One of the few, yet huge reasons why I miss Claremont right about now. 

theprettypalate:

Mmmm…my favorite burger place in Claremont (where I go to school) is The Back Abbey. Their burgers are so filling and flavorful. The Back Abbey Burger is topped with aged gouda, mustard aioli, carmelized onion, Niman Ranch bacon and micro greens all between the best Brioche bun in the Inland Empire. The Vegetable Burger is loaded with a grilled portobello mushroom, zucchini, red bell peppers and eggplant with feta cheese and herbed verde complete with a Brioche bun. Not only are the burgers amazing but their beer selection is impressive, with a lot to choose from. Some of my favorites that they have on tap include Kwak and Delirium Tremens. If you ever happen to find yourself in the Inland Empire (I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy) I’d definitely make your trip worth it by heading to the Back Abbey in the charming Claremont Village.

128 North Oberlin Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711

Sadly this was the final week of classes which meant I had 3 finals and a paper due by Sunday. Monday, and for the rest of my Hebrew classes, was all review. For the final Irish House blowout, not only did Michael give us some tremendous service (knew all our drink orders already, scooped the foam off of Jenna’s drink, gave Lauren 3 straws in her liter of water), but we all got to buy Irish House shirts. Some of us tried to trade with each other for different designs (I really wanted Eva’s zebra one) and they’re all size small, but mine fit well enough so I’ll be sure to wear it in the future. We also met some Canadian sailors who were on shore leave, and kept assuming we were all taking a boat back to the US, and we had to remind them 3 times, that no, we did not take a boat over here, nor are we taking one back. I also got to have a REALLY in depth conversation with Rothem after her shift at the bar about her army service and the things she’s been up to. She’s going to Ethiopia in a few months to do some volunteer work, and she also told me about how some of the Ethiopians she knew here who are Shabbat observant, keep Kosher, etc. didn’t pass their “Judaism test” because they forgot the word for kippa; yet she is considered Jewish despite her lack of observance. She also told me about her time in the army working in Hebron and how Jewish settlers threw rocks at her, and how her best friend, and a few other friends of hers were killed there (she didn’t specify the details). It’s so crazy here how the most “normal” people have some of the most intense army stories, and how well people are at separating their army lives from their personal lives. It was a great conversation, and it really increased my respect for her and what every soldier has to deal with during their service. Tuesday our Hebrew dialogues were all “juicy gossip” and our “scandal gadol” was that 2 guys were seen with 2 girls at a restaurant, but one of the girls is married. Then they went to the discotec until 3AM and THEN went to the hotel room. College education at work folks. Daniel, Bryan, Stefani, Eva and I went to the Druze Village for some exploration and a little shopping.  The village wasn’t very crowded, and there wasn’t a lot of signage in Arabic which was strange. We went to a lot of booths, and Daniel bought himself a hookah, I bought my parents and grandparents something (can’t ruin the surprise) and I think Eva or Stefani bought stuff too. The stores were very shuk-like, and it was nice bargaining with them. I also got a bomb shawarma for lunch…at 4 in the afternoon. Waiting for a bus down the mountain took longer that I had hoped, but I made it back home in time to meet with my group to practice our, and I’m not kidding you, Jerry Springer dialogue. I also started studying for my Biblical Theology final, but after running the numbers, I could get a 70% on the final and still get a B in the class. I also ran the numbers for my Hebrew final, and I could get a 50% on that final and get a B in the class.

 

(The elevator)

(Did I mention Israelis love using shopping carts for their non-intended purpose)

(Sunset over the Druze village)

(Druze chicken art)

(The shawarma stand)

(The village at night)

Wednesday we did our dialogue where Jian and Stefani were married, but Stefani fell out of love with him because he’s never home. Gian was also at the discotec with 5 girls, and tied to blame it on his brother…which he doesn’t have because his mom told me (I played Jerry). Gian then told Stefani he was with 5 girls, AND took them all to the hotel after. Oscar quality acting. I took my final and felt pretty good about it, even considering I studied for like an hour or two tops. After the final we all went to Jackie and Molly’s place where we watched the friendship video Lauren made for all of us. It was really well put together, and really made me realize what great friends I’ve made here and how much I’ll miss them. After the video, we surprised Jackie with a birthday cake and after that Daniel gave me one final haircut. I tried studying for my Hebrew final, but it really didn’t go anywhere. Thursday I knocked out my Hebrew final and went to shawarma lunch with Daniel, Bryan and Stefani in Horev. It really is shawarma time all the time here. On the bus ride home, Daniel and I were making up a song about 4Loko (don’t ask) and all of a sudden we sang the EXACT same made up line at the same time, which might have been a clue we spend too much time together. After our air conditioned bus ride (AC in January, gotta love it) and 45 minutes of studying, I took my Terrorism final and finished it in 10 minutes (20 multiple choice questions) and then said goodbye to Michelle, who I know I’ll see again.  After the final, we all watched the movie Balfour, which is about life in an Israeli outpost in south Lebanon during the 1^st Lebanon war. It was very well done, and really realistic, and the whole time I kept thinking that if I were an Israeli citizen, I could easily be one of those soldiers. After the movie I helped Daniel pack, and then we went to Giraffe with Bryan for one final guys dinner. Once again the food was delicious, and we sat at the bar where we watched our server go into beast mode making all sorts of drinks and desserts. On the ride back we talked about the Korean students who live in the Druze Village, but commute to the university to study Hebrew and how random it was, and also how I haven’t been able to find blue cheese anywhere (went to 3 different stores). I helped Daniel pack some more, said goodbye to a few people at Eva’s place, and after hanging out in Molly, Jackie and Jenna’s place with the usual people, I walked with everybody to their sheruit to the airport (too many people to list). It was definitely tough saying goodbye to Daniel and Bryan, but I know for sure I’ll be seeing them again.

 

(Happy Birthday Jackie!)

(The last shawarma lunch)

(True story)

I spent all of Friday doing research for my psychology paper. Saturday I went out to Masada street for lunch with Lauren, Jenna and Eva, which is this cool artsy street in Haifa. After waiting way too long for a bus (thanks Shabbat) we made it there and walked around checking out all the cool street art and all the Portland/SF/Berkley looking people. We grabbed lunch at this great café, and I had the “strange” sandwich which consisted of ham, avocado, onion and tomato; none of which I thought was strange on a sandwich. After getting on a bus full of Russians, I went back to work on my paper until about 10 where I watched the final 2 episodes of Breaking Bad left on my DVR and the season premier of Portlandia. Sunday I finished up my paper, and went to Irish House for Jenna’s final night, and 1+1. Sadly Michael wasn’t there, but we were joined by some of Lauren and Jenna’s Israeli friends, and they were a riot.  Jenna and I had a really long hug, but saying goodbye to her was also pretty hard. 

(This is how we wait for buses)

(Street art)

(More street art)

(The Carmelit station)

(The Magical Mystery Tour is so old)

(There are fighter planes next to bus stops here)

In Hebrew Monday we learned the names of food, which would have been really helpful in the beginning of the semester. Also, a student from Hong Kong brought in homemade sushi which was delicious, and really made me consider why I haven’t had sushi for breakfast more often. That night at Irish was supposed to be a normal Monday night, but somehow it turned into complete mayhem. Before we even got in, on the bus ride down, someone’s card broke the machine. Adam was pouring a few Jack the Rippers (the flammable red, white and blue shots) and at about 11ish the music went from the usual classic rock, but then switched to club music, and it really did turn into Club Irish. 4 different kinds of free shots were given out, the music was crazy, everyone was dancing including the people who live in Haifa and just happened to be there and at one point a few people were dancing on the bar. We didn’t leave until 1:30ish, and had to catch cabs back since the buses stop running after midnight.  Tuesday we learned more names, and after going to the grocery store (which was surprisingly calm and stress free) I successfully used some of it at the shawarma stand. I made pasta and alfredo sauce for the 3^rd time and it was actually edible for the 1^st time, which made me really happy.

