Hey world. Yes, I am still alive. Although its been about two weeks since I’ve even looked at this thing, I have been threatening to actually write something on it for, hmm, two weeks. And while in some cases it’s the thought that counts, I guess you can’t all read my mind and be here with me to experience alongside what I tell you about in my blogs. I know this blog started out with posts every day since I got here, but as it usually happens, things have slowed down a bit. The traveling once, twice or even three times a week has definitely been reduced and working is back to a normal schedule now that all of my days off, I mean… Jewish holidays, have come to an end. I hate to admit it but I don’t have much to update on. Daily life has really started to turn into routine during the week, with the occasional dinner outing after work, and weekends are usually spent with the same great group of people, attempting to get the most out of this city, and sometimes even the entire country as possible. Israel may only be the size of New Jersey but there really is a lot to do and find and see here, so yes, I do plan on trying my best to do so. I am even in the midst of planning a trip to Jordan to visit Petra, currently one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
I only realized a few days ago that I never mentioned my trip to Jerusalem for yet another (but, unfortunately one of the last) holidays of the month, Sukkot. My program hosted a potluck dinner under the Sukkah (a temporary hut/booth under the stars) for 70+ participants and their friends from all over the world. A group of us spent an incredible two days hanging out in the Sukkah, at friend’s apartments, wandering the quiet streets- only filled with the LOUD singing of others enjoying their Sukkot holidays with their families that we could hear from the streets. We ended the holiday with dinner at a kosher sushi restaurant and with ice cream, where we sat in the middle of a buzzing Ben Yehuda street, representing 5 different people from 5 different countries (Australia, America, France, Israel and Canada!) Perfection!!
This Friday is Halloween and we have convinced all of the non-Americans to celebrate with us so that should be quiet interesting. Any costume ideas would be greatly appreciated as, of course, I gave all of my ideas to my friends, being the nice fashion major friend that I am.
Shavua Tov- have a good week!
B’ahava ( With love),
Dani
Sunday 26 October 2008
Sunday 12 October 2008
Shana Tova Umetukah!
It seems like as good a time as any to update this thing, considering it’s another typical Sunday night in Ramat Aviv, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. The weekend has wound down, everyone’s pooped, Monday morning is so close I can smell the morning commute and I had grilled cheese (Israeli style) for dinner- definitely just another Sunday night. I took this weekend to let myself relax and just hang around the Ramat Aviv/Tel Aviv area for some low key enjoyment after the last few weeks of some hardcore exploring, celebrating and futzing around.
I guess I should start by wishing all parties involved a very big Shana Tovah and G’mar Chatima Tovah, basically a very happy Jewish New Year. May it be filled with sweetness, love and happiness. Like I think I have mentioned before, the month of October in Israel is full of celebrations of Jewish holidays, which are, unfortunately, almost coming to an end. The most recent holiday, and of course the most meaningful and widely observed was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and one of the holiest holidays on the Jewish calendar. Israelis do not take Yom Kippur lightly, as there are absolutely no cars on the road (it’s basically illegal, and in this year’s case started a riot on the streets of Acre), people walking and children riding bicycles in the middle of freeways. Apparently about 63% of Jewish Israelis take part in the 25 hour long fast. Surprisingly, Israelis consider Yom Kippur to be the holiday that most unifies the nation, edging out Independence Day. It is the only day of the year when all Israeli radio and TV broadcasts go off the air, the hottest nightclubs in Tel Aviv, open almost year round, close their doors, and the entire country basically shuts down. It was an extreme departure from the way I am used to spending my Yom Kippur at home (driving, wasting the day in between temple services watching TV and on the internet), as I decided that this year, it was all or nothing. I spent the holiday with some good friends, Merav and Michal and their family, at their house in Ashkelon, about an hour south of Tel Aviv. The few days were spent both eating too much at their grandparents house, and of course, not eating at all, sleeping to keep our minds off the fast (about the only thing that remained the same as my typical Yom Kippur in the states) and eating more, making up for those 25 hours of food withdrawal- leave it to the Jewish mothers. I decided that I would observe the holidays exactly as the family did which meant no light switches, no buttons, no tv or radio (not like there was anything on to watch anyways), no internet, no cell phones and especially no cars. We walked everywhere, including around the city with the rest of the residents, ALL dressed in white and out for what seemed like their yearly block party/ gossip party. I went to a synagogue modeled after an old South African one which was pretty ironic, and all in all, the holiday was a new and interesting experience, definitely worth doing at least once.
Now, I am back in Tel Aviv, spending lots of time on the beach at night (unfortunately only looking at it during the day time from my office) and loving every minute of this trip. Speaking of the beach, my favorite red shoes got swept up by a beach cleaner tractor the other night on the beach causing me to walk around barefoot for a while, so if you are in Israel and you see someone wearing red flat shoes with a bow, steal them! In other, happier news, I had my first falafel in Israel today, it took me 3 weeks to finally get one- but it was so worth the wait, and the extremely high price of 10 shekels ($2.75!!)- can’t beat that. Tomorrow night I will be celebrating yet another holiday, Sukkot, in Jerusalem with about 80 other Jewish Agency Interns from all over the world with a potluck dinner- should be an interesting array of international foods, so I guess that will provide for some good bloggage to come!
