Dialogue in the dark

who would have thought that there was snow in israel? well there is...sort of. At the very top of the hightest mountain in Israel there is a little snow. My israeli friend on the program put it the best way, he my friend jamie and i were talking and he was telling us about the snow in Mount Hermon, he asked her 'where are you from?' 'North Carolina' she said. 'ohhh there's TONS of snow in the Hermon, Steph you're from Baltimore right?' i said yes

...'yah there's no snow...' So seeing as most of the people reading this are probably from Baltimore- or maybe a few from out west in Idaho :-D, you get the idea of how much snow there was. Still, to a bunch of excited 18 and 19 year olds- it doesn't matter. 

Saturday we traveled 4 hours up north to the Hermon (Mount Hermon). A 4 hour drive in the state to a mountain isn't considered too ridiculous of a drive- for the small country of Israel- well let's just say we stopped 4 times to get off the bus for a break in our 4 hour drive. I think with adapting to the cultures and lifestyles here, my bladder has also shrunken in my attempts to be more like the Israeli people. The Hermon was a lot of fun- after we went to see an old Fort- Nimrod's Fort with a lot of history in it. Then we all went and had a BBQ. The part that was the most interesting to me was driving up to the Hermon- when we got close we were soo far up north, close to Syria. As we drove through the towns I almost felt like I wasn't even in Israel anymore, but still I looked around at the signs in hebrew and knew that I was, but only a few Kilometers away was only arabic. I felt like way up north where we were near the Hermon was like the remote places in the States that people sort of forget- like Iowa, New Mexico, Driggs Idaho--:). I also felt the same about the remote location of the Hermon as I do about the remote locations in the U.S.- they are the hidden jewels- the most beautiful and pure locations of the country. 

This week has been a normal week of work and class. Had a test in Hebrew on Monday which I believe went very well- we will see the result though. Tuesday we had a mandatory all day seminar. The seminar basically explained that when we returned to our college campuses in the states how to deal with the people who are anti-israel. It got very repetitive and personally even if i do agree with the things that the speakers were saying seeing as I am of course a supporter of Israel, I'm not a fan of the "brain-washing Zionism" although some great points were made and i do feel like i learned a lot. The climax of the day was in the end- the head of one of the organizations leading my program brought in an old friend from College who was a Jew and supporter of Palestinians. We sat there for 30 minutes while he explained how Israel is a terrorist state and why he supports the Palestinians. 

Everyone has their own way of dealing with things. Some people left the room, some people got very very emotionally upset and you could see it physically, some people yelled out and were disrespectful. I am a firm believer in "once you 'lose it' you lose the argument". So i sat and paid my respects and listened to the points and only calmly argued with him, never raising my voice. As his time was up he surprised us all my telling us that he in-fact is a Zionist and does this type of thing often in order to give students like us an idea of the people we'll face in life. As much and i'm not sure whether or not I agree with the whole deceiving fake presentation, it definitely gave me a scary idea of the people i hopefully won't have to face- but may. I also realized something about myself- i'm not so much of a fighter because i know that my opinion won't change as won't other peoples, all we can do is move on a look to the future.

This brings me to my experiences today. This morning was amazing- as I was awoken very early for something that I voluntarily signed up for I asked myself- "why did I decide to do this!?" I got on the bus and headed to my destination. Got a little lost on the way- of course. My friends and I that signed up arrived around 8 A.M. to the Blind and Deaf museum. We were taken in, put our bags away, anything that could produce any light. Then we were taken into a dark hallway where we met- and when i say met i mean heard the voice of, our tour guide for the morning. Liran, who was blind himself, took us for a 1 and a half hour, as they call it "dialogue in the dark". It was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of you- in fact once i decided to test myself- i put my hand in front of my face and slowly moved it toward my face to see when i would be able to see it, well what i saw didn't change, but i did to my surprise soon felt my hand hit my face. 

On the tour we were taught to use our other senses. We went into one room that was like a rain-forest- the reason i know this is because of the sounds of the birds and animals I heard, the smell and feeling of the misty air, the feeling of the trees and water from the waterfall. After and hour and a half of going through rain-forests, going on motor boats, going through markets and into a music room we had lunch in the dark. I went to the counter, ordered, paid and ate in the dark. We all sat around and talked with Liran, a man who 3 years ago went from having full eyesight to none whatsoever in no longer than a week. This is where my idea of moving on and not fighting was reinforced. Someone posed him with the question, do you remember what people look like? And when you meet new people do you imagine what they look like? He explained, yes of course i still have a little memory of what people look like, but i try not to. Part of adapting to my new life is moving on, and if i sit and imagine things from my old life, how am i supposed to move on. No, i don't think about what people look like, I'm moving on. 

