Some of you may have imagined my first Shabbat as being a quiet evening. Shabbat dinner followed by cute, quiet, wholesome activities activities. Something like youth activities at church. So here's how my first sabbath here actually went.
After a short, relaxed dinner, we all went upstairs and started to plan our evening out with the help of Guy. We decided we wanted to go all out. We took about an hour nap and then got ready. Around 11:30, we made our way to Shalvata, an outdoor bar on the beach. IT took a while to get there as we're still learning this city. I definitely need to sit down with a map one day and study. We had a round with the sand under our feet and palm tree umbrellas above our heads. After a chill warm up, about half of us who had gone out (12 went down to 6) walked around the port to find a club. Tons had huge lines. We found one with no line so we wouldn't have to wait so long. Upon arriving, the patted us down / checked the girls purses (standard Israeli practice) and asked for 50 Shekels to get in. One girl with us, Becky (who goes to University of Oregon), haggles like an Israeli. She got it down to 2 of us for free and 25 Shekels for the rest of us. Love this girl. Luckily, she went in before the rest of us and said not to come in since no one was there. We decided to go back to this place we had passed while trying to find Shalvata that had like 100 people in front of it. We got there and Becky again worked her magic. We all got in immediately ahead of all the Israelis there. We had to pay full price, but this place was packed! It would appear that it was more of a bar with loud music that people sort of dance to occasionally. It was great. The DJ was awesome and it appears Israelis are more into singing along, as they all know every song (half American, half Israeli). They also occasionally shot off napkins like over sized confetti and lit sparklers. We had a good time, but want to find a place that's more dance-oriented next time.
The next day, we slept in and headed off to the beach. The Mediterranean is INCREDIBLE! The water is a gorgeous blue-green and warm - like actually warm, unlike US beach water. We had a nice day relaxing watching all the beautiful people play paddle ball and enjoy their Shabbat on the beach.
Today we went to Tel Aviv University, which is where we can get library access and then had my first schnitzel for lunch. Delicious, huge and only $5. From there we went to Jaffa (or Yafo in Hebrew). It's a city just below Tel Aviv that got absorbed into the city Tel Aviv expanded. It is historically an Arab port, although some of you may know it as the place Jonah got on a boat to flee from God asking him to preach. We took the bus all the way down. There is a marked difference in wealth as you go south. I'm interested to get to know the south for real soon. When we got to Jaffa, we went to a mosque where we were given a short lecture on Ramadan, which if you don't know is a holy month in Islam in which Muslims fast while the sun is up to commemorate the revelation of the Quran to Mohammed. We then went on a tour of the old city with 2 guides - one Jewish and the other Arab. They each gave us the narrative of Jaffa's history from each perspective. It was very interesting to hear the parallel accounts of the same city being told so differently. For Jews, the last century has been one of growth and success while for Arabs it has been full of decline and loss. Afterwards, we discussed to differences in the narratives and issues of perspective, which I think was great, especially for a lot of the students who don't really know much about the conflict. I think it showed a quick introduction as to just how complicated this issue is. After that, we had an amazing dinner at a restaurant in Jaffa with most of the professors we'll be learning from.
Tonight, after several days without a full night's sleep, I am staying in. I need a night off so I can return to the madness that is this city.
לילה טוב (Laila Tov/Good night)
domingo, 29 de agosto de 2010
viernes, 27 de agosto de 2010
1 יומ (Day 1)
Shalom everybody!
I guess this is actually day 2 since we arrived yesterday, but there was no way I could manage to do this. I really can't believe that I just arrived in Tel Aviv yesterday, or even that I'm here at all. Everything is so exciting, like the first week I was in New York. It's actually not that different here from home. Most people speak English and are very friendly. It's very modern, although I might liken this more to Europe or even the nicer parts of Colombia. It's pretty hot today. It's apparently going to be hot everyday at least for a month. The weather forecast says it's going to be about 95 degrees everyday with no chance of rain for the next 10 days. Apparently we'll be lucky to see rain at all by the time we leave. Actually, I think I'm good with that.
The one thing that is clearly different is that I feel like I'm 4 years old again with the language. Even a toddler. My only saving grace is that everyone here is forced to study English so we can communicate with pretty much everybody. at some level. I'm getting pretty good at the Hebrew alefbet (alphabet), but of course, I have no idea what I'm saying unless it's a cognate (aka I can pretty much read and understand falafel, shwarma, and hummus. Don't get me wrong though. Those are very important things to understand).
So we got to Ben Gurion Airport on time after a long flight (10 hrs) and went through the easiest customs ever. Basically they looked at my visa, stamped my passport, they gave me a ticket, and I walked through the gate that said "Customs" and handed a soldier the ticket. Not quite what I expected (an interrogation involving intrusive questions and at least one scanning of my bags).
