pictures...

Above: Roommates (left to right-- Ilana, Dafna, Ava)

This weekend in Nes Zyyona

At the top after a hike at Kibbutz Ketura

Beach in Nes Zyyona





Again, Nes Zyyona

Nigerians, the Jesus lemon, and a tractor scare

Thursday was a pretty interesting combination of events. We started our Christianity unit in ICC, so since Thursdays are Tiyul days, we went to Ein Kerem, the Christian quarter. We stopped at a look-out on the way which was located in some Christian area. It overlooked the Mt. of Olive and also the Temple Mount. It was so interesting being somewhere where three prominent religions co-existed. The call to prayer went off just as the church bells rang as we stood overlooking the cemetary. It was so powerful and gave me hope that maybe some day we can all try and put our differences aside. I know it sounds cliche, but in that moment, it felt so real. It's a little ironic talking about peace when that same day in Jerusalem, there was a terrorist attack right by our nearby mall. Some Arab-Israeli attempted to ram a bus with his tractor. The bus was filled with Israeli kids in Purim costumes on the way to the hospital to cheer up patients. It's so different hearing about attacks while you're here as opposed to at home. As our ICC teacher told us the news, jaws dropped and tears welled up in our eyes. We grasped onto each other as Alan continued to tell us that it happened at the intersection before Malcha Mall, the place that a lot of us would have gone to later that night on our free night. It was a reminder that even though I'm living in my own little American, perfect society, I'm still in a country that is conflicted in many ways. People told me that I was crazy for coming here and jokingly told me to not get blown up. Maybe I am a little crazy and while living here, not getting blown up is not a joke, but an actual concern. I'm not filled with terror or tempted to go home at all. The little bit of fear is a part of living here. We don't let it get to us. We read the news, let the fear take us over for a minute, then go out to the store anyways. That is the essence of being Israeli. On a lighter note, I'll continue with my Christianity Tiyul. Once we got to Ein Kerem we stopped by Mary's Spring and took notes. I slept (oops), then we ventured to the Church of Visitation. It was really pretty inside and the gardens outside were beautiful. Suzanne and I spotted a lemon tree and debated whether or not it was sinful to take one. We decided to pluck one anyways and named it the Jesus Lemon and saved it for a snack later. After a few churches, monks and crosses later, we happened upon a large group of Nigerian tourists. They were in awe of us. They had never seen white, American Jews before and they flocked us and attempted to speak English with us. More and more came and took pictures with us and told us to visit them in Nigeria. The funny thing was is that they were so kind and sweet that it made us want to take a trip there. The day ended at the sight where the last supper is assumed to have taken place. Even though it's not a holy place for Jews, you could sense the significance and impact it gave to the Christian tourists around us. This kind of understanding should be the basis for our search for peace. We don't need to completely "get" the other religions, nor do we need to know all the answers. If we can at least understand or "agree to disagree" respectively, then we'd be one step further to peace.

vacation from vacation

I'm in love with Israel. I'm in love with TRY. I'm in love with my community. Kibbutz Ketura truly launched TRY into full swing. We spent the five days hiking in the desert, swimming in Eilat, walking on the board walk, doing watercolor, praying, and relaxing. We all like to call it vacation from vacation. The one complaint I have was the weather. The first day we showed up and it was sunny and beautiful, leading us to expect pure desert bliss for the next few days. After waking up the next day to windy, raining hell, we were snapped back into reality very quickly. The tour guide told us that the rainfall we had during the few days was the amount of rain they get on average annually. That WOULD happen to us. Otherwise, it was a relaxing trip filled with great food and bonding. If six days in the desert can't bring a group together than I don't know what can. They mixed up the rooms so we all got a chance to live with new roommates. I absolutely adored mine and we had the greatest times turning our bathtub into a jaccuzi and having other people over for sleepovers. The food was also a nice change of pace with fresh fruits and vegetables, tons of meal options and the best bread ever. Shabbat was particularly windy and yucky outside, but we had an amazing time regardless. The service was the first one I really enjoyed since being here. It reminded me a lot of our synogogue at home and was filled with joy and good spirits. On the last day, we took a six mile bike ride to Yodvata, the kibbutz that makes all the delicious dairy products. It was pretty hot out which is funny since only the first and last days of our trip were sunny. The bike ride was beautiful and we even got to see the border of Jordan and Israel. After the ride we indulged ourselves in THE best ice cream and loaded the bus back home. It was sad to leave this utopian society, but I guess the reality had to snap back in sometime. Thank God reality ain't so bad when you're living in Israel :)