I’m taking requests for Hebrew words of the day but for now, I can very truthfully say: Ganvu li et ha na’ala’im!! (my shoes were stolen!!)
Love, peace, Israel
<3>
I guess I should start by wishing all parties involved a very big Shana Tovah and G’mar Chatima Tovah, basically a very happy Jewish New Year. May it be filled with sweetness, love and happiness. Like I think I have mentioned before, the month of October in Israel is full of celebrations of Jewish holidays, which are, unfortunately, almost coming to an end. The most recent holiday, and of course the most meaningful and widely observed was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and one of the holiest holidays on the Jewish calendar. Israelis do not take Yom Kippur lightly, as there are absolutely no cars on the road (it’s basically illegal, and in this year’s case started a riot on the streets of Acre), people walking and children riding bicycles in the middle of freeways. Apparently about 63% of Jewish Israelis take part in the 25 hour long fast. Surprisingly, Israelis consider Yom Kippur to be the holiday that most unifies the nation, edging out Independence Day. It is the only day of the year when all Israeli radio and TV broadcasts go off the air, the hottest nightclubs in Tel Aviv, open almost year round, close their doors, and the entire country basically shuts down. It was an extreme departure from the way I am used to spending my Yom Kippur at home (driving, wasting the day in between temple services watching TV and on the internet), as I decided that this year, it was all or nothing. I spent the holiday with some good friends, Merav and Michal and their family, at their house in Ashkelon, about an hour south of Tel Aviv. The few days were spent both eating too much at their grandparents house, and of course, not eating at all, sleeping to keep our minds off the fast (about the only thing that remained the same as my typical Yom Kippur in the states) and eating more, making up for those 25 hours of food withdrawal- leave it to the Jewish mothers. I decided that I would observe the holidays exactly as the family did which meant no light switches, no buttons, no tv or radio (not like there was anything on to watch anyways), no internet, no cell phones and especially no cars. We walked everywhere, including around the city with the rest of the residents, ALL dressed in white and out for what seemed like their yearly block party/ gossip party. I went to a synagogue modeled after an old South African one which was pretty ironic, and all in all, the holiday was a new and interesting experience, definitely worth doing at least once.
Now, I am back in Tel Aviv, spending lots of time on the beach at night (unfortunately only looking at it during the day time from my office) and loving every minute of this trip. Speaking of the beach, my favorite red shoes got swept up by a beach cleaner tractor the other night on the beach causing me to walk around barefoot for a while, so if you are in Israel and you see someone wearing red flat shoes with a bow, steal them! In other, happier news, I had my first falafel in Israel today, it took me 3 weeks to finally get one- but it was so worth the wait, and the extremely high price of 10 shekels ($2.75!!)- can’t beat that. Tomorrow night I will be celebrating yet another holiday, Sukkot, in Jerusalem with about 80 other Jewish Agency Interns from all over the world with a potluck dinner- should be an interesting array of international foods, so I guess that will provide for some good bloggage to come!
I’m taking requests for Hebrew words of the day but for now, I can very truthfully say: Ganvu li et ha na’ala’im!! (my shoes were stolen!!)
Love, peace, Israel
<3>
Sunday 5 October 2008
Chai Life
Dear Blog,
Remember me? I know it’s been a while but I have just been too busy to talk lately and that just means I have a lot to tell you so let’s get to the point. I won’t go into every little detail but I think it’s sufficient to say that the last two weeks have been quite a hectic (but perfect) two weeks. So far, I have visited family and friends just outside of Jerusalem and in Zichron Ya’acov, also up north to celebrate Rosh Hashana with the cousins. I cannot tell you how many public busses I have taken in the last weeks but they have definitely served me well, and because Israel is so small, it’s usually no farther than a few hours to a whole other world. Everywhere in Israel is unlike the last. One minute you are in a winery town overlooking both the beautiful mountains and the ocean and the next you are in Jerusalem, probably one of the most beautiful cities to drive into, with all of the white Jerusalem stone and the melting pot of inhabitants… and of course there’s Tel Aviv, my place of work and play. I have been trying to make an effort to see all sides of Tel Aviv. Last week, my programs directors (for the internship program) organized a tour of Jaffa, a beautiful old port city equally influenced by Jewish and Arabic culture from both the past and today, and after the walking tour, a dinner with 40+ other participants of the programs from all over the map (England, South Africa, India, Australia, France, US, and more)! It was a really great way to start meeting people in the same boat as me so soon after I got here, and I have already spent a good amount of time with these people since.
I’ve gotten to see a few old friends, some still in the army and some finished. It is so interesting to see how they’ve changed so much in the last year from their experiences both in the army and preparing for it. Their lives are so different to those of 20 year old Americans studying in college. The other day, an old friend, Itai, came to my apartment for lunch. He arrived in uniform, with his weapons in tow, placed it on the floor like it was his backpack that he is so used to having with him at all times, and while we were eating lunch, I kept glancing over at it not being able to get over the difference of life here. The Army is such a huge part of it all and I think that plays a huge roll in the maturity and mindset of the people here.
