Eco Film Festival (10/26-10/30)

This week was the 7th annual Eco Film Festival in Israel, which had about 30 films/screenings in Jerusalem, and will continue to multiple other cities around the country. Because I'm such a green nerd, I specifically carved out time in my schedule to go to many of these films. Due to some glitches beyond my control, I was unable to see 2 that I wanted to, and 1 because I was just exhausted from having processed 2 in one day at that point. Here's a summary of, and some thoughts about, the films I saw.

10/27: Garbage Dreams

Set outside of Cairo, the Zeballeen (Garbage People) earn their living by recycling 80% of garbage from the upper and middle class homes in the area. They aren't recycling in the sense of reusing bottles or other materials. They actually shred various materials (aluminum, plastic) and they are sold in its pure form so that it can be remolded or rebuilt into something else. They literally go door to door to pick up garbage from these Cairo suburbs, on these shanty little trucks in blankets and tarps, and take them back to their own community to do the sorting and breaking down of the materials. There are people in the Zeballeen community who cannot WAIT to grow up and have this job. They know it's a way (or THE way) to make a living, since they are not the upper class or middle class, or, well they say they aren't even the lowest class, they are the nothing class. But they have a lot of pride in what they do. When the foreign companies come in, their jobs are snatched from them and they are forced to find other means of employment/earning money. This starts to affect families and their community. One boy's father was arrested and taken to jail because he was attempting to build an apartment for the son, so that he could be married. Apparently these are stipulations in this community. One cannot be married until one has his own apartment. So this family was now missing its breadwinner, and the young man has to earn his living to support the rest of the family. Capitalism is presented here as an issue, family is clearly important, and environmentalism is important. The foreign companies have nice big trucks that come collect the garbage but dump most of the materials in landfills, only recycling about 30% of the materials, not 80%. The Zeballeen people try to get the citizens on their side by letting them know that the foreign companies are not recycling like they would recycle. It seems they are still in this battle to regain their jobs and sustain themselves.

10/28: Carbon Nation

Very similar to Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" this film looked at all of the causes and influences on Global Warming. A big portion of it blames companies for their waste and use of unnecessarily oil - for cars, farming, transportation, military operations, etc.

10/29: Food Inc.

This film came out in 2008 in the US and from what I've been told, "it made me go vegetarian." I've heard it from a few people, which I thought was interesting. I figured if I saw it, I might be compelled to be MORE of a vegetarian but in the end, it just confirmed my beliefs in meat and how awfully some of the animals we (Americans) eat are treated. Food Inc. also points a finger at the meat industry for global warming, not causing but certainly contributing. Farmers were interviewed and showed off some of their practices - both good and bad. No companies mentioned in the film agreed to be interviews or show their different spaces (cow pastures, chicken coops, etc.) - what are they hiding? I think the bottom line of this film was - where does our food come from? Do we even know anymore? So much of it is processed, and so many animals are treated so badly for our (human) benefit. This can't be right. It's just a huge list of injustices going on in the world - treatment of animals and workers, environmental pollution, shady business deals. We all, however, consume food in a variety of ways. If we spent our dollars on cage free eggs or organic food instead of processed crap from a store, we'd be voting on ethics and what is the right thing to do. I think at home (in NY) I do my best to buy local and organic products when possible, even though sometimes it's more expensive. In fact, it usually is more expensive because apparently the major food companies are given subsidies by the government. I had never really thought about this until the film portrayed this - but it's no wonder why whole natural food really IS more expensive. You'd think with less processing and more natural products, it would cost less money, but you can't argue with subsidies when they make all kinds of bad-for-you-foods really cheap. Yay McDonald's, contributing to the world's obese. Anyway, I think it's important to reiterate the choice we have at the supermarket, at the farmer's market, or even in our own gardens, should we have them. Eventually, when enough people start buying only cage free eggs (probably the minority of eggs available at the stores), the companies producing non-cage free eggs will lose some steam and become the minority product at the grocery store. I think we should try and make it happen!

10/29: Grown in Detroit

What a film - young teenage women, pregnant or already mothers, are attending a school just for them. First of all, that's amazing. A public school in a run-down city helping these women continue their education in a safe non-judgemental space. Second of all, one of the main focuses in this school is learning how to garden. Because of the population drop in Detroit over the last 20 years (approximately), there are a number of abandoned fields that are left unmaintained. The principal of this school has tried to gain access to as much land as possible so the girls can learn how to plant, grow, harvest, and sell produce at the "Grown in Detroit" market. Here they learn land skills and business skills and people skills. The teachers at the school need to be given so much credit for their patience and hard work. I had the opportunity to stay after the film and engage in Q&A with the film creators/directors, which I felt was quite a privilege. No other film I attended in the festival had this opportunity. The two were Dutch, but the woman had a connection to Michigan due to an exchange student type of program that allowed her to live with a family while she was in high school. Years later when she went back to reconnect, this seemed to inspire her. It certainly inspired me. Having seen Food Inc. just before this one on Friday, I really am thinking more about growing my own food, or at least some of it. My dad has had a vegetable garden in Port Washington for many years. He is always so proud of the fruits of his labor. Well, the vegetables of his labor - tomatoes, cucumbers, string beans (my fave, he always keeps some for me). They go into our salads and he is so proud. I imagine it must be cheaper than spending money on these vegetables at the store, which probably come from far away, which means you are paying for the gasoline in a truck to drive it from somewhere to the store in Port Washington, which means there is more pollution in the air from the truck itself. Grow it in your own backyard and learn how to harvest it, and it's healthier for ourselves and our planet.

10/30: Play Again

This film was created with the knowledge that the current generation of children (presumably this means American children, since it was a film produced in the US and filmed in/around Portland) spends far too much time in front of a screen (tv, computer, video games) and with all kinds of technology at their fingertips. Although some children are still encouraged to play outdoors, go hiking, ride a bicycle, many youth are stuck in front of a screen for 5-12 hours per day, and the parents of the teens featured in this video seemed not to care very much if they are allowing this kind of behavior to continue. So these teenagers from urban and suburban Portland, who were partiularly fond of their gadgets and video games, were taken out into the wilderness for a week long camping trip without these things, no internet, and they had the chance to see what life could be like living in another extreme. All of the lessons they seemed to learn from their experience, one day in, two days in, a week after, 3 months after, were all experiences I think I had growing up and working at this camp. How lucky I am to have this appreciation as a part of my being. It's no wonder I try to live as green a life as possible - I don't go to the extreme, but I do try to do my part and encourage others (family and friends) to do the same - reduce consumption (step 1), reuse items when possible (step 2), and recycle those you can't (step 3). I've found it very difficult here to recycle items I normally would back home - yogurt containers, cereal boxes, takeout containers. I am trying to be a bit more creative than I would be at home. I finished a small jar of pesto sauce a few days ago, and after cleaning it out (which took a while, man, there is a lot of oil in pesto sauce!), I decided to use it as a tzedakh box, to collect my spare change while I'm here. I am also recycling glass bottles (beer, wine, soda, etc.) at the local supermarket, because first of all it is recycled material, and second of all, each bottle is worth 30 agurot (kind of like Israeli cents) which is the same concept as the 5 cent bottle deposit in the US. So I plan to collect bottles throughout the rest of my time here, bring them for agurot exchange, and that money will go to tzedakah/charity at some point. Also trying to reuse as much paper as possible so I don't have to buy more or waste what we already have. Doing my best to save water too - when I wash my dishes now, I soap up the sponge and turn off the faucet. Yeah my hands get soapy, but who cares? It's clean! After everything is soapy I rinse it all at once, instead of having the water running the whole time.

All these messages from the films are still infiltrating my brain and it'll probably be with me a long time before I can let them go - they are too important to me. I'm doing my best to do my part to help save the world, and I hope others choose to join the team!

I heart BOOBIES! (10/28)

Today I ran in Jerusalem's 1st ever Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. It was on our calendar in the pre-arrival packet we all got a few weeks before coming on the WUJS program, and I was so excited to see it. One of my favorite things to do in the US is to participate in fundraising races/causes; therefore I felt like it would be one of the things I'd be missing while I was here. I was very relieved to see this in our schedule. We were not all forced to participate, but WUJS is a program under the Hadassah umbrella, so we were all certainly invited and encouraged. The other WUJS participants in the Komen Race in Jerusalem all planned to walk as their participation. For me, I knew from the beginning it was running all the way.

Just a handful of photos documenting all of the WUJS participants gladly participating in this walk to help save BOOBIES!

