Thursday:
So today I got up and went to a cafe before Spanish to do my hw and get some coffee. It was really good- it's a place called Cafe Barista and it is in the central park area. I ran into Sacsha there, so we just sat around doing our Spanish hw before class. I then had Spanish, and then headed back to my house for lunch. I've realized how amazing walking around smallish towns are. I can get most places in Antigua within 30 minutes walking, and while walking I see so many more things that I would never see if I was in a taxi or tuc-tuc. It is kinda of a blessing in disguise that there is no real bus system within Antigua. While I can take the buses elsewhere, I never take it unless I am leaving Antigua and going to my volunteer place. So after lunch, I went to Maximo to meet up with Ari and Amanda before going on a coffee plantation tour at Finca La Azotea. We also were supposed to go with Levi, but he wanted to meet us at the park and we never found him. There is a free shuttle that leaves from the park every hour to go to the coffee plantation- it is only about a 10 minute drive. One of the other people in the van is in the peace corps, and so she was telling me about it. Another person on the van is a Phd student at Northeastern and she invited me for shabbat any time that I want when back at school. The tour itself was not the best thing ever but it was relatively nice tour. We learned how coffee is made and then saw a bit of the plantation, then saw it being roasted and then that was it. Ari, Amanda, and I wanted to leave early so we tried to catch the earlier shuttle, but it turned out that ever clock at the place was at a different time, so therefore we missed it. We waited around and then went back with everyone else. I then went back to my house and started to pack to El Salvador. For dinner, Shelby, Andrew, Xuemei, Ari, Amanda, and I went to this restaurant that had authentic music and a performance. It was pretty interesting. We then walked Amanda home before proceeding back to our house, to finish packing and try to get some shut eye. We are waking up at 5:15 tomorrow, to then get picked up at 6 to head to El Salvador for New Years. It should be a good time. I will update this once I get back from my trip and once it is 2011
Buenos Noches
and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
Tuesday:
So today was relatively boring. I woke up to have Spanish class, but then I started feeling really crappy so I just went back home after. I had lunch, and then instead of volunteering, I just slept. I am trying to get better as fast as possible so I can enjoy my time here. I woke up feeling a bit better, but I am still not 100%. I then went to get frozen yogurt, because I have been craving that. Worcester doesn't have a frozen yogurt place and after having it all the time in Israel, I really wanted some. I then went to discuss New Years plans with people. We are going to El Salvador and going to the beach. It should be a lot of fun. I then walked back with Andrew and Shelby- my new roommates and we had dinner back at the house. We had this extremely long conversation about medicine and religion and a lot of other stuff. It was extremely interesting, and it is great to get to talk to people with other points of view.
Wednesday:
So I woke up feeling a bit better, still not 100%, but better than Tuesday. So I took
my time to get ready before going to Spanish class. After Spanish I had lunch and Sacsha and I figured out what we were going to do in class. We then headed to the bus to go to Alotenango, which is where we teach English. Today we worked more on body parts. We had the kids draw monsters with certain amounts of body parts and then write sentences about them. The pictures turned out so cute. The kids are so eager to learn, there are even other kids that have asked to join the class. What is also great about teaching English, is that I am able to work on my Spanish at the same time. After that we headed back to Antigua, and stopped at the grocery store to get some saltines for my stomach. No matter how hard I try to eat good food- my stomach still decided to not like Guatemala. At least it is not terrible, and I can still function. I then went to pay the rest of the cost of going to El Salvador for New Years- we are going to El Tunco beach, it should be a good time. After that I just went home for dinner and just relaxed, and skyped with some people from home. Tomorrow I don't have to go to volunteering, so I will be going to the coffee plantation in the afternoon.
The movie at the bottom is the kids doing heads, shoulders, knees, and toes.
So today was relatively boring. I woke up to have Spanish class, but then I started feeling really crappy so I just went back home after. I had lunch, and then instead of volunteering, I just slept. I am trying to get better as fast as possible so I can enjoy my time here. I woke up feeling a bit better, but I am still not 100%. I then went to get frozen yogurt, because I have been craving that. Worcester doesn't have a frozen yogurt place and after having it all the time in Israel, I really wanted some. I then went to discuss New Years plans with people. We are going to El Salvador and going to the beach. It should be a lot of fun. I then walked back with Andrew and Shelby- my new roommates and we had dinner back at the house. We had this extremely long conversation about medicine and religion and a lot of other stuff. It was extremely interesting, and it is great to get to talk to people with other points of view.
Wednesday:
So I woke up feeling a bit better, still not 100%, but better than Tuesday. So I took
my time to get ready before going to Spanish class. After Spanish I had lunch and Sacsha and I figured out what we were going to do in class. We then headed to the bus to go to Alotenango, which is where we teach English. Today we worked more on body parts. We had the kids draw monsters with certain amounts of body parts and then write sentences about them. The pictures turned out so cute. The kids are so eager to learn, there are even other kids that have asked to join the class. What is also great about teaching English, is that I am able to work on my Spanish at the same time. After that we headed back to Antigua, and stopped at the grocery store to get some saltines for my stomach. No matter how hard I try to eat good food- my stomach still decided to not like Guatemala. At least it is not terrible, and I can still function. I then went to pay the rest of the cost of going to El Salvador for New Years- we are going to El Tunco beach, it should be a good time. After that I just went home for dinner and just relaxed, and skyped with some people from home. Tomorrow I don't have to go to volunteering, so I will be going to the coffee plantation in the afternoon. The movie at the bottom is the kids doing heads, shoulders, knees, and toes.
Monday, December 27, 2010
First day teaching English
Monday:
So today I woke up not feeling too hot, so I skipped Spanish class to sleep in. I slept til a little past 9, which was great because I haven't done that yet since I've been here. So then I got up and got ready slowly which was pretty relaxing. I then headed over to Maximo, but went a different route so I could explore a little more of Antigua. I met up with Sascha and we had lunch and discussed exactly what we were going to do today in class. We then headed to the bus- this bus was so much more crowded than the old one I took. We got in through the back of the bus, which was a new experience. The bus ride wasn't too long, and the town is really pretty. It is between two volcanoes. We then waited around for about a half hour before the children showed up. Today about 5 of the younger kids showed up, they are between 8-15. We taught them body parts- their English is okay and they were eager to learn more. We also taught them head-shoulders-knees-toes, and after a little bit they were able to do it by themselves. The next group were the older kids, probably around 16. They were much more quite and there were only 2 of them. We had them ask me questions and then they wrote down the answers and then we also did body parts. Afterwards we headed back to Antigua- the bus was so crowded thought. I went to salsa afterwards, and while it was a lot of fun- I wasn't feeling the best towards the end. A bunch of us went out to dinner after to this Mexican restaurant, which was pretty good. When I got home there were two new roommates- Andrew and Shelby, both from the States and they will be here for about two weeks. They seem really nice.
Well i'm gonna get some sleep and try to get rid of this cold
Buenos Noches
So today I woke up not feeling too hot, so I skipped Spanish class to sleep in. I slept til a little past 9, which was great because I haven't done that yet since I've been here. So then I got up and got ready slowly which was pretty relaxing. I then headed over to Maximo, but went a different route so I could explore a little more of Antigua. I met up with Sascha and we had lunch and discussed exactly what we were going to do today in class. We then headed to the bus- this bus was so much more crowded than the old one I took. We got in through the back of the bus, which was a new experience. The bus ride wasn't too long, and the town is really pretty. It is between two volcanoes. We then waited around for about a half hour before the children showed up. Today about 5 of the younger kids showed up, they are between 8-15. We taught them body parts- their English is okay and they were eager to learn more. We also taught them head-shoulders-knees-toes, and after a little bit they were able to do it by themselves. The next group were the older kids, probably around 16. They were much more quite and there were only 2 of them. We had them ask me questions and then they wrote down the answers and then we also did body parts. Afterwards we headed back to Antigua- the bus was so crowded thought. I went to salsa afterwards, and while it was a lot of fun- I wasn't feeling the best towards the end. A bunch of us went out to dinner after to this Mexican restaurant, which was pretty good. When I got home there were two new roommates- Andrew and Shelby, both from the States and they will be here for about two weeks. They seem really nice.
Well i'm gonna get some sleep and try to get rid of this cold
Buenos Noches
Friday, December 24, 2010
First weekend- Tikal, Flores, Rio Dulce, and Livingston
Friday-
So I got to sleep in for the first time since I got here... til 7! I then had breakfast and got ready to head into town. I met up with Sascha whom I will be teaching English with starting Monday. We discussed a little bit about what we are going to be teaching next week. We will be teaching body parts and clothing. After that we checked out this trip for New Years- we are going to be going to El Salvador and learning to surf. Two of her roommates will be coming as well, I just don't really know who they are. I then went to the super market to get some stuff for this weekend. The supermarket was so crowded- like the ones in Israel... America seems to be the only place where the aisles are wide enough and people aren't in such a complete frenzy. I then headed back to pack and then walked back again to sign up for another week of Spanish and to go put a deposit down for the El Salvador trip. It should be so much fun. There is an older couple (early 60s?) and they are from upstate NY. The husband walked into the office and started speaking with me in Hebrew... apparently they spent 8 months on a Kibbutz a few years back. It is really nice being able to practice my Hebrew, but I keep getting it confused with Spanish. After that I went to
have lunch and got picked up to head to the North. The drive was extremely long, and we didn't get to Flores until after 11. For dinner we went to this place in Rio Dulce that was right next to the water. It was really nice. In Guatemala it is a tradition to set off fireworks/crackers at midnight of Christmas, so that's what we did.. the streets were so smokey, but it was a lot of fun. What was annoying though is that the firecrackers went off all night, making if difficult to fall a sleep. It was strange... this is one of my first Christmases not eating Chinese food and watching movies... that said half of the people on my program at the moment are Asian- so I figured that was good enough :)
Saturday:
We had breakfast at 7 am, which overlooked the biggest lake in Guatemala, lake Peten
Itza. Then we drove to Tikal, which is a Mayan ruin city in the middle of the jungle. Only 30% of the city has been excavated. We climbed palaces and walked a lot... there were 3 temples to climb. The first two I could not climb because the steps up were too steep and terrifying. The 3rd though, which was the tallest I was able to get all the way up because the stairs weren't as bad. The picture shows the view from the top. In the jungle we saw lots of animals, including spider monkeys.
I felt like I was in Petra again except in the jungle not the desert. After Tikal, we went to lunch which overlooked the same lake. After lunch we started the long 3 hour drive to Rio Dulce. Once we got there we cleaned up and then headed to dinner. But to get to dinner we had to take a boat because it was on an island, which was wicked awesome- the restaurant was Mexican/Aussie.