(Mmmm breakfast sushi)

(THAT’S what a shawama stand should look like)

Wednesday I went to the noon festival thing, which was crowded but lacked the beer and live music of the other time. In Biblical Theology, we learned that women are actually really good in the Bible because they often correct the mistakes of their husbands (Sarah telling Abraham to make Isaac the decendent of the Jews, Rebecca convincing Isaac to give the kingship to Jacob, Tamar, etc.). For dinner, Daniel came over and I made my delicious blue cheese, garlic and onion burgers on chiabatta bread and Daniel brought over some fries which we put in the toaster oven and melted pepper jack cheese over and added some other spices to. The meal was AMAZING, but ironically enough one of my dorm-partment mates who smokes like a chimney complained about the smell of the blue cheese and asked us to open the window. Go figure. 10 minutes after Daniel left, Echmad rallied us all together to clean the place, which turned into pressure wash EVERYTHING and shove all the water in the shower with the squeegee mops. It was chaotic, but it worked and another OII (only in Israel) moment.

(Daniel loves my cooking)

(Cleaning…Israeli style)

(And it apparently works)

Thursday in Terrorism we watched a video of Hammas people after the ’06 elections gathering up some Fatah members, lining them up on their bellies and shooting them all with AK-47’s with prayer chants in the background. It was pretty shocking, and yet not because this is the reality of terrorism and “political discourse” in the Middle East. We then watched a video of some kids playing “suicide bomber” where a boy shook all his friends hands, walked over to some mock Israel security forces, then “blew himself up” by pulling a mock cord, throwing dust in the air and having everyone fall on the ground. Most of the class (including myself) had the usual reaction of  “shouldn’t these kids be playing with Barbies and toys like the rest of us” but again, this helped set in the reality of the situation here and what Israel has to face every day. We watched another video of “Pallywood” where during the ’00 Intifada there were tons of Palestinian film crews faking violence and Israeli attacks who then had their footage picked up by Western media, and had it broadcast as legitimate news instead of them checking their sources and facts and picking up the real story. I have no idea how prevalent this stuff is, but it’s fascinating to see how much work (and horrible acting & detail) goes into these productions and how easily the media picks it up. Chodoff told us how he partook in suing a French news agency for libel because they ran one of these stories. We were shown pictures of a mock Arab village Chodoff helped design, and he told us about the IDF urban warfare training program and how in the US the acceptable civilian to combatant death ratio is 35:1 (35 civilians to 1 combatant) and how when Israel trains, they train for 0:1. The IDF on all fronts takes their jobs very seriously, and minimizes civilian casualties to the best of their abilities, more than any other army. We were shown pictures of the former Gaza settlements and the crazy situation there (daily rocket attacks, but also a main employer in Gaza), and why the IDF evacuated everybody in ’05 since 30% of the IDF was protecting 8,000 people which was a huge waste of resources. Finally we went over why Israel doesn’t like the UN. How do you deal with a terrorist not in uniform shooting at you from a window, dropping the gun, running across the street, and shooting at you again when he isn’t shooting at you?  On the report condemning Operation Cast Lead, they changed article 51 of the Geneva Conventions to say Israel isn’t covered by it because article 51 only applied to states protecting themselves from other states even though article 51 makes no mention of states protecting themselves from other states. They also said Israel is occupying Gaza because of the blockade, even though Israel pulled out in ’05 and blockades are war tactics (UK on Germany in WWII) not occupation. Even the guy who wrote these reports went on TV a few years after and said if he knew now what he knew then about the IDF’s policies and value for civilians, he wouldn’t have written the report.  Again, you can see why this is my favorite class.

(We also learned body parts in Hebrew)

That night, Daniel, Bryan, Stefani, Hayley, Michelle, Chandler, Jenna and I went to Rak Basar for one final evening of delicious meat and cheap wine. Daniel and I decided to keep it classy and wear button down shits and ties, and I went all out with nice pants and nice shoes because if you’re gunna keep it classy, might as well go all out. On the bus ride down, there was an ambulance behind us who couldn’t pass the bus for about a minute (OII) which made us all laugh and feel really upset for how little people care about the fact someone’s life is on the line and nobody seems to really care. We got a table in the basement, but instead of being alone, the whole place was pretty crowded and there were 2 other tables next to us which lead to us getting shushed 3 times over the course of the evening. We weren’t that sorry because we’re college kids here for the last time together with all you can drink wine and really weren’t that loud. After the 3^rd time, the waiter told us upstairs was completely empty, and we gladly moved. Michelle split a delicious chocolate mousse thing, and to top things off, the waiter gave us all membership cards. Afterwards, Bryan, Michelle, Daniel, Stefani and I went to Loft for their Christmas party (5 days after the actually Holiday, but hey OII). It was Bryan’s 1^st time there, and all of our last times, and we had a blast especially since they told us we were too young to get in, but since we were Americans and student’s they’d let it slide this one time. There were countless free Santa hats being given out, and even a Santa or two walking around the club. Daniel, Bryan and I also had fun getting creepy Israeli guys to back off of Stefan and Michelle. At one point Michelle and I decided to dance on the bar, because why not? Somehow a professional photographer snapped our picture, then a security guard kicked us off, but only after Michelle gave him a high 5.  We ended up catching the 3am 200 bus, and thanks do Daniel’s card breaking the machine, everybody got a free bus ride, and of course all of us ended up going to bed at 4:30.

(See, look how fancy I am)

(The ladies)

(Daniel would repeatedly grab Bryan and I and remind us that “we’re on top of the world” and this is what we would look at. Close enough I guess)

Friday Michelle, Daniel, Eva, Stefani and I went shopping at Horev for New Years pot luck/party supplies which took longer than expected, but a Daniel, Stefani and I got a delicious falafel lunch out of it so it was totally worth it. That night we had a hookah session with some people who went on the Hebron trip (see my blog repost for everything that went on) and somehow we ended up talking for over 2 hours and since Bryan, Daniel, Stefani, Michelle and I wanted to make the 11:30 bus for the pool hall, we had to book it through the dorms. Of course the bus was 20 minutes late, and on the way down, the back tires/breaks ended up catching fire. At one stop some of the high school (I think middle school too, either way too young to be out that late) ran outside and stated yelling “yesh eish” which means “there’s fire” to the driver, who just kept driving. Somehow we made it to Carmel Center alive, and got assigned to the purple pool table. We played a few games of cutthroat, and eventually Hayley made it down, and then accompanied us to Pancake House. The service was pretty weak, and their English menu didn’t match the Hebrew one, so some of the things on it magically didn’t appear which made some people angry. It was 2am, and I really just wanted pancakes, and I got some delicious ones with some delicious what I think was homemade whipped cream. After leaving, we had to run to make the 200, but got on and of course the Red Hot Chili Peppers were playing (they LOVE them here) which put me in an even better mood. Again, we didn’t get back until 3:45 and didn’t go to sleep until 4:30 (if you see an unhealthy trend here, you’re right). Saturday was New Years, and I brought my now famous hot wings over to the pot luck, which had a lot of other red colored food which was pretty funny. The food was great, the drinks were great, the people were great and Tom even gave us musical performance. We then caught the bus to Irish House for their New Years bonanza where they took out most of the chairs, and brought in a live DJ, a light show, fog machine, and the works. It was so much better than dealing with all the BS of going to a club here or in Tel Aviv, and definitely better than hanging out on campus all night. We left around 2ish, and while waiting for the bus, Bryan and I decided it would be great idea to run across the street to Zesty and get burgers, which ended up being probably the greatest call of the night. And you guessed correctly if you thought we caught the bus on time and went to bed at 4:30. Sunday I woke up not hungover, but definitely exhausted. My back was really sore, I felt generally burned out, and after talking to Daniel and a few other people, they all had the exact same external and internal pain. That night the International School had a going away party for us where they played us an awkwardly funny video, gave out awards and stuff to people, and had food. Later that night, Daniel, Bryan, Stefani and I watched the Raiders game on the big screen (after we had to call the madrachim to bring us the adapter cord that they promised they’d leave us) and of course to cap off my fantastic weekend the Raiders lost and missed the playoffs… 