Mea She'arim Visit - Religious Neighborhood (10/26)

Every Tuesday, we each have the option to sign up for a group field trip called a "siyur." Today's trip was to Mea She'arim, an ultra-orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem, right outside of the Old City. The first part of the siyur was to a museum nearby, called Museum on the Seam. There is artwork with a political background, linking art and politics throughout many different time periods and different countries. I think I saw over 30 different items across many media (painting, video, sculpture, print, etc.) and although we didn't have too much time to spend in the museum, and therefore at each item, there were a few items that spoke to me.

One was a video that began with a girl in a white dress in a white room with a jumprope. She spilled black paint on the floor and began to jumprope one jump at a time. The black paint began to splatter on her dress, the floor, the ceiling, and the walls. About 4 minutes into the video, the room was mostly covered in black paint, no longer white. The explanation in the guidebook we received, talked about the artist's take on life, saying that every person has a life, has a face, has a name. Regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, every person has a right to live on this planet. If we continue to destroy, our world will go from white to black. If we continue to have intolerance toward one another, our world will go from white to black. On the contrary, if we treat life as sacred, and can learn to co-exist with one another, we will keep the room white before the black paint even arrives.

Another item was a video/audio piece about lost languages. The only video part was words on the screen in translation of what the words meant, what language it was, and how endangered the language was, including completely extinct. I was unable to watch the entire reel, so I sat through as much as possible before having to continue. It made me think about communication and heritage and ancestry and how when a language is lost, an entire culture may be lost as well.

The museum had many moving parts to it, but we had to leave. We gathered on the top of the building for a quick view of the area before heading into the neighborhood of Mea She'arim. Mea She'arim is the most religiously observant neighborhood in all of Jerusalem, populated by the ultra-orthodox, called the Haredim. I can only speak about my perceptions of the neighborhood and the type of people that live there, from my own upbringing and my opinions. The ultra-orthodox want to live on their own, support their own community in business and in schooling, so essentially they choose to live in this ghetto. I don't say ghetto as the derogatory term it has become in the US. I'm referring to a ghetto simply as a closed on area for one kind of people, in this case, the Haredim. Like any other ethnic or religious or social group, I believe they have the right to have their own neighborhood where they can live and roam freely, to practice their beliefs and customs in whatever way they wish. However, in my most humble opinion, there are some problems with the Haredim.

They impose their views on everyone else, at least on other Jews. This happens in America, but it happens even more here. Somehow, this group which composes only 10% of the population, has so much power in the Israeli government when it comes to policy. This country, religiously, is ruled by the orthodox. You can't get married by a non-orthodox rabbi in Israel and have it considered a real Jewish wedding. A conservative or reform rabbi cannot perform marriages that are recognized legally in this country. Um excuse me, what? Yeah, so, a lot of Israelis go to Greece to get married so when they come back in the country it's recognized as legal. Those who marry abroad are recognized legally here, and marriages performed by orthodox rabbis have legally recognized marriages. Otherwise, zip, zilch, nada.

They also do not believe in the State of Israel (where its borders are) because Moshiah (the Messiah) hasn't come yet, and the LAND of Israel is different than the STATE of Israel. There should not be an established state until the land is all under Jewish rule. I think I've got some of that straight. Anyways, the Haredim are far from Zionists but they live in this country anyway. Maybe because it's the only place that'll take 'em and treat them as nicely as they are treated.

The Haredim also are known to contribute very little to Israeli society. They are encouraged by the government to study in yeshivas and have babies. They actually receive stipends for this. Everyone else finishes high school, serves in the army, goes to universities, goes off to work, earns a living and pays taxes, and the government enables the Haredim to do what they do. Study and procreate. Hooray, more of the same.

The Haredim also do not serve in the army like most Israelis. Now, there are some "religious" people (it's too hard to actually define that term but this is what people here say, not me) who don't serve in the army, but they perform National Service, which is an alternate and very acceptable among secular and most of Israeli society. Usually it is the same period of time for men and women that would serve in the army - 2-3 years. However, the Haredim do not even do this. They are too busy studying in yeshivas and having babies. So 90% of citizens in this country serve and protect 100% of its citizens (let's not forget to mention all Jews all over the world) while the Haredim sit back and relax and are OK with putting other lives on the line to protect their own. I'm not saying I want to serve in any army; I absolutely do not. If I had to, I would, and if I lived in a country where some sort of army service was required, I would do it, or I would leave that country and go elsewhere. The Haredim don't serve and still live here. Needless to say, I am not their biggest fan.

Last but not least about Mea She'arim is the signs that were up in the neighborhood. They have to be mentioned. A link to the picture in my Facebook album is here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=32964614&l=4d19d3e3af&id=46304609

The signs says: "Groups passing through our neighborhoods severely offend the residents. Please stop this."

"To women & girls who pass through our neighborhood. We beg you with all our hearts. Please do not pass through our neighborhood in immodest clothes. Modest clothes include: closed blouse, with long sleeves, long skirt, no tight fitting clothes. Please do not distress us by disturbing the sanctity of our neighborhood and our way of life as Jews committed to G-d and his Torah."

I find these signs offensive. I think they are rude and exclusive. It's a neighborhood, as in, like, public property. Why can't I be welcomed and invited to come walk through your neighborhood? You can come walk through mine. I've got nothing to hide. Come check it out. If you want. I won't make you. And I know that dressing modestly is a custom in Haredim families and even other Jews, including myself most times - the concept of tsnius/modesty is one that I do appreciate. But I don't like being told what is or is not acceptable to walk along a street in a neighborhood of a major world city. I don't tell you that you have to dress a certain way when you come walk my streets. You don't like what you see? Don't look.

So at the end of the day, I think I have concluded the following:

I will probably not be going back to Mea She'arim anytime soon, or ever.

I am not a fan of the Haredim.

They are not a fan of me.

Some more plusses and minuses (10/21)

I've been thinking more and more this week about the pros and cons of life here in Israel. It's a battle I keep having in my head.

Some more pros to add to my list:

- lots of sun and no rain. Now, I know that Israel is in a drought, and it pretty much is always in a drought, and the land and the country need rain, but not having to worry about waterproof shoes or a raincoat on any given day, is really nice. Of course when it DOES rain here (if and when that happens) I will be happy for the land and the country.

- bus and cab lanes that run separately from regular traffic on the street. This is similar to the HOV lanes back home but here, it is only for public transportation, in hopes of encouraging people to use buses instead of cars in the big bad city.

- most Israelis are willing to help me learn Hebrew. Most of them speak English pretty well so if I am not understanding a waitress or someone at a street light or someone asking for directions, I can either explain in Hebrew that I'm learning Hebrew (and obviously not a native speaker) or resort to speaking English. My waitress at a restaurant on Wednesday taught me the word for bracelet (tzamid) when she saw I had silly bandz too!

- many Israelis air dry their laundry. It's economical and eco-friendly. Many apartment buildings have clotheslines outside with clothespins and there are always sheets, socks, and other clothing items hanging in the breeze. I have decided to jump on this bandwagon while I can (our bathroom has a small patio area with clotheslines and clothespins). It saves the electricity on the dryer (environmental), it saves me money (economical), 5 shekels a pop - that adds up to at least a beer at the end of my time here - well worth it.

Some more cons to add to the list:

- because there is lots of sun and no rain, it is still REALLY HOT in Jerusalem! It was over 100 degrees at least once this week; it's October, thank you global warming. But really, there's a reason I came here in the winter. Not the summer. So global warming, go away! Thanks.

- the traffic lights take FOREVER to change, and at most major intersections, the lights only allow you to cross halfway across the street, then wait again for another green light. This is for security, so someone with ill intent can only get so far so fast, but for me, an innocent person just trying to make the bus, it's really inefficient!

- Israelis like their cigarettes. And I don't. I never have. In a country that otherwise seems very healthy (Mediterranean diet, lots of fresh produce all the time), I'm still amazed at how many people just pull out a cigarette for fun. Or...whatever it is that makes people want to smoke a cigarette. There are lots of places in this country that do not ban smoking indoors so I have gotten back into my habits of living in Ohio (from 5 years ago), which at the time also did not have indoor smoking bans, which include coming home from a bar and immediately jumping into the shower. And then febreezing my clothes so they don't stink up my entire apartment. I really just think it's gross, rude, and offensive. You wanna dig yourself an early grave? Fine but please do not take me down with you.