Sunday:
Again breakfast overlooked the water, and directly from there we went on a boat tour. The first stop was a castle near Rio Dulce called Castillo San Felipe de Lara, I think, which was used to stop pirate attacks. We then went to look at bird island, which was literally just an island filled with birds. We then just rode on the boat for about 20ish minutes until we reached the hot springs. The boat ride was amazing, it was so pretty and great to be able to look over the water and see houses on the edge and all the scenery surrounding us. The hot springs were really nice, except at times they were too hot. Some people swam in the river as well, but I stuck to the hot springs. We then were on the river for another 20 minutes until we reached the Caribbean Sea. We went a little farther until we reached this area in the jungle where the 7 pools are. The name 7 pools reminds me of this place the used to exist (still does maybe?) in Minneapolis, except this one was much much bigger. Because it is not the rainy season, many of the pools were low, but there was still water in most of them. Pool number 7 is the deepest and there people jump off a cliff about 10 meters high. I did not think that I was going to do it, but after some other people in our group did, I decided to climb up there. Again, it took me a while to be able to jump,
but I was so glad that I did, it was so much fun. After the seven pools, we went to Livingston for lunch. Livingston is a town on the Caribbean, that can only be reached by boat. It is also the only place in Guatemala that you can see black people- and they speak a mixture of Spanish and a Creole language. Lunch was delicious, I had a seafood soup, except it was very difficult to eat because there was whole seafood in the soup. After lunch we got back on the boat and headed to the hotel to change before driving back to Antigua. The ride back was long, but again I could watch the scenery forever. Guatemala is such as beautiful country. We stopped for dinner at Pollo Campero, which is Guatemala's version of KFC. Now I am back in Antigua, extremely exhausted- time for a good night of sleep and tomorrow I start teaching English, so I will update this blog later in the week.
Buenos Noches
So I got to sleep in for the first time since I got here... til 7! I then had breakfast and got ready to head into town. I met up with Sascha whom I will be teaching English with starting Monday. We discussed a little bit about what we are going to be teaching next week. We will be teaching body parts and clothing. After that we checked out this trip for New Years- we are going to be going to El Salvador and learning to surf. Two of her roommates will be coming as well, I just don't really know who they are. I then went to the super market to get some stuff for this weekend. The supermarket was so crowded- like the ones in Israel... America seems to be the only place where the aisles are wide enough and people aren't in such a complete frenzy. I then headed back to pack and then walked back again to sign up for another week of Spanish and to go put a deposit down for the El Salvador trip. It should be so much fun. There is an older couple (early 60s?) and they are from upstate NY. The husband walked into the office and started speaking with me in Hebrew... apparently they spent 8 months on a Kibbutz a few years back. It is really nice being able to practice my Hebrew, but I keep getting it confused with Spanish. After that I went to
have lunch and got picked up to head to the North. The drive was extremely long, and we didn't get to Flores until after 11. For dinner we went to this place in Rio Dulce that was right next to the water. It was really nice. In Guatemala it is a tradition to set off fireworks/crackers at midnight of Christmas, so that's what we did.. the streets were so smokey, but it was a lot of fun. What was annoying though is that the firecrackers went off all night, making if difficult to fall a sleep. It was strange... this is one of my first Christmases not eating Chinese food and watching movies... that said half of the people on my program at the moment are Asian- so I figured that was good enough :)Saturday:
We had breakfast at 7 am, which overlooked the biggest lake in Guatemala, lake Peten
Itza. Then we drove to Tikal, which is a Mayan ruin city in the middle of the jungle. Only 30% of the city has been excavated. We climbed palaces and walked a lot... there were 3 temples to climb. The first two I could not climb because the steps up were too steep and terrifying. The 3rd though, which was the tallest I was able to get all the way up because the stairs weren't as bad. The picture shows the view from the top. In the jungle we saw lots of animals, including spider monkeys. 
I felt like I was in Petra again except in the jungle not the desert. After Tikal, we went to lunch which overlooked the same lake. After lunch we started the long 3 hour drive to Rio Dulce. Once we got there we cleaned up and then headed to dinner. But to get to dinner we had to take a boat because it was on an island, which was wicked awesome- the restaurant was Mexican/Aussie.
Sunday:
Again breakfast overlooked the water, and directly from there we went on a boat tour. The first stop was a castle near Rio Dulce called Castillo San Felipe de Lara, I think, which was used to stop pirate attacks. We then went to look at bird island, which was literally just an island filled with birds. We then just rode on the boat for about 20ish minutes until we reached the hot springs. The boat ride was amazing, it was so pretty and great to be able to look over the water and see houses on the edge and all the scenery surrounding us. The hot springs were really nice, except at times they were too hot. Some people swam in the river as well, but I stuck to the hot springs. We then were on the river for another 20 minutes until we reached the Caribbean Sea. We went a little farther until we reached this area in the jungle where the 7 pools are. The name 7 pools reminds me of this place the used to exist (still does maybe?) in Minneapolis, except this one was much much bigger. Because it is not the rainy season, many of the pools were low, but there was still water in most of them. Pool number 7 is the deepest and there people jump off a cliff about 10 meters high. I did not think that I was going to do it, but after some other people in our group did, I decided to climb up there. Again, it took me a while to be able to jump,
but I was so glad that I did, it was so much fun. After the seven pools, we went to Livingston for lunch. Livingston is a town on the Caribbean, that can only be reached by boat. It is also the only place in Guatemala that you can see black people- and they speak a mixture of Spanish and a Creole language. Lunch was delicious, I had a seafood soup, except it was very difficult to eat because there was whole seafood in the soup. After lunch we got back on the boat and headed to the hotel to change before driving back to Antigua. The ride back was long, but again I could watch the scenery forever. Guatemala is such as beautiful country. We stopped for dinner at Pollo Campero, which is Guatemala's version of KFC. Now I am back in Antigua, extremely exhausted- time for a good night of sleep and tomorrow I start teaching English, so I will update this blog later in the week.Buenos Noches
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
LUGGAGE!
Wednesday:
So my luggage arrived!!
but before i get to that i'll tell you about my day
Again, wake up early... i haven't woken up this early for anything besides Ultimate since high school. I wake up so early that the sun hasn't fully risen and I there is a great view of the surrounding mountains/volcanoes.
Walked to the Bus station with Ari... I know how to get there now, which is awesome. I'm learning the city, slowly but surely. Then headed to my volunteer placement. The bus ride wasn't as scary this time. It's actually kinda nice to watch the country side. Today at the school I swept sawdust, moved some scrap wood, raked trash, and moved some plants. I haven't really been enjoying my placement. I know I should try to give it more time, but am lonely there. I have no one to speak to because no one speaks English, and I cannot really speak enough Spanish to have a conversation. During some of my breaks I played with the directors twin daughters. They are so cute and just enjoy life. I've been having them help me learn Spanish, particularly colors. I point to something and ask "que color" and they would tell me. I forgot most of them, but it was still cute.
After that I went back to the house for lunch and short nap before I headed to Maximo Nivel for Spanish class. When I arrived, I was EXTREMELY pleased to find my luggage. I'm now in a class alone, and I'm learning really quickly. I also talked to the volunteer coordinators and starting Monday, I will be teach English to children. I'm excited. After Spanish I hung around a bit before our meeting about Tikal and Rio Dulce. We will also be going to Flores and Livingston on the trip. I am extremely excited and cannot wait to go. I then took a tuc-tuc (a motorbikeish taxi) back to the house because I had my suitcase. That ride was nuts. So bumpy, it was nuts. I then had dinner and started to unpack. And here we are now... again I have to wake up at 6:15, but I won't have to on Friday because I don't have work- which will be extremely nice.
Thursday:
Same morning schedule as the past few days. Today at work, I moved plants but for the most part played with the girls- their names are Carly and Georgese, i have NO idea if they are spelled correctly, but they are adorable as I have said in every previous post. They had me practice my colors again and then they had me read to them. That was an interesting task. I had no idea how to pronounce most of the words or what I was saying but they were content and kept turning the pages having me read more.
After work I had lunch and then took a nap before Spanish. After Spanish, I went to change some money and as I was walking all of a sudden someone starts to talk to me in Hebrew. I cannot remember the last time I was that confused, I still do not know how he knew I was Jewish. I found out that he was Guatemalan but for his job has a lot of Israeli tourists and has learned hebrew that way. It was really cool. Me and my roommates went to get some dessert before heading home. It's always a task to try to buy food. I point to something and ask "que?" and hope that their explanation has enough cognates in it to be able to understand what I am buying. It is usually a shot in the dark, but so far everything I've bought had tasted good. So after that we headed home to have dinner, and now are just relaxing. Tomorrow around 2 a group of about 10 of us will be heading to Tikal for the weekend. I will have an update when I get back! Monday I will also have news about my new placement teaching English.
Buenos Noches
Monday, December 20, 2010
Day 2 and 3 and still no luggage
So Sunday night there was parade or something from outside my window- it was extremely loud and I was trying to sleep. But o well.
Monday we woke up early and had breakfast. Then got ready for our orientation- when I am saying we and I talking about the people living at the house with me. My roommate is Xuemei, she is from Beijing but goes to Michigan State and the other girl in the house is Ari, she is from South Korea but is an exchange student at Northern State University in South Dakota. We walked to Maximo Nivel which is the spanish school for our orientation at 8:30... I thought that was early but that is late compared to what I'll be doing this month. It's a good thing that Xuemei knew how to get there because Antigua is like New England- there are not street signs- if you don't know where you are you don't belong :). So after orientation we went on a walking tour- which basically just confused me and then one of the staff went with me to find my volunteer place. I am volunteering in San Mateo and working on a construction project at a school. We took a chicken bus, and for those who don't know, chicken buses are old American school buses that are painted in bright colors. San Mateo is close to Antigua but it is isolated, so buses don't run to frequently- meaning I cannot miss the bus! And the hills were so steep I thought the bus was going to tip, but I was assured that they won't. After that I had lunch, took a short nap (i'm guessing that is going to be a reoccurring event), and then went exploring. I got lost- of course, but it is a good thing that many people speak English and was able to help me. I had my first Spanish class at 4, and hopefully I will soon be able to really speak. After Spanish i tried to deal with my luggage but that was a fail, so I joined the tail end of the Salsa class. Hopefully at some point we will all go to a Salsa club. After Salsa 7 of us went to out to eat which was really nice. There are so many different age groups on the program... 19-mid 30s... so I am one of the youngest. And people from all over- many Asians, Aussies, Canadians, and people from the US. After dinner we headed back to the house and crashed out.