We met our site coordinator, Debra London, who put us (and by us I mean me and the 5 girls who happened to be on my flight also going to NYU in Tel Aviv) into a cab and sent us to our new home, B'nei Dan Student Hostel. B'nei Dan is a nice hostel in North Tel Aviv on the south side of HaYarkon Park, which is like Tel Aviv's Central Park. Yes, I basically live on the Upper East Side part of 5th Ave but in Tel Aviv--for better or worse. By that I mean it's very quiet, a wealthy neighborhood, and right across from a huge park. I definitely have mixed feelings about that as this is not the most exciting part of the city. However, we are on the park which is beautiful and will be great for running, and we're a 15 minute walk from the Tel Aviv Port, which has tons of bars and restaurants and of course is right on the water.
Walking into the hostel is not much different from walking into a decent hotel in the US. Except that there is a security guard in front of it at all times. We live on the second floor. The entire floor is NYU. We all live here and our classrooms and the staff are all on this floor. Again, for better or worse. I just wanna make sure we get out of our bubble here. But I don't think that'll be a problem as the kids here seem into that, or at least enough of them.
Turns out I'm living with our RA for at least a week. His name is Guy. He's Israeli and a student at Tel Aviv University. He's really cool and I actually like him a lot and don't mind living with him. Actually, I kind of like it. He's really chill and definitely a great resource. I'm enjoying getting to know him. The other kids too. There are 26 of us. Three of us are boys. Typical NYU. I'm still getting to know everyone of course, but I really like them so far.
The group I arrived with went straight to the Beach after grabbing a quick snack here.We only had a little time before having to return for dinner. What we did see is beautiful. Tomorrow is our beach day and I can't wait to lounge on the gorgeous Mediterranean. Dinner was ok. We all have to have a meal plan and it's served by the hostel staff. I don't know how Israeli it was. We had stir-fried chicken, potatoes, and pasta. But there was also a salad and hummus.
After dinner, we signed up for phone service here and then went out with Guy. He took us to a bar called Barrio 66, since Thursday night is like there Friday on account of Shabbat being on Saturday (again, oddly familiar). It's not too far from B'Nei Dan and was very chill. We looked ridiculous as a group of 26 English speakers walked along the streets of Tel Aviv and all enter a definitely not that huge bar. We had a great time, though, getting to know each other while listening to all American music and the staff didn't seem too annoyed at the business (btw, their form of carding: "Is everyone 18?", "Yes", "Ok then"). We left around 11:30 and a small group of us decided to go to the port. This is clearly one place we will be hanging out more. As we got close, I just decided we should just follow a group of well dressed Israeli girls and see what's cool (I know, I'm a creeper). We ended up at this outdoor restaurant bar that happens to be owned by Speedo (or at least, I think that's why they had live size cut outs of Speedo models and had a small shop in the back. It was great!!! After a very long, sleepless journey, we really just enjoyed talking, listening to the waves, and trying to process the fact that WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!!!!! I really can't believe it still.
Today, we got up, had breakfast, did some ice breakers and then went out on a walking tour of the city. It was very great to wander closer to the city center, grab a falafel (for 14 Shekel/$3.50, and mind you they're huge, even more than Mamoun's), and continue getting to know people. We ended up in Rabin Square, which is in memoriam of President Yitzak Rabin, who was assassinated in that spot by a right wing, orthodox Jew who opposed the Oslo Accords, which created a Palestinian National Authority and withdrew Israeli Defense Forces from parts of Palestine.
Now I'm here. Just took a nap to recoop. We have tons of orientation activities until classes start on Wednesday. Tomorrow's our one day off since it's shabbat. Tonight, we're having a shabbat dinner and then plan on having a great night out, now that we've gotten to rest a bit.
So my blog is called Shalom Israel (in case you can't read Hebrew) and is signed Yeshua, which is my name in Hebrew. I'll be keeping you updated this way, but I'd love to here from you by email or Facebook, especially all my other friends doing study abroad.
I love you all and look forward to telling you more about my adventures here as and hearing from you soon!!!
I guess this is actually day 2 since we arrived yesterday, but there was no way I could manage to do this. I really can't believe that I just arrived in Tel Aviv yesterday, or even that I'm here at all. Everything is so exciting, like the first week I was in New York. It's actually not that different here from home. Most people speak English and are very friendly. It's very modern, although I might liken this more to Europe or even the nicer parts of Colombia. It's pretty hot today. It's apparently going to be hot everyday at least for a month. The weather forecast says it's going to be about 95 degrees everyday with no chance of rain for the next 10 days. Apparently we'll be lucky to see rain at all by the time we leave. Actually, I think I'm good with that.