thinking

I feel like my brain is on overload here. There is a constant buzz of thoughts, feelings, confusion, understanding, and emotion intermingling. On the first or second day of TRY, the principal told us that the point of coming here is to make us leave more confused. At first, I really couldn't understand it. Weren't we supposed to leave here knowing who we are and where to go from here? No. In the few weeks that I've beenmy own eyes and not through some pictures in a textbook. Maybe it feels so here so far, I've realized that leaving completely fulfilled would be a load of crap. Life isn't about knowing all the answers. In fact, there is no way in hell we'll even get close, but it's about knowing how to ask the right questions. If I leave here knowing how the ask the right questions, then this experience will be completely worthwhile. It still hasn't hit me that I'm here. I'm wondering if it ever really will. Life is like a whole different world here. Living in a dorm, going out with Maya and her friends, seeing the sites here with weird because I feel like my life has just begun. An old chapter has closed, and a new one has just been opened. I think the hardest thing about this experience will be coming home. Trust me, I'll be really happy to see my friends again, and hang out in the summer, but I think it will feel like that old chapter will be reopened. How can you go back to where you started when you already left it? Independence is an amazing thing. You learn how to love and accept others, but also to love yourself. For all of you who still haven't opened that new chapter, know that there is a whole new mass of opportunities just around the corner, and for those of you who have already opened it, accept it, appreciate it, and embrace it. Life is good!

Shabbos number 4

After a crazy week there was nothing I wanted more than to have a relaxing Shabbat. For the first time on Host Shabbat, we didn't go to Maya's, but instead stayed at the Dan Boutique with Miriam's parents. Although I love going to Maya's, it was nice having a weekend of nothing but sleep, food, and relaxation. School was easy as it usually is on Fridays and on my break I went up to the marketplace and bought a small chocolate croissant from the bakery. Classes ended at about 11:15, so I packed for the weekend, cleaned the room, took out the trash and hung out until 1:00 when the Bornstein's picked us up. We dropped the stuff back at the hotel and went out to a late lunch at Lavan, a restaurant located inside the Cinemateque where Rosa got locked in the bathroom 8 or so years ago. It's weird how random memories stick with you. Anyways, I had pasta which was AMAZING, and we sat next to the window which showed the most incredible view of Jerusalem. We headed back to the hotel for a nap and woke up a little before seven to go downstairs for dinner. Becca joined us, and we spent the next hour or so talking and eating large amounts of food (especially Miriam and I.. after being on TRY you start hoarding food). We dropped Becca back off so we could see her dorm, which is quite nice for a college dorm, and yet again headed back to the hotel to sleep. Saturday was insanely stormy... like I'm talking serious hail, rain, thunder, lightening and wind. I don't think I've seen anything like it in.. well, ever? We stayed in bed pretty much all day besides meals, and for an hour or so we had tea and read in the lounge downstairs. For the first time all day, we went outside and bought some food and other essentials from the market, then walked to dinner. We ate at a place called Colony, which was very American, but also very hip. It reminded me of a lot of restaurants in Boise... antiquey furniture, excentric lighting, cozy atmosphere, you get the gist. It was the whole Bornstein family, me, Becca's friend, and another family friend who is in the army. I had a burger and some chocolate souflee thing for desert. As it reached 10:00, we went back to the hotel to pick up our things and headed back to the chava. It's always bittersweet coming home. Sad, because it's kind of like coming back to "jail," we're pretty restricted here, but also happy because it's so welcoming and you forget how nice the atmosphere is in the dorms. Sunday, which here is a school day is jam packed and exhausting. I've finished most of my classes and am on a three hour break, but I go back at 3:40-6:30. Two hours of that is AP econ which I'm by myself and get lectured straight for the full time. It's pretty much my idea of living hell, so I always dread it. We have a huge ICC test on Tuesday, so everyone is really looking forward to Thursday when we leave for Kibbutz Ketura. It's a 6 day vacation without school or ICC (WHOO!) and we're going snorkeling, bike riding, among many other things. I'm counting down the days...