Niran was truly inspiring- he explained that within 3 months of his new condition he was back to living independently, cooking and cleaning on his own. He explained how he is even also an english teacher at a public high school, and how he deals with his students in different ways because of his "minor limitations". 

A little bit of America in Israel

It's been a crazy week. 

On Sunday night for the ravens game some friends and i went to the American Sports bar, Mike's Place. Well the game here didn't start until 1 30 A.M....needless to say I walked out of the place sadly around 5 A.M. Two nights later I was back at Mike's for the inauguration- it is the only public place that really broadcasts all important american events. There were some reporters there from NBC and a bunch of israeli reporters recording and taking pictures of our reactions. It was very interesting being all the way over here in Israel and being surrounded by Americans all watching the same screen. When he was sworn in everyone started clapping and cheering. It was great to witness such a historic event, even if i was half way across the world from it. Obama's speech was great and my personally favorite line- especially after having lived here in Israel I would say was "Your country will judge you by what you build, not what you destroy." 

 

Last night was great. Some friends and I went to a dance show here in Israel. The concept of the show was very interesting. We walked in and the stage was elevated above us. The stage itself is filled with holes and we- the audience stand under the stage and pop our heads up through those holes. It was hilarious when we first did- all you saw was your friends little heads popping up as if everyone was decapitated. It was truly and interesting perspective of the show. At times the dancers got right up in your face and looked right at you (by the way everyone had two metal bars around the head to protect you). Towards the end we moved and sat in front of the stage. Although as I said it was elevated so sitting you couldn't really see the top of the stage- instead we watched the dancers weave in and out of the holes in the stage- the things they did with those holes and that stage were ridiculous. The show was all about relationships and it was very moving. 

This evening some friends and I went into Tel-Aviv to see a movie- Slumdog Millionaire- it was verrrrry good. We all really enjoyed ourselves. Heading home something happened that made me laugh. In the cab home my friend who is going through a tough time turned to me and said "isn't it ironic when the song that happens to be on the radio seems to be telling you everything you need to hear?" The song was fitting for her situation and was seeming to give her the 'pick-me-up' she needed. We both started smiling. At that exact moment the cab driver changed the station to some horrible childrens music, or something we're not quite sure what it was. My roommate and I just burst out laughing. It was as if we were in a movie and in the moment where the character seems to find resolution, and then the driver switched us [literally] back into reality. It almost reminds me of Israel, there are great times of peace, but reality will come back and each time Israel will defend herself. 

Tomorrow a group of us are heading wayyyyy up north to Mount Hermon- pretty much the only mountain in this little country that has snow, it should be a good time. 

- Goodnight all- Steph

"ani metnadevet"

So, I am just getting to write in this thing because I have not been back in my regular routine since i got back to Israel until now.

When the situation with Gaza broke out, a branch of the I.D.F. called "Sar-El" contacted Young Judaea Year Course (my program that i'm currently on). "Sar-El" is basically a program for volunteers from around the world to come work on an army base for however much time they'd like (one week minimum). Sar-El has worked with my program before and with the situation in Gaza they asked for some volunteers as they were really needed. 

It was amazing how many people from my program were ready to just drop everything for the chance to give back to the country. Last week from the 11th- to the 16th I was on a base between Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem called Nachshoanim. As you can see from the pictures we were required to wear uniforms at all times other than in our barracks. During the day we either cleaned guns, packed packages for soldiers in Gaza, sorted bullets- things of that sort. Most of the days I cleaned guns along with many other soldiers my age.  Now think to yourself how many guns you think you could clean in one day. The average was about 4- it was hard work and i found my self saying "libduk?"- (check) and having the answer be "lo naki" (not clean) a LOT.  We worked with the soldiers, ate the same food, had the same break times and slept in the same buildings. It was a very real experience.

The most amazing part to me was that I was there in the middle of the Gaza situation. My "Sar- El Madricha" (counselor for the week) who is currently working for Sar-El as her army service once said to us, I guarantee you that every soldier on this base knows at least 5 people in Gaza right now. After hearing that you would expect the general attitude to be very down on the base. This is what I love about the Israeli people- everyone know's the reality but doesn't let it control their lives- if they did no one would ever be happy. The soldiers I cleaned guns with used the open and non loaded guns as slingshots and they goofed off and shot cleaning supplies around the room. I could just see young Dad and Larry like those goofy soldiers just trying to make their cleaning job a bit more enjoyable. I could see Michael as my commander for the week who had to tell the soldiers to stop using the guns as slingshots, but turned around and started cracking up at the humility of their actions. I could see Marjie in my cheerful Sar-El counselor, who while her boyfriend was fighting in Gaza, she was making friends with us and kept a smile on her face the whole time. 

