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.

Tel Aviv Festivities

It is official. I have FINALLY left Jerusalem. A few friends needed to get away for Shabbat, so we went to Tel Aviv. Overall it was fun.

If you have been following then you know what Shabbat is all about; there is food, family, and whatnot, and more importantly a day of rest. It is fun to just wind down with friends, but all of us being from America are used to different things on our days off. We like to go to malls, if only to just look at things to get away from our home. We were feeling really cooped up and we needed to breathe a little a bit. Jerusalem is different than Tel Aviv. There is a much higher population of secular Jews in Tel Aviv, so Shabbat is very different there. As some people here say, “When you are in Tel Aviv, you kind of aren’t in Israel.”

We got to Tel Aviv at about 2pm and we walked to our hostel. It was a very nice hostel. There was a very large living room, kitchen, and backyard area. It was about $25 for the night. The room that we slept in had about 9 sets of bunk beds, and they were all full that night. It was a good experience to run into people from different places that are all in Israel for different reasons. Some were stopping through for vacation and some had just stepped on the plane and were hoping to pursue a dance career at a company there. After we dropped of our belongings, and pocketed the items that we didn’t want to risk being stolen we headed out.

It was extremely windy the day we went to Tel Aviv. The beach was a very cool sight, but the waves were huge. We didn’t go swimming or anything, but we stood on the shore and felt the sea mist on our faces. We walked along the boardwalk and just soaked up a different pace of life in Israel. Despite the wind and chill we still had a good time. Anywhere can be an awesome place with the right people. We found kept walking and went to a gelataria. Yep, on such a cold day we still had gelato. The gelataria was attached to a larger shopping area and we could see all the things that were up for sale. None of us bought anything, because everything is much cheaper at the Shuk (when it comes to food) and the Old City (when it comes to everything else). 

A friend and I went to a sushi place for dinner. We got a couple plates of sushi and just relaxed and soaked in the atmosphere. It was about 9pm, so everything back in Jerusalem was a closed and the city was still. This was not the case in Tel Aviv. People were all over the streets going out for their evenings. The statement was really true: “When you are in Tel Aviv, you kind of aren’t in Israel.” In a land where East meets West I felt like I was right back at home on a Friday evening. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Do I need that every weekend? No. We were talking that even when we are home we don’t always do something on the weekends, so we kind of observe a Shabbat of sorts, but everything is open on weekends in case we want to do something. Having a weekend where almost everything was open was a nice feeling.

We went back to the hostel and slept and slept in the next morning. We finished our time in Tel Aviv with a much-needed breakfast. Yes, I found some bacon in Jerusalem. Real bacon, none of this beef that tries to disguise itself as bacon. Yes, I love bacon, and yes, I was missing the option of having bacon. After we were sufficiently coffee-d up and fed we made our way back to the central bus station in Tel Aviv. We asked a couple of guys how to get there and then two blocks later they offered to take us, since it was about 2 kilometers away. It was a very interesting time trying to stuff 4 grown people into the back of a compact car, bags and all. We caught the cab back to Jerusalem, and even jammed out to some American top 40 with the driver. We got home and did a little bit of studying, because school was the next day.

The one-day excursion was just enough to stretch our limbs and feel back at home. Another thing that was nice was the release of the stress of living in Jerusalem. The city itself has a tense atmosphere, and sometimes you just need to get away from it all and breathe. We needed to take a nice breath. Overall, Tel Aviv was a success.  

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.

Less Than 20 Days

Well, the time is coming closer when I will boarding a plane for my journey across the Atlantic Ocean and travelling to Asia for the first time. I am excited, nervous, pumped, and sad. I am essentially running the whole gamut of emotions every day.

I think that I have all of my necessary things in order, and I will have a pre-departure meeting via phone this coming week. Me and my follow traveller from my school have been texting back and forth all break trying to figure everything out. Short texts here and there: "I finally got my Visa." "Did you get that one email about our flight?" "Do you know if we will have internet?" It is nice knowing that I am not the only one from my school going, since this is the first year my school has this program.

I'm not sure what I should expect. This may sound bad, or maybe weird, but I am trying not to have expectations. I know that my time will be fantastic, but I also recognize that I will have limitations, being a foreigner in a foreign country and all that. I want to take things in stride and just get settled. I also realized that I have time when I am there. Last summer, when I had the opportunity to study in Greece I wanted to constantly be hiking or in the ocean, since we were only there for a month. I am excited to live in Israel for six months, but that means I can really get rooted. I won't have to run from place to place every single day in order to see things before I leave. I will be able to have days where my roommates and I can relax and watch some tv or just have some coffee. I am extremely excited to see everything that Israel has to offer, but I am also exciting to connect with people from all over the world.

In other news, I think I may have got everything that I need packed, in suitcases. The suitcases are kind of full right now, but that is okay. I am planning on not coming home with everything I bring. I know I will be leaving some undershirts behind, as well as some boxers. I also brought some toiletries that I probably won't be able to get when in Israel, so they will all be used up by the time my study abroad will be coming to a close.

I have about 12 days left at home and then I am travelling to spend time in the cities, since my flight leaves from there for New York City. I will be spending time with friends and finishing graduate school applications and all of that fun/sad stuff. Am I excited to leave, yes. Am I excited to leave all of classmates behind, not at all. We will graduate while I am gone, so when I come back everyone will already be gone. It sucks, but that is also part of life. I don't want to trivialize all the people that I have met. I know that it will only be goodbye for now. We will come back into each others' lives, I know that for sure.

I know that blog posts have been few and far between as of late, but that is because I don't have stories yet of my experience IN Israel. There will definitely be a story about my travel experience, but that can't be posted yet, since it hasn't happened. There will also be more pictures, like my blog from Greece. If you want to check it out click here. I was there for a photography class, so there are quite a few photos. I am not making any promises that there will be as many photos in my posts, but I'm sure that after 6 months there will be a vast amount of photos.

I also feel the need to create some consistency. I may take a page from my good friend and create a signature of sorts.

Peace and Anticipation 

When It Hits Home

Less than two months!!!! I am not sure how to even handle this. I am excited, terribly sad, and apprehensive all at the same time. I have less than two weeks left in my current semester and now Jerusalem is shockingly evident. I do my Visa process tomorrow and then I have to take care of my loans and all of that good stuff.

One of the things that will be the hardest for me to overcome is missing the "lasts." I am a senior this year, so this means that I will be missing my graduation walk (which in all honesty, isn't really that sad). What I am sad for is this final month of school, because it is essentially my last month with some of the most amazing people I have ever met. And I'm not ready to say goodbye yet. I've vocalized it once before at a meeting, but it really hasn't set in until now. "I come back to no one." When I am done and return home school will have been over for at least a month. My classmates will be seeking jobs and gone, and it really sucks knowing (even though I wish it wasn't true in the slightest) that these next two weeks may be the last time I ever see some of these people ever again in my life. 

My time table is becoming smaller and smaller. There is a world of firsts before me, yet I am finally coming to terms with the lasts that are present around me. 

In my class, "Legacy of Luther," we are discussing Dorothee Soelle and her understanding of mysticism. She identifies three aspects to mysticism. They are: 

1. Be Amazed

2. Let Go

3. Resist/Heal

I finally feel like I am being amazed by my life that will be happening. It is becoming more immanent and more real. I honestly don't want to let go yet, and I think that will be the hardest for me. I won't permanently let go, of course. Simply, the idea that everyone will stay the same. Who knows. Maybe when I come home I will find out I will be in the company of my friends in the future. That would honestly be fantastic, and I can only hope. For now, the emotions are hitting hard.