Hopefully the plus side will grow a little bit more to outweigh the bad side, but I have happened to notice more recently the things that bother me about this country and being here. I know it's very much my choice to be here for this period of time, and I still love Israel, just have a connection to the land and the people and the culture and the language (and the list could go on), so I am not complaining but as I continue my 5 months here, I do have the right to make a list of these things and note them all as a part of my overall living experience. We'll see what happens over the next 4 months!

5-week summary (10/16)

I'm over the month mark, and now coming close to the 5 week mark of being in a new country, in a new city, living with new people, speaking a new language (well, sometimes), and although I have carefully logged (and blogged about) events and details, it's time for some general reflections on this period. There are some things I find myself thinking about almost every day.

Home - what does it mean? I'm not really sure there is only one definition but being here makes me think about it quite a bit. I refer to home in a few ways being here. The first is America. When I talk about a friend from home, it means that I'm not talking about someone here in Israel. I have friends all over the country, not just in NY, but compared to here, home is America. Sometimes, home means anywhere but Israel. For example, a friend from camp is a friend from home because camp is in America and that is where my normal life is, and even if the person does not live in America, my association with that person is from NY. Sometimes, home means Port Washington, where I grew up and my parents still live. I love that house (despite mom and dad changing lots of things when they I'm not there) and the memories I have there. I don't really consider Long Island home because anytime I go to mom and dad's, it's just to the house in PW, not because I have any connection to LI. I go home to be with family. It's to enjoy dad's home cooking or throw some laundry in the washing machine. It's to sit around and watch TV all together, or, more commonly, all in different rooms but watching the same thing (Grey's Anatomy, anyone?). It's being in a place that is safe and familiar. Sometimes, home means New York City, where I have lived for the last 2 years (with the exception of the summers) and loved my life (with the exception of the roaches and mice). I have a great apartment, great friends that live nearby, and living in Manhattan really put me in my element of excitement, always living life on the edge, jumping on a bus or a subway in a matter of minutes to go to a restaurant, hockey game, or birthday party of a friend. This past week, that's the home I've really started to miss. It hasn't been a bad week by any means. I didn't get into a fight or an argument with anyone here. I haven't been sick. I haven't done poorly in Ulpan. I haven't been told off by any rude Israelis. I haven't cried of homesickness. But I think after a month of living a life that isn't as routine as I know, and being thrown into this brand new situation so suddenly, it finally hit me. I love my life back in NYC and naturally, I miss it. No biggie. For right now, this is a temporary home. I'm not sure I can really see this city or this country becoming my permanent home, although I am open to the idea of my mind changing over the next few months, or some other indefinite period of time (if that's what happens). At this point, there are too many things that I love back in NYC and also too many things here that just don't sit with me so well.

The cats in this country are really ridiculous. I can't walk less than 10 feet on the sidewalk without seeing at least one cat. There are usually between 2 and 10 cats in each dumpster, some hiding under cars, others perched on ledges. They are all stray and they are all garbage pickers, they must all have diseases. I don't like cats anyway, even in someone's home, but this is really out of control. They are everywhere! The government doesn't do anything about it either. At least there are no rats!

On the upside, Israelis are very casual when it comes to dressing up - for work, for Shabbat, for life cycle events. And this is good news for me! Back home, everyone knows I am the one who would love to show up somewhere in sweats and a hoodie or jeans and a t-shirt, rather than fancy garb. I don't go to bars that don't let you in if you are wearing sneakers. Because I think it's wrong to even have a dress code for socializing. People here go to work in jeans all the time. It's acceptable here, it's casual. Even weddings are casual - sometimes people show up in khaki pants and a white top. For Shabbat, people go to synagogue in jeans. People also dress up in button down shirts, or dresses, nice jewelry, nice shoes. But you can definitely get away without it, which is nice. I was once told I dress like a camp counselor, even when not in camp, so in this regard, I have found my niche.

Switching topics completely, another downside to life here is that Israelis are pushy. Literally, pushy. On the streets, in the grocery stores, waiting in line at the shuk. Of course not all Israelis, but a fair amount of them! And they know this. And everyone living here knows this. I know what crowded streets are like. I live in Manhattan. I purposely avoid Times Square and other touristy places because I like having my own bubble of personal space. Israel is a small country. It's very European in a lot of ways - the streets are smaller, therefore the cars are smaller. Space is less available so the grocery store still has to have the same number of items and aisles and cashiers, but more people are crowded into them. Therefore, my personal bubble goes bye-bye. On buses, people just push and push until you move. No, "Selicha," or "Excuse me," just pushing until they get enough space to walk by. Have some common courtesy people, and I'll move out of your freekin' way. Otherwise, I'm just gonna play NYer and push right back at you.

Gender roles and issues in Israel, specifically Jerusalem, piss me off. First, let me say that Judaism views women in a very unique way: women are innately very spiritual beings, so the commandment for public prayer (prayer in the synagogue as opposed to as home) only applies to men. If a woman WANTS to pray publicly, that's fine, but she is not commanded to do so as is a man. This is how women's roles at home developed. While the men were praying in synagogue, the women would cook and clean the house and take care of the children. Women are also the ones who educate the children Jewishly. When I voice my problem with all of this, oftentimes the response of the person with whom I am speaking is, "But women are more spiritual than men, that's why." And I just don't buy it. I am not a very spiritual person at all. The only way I'm even getting close to any kind of prayer is probably in a synagogue, with others, whether they are men or women. Take the Western Wall (the Kotel) as an example. There are 2 sides - one for men, and one for women (which is clearly smaller because of the commandment for men to pray but not women). There is a mechitza (separation wall) in between so that the men aren't "distracted by the women's beauty and lose focus on their prayers." Seriously? You are distracted by women's beauty and can't focus on prayer? If you want to focus on reading a book, you sit down and read a book. If you want to focus on a football game, you go to a bar, drink some beers, and watch a game. If you want to focus on repairing something at home that's broken, you bust out the toolbox and find the hammer and nails. You can't pray without thinking of women if you see they are praying also? I think it's bogus. Get your minds out of the gutter, dudes. Bottom line is, orthodox synagogues (which is about 90% of synagogues in Israel) separate men and women in some way, physically. Not really motivating for me to go to a synagogue if my only other friend interested in going is a dude. Because then, I'm sitting and feeling alone, not connected, and I'm not really there. I guess I kind of understand that this works for some people, but it definitely does not work for me.

Because men have the commandment to pray publicly, the Torah talks about having a minyan (traditionally ten men but I read it as ten people) for certain things (such as the Mourner's Prayer or the Grace after the Meal). A number of times since I've been here, I have blatantly not been counted toward this minyan. The person counting people, ahem, men, will take a man, who doesn't even know how to read Hebrew, over me, a fairly well educated Jewish person, correction, woman. I know how to read Hebrew, I know a good portion of the Grace after the Meal (at least the part that is read or sung aloud) but they'd rather have a man sitting there who can't even read the words in the book. In the last 5 weeks, I have learned not to argue with the person coordinating this minyan, but just to calmly walk away. I don't even want to be close by if I will not be counted toward this minyan. Call it feminism, call it egalitarianism, just simply call it inclusivity. When you know you are a part of something greater than yourself, you want to be included in that, not alienated from your own community, your own people.

As Jews, we fight amongst ourselves far too much. The extremes are far too extreme for us to all get along. How will we ever be able to establish our legitimacy in this anti-semitic world if we can't even get along with each other? I really think we as the Jewish people have some big problems. Clearly, the state of Israel is at risk from its location on the globe. Constantly fighting a war. Millions of people in the world hate us. Shouldn't we be bonded together, ourselves, to fight against this hatred? Instead, we can't even come to any agreements about ourselves and how we live our lives. I don't think we will ever all agree on ways to pray, who will be counted in a minyan, what customs we practice, but we need to try and understand each other and compromise. I guess that's what this country is sometimes all about. A democratic government trying to rule over a Jewish state. Makes for a very complex social dynamic in this country.

Those are my thoughts for now. Who knows what I will be thinking next week or in 3 months or next year? I am open to change, I am open to new thoughts, I am open to new experiences. We'll see what happens...

Pardes Field Trip (10/15)

Field trip to an eco-farm outside of Modi'in and to Better Place (Tel Aviv), which is where the revolution of electric cars is starting. More details and photos to come :)

Ulpan graduation day! (10/14)

Yesterday, I was a girl. Today, I am a woman. Oh wait, this isn't my bat mitzvah. But it IS graduation from intensive ulpan which is a major major accomplishment. We all gathered in the Beit Knesset (House of Meeting/essentially a multi purpose room) with the creators of Ulpan Or, some of our Israeli roommates, and all the teachers for our classes.