Today I had to wake up at 6... I was going to get help to get to the bus station, so I had to leave earlier. The bus station is hectic and as I said- I am still having trouble finding my way around the city. It is so strange being awake so early- I never do that... at school I am not awake until at least 9. I found my way to the school!! my goal for tomorrow is to be able to find my way to the bus station. When I got to San Mateo and the school, I found out that I am helping move the supplies- small rocks and dirt. I didn't expect to have to do that, but then again I have to do that before we can start building. It was really hard work, but I took some breaks to play with the directors twin daughter who are almost 5. Even though we don't speak the same language we were able to communicate some how which was great. After work I took the bus back to Antigua, had lunch, took a nap, and then headed into town. I went to check about my luggage- which I found out was supposed to get brought to Maximo Nivel this afternoon so I was excited. I then tried to find the supermarket. I was told to take a right and went left and again got extremely lost. I went into a store, but the clerk didn't speak English but there was a man in the store that answered me. I then noticed he was wearing a Twins hat. I found out that he was from Blaine and was a missionary in Antigua and has been there for 7 years. What a small world. Found the supermarket, but as I was trying to get back to the school... again got lost :)
I then had Spanish, and before I left found out that my luggage won't be in Antigua today.. but tomorrow I will get it. Went back home to eat dinner, and then the 3 of us decided to find some dessert. We got to the plaza and found this crepe restaurant. It was so yummy and we got to talking to the owners. The mother is originally from Chicago and her daughter grew up in Guatemala but speaks perfect English. We get to talking about how when working on my Spanish, I am having trouble and confusing it with Hebrew and then I found out that they were Jewish- some of the only Jews in Antigua but still none the less fun to find out. Afterwards we headed back to the house, and here I am now and about to go to sleep because I have to wake up at 6:15 am and I am exhausted.
Buenos Noches
Monday we woke up early and had breakfast. Then got ready for our orientation- when I am saying we and I talking about the people living at the house with me. My roommate is Xuemei, she is from Beijing but goes to Michigan State and the other girl in the house is Ari, she is from South Korea but is an exchange student at Northern State University in South Dakota. We walked to Maximo Nivel which is the spanish school for our orientation at 8:30... I thought that was early but that is late compared to what I'll be doing this month. It's a good thing that Xuemei knew how to get there because Antigua is like New England- there are not street signs- if you don't know where you are you don't belong :). So after orientation we went on a walking tour- which basically just confused me and then one of the staff went with me to find my volunteer place. I am volunteering in San Mateo and working on a construction project at a school. We took a chicken bus, and for those who don't know, chicken buses are old American school buses that are painted in bright colors. San Mateo is close to Antigua but it is isolated, so buses don't run to frequently- meaning I cannot miss the bus! And the hills were so steep I thought the bus was going to tip, but I was assured that they won't. After that I had lunch, took a short nap (i'm guessing that is going to be a reoccurring event), and then went exploring. I got lost- of course, but it is a good thing that many people speak English and was able to help me. I had my first Spanish class at 4, and hopefully I will soon be able to really speak. After Spanish i tried to deal with my luggage but that was a fail, so I joined the tail end of the Salsa class. Hopefully at some point we will all go to a Salsa club. After Salsa 7 of us went to out to eat which was really nice. There are so many different age groups on the program... 19-mid 30s... so I am one of the youngest. And people from all over- many Asians, Aussies, Canadians, and people from the US. After dinner we headed back to the house and crashed out.
Today I had to wake up at 6... I was going to get help to get to the bus station, so I had to leave earlier. The bus station is hectic and as I said- I am still having trouble finding my way around the city. It is so strange being awake so early- I never do that... at school I am not awake until at least 9. I found my way to the school!! my goal for tomorrow is to be able to find my way to the bus station. When I got to San Mateo and the school, I found out that I am helping move the supplies- small rocks and dirt. I didn't expect to have to do that, but then again I have to do that before we can start building. It was really hard work, but I took some breaks to play with the directors twin daughter who are almost 5. Even though we don't speak the same language we were able to communicate some how which was great. After work I took the bus back to Antigua, had lunch, took a nap, and then headed into town. I went to check about my luggage- which I found out was supposed to get brought to Maximo Nivel this afternoon so I was excited. I then tried to find the supermarket. I was told to take a right and went left and again got extremely lost. I went into a store, but the clerk didn't speak English but there was a man in the store that answered me. I then noticed he was wearing a Twins hat. I found out that he was from Blaine and was a missionary in Antigua and has been there for 7 years. What a small world. Found the supermarket, but as I was trying to get back to the school... again got lost :)
I then had Spanish, and before I left found out that my luggage won't be in Antigua today.. but tomorrow I will get it. Went back home to eat dinner, and then the 3 of us decided to find some dessert. We got to the plaza and found this crepe restaurant. It was so yummy and we got to talking to the owners. The mother is originally from Chicago and her daughter grew up in Guatemala but speaks perfect English. We get to talking about how when working on my Spanish, I am having trouble and confusing it with Hebrew and then I found out that they were Jewish- some of the only Jews in Antigua but still none the less fun to find out. Afterwards we headed back to the house, and here I am now and about to go to sleep because I have to wake up at 6:15 am and I am exhausted.
Buenos Noches
Sunday, December 19, 2010
What a day...
Alright so today has been an extremely stressful day. I woke up at 4:30 to then head to La Guardia airport. I get in line to board the plane and they tell me that my backpack is too big and that I need to gate check it- I had my computer and my camera and all of that stuff in it, but they made me gate check it. Then I figure out that they were trying to transfer it to Guatemala via American Airlines not TACA, which is what I was flying on the 2nd part of the trip... so they had to get it out from under the plane and bring it and try to fit it in an over head compartment. That was hectic and the plane was waiting for me to deal with it and it was extremely embarrassing. So i get to Miami and I have to walk all the way across the airport to get to my terminal... i guess there was a tram but I never found it. Then I get in line check in and its all good until i try to go through security and they tell my that my backpack is too big and it needs to be checked... so i quickly go by a bag to put all my important stuff in a bag I buy at the gift shop, check my backpack and run to my gate. I thought that it was going to board early so I was rushing. I was so frazzled, but then my plane wasn't boarding so I could relax a little, get some coffee and then we boarded. I actually thought the flight was not too bad except then when I landed and got through customs... only my backpack was at baggage claim..
my luggage is in Miami, so lets hope it gets here tomorrow or else it will be even more of a mess :/. My host family seems nice, I'm staying in a nice house in Antigua- I have one roommate, but there are others in the house. Tomorrow is my orientation, which will hopefully also include my luggage.
Tonight will include a good nights sleep and hopefully tomorrow I will wake up more relaxed and ready to start my day in Antigua.
buenas noches
my luggage is in Miami, so lets hope it gets here tomorrow or else it will be even more of a mess :/. My host family seems nice, I'm staying in a nice house in Antigua- I have one roommate, but there are others in the house. Tomorrow is my orientation, which will hopefully also include my luggage.
Tonight will include a good nights sleep and hopefully tomorrow I will wake up more relaxed and ready to start my day in Antigua.
buenas noches
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Pre-departure jitters
So... I leave tomorrow morning. I will be waking up at 5 am leaving at 6 getting to LGA around 7, and then catching my 9am flight to Miami. I have a 2 1/2 hour layover in Miami, where I will hopefully run into Stephanie- a friend from school who is heading down to Ecuador for winter break to visit family and also has a layover in Miami.
I'm basically packed... hopefully I won't go over 50 lbs.
When I get tips about going to Guatemala... the #1 tip i've gotten is don't drink the tap water and check the ice cubes. Knowing me the first day I will brush my teeth with tap water...
Before I go let me tell you a little bit about the program I am going on and with. The organization I am going with is called International Volunteer HQ, and is based out of New Zealand. They are a volunteer organization that has locations all over the world and are open to most ages over 18 (and under 18 as long as they are with their family) The website for the organization is http://www.volunteerhq.org/. While I am in Guatemala I will be volunteering through the organization Maximo Nivel, which partners with IVHQ. This is their website: http://www.maximonivel.com/destinations/guatemala/
I will be doing construction work-type stuff 5 days a week in the morning, followed by lunch and then spanish lessons. Afterwards I will have free time and then dinner followed by either hanging out with my host family, or going into Antigua for the night. On the weekends I will probably travel around the country seeing different parts of Guatemala, with other volunteers.
For those who want to comment on these posts but do not know how, you can if you sign in with a google account.
Whenever I get the chance, I will update you all on how my trip is going so far.
-Rachel
I'm basically packed... hopefully I won't go over 50 lbs.
When I get tips about going to Guatemala... the #1 tip i've gotten is don't drink the tap water and check the ice cubes. Knowing me the first day I will brush my teeth with tap water...
Before I go let me tell you a little bit about the program I am going on and with. The organization I am going with is called International Volunteer HQ, and is based out of New Zealand. They are a volunteer organization that has locations all over the world and are open to most ages over 18 (and under 18 as long as they are with their family) The website for the organization is http://www.volunteerhq.org/. While I am in Guatemala I will be volunteering through the organization Maximo Nivel, which partners with IVHQ. This is their website: http://www.maximonivel.com/destinations/guatemala/
I will be doing construction work-type stuff 5 days a week in the morning, followed by lunch and then spanish lessons. Afterwards I will have free time and then dinner followed by either hanging out with my host family, or going into Antigua for the night. On the weekends I will probably travel around the country seeing different parts of Guatemala, with other volunteers.
For those who want to comment on these posts but do not know how, you can if you sign in with a google account.
Whenever I get the chance, I will update you all on how my trip is going so far.
-Rachel
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Pre-departure
Alright- so this post is a short distraction from finals week. I leave for Guatemala on December 19th and will be there til Jan 15th. I will be spending most of my time in Antigua which is about 30 min from the capital. While I'm there I will be doing construction and renovation... its the inner Nechama in me :)
I am pretty nervous since I speak basically no Spanish and know NO ONE going with me. But I will be taking lessons there and I'm sure it'll be fine.
Hopefully while I'm there I will be able to update a few times a week, I will have internet access at the volunteer office- but we'll see how much free time I have.
Alright it is time to go to class.... only 2 classes left this semester!
-Rachel
I am pretty nervous since I speak basically no Spanish and know NO ONE going with me. But I will be taking lessons there and I'm sure it'll be fine.