(Daniel and Michelle showing off their flexibility)

(Just realized how ridiculous this art at the bus stop really is)

(Stefani setting up her shot)

(My delicious 4th meal)

(The sorority girls doing their sorority poses)

(Seriously gunna miss these guys)

(The madrachim singing us a goodbye song)

Monday morning was a really windy day, which was perfect because I needed to stay inside and prepare a 2 minute, no notes presentation for Hebrew the next day. We had to speak for 1 minute on a famous person, place or thing, and 1 minutes on another; I chose Abraham and Israel because they were really easy. Daniel, Bryan, Eva, Michelle and I went to Irish early to catch a Macabi Haifa game and the happy hour 25% off dinner deal. Macabi Haifa won 3-1, but the highlight of the evening was one of the bartenders, Adam, who made a mystery, red white & blue, flaming shot for the bravest of us to take. Before the shot was lit, and before we knew what was in it, Eva volunteered, and even after seeing it catch fire, she blew it out and downed it like a champ. The bus ride back was great because it was me, Jenna and John sharing our favorite Mike Tyson quotes. Tuesday after nailing my presentation and before Hebrew ended, we were informed there were free sufganiot (jelly donuts) and Christmas cookies upstairs which I totally took advantage of before psychology. During psychology Daniel and I made a Spider Man reference (with great power comes great responsibility) to our professor, which all of us thoroughly enjoyed. That afternoon I went grocery shopping, and having learned from my previous experiences, stopped caring about time and efficiency. Of course all the registers except the 10 items or less and 1 regular one were closed, and I had 14 items. I waited forever behind a woman with a truckload full of groceries, and I was later informed that the 10 items register would have let me through; either way I didn’t care and ended up making the transfer with normal blood pressure levels. When I came home 2 of my dorm-partment mates were eating malfuf which is meat & rice wrapped in some sort of leaf and eaten with pita. They gave me a plate and it was delicious. I went to go take a shower and saw that the shower head was gone, and according to Echmad, it came off but I don’t think anybody bothered to tell maintenance about it. After an awkward shower I went back to my room only to be informed that my liter of cranberry juice spilled all over the fridge and floor. I cleaned up the fridge with no problem, but Echmad and I had a debate over how best to clean the floor. He said push everything out into the hall with the squeegee/mop thing we have, and I said use the rags to soak it up, rinse and repeat. Since I learned that in Israel “if you’re not yelling you just don’t care enough” I projected my idea louder than Eachmad, and he predictably backed off where I then cleaned up everything and left the floor spotless and not sticky.

(Eva finishing up her dinner and capping it off with a Jack the Ripper)

(Free food is popular here)

(Musical chairs for educational purposes)

(What the hell were Bryan and I thinking?)

Wednesday in Biblical Theology we talked about how the Maccabees revolted against Hellenized Jews and the dominance of Greek culture, not necessarily the actual Greek invasion. We related it to American culture, and how it dominates the world, even if it’s not necessarily Americans everywhere doing it. For dinner I attempted to make pasta with an alfredo sauce again, which didn’t fail as bad, but the cheese still clumped and the sauce still separated; I’ll try harder next time. That night there was an International School Channukah party which consisted of Jackie leading us in songs (kinda awkward for everybody since it looked like she was forced to do this), cookie decorating, free sufganyot, dreidel making and the scariest game ever: the lit channukia race. It was a fun time, nothing crazy, but still nice to get out of my room and socialize. Thursday night was Haifa’s big Chrisma-Channukah party. About a dozen of us took the bus to Wadi Nisnas after Terrorism to see if their Festival of Festivals was happening (it wasn’t) and ½ of us went to get DELICIOUS falafel and join the other half in the German Colony. Wadi Nisnas was completely decorated with Christmas lights and other typical American Christmas decorations, which made us all a little homesick, but when we made it to the German Colony that’s when the REAL party started. The street was closed off to cars, and there were TONS of food and art booths for blocks and blocks with some musicians scattered in between. There was a Santa whose lap you could sit on, angels and Santas on stilts giving out chocolate, and a theater troupe (man and his wife and mistress in drag) entertaining us with the husband convincing me and Daniel to never get married. After watching a wonderful and really random fireworks show, and eating a sugar covered pastery log, we made it to the main stage at the end of the festival where we watched and danced to an Irish-Israeli band which was equally confusing and entertaining. Jackie jigged up a storm, which caught the attention of a lot of locals. For whatever reason, we all decided to take the 11:15 bus back because we didn’t feel like raging all night, which ended up being a good call because I really needed the sleep.

(Old school falafel)

(Stefani posing with Santa)

(This party was HUGE)

(Angel on stilts)

(Yay fireworks!)

(Irish-Israeli music)

Friday at about 12:30 Bryan, Daniel and I go try to get falafel on campus, only to get denied by Shabbat. We tried to get sandwiches at a café and they too were also shutting down. Luckily the buses still run til about 4:30, so we hopped on to Horev and try a shawarma place that we’d been meaning to try (and so Bryan can do some grocery shopping). When we walked up, the shawama was looking like it was running low, and there were about 6 people in front of us, one of whom was a woman who ordered about 8 shawarmas b’pita “rak basar” or “just meat” which meant after waiting for 20 minutes in line, the 3 of us got the short end of the stick and had to get lunch somewhere else because the shawarma ran out. I remembered the sandwich place around the corner that I went to a few weeks back, and they happened to be open, and still delicious. One of the guys behind the counter was a Lakers fan and the other was a Clippers one, and they were jealous that we could watch games not at 4:30 am like they have to. That night was pot luck at Lauren’s place, and I brought pesto gnocchi instead of my usual wings because I totally forgot to buy them. The food was great, we lit candles for Channukah and it was a really chill night, which in hindsight was exactly what I needed. Since Saturday night was Christmas Eve, Daniel, Michelle, Eva and I took the bus to Giraffe (pan Asian cuisine) to get Chinese food, and if not, at least take advantage of the student discount. Luckily they had sweet & sour chicken and spring rolls, and a free apatizer or beer with certain entre deal which all of us were sold on. Daniel and I split the spring rolls and spicy tuna sushi appetizer and the sweet & sour chicken and Malaysian pesto chicken noodles which were all FANTASTIC. Joseph came in since he missed our bus, and after we finished dinner I was invited to join the staff in lighting their channukia. We then walked to Irish 10 minutes before they opened (they literally wouldn’t let us in) to get 1+1 on drinks and chat with the staff that we’ve all come to love. Sharon the bartender (and manager we found out the next week) knew Michelle wanted a merlot, and that Daniel and I were part of the “Weinstephen Crew”. They light their channukia which I guess makes up for the few nights of candle lighting I missed. We talked to Joseph about why he left his fraternity at UF, all the positive things Daniel’s fraternity does (actually the most legitimate one I’ve ever heard of) and also managed to drop the biggest laugh bomb ever on Rotem the waitress. She went to the spa with her boyfriend and I immediately responded with a “Shabbat Shalooomm” which I thought was pretty funny, but it literally made her cry with laughter and almost brought her to the floor. It’s nights like these that remind me why sometimes I truly love this place.