The one thing that is clearly different is that I feel like I'm 4 years old again with the language. Even a toddler. My only saving grace is that everyone here is forced to study English so we can communicate with pretty much everybody. at some level. I'm getting pretty good at the Hebrew alefbet (alphabet), but of course, I have no idea what I'm saying unless it's a cognate (aka I can pretty much read and understand falafel, shwarma, and hummus. Don't get me wrong though. Those are very important things to understand).
So we got to Ben Gurion Airport on time after a long flight (10 hrs) and went through the easiest customs ever. Basically they looked at my visa, stamped my passport, they gave me a ticket, and I walked through the gate that said "Customs" and handed a soldier the ticket. Not quite what I expected (an interrogation involving intrusive questions and at least one scanning of my bags).
We met our site coordinator, Debra London, who put us (and by us I mean me and the 5 girls who happened to be on my flight also going to NYU in Tel Aviv) into a cab and sent us to our new home, B'nei Dan Student Hostel. B'nei Dan is a nice hostel in North Tel Aviv on the south side of HaYarkon Park, which is like Tel Aviv's Central Park. Yes, I basically live on the Upper East Side part of 5th Ave but in Tel Aviv--for better or worse. By that I mean it's very quiet, a wealthy neighborhood, and right across from a huge park. I definitely have mixed feelings about that as this is not the most exciting part of the city. However, we are on the park which is beautiful and will be great for running, and we're a 15 minute walk from the Tel Aviv Port, which has tons of bars and restaurants and of course is right on the water.
Walking into the hostel is not much different from walking into a decent hotel in the US. Except that there is a security guard in front of it at all times. We live on the second floor. The entire floor is NYU. We all live here and our classrooms and the staff are all on this floor. Again, for better or worse. I just wanna make sure we get out of our bubble here. But I don't think that'll be a problem as the kids here seem into that, or at least enough of them.
Turns out I'm living with our RA for at least a week. His name is Guy. He's Israeli and a student at Tel Aviv University. He's really cool and I actually like him a lot and don't mind living with him. Actually, I kind of like it. He's really chill and definitely a great resource. I'm enjoying getting to know him. The other kids too. There are 26 of us. Three of us are boys. Typical NYU. I'm still getting to know everyone of course, but I really like them so far.
The group I arrived with went straight to the Beach after grabbing a quick snack here.We only had a little time before having to return for dinner. What we did see is beautiful. Tomorrow is our beach day and I can't wait to lounge on the gorgeous Mediterranean. Dinner was ok. We all have to have a meal plan and it's served by the hostel staff. I don't know how Israeli it was. We had stir-fried chicken, potatoes, and pasta. But there was also a salad and hummus.
After dinner, we signed up for phone service here and then went out with Guy. He took us to a bar called Barrio 66, since Thursday night is like there Friday on account of Shabbat being on Saturday (again, oddly familiar). It's not too far from B'Nei Dan and was very chill. We looked ridiculous as a group of 26 English speakers walked along the streets of Tel Aviv and all enter a definitely not that huge bar. We had a great time, though, getting to know each other while listening to all American music and the staff didn't seem too annoyed at the business (btw, their form of carding: "Is everyone 18?", "Yes", "Ok then"). We left around 11:30 and a small group of us decided to go to the port. This is clearly one place we will be hanging out more. As we got close, I just decided we should just follow a group of well dressed Israeli girls and see what's cool (I know, I'm a creeper). We ended up at this outdoor restaurant bar that happens to be owned by Speedo (or at least, I think that's why they had live size cut outs of Speedo models and had a small shop in the back. It was great!!! After a very long, sleepless journey, we really just enjoyed talking, listening to the waves, and trying to process the fact that WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!!!!! I really can't believe it still.
Today, we got up, had breakfast, did some ice breakers and then went out on a walking tour of the city. It was very great to wander closer to the city center, grab a falafel (for 14 Shekel/$3.50, and mind you they're huge, even more than Mamoun's), and continue getting to know people. We ended up in Rabin Square, which is in memoriam of President Yitzak Rabin, who was assassinated in that spot by a right wing, orthodox Jew who opposed the Oslo Accords, which created a Palestinian National Authority and withdrew Israeli Defense Forces from parts of Palestine.
Now I'm here. Just took a nap to recoop. We have tons of orientation activities until classes start on Wednesday. Tomorrow's our one day off since it's shabbat. Tonight, we're having a shabbat dinner and then plan on having a great night out, now that we've gotten to rest a bit.
So my blog is called Shalom Israel (in case you can't read Hebrew) and is signed Yeshua, which is my name in Hebrew. I'll be keeping you updated this way, but I'd love to here from you by email or Facebook, especially all my other friends doing study abroad.
I love you all and look forward to telling you more about my adventures here as and hearing from you soon!!!
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