Hopefully while I'm there I will be able to update a few times a week, I will have internet access at the volunteer office- but we'll see how much free time I have.
Alright it is time to go to class.... only 2 classes left this semester!
-Rachel
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The End of the Trip
This is probably my last blog entry for a while. Next time I go on a trip like this, I will start this blog again.
Saturday:
Saturday was an awesome and relaxing day. I started with sleeping til about noon or so, it was great- I hadn't gotten 12 hours of sleep in ages. After that I did some housework and then walked to the beach to meet up with people. It was really nice to chill and relax. About 10 people from the trip went to the beach as well. The water was nice because the jellyfish have gone away. After that I went back to my apartment, showered, ate dinner, napped, and then got ready to go out. Some friends and me tried to go to a club at the port, but it was too crowded so we went to a bar near by and just chilled.
Sunday:
Sunday I went to work and we got a new intern. She is from Germany and just decided to spend two months in Israel. I spent a lot of Sunday working on the reports for USAID- as the quarterly narrative and the PMP report were both due during the week. After work I went back to apartment and took a nap (for those who have been reading this constantly, I’m guessing you have started to see a pattern, work then nap ☺). Then I got ready to go to dinner with Marisa, Ellery, Gali, Avia, and Lauren. We wanted to go to this Indian restaurant but then it ended up being too late and instead we went to this really good Mexican restaurant in South Tel Aviv. Oy, do I miss Mexican or more like Chipotle/Moe’s. After that I went back to Bat Yam because I was so beyond exhausted. Lauren and I waited for the bus for about an hour and it never showed up so we took a cab back to Bat Yam.
Monday:
Monday after work I went near the Shuk to a shoe store to get a new pair of Naots. I bought 2 pairs of Naots in Israel, but they are the most comfortable shoes I that I still find cute. I then went back to Bat Yam, where we had a mandatory meeting talking about the final few days and then I went back to my apartment and napped before going back into Jaffa for Natascha’s birthday dinner. A bunch of us went to this really good kabob place in Jaffa. They gave us so much food, we were all full before the kabobs actually came. After that we all went to the beach in Tel Aviv for the night to just hang out. It was a lot of fun, even though the beach was filled with annoying high schoolers trying to get into the bars.
Tuesday:
Tuesday was my last day of work, which was extremely bittersweet. I worked on the Bat/Bar Mitzvah letter, some more of the report, the website (which should be up soon!). At the end of the day Emily gave me one of the embroideries, which they sell as a gift and Emily, Larissa (new intern), and I went to Max Brenners as a little good-bye thing. I am by no means ready to be done with the internship; Windows is doing such amazing things and learned so much working for them. It was my first internship, and before this summer I had no idea how an NGO really worked, how to write a grant, and many other things associated with NGO/grants in general. After Max Brenners, I went back to Bat Yam to start packing my stuff up, and then later that night I went back into Tel Aviv to meet up with people at Bloom Bar for a concert. Even though I had no idea what I was being sung, I still really enjoyed the show. Music in Israel is a little different from what I listen to at home, due to the fact that they aren’t as progressive and don’t have as much indie music here. But the rock music is really good here. After Bloom Bar we al went back to Bat Yam because we had a hike to go on the next day and were all really exhausted.
Wednesday:
So Wednesday was my last full day in Israel- an extremely bittersweet feeling. We had to get up extremely early to go a hike near Jerusalem. We went on the fountains hike where we saw a bunch of fountains that used to be used as a water source during the Crusades period. Israel is so full and rich of history- it’s such an amazing country for thousands of years of history. There were many young Israeli children on the hike as well and at one point we started singing Disney songs and they started singing with us in Hebrew. After the hike we went to this Arab town near by to go to this really good restaurant for lunch. They had salads, pita, hummus, and falafel. It was טעים מאוד (very tasty). We then headed back to Bat Yam to pack, work on cleaning the apartment, and then headed to our final meeting/wrap up. The meeting consisted of filling out an evaluation, discussing the program in details, thanking each other, a slide show, and getting our t-shirts. After that I went back to my apartment and made dinner with Gillian before we all got ready to go out to the Namal (port) for our final night. We tried going to a club, but it was way beyond too crowded. You couldn’t move in the club, and it wasn’t fun at all so we left and went somewhere else. We all ended up at an extremely chill outside bar and we all just hung out until we started heading back to Bat Yam.
Thursday:
So today, I had to get up at 7 am to finish packing and cleaning before I headed to the airport. Packing was terrible, I have way too much stuff and my suitcases are basically packed to beyond capacity. I said goodbye to my apartmentmates and went down to get a cab. The cab then went to get Rachel Heidling who is also on this flight. We went to the airport, checked our bags (one of my bags was overweight, but they didn’t charge me, we’ll see how it goes in Newark). We then went through security and while we were waiting in line for security I saw a guy wearing a Seeds of Peace t-shirt. We got to talking and he was telling me about Seeds of Peace and how he was a seed and then was a counselor there. That camp is something that I would LOVE to work at sometime in the future. It is very similar to Window. We then went to exchange money and there ran into Jamie who was also going to be on our flight, but took a different cab to the airport. We got breakfast and then went to our gate. I am not on the flight writing this and I will post it when I get home and have internet again.
This trip has been something unlike anything I have ever done before. I have never lived in another country, which I did for two months. This was my first internship. I had never gone camping with just friends before. And so many more things that I can’t even begin to explain. While I don’t think I could live in Israel permanently ever, Israel is such an amazing country and I hope to be able to go back at some point in the future. Get another internship, hike/camp throughout Israel. Go spend more time in Jordan, go to Egypt, and go to the West Bank. Two months was nowhere near enough time to live in a country. I would love to spend more time in the North, which is my favorite place in Israel.
“It’s not good-bye, it’s until next time.”
Saturday:
Saturday was an awesome and relaxing day. I started with sleeping til about noon or so, it was great- I hadn't gotten 12 hours of sleep in ages. After that I did some housework and then walked to the beach to meet up with people. It was really nice to chill and relax. About 10 people from the trip went to the beach as well. The water was nice because the jellyfish have gone away. After that I went back to my apartment, showered, ate dinner, napped, and then got ready to go out. Some friends and me tried to go to a club at the port, but it was too crowded so we went to a bar near by and just chilled.
Sunday:
Sunday I went to work and we got a new intern. She is from Germany and just decided to spend two months in Israel. I spent a lot of Sunday working on the reports for USAID- as the quarterly narrative and the PMP report were both due during the week. After work I went back to apartment and took a nap (for those who have been reading this constantly, I’m guessing you have started to see a pattern, work then nap ☺). Then I got ready to go to dinner with Marisa, Ellery, Gali, Avia, and Lauren. We wanted to go to this Indian restaurant but then it ended up being too late and instead we went to this really good Mexican restaurant in South Tel Aviv. Oy, do I miss Mexican or more like Chipotle/Moe’s. After that I went back to Bat Yam because I was so beyond exhausted. Lauren and I waited for the bus for about an hour and it never showed up so we took a cab back to Bat Yam.
Monday:
Monday after work I went near the Shuk to a shoe store to get a new pair of Naots. I bought 2 pairs of Naots in Israel, but they are the most comfortable shoes I that I still find cute. I then went back to Bat Yam, where we had a mandatory meeting talking about the final few days and then I went back to my apartment and napped before going back into Jaffa for Natascha’s birthday dinner. A bunch of us went to this really good kabob place in Jaffa. They gave us so much food, we were all full before the kabobs actually came. After that we all went to the beach in Tel Aviv for the night to just hang out. It was a lot of fun, even though the beach was filled with annoying high schoolers trying to get into the bars.
Tuesday:
Tuesday was my last day of work, which was extremely bittersweet. I worked on the Bat/Bar Mitzvah letter, some more of the report, the website (which should be up soon!). At the end of the day Emily gave me one of the embroideries, which they sell as a gift and Emily, Larissa (new intern), and I went to Max Brenners as a little good-bye thing. I am by no means ready to be done with the internship; Windows is doing such amazing things and learned so much working for them. It was my first internship, and before this summer I had no idea how an NGO really worked, how to write a grant, and many other things associated with NGO/grants in general. After Max Brenners, I went back to Bat Yam to start packing my stuff up, and then later that night I went back into Tel Aviv to meet up with people at Bloom Bar for a concert. Even though I had no idea what I was being sung, I still really enjoyed the show. Music in Israel is a little different from what I listen to at home, due to the fact that they aren’t as progressive and don’t have as much indie music here. But the rock music is really good here. After Bloom Bar we al went back to Bat Yam because we had a hike to go on the next day and were all really exhausted.
Wednesday:
So Wednesday was my last full day in Israel- an extremely bittersweet feeling. We had to get up extremely early to go a hike near Jerusalem. We went on the fountains hike where we saw a bunch of fountains that used to be used as a water source during the Crusades period. Israel is so full and rich of history- it’s such an amazing country for thousands of years of history. There were many young Israeli children on the hike as well and at one point we started singing Disney songs and they started singing with us in Hebrew. After the hike we went to this Arab town near by to go to this really good restaurant for lunch. They had salads, pita, hummus, and falafel. It was טעים מאוד (very tasty). We then headed back to Bat Yam to pack, work on cleaning the apartment, and then headed to our final meeting/wrap up. The meeting consisted of filling out an evaluation, discussing the program in details, thanking each other, a slide show, and getting our t-shirts. After that I went back to my apartment and made dinner with Gillian before we all got ready to go out to the Namal (port) for our final night. We tried going to a club, but it was way beyond too crowded. You couldn’t move in the club, and it wasn’t fun at all so we left and went somewhere else. We all ended up at an extremely chill outside bar and we all just hung out until we started heading back to Bat Yam.
Thursday:
So today, I had to get up at 7 am to finish packing and cleaning before I headed to the airport. Packing was terrible, I have way too much stuff and my suitcases are basically packed to beyond capacity. I said goodbye to my apartmentmates and went down to get a cab. The cab then went to get Rachel Heidling who is also on this flight. We went to the airport, checked our bags (one of my bags was overweight, but they didn’t charge me, we’ll see how it goes in Newark). We then went through security and while we were waiting in line for security I saw a guy wearing a Seeds of Peace t-shirt. We got to talking and he was telling me about Seeds of Peace and how he was a seed and then was a counselor there. That camp is something that I would LOVE to work at sometime in the future. It is very similar to Window. We then went to exchange money and there ran into Jamie who was also going to be on our flight, but took a different cab to the airport. We got breakfast and then went to our gate. I am not on the flight writing this and I will post it when I get home and have internet again.