(Something’s not right with this situation)

(Lauren doing the candle honors)

(Becky getting in the Christmas spirit)

(Best Christmas Eve dinner I could ask for)

Sunday morning at 8:30 Daniel, Michelle and I headed to Jerusalem for the day, because why not be in Jerusalem on Christmas? It was raining the whole day, and also about 15 degrees colder than Haifa, but somehow I still decided to wear my longest pair of shorts to which Daniel made a bet that if he saw anybody else that day in shorts he’d buy me something (he won). I finally got to take the light rail for the 1^st time, and of course the ticket machine was broken, so we all got to ride for free. The light rail was great and took us right to the Damascus gate. The area around the gate wasn’t as crowded as I had thought it’d be for Christmas, and the only church bells we heard were all the ones going off at noon.  We walked around the Jewish quarter and even went past Rabbi Wegbreit’s yeshiva that he teaches at; I didn’t stop in at that moment because we had to meet Bryan and his family at Shawarma Bar, but I knew I’d have to stop by before I left. After walking past a Jewish musical precession, we made it to Shawarma bar before the rain started kicking in. Daniel and I got our shawarma’s b’laffa (with falafel balls and fries inside) and Michelle got her shawarma on a plate (she’s been doing this for a the last few times which I still don’t fully undetrstand). 15 minutes after we stepped in, Bryan, his mom and brother stepped in and we introduced them to their 1^st shawarmas. Bryans mom was great, and we all got to tell her about our lives, loves and complaints about Israel,  and we got to hear about her life as a high school math department head (quite fascinating actually). It was great interacting with another mom because I hadn’t seen mine in 3 months and won’t see her for another 5 (wow, what was I thinking doing this whole year abroad thing?). It was also interesting hearing her and Bryan’s brother’s take on their Israel experience since they’re not Jewish.

(The insanity of security at the Jerusalem CBS)

(Evidently the light rail is popular here)

(The 21st century and the 1st century collide)

(The procession comes to Shawarma Bar)

 

(Wet channukia at the Western Wall)

After a messy and delicious shawarma lunch, we all walked to the Western Wall where Michelle joyfully took Mama Bryan to the women’s side while us guys went to the men’s side. I didn’t have the intense spiritual experience I had the last time I went, but it was still great to visit, even if it was raining. After visiting the Wall and trying to figure out how to get on top of the Temple Mount (crazy long line that looked Muslim-only) the Bryan and his family split off and Michelle, Daniel and I went shopping in the shuk. Daniel needed to get some shirts for his friends and family and Michelle needed to get stuff for her sister and/or find an excuse to be Israeli and haggle with the merchants. Daniel found the shirts he wanted, but for some reason the Baltimore Ravens ones he wanted were 3x as expensive as the other ones, but after some intense negotiation and almost walking out, he got the prices he wanted. After making the sale, Daniel asked the merchant what his profit margin was on the shirts, and he said before Daniel negotiated it was around 500%, but after it was about 300%. I really wanted an Oakland Raiders shirt, but nowhere had them (despite having every other pro sports team and tons of college ones).We kept losing Michelle, but she eventually found us at a shirt store that had a computer that could pull up anything you wanted on a shirt, or if you had a flash drive, could print your own design. Daniel’s parents had a business that he wanted to add some Hebrew to their logo, and they also had a Raiders logo so both of us were sold. Bryan and his brother also found us because their mom was tired and took a cab back to the hotel.

(College shirts not a problem, but Raiders ones apparently are)

(My new shirt)

After we got our shirts and Michelle got some sandals, we made it to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which was really empty outside considering it was Christmas (I guess Bethlehem is a more popular spot…I wonder why?) and we then walked back to Rabbi Wegbreit’s yeshiva. I felt really underdressed for how gorgeous  it was inside, but  it was also too small for everyone to fit in the doorway. Rabbi Wegbreit was just finishing up a class, and I walked in and he immediately hugged me and invited all of us to celebrate Channukah at his place. I thanked him for the offer, and told him if transportation to and from his house and Haifa worked we’d try our best to make it, and if we couldn’t I’d see him in a few weeks for Shabbat. I met everyone back at the Damascus gate, and we wandered to an outdoor shopping mall just outside the old city where Michelle went Dead Sea product shopping, and the guys tried all the samples. After the East Jerusalem trip the previous Sunday, it was SO crazy seeing the disparity between the two parts of the city; West Jerusalem almost feels like a different universe. We then made our way up another main street and got some unbelievably tasty Max Brenner hot chocolates and gelato for the crazy people. The main Jerusalem shuk was a few blocks away, so we trekked through the rain and made it in right before everything started to close. I’m still confused why shuks close so early here, don’t you want to stay open so people can go shopping after work? I don’t think any of us bought any food, but it was still great walking around and seeing all the craziness and smelling the delicious smells. The funniest part though was at a Judaica booth where a blatantly American woman asked the owner in loud, slow, English if he had kippot for girls for a bat mitzvah and the owner just kind of shrugged because he had no idea what exactly was going on. All you Jews will understand why this is so funny, but for you non-Jews, kippot are traditionally only worn by men, and only boys have bar mitzvahs because women don’t have the responsibility of organized prayer and this lifecycle event. Clearly this woman was either reform, or very ignorant about Orthodox Jewish tradition, either way Daniel and I couldn’t help but laugh.

(Empty Church of the Holy Sepulchre)

(Rabbi Wegbreit’s yishiva)

(Even Jerusalem gets in the Christmas spirit)

(Yea, I’d say it was pretty wet)

(Daniel and I both tried to figure out how that graffiti got up there)

(Israel, you’re doing it wrong)

(Reminder people, don’t walk between the trains)

(Bryan and Michelle walking through the shuk)

(Big piles of spices)

We stopped at a few other booths (including one that sold Axe Africa scent, which Daniel and Bryan got a kick out of) and then split off to go home, the hotel for Bryan and his brother, and school for the other 3 of us. Again, the light rail machine was broken so we got another free ride and after some pushing, shoving, yelling and other insanity, we made it on the bus. In classic Israel fashion, the bus had about 6 extra people on it who had to sit on the floor on the way to Haifa. I somehow managed to break the ticket machine on the bus back to the university, since normally when you put your card in it, it gives you a receipt, but this time it didn’t give me anything, had a red light go on, and a loud piecing beep go off for 15 minutes while the driver tried to fix it. 3 stops later, the machine still wasn’t working, the power went out, and the driver kicked everybody off and we had to wait for another bus and a transfer at Horev. While waiting at Horev we met up with some other international school students and swapped stories of our weekends. One went to Bethlehem for Charismas, and another told us about all the problems she’s been having with the masters program. It’s nice to know, and extremely frustrating knowing  that I’m not the only one who realized how much this school needs to get their act together on so many issues. Luckily I made it home, and even with the frustrating ride back, I still had a fantastic Sunday trip. 

(Daniel doesn’t like the cold and rain)

(Waiting to get on our bus)

(Haifa still letting everybody know what night of Channukah it is)

Thursday night a bunch of us went out to The Beat club to catch the Beatles cover band that Lauren, Jenna and I saw over Sukkot break. After grabbing some delicious shawarma with Bryan, Eva, Daniel and Michelle, we met up with Lauren, Jenna, Molly and Jackie. The Magic Mystery Tour put on a fantastic show, and even did a few non Beatles songs. There club was filled with a lot of tables and chairs for the majority of the audience, but after a while everybody was up and dancing. All of us got a kick of how they can sing in British accents and immediately switch to Israeli ones when talking to the audience. It’s pretty crazy to see how even in non-English speaking countries how much of an impact The Beatles had 40+ years later. After the show (and after “acquiring” a poster) I met up with some other friends at The Duke, which was another Irish “restabar” that are seemingly everywhere in Haifa where me and the guys sat around talking about our life goals, politics and stupid stuff on the internet (class XY chromosome talk).