Kitah Aleph presented a song about their teacher, Tami.

Congratulations to Kitah Aleph!

OK, time for Kitah Bet - my class. We have prepared a skit in the theme of "Wayne's World" from the early 90s. Wayne and Garth are going on an adventure to Israel to hit on hot Israeli chicks. I won't go into detail here but for any of you blog readers interested in watching the video, go to my Facebook page and look on my news feed or my videos. It is absolutely hilarious and excellent. The disclaimer is that it is all in Hebrew and not the full skit. However, the script (in Hebrew AND English) is also posted on Facebook, and I will post it here in my next post, so everyone can read it. If you are a blog reader that does NOT have access to Facebook, let me know and I will figure out a way to send you this video! It is not to be missed. Seriously!

The other Kitah Bet class also does a skit based on some of the dialogues we've listened to, about renting apartments, the next class does a game with us that includes getting up and moving around, answering questions "yes or no" followed by the last group which sang a rap! Of course, since this was the highest ulpan group, none of us understood a damn word of the song, but Suri (my roommate) decided she would do some beatboxing and dancing in the background so that we were entertained! It certainly worked.

Mazal tov to all of us for our ulpan graduation!

More ulpan to come on Mondays now. And I'm moving "up" to the other Kitah Bet group - I have some serious self-study to do in the next 10 days to catch up to them! This'll be fun.

Spontaneous Combustion! (10/12)

Spontaneous Combustion is a program offered by the Merkaz, an office that is in our apartment building, that serves the Jerusalem in many ways, including arts. Spontaneous Combustion brings together writers and actors to sit together for 2 hours one night, come up with a 10 minute play, and within 48 hours, put on a production. Lucky for us on WUJS, we have a writer AND an actress in our group, who are matched together with another actress (whose name happens to be Ruth, but I promise, it's not me!) for this project. Tonight, the curtain comes up! (Idunno, is that what they say?)

Each short play (and there are 7 of them) start with the same opening line, "I have something to confess" and each have to include or incorporate some famous character. One character was Lance Armstrong, one was the biblical Noah, and one was William Shakespeare. There were more, I just can't remember them now.

Isaac's script was the one with Shakespeare as the character to include in the script, and he decided to have a Shakespeare obsessed mother (Ruth) live out this part. Danit, played her daughter, who tries to tell her mother (who is coming back from a Shakespeare audition, in full outfit and attitude) that she has been proposed to by her Muslim boyfriend and he is coming over later to ask for her permission. Tough stuff to absorb!

Isaac is truly talented and put together a touching and funny script. By far, he had the best show of the night. We might be a little biased, admittedly, but, I really do think it was the best! In the playbill/program for the show, there was an insert that included the options to vote on the best show, funniest show, best actor, and even the show that spontaneously combusted, or just didn't work. We all happily handed in our voting slips, congratulate our friends on a job VERY well done, and began to head home.

Josh and Ethan say they are going to head to Burgers Bar. AWESOME! I loved it last night, why not try it again? So two nights in a row, I have Burgers Bar. Could be an addiction; we shall see.

It's Rangers Game Day! (10/11)

It's Rangers Game Day!!! Well, it was Rangers Game Day tonight, but today, we had a LONG day.

First we had ulpan (surprise surprise) for 3 1/2 hours, then a short break to come back to our apartments for lunch, and then we went out on a siyur/field trip, followed by a presentation/lecture. Normally, we do this (siyur) on a Tuesday, but for some reason we're doing it today.

The siyur and presentation were both led by Itai, a tour guide and madrich (guide) with Young Judaea. Ethan had him as his tour educator on Birthright in January and told us all how cool he was, before we even met Itai! Lucky him to already have a fan club. So we met at 2:45pm outside our building, and walked to Derech Hevron to catch the bus to Machane Yehuda. Why are we going back to the market? We were just there last week! Because today's topic is about Israeli Culture and Society; where better to learn about these things? The shuk/market is the best. Not only was his tour great (meaning that we all learned something) but his tour was mostly based on different cultures and the foods they have contributed to Israeli society: Iraqi, Indian, Turkish, and Yemenite. We stopped at a place in the market for each of these cultures, to learn a bit about when each of these groups immigrated to Israel (but don't ask me when, I'm not good with history) and sampled a typical food or snack from each location. The Iraqi location gave us koo-beh (I'm not even sure how to actually spell it) but that had meat inside so I passed; someone else in our group had seconds thanks to me and the other few veggie faces in the group.

The next location was an Indian restaurant, owned by a woman and her husband who opened the restaurant about 3 years ago (it's almost her restaurant's anniversary!) and it's ALL vegetarian! You bet I sampled there. It was a potato ball/cutlet with 2 dipping sauces - one spicy and one sweet. I dipped it in both, hey why not? Not only was it delicious, but she was also a sweetheart. She cooks every morning from 9-12 with fresh produce from the shuk, never processed or frozen foods, and the menu changes every single day based on what's available. She opens for lunch at 12 and serves food until its gone for the day, usually around 8 or 9 at night. I told her I'll be back there with some of the WUJS kids to try the WHOLE menu!

The next place we stopped at was a Turkish restaurant that served us borekas - one type with cheese and the other with chocolate. Both were absolutely fantastic BUT the chocolate ones tasted like the rugelach from Marzipan which is the highest type of rugelach on my list. So I went back for seconds. The last place we went to was Uzieli, the etrog medicine man who we met last week during our tiyul/trip with our ulpan classes. His shop represented the Yemenite culture and immigration to Israel. Since I lived through his presentation last week (including being sprayed in the face by etrog juice) and it was so crowded with our whole group inside, I decided to kind of take a step back from the group. I heard about his concoctions and what they were good for already, so I decided to check out the ceramics store next to Uzieli's shop. The entrance to the shop had a mosaic floor filled with tiles and colors. Inside the store, there were all kinds of ceramic products - for the kitchen (sponge holders, mugs, plates) and decorations for the home (items to hang from the wall, mirrors, candle holders) - and they were all stunning. I didn't even really look at the prices too much because I was just soaking in the beauty of the products. I know I can always go back. I probably will go back. I must go back!

When the tour at Uzieli was over, we had about a half an hour to conduct some interviews in the shuk. Each of us was paired with someone else in the group, to find people who were willing to answer some questions about themselves so that we could study Israeli culture and society. Ethan and I stuck together on this one and asked the clerk at an oil stand if he had some time for questions for this project. He said sure; he clearly wasn't busy and we were happy to go make friends. The questions began fairly superficially, asking where the person was from and how old he/she was. They progressed quite deeply into belief in G-d, whether or not one should marry Jewish, what their opinions on haredim (ultra orthodox) and secular populations were like, did they vote in the last election and for which party, etc. He answered all of our questions, we thanked him, and took a few more minutes in the shuk doing some personal shopping, before leaving to catch the bus back home.

We had a few minutes to put our things down and get ready for the presentation by Itai on culture/Israeli society, so I changed into my official Rangers gear (I don't have my jersey while I'm here, so Rangers t-shirt it is, and of course my red and white Saucony sneaks) so that as soon as the lecture was over, PJ and I could hop in a cab to get to the bar we wanted to go to (Lion's Den of course) for the game. I have to say the lecture and presentation and slideshow and video components were all really interesting in terms of subject matter, but quite honestly, I woke up in the morning with a one-track mind: Rangers. As soon as he's done talking, PJ and I scoot up to Derech Hevron for a cab. Takes us a few minutes, but we get a cab; he says it's 30 shekels (totally reasonable for the distance we are traveling, and at this point we are desperate, no time to wait for another). As soon as the cab lets us off at Kikar Tzion (Zion Square), we run down the hill to the Lion's Den so we can check the score. We were either hoping for a 0-0 exciting game or a 2-0 Rangers lead. We get there with 8:25 left in the 2nd period (ok so we made it in time to watch just about half the game) and discover it's at a 2-2 tie. Josh, who I've now seen a few times (including Shabbat at Megan's) is a student at the Conservative Yeshiva, and Steven, who is an HUC rabbinical student (also from Megan's Shabbat), both had interest in the game and told me they'd be there, so we joined them in front of one of the TVs. Greg, another HUC student was also there. PJ and I are both Long Islanders who are Rangers fans; turns out, Greg is another one! That's how we cool folk roll. Multiple goals, lots of yelling, arguments over players, teams, knowledge of hockey, history of Rangers players (yes, we brought up Esa Tikkanen, Tony Amonte, Jeff Beukeboom, and my ultimate fave - MIKE RICHTER!!!). It was a fun night.