This trip has been something unlike anything I have ever done before. I have never lived in another country, which I did for two months. This was my first internship. I had never gone camping with just friends before. And so many more things that I can’t even begin to explain. While I don’t think I could live in Israel permanently ever, Israel is such an amazing country and I hope to be able to go back at some point in the future. Get another internship, hike/camp throughout Israel. Go spend more time in Jordan, go to Egypt, and go to the West Bank. Two months was nowhere near enough time to live in a country. I would love to spend more time in the North, which is my favorite place in Israel.
“It’s not good-bye, it’s until next time.”
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Hike in the Golan
Wednesday: So on Wednesday I woke up early to go get my laundry and then went to work. I tried to get there early, but instead only got there on-time. Work was crazy, we have so many reports due for USAID, so I helped work on that. Again I had to leave early but this time to catch a bus to the North. I met Rachel and Lauren at the bus station and we caught a bus to the Golan Heights. The bus ride was nice- I practiced my Hebrew quite a bit. I have it down to a science on how to say why I'm here, what I'm doing, and a little more. It's pretty cool, though I wish I knew more. O well, next time I'll do ulpan. We got off at Yehudea Reserve and walked to the camp site. The ranger for the afternoon/evening met us and showed us where to go and what to do. That night we met so many people- one who even knows people that Rachel is friends with. We had some really interesting conversations about whether or not to go to the army and issues with peace and stuff like that. We slept under the stars because we didnt want to get a tent but that was fine besides bugs, but that was kinda expected.
Thursday: We got up around 6 with the sun and got ready for the hike. We were warned that if we didn't start early enough we would have an issue at one point because lots of Yeshiva boys go on the hike everyday. As we left to start the hike we saw about 6 buses of yeshiva boys get there. When we got to the first stop on the hike they started to catch up with us. They were RUNNING through this hike, which was so beyond dangerous. We would be walk and they would just go through us basically. At one point there is this huge ladder we have to climb down to keep going and there was such a traffic jam. The ranger called for us to pass all of the yeshiva boys though becasue otherwise we'd be stuck there for hours. Basically what I got out of that hike was how rude and disrespectful Yeshiva boys can be. It was the longest hike I have gone on- took about 5ish hours. It was so pretty though, so much water there, so pretty. It was a little difficult because I am so short and so clumsy, but i managed well. After the hike we got a cab to Qatzrin and from there took a bus to the Kineret to go swimming. We went to Lavnun beach which is where Rachel and I were for Macabbia last time we were in Israel- she was on Machon when I was on Shorashim. It felt so good to go swimming, just chill in the water. But all three of us were exhausted and ready to go home, so a little before we were supposed to leave to get our bus we left and were able to find a Shirut to take us to Tiberas where we got another Shirut back to Tel-Aviv. Even though I was exhausted, it was two girls on my trips birthdays we I went out to celebrate. It was a pretty relaxed evening, we went to this basement club which was so hipster- I felt I was in Uptown.
Friday: Charlotte, Rachel, and I went to the art market in Tel Aviv. We ran into Ellery while we were there as well. I got this really cute bracelet and something for my mom that she had wanted. After Rachel and I went to Ramat Aviv to meet up with Ari before heading to Netanya for Shabbat dinner with the Elias family. Dinner was so nice- the food was great and it was great to have dinner there. They are such a nice family and their kids were so much fun to play with. After dinner we got a shirut back to Tel Aviv and then a cab back to Bat Yam. Friday was not a night to go out- I haven't gotten much sleep- so it was time to actually get a good nights sleep.
Thursday: We got up around 6 with the sun and got ready for the hike. We were warned that if we didn't start early enough we would have an issue at one point because lots of Yeshiva boys go on the hike everyday. As we left to start the hike we saw about 6 buses of yeshiva boys get there. When we got to the first stop on the hike they started to catch up with us. They were RUNNING through this hike, which was so beyond dangerous. We would be walk and they would just go through us basically. At one point there is this huge ladder we have to climb down to keep going and there was such a traffic jam. The ranger called for us to pass all of the yeshiva boys though becasue otherwise we'd be stuck there for hours. Basically what I got out of that hike was how rude and disrespectful Yeshiva boys can be. It was the longest hike I have gone on- took about 5ish hours. It was so pretty though, so much water there, so pretty. It was a little difficult because I am so short and so clumsy, but i managed well. After the hike we got a cab to Qatzrin and from there took a bus to the Kineret to go swimming. We went to Lavnun beach which is where Rachel and I were for Macabbia last time we were in Israel- she was on Machon when I was on Shorashim. It felt so good to go swimming, just chill in the water. But all three of us were exhausted and ready to go home, so a little before we were supposed to leave to get our bus we left and were able to find a Shirut to take us to Tiberas where we got another Shirut back to Tel-Aviv. Even though I was exhausted, it was two girls on my trips birthdays we I went out to celebrate. It was a pretty relaxed evening, we went to this basement club which was so hipster- I felt I was in Uptown.
Friday: Charlotte, Rachel, and I went to the art market in Tel Aviv. We ran into Ellery while we were there as well. I got this really cute bracelet and something for my mom that she had wanted. After Rachel and I went to Ramat Aviv to meet up with Ari before heading to Netanya for Shabbat dinner with the Elias family. Dinner was so nice- the food was great and it was great to have dinner there. They are such a nice family and their kids were so much fun to play with. After dinner we got a shirut back to Tel Aviv and then a cab back to Bat Yam. Friday was not a night to go out- I haven't gotten much sleep- so it was time to actually get a good nights sleep.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Rest and Jerusalem
Again sorry this week has been crazy- I'll try to get better for my last weekish
Saturday: The day of rest! I basically didn't leave the apartment until Saturday night. I slept, hand-washed some clothes, slept more and just relaxed. That night I went out with two of my apartment mates into Tel Aviv.
Sunday: Sunday was a short day at work because our group was going to Jerusalem for the afternoon/evening. Sally was in Tel Aviv for the day and I wanted to see her but it got really complicated with her group and everything. So after work I headed back to Bat Yam to meet the group to go to Jerusalem. Our first stop there was the Bazlel Art School. While it was very interesting, I wasn't feeling the best so I left the group and headed to Baka where there Jerusalem Amirim group was and my whole group would be later to take a nap. After I woke up the Bat Yam and Jerusalem group had a little get to know you thing. The 4 weekers from J-lem had just arrived but I still knew all the 8 weekers. After the get to know you games we went to Ben Yehuda for dinner; I got my ring fixed while I was there. When we were leaving I ran into Netta, my staff from my last Israel trip. He was there with his current group. We then went to this modern dance thing- which personally I wasn't a huge fan of. I thought that it was a little too out there, but then again modern dance isn't really my thing.
Monday: Monday I went to work and also had to leave a little early because I was meeting Emily in Jerusalem for a USAID meeting. It was a goodbye party for the head of the USAID- West Bank/Gaza branch. It was very interesting as it was my first meeting of those sorts. After the meeting Emily and her boyfriend took me around Jerusalem a little to some overlooks to see the differences between how to Israelis and Palestinians live in relation to East and West Jerusalem. It was pretty awful to see it all- the Israeli government and making the Palestinians pay but they have no water, no trash collection, and the roads aren't kept up.
Tuesday: Tuesday at work was pretty crazy. We have a lot of reports for USAID due extremely soon. Emily showed me how to fill out a PMP form and we went through all the objectives and what not. I still haven't gone over my grant but that's because there is no due date for that. After work I went to Jaffa to meet Cassandra, Rachel H, and Toby to go to the shuk there. It was about to close but I still managed to spent a little too much money. I bought some presents for people and of course some stuff for me. Earlier I had bought myself a new pair of Naots, they are super comfy and will be great for going out. After the shuk we went to Dr. Shokshuka which is a really good shokshuka restaurant in Jaffa. We then went back to Bat Yam to get ready to go out- Gal's friend does PR for this club and he got us all in for the night. It was a good time.
I'm going to post the rest of the week later when I have more time because it's more interesting then the day-to-day normal stuff.
Saturday: The day of rest! I basically didn't leave the apartment until Saturday night. I slept, hand-washed some clothes, slept more and just relaxed. That night I went out with two of my apartment mates into Tel Aviv.
Sunday: Sunday was a short day at work because our group was going to Jerusalem for the afternoon/evening. Sally was in Tel Aviv for the day and I wanted to see her but it got really complicated with her group and everything. So after work I headed back to Bat Yam to meet the group to go to Jerusalem. Our first stop there was the Bazlel Art School. While it was very interesting, I wasn't feeling the best so I left the group and headed to Baka where there Jerusalem Amirim group was and my whole group would be later to take a nap. After I woke up the Bat Yam and Jerusalem group had a little get to know you thing. The 4 weekers from J-lem had just arrived but I still knew all the 8 weekers. After the get to know you games we went to Ben Yehuda for dinner; I got my ring fixed while I was there. When we were leaving I ran into Netta, my staff from my last Israel trip. He was there with his current group. We then went to this modern dance thing- which personally I wasn't a huge fan of. I thought that it was a little too out there, but then again modern dance isn't really my thing.
Monday: Monday I went to work and also had to leave a little early because I was meeting Emily in Jerusalem for a USAID meeting. It was a goodbye party for the head of the USAID- West Bank/Gaza branch. It was very interesting as it was my first meeting of those sorts. After the meeting Emily and her boyfriend took me around Jerusalem a little to some overlooks to see the differences between how to Israelis and Palestinians live in relation to East and West Jerusalem. It was pretty awful to see it all- the Israeli government and making the Palestinians pay but they have no water, no trash collection, and the roads aren't kept up.
Tuesday: Tuesday at work was pretty crazy. We have a lot of reports for USAID due extremely soon. Emily showed me how to fill out a PMP form and we went through all the objectives and what not. I still haven't gone over my grant but that's because there is no due date for that. After work I went to Jaffa to meet Cassandra, Rachel H, and Toby to go to the shuk there. It was about to close but I still managed to spent a little too much money. I bought some presents for people and of course some stuff for me. Earlier I had bought myself a new pair of Naots, they are super comfy and will be great for going out. After the shuk we went to Dr. Shokshuka which is a really good shokshuka restaurant in Jaffa. We then went back to Bat Yam to get ready to go out- Gal's friend does PR for this club and he got us all in for the night. It was a good time.
I'm going to post the rest of the week later when I have more time because it's more interesting then the day-to-day normal stuff.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
A week in Israel
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, i've been very busy all week and any sleep I can get is taking priority over this at the moment.