(I’m now the proud owner of this poster)

(I’m impressed my camera could take this shot from so far away in the dark)

Friday afternoon, Lauren and I took a trip to Wadi Nisnas to check out the “Festival of Festivals” thing we were told they have there where everybody in Haifa, regardless of religion, comes down to celebrate. The bus ride down took a bit longer thanks to Friday afternoon, pre-Shabbat traffic (saw another case of cars not moving out of the way for an ambulance) but we made it and lo and behold…nothing was really going on. The art was still there, the shuk was still running, but the only difference between when I last visited and then was there were more Christmas lights, more stores selling Christmas things, and some guys literally roasting chestnuts on an open fire. Lauren and I still had a blast getting decorations for the Christmas party that night, and getting into the holiday spirit. On our walk back from some AMAZING falafel, we may have caused a car accident. A car was blasting some house music, and being the camp kids we are, we started dancing on the sidewalk, the car then backed up (presumably to see what we were doing) and front ended the car behind him. Thankfully nobody was hurt, and Lauren and I ducked into a shop to avoid any potential awkwardness, and then capped off the adventure with some delicious knafa (Arab cheese and sugar dish).

(Yea…)

(Lauren’s new mask)

(I can count the # of people who use these for legitimate purposes on 1 hand)

(My new Santa hat…in Russian that I bought in an Arab neighborhood in Israel)

I made my (now famous) wings again for the Christmas party. The party was a huge success with tons of great food and Christmas cheer and even a few British guys showed up. As the night went on, the conversations got a little more deep and we started talking about religion, what it means to be Jewish, can you be an atheist Jew, would Israel exist without the Holocaust and of course…Tim Tebow. All of a sudden, we all looked at the time and realized we were up talking until 4am,  and decided it was probably best to go to bed. Before I fell asleep, I had a couple of interesting thoughts. One was about maybe applying for Teach for America. I love working with kids, helping people, seeing other parts of the country and they’ll pay for you to get a teaching degree. The 2^nd thought was how life in your 20’s sucks (at least for me)because everything is temporary. Two years of college, with camp sprinkled in, then I go off to Israel where I make amazing friends and see amazing things, then I leave, then I head to Botswana, then camp again, then one more year left of school, then I head to the real world where I’ll probably be bouncing around from job to job and city to city for a while..and you kind of get the picture. But your 20’s also rule because you have the freedom to be so flexible and mobile. In your 40’s you’re cemented into your life, with kids, a wife, a mortgage and a job, and you can’t necessarily do all the things you want to do because of all these other responsibilities versus your 20’s where you don’t really have too many responsibilities. Saturday’s highlight was definitely going to the Haifa LGBTQ community center’s casino night with Lauren, Jenna, John, Daniel, Jackie, Molly and Eva. For 50 sheks, I got dinner and some fake gambling money (the dollar bills had Madona, Elton John and Rosie O’Donnell on them). Sadly I didn’t win enough money at roulette, though Daniel won enough to get a bottle of wine. What none of us were expecting though was the drag show in the middle of the evening, which was entertaining to say the least. After the show, “Lady Gaga” performed fake marriages in the hallway. It was a great night, and we all had a lot of fun supporting a great cause.

(Yes, you can fit a kilo of Santa chocolates on a dinner table)

(Yes, these are my friends)

(See, we’re creative too!)

(Drag queen Santa giving out presents)

Sunday I took a trip to East Jerusalem (fully organized through Molly, thank you Molly!) with about a dozen other students from the university, and it was an eye-opening experience to say the least. After a morning sheruit ride/nap, stopping at a shwanky hotel to use their bathroom and picking up the head trip leader, we went into the mixed neighborhood of Sheik Jarah, where we met up with our 1^st of 2 trip leaders. The organization that put this trip on is an organization that Molly works for, which is a “politically neutral” group that gets both right wing and left wing people to give tours so people can see both sides of the story. I say “politically neutral” because the main tour guide was clearly a left wing guy, and drilled the right wing tour guide a bit harder than the left wing one. The right wing guy told us how he grew up in I think a religious family, but was fascinated with Arabs and Arab culture, so he learned Arabic, studied the Koran in university and now ended up here. He claims he and his father are on great relations with a lot of Arabs in certain neighborhoods, and even a few kids were named after his father for all the work he’s done. This guy’s plan, and the plan supported by many right wing people, and quite nicely funded, is to buy up all the Arab property all around the Temple Mount, and put it in Jewish hands. His organization also uses that money to relocate those Arab families somewhere else in the Jerusalem municipality. He also believed that if/when a 2 state solution comes about, most Arabs in Jerusalem would rather live in Israel than under the authority of this future, unknown government. We traveled to a couple of other neighborhoods outside the Green Line (Wikipedia it for more information) and we were also shown a dividing wall that separates 6 Arab neighborhoods from the rest of the city, where Jews are not even allowed into.

(Hanging out in Sheik Jarah)

(The Old City, and those tiny dots on the Temple Mount are kids playing soccer)

(That’s the dividing wall in the background)

(Welcome to East Jerusalem!)

As the tour guide went on with his speaking and plans, I more looked around and began to soak in the reality of the situation. The Arab neighborhoods completely lack the same services and resources as the Jewish ones, even though they’re in the same city. Police and firefighters often refuse to go in there, and even the roads are worse. I’ve been trying to find some possible explanations for this disparity, like the Arabs don’t vote, the government doesn’t care, x people are using it for a political reasons against y people, etc. Whatever the reasons are, the biggest question I kept asking myself was what roles and responsibilities does the Jerusalem and Israeli government have in dealing with these neighborhoods annexed after 1967? The only light note of the right wing part of the trip was when we stood on the Mt of Olives (100 yards from the building the PLO was founded in) and I looked onto the Temple Mount, where I saw 3 kids playing soccer. It was a semi surreal experience because these kids were playing a game on top of one of the holiest sites on earth like it was like any other place. As we went to drop off this guy, and meet the left wing tour guide, we were told that Obama is actually a Muslim because his father was. He also believed that the future Palestinian state will be in Jordan because they’re a 75% majority there. All of us were really confused, and that statement really took away from the legitimacy of his arguments.

We dropped the guy off, took a bathroom break in a park, and then picked up the left wing tour guide who took us to Gilo, which is a new Jewish neighborhood south of the Green Line. We were able to look across into the West Bank and almost into Bethlehem, and we also got to see the dividing wall right there. We were informed that the spot we were on used to be a tank position and also that there were certain neighborhoods technically in the Jerusalem municipality, but on the other side of the dividing wall (I’ve got a really good map to help explain it better) which showed us again how complicated this place is. It was also interesting how our guide used the term “settlement” for the new neighborhoods built outside the Green Line (which really means nothing there) which is technically true, but I’ve never heard an Israeli use the term. After getting an explanation of the situation there, we were driven though a neighborhood built in 1992, that looked exactly like West Jerusalem but of course were all build and funded by the government for the Jews, as opposed to them funding and investing in the run down Arab Neighborhoods across the road. We got taken to a really nice view of the whole city, and the guy continued talking to us about his point of view which I think was to have a 2 state solution but I wasn’t totally sure. While I was sitting there looking out, I kept thinking of how beautiful and how incredibly messed up this whole city is, and if there is a 2 state solution, how do you even begin to divide Jerusalem? We finally got taken to another neighborhood east of the Temple Mount, and were shown the dividing wall and all its graffiti, and then to an outlook of the land east of the city in the West Bank, and proposed development of it. Some want it to be a national park, while others want it to become more Jerusalem and have it split the West Bank in half.  Overall I’m really glad I went on the trip, and it made me think even more about how complicated this country is, and how this all plays into my view of Israel and my Jewish identity. Clearly there are no easy answers, and sadly, I don’t think we’ll find any easy answers any time soon.