Two beers and 30 minutes of hockey later, PJ and I walk out very disappointed in the 6-4 victory that lies in the hands of the worst team in all of professional sports - the NY Islanders. Crappy McCrap! The good news is, Burgers Bar is just up the road. This is just about the most references restaurant in Jerusalem so far, at least by my fellow WUJS friends. Anytime they mention it, I always say, "But I'm a vegetarian" and they follow with, "But they have portabella burgers and other veggie stuff, it's really good you should try it." Now's finally my chance! I get in there and order, and basically what they do is charge you for the main item (the mushroom in my case) but they customize your sandwich right in front of you, with toppings, sauces, spices, anything! (I can't compare Burgers Bar to a SUBWAY because I think some loyal Burgers Bar fans would have a bone to pick with me about it, BUT it is similar in that regard, pick your extras!) I have to say, very impressed with the portabella sandwich and I could easily go back there for a taste of something else. PJ, Steven, and I all hop on the bus back to our neighborhood. Another night Rangers, another night will be yours.

PJ is now officially the only one on the WUJS program to see the "real me" - that is - a crazy Rangers fan!!!

Back to the grind (10/10)

In America, we have a case of the Mondays.

In Israel, we have a case of the Sundays. Our work week runs from Sunday to Thursday. Somehow the weekend goes by SO fast.

As usual, the day starts with Ulpan, so needless to say, I did my homework at the last minute last night and stayed up way too late. No surprise there! I'm the queen of procrastination. Tired, but ulpan is fun as always. I sneak back home to make a quick lunch and head off to Pardes for my 2nd class there. We are continuing to talk about water issues (among other environmental issues) in Israel through the lens of text study, and this time I am in a new chevruta (learning group) to test the waters and see with whom I best learn and discuss. Jeffrey and Hanalei are a married couple from Colorado studying at Pardes for the year and they volunteer to adopt me for the chevruta study. When we return to the classroom, one of the biggest topics of discussion was how to approach potential confrontation with regards to the environment. If someone in your neighborhood or a friend of yours isn't doing his or her part, is it your obligation to encourage them to do so? Make them do it? Scold them and hope their behavior changes? What is right, what is wrong, what is appropriate and what is not? Unfortunately there are no straightforward answers to these questions so the discussion that ensues is very difficult. Very interesting things to think about. However, I still don't think I could be a full-time Pardes student - this is already too much and I'm only in one class!

I hussle back as soon as class is over, so I can meet with Yonit. My internship is still not finalized so my schedule for next week is still up in the air, and it's making me a little nervous. An hour later, we have a game plan for the week. Who to contact and when, to follow up with both of my areas of interest: environment and hunger/homelessness. I felt much better after our conversation, although I felt a little bad that our meeting took so long. Two Jews can't just have a 10 minute conversation!

I come back to the apartment for a quick change of clothes so I can go out and support the Giants tonight! 1pm games in NY are great because they are 7pm games here and the bar is filled with Americans! Ethan decides to come with me which is great because otherwise I'd be going alone. We hop on the bus to King George and head down the street (in the drizzling rain, yes more rain!) to the Lion's Den. The place is pretty packed, but one of the owners helps us find two seats in the back. They show the game on a projector on the wall out there, but there is still waitress service, food and drink. Very exciting! By the time we got there, the Giants were already at a significant lead, so it was definitely fun to see them score, but it wasn't such a close game that kept me on my toes.

Around the end of the 2nd quarter, I see that Steven, the HUC student from the day before, is sitting at the table just behind us! Small world. He is there with another friend of his who he tells me knows from HUC. During halftime we chatted for a little bit. During the 3rd quarter, some seats opened up next to his table so he invited Ethan and me over to join the party. Fun fun fun to watch the Giants win, but meanwhile I'm buggin' out over all the other games that are on that have scores scrolling across the screen. Cincinnati doesn't have a very big lead, and I have a lot of points on them this week so I'm in trouble! Man oh man is this stressful! But I had to get home for ulpan homework and to get some rest, so another day comes to a close. Hooray for football and bars. Makes me a happy girl living in Jerusalem.

Shabbat and Noah's Ark (10/8-10/9)

Marlowe, Rachelle, Ethan, and I left around 4:45pm to start walking toward Kol Haneshama, a reform congregation nearby, which lends (or rents, who knows) space in their building once a month to a minyan (prayer group) called Nava Tehila which calls itself Jewish Renewal, and includes beautiful music during their services (http://www.navatehila.org/35897/Nava-Tehila).

During our walk there, I felt one single raindrop. I have not felt a single raindrop the entire time I've been here - quite a difference of weather from the east coast of America. It rains all the freekin' time over there! So this one raindrop gave me some hope that it might actually even rain more! It's also parshat (the weekly Torah portion) NOACH! Noah's Ark! So how fitting would it be if it rained! Well we walk the whole way there and I only felt the one raindrop.

Kabbalat Shabbat (the service that welcomes the Sabbath, and takes place before the 3rd daily prayer which is the evening prayer) is a series of psalms and songs which are meant to prepare us for the welcoming of the Sabbath. Normally, Kabbalat Shabbat takes anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, with the Ma'ariv (evening) service lasting between 15-20 minutes. Of course these times all depend on the congregation and style of worship. Bottom line, Nava Tehila's Kabbalat Shabbat service last two full hours. And surprisingly (to a girl who really enjoys the singing but NOT strict observance and religion and spirituality), it was beautiful and enjoyable. The music, the kehilla/community, just came together so nicely. Some people got up and danced, some people looked around like they had been dropped off on another planet, it was quite the array of worshipers.

I was hungry, and overheating, so I asked if anyone else wanted to come back to the apartments with me; Marlowe was ready. As we walked back I was hoping to feel some more raindrops again but didn't. It may or may not have rained during the 5-7pm window of music and prayer, but being inside the building the whole time, we didn't really notice. We came back and I started cooking - pasta - with the new pesto of course! About a half an hour after we got home, Rachelle and Ethan got back. I guess Ma'ariv was the expected half an hour, unlike Kabbalat Shabbat. They enjoyed it; now it's time for dinner! So once again we all gather in apartment 7, bringing chairs, dishes, and wine from all over the building, and everyone bringing their own food, whether only for themselves or for sharing. The table was too crowded to include my food, so I leave the pasta in my kitchen next door and make an announcement, "If anyone wants pasta pesto, just go get it yourself." Haha. I make others work for their food. Another very enjoyable evening, Shabbat dinner, great group of people all crowded in the apartment, and everyone slowly but surely disperses to their own dwellings. I meet mom and dad for our weekly Skype date, only to discover that mom's computer got the blue screen of death! We try it again. Blue screen of death comes back. We resort to the phone. My rental has a great speaker phone! Awesome!

Another Friday night Shabbat in the books here in J-town.

And then there's Saturday! Great to sleep in to 11:30 for a few reasons. 1. It's great to sleep in to 11:30. Plain and simple. 2. It means I have less to blog about because I'm not writing about my dreams here.

I actually had to set my alarm the night before (unlike many Saturdays, back home AND here), so that I could wake up in time to get to Megan Goldman's for Shabbat lunch at 12:30. I didn't know exactly where the apartment was, but I knew it would be a 10-15 minute walk and then find the entrance to her very confusing building. So I wanted to leave ample time for getting lost and finding my way. I bumped into a few people outside her building who were also going to the same lunch, including Josh, from Bnei IKAR, the service we went to last week. So he remembered meeting me briefly, I gave him a refresher on my name, and during our walk up the stairs, he tried guessing which rabbinic institution I was studying with this year. "Ha, that'll be funny." After he guessed a few I told him that I was part of WUJS, and then he remembered. We all walked in together; I was thrilled to see Megan and start meeting her other friends who were there! Most of them were rabbinical students (or the spouse or partner of one), one couple was very religious and friends of Megan from undergrad, and Megan's friend Becky and I were the non rabbinical non orthodox people at the table. Becky was so friendly and interested in hearing about the WUJS program so when we sat down at the table together, we sat next to each other. Yay for new friends.

Lunch itself was fantastic - Megan really went all out and had some great salads including a cabbage salad (one of my faves), and a stir fry with tofu, and she even took it one step further and made me my own tofu! Everyone else happily had chicken, and even though I told her I'd be fine with that, she went over the top as a wonderful hostess, so thanks Megan! Wine, food, and dessert - the works. The conversation should be mentioned too - the company at the table was great and I talked to a few new people which is always good in my book. I talked with Becky the most of anyone, because we were sitting next to each other, but I did meet the folks across the table and next to me a bit. Just getting to know new people is fun for me.