The thing with Israel is that while the constant fighting hurts the country and the rest of the world's perspective, the people here are unlike any other people in the world. The country continues, up here in Tel Aviv you would never know about the war on the South on the streets in peoples attitudes, but there are signs of support everywhere. Right now I even wear a bracelet that says "Levi bedarom" (my heart is in the south). 

Each morning the soldiers lined up for flag raising- as we did alongside with them. One morning i was given the opportunity to raise the flag (shown in a picture above). It was a very amazing experience standing up there in front of a group of soldiers about my age in my uniform and madricha's buret, raising the flag and the saluting the commander. 

I am back to my normal schedule of working in a school and going to school myself and I am still a metnadevet (a volunteer) here in Israel everyday. Every citizen here serves their country in some form of the army- and while I can't just drop everything and go to the army like Israelis my age it feels good knowing that I am at least serving the country as much as I can in this one year being a "metnadevet". 

Hello Holon Again

I find myself saying hello to Holon again coming back from my break. It was very nice to be home for a week and a half, great to see family and friends. After being spoiled for a week with tons of food and a nice shower, I somehow find myself still in love with my crappy shower tiny stipend for food, and am happy to be back in Israel. 

Bus drivers are always either very nice, or completely mean. Today i had encounters with both types. Walking to the bus on my way to class today i was on the phone with Michael. When the people i was walking with saw the bus already at the stop they began to run. Distracted by my conversation i didn't notice at first. Then as i began to run i realized i wasn't going anywhere with shoes with no backs quickly, so i took them off and began to run in my socks. The people i was walking with jump on the bus and as i approach the driver is closing the door, i can hear the people yelling at him to wait, and he looks at me and drives off. He was a great example of a MEAN bus driver. 

So as i put my shoes on, with 15 minutes to get to class i began to walk to a street close by where busses come every 5 minutes. Well, it just wouldn't be a great morning without getting lost. After nearly 10 min of power walking i realized i didn't know where i was and decided to walk back to the original bus stop and just be really late- what else could I do? At that moment a bus pulled up. Well here comes the silver-lining of this otherwise pointless story. I got on and asked the driver if he was going where i needed him to go. He was extremely nice and not only told me no and let me get off the bus but told me to make a right and the number 18 will take me where i needed to go. While it was a horrible start to the morning it quickly brightened up when i found my way completely on my own, speaking only hebrew and somehow got to class only 5 minutes late. 

I'm sure everyone is really interested in the war and how it is affecting the people of Israel. I work with an 18 year old girl and today we were talking about our families and siblings. She told me that she has 3 older brothers, she followed that with "they're all in Gaza". I said "Wow i'm so sorry, i hope they'll be alright and i'll pray for them". She nearly interrupted me saying "why are you sorry, we should have gone in there years ago." My israeli roommate also feels this way as do most israelis. The general consensus here is that it's just another war that we have to face and it's absolutely necessary. For those that don't know places like Sderot (right next to Gaza) have had rockets on a regular basis for too long coming into their towns and homes on a daily basis- with only 15 seconds to find shelter. Israel really just said "Maspeek- (enough)." While the country doesn't feel all that different up here in north of Gaza, a friend of mine who was recently in Ashdod told me the city is basically dead and that multiple times a day they have to find shelter. Israel is strong and as most people agree, it is doing the right thing. I don't feel more threatened or scared than i did when i left the country 13 short days ago. 

Check this out and get a quick idea of how Israelis feel-

http://sderot.aish.com/SderotPetitions/15Seconds.php

Hello Holon

- a couple of pictures from the hike my friends and i went on and our "make-shift" thanksgiving dinner.

So i've moved into my new home here in Holon. 

It has been a crazyyy 2 weeks with hardly any time to write in this thing.

The week before moving into our new apartment we all went to the Judaean Youth Hostel for the 3 days in between moving out of our old apartments and into our new ones. Monday night a group of friends and i- about 15 jumped on a bus to the desert to go hiking and camping. We ended up near Ein Gedy in the afternoon on monday and set up our tents. We made a camp fire and just sat around the fire that night hanging out. The next morning we decided to get up early and go hiking right away. We hiked about 5 hours all through the canyon. We hiked up to the "upper pools" and went swimming, it was gorgeous. Then, we made our way over to the "hidden waterfall" which was beautiful as well. It was a short camping trip but very fun. We really did a lot of hiking and saw a lot of beautiful nature. It's nice to be with people who want to take advantage of our year in israel as much as I do- by traveling. 