So Sunday Sally and I got up and headed to the Eratz Yisrael Museum to meet up with all the trips. I didn't think that I was going to be staying very long but she wanted me to wait for all the buses to arrive to meet her group and staff. While I was there I saw so many Emtzanicks- so to all parents who kids on USY that I know they all are having a great time. After that I headed to work for the day. After work I went home to nap before going into to Tel Aviv to meet up with Ari for dinner. After dinner I went to find people from my trip to chill in Tel Aviv for the night.
Monday I went to work and I wrote my first grant by myself. That was terrifying for the most part. It's for a grant from the US Consulate for the Magazine. I got about half of what I was supposed to get done because I was so confused and Emily wasn't in the office Monday, so I did some more work on the website. Hopefully by the end of next week we'll have the new website launched- it's much better than the old one. After work I went back to Bat Yam and relaxed before making dinner and then Ellery and I went to walk around Bat Yam looking for a store that sold cleats, which turned into a quest for ANYTHING open. It was Erev Tisha B'Av and so everything closed at 7. After that basically failed quest we went to Ulpan for activities. Gal had some announcements for us about the upcoming week and then after Neil Lazarus came and spoke to us about Israel advocacy and stuff like that bad press Israel gets from incidents such as the flotilla thing earlier this summer. After that I went to sleep because I haven't been getting much sleep at all.
Tuesday Ellery and I went to Park Ha'Yarkon to play in an Ultimate Peace hat tournament. The week leading up to Tuesday had been the Ultimate Peace Camp in Acco so all the coaches from UP were there and a bunch of locals or Americans just in Israel for some time were there as well. Some of the best Ultimate players were there- many of them has just come from Prague from Club Worlds. The tournament was a lot of fun. I haven't played in about 2 months so it was really nice to be able to play again. It was some of the most fun I've had in Israel yet. After that Ellery and I attempted to be presentable because we were going to meet the group to go see a performance of Yentel. Yentel was ok- they had English translations but I was so exhausted from the tournament I could barely stay awake. After the show, some of us went out for a short amount of time.
Wednesday at work Emily went over the grant with me and helped me finish writing it out. We have to have it connect with America in some way so we are connecting it to the civil rights movement- we also got a new intern. After work I went to do some grocery shopping and relaxed and then took a nap before getting ready to go out. Some of the guys from 1st session are still in Israel so a bunch of us met up with them at the beach in Tel Aviv.
Thursday we went to Sderot- which is the largest city next to Gaza. Since 2001 over 12,000 rockets have landed in or around Sderot. Our first stop was the police station where we saw a small collection of all the rockets. The rockets were either painter red/green for Hamas or yellow for Fatah. Our next stop on our trip was this play ground that had a shelter in it, which allowed for children to be able to go to the park and play with the safety of a bomb shelter right there. We also drove around to see the synagogue that was destroyed. The very interesting thing about Sderot is that for the most part the destruction isn't noticeable because they rebuild very fast. All through the tour everywhere we looked there were bomb shelters- most than I have ever seen in my life. Our final stop was an overlook where we could see Gaza from Israel. It was so interesting how the border was just a road- compared to the border with the West Bank. Prior to the bombings, Israeli would freely go into Gaza City to go to the market or just to be there. And we could also see Ashkolon, I city in Israel that supplies most of the power to Gaza. We then went to this volunteer place to get talked to about the Jewish fund- which was extremely boring and then went to paint a wall. It was really strange because we were supposed to paint a white wall white- which made no sense. After that we went to have lunch. We then went to this kibbutz to see how fruit and veggies were produced in the Negev. It was sorta interesting but the Negev was so extremely hot and I hadn't really dressed in clothes that would be cool enough. We got to release carrier pigeons which was extremely cool and then we got to make our own pita. After we headed back to Bat Yam and then got ready to go out. We went out for Avia's birthday in Tel Aviv at a new club.
Friday I woke up early and Marisa and I headed to Haifa to visit Amy and Shani from first session. Started out with us missing our bus, but then we met a solider who was trying to get to Haifa as well and showed us how to get to the train station. The train was much faster than the bus would have been. We then took the bus to the University of Haifa where they are taking Ulpan and then headed to this Druze village near by. The Village was very cool. While it was very touristy it was still interesting to see the Druze culture. They dress very differently than Arabs or Jews. A lot of the men were this white skull cap and the women where a thin white shawl over their head, but besides that their clothing styles vary a lot from person to person. We got lunch there and did a little shopping. After we started the LONG quest to get back to Haifa. We waiting for at least an hour and buses were going to the village but not the other direction, which made no sense because it wasn't that late yet. We had to call Gal to have him get us a cab. We had already missed our bus to Tel Aviv so we needed to get a ride to the shiruts and then get one to Tel Aviv. After we got a cab and headed back to Bat Yam to make dinner. I fell asleep so quickly- I was so tired from not sleeping all week.
There is so much I still want to do and I'm only here for about a week and a half. I still haven't really explored Yaffo, and I just feel like my time is running short. So again- probably no sleep to see people I want to see and do things I still haven't done.
So Sunday Sally and I got up and headed to the Eratz Yisrael Museum to meet up with all the trips. I didn't think that I was going to be staying very long but she wanted me to wait for all the buses to arrive to meet her group and staff. While I was there I saw so many Emtzanicks- so to all parents who kids on USY that I know they all are having a great time. After that I headed to work for the day. After work I went home to nap before going into to Tel Aviv to meet up with Ari for dinner. After dinner I went to find people from my trip to chill in Tel Aviv for the night.
Monday I went to work and I wrote my first grant by myself. That was terrifying for the most part. It's for a grant from the US Consulate for the Magazine. I got about half of what I was supposed to get done because I was so confused and Emily wasn't in the office Monday, so I did some more work on the website. Hopefully by the end of next week we'll have the new website launched- it's much better than the old one. After work I went back to Bat Yam and relaxed before making dinner and then Ellery and I went to walk around Bat Yam looking for a store that sold cleats, which turned into a quest for ANYTHING open. It was Erev Tisha B'Av and so everything closed at 7. After that basically failed quest we went to Ulpan for activities. Gal had some announcements for us about the upcoming week and then after Neil Lazarus came and spoke to us about Israel advocacy and stuff like that bad press Israel gets from incidents such as the flotilla thing earlier this summer. After that I went to sleep because I haven't been getting much sleep at all.
Tuesday Ellery and I went to Park Ha'Yarkon to play in an Ultimate Peace hat tournament. The week leading up to Tuesday had been the Ultimate Peace Camp in Acco so all the coaches from UP were there and a bunch of locals or Americans just in Israel for some time were there as well. Some of the best Ultimate players were there- many of them has just come from Prague from Club Worlds. The tournament was a lot of fun. I haven't played in about 2 months so it was really nice to be able to play again. It was some of the most fun I've had in Israel yet. After that Ellery and I attempted to be presentable because we were going to meet the group to go see a performance of Yentel. Yentel was ok- they had English translations but I was so exhausted from the tournament I could barely stay awake. After the show, some of us went out for a short amount of time.
Wednesday at work Emily went over the grant with me and helped me finish writing it out. We have to have it connect with America in some way so we are connecting it to the civil rights movement- we also got a new intern. After work I went to do some grocery shopping and relaxed and then took a nap before getting ready to go out. Some of the guys from 1st session are still in Israel so a bunch of us met up with them at the beach in Tel Aviv.
Thursday we went to Sderot- which is the largest city next to Gaza. Since 2001 over 12,000 rockets have landed in or around Sderot. Our first stop was the police station where we saw a small collection of all the rockets. The rockets were either painter red/green for Hamas or yellow for Fatah. Our next stop on our trip was this play ground that had a shelter in it, which allowed for children to be able to go to the park and play with the safety of a bomb shelter right there. We also drove around to see the synagogue that was destroyed. The very interesting thing about Sderot is that for the most part the destruction isn't noticeable because they rebuild very fast. All through the tour everywhere we looked there were bomb shelters- most than I have ever seen in my life. Our final stop was an overlook where we could see Gaza from Israel. It was so interesting how the border was just a road- compared to the border with the West Bank. Prior to the bombings, Israeli would freely go into Gaza City to go to the market or just to be there. And we could also see Ashkolon, I city in Israel that supplies most of the power to Gaza. We then went to this volunteer place to get talked to about the Jewish fund- which was extremely boring and then went to paint a wall. It was really strange because we were supposed to paint a white wall white- which made no sense. After that we went to have lunch. We then went to this kibbutz to see how fruit and veggies were produced in the Negev. It was sorta interesting but the Negev was so extremely hot and I hadn't really dressed in clothes that would be cool enough. We got to release carrier pigeons which was extremely cool and then we got to make our own pita. After we headed back to Bat Yam and then got ready to go out. We went out for Avia's birthday in Tel Aviv at a new club.
Friday I woke up early and Marisa and I headed to Haifa to visit Amy and Shani from first session. Started out with us missing our bus, but then we met a solider who was trying to get to Haifa as well and showed us how to get to the train station. The train was much faster than the bus would have been. We then took the bus to the University of Haifa where they are taking Ulpan and then headed to this Druze village near by. The Village was very cool. While it was very touristy it was still interesting to see the Druze culture. They dress very differently than Arabs or Jews. A lot of the men were this white skull cap and the women where a thin white shawl over their head, but besides that their clothing styles vary a lot from person to person. We got lunch there and did a little shopping. After we started the LONG quest to get back to Haifa. We waiting for at least an hour and buses were going to the village but not the other direction, which made no sense because it wasn't that late yet. We had to call Gal to have him get us a cab. We had already missed our bus to Tel Aviv so we needed to get a ride to the shiruts and then get one to Tel Aviv. After we got a cab and headed back to Bat Yam to make dinner. I fell asleep so quickly- I was so tired from not sleeping all week.
There is so much I still want to do and I'm only here for about a week and a half. I still haven't really explored Yaffo, and I just feel like my time is running short. So again- probably no sleep to see people I want to see and do things I still haven't done.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
The North and Sally in Bat Yam
So Wednesday we headed up to the North and the first place we did the hike at Tel Dan, it was fine but it was pretty boring. I had already done the hike before and I wanted to do a little more hiking. We had a very interesting conversation though about peace with Syria and the Golan Heights. Then we went to this cemetery to hear about the people that lived there in the 1920s. After that we went to a place for lunch and then got a tour of Rosh Pina. After we went to the field school where we were going to be staying for the night. Then we relaxed before dinner and after dinner we had some activities with the scouts.
