The Last Few Months

I know it's been ages and ages since I've posted. Sorry about that. I was uninspired for a while and unsure of what was worth writing about. I think I've finally accepted that it doesn't always need to be all that deep--and it may be better if it's not.

Since we last met, my parents came to visit for two weeks, which was a really nice time. They spent nearly a week with me in Jerusalem seeing some of the sites and experiencing some of my life here: my friends, the Yeshiva, and a Shabbat. Then we traveled around the country as far south as Eilat and as far north as Nahariya. We even went to Petra, which was phenomenal. I wouldn't exactly call the visit relaxing, but it was a great opportunity to see a little more of Jerusalem and of Israel. And, after four months, to see my parents.

My Hebrew, while still a struggle, has improved by leaps and bounds. Every time I'm feeling frustrated by how slow-going it is, I just remember what I started with (nothing, שום דבר in Hebrew), and I'm kind of amazed at myself. My spoken Hebrew is still a struggle, but my understanding is improving everyday and my translation skills have gotten good enough that I can begin to argue about how something should be read with classmates. It makes me very happy.

I remember the first day that I arrived here, I went to a coffee shop (called Coffeeshop) to start this blog. I was so uncomfortable just walking in, sure that someone might try to speak to me in Hebrew (not a bad instinct), and totally unsure of what I could possibly do in response (speak in English was the answer to that). The other day I walked into a Coffeeshop, got a table, decided what I wanted, and ordered without using any English. And when the Hebrew went over my head, I wasn't afraid to express that, either.

I have no intention of picking up and moving here, but I amazed at how far I've come in five months and how comfortable I've become in my life here. I'm happy to admit that, for the moment, this place is home.

THE PHILLIES WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!

There was a little delay on the mlb.com online video player, so when my best friend from high school called just after the Phillies won, the phone started ringing at the same moment that Lidge threw that final strike. I knew it was her--it could only have been--and so my greeting to her after not speaking for over a month was not "Hey!" but "Ahhhhh!"--but quietly, because it was 4 am and my roommates were sleeping.

I paid for the privilege to see it online; I stayed up most of the night (twice) to watch it, and then even more of the night talking to friends from Phildelphia and my entire family on the phone and online; I missed the first half of my ulpan today so I could get just a few hours of sleep. But it was all worth it, because I actually got to watch the Phillies win the World Series. Not quite as up-close-and-personally as my dad did, but it was the best I could do from Israel. And it was awesome.

Arbah Minim

This one's going to make more sense to those of you who are familiar with the lulav and the etrog, but I think it's kind of cool either way.

Last week, right before Sukkot, one of the teachers took a bunch of us to this shuk (outdoor market), which is one of many that are set up every year exclusively to sell the arbah minim (the four species in the lulav and etrog). There were maybe 20-30 vendors just selling those and the place was packed. You buy everything individually, and as I walked around I saw men (almost always men) at every stall checking each willow, myrtle, and palm branch to make sure he picked out the best, most kosher one to add to his lulav.

I didn't buy my willow that day, because the willow goes bad very quickly, and I wanted mine to look nice for the first day of Sukkot. When I went out just before Sukkot started to purchase it I wasn't sure where to go, but I had heard that people sell it all over the place. It ended up being kind of an adventure, because I didn't really know where I was going, but everyone I stopped on the street was very helpful and knew exactly where I should look.

It was kind of intimidating picking the whole thing out in those settings, but in the end my lulav looked fantastic, and it felt very personal to put the thing together myself.

And Then You Eat

Last week, stuck among the many holidays that have been going on lately, was a sad little holiday that is oft-forgotten and rarely celebrated: Yom Kippur. Actually, in point of fact, when I went to purchase some food on Wednesday for my pre-fast and break-fast meals, apparently the rest of Jerusalem had the same idea, because both the shuk and the supermarket were the busiest I've ever seen them. Leave it up to the Jews to buy food in droves right before a fast.