Wednesday we moved into our new apartment. In my apartment is 7 of us girls. Me, Jamie from North Carolina, Leah from New York, Sami from Florida, Sylvia from Minnesota, Miriam from California, and Yali from here in Israel. Our apartment is really very nice and the 7 of us seem to get along very well. It's really fun living with an israeli just like us. She is 18 and also just finished high school and is doing what is called Shanat Sheroot (year of community service). Many young israelis now days choose to do a year of community service before the army and they are in what is called the Tzofim, or as we call them israeli scouts. Most of the apartments in Holon from my program have israeli scouts in them and they are all regular Chanichim (participants) like us. 

On the thursday of thanksgiving we were all a bit homesick- all the americans that is. With about an hour to cook in our busy schedule we all seemed to make one thing. I made mashed potatoes, my friend made stuffing...etc. The boys bought a ton of cold cut turkey and two big turkey legs that they cooked. it wasn't the same, but it was a nice thanksgiving. It was another one of those moments here in israel where i realized how far i am from my family, but how much of a family i've really created here for myself. 

My schedule for these next 3 months is a lot different from my old one. On sundays i have Volunteering from 1 to 5. On mondays i have Ulpan from 9 30 to 12 and volunteering from 1 to 5. Every tuesday we have an optional Siyur (or field trip) where the program takes us to places around the country. Wednesdays i have Mifgash Shira in the morning which means our supervisor basically comes over to make sure our apartments aren't growing with mold and they talk to us and then i have volunteering from 1 to 5. On thursdays we have Ulpan from 9 30 to 12 and volunteering from 1 to 5. Also every night there are optional activities to do in and around the city of Holon held by my program. This semester has a lot more structure, but i'm definitely enjoying myself very much.

 

Yesterday we went to a small city south of Haifa called Ceasaria which was an ancient roman port city. The place was beautiful but it was difficult to enjoy it with the pouring down rain. The nice thing about israel is that when it rains here as opposed to it ruining your day, it really brightens it seeing as it hardly ever rains here, so when it does all you can do is be thankful. At one point we all just gave in, took of our hoods and our put away our failing umbrellas, let our hair soak and just made the best of it. 

My volunteering placement is similar in many ways to my last one but also very different. I work with 6 year old kids after they get out of school. My last one was for kids from broken homes, so it took a very long time to gain their trust and little if any affection. These kids are very different in that they hug me and hold my hand. It's rewarding in a different kind of way. The age is also great for me because i only speak hebrew with them so it's a great time for me to practice. I volunteer with two boys from my program, Adam from Florida and Ori from Ohio. We also work with an israeli girl doing Sheroot Leumi (basically religious girls who don't want to serve in the army serve 2 years to community service), she is very outgoing and fun to work with. 

One of the most most beautiful things i've found about this country is that everywhere you look, all of it's citizens have served it in one way or another whether they went to the army or did Sheroot Leumi, you know they did one or the other. It creates a sense of community and Country pride that you really don't find anywhere else.

After this long post I think I'll head to volunteering now. 

-steph

Goodbye Petach

From our last full Petach Tikva dinner, and the 

following evening we had a food 

fight

Us with our friend Becca at her Marva graduation ceremony

A few pictures from our last day at work

So, it's the middle of the night and we are leaving Petach Tikva tomorrow morning. I cannot believe that I'm 1/3 finished my program. Tonight as a friend and i were walking around Petach, we started talking about the streets and got into an argument about what the name of a certain street in the city was. I realized that the fact that we were arguing about the name of some random street really went to show just how much we've really grown to become locals in this place. The other day on the way to work someone approached me who heard my friends and i speaking english. He asked how we knew english so well and i told him that we were not israeli. He told me it was refreshing to hear such good english-obviously not the nicest of people to his own kind, and i told him "well i hardly speak hebrew so of course my english is going to be good i'm American" and he said "well you live here, you're on a bus to work on the outskirts of the small town of Petach Tikva, to me you seem pretty israeli". It was kind of surreal, I really do live here and it's become a home to me. 