The next day we got up and went to this kibbutz to go blueberry picking. They tasted so good and it was so fun to be able to pick our own and then eat them right a way. I felt like I was part of the book Blueberries for Sal or that other book (I cant remember the name.) After that we went to this brewery for lunch- I didn't like any of the beer though. We then went to this place called Madgrase stream, which was a complete water hike. It was pretty nice but it was slippery because they stream had mostly rocks at the bottom. After that we went to the Kinerret cemetery to see some famous peoples graves. After we headed back to Bat Yam. At the rest stop I saw Maya Richman and she was headed to her home stay. While we were in the North it was one of the girls on my trips birthday so once we got back to Bat Yam most of us headed to Tel Aviv for the night to celebrate.
Friday I woke up early and grabbed a cab to go pick up Sally in Ramat Aviv. After we went back to Bat Yam and did some grocery shopping for the weekend with my apartment-mates. Then we grabbed a cab to head into Tel Aviv. We spent the day walking around near Shook haCarmel. Sally got a hair wrap and a dress and I got some clothes and spices for the apartment. When we were getting the hairwrap for Sally, I noticed my cell phone was missing. I had left it in the cab but thankfully the cab driver picked it up and he was able to get it back to me. After we met up with Jamie, Marisa, Avia, Ellery, and Gali at the mall. We just sat there basking in the air conditioning and then went to walk around a little more. We walked to the beach and sat at a cafe watching the sun set and then we went to get dinner at this place called King George. After that Sally and I went back to Bat Yam. I hadn't gotten much sleep yet so I was so happy to be able to get sleep Friday night.
Saturday we slept in and then went to the beach for the day. It was wicked hot but amazing to be able to just lay in the sun and occasionally go into the water. Jellyfish season is basically over so I was less hesitant to go in the water. After we went back to the apartment to just relax. After we met up with Ellery and Marisa at the supermarket to get food for dinner and then cooked it at their apartment. After we chilled there for a bit and then went back to my apartment so Sally could pack her stuff for tomorrow.
The next day we got up and went to this kibbutz to go blueberry picking. They tasted so good and it was so fun to be able to pick our own and then eat them right a way. I felt like I was part of the book Blueberries for Sal or that other book (I cant remember the name.) After that we went to this brewery for lunch- I didn't like any of the beer though. We then went to this place called Madgrase stream, which was a complete water hike. It was pretty nice but it was slippery because they stream had mostly rocks at the bottom. After that we went to the Kinerret cemetery to see some famous peoples graves. After we headed back to Bat Yam. At the rest stop I saw Maya Richman and she was headed to her home stay. While we were in the North it was one of the girls on my trips birthday so once we got back to Bat Yam most of us headed to Tel Aviv for the night to celebrate.
Friday I woke up early and grabbed a cab to go pick up Sally in Ramat Aviv. After we went back to Bat Yam and did some grocery shopping for the weekend with my apartment-mates. Then we grabbed a cab to head into Tel Aviv. We spent the day walking around near Shook haCarmel. Sally got a hair wrap and a dress and I got some clothes and spices for the apartment. When we were getting the hairwrap for Sally, I noticed my cell phone was missing. I had left it in the cab but thankfully the cab driver picked it up and he was able to get it back to me. After we met up with Jamie, Marisa, Avia, Ellery, and Gali at the mall. We just sat there basking in the air conditioning and then went to walk around a little more. We walked to the beach and sat at a cafe watching the sun set and then we went to get dinner at this place called King George. After that Sally and I went back to Bat Yam. I hadn't gotten much sleep yet so I was so happy to be able to get sleep Friday night.
Saturday we slept in and then went to the beach for the day. It was wicked hot but amazing to be able to just lay in the sun and occasionally go into the water. Jellyfish season is basically over so I was less hesitant to go in the water. After we went back to the apartment to just relax. After we met up with Ellery and Marisa at the supermarket to get food for dinner and then cooked it at their apartment. After we chilled there for a bit and then went back to my apartment so Sally could pack her stuff for tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
first 2 days of second session
So the first 2 days have been very uneventful. Monday I went to work, and came back to meet my new apartmentmates. They are Gillian from Georia, and Annie and Sara both from Ohio. They all knew eachother beforehand. Then we met up with everyone that had already arrived at the mall for lunch. After wards we got some groceries then went back to the apartment to chill and unpack. Later we walked to ulpan to meet the whole group for dinner, rules, and icebreakers. I went with some people to a park to just relax after the meeting. Everyone was so jet lagged and tired. The group is about 10 people bigger and most people are a lot older- around 21/22 is probably the average age of this group.
Today I went to work, but left early because I wasn't feeling the best. I got home and took a nap, then got my laundry and just relaxed before the rest of my roommates came back. They had orientation stuff all day that I didn't have to do because I did it last month. Charlotte, Toby, and Simone came over for dinner and we chilled a little. And then I packed for the trip to the North tomorrow.
Sorry for the boring post- nothing super exciting going on currently.
I'll update when I get back from the North
Today I went to work, but left early because I wasn't feeling the best. I got home and took a nap, then got my laundry and just relaxed before the rest of my roommates came back. They had orientation stuff all day that I didn't have to do because I did it last month. Charlotte, Toby, and Simone came over for dinner and we chilled a little. And then I packed for the trip to the North tomorrow.
Sorry for the boring post- nothing super exciting going on currently.
I'll update when I get back from the North
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Jordan- Petra/Wadi Rum
I'm really hoping to not forget anything from the weekend, so this post hopefully will be extremely long.
So after we got our apartments reviewed, Marisa, Adam, and I headed to the Central Bus station in Tel Aviv. I was kinda grumpy in the morning and didn't listen to Marisa about what bus we should take... so we took the 46, which is extremely slow. Eventually I was like we need to get off this bus and take a taxi, so we did and made it in time. Though we almost missed the bus because I needed to get food for the ride. We made the bus though and then were on our way to Eilat. We got in around 4ish and were so exhausted that as soon as we got to our hostel we passed out. Charlotte and Becca got in around 7 and then we went to get money for Jordan and then went near the water to get dinner. We went to this place called Boston, Mass... I felt right at home :). Then we hung out at the beach for a little just looking out at the water and talking. Then we went back and went to sleep because we were getting picked up around 7am Friday morning to leave for Jordan.
Friday morning we got picked up in the open air jeep to take us to the border- it was a little odd that we were driving around the streets of Eilat not in a normal car. Once we got to the border we had to wait until 8am for the border to open for the day. After we went through customs and walked across to Jordan. It was so cool to be able to just walk right across to another country. We met up with our tour guide and all headed to Petra. The view on the way there was so beautiful. The landscape in Jordan is a lot like the landscape in Israel, desert in the south and less so in the north. When we got to Petra, we basically just walked through stopping about every 5-10 min to get an explaination of it. It's crazy to think that Petra used to be such a vibrant city during the Roman Empire. One of the ladies on our tour was 78 and she was talking about how she had to go now because she wouldn't be able to walk through it later in life due to her age. It made me think of Grandma Dottie- she didn't look that old, and Grandma it seems like something you would love. The most exivated place is the treasury, which our tour guide made us turn around before we got our first glimpse of it. After we got a little past the treasury the 1 day tour people turned around and our tour guide took us another kilometer to where we were having lunch. It was really good- a lot like Israeli food; meats and salads and of course watermelon. While I was there I ran into Daniel Chiat, a guy from home who used to work at Herzl when I was a camper there way back when. After lunch we walked back to the start of Petra and took lots of pictures on the way. It was so cool walking through one of the wonders of the world. After we got out we had to get to where our stuff was left earlier. We didn't really know where to go though- so we asked the tourist police and they just kept saying that way, get a cab. Instead we walked and when we turned the corner it was less than a block away. We then got a cab to the Bedouin tents where we were staying for the night. The roads were so curvey and up and down I felt like I was on a roller coaster, which for those who know me well... know I hate roller coasters with a passion and the whole ride there I felt pretty nauseous. Besides the 5 of us there was this Jewish Flemish couple who was staying at the tents with us. The tents weren't like they were when I stayed in ones in Israel. Here there were 2 beds in a room, and so we made one of them a room of 3 so no one had to sleep alone. After we got situated, one of the Bedouins took us on a short walk to see some extremely ancient carvings. After that we went and had dinner which was extremely tastey. I went exploring by myself after that just to star gaze and think a little. There are so many stars out there. I then walked back and as I was going over there one of the Bedouins was walking looking for me. Though I had only gone about 5 min from camp. After that Marisa, Adam, and I went with 2 of the Bedouins to climb a sand dune and star gaze. It was amazing and so relaxing. I saw at least 6 shooting stars. The whole time we were there they tried to teach us Arabic, because they spoke VERY little English. Communication was pretty difficult while in Jordan. After we star gazed we all rolled down the sand dunes. It was so much fun- I felt like I was little again and so care free. I have never felt as relaxed, calm, and at peace as I did that night just looking at the stars. After we went back and got tea. We were served more tea in our time at the Bedouin tents than I have drank this whole time in Isarel and I drink A LOT of tea.
The next morning we got up, had breakfast and then our driver picked us up to take us to Wadi Rum nature preserve. It was about a 2 hour drive. Once we got there the 7 of us got into a 4x4 open air jeep to head into the desert. Our first stop was a rocky ridge that we were supposed to climb and at the top was a stream where most of their water comes from. I only made it about half way up because of my fear of heights, so Charlotte went back with me and we sat in a tent just relaxing. It was so hot out though. Our next stop was a sand dune. We climbed and then just looked at the amazingness surrounding us. The colors in Wadi Rum are mindblowing. The sand changes colors so quickly from greys to oranges to reds and browns. The sand was really hot and burned our feet as we went back down, and we all basically had the desert chillen in our shoes afterwards. Our next stop was a picnic lunch, that has rice with potatoes and veggies, some of the best chicken I've ever had, salad, and flat bread. It was so good and after most of us fell asleep for a bit. We then went to this place that I think was kinda excavated, I wasn't exactly sure. Our driver basically went places and then said go explore, so we weren't really sure what we were looking at, but it was really cool none the less. Our last stop was a natural bridge and a few people went to climb up it, but Adam, Becca, and I stayed back due to the heights. We went back to the visitor center to get water and our driver got us some ice cream as well. Then was the long drive back to Aqaba to get a short tour of the city. After we got back across the border we got a ride to the central bus station. We changed our tickets so we got an earlier bus ride back and then headed to get some food. Even though it's Eilat not much was open because it was Shabbat. After some Burger Ranch we got on the bus and headed back.
It was so nice to get bcak to our apartments in Bat Yam. I was so exhausted but wound up at the same time from all the excitment of the weekend.