The week before was (as it traditionally is) Rosh Hashanah. While RH was very nice here, I can't really say it is so much different from RH in the States. It is little quieter, but basically you go to shul, you eat, you don't work. The end.

Yom Kippur, on the other hand, is a totally different story. It's not clear to me if it's by law or by tradition, but in Jerusalem, on Yom Kippur, the only vehicles on the streets all day are emergency vehicles. Instead, there was a constant parade of Yerushalmim riding their bikes and walking up and down the streets. It's really beautiful and amazing.

On Wednesday night, when I was walking home from Kol Nidre and Ma'ariv--the first service of Yom Kippur--I walked passed my yeshiva with some friends and we saw a big group of people outside singing. It turns out that about 50 Nativ-ers (which is a gap-year program for post-USY kids that is housed in the same complex in which I study) were sitting in the middle of the major intersection on which the Yeshiva is located singing various Jewish and Israeli songs. Apparently it was not an original idea, but it was very beautiful and very impressive. They were just sitting in the middle of the street singing, as dozens of Israelis and tourists came by to watch, take pictures, and singing along. And that was nothing like I've even seen back home.

Article About My Friend in JPost

There was a long article in The Jerusalem Post yesterday about my friend Jose's trouble getting citizenship here. It's a JPost article, so it's not especially well written, but I think it's pretty interesting. I believe Jose will be returning to the States soon because of all this, and I'm very sad to see him go. Take a look if you're interested.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017455463&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Chagim in the Air

Between Shabbat and the chagim (holidays), these few weeks have been and will be totally crazy: being in and out of class, and on and off computer usage basically every other day. Nonetheless, Rosh Hashanah was the last couple of days and it was really nice here. I'm not sure if it was so different from RH at home, though. We prayed, ate, prayed, ate, prayed, ate, prayed, ate, prayed, and ate. I don't think it's a coincidence that today is a minor fast day (with a major one coming up next week). And I don't really mind it, either. Anyway, the only noticeable difference between RH here and in the States that I spotted was that the streets are really, really quiet because everyone is off work and everyone closes up shop, whether you're going to synagogue or not. Between that and the beautiful fall weather we've been having, the long walks to the congregation I went to for most of the chag were really fantastic.

Also, I saw rain this weekend for the first time in almost three months, and you know what? It was great. I realized I missed rain pretty badly. After, the city cooled down almost instantaneously, and it's about time. Yay for fall!

The Blogger-cooler

So I realized this week that the new TV season is starting, and since none of the typical online TV sites work in Israel, I'm probably going to miss most of my shows this season. That's very weird to me--especially because I don't actually really miss them. I didn't even realize the season was starting until some friends mentioned downloading new episodes.

I also realized that I missed the Emmy's this weekend. The Emmy's! More importantly, the E! pre-show. I'm pretty I mostly paid for cable the last two years just so I could watch E! award show pre-shows. And the thing is, I'm not really upset about it. It's just not part of my life here like it was back at home, and like it will be when I return. In the meantime, you guys will just have to be my eyes and ears and keep me posted when something dramatic happens in the TV season. Let's just call this my virtual Water Cooler.

A Picture of Laziness

It's been a really long week, and I've decided to prove that to you by posting a photo of my class schedule, instead of actually sitting down and writing 300 words about it. Sorry it's a little out of focus, but I'm no good with cameras (no snide comments about my choice of profession, please). Worth noting that this month I'm not taking Talmud, because I have Hebrew from 8-12:30 everyday. Also, the classes that are 3 hours long are typically half spent in class and half in chevruta, or study buddies. Also, despite not knowing Hebrew, basically no text that I've worked with this week has been in translation. I'm also posting a few photos of the Yeshiva campus. I then want you to spend 10 hours a day staring at them, so you can imagine what my life will be like here. Honestly, it's pretty freaking exciting.

The theater in the middle of "campus."

The Old Beit Midrash.


The current Beit Midrash.

Gotta Go Back, Back, Back to School Again...

