ים אל ים

Greetings from Israel everyone. I am now on Passover break, which is a 16-day long break. 

Break began with a trip sponsored through the Office of Student Activities on campus. It is the annual Yam el Yam hike. During the Yam el Yam you hike from sea to sea (which is "yam el yam" is in English). However, since this trip is through OSA we did it a little differently. For more information on the Yam el Yam hike you can click this wonderful link to a wiki-page. 

The first day we went to Akziv, the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Here, we did some stretching and also played a game called "Yam, Adamah," which means "sea, land." We would run into the sea when we heard Yam, and then run back when we heard Adamah. It is part of the tradition of Yam el Yam.

We then hiked along some river beds and up some mountains for three days. Sorry, no pictures from this event. We were hiking through water on the first day and I didn't want to risk my camera falling in, or better yet, me falling in and my camera still getting ruined. I made the hard choice to leave my camera behind, and I am glad, because someone did drop their camera in the water on our hike.

This is where OSA made a detour from the traditional Yam el Yam. We didn't do the whole hike. Many groups will hike with sleeping bags and pots to make pasta or rice along the way. Well, we had hostels, and nice hostels at that. Something that OSA likes to do is give you a taste of what the experience is like, but also to allow you to have bonding time with all the people on the trip. Yes, we did some hiking, but we also did much more.

We hiked over Shabbat, so everything closed down (no surprise there). However, during this day we got to tour Peki'in, a Druze town in the north. Only one Jewish person resides in this city, and she is now almost 90 years old. On the normal Yam el Yam you would have no reason to pass through this city, but we got to spend two days there.

The night Shabbat ended we hopped on the bus and drove about half an hour away, where we were going to sit around a fire. We also got to prepare our dinners. We split the group of 70 people into 3 groups (salads, sides, and entrees) and we prepared a giant potluck meal, all cooked by us. We had about 8 different kinds of meat. countless salads, and some awesome side dishes. We loaded up our plates and sat around the fire and had a great evening.

The experience was fantastic. Although the hiking was not terribly hard, it allowed us to really bond with each other outside of school and while running through the wilderness.

A Shabbat to Remember

You're all probably thinking, "Why is he writing another post about Shabbat?" Well, because last nights Shabbat was particularly fun. Here is a photo of everyone present:

A couple people got cutoff, but I think this was taken with a camera phone, so it turned out pretty good. Anyways, we had a potluck Shabbat dinner, so there was tons of awesome food to be consumed, and there was about 20 of us all crammed into one room. We temporarily commandeered two tables from other flats on the floor. We had everything from homemade mac n' cheese to quinoa. From chicken in lemon sauce to bread covered in Israeli Nutella (which is about 30 times better than brand name Nutella).

Once we were sufficiently engorged with food we relaxed for about an hour, and then about 75% of us went to the Old City. It is a much different place at night, so it was fun to go. We went to the Western Wall for about a half an hour to pray, meditate, watch, pay our respects, etc. (since not everyone was Jewish). We then attempted to find Robinson's Arch, which is a located at another part of the wall that men and women are allowed to pray together. For those of you who don't know, the Western Wall is divided into two sections. Women are only allowed to pray in a small section along the wall. If you look at my post with all the pictures, you can make out the divider. This causes some tension, as women are not allowed to be Bat-mitzvah-ed at the wall. Once a month, a group called Women of the Wall put on their prayer shawls and bring their Torahs to the Wall and pray. This too is met with tension.

Since Robinson's Arch was closed for the evening we continued on our meandering of the Old City at night. We eventually found ourselves in the rooftops on the edge of the Christian Quarter. It was very cool. You could see The Dome of the Rock, a synagogue, and a church. They all seemed like they were only 3 blocks away from where we stood. We all just relaxed on the roof, stargazed (with what stars you could see. I was only able to see Orion and the Little Dipper), and talked about how our time in Jerusalem had been so far, etc. However, at about 1:00am we thought it would be best to start heading home.

By this time the city was dead. The light-rail was done running (One, because it stops running at midnight. Two, because it stops running at about 4:00pm on Shabbat.) so we decided to just walked along the tracks to get back home, since our student village is right off a stop on the light-rail. Walking takes a little while, so we didn't get home until about 2:00am, where I proceeded to fall into my bed and sleep until 10:00am this morning. Now I am sitting blogging and washing my laundry, enjoying a calm Shabbat in the student village.

It's Been a While

Well it has been a while since I have made a post, but that is because I am getting settled in. Life is starting to feel like home, but I just happen to be in Jerusalem. Sitting down and budgeting for the next 5 months threw my plans into perspective. Although it would be nice to travel to different places in Israel, and Petra in Jordan, it would be better to have that money for groceries, and food. The blog posts may become mundane, but I think it is a matter of perspective. The Old City is no longer some awesome sight, it is part of my life. I have been there 3 times, and we don't need a special occasion to go. I will bring my camera every now and then to snap a few pictures.

I also have gone to the Shuk, which is a giant market area. If you are only in Jerusalem for a day, then yes, this is something that you should see. The reality for people who live here, it's where we shop for groceries and can haggle prices. We have finally started learning numbers so we can actually haggle more effectively. 

We essentially walk almost everywhere, and when we don't walk we usually take the light-rail. The light-rail is 6.60 NIS every trip (not even 2 dollars). We don't have a pass yet, since they don't issue 5-month student passes until the beginning of the new semester. We are in a sort of J-term scenario right now, so we would have had to just get a one month pass and then buy the 5-month student pass. 

As for right now, I am doing what I came here to do. I am learning. My Hebrew class is good and I am studying in Beit Midrash groups and Talmud groups to learn more about Judaism. Once semester begins my schedule will be much different, but I will be able to figure out destination plans. We are looking at going to Tel Aviv for one weekend for sure, and also to Eilat over another weekend. There are many places that I can go to all over the place, but I probably won't be spending money on a plethora of museums and whatnot. 

Something we were told by an American who moved to Israel 5 years ago, that we met while waiting for the light-rail, he said that is Israel is a wonderful place to spend a short vacation in. It can be an expensive place to live though. When you are only here for a finite time it is easy to spend money one museum, because you will be gone in about 2 days. It is hard for me to cough up the shekel every time I see a museum here because there are so many, and I would be broke extremely fast. The cities here themselves are museums, so that is how I have convinced myself and rationalized not spending the shekel on going to a bunch of museums (not to say that I will never go to any). 

There is a strong difference of eating in Israel too. Back home I would spend money and eat at school, but I can't do that here. I can't work while I am here and make a living, so (right now) it is a lot of Tupperwares of Cheerios (since I have found no plastic bags Ziploc bags here). I can't justify spending money on food at a fast food stop type in the Forum, when I know that I don't have any form of income that support this. This will change once school really starts, because then I will tons of time between classes and I will be able to come back to the village (which is about a 15 minute walk to the school - hence why I can't come back during my Ulpan classes). We shall see where the semester takes me for packing lunches and museum tours.

Peace and a Settled Life