(Left wing guy giving us his talk, that’s the West Bank and its security wall behind him)

(More “disputed territory”)

(The South Jerusalem “suburbs”)

(The “other” South Jerusalem)

(The southern view of the city)

(Reality hit right about here)

(The Jerusalem dividing wall)

(The future)

Monday I slept through my 1^st 8AM Hebrew class which I ended up lucking out on because we’ve been going over grammar stuff and didn’t learn anything new that day.  To further reward my irresponsibility, it was Michelle’s birthday and I joined her, Stefani and Bryan for lunch and drinks on the beach. I had a fantastic chocolate parfe and a white Russian while Bryan and Michelle had “special” mochas (I forgot what they ate) and Stefani had a huge plate of schnitzel and a pina colada (even if it’s 68 degrees on the beach, it’s always pina colada time). Michelle afterwards ordered an Irish Coffee that was basically a cup full of whiskey with a few ounces of coffee, but in true 21^st birthday fashion, with a bit of help from Bryan, she finished it like a champ.  We had a great time enjoying the great weather (for December) and overhearing this crazy Floridian woman behind us talking to some soldiers who looked like they were having some sort of meeting. I was also asked by another group of soldiers having a meeting in front of us to take their picture. While I’ve been here I keep reminding myself that if I was an Israeli, I’d be one of those soldiers finishing up my last year of service; and also how different my life and life outlook would be. Numerous times I see soldiers walking around with machine guns or on the bus who look like they just had their bar mitzvah, but are now trusted by Israel to protect her.

 

(Such great decisions in this picture)

(Happy Birthday Michelle!)

(Bryan had the guts to bring and drink his own beer at the restaurant)

(The Hof Ha-Carmel bus station is pretty nice compared to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv)

After watching the sunset at 4:30 (a downside to December in the northern hemisphere) we bused it back to campus, chilled for a bit and got ready to head out to dinner at Rak Basar. We had 16 people come, and we lucked out again getting the basement reserved and a square table for all of us to sit at.  It was a classic Rak Basar evening, but for the past month Michelle insisted we all make it to Irish House afterwards, and somehow (probably against a lot of our better judgement) we made it there and unfortunately for the small handful of people (thank God I wasn’t one of them) who indulged in a bit too much 20 shekel how much-can-you-drink wine, their night didn’t end so well. I had a great time despite the misfortunes of my friends on the night we dubbed “the custodial campaign”. In psychology on Tuesday the windows rattled a few times because of the sonic booms caused by the fighter planes that fly over us all the time. This was the first time the noise had gotten that intense, though I’ve finally started getting used to the planes. After class I of course got locked out of my room, but luckily I went to the dorm office 15 minutes before they closed so I could go the maintenance area 2 buildings down, get a spare set of keys for my dorm-partment and then drop the set off back in the dorm office (again, sometimes it’s best not to apply logic to Israel). That night for dinner after playing a few too many Chess Titans games (been playing it a lot this week for some strange reason) I decided to try to make some pasta and alfredo sauce. The sauce is pretty simple to make ingredients wise, but I made the mistake of dumping in all the cheese at once which immediately clumped together, separating from the rest of the sauce. My new mission before I leave is to make this sauce.

(Christmas time in the German Colony)

 

(The water bottle Christmas tree)

(Birthday speech)

Wednesday after Hebrew and before my makeup Biblical Theology midterm, I decided to check out a Wednesday afternoon mini arts, crafts and music festival in “the quad” which was pretty cool (the free 330 ml beer helped) and I was a little bummed I hadn’t gone to more of these. The international school office proctored my exam and it went pretty well (ended up with an 88, which according to the Israeli curve means an A-). In Biblical Theology class we went over the fascinating book of Job, and once again got my mind blown with all the insights the rabbi taught us. While I was eating my dinner of pesto gnocchi and sausage, my dorm-partment mate Achmad commented on my cooking skills which was a nice ego boost. Everybody else who lives with me gets pre-made food from home on the weekends (I’m guessing their moms cook it), shove it in the fridge and freezer, and reheat it during the week; which is why I’m assuming why Achmad was so impressed with the fact I actually cook on a regular basis. Thursday in Terrorism we discussed the difficulties of patrolling the Lebanon border, and despite the intense fence, the fact that people get through and commanders have to make decisions on the ground at night where it’s incredibly dangerous, on how to catch terrorists, what to do with captured ones, and how best to protect the kibbutzim and moshavim. We also got into some discussions about torture, morality, and other really intense topics that once again, reminded me why this is my favorite class. 

(Wednesday festival)

(People drive maintenance trucks inside sometimes)

So I’m finally to start getting into the Israeli mode of thinking, which to me means don’t worry about being “on time” and stop giving a crap about things that are inefficient and time consuming. Case in point: my trip to the grocery store. Instead of worrying about whether I was going to make the bus transfer and turning shopping into a stressful experience, I took my time, didn’t stress about the long lines and even decided to grab some ice cream (even though it took 15 minutes) before heading back because I was officially on Middle East time. That night Daniel, Bryan, Michelle, Eva, Jenna and I took the 8PM bus down to Irish House to watch the Macabi Haifa game on tv, despite the 3-1 loss (goalie got screwed by his defenders) great times were had but the highlight of the evening was totally the bus ride back. If you haven’t learned already, Israeli’s don’t act with the same sense of urgency, speediness and courtesy that we do in the US, and that includes driving and (lack of) pulling over for ambulances. I’ve seen this happen multiple times where cars just go on their merry way without rushing to the side of the road like we do when an ambulance is trying to get by. Anyway, on the bus ride back we came to a roundabout with an ambulance entering, and instead of yielding to it like most drivers would do, our bus driver instead cut off the ambulance and drove right through. All of the Americans on board were completely floored, and at the same time not surprised because we’ve all gotten used to crazy Israeli drivers. Tuesday I placed an order for a UHIS tshirt, but of course the school didn’t have any shirts to try on and see what Israeli size I am. Wednesday in Bible class, I learned that Jonah is the only prophet of God instructed to preach to non-Jewish people.

(Cool garden I discovered on campus)

(Me attempting to play tetris at the grocery store)

(Seeing cats everywhere, including trash cans isn’t even weird anymore)

It thunder stormed all of Thursday, so sadly the soccer game was canceled. During the break after my Terrorism midterm, I discovered the magical hot chocolate they serve in the café that has the taste and consistency of semisweet fondue which none of my friends could handle, but I am officially in love with. The 2^nd half of class we watched “Unthinkable” which is one of the most intense, disturbing and though provoking movies I’ve ever watched and without giving away the story, makes you wonder what’s more important, American values or American lives. That night a bunch of us wanted to go bowling (especially after that movie, a few drinks and throwing stuff was seriously needed) so thanks to some internet research I found out the Haifa mall has an alley. Of course after wandering around the mall, we asked a security guard where the alley was and he told us they haven’t had bowling there in over two years. None of us were surprised at this, so instead we walked outside and towards Spaghetim, which according to people who went to their Jerusalem location, has some of the best Italian food in Israel, and boy were they right.  Daniel and I split a pepperoni pizza (1^st and probably only time I’ll be able to find one of those here) and some pasta & chicken dish which were amazing. I felt bad around dessert time because we told the waiter we were too full to order it, but 10 minutes later they gave us 2 free chocolate cake things that we wolfed down immediately. Since the night was young, we decided to take the bus to Carmel Center and got play some pool where we proceeded to meet some US Navy sailors on shore leave and where I also played my best games of pool in my life. At some point, we all came to the conclusion that we needed to go to Pancake House, and managed to walk the ½ mile up the mountain to the restaurant only to find out they close at midnight on Thursdays (we got there at 12:15) but the café next door was open so we got drinks and free jelly donuts.