Megan also offered the opportunity for anyone to give a few sentences or thoughts about Parshat Noah, before we closed the meal for benching/the grace after the meal. I put my hand up immediately (what, like we're in class? I don't know...I just did it) and said, "Well, I'd like to go first because almost everyone else at this table is studying to be a rabbi so I certainly don't want to follow any of you. My thoughts are pretty superficial right now." Some people giggled and others said, "C'mon you don't have to be a rabbinical student to offer some insight" which of course I agree with, but, I just made an effort to make a quick joke and then I proceeded to mention my insight, which was that it actually DID rain on Parshat Noah (the night before! there were puddles everywhere!) and after not having rain for so long in Israel, it's quite a blessing. It's not an insignificant thought, but, probably not up there with some of these guys. So I was happy to make my comment which did lead into a short response and conversation about rain (go me)!

I was one of the last few people to leave, and consequently, spoke a bit more to the people who were on the other side of the table from me. Hillary is studying at JTS as is her boyfriend Dan, so I spoke with Hillary for a few minutes (based on the statement, "You look really familiar, do I know you?" - how Jewish geography of us) and once she and Dan left, it was just Megan, me and the boys. Turns out Josh and Steven, an HUC rabbinical student, are both pretty big sports fans. Josh is from Vancouver so although he likes hockey, he is NOT a Rangers fan (ok it was 16 years ago, get over it) and Steven is both a Giants AND a Rangers fan. Yay more people in Jerusalem who like the same sports teams as me!!! I told Steven I usually go to the Lion's Den on Sundays to watch football, and that this week I would be going. He said he'd probably be there too, so I'd have another sports fan to enjoy the game with. We all head home in separate directions and another Shabbat comes to a close.

Priorities, priorities - there's a Rangers game tonight! Unfortunately, it starts at 1am for me because of the time difference. However, all dedicated fans must make some sacrifices and I am fully prepared to make some sacrifices this hockey season. I stayed up WAY too late watching the game (and the Rangers won 6-3 against Buffalo - WOOOOO!) and I'm including a picture of the stream I watched on my computer.

Environmental Street Fair and Farmer's Market (10/8)

Danit invited me to attend the Environmental Street Fair and Farmers Market, so we made plans to check it out! Everyone else in the building was still fast asleep, but we got up and out by 10:30 to head to Emek Refaim. Hippies? You could say.

We stopped by a few of the tables there to see what organizations they represented, what types of products they had for sale (a lot of organic, natural products, some artwork, recycled items) and of course, the food! There actually were only a few environmental booths that we saw, before I asked someone, "So, is there a farmer's market going on today here as well?" "Yes, at the cultural center, up the road and on the left." "Thanks so much, Shabbat Shalom!"

Danit and I went up Emek to the cultural center to check out the food situation. Outside the gates to the cultural center was a jewelry stand. Needless to say, we stopped to see everything shiny. Danit really wanted to get a ring, but I dragged her inside instead and she said that maybe she'd stop there again on the way back out. Agreed. First table inside, and there are beautiful challahs and other types of bread. Of course, SAMPLES! We try a bit with some pesto. Unbelievable. We talk to the guy selling everything and he says that the store is in Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem, but that he is there very Friday at the Farmer's Market. Wait, every Friday there is a Farmer's Market? WOW! I thought it was just today because of the environmental fair. How lucky am I! We each buy some of the pesto, and I buy some bread that has cheese and zatar (yummy and typical Israeli spices) mixed in. We continue up the pathway, which is filled with tables selling more food and some other products. Such as - silly bandz. Yes, silly bandz. Seems to be just as popular here as they are in the US, and of course, I'm a sucker, so I buy a pack of 12 for 8 shekels. Rainforest pack. Why? Because I'm a hippie and I wasn't gonna buy the princess pack - no way jose. I'm so excited to get some more silly bandz, smiles all around. Next stop - cookies and desserts! Somehow, we are just getting to sample all kinds of foods; looks like we could end up with a free lunch if we do it right! Danit needs to bring something to her cousin's for Shabbat so she asks if everything is pareve (no dairy products in it). We continue to sample. More jewelry, more food (including cheese! Danit loves cheese!) and even clothing. Once we are at the end of the path we assume the market is at the end; little do we know the entire cultural center is filled with probably 50 more tables of all kinds of products. We start looking at a few, when we are interrupted by some music and costumes - it's the Noah's Ark parade!

One guy on stilts was juggling too! We were very impressed, enjoyed watching their short performance on the lawn, and they headed out to the street to impress more people with their Noah's Ark parade skills.

We continued walking around the market until after 1. We soaked up the sun sitting on the beanbags on the grass, listening to music (not live, but still good), and looking at everything for sale. We walked out of there with incredible amounts of food that all weighed a ton it seemed, by the time we left. We started walking down Emek, decided to stop at Aldo/Max Brenner for a milkshake for Danit, and we bumped into a bunch of other WUJS kids who were making their way toward the fair and market. We told them to hussle their tushies because it was ending soon - we wished them luck to get there in time! On our walk back down Emek we also stopped at the Marzipan off of Emek Refaim so we could get some treats, including rugelach AND a beautiful round shiny braided challah. We finished up our walk back home, Danit got ready for her Shabbat with her cousins and I came upstairs to get ready for mine.

I want to go to the Farmer's Market every Friday! Aize kef/how fun!

Hadag Nachash Concert (10/7)

After my class got out at Pardes, Aviva and I went to the grocery store near the Pardes building, which, by the way, in Hebrew is called "Shufersal" not "Supersol." Meh - what do I know?

We spent about a half an hour roaming around, both getting what we needed for the weekend (please, after the Friday fiasco last week, I am going to try to avoid grocery stores on Friday for the next many months). It was great to have the class with her and then spend some time together afterwards. I'm happy I will be seeing Aviva twice a week until January for this class! Great bonding time :)

I returned home around 6pm with some groceries in hand (and wine for Shabbat of course, man carrying liquids from Shufersal is hard work!) and talked to Marlowe about the plan for the evening. The Hadag Nachash concert (popular Israeli hip-hop/funk/reggae band) started at 10pm, doors opened at 9. We wanted to be there so we could scout out some seats in the venue. We had to plan backwards based on this time, so we could get ourselves some good eats. Marlowe and I LOVE to eat! We decided that we'd head out to eat, and go directly to The Lab which is where the show was being held. It's only about a 15 minute walk, but we wanted to get there early! We knew we could find something on the way or on Emek if we wanted to. We stopped at BaCafe first (see, we live in an area called Baka, so that's why BaCafe is a great time for a place here!) but it's more of a breakfast and lunch scene on the menu. We continued walking on Derech Beit Lechem, briefly looked around but then walked to Colony, which we knew was a bar but we figured we'd check out the menu. We walked up and asked the hostess for a menu in English, so we could see if both of us could find something. I see meat for Marlowe to enjoy, hmm maybe this is just a meat restaurant. I scan the menu to see Macaroni and Cheese listed as well. I ask the hostess, "So this is not kosher?" She shakes her head no. As I turn back around to the menu again, I think I've probably just upset her because she thinks, here we are, coming to this restaurant to eat, but because it's not kosher, we aren't going to stay. Little does she know. "No no, actually thats really good for us! We'll stay." She smiles and seats us at the bar.