Officially the busiest week ever: Readers Digest Version

This week was literally the epitome of insanity. I only had school on Sunday, Wednesday, and half of today (Friday). The beginning of the week was spent being checked for lice and washing clothes and sheets. There was a huge lice outbreak and everyone was exhausted since there are so many of us needing to be checked or hair that needed to be washed. Luckily I didn't have it, but I'm sure by the end of TRY I'll have it at least once. Backtracking to the weekend, Miriam and I eventually ended up in Nes Ziona after 1. being abandoned in an empty train station.. no one told us the trains don't run on shabbos, 2. being interrogated by Israeli police for taking photos on the sidewalk?, and 3. taking 3 different taxis. It was a nice weekend besides the fact that we were exhausted and again managed to go to sleep at 5 am after going out for burgers at 3. We woke up at 10 the next morning and went to the beach. It was amazing outside and we packed a lunch and ate it while sunbathing next to the ocean. We came back later at night and after attempting to do homework until 1:00 am, I went to sleep. On Monday morning we left for the Old City, Masada, and the Dead Sea. The Old City was cool, but we had strict boundaries in where we could go, so I pretty much went only to the ultra tourist spots. After a few hours in the Old City, we boarded the bus again and headed off to the Ein Gedi Youth Hostel. We had dinner, which compared to the food here was great, and went to bed at 8:00 so that we could wake up again at 3:40 for Masada. At the crack of dawn we got on the bus yet again and were dropped off in blackness at the base of the mountain. Suzanne and I were wide awake and in good spirits and set off singing and bounding in the darkness. For the first time really since we've been here I felt like we were really a community. Everyone helped each other and encouraged each other especially those who has asthma or simply needed some extra help. It was the smallest, kind gestures that got everyone up the rocky path. Half-way up we stopped for prayer, breakfast, and sunrise. It was truly breath taking to stand in front of Masada as the sun seeped through the clouds. It was a davening experience that I will never forget and as we headed up the other half of the way, we were deep in though and in good spirits. We spent about 3 hours on the top touring, discussing, learning and listening. The way down was rough on the knees, but we made it and set off to the Dead Sea. We ate at the Dead Sea Spa and the food was amazing... I've realized how much better food tastes when you're used to eating complete crap. Even mediocre tastes incredible. Anyways, it wasn't very warm out and it was really cloudy so I decided against actually going in the Dead Sea. I've already been in, and everyone said it was horribly painful, so a few cheesy floating pictures just weren't worth it. I put on some Dead Sea mud and washed it off in one of the hot springs pools. That pretty much sums up Tuesday. Wednesday is one of the two super long school days. Regardless of the three hour break mid-day, 6:30 is just too late to finish school. By the time I was done and finished dinner I hung out with people in the hallway and passed out shortly after. Thursday truly topped off the sheer insanity of the week. We were off on yet another full day Tiyul in which we went to Bar Kochba caves, a Roman ampitheater, and on an archaeological dig. All of which were really fun, but tiring and on the way back all hell broke loose. One of the two buses was hit straight on by a man who fell asleep at the wheel.

Shabbat Shalom

I'm sitting in history and am soo ready for the weekend. I spent ALL day Wednesday in bed with my roommate sick. It was a cycle of sleep, tea, eating and some more sleep. At one point we got so bored we got up and swept the whole room, which is really disgusting and took out the garbage, which there was a lot of. I'd say the highlight of my day was when Claire brought us Oreos. We were THRILLED. Anyways, this Thursday we went to Park Canada and the Israel Museum. It wasn't my favorite Tiyul-- kind of dull. I'm still trying to figure out why the park is called Park Canada.. hello! This is Israel? Apparently they donated money or something. Anyways, it was a battle sight of the Macabbes but I was too distracted to really pay attention in ICC. The highlight of the Israel Museum was the "ahavah" sculpture which I remember posing on eight years ago with Rosa. This time, we all climbed on it and got screamed at by a museum guard. We made it in time for a few pictures before we scrambled off and avoided got eaten alive by the angry guard. I saw a few things that I remembered from my last trip to Israel at the museum. It was pretty interesting since not a lot of things here are that familiar from last time. Today I woke up feeling worse than I did yesterday. I took a Sudafed and now my nose is running like crazy. I already went through a toilet paper roll in two periods. Oh, I forgot. Shabbat here is amazing. During my first break I went to the little marketplace right by the Chava. It's filled with flowers to buy for shabbos and the bakery puts out all of its freshly baked pastries. I went with my friend Hanna who knows EVERYONE that works there. After saying hi to the falafel guys, the flower guy, and the pastry guys, we bought some sweets and coffee and ate in the center. It's so pleasant and everyone is in good spirits. It's so weird to hear people say shabbat shalom instead of have a good weekend or whatever.. I'm still getting used to it. I'm going to Maya's house in Nes Ziona again, just like last weekend. I'm looking forward to good food and hanging out with her friends again.. hopefully this time I'll get a little more sleep. I love Fridays here since we get a half day, and we leave for Tel Aviv at about 12:15... Still have to pack! What's new. Anyways, maybe I should attempt at actually listening in history. Everyone around me is on facebook. so distracting.. Shabbat Shalom!