about it… I’m going to the big magazine launch party, and tomorrow it’s back to my Nepali Women Voice Group.

 6. Due to the overwhelming response from my last email; I have been taking my camera more places, and do intend to send an album of more pictures around Tel Aviv.. As opposed to just the nightlife (Which I’ve been abstaining from due to said sickness for tose lazy’s that skipped portion #1 of this email). So, expect some real touristy pictures coming your way in the near future.

 Okay, over and out, have to get ready for the big magazine launch.  know those Thai’s are all bringing pens for me, the featured author’s
 autograph. I’ve been practicing for days.

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.

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.