(This is my terrorism professor)

 

(The Haifa Mall)

(Dinner)

(Stefani showing off her pool skills)

Friday I woke up from a dream about Wing Stop very disappointed because there’s no Wing Stop in Israel (thank you Lindsey Morgan for sending me that picture before I went to bed) and after Facebook chatting my friend and Wing Stop companion Jacob, I decided to make my own hot wings for lunch. I did some internet research, looked for some sauce ingridients at the mini mart before I realized it was better to get everything at Chorev. Luckily they had chicken wings at the butcher’s counte but they didn’t have every sauce ingredient that I wanted, so I decided to improvise. After making it home I realized the wings they sold me were attached, so I actually ended up with 2x as much chicken as I wanted. I started playing around with the sauce ingridients and somehow came up with a pretty decent concoction. I managed to trim the wings, fry them and sauce them and came to the realization these were friggin delicious and that I should bring the rest of the wings to Friday night pot luck. They packed a bit too much heat for most of my friends (most of them are northeast Jews, what do you expect) but everybody still loved them.

 

(My 1st attempt at making hot wings)

Saturday I went paintballing for the 1^st time in my life, with 12 other guys from the International School. We had to call 4 cab companies in order to get to the place (thanks Shabbat) and when we pulled up, we saw how legit the place was. Broken cars, old military equipment, bunkers, the works. For 40 bucks, we 2 hours of game time, got guns, 310 balls, a mask (that fogged up all the time) and a chest&back protector that theoretically protected your crotch, but all of us were too tall for that piece to function. We split the teams up into team USA vs the World (2 Turks, 1 Canadian, 1 Dane and 2 Japanese). The games were made even more fun because according to the instructor, Israeli rules means 2 shots to the chest or 1 to the head eliminates you as opposed to 1 shot anywhere and you’re out at most places; that combined with multiple respawns and a capture the flag, 2 VIP games and 1 free for all for anyone who had bullets left at the end.  Sadly for team USA we only won1 of the 4 organized games, but destroyed at the free-for-all. Nothing better than blowing off some steam, running around and shooting people even if it means getting a few cuts and bruises along the way. After the game, Byan, Danny and I walked to the beach to hunt for some shawarma which of course doesn’t exist anywhere along an Israeli beach. We had to wait ½ an hour for a bus at the central bus station (thanks again Shabbat) but Bryan and I were rewarded with a Zesty Burger dinner. Even though the cook messed up my order by putting on sauces I didn’t want (and I in a very Israeli tone reminded her that wiping them off won’t suffice and she’d need to give me a fresh one) the manager gave us a free order of onion rings. I showered and chilled at home for the rest of the night and Sunday I perfected my hot sauce recipe by doubling the lemon juice which lead to the spiciness getting toned down a bit. Overall I could not complain at all about this week and weekend, and it once again hit me that just as I start getting settled into the grove of things, I’ll have to leave the country and adjust to a polar opposite place and culture. 

(Sadly this was a different course that we couldn’t play on)

(Other view of the piantball place)

(Getting instructions)

(The men of the UHIS)

(Did I mention this country is gorgeous?)

Friday I woke up at 5am and luckily I was still fever free. After gathering all my things, and meeting up with everybody else we ended up not only getting ready 15 minutes before the bus came, but the bus left on time for the first time I’ve ever been on a trip here. On the bus we all immediately went to sleep, and a few hours later woke up at a gas station/food area/rest stop in the middle of the desert. After grabbing an apple and getting excessively harassed by a cat, we drove a bit more down this desert highway and all of sudden pulled over and were told this is where we would begin our hike through the Judean Desert. You normally don’t expect trail heads to be hidden on the side of the road, but if there’s anything I’ve learned in Israel it’s that it’s usually best not to ask. We were told we’d be hiking about 5 hours through the desert, and down to the Dead Sea, and that’s exactly what we did. Occasionally the trail was a dry riverbed which made for a really rocky walk, and ½ way in during our lunch break we encountered a group of mountain bikers which seemed really random at the time. If you didn’t know, the Dead Sea is about 1,300 feet below sea level, so even though we were on top of a mountainous plateau (I wish I had a better description) we were actually at sea level which was really weird since we were hiking down to another sea. The hike through the canyon was just like my other hikes; sketchy, beautiful, and full of bamboo. When we completed our decent, we hiked through a big drainage ditch and made it to the resort town of Ein Gedi where we were bused a few kilometers down to the beach. We got to the beach at around 3:30, and even though the sun was starting to set (the solstice can’t come quick enough) most of us made it into the sea. It was pretty cold at first, but totally worth it. The most entertaining part was either A) standing straight up or not moving, or B) watching people barrel roll over when they were on their bellies. Afterwards, Daniel, Eric, Jenna, Michelle, John, Lauren and I walked up the beach for some shawarma (first real meal since Monday night) which was a bit pricy, but totally worth it.

 

(Desert gas station area)

(View from the bus. Hooray desert!)

(Literally the trail head was here)

(Hey look, (non)Jews wandering in the desert)

(I see you Dead Sea)

(More sketchy hiking)

(That’s where we were hiking to. Oh and hey there’s Jordan.)

(Sometimes the trail turns into big rocks across a creek)

(John and I floating in the Dead Sea)

As the sun finally set, we got back on the bus and headed to our Bedouin tent camping site (which we found out the next morning was technically in the West Bank). The place ended up looking more like an RV camping park, with bathrooms, showers, a mini kitchen and plenty of fire pits. The tents themselves (assuming all the other tents looked like ours) were 10x50x50, with electricity, heat lamps, lights, and tons of carpet and sleeping pads which was 100 times more comfortable than what I thought we were going to be sleeping in. Daniel, John, a Swedish girl and I were grill masters for the night, and after learning some of the mistakes we made last trip, we cooked the food much quicker and more efficiently. We also learned the serving problem of last trip, and Avichai made a comment basically saying how “Americans, you immediatey serve the food when it’s ready without waiting for everybody else” to which Daniel and I responded “well…yeah, of course”. I then followed up with “Israeli socialism- where everybody is equally unhappy”. Dinner was a success, and to keep myself entertained during both cooking and eating, John taught us how to flick matches so that they strike the box and fly through the air on fire. Most of us went to bed relatively early because of the 6:15 wake up the next morning.

 

(Grill masters pt 2.)

(Schwanky tent)

I woke up Saturday morning not feeling as great as I should have not because of the fever (still fever free!) but because my sleeping bag was too small and I slept on the edge of the tent where apparently cold air can find its way inside (#firstworldproblems). After breakfast, we bused it to the trail head most of us signed up for, which was the harder hike and not lead by Coach (normally this would seem like a bad call, but it was totally worth it in the end). Basically, our group had to hike about 1,500 feet up a mountain to the highest peak on top of the Judean Desert, then down into a canyon, back out of the canyon, down the mountain, through some waterfalls and back to the starting point; of course all along honestly the sketchiest “trails” I have ever seen in Israel or the US.  Luckily we had our expert nature guide Yair who got us all in beast mode and within two hours we were on top of that mountain. My calves were aching, another toe was cut up, but the satisfaction and views made the pain completely worth it.  The upside of hiking downhill is the fact your calves don’t burn, but the downside is your knees taking the abuse of trying to prevent you from picking up speed, sliding off the “trail” and falling to your death. We stopped at another great vista point, took some pictures, ate some snacks, and made our way to this amazing canyon. Evidently when it rains, rivers form and carve out the rock (dropping some middle school science knowledge) and those carved out rocks become awesome places to climb on, slide down, and jump around (and wait for groups of Israeli tourists to pass by). We played around for about 45 minutes before making it to the end, where there’s a 50 foot sheer drop off.