So I am, officially, a student once again. And I couldn't be more excited about it! Classes for the year program began yesterday and now here I am, walking around campus with books in my arms and a backpack on my back, picking classes, forming study groups, and taking notes. I knew I missed all of that, but I don't think I realized how much.

On the other hand, the fact that there are absolutely no expectations or requirements makes this experience totally different from any other educational experience to date. For instance, in college, speaking up in class or not was always such drama for me because on the one hand it was so painful and on the other participation was often required for grades and to keep up with the competition. Here, if I stay quiet no one will care, and if I have something to say, I'm not so worried about whether people think I'm stupid--honestly, I am right now about most of the stuff I'm studying. I'm actually pretty excited about started as a blank slate, and pretty psyched about everything I've learned so far.

So I’ve hit the ground running with my incredibly long days and I’m already trying desperately to keep up with everything. In most classes, there isn’t really homework, but the reality is that this is weighty stuff and repetition and review will be necessary if I plan to retain anything. That doesn’t actually mean that I will in fact find the time for such things, but I’m going to try. At the moment my brain hurts and for some reason it’s telling me you [all] might actually be interested in this, so tomorrow I’ll grace you with specifics about class schedules and timing and stuff. I’ll probably realize a week or two when I’ve actually gotten some sleep that it's not actually interesting to anyone but me, but by then it will surely be too late and you [all?] will already have stopped reading. (By then again, there may be some pictures as well, and you like those, right?)

…Whoa, whoa, I gotta go, back to school…again!

Right To My Door

So, this is awesome: It took me two years and a move to another country, but I finally joined a CSA, which I’m super excited about. CSA, for those unworldly people who don’t know, stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Which basically means for not a huge amount of money some farmers (well, probably not the farmers themselves, but nonetheless) deliver a box a vegetables to your house every week. You don’t really know what will be in it each week. This week, for instance, we got: broccoli, lettuce, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, squash, tons of eggplant, mint, oregano, and chives.

Not knowing what’s going to be there I think makes it kind of even more awesome, because then you have to cook to the vegetables. That meant that my roommate Paul and I spent Thursday night pouring over cookbooks and recipes trying to take into consideration what would be good with meat (meaning no dairy), good for vegetarians, and good as a meal. It was a pleasure, and we ended up making all kinds of dishes we’d never made before. (It doesn’t hurt, of course, that Paul used to do this stuff professionally, but whatever.) One week in, and, as expected, I’m loving my CSA (which is, by the way, organic and socially-conscious, in case there are people out there who care about that sort of thing).

On the subject of food delivery, we also have a juice man. How awesome is that? For a few dollars every week we have two liters of fresh juice delivered to our door. I don’t actually love juice, so it kind of might be better in theory than in practice, but in theory it is awesome! I’m thinking maybe we’ll make the juice into popsicles, because those would be oh so very tasty. And parve.

Logistics

Aaand I'm back! Don't have internet in the apartment yet, so fewer opportunities to blog. But I'll keep trying to stay on top of it, especially since orientation starts tomorrow and classes start on Monday, which will be huge time consumption. It's going to be a hell of a year, with an 9am-6:15pm class schedule most days. And for the next month, I will be taking ulpan (Hebrew class) in the mornings instead of classes at the Yeshiva, which means I'll be starting each day an hour earlier even than that. And I can't wait for everything to get started.

This Hebrew class especially is going to be great. It's four hours per day with students and a teacher who are really serious about it. My class over the summer was nice but I hope, and suspect, that this one will actually put me on the path to being able to communicate. I never expected to become fluent this year, but I would like to be able to get around the city and country better than I can now. Each day I learn a tiny bit, but this Hebrew class should help a lot to move forward more quickly.

I know that's not much interesting information, but I sense I might be repeating that a lot over the next few weeks, so I figured I'd just put it out there. I've been been thinking often that I should write about food, as food is awesome, and it's such a big part of our lives here, so look out for some food-related blogging this week.