We each order a beer. Marlowe orders the lamb kebab (that comes with tehina and tabouli) and I order the soup of the day (pumpkin coconut) and the foccacia appetizer. Everything is presented beautifully and we slowly devour everything in front of us. The foccacia is the best bread either of us have had since being in Israel. The soup is absolutely perfect. I didn't try the lamb of course, but Marlowe enjoys it! Especially the tehina. We are both so satisfied with our meals that we couldn't even consider dessert. Too bad, we'll have to come back again! The ambience and music and everything in the restaurant were so cool; we will definitely be back again. Around 8:50, we head out to The Lab, which is less than a 5 minute walk, so we know we'll be there when the doors open. There are teenagers EVERYWHERE! Teenagers and 9 year olds and 12 year olds and parents. There's a small line by the entrance; we make sure to stake our claim. After a few minutes, some familiar faces walk by - Abby and Evan! Abby is a WUJS student; in fact we are in the same ulpan class. Her husband Evan is studying at the Conservative Yeshiva this year. Their new friend Jonathan is also with them. So Abby comes and joins us in the line while Evan and Jonathan go back to the restaurant they ate at - they forgot their credit cards there! Uh oh! Abby stays with us as the line fills up, but once they open the doors, Marlowe and I head in without her. We get 2 seats at the bar, as the doors to the performance venue have not opened yet. PJ, Avi, and Jessica, other WUJS students come in and find us, followed a few minutes later by Abby and Evan and Jonathan. Our group is slowly growing in number! Once the doors open to the concert area, we go in and claim some seats just to the left of the stage - we are 20 feet away! Great view. The teenagers, the hardcore fans, they are all on the floor in the middle, right in front of the stage. I feel like an old lady sitting in my seat :)

I can't actually say TOO much about the concert itself, because I didn't know any of the songs (well, not really anyway), and I didn't understand most of the lyrics (hello, they're all in Hebrew!). I did enjoy the concert VERY much - let's not be confused. They have a great sound, and know how to work the crowd! I even found myself cheering when they said, "YERUSHALAYIM!!!" into the microphone. You know, I usually only respond to "NEW YORK CITY!!!" but this is my temporary home for now, so hell yeah, I've got Jerusalem pride! The band consists of 9 members, one of whom (his name I found out after the concert, is Shlomi Alon) played a number of instruments, AND sang, and completely impressed me musically. And also, if he wants to father my future unborn non-yet-existing children, that would be OK too. Pictures of the concert will be posted on Facebook soon (and here if I can finally figure it out AND find the time).

In the meantime, it should be said that the concert was great - partly because of the band's energy and ability to GIVE a great show, but also because of the people that I went with! We all stood there together and had a ball. Although we didn't get back until after 1am, the walk back together was great, and showering off the smells of cigarette smoke were a must. Clothing? Straight into the laundry. Febreezed. Only a little bit. Another night in the books. Check!

First Day at Pardes! (10/7)

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to take my first class at Pardes, after Ulpan of course, at 2:30 this afternoon. In between Ulpan and Pardes, I rushed back to my apartment to make a quick lunch (basically a scrambled egg/veggie mixture, stuffed in a pita with some cheese, resembling a breakfast sandwich, but not for breakfast) which was absolutely fabulous. Healthy, delicious, easy and quick to make. Did a quick clean up and walked down Rivkah to the Pardes office so I could meet at 2pm with Yaffa, one of the Pardes staff, before walking into the classroom at 2:30. She gave me a brief overview of the Pardes program, showed me around the facility (which is not so big but was VERY busy) and I met Meesh, the instructor for the class called "Peace and Social Justice." My friend Aviva is already in the class; I don't know anyone else in the class but everyone welcomed me with open arms and greeted me very nicely. The first portion of the class was the presentation of the idea/topic which we'd be discussing for the duration of the class period - dealing environmentally with water - who's water is it, who has rights to it, etc. according to Torah and other Jewish texts. We split up into chevruta (I'll explain what that is in just a second) for about an hour and 10 minutes, discecting some texts and discussing the various parts of them, and bringing them back to the main idea. Then we rejoined as a class for about 35 more minutes before being dismissed.

Chevruta learning is paired or tripled learning. Once a group becomes 4, you split into 2 groups of 2. The Hebrew word "chevruta" comes from the word for friend, "chaver," so you study or learn with a friend or someone who may become your friend. (This is the same "ch" sound as challah bread, not as in cheese, so get used to hacking up a lung from the back of your throat when you say it out loud.) There are many aspects of chevruta learning; one of them is that when you are only with 1 or 2 other people, there is much discussion on the subject at hand. In a classroom, one person speaks at a time so there can really only be a handful of ideas out on the table for discussion. This is a serious basis for Jewish learning. The Beit Midrash (house of study) is the room where this chevruta learning takes place, and it's not only our class that is in there, so it's quite a noisy room! (I think that rabbis and Jewish scholars would love to know how noisy it is in there, so much discussion and debate about many a Jewish topic!)

The short story is: I really enjoyed my time at Pardes today. I enjoyed the instructor's perspective, the class structure, the openness and freedom of the chevruta learning in the Beit Midrash, and the coming together at the end of the class. I also do not think I could take a full courseload here - it is SO intense! Kol hakavod (great job) for those of you who study at Pardes full time! Not for me right now, but glad to have a taste.

Catching Up Part II (10/5-10/6)

Tuesday morning's ulpan class does not start at 9am and does not meet in the classroom. Today we are going to the shuk/market! Normally, Machane Yehuda is a fun place to visit, shop, etc. However, we have to BE there at 8:15. That's my normal wake up time people, seriously encroaching on my joys of sleepage. My alarm was set for (gasp) 6:30am. I met up with a few other early risers around 7:20 outside the building to start heading over to the bus stop. We wait at least 15 minutes for the right bus to come, and even so, we end up on a bus that's 2nd best - we'd still have to walk a few minutes to the shuk. Our group ends up being so large that not all of us could fit! I end up in the group that waits for the next one. Fun times.

We arrive at the shuk at 8:15 on the dot, split up by level/instructor and they take us across the street to a small park area so Abby and I can read our paragraphs in Hebrew about the history of the shuk. We play a short game (just like we'd do in the classroom) pretending that one of us is a seller and one is a customer. The catch? The entire interaction has to be in questions. Think "Whose Line is it Anyway" with Drew Carey or whoever stars on it.

"Good morning, how are you?"

"Do you have the time?"

"Can I help you find something?"

"Do you sell chicken?"

"How much chicken do you want?"

"Do you also have vegetables?"

"Why don't you want to pay me for the chicken?"

The game goes on and on and it's very funny :)

We move into the shuk and continue with various games. The next one is to find out the names of various desserts in Hebrew, from Marzipan, the famous rugelach store. Our team may or may not have won, but in ulpan, everyone's a winner! The next stop is Uzieli, the etrog healer man. (Etrogs are a citron fruit used during the fall harvest holiday of Sukkot.) He uses etrog juice in drinks, facial sprays, and all sorts of other healing methods. Someone's task was to describe his shop in Hebrew, so we all understood what we were doing there. We then sample his products, including being sprayed in the face by etrog juice. He says it's good for the skin. Yeah, we'll see about that.

On to more and more stations and more fun games. We finally leave the shuk around 10:15 and take a private bus back to Beit Ar-El to continue the ulpan lesson in the classroom. Abby, Josh, and I stick with it until 12:30 and we are exhausted. Man, this waking up in the 6:00 hour type thing - does not work for me. I come back to the apartment for a well deserved nap :) Halfway through my nap, I hear men's voices (yes, multiple, not just one) through my door. I'm thinking - maybe one of the boys from next door is home or in the hallway. Marlowe knew I was napping; she wouldn't have invited anyone into the living room (which with my room shares a wall), right? Hmmm well I toss and turn a bit, my stomach growls, and I get out of bed to find 2 maintenance men trying to install a new wireless internet unit in our apartment. (We are logged in to the apartment next door until they get us our own.) I wander out of bed groggy as ever, stumble into the kitchen for my leftovers (salad from Caffit). Absolutely delicious. Count me in for leftovers next time too!

Time for another nap since the first one didn't work so well. I told Rachelle I'd wake up in time to go to the gym around 6. In reality, we both wake up from our half naps, and head to the gym. It's in one of the yearcourse apartment buildings on Hevron Street which is not too far away. It's free for us to use anytime it's open, which is great! Turns out they have 2 treadmills, 2 ellipticals (or what I am convinced is really a Nordic track), an upright bike, a recumbent bike, and multiple machines. There is a staff person there to make sure everything is running smoothly, and from what Rachelle has told me, he will also help you figure out what's best for you, and assist you with certain exercises if you want him to. Although I didn't catch his name, he was very friendly and helpful while we were there, especially to the yearcourse kids who were around. Day one at the gym - check.