I had my last day of work this past thursday and it was veryy somber. There was a sign hung up made by the kids saying Stephanie, Noah, Claire, and Lauren we'll miss you. At the end of the day before the kids leave the manager of the Children's Home always talks to the kids. She explained how we were leaving and then asked who wanted to say something. After 1 of the kids, i said "ani rotza" (i want to), then i said "ani lo eshcach etchem le olam, ve ani ohevet etchem meod. Nakzor livaker." (i will never forget you all, i love every one of you and we will visit.) All the kids and other counselors clapped. It was very nerve-racking to speak in front of everyone in hebrew, but the satisfaction i got was amazing. Then i got a book saying thank you Stephanie, and each of the kids wrote something to me - the english speaker at my work kindly translated them. Some of them were so amazing. Almost every one included "I love you" or "you really helped" or "why are you leaving?" or "please come back to visit". It was amazing to see that after 3 months of struggling, i did make a difference in the kids lives. The head of the Children's Home, "Kadima", also wrote me a recommendation for the future. Having a copy of it in english and in hebrew is very- pardon my teenage ignorance and slang- awesome. I'm so glad that i've actually built relationships with israelis like i'd hoped and the recommendation is truly kind and genuine. I will definitely, definitely be back there to visit.

So, tomorrow we leave Petach Tikva, and the town that has grown to become my home, and the people that have grown to become my family for the past 3 months. I'm moving to Holon on wednesday but until then i'll be in Jerusalem.

Happppppy Thanksgiving everyone, i seriously cannot tell you how much I am going to miss everyone these next couple of days- so be sure to eat my share of food too mmmkay!?

MUCH love-steph

Congratulations SARA!!!

the dinner we made and set table for michael, orna, and ben.

a couple pictures from work.

It's been quite a week. CONGRATULATIONS FIRST OF ALL TO MY BABY-not so baby anymore- COUSIN SARA. i hear she was amazing and the party was fun. It was veryyyyy weird not to be at the last family bat-mitzvah, but i'm so proud of her and am sure she was amazing.

While i missed the fam this weekend while everyone was at the bat-mitzvah, i got a nice dose of family. Michael, Orna, and Ben came over for dinner last wednesday. You can see in the pictures above what we made. Dinner was great, we ate the girls and the fam. After we finished eating the boys came over and we all just sat around, talked, and laughed. It reminded me of family dinners at home. It's so nice to have not only blood family here, but my friends who have become my make-shift family here. 

Today, two of the boys who are on a different track of my program- one where you travel a lot more, left for Uganda (i'm sooo jealous). So last night was out last night having all of us here in Petach Tikva. Basically, next door to our apartment is some russian restaurant that we always walk by and see the people out back. Basically we decided for our last family dinner we would go there. The restaurant did not even have hebrew menus, so the waitress had to come over with the menu, translate it into hebrew, and my hebrew speaking roommate translated it into english for us. Though they didn't even have the normal menu in hebrew nor english, they had an english alcohol menu- we found that quite amusing. Throughout our 3 months here we've had "secret buddies" or "secret santas". For our buddy we just gave them gifts whenever we wanted, and it was all a mystery as to who had who. Last night we all brought our final gifts and went around the table. Each person would guess who theirs was and then it would be revealed and we'd get our last gift. I was right in guessing who mine was- it was my roommate from Tennessee, Rachel. She has given me some really cute gifts throughout the semester. Last night we wrote me a very sweet letter and read it aloud, it nearly brought me to tears.

I can't believe i'm 1/3 finished my program, or time here in israel. I'm going to miss living in Petach Tikva soo much, and my amazing roommates. Next semester we will be living close to one another, but not living with each other will make it not the same. Change is good though as i know. I was talking to Dad the other day and told him how much i've really assimilated to the culture here. As most know the Israeli culture is a lot more blunt, and not so  polite. At first i was a bit offended by this "not-so-polite" culture, now i find myself being just that. At home when i go into a store i stand quietly in line, wait my turn, always say please and thank you and even throw in a "have a nice day" sometimes. The other day i went into a store, grabbed what i needed, when i saw people standing around the counter like they do in israel-there's no such thing as a single file line- i walked right up, said "cama zeh?" (how much is this) handed him the money, didn't say thank you and walked off. As i walked out of the store i thought to myself, OH MY GOSH, what have i become? It's amazing how quickly you become assimilated. I really think I'm gonna be in for a culture shock when i get home. 

Like i said two of the boys left today, so as one of them works with me, last thursday was his last day at work. The kids made him a thank you book and all signed it writing really sweet different things. It nearly brought me to tears. Multiple kids upon asking me when i'm leaving and after i said "od shavua" (one more week) they say can't you stay the year!? It will be hard to leave them, but it will be something i'll look forward to- revisiting them. It's amazing how much i've learned and how many stories have come out of just these 3 months, I can't imagine whats in store for the next 6. 

On that note, i'm going to go to sleep. congrats again to sushiii. 

muchlove-steph