Journey to the North, Part 3

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On the way back to Jerusalem, we decided to stop in Netanya at IKEA Israel to purchase some housewares for our new apartment. Now, how can I describe Ikea in Israel...? Ok, picture this: You’re in your local Ikea. There'sthe children’s playroom; the furniture on display; the single direction layout; the big, bold signage; the restaurant; the marketplace; the snack bar. Now, picture that the signage is in Hebrew and the restaurant and snack bar serve non-dairy ice cream because they’re kosher, and you have Ikea Israel. My Swedish roommate was sad to miss out. They just love that Ikea, and I guess he wanted to feel like he was home again. I know that’s how I felt.

Paul took this picture of the Ikea sign in English and Hebrew.

Eventually, with tons of housewares in tow, we arrived back to Jerusalem and caught a bus and then a taxi to the new apartment. We put away our new stuff (and by we, I of course mean Paul), we moved some furniture around (and by we, I of course mean me), and we all three slept here together for the first time. The apartment isn’t perfect, of course, but it’s lovely, and it’s mostly nice just to feel settled, and to feel like I’m really living here. We didn’t magically get wireless while I was gone, so I’m going to be spending even more time at the Yeshiva until that is settled, and will have to find other things to do with my downtime than watching YouTube, like perhaps studying for Hebrew and prepping for classes, which start on September 7.

Journey to the North, Part 2

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After leaving Nahariya, I took the train to meet my roommate Paul in Haifa, which is maybe 45 minutes south and also on the coast. We stayed at a pretty conveniently located hostel that had very nice facilities, was very clean, and contained only insane people. If Paul writes details about that experience, maybe I’ll link to it (http://paulheckler.blogspot.com/2008/08/haifa-part-1-ditz-asshole-and-nudist.html ), but I’ll give you just this tidbit right now: The first thing we saw when we walked into our dorm-style room was a middle-aged Austrian guy wearing not a stitch of clothing and climbing onto the top bunk.

Haifa is a) hot and humid, b) located on hills (big hills), and c) a really good walking city if it weren’t so a) hot or b) on hills. It was lovely, but a day and a half there was enough for me. While there, we saw a couple really interesting things. The first was an artists' village called Ein Hod, which didn’t have a ton open because apparently they close down during the summer heat, but did have some beautiful and unique crafts. The second cool thing was the Bahai Gardens, which is located on the side of one of Haifa’s hills. It has nine levels of garden, a big gold-domed shrine in the middle, and nine more levels of garden. I’ll post some pictures of that because it is absolutely stunning and hard to describe.




Nonetheless, the coolest thing we saw in Haifa was definitely the Carmelit, which is Israel's only subway system. The Carmelit has two trains of two cars each that go back and forth on a single line and has a total of six stops. The sole purpose of the Carmelit is to get you up and down the side of Mt. Carmel, so the train cars and each station are on an angle with steps to go from the bottom to the top. But the station are not consistent in their degree of steepness (to reflect the shape of the hill) so any given station may be steeper than the Carmelit cars, less steep than the cars, or at the same angle. NYC Metro’s got nothing on this. It was ridiculously cute.




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LOVE -- אהבה

The Israel Museum here in Jerusalem has a version of the LOVE sculpture in Philadelphia, but in Hebrew.

Journey to the North, Part 1

This one's a multi-parter. Watch out!

I’ve been avoiding writing due to laziness, but now I’m listening to “You Can Call Me Al” and Paul Simon always inspires me. So here goes.

I left Jerusalem last Friday morning (Yom Shishi--the Sixth Day--in Hebrew) traveling by train to Nahariya, which is on the west coast (Mediterranean side) of the country about 20-30 minutes south of the border with Lebanon. Train travel in Israel can be slow (especially going from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, which you have to do to get anywhere from here), but inexpensive and very comfortable, if you can get a seat.