Wednesday (10/6) brings us another day in ulpan and another afternoon seminar. This one is entitled "Israel's political map." I'm pretty excited because I love maps and looking at geography. I figured looking at various maps of Israel from over the years (pre 1948/UN, 1948, 1967, 1973, until now) would help me understand history, as my brain is not normally equipped for such things. We all gather in Kitah (classroom) Hey (a Hebrew letter, basically classroom #5) at 3:30 for Ilan Bloch's presentation. Turns out, this is not a session about maps at all. Well, kind of, but not in this way. His presentation is describing the political SYSTEM in Israel, not exactly a map. The Knesset, Israeli Parliament, is set up very differently from the US government, most obvious to note is that the Knesset is made up of multiple parties, not just two (left wing and right wing). After an overview of the system, the parties, the seats, the "map," he splits us up into very small groups (2-3 of us at a time) to become each of the main parties. He asks who identifies as strictly secular (and ends up giving those folks a party who is on the religious end of the spectrum). He asks who is pretty religious and stands by their beliefs that the land of Israel should be whole, not split into a two-state solution (and ends up giving those folks a party who is very left-wing and happy to give up land for peace). You see the trend - we had to think in a perspective that not only was not our own, but probably one that felt very uncomfortable. Case in point. Well done, Ilan. Each group split up to its own location around the building to work on a short project that included giving a campaign speech, song/poem/tv advertisement, and poster. Rachel Good and I are assigned to represent the New National Religious Party. Ha, this is going to be fun. We worked very well together to come up with a nice speech representing our party to inform "the voters" about our platform, and a poster (thanks to my beautiful skills with markers). We reconvened as a group in total; 10 presentations later, we each cast a vote (as ourselves, not our characters) as if we were actually voting in an election in Israel. Man, it was hard! Kadima doesn't know who they are and what the even represent, and so many parties are all over the left/right spectrum when it comes to various issues, the main three being: land for peace, religion and state, and socialist or free market economy. Hard to decide but I pick one and we move on. He summarized the activity and we head out of the classroom.

Another evening spent in the apartment, doing ulpan homework and catching up on the blog. I always end up staying online too late, catching up with friends from back home. Hey, that's how the time difference works out around these parts.

Laila tov/goodnight!

Playing Catchup! (10/2-10/4)

I have been a bad blogger. I have been a very bad blogger. I haven't made time in the last few days to write about my adventures! I will try to catch up on some of the funnier and memorable moments of the last 5 days. Ready, begin!

Saturday (10/2), a wonderful Shabbat, I slept until 1:45pm. How? I'm not really sure. I heard a knock at the door - it was Danni, who had his brother over, and of course Josh as well. They all went to shul/synagogue in the morning and although we had discussed having lunch around 12:30pm that day (and I said the night before - oh I'm sure I won't sleep past 11!), they ended up not having lunch until about 2. So I was invited next door for lunch at 2pm, Danni's brother even made basmati rice! It was delicious! (And I told him I'd blog about it, so here it is in black and white!)

Saturday night I had a lot of trouble falling asleep, from having slept so much during the day, so when I woke up for Ulpan/Hebrew class in the morning, I was NOT a happy camper. In fact I posted this as my Facebook status: "Ruthie Jewthie Kleinman slept way too late yesterday, couldn't fall asleep last night, and is now grumpy to be awake this early...ulpan time..." And boy did I mean it - I hate mornings (at camp I just pretend to be perky in the morning so the kids get outta bed, but really, I don't blame 'em). Ulpan was fun as always; I continue to do well on the tests/quizzes my teacher Yael gives to the class every day, and I am learning new words and verbs and phrases in every class.

After class let out, I went to get pizza with Ethan, Josh, and Isaac. Well, I think it was Sunday, but really, my brain can't remember so it might have been Monday. Anyways, whatever day we went there, we all split a pizza at "American Pie" pizza, nearby on Derech Beit Lechem/Beit Lechem Road. I had been there before and decided that it's pretty good pizza (in my obnoxious NYer high expectations mind), and I knew all the staff there spoke English as well as Hebrew. Because I'm really trying to use Hebrew as much as possible, to get better, I tend to use it when I know the person I'm speaking with also understands English; it's like a comfort thing. So I asked how much each slice cost, how much the whole pie cost, and discussed the cost of additional toppings with them, almost entirely in Hebrew! Go me! We decided on a cheese pie with mushrooms, 8 slices for 4 of us - metsuyan/excellent! We waited for it to be cooked and I even asked them in Hebrew if they had markers for us to write on the walls (they were all covered in markers so this is NOT a ridiculous question); meanwhile we made friends with some of the other customers there, because when you say in Hebrew, "Anachnu talmidim b'ulpan" (We are students in Ulpan), everyone here loves it. "Aaahhh, tov meod!" (Very good!) Pizza done. Check!

Sunday afternoon (10/3), we all had to report to the classroom in the apartment building for a lecture at 3:30. Another participant on the program had a birthday on the 2nd, and since she was away for the long weekend, the Birthday Committee asked that we all show up at 3:20 so that Vera could be brought down by her roommates at 3:25 and we could all sing to her! Well I don't think we fully surprised her but I do think she was happy that we didn't forget her birthday AND we had a cake for her. The lecture was given by Rabbi Rob Kahn, who is the director of academics at Young Judaea. The topic was "Jewish History." His lens was "Israel: Central to the Jewish People." Like we're going to get that covered in 2 hours? Not even close, but, he gave some brief history, spoke about the Torah and some more modern history. I think by the time the lecture got out I was pretty wiped out, attempted to work on my ulpan HW, and then Rachelle and I decided that it would just have to be a sushi night on Emek Refaim. The place is literally called "Sushi" and the big sign out front says it in Hebrew! Amazing. We spent about 2 hours there, ordering, eating, talking, making no room for dessert. We wish! On our walk back, we decided that next time, we are skipping the salad, ordering one less roll, and getting a dessert with two spoons! That's how to really do it! We didn't leave until about 10pm so by the time we got back to our apartments, it was time to get ready for bed - laila tov/good night!

Monday (10/4) was another early morning for Ulpan - wake up at 8:15 and start class at 9. This wake up time does not work for night owls; I can attest personally. But I'm really sucking it up. During our ulpan class today, Yael met with each of us one on one to discuss our progress and ask us what additional goals we have for the time in ulpan. She told me I'm doing very well and learning a lot, and wants to continue to help me. I told her that the easiest thing for me was to read/understand and write, and that the hardest thing to do was to understand only based on listening to something 1 time. We only really have to do that during our homework, and the way we do our listening assignments is as follows:

1) listen to the assigned track for the dialogue/paragraph.

2) Listen to the track and learn new vocabulary words identified in the dialogue.

3) Listen to the dialogue again with knowledge/recognition of new vocab.

4) Listen to the dialogue sentence by sentence.

5) Listen and read along with the Hebrew printed words.

6) Translate the English back to the Hebrew.

WHAT A PROCESS! But let me tell you - it works! It takes about an hour to go through a 2 minute dialogue, but by the end of it, I understand a lot more. Needless to say, my homework has been taking a long time each night because it's a very long process.

Monday we had another lecture in the afternoon; this time about Zionism. Steve Israel lectured on the topic, and started by asking some challenging questions. He split us up into smaller groups and had us discuss what zionism meant to each of us and if we consider ourselves as individuals zionists. We regrouped quickly to tally up the results, and split up once again to discuss whether or not zionism was/is a Jewish revolution. I think because of semantics, many participants had some trouble with this. What is zionism? What is a revolution? Is zionism a revolution at all? Lots of interesting questions raised. His presentation was very interesting to me and I enjoyed the debate I had even in my own head. Still so much to process and it's only been 3 1/2 weeks!

Lecture over, back to the apartment, more ulpan homework for the evening. Marlowe (my roommate) and PJ (my next door neighbor) tell me they are going to The Lab (a bar/club nearby) to get tickets for Hadag Nachash (http://hadagnahash.com/en/), a popular Israeli hip-hop group, for a concert on Thursday night. 100 shekels (you do the math, the exchange rate is about 3.7 shekels to the dollar). Absolutely! Count me in! I forked over my money. When she gets back, I'm so nervous about whether or not she got them, but I ask her timidly, "Soooo...??" "We get 'em! And we got 'em for 90 shekels each - student rate." She places my ten shekels change on the table. We hung out for a little bit, discussing dinner possibilities for the night. Both of us somehow have this specific craving for menu items at Caffit (where I had my birthday dinner), so we decide it is basheret/meant to be, and we must fulfill our obligation to Caffit! We walk over to Emek (yes, now this is the 2nd night in a row I am going out to eat at a restaurant, so much for staying on a budget!) and are seated by the window of the restaurant. The waiter brings us menus but we both know what we want right away. For Marlowe - the spicy noodles. For me - the Asian Oreganatto salad. Waters all around. Delicious! We even take home our leftovers for lunch tomorrow. We stop at Aldo/Max Brenner's for a taste of ice cream on the way back, and bump into PJ and Avi who are also students on our program. We all walk back together, enjoying the fun flavors Aldo has to offer! Yum and goodnight!