 

(Good morning)

(View from the trail head)

(I told you the trails here are sketchy)

(That little town in the center left is where we started. I’m still amazed I made it up that mountain)

(Yay friends!)

(En route to our 2nd food break on the mini hill on the left)

(Canyon playtime) 

(Proof that there’s no liability in this country. Yes that’s a baby in that man’s backpack on the left)

(View at the end of the canyon)

We climbed out of the canyon, hiked some more down an easier path, and made it to King David’s Waterfall (named after King David who hid out here back in the day).  This fall and the other ones were very cool and refreshing, and also made for some great sightseeing, not just among the nature, but the Israeli tourists as well. We made it to a concrete path, and after stopping to watch the Ibexes and muskrats roam around, we got back to the parking lot by about 3:30ish. Before we left the park, we were taken to some old synagogue to which a handful of people including myself, refused to go to and instead napped on the bus since we were all pretty burned out from the epic hike. Only other highlight of the trip was stopping for dinner at McDonalds and having my first McDonalds meal in ages and it was just as uninspiring as I remembered despite what other people on the trip were saying. I guess it’s nice to know some things don’t change when you leave the country. 

(Hiking to some ancient ruins on top of a mountain)

(Thanks Millie for getting me to do this)

(Ibexes climbing around in front of us)

(There were tons of hyraxes in the trees. Did you know they’re related to elephants?)

(This is the Ein Gedi kibbutz)

Monday night was the big Macabi-Haifa, Macabi-Tel Aviv basketball game. Even with a few people dropping out last minute, I managed to find people to buy their tickets (thanks Eva, John and Takashi) to complete our group of 11; and after 30 minutes online and talking to Ofer I figured out which bus to take and where to get off.  As we walked to our seats, I saw Ofer sitting right next to us, and apparently because the universe blesses me, his seat was legitimately there. Before the game started he told me Haifa’s chances weren’t very good because Tel Aviv spends $20ish million on their players and Haifa spends about $2 million. Despite a 12 point deficit in the 1^st, and a few blown opportunities (and bad calls) in the 4th Macabi Haifa managed to take the game to OT. Sadly because their 2 best players (one of them went back to the NBA this week) fouled out and Macabi Haifa had no chance. Ofer got to meet all my friends, plus he and Lauren got to swap camp stories. Afterwards, Bryan, Chandler, Stefani and I took a very entertaining cab ride to Irish House. The driver told us how he’s a simple man, but he enjoys the freedom of his job but his wife drives him crazy, but he’d love to go on vacation to the US all in broken English and translated Hebrew from Bryan. It was either the most enlightening or sad cab ride I’ve ever taken, but memorable nonetheless. I decided to be daring and order the calamari while Chandler tried the spicy potato wedged, both of which turned out pretty good. Also, Michael was working behind the bar that night which meant free shots and some great conversation both with him and amongst ourselves. Bryan (a recent convert) and I got to talk to Stefani and Chandler more about Judaism; its history, culture, values etc. I also had a great conversation with Chandler about how Christianity and Judaism basically have the same message (God told us to be nice to each other) and that in order for their prophecies to come true, ours have to come true first. It’s been really nice meeting moderate Christians from the Bible Belt (Chandler is from Atlanta, Stefani is from Tampa) who I can have honest, intellectual and in depth conversations with about our religions without getting judged or getting into heated arguments. Michael offered to give us a ride home, so we got to stay past 11:45, when we normally have to leave to catch the last bus which meant more time for great drinks, great conversations and great friends.

(National anthem time)

(The crazy fans sat in front of us who according to Ofer, sing inappropriate chants in Hebrew)

(Apparently Haifa’s team mascot is a green gorilla)

Tuesday I woke up and felt pretty awful and after a temperature check (so glad I brought a thermometer) I realized I had a 102 fever aka I’m going straight back to bed. This began my 2 and a half day fever adventure where I only left my room to get juice, use the bathroom, make soup or tell my Hebrew professor in person Wednesday morning (because she told us day 1 she never checks her email) that I have a 38 (Celsius) degree temperature and would be missing 2 classes and a test. When I wasn’t sleeping I was getting mad at the random construction in my building because it prevented me from sleeping, or getting confused at my roommate who would set his alarm for 7:45 or 9:45 but never leave his bed until noon (he also has a habit of doing this on Sundays) which leads me to believe he only goes to his afternoon classes. My domr-partment mates and their friends tried to offer me remedies like putting a lemon wedge in tea, but I stuck with a diet of soup, apples, toast and water because it they were the only foods I could keep down. Apparently one of my dorm-partment mates didn’t understand that I was sick because he offered me a cigarette Wednesday night, which I had to remind him again that not only do I not smoke when I’m healthy, but smoking is the last thing my body needed. To make matters even more fun, besides missing 2 Hebrew classes and the midterm, I missed my psych class and my Biblical Theology midterm and was very close to missing my Terrorism midterm as well. Luckily I had friends take notes, had a game/review day in Hebrew and was able to reschedule both midterms. Thursday was a lucky day because not only was I fever free enough in the afternoon to make it to the Union vs Confederacy soccer game (where I played goal for 10 minutes with a sandwich in my hand) but there was a misunderstanding and the Terrorism midterm was actually the next week. I did nothing that night except lounge around and take some Tylenol PM because I needed to be awake at 5 am for the Dead Sea and Ein Gedi hike. 

Some friends of mine took a trip to the West Bank city of Hebron and a Palestinian refugee camp yesterday (Dec 30th). Looking back, I really wish I got my act together and found a way to go on the trip. Every day in this country I find myself with more questions than answers and this is no exception. The Arab child was correct in that Israelis and Settlers are two different types of people, and if there’s any silver lining to this story it’s that people know the difference between the two. Once of the great things about living here is knowing that I am connected to 80% of the people in this country by virtue of being Jewish, and sadly I am also connected to these people who make life miserable for their neighbors. Rachel, thank you SO MUCH for posting this. 

rachelreportslife:

This is not what you learn in Sunday School.

No one shows the burnt houses, the stone demolished to make way for settlers’ roads. No one shows the juxtaposition of Jews and Palestinians on opposite sides of a shared street - one a picturesque gated community, one a dirty, broken mess of buildings. “Little Israel” is familiar but so out of place, a Jewish enclave encroaching on an otherwise Arab world. No one shows the tension in school, just the entitlement, but I don’t feel entitled here. This is shame.

This is shame when the only cars allowed on the roads are Israeli, when the military questions and gropes and harasses before a Palestinian can simply walk down a street. This is shame when a man must get permission to enter his own front door in H2 but not his back door in H1. This is shame when I ask the soldier why, and he only shrugs - the laws are made and orders obeyed, often changing on a whim, and he enforces without question. A boy walks around a corner, and the street’s checkpoint officer yells to move quickly, for his feet are moving slower than deemed appropriate for that particular area. This is shame.

And the divided street, a world where Jews exist only on the right and Palestinians only on the left by punishment of death. Wall becomes symbol, too short to prevent crossing but tall enough to state inequality, inferiority, injustice. We are the Jews, well-versed in walls and separation and dehumanization, and who are we to put another in a ghetto? Who are we to stare them down with machine guns and verbal stabs during their walk to the market? What divine right permits us to shoot a child for unknowingly crossing the barrier no higher than his head, to take his life on first offense for being Palestinian? We are to blame, yet we perpetuate as if we have no fault to show.

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