I used as much Hebrew as I could during my trip and by the end of that first train ride I had a pretty good sense of exactly what I do know and what I don’t know. For instance, I’m getting very good at numbers. For anything where the relevant part of the answer is a number, I’m in good shape. Otherwise, I’m pretty much out of luck. I have gotten really good at letting people know I don’t understand them, which usually works out, since a lot of people (but definitely not most people) speak English.

I went to Nahariya to see my dad’s cousins Norman and Beth, who are fantastic. They made aliyah in 1980 and have basically been living in or near Nahariya since then. I’ve seen them many times before, but never got to spend multiple days together with them. It was really interesting to hear their thoughts on about making aliyah, religion and politics in Jerusalem and elsewhere, and living in Nahariya during wartime. It was also a lovely and relaxing Shabbat with family.




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My Whereabouts and Other Random Stuff

1) I've been in Israel a month today. Wow.

2) I got the keys to my apartment yesterday, so it's really ours now, and they even brought by some crummy old furniture, so we neither have to sleep or sit on the floor. We'll just have to sanitize everything before we touch it.

3) I'm leaving Jerusalem today to go visit my family up north and see some other areas of the country. I won't have my computer and checking e-mail may be limited, so don't flood my inbox with those messages about how much you miss me and wish I was there--honestly guys I have a life here, and I think I'm a little too busy to be thinking about you friends and family from back home. I'll return probably on Wednesday or Thursday of next week, and I assume by then the new place will magically have wireless.

The Kotel, Part 2: Tisha B'Av Style

Today is Tisha B'Av, which literally means the Ninth of Av (the current month in the Jewish calendar). Tisha B'Av is the day in which we commemorate the destruction of both the first and second Temples in addition to a variety of other catastrophes that have befallen the Jews, all supposedly on the 9th of Av. Tisha B'Av is a day of mourning and it is one of the two major fast days in the Jewish calendar (the other being Yom Kippur). It also marks the first major Jewish "holiday" that I am in Israel for. (Holiday is not really a great word here, as I think it indicates something celebratory, which Tisha B'Av is not, but "fast day," which is more accurate, does not include the full spectrum of events in the Jewish calendar.) Even if I don't stay here for a full twelve months by the American calendar, by the time my program ends in May, I will have been here for every holiday in the Jewish year. That's one of the things I am really excited about this year--and after my experience during Tisha B'Av even more so.

On Tisha B'Av you chant the Book of Lamentations, or Eicha, which talks about the destruction of the temple and is a sad but beautiful text. You are supposed to remove your shoes and sit on the floor for the Eicha service. I chose to go back to the Kotel HaMasorti for Ma'ariv, the evening service, to hear Eicha chanted. I walked over with a group of people from the Yeshiva and we arrived early and found that the area was locked (like I said, it's in a privately-owned space). Most of the group sat and discussed Tisha B'Av while waiting, but a few of us decided to walk over to the main Kotel. I don't want to talk too much about my experience there, except to say that it was very hectic at the Kotel and the Kotel plaza, but my first visit to the main Kotel since I arrived was not a negative one.

When I returned to the rest of the group, they were still waiting, so I joined the discussion. It was the continuation of at least three unique conversations that I had had with various members of that larger group over the previous 24 hours. It's those discussions, plus all of the shiurim (lessons) I've had about Tisha B'Av and fast days over the last three weeks that makes me so excited about being here for all the different Jewish holidays throughout the year; it's fantastic to be around people who really want to think about and discuss these things as much as I do, and who mostly know more about them then I do.

Anyway, about 15 minutes after I returned, the gates were unlocked for the Kotel HaMasorti. By that point, quite a large group of people had gathered, and when we sat down by the Wall, the space was pretty crowded--quite the juxtaposition to the small group of only Yeshiva students last time I was there. It was well after dark, about 9:30, and had finally cooled down. The area is fairly isolated and since we all prayed as one group (unlike at the main Kotel), all you heard was the one person among this large group who was chanting the service and then Eicha. And I sat there on the ground, with my shoes off, staring at the Temple wall and listening to someone chant about the Temple's destruction, trying to realize that this had happened immediately next to where I was sitting. It was incredibly moving experience, which made my frustration on walking back through the main Kotel plaza and seeing all the people who are supposedly more religious than I chatting on their cell phones, smoking cigarettes, and gabbing with their friends on the day of mourning even more acute.