So far, work is still good, taking into consideration the days off I’ve already gotten for the Jewish holidays- Israel basically takes the entire month of October off for all of the Holidays. Even though many of the jews are secular here, everyone wishes each other a “Chag Sameach” ( a happy holiday) or a “Shana Tova” (A good year, for the Jewish New Year)- even on the radios and TV. It’s awesome to see the entire country get ready for the same holidays together and then really take those days to relax and spend time with family with no cars or busses on the roads and not too much going on in the cities.
I was told that what you spend your holiday of Rosh Hashana doing, you will be doing the same thing all year. If that holds true, and if the rest of my three months here goes the way the first two weeks have, I will be a very happy Israeli tourist/semi resident here and will come away with friends from all over the world, with all sorts of interests, and a hundreds of pictures to prove it all.
No Hebrew word of the day today, but instead a “fun” fact I learned the other night on our Jaffa tour…
Did you know that only one book has been distributed in more copies than the bible. Which one? The Ikea catalog. Now that’s a sad sign of the times.
Ok, Enough of this blabber. Time to get some quality sleep in! I promise I won’t neglect you anymore, blog.
Love,
Me
And p.s…. In case you're interested, I finally registered to vote for this coming presidential election. When Israeli’s were more interested in them than I was, I decided I better get myself educated and interested really quickly with elections less than a month away! If you are interested in a very “politics for dummies” version of where the candidates stand, something I’ve been looking for for a very long time, www.greybirdfoundation.org .
Remember me? I know it’s been a while but I have just been too busy to talk lately and that just means I have a lot to tell you so let’s get to the point. I won’t go into every little detail but I think it’s sufficient to say that the last two weeks have been quite a hectic (but perfect) two weeks. So far, I have visited family and friends just outside of Jerusalem and in Zichron Ya’acov, also up north to celebrate Rosh Hashana with the cousins. I cannot tell you how many public busses I have taken in the last weeks but they have definitely served me well, and because Israel is so small, it’s usually no farther than a few hours to a whole other world. Everywhere in Israel is unlike the last. One minute you are in a winery town overlooking both the beautiful mountains and the ocean and the next you are in Jerusalem, probably one of the most beautiful cities to drive into, with all of the white Jerusalem stone and the melting pot of inhabitants… and of course there’s Tel Aviv, my place of work and play. I have been trying to make an effort to see all sides of Tel Aviv. Last week, my programs directors (for the internship program) organized a tour of Jaffa, a beautiful old port city equally influenced by Jewish and Arabic culture from both the past and today, and after the walking tour, a dinner with 40+ other participants of the programs from all over the map (England, South Africa, India, Australia, France, US, and more)! It was a really great way to start meeting people in the same boat as me so soon after I got here, and I have already spent a good amount of time with these people since.
I’ve gotten to see a few old friends, some still in the army and some finished. It is so interesting to see how they’ve changed so much in the last year from their experiences both in the army and preparing for it. Their lives are so different to those of 20 year old Americans studying in college. The other day, an old friend, Itai, came to my apartment for lunch. He arrived in uniform, with his weapons in tow, placed it on the floor like it was his backpack that he is so used to having with him at all times, and while we were eating lunch, I kept glancing over at it not being able to get over the difference of life here. The Army is such a huge part of it all and I think that plays a huge roll in the maturity and mindset of the people here.
So far, work is still good, taking into consideration the days off I’ve already gotten for the Jewish holidays- Israel basically takes the entire month of October off for all of the Holidays. Even though many of the jews are secular here, everyone wishes each other a “Chag Sameach” ( a happy holiday) or a “Shana Tova” (A good year, for the Jewish New Year)- even on the radios and TV. It’s awesome to see the entire country get ready for the same holidays together and then really take those days to relax and spend time with family with no cars or busses on the roads and not too much going on in the cities.
I was told that what you spend your holiday of Rosh Hashana doing, you will be doing the same thing all year. If that holds true, and if the rest of my three months here goes the way the first two weeks have, I will be a very happy Israeli tourist/semi resident here and will come away with friends from all over the world, with all sorts of interests, and a hundreds of pictures to prove it all.
No Hebrew word of the day today, but instead a “fun” fact I learned the other night on our Jaffa tour…
Did you know that only one book has been distributed in more copies than the bible. Which one? The Ikea catalog. Now that’s a sad sign of the times.
Ok, Enough of this blabber. Time to get some quality sleep in! I promise I won’t neglect you anymore, blog.
Love,
Me
And p.s…. In case you're interested, I finally registered to vote for this coming presidential election. When Israeli’s were more interested in them than I was, I decided I better get myself educated and interested really quickly with elections less than a month away! If you are interested in a very “politics for dummies” version of where the candidates stand, something I’ve been looking for for a very long time, www.greybirdfoundation.org .
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