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 .