After all this, I think I'm probably far more confused about what Tisha B'Av means and what it means to me than I was when I arrived, but I've learned a ton about it over the last few weeks and had a uniquely moving Tisha B'Av experience. I can't wait to get confused about all the other Jewish concepts and events I'll experience this year.

The Kotel

Since I haven't really written this week, there are a few topics I've been interested in addressing, but haven't gotten a chance to yet. One was in reference to something interesting that I heard this week about Jerusalem, which is that, in Israel, Jeruslaem is a religious bubble and an Anglo bubble. That's something I've been thinking about a lot since I heard it, but I think I'll wait a couple weeks until after I've traveled around the country a bit to really discuss it.

In the meantime, I mentioned last week that I went to the Kotel, but I never got into that. What I actually went to was a place called the Kotel HaMasorti--The Masorti Kotel. Masorti is the Conservative movement in Israel and the Kotel HaMasorti is this part of the wall that is owned by the Israeli Archeological Park where men and women can pray together. I don't want to belittle this place for those who find it meaningful, but for me, it was nothing better than a consolation. The claim is that it is as holy as any other part of the Western Wall, which is not inaccurate, but it is not enough. First of all, because it is on private grounds, access is limited. You can get in free in the morning, I think before 9 or 10, but a lot of people I've talked to about don't even realized that. And if you want to go with a group during that time you have to call ahead. Second of all, it's very isolated (and isolating), since you can't see the rest of the wall--the image people think of as the Kotel. When I went with the Yeshiva group, we were the only ones there.

The reality is that both of these points are important deterrents to the very real threat of attacks on men and women praying together at the Kotel. On the other hand, because of the situation, I felt like I lacked that feeling, that closeness to Judaism and to Hashem that I hoped to experience when going to this particularly holy place. That is unfortunate. This weekend is Tisha B'Av, the holiday when we commemorate the destruction of both the first and second temples, and that will likely mark my first trip to the part of the Wall that most of us think of as the Kotel since my arrival three weeks ago.

I don't really have the ability to get into too much more about this issue right now, but it's definitely a loaded one. The Masorti movement has accepted what I've referred as a "consolation," while other groups, like the Reform movement and the Women of the Wall, have chosen not to and continue fighting for their right to pray as they choose with everyone else. As I understand it, they fight this particular fight at their own risk. I don't want to simply say that one group is right or wrong--some people seemed extremely moved by the Kotel HaMasorti--but it's not an option that works for me.

The Ringleader

I just finished week two studying at the Yeshiva, and it was not an easy one. I'm still really enjoying classes, still getting along really well with the other students in my program, but in addition to that, I also spent the week looking for an apartment. I've found it difficult and stressful enough looking for an apartment in a language and culture I understand, that trying to do it here was just all-consuming. I'm going to be living with two guys in my program who will also be here for the year and the first problem that we were faced with was that a lot of people aren't willing to rent to mixed-gender groups, which is why the apartment I had lined up when I arrived here fell through in the first place. Also, not surprisingly, people are wary of renting to foreigners who can't really be tracked down if they bolt. There are actually a variety of ways of dealing with that problem if it should occur, and they mostly involve putting down a huge amount of money as security. Once these things got dealt with, there was the problem that we don't have accounts or checks in shekels, and one of my roommates is from Europe so we can't use the dollar (which landlords won't take right now anyway).

Yesterday, we signed a contract (in Hebrew) for a lovely, two-bathroom, three-bedroom apartment 15 minutes away from school. We got off easy by way of security, in that they're basically just going to take rent three months at a time as our security. But, because of the currency issue, it will be paid in cash. Which means that when we signed that contract we also handed over the equivalent of a little under $5000 in cash. It was intense.

Nonetheless, as of August 15, I have a long-term home here in Jerusalem, which means I won't always have to go searching for somewhere to eat for Shabbat, like I've been doing. The result of that this week is that a classmate from my Hebrew ulpan invited me and my future roommates over to have Shabbat with him and his family this evening, so I am off to that. I'll share plenty more about my new place, and actually begin to talk about my classes now that I have time to breathe and the ability to focus again. Shabbat Shalom!

Ani Ohevet Blogger

Here is my very first composition for Hebrew. We were assigned a list of things we like and don't like--in response to learning the verb ohev, to like. Some people wrote stories and had complex sentence construction. I did not. I took it very literally, and wrote a list. Due to my limited vocabulary, it's not all exactly true. But it is in Hebrew, and it's mostly grammatically correct. Sorry it's out of focus. Despite my two years working in television, I apparently have yet to figure out yet how to focus a camera that has an auto-focus.

Here's a translation: "I like movies and television. I also like coke and water, but I don't like coffee or tea. I like the sea and the sun. I don't like rain, but I do like snow. I like theater and museums. I like bread, but I don't like cake. I like cities as well as books as well as restaurants."

Apparently I'm very cultured. And thanks to Paul for the far superior picture.

Too Tired For Clever Title: Bulldozer Attack

As you may have already heard, there was another attack in Jerusalem today. They're calling it a copycat incident to a similar one just a couple weeks ago. An Arab Israeli drove a bulldozer into a number 13 bus. The number I've heard most often is that 16 people were injured--though that may change by tomorrow morning.

I found out about it when the assistant director of the Yeshiva interrupted our afternoon class to let us know it had just happened, and as many of our families would just be waking up back home, we may want to call/text/e-mail and let them know we're ok. The attack occurred just about a block from where I'm studying. By the time I was heading home many hours later, I had almost forgotten what had happened until I walked across the intersection and realized there were about six news trucks and a reporter shooting a stand up. Other than that, I would never have noticed.

There's been construction going on by that corner, but it's not yet clear to me that that's where the bulldozer came from. Also worth noting is that it does not seem to have anything to do with Obama, which the U.S. news sources seem to be implying. Yes, he was (is?) staying nearby tonight, but I--and other people I've talked to here--didn't even realize that until we looked at American news. Again, we'll see more tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure that's just a weird coincidence.

While the assistant director was informing us about what happened, she reiterated certain precautions that we should take to protect ourselves. They're not ridiculous, but they're unrealistic. If I want to live here and adapt the culture for the next year, I can't be afraid every time I go to crowded places or go to a restaurant without an armed guard at the door (although the armed guards are pretty common anyway). The fact is, I was only a block away and I didn't even know it had happened until someone came into tell me. Yeah, it absolutely upsets me that things like this are happening; but am I frightened for my life? Not really.

Other Things

1) I'm going to the Kotel (the Western Wall) to pray morning services tomorrow. It'll be the first time I'm there this trip, and it should be pretty amazing. I'll try to post some pictures of that if there's time.

2) I'm not exactly proficient in Hebrew yet, but I do feel you all deserve a brief explanation about the word sababa, since I'm pretty sure I use it incorrectly in the blog title. I'm almost positive the it is in fact not an adjective, but just an exclamation. As in, "So we're meeting for dinner tomorrow." "Sababa!" Still used in a similar way to awesome, but I'm pretty sure "Sababa Journey" is not correct. But it's still awesome. Sababa!

3) I haven't quite adjusted to my schedule, and school keeps me pretty exhausted, so if there's a typo or you object to something I write, feel free to let me know, but don't expect apologies. It's hard being me.

4) I love comments.

Shabbat Shalom

Instead of Saturday and Sunday, the Israeli weekend is actually Friday and Saturday. It's because Shabbat lasts from Friday afternoon or night to Saturday. I going to try not to make too many generalizations about what exactly that means culturally, but it does mean that, yes, I have classes from Sunday through Thursday. It means that a lot of people go out on Thursday nights instead of Friday or Saturday night. It means the shuk--the big open-air food market in the middle of the city--is ridiculously busy on Fridays with people buying all the food they need for themselves and their guests over the next day.

I had an excellent Shabbat, going to the shuk on Friday afternoon, and then spending all of Saturday hanging out and eating with some friends from college; we ate lunch on Jose's patio with the most beautiful view. And the thing that struck me most was on Friday night, while I was walking back from dinner at the Yeshiva, I couldn't quite figure out why the streets where so empty. Until I got back to the apartment complex where I'm staying. All the apartments look into a central courtyard, and as I walked through the courtyard, I could hear singing, laughing, talking coming from most of the apartments as I passed. Everyone I know in the city called on Friday morning to make sure I had a place to go for dinner and lunch during Shabbat, because religious or not, Shabbat--and the spirit of community, rest, and relaxation that it represents--is a cultural institution. Cheesy, I know, but awesome.

Other noteworthy things: 1) I finished my first day of classes today, which went extremely well. But I'm not going to talk about that right now. I'll have lots of classes over the next year, and I'm sure I'll talk about them plenty. 2) I'm very careful to stay hydrated and protect myself from the sun, but I'm also starting to get a little color, which means I'm no longer translucent. Yippee!

Picture 1: One of the amazing views from Jose's place.
Picture 2: People coming in and out of the shuk on Friday.

Pictures by the Jaffa Gate...A Few Days Late

So That's Coming Along

Just as a side note to anything Israel related, I've been watching the new web musical Dr. Horrible at drhorrible.com. I very highly recommend it if you like any of the following: Joss Whedon, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, or any of their related projects (Buffy, Firefly, Serenity, How I Met Your Mother). It's awesome.

Put It In the Soul of Everyone

So I mentioned in my e-mail that yesterday I went out for walk and got lost and then magically found. Here's the story of exactly what happened:

(Pause to relish the fact the the coffee shop I'm sitting in right now is playing "Holding Out For a Hero." I'm pretty sure the album currently being play is called Best Songs From Soundtracks of Amazing Eighties Movies.)

So I decided I would walk from where I'm staying to Ben Yehuda Street, which is a pretty famous shopping street in Jerusalem that tourists like to visit. There wasn't a particular reason to aim for there, except that I figured I'd recognize it when I got there and it seemed like a good distance to see a lot of the city, get a decent walk in, and still be able to walk back. Maybe an hour each way. Ok, so I'm off, and pretty soon I get stopped and asked for directions, miraculously in English. I actually had a map and was able to help the girl find where she needed to go. I then proceeded to get lost again and again and again.

The first time I got lost, I found myself on top of Mount Zion, looking down onto the Old City walls. The second time I got lost, I found myself next to what I believe was the Jaffa Gate. (There are a few gates, all of which have names, that serve as the entrances to the Old City. I believe if you enter through the Jaffa Gate, you could walk straight through the Armenian Quarter to the Kotel (the Western Wall).) I'm posting a couple of pictures of what I could see from there soon. The third time I got lost, I got really, really lost and decided to give up and head back in the direction that I thought might lead back to Baka, where I'm staying. At that point, I found myself on Ben Yehuda Street. I've since looked at a map and still don't really know how that happened.

It was a pretty amazing walk for my first day and, in the end, with numerous stops for water and admiration, I think it took about 3-4 hours. After that walk, I'm probably just going to take it easy until I start classes on Sunday, at 7:30 am. That's going to be an interesting transition after the 5pm-1am shifts I was working when I left New York just three weeks ago.

Aaaaand they're playing Karma Chameleon. Sweet.

God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You

Welcome to my blog. It'll be sweet. Tomorrow. When I feel like writing something.