Today I went to work a little late so I could sleep in and get some laundry dealt with, and after work I'm going to meet up with Marisa for dinner and then we are going to watch the Holland v Spain soccer game. After tonight, I'm DONE with watching soccer!! Sorry for all you huge soccer fans our there (dad).
Tomorrow the new group arrives, so I'll have some new posts up probably Tuesday before we go on the beginning trip hike.
Sorry for the simplicity- but I could talk about this weekend for ages. And if you ever get the chance GO TO JORDAN! It's the safest of the Arab countries and so amazing. I hope I get the chance to go back sometime in the future to see more of the country.
So after we got our apartments reviewed, Marisa, Adam, and I headed to the Central Bus station in Tel Aviv. I was kinda grumpy in the morning and didn't listen to Marisa about what bus we should take... so we took the 46, which is extremely slow. Eventually I was like we need to get off this bus and take a taxi, so we did and made it in time. Though we almost missed the bus because I needed to get food for the ride. We made the bus though and then were on our way to Eilat. We got in around 4ish and were so exhausted that as soon as we got to our hostel we passed out. Charlotte and Becca got in around 7 and then we went to get money for Jordan and then went near the water to get dinner. We went to this place called Boston, Mass... I felt right at home :). Then we hung out at the beach for a little just looking out at the water and talking. Then we went back and went to sleep because we were getting picked up around 7am Friday morning to leave for Jordan.
Friday morning we got picked up in the open air jeep to take us to the border- it was a little odd that we were driving around the streets of Eilat not in a normal car. Once we got to the border we had to wait until 8am for the border to open for the day. After we went through customs and walked across to Jordan. It was so cool to be able to just walk right across to another country. We met up with our tour guide and all headed to Petra. The view on the way there was so beautiful. The landscape in Jordan is a lot like the landscape in Israel, desert in the south and less so in the north. When we got to Petra, we basically just walked through stopping about every 5-10 min to get an explaination of it. It's crazy to think that Petra used to be such a vibrant city during the Roman Empire. One of the ladies on our tour was 78 and she was talking about how she had to go now because she wouldn't be able to walk through it later in life due to her age. It made me think of Grandma Dottie- she didn't look that old, and Grandma it seems like something you would love. The most exivated place is the treasury, which our tour guide made us turn around before we got our first glimpse of it. After we got a little past the treasury the 1 day tour people turned around and our tour guide took us another kilometer to where we were having lunch. It was really good- a lot like Israeli food; meats and salads and of course watermelon. While I was there I ran into Daniel Chiat, a guy from home who used to work at Herzl when I was a camper there way back when. After lunch we walked back to the start of Petra and took lots of pictures on the way. It was so cool walking through one of the wonders of the world. After we got out we had to get to where our stuff was left earlier. We didn't really know where to go though- so we asked the tourist police and they just kept saying that way, get a cab. Instead we walked and when we turned the corner it was less than a block away. We then got a cab to the Bedouin tents where we were staying for the night. The roads were so curvey and up and down I felt like I was on a roller coaster, which for those who know me well... know I hate roller coasters with a passion and the whole ride there I felt pretty nauseous. Besides the 5 of us there was this Jewish Flemish couple who was staying at the tents with us. The tents weren't like they were when I stayed in ones in Israel. Here there were 2 beds in a room, and so we made one of them a room of 3 so no one had to sleep alone. After we got situated, one of the Bedouins took us on a short walk to see some extremely ancient carvings. After that we went and had dinner which was extremely tastey. I went exploring by myself after that just to star gaze and think a little. There are so many stars out there. I then walked back and as I was going over there one of the Bedouins was walking looking for me. Though I had only gone about 5 min from camp. After that Marisa, Adam, and I went with 2 of the Bedouins to climb a sand dune and star gaze. It was amazing and so relaxing. I saw at least 6 shooting stars. The whole time we were there they tried to teach us Arabic, because they spoke VERY little English. Communication was pretty difficult while in Jordan. After we star gazed we all rolled down the sand dunes. It was so much fun- I felt like I was little again and so care free. I have never felt as relaxed, calm, and at peace as I did that night just looking at the stars. After we went back and got tea. We were served more tea in our time at the Bedouin tents than I have drank this whole time in Isarel and I drink A LOT of tea.
The next morning we got up, had breakfast and then our driver picked us up to take us to Wadi Rum nature preserve. It was about a 2 hour drive. Once we got there the 7 of us got into a 4x4 open air jeep to head into the desert. Our first stop was a rocky ridge that we were supposed to climb and at the top was a stream where most of their water comes from. I only made it about half way up because of my fear of heights, so Charlotte went back with me and we sat in a tent just relaxing. It was so hot out though. Our next stop was a sand dune. We climbed and then just looked at the amazingness surrounding us. The colors in Wadi Rum are mindblowing. The sand changes colors so quickly from greys to oranges to reds and browns. The sand was really hot and burned our feet as we went back down, and we all basically had the desert chillen in our shoes afterwards. Our next stop was a picnic lunch, that has rice with potatoes and veggies, some of the best chicken I've ever had, salad, and flat bread. It was so good and after most of us fell asleep for a bit. We then went to this place that I think was kinda excavated, I wasn't exactly sure. Our driver basically went places and then said go explore, so we weren't really sure what we were looking at, but it was really cool none the less. Our last stop was a natural bridge and a few people went to climb up it, but Adam, Becca, and I stayed back due to the heights. We went back to the visitor center to get water and our driver got us some ice cream as well. Then was the long drive back to Aqaba to get a short tour of the city. After we got back across the border we got a ride to the central bus station. We changed our tickets so we got an earlier bus ride back and then headed to get some food. Even though it's Eilat not much was open because it was Shabbat. After some Burger Ranch we got on the bus and headed back.
It was so nice to get bcak to our apartments in Bat Yam. I was so exhausted but wound up at the same time from all the excitment of the weekend.
Today I went to work a little late so I could sleep in and get some laundry dealt with, and after work I'm going to meet up with Marisa for dinner and then we are going to watch the Holland v Spain soccer game. After tonight, I'm DONE with watching soccer!! Sorry for all you huge soccer fans our there (dad).
Tomorrow the new group arrives, so I'll have some new posts up probably Tuesday before we go on the beginning trip hike.
Sorry for the simplicity- but I could talk about this weekend for ages. And if you ever get the chance GO TO JORDAN! It's the safest of the Arab countries and so amazing. I hope I get the chance to go back sometime in the future to see more of the country.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Ein Gedi- last day of first session
So today we left Bat Yam at 6:30 am. It was so early, but we had to because the march for Gilad Shalit was going to be blocking off our route. So we left and picked up the Jerusalem group and then headed to Ein Gedi. It was wicked hot out when we started our hike and it was only about 9 or 10 in the morning. Most of the hike consisted of walking through streams which felt awesome. That was the first and probably the only time that I will be okay with walking with wet sneakers. Our stopping place was a pool of water with a water fall. It was so amazing to see and beyond refreshing to go in the water. We then hiked back a way that wasn't in water, but was extremely high up and pretty scary. After the hike we went to the Dead Sea for lunch and well dead sea activities. I wasn't too interested in going into the water or getting the mud because I was dehydrated like normal and didn't feel the best. I wish I didn't need so much water. I had had over 3 liters of water and still felt awful! We then went back to Bat Yam and we all started to pack. Then we met as a group to a summary and review of the trip and had falafel for dinner. It's very strange having it be the last day of the trip. Tomorrow me and some people are going to Eilat and Jordan and then session two starts on Monday.
I'll update this either Sunday or Monday, so keep posted and stay cool!
I'll update this either Sunday or Monday, so keep posted and stay cool!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
4th of July, 5th of July, and 6th of July
So on the 4th of July I went to work- which was a little odd for me because at home it's vacation, but here it's just any other day. So after work I took a little nap, and then Eric came over and we cooked dinner. When he arrived, so did both of his apartment mates Jordan and Joel... in their towels. The water wasn't working in their apartments so they walked across the street in their towels to shower here. Joel was in for a little surprise a few seconds after he got into the shower... we didn't have water either. So Eric and I had to improvise a little with dinner but we made it work. After Eric, Amy, and I met at the bus stop to head to Tel Aviv. There we were meeting up with Shay, Marisa, Rachel Davis, Ari Orenstein, Emily (who I work with), and her bf at Mike's Place- which is an American bar. Probably the only place in the whole country the cared about the 4th of July. It was pretty fun, a band played some American music and we all just hung out. After Rachel, Eric, Ari, Emily, Yair, and I went to the beach to just hang out and wish there were fireworks. We then got gelatto and then everyone went home.
Yesterday was relatively boring. I went to work, walked around a little in Tel Aviv. I'm trying to find a comfy pair of going out shoes, but no one really speaks enough English to really help me. It's frustrating. I then got a hair wrap. It's pretty cool and will last about 3 months. After I met up with Rachel and Eric and we went to this secular Torah study. Personally I wasn't a fan, but others liked it. Then Eric, Rachel, and I went to Japanika for dinner- sushi is amazing in Israel. Afterwards I went back to Bat Yam and they went to the beach. I went to Marisa's apt to plan our trip to Jordan. We got it all figured out which is awesome. We are going on the Desert Eco Tours and doing a 2 day 1 night. One day in Petra, one in Wadi Rum, and the overnight is with Bedouin hospitality.
Today was also pretty uneventful. I went to work. For lunch I met up with Shelly who worked in the art center at Chi last summer- she works about 2 blocks from where I do so that was nice to see her. After work I came home and did a little more work because I dont have a key and everyone left early. Then we had a meeting about the last 2 days. After Rachel and I went to the supermarket to buy food for dinner and for lunch tomorrow. We're now going to go meet Ari at the beach in Tel Aviv to just hang out.
I'll post before I leave for Jordan. Feel free to comment with any questions or what not about previous or this current post.
Yesterday was relatively boring. I went to work, walked around a little in Tel Aviv. I'm trying to find a comfy pair of going out shoes, but no one really speaks enough English to really help me. It's frustrating. I then got a hair wrap. It's pretty cool and will last about 3 months. After I met up with Rachel and Eric and we went to this secular Torah study. Personally I wasn't a fan, but others liked it. Then Eric, Rachel, and I went to Japanika for dinner- sushi is amazing in Israel. Afterwards I went back to Bat Yam and they went to the beach. I went to Marisa's apt to plan our trip to Jordan. We got it all figured out which is awesome. We are going on the Desert Eco Tours and doing a 2 day 1 night. One day in Petra, one in Wadi Rum, and the overnight is with Bedouin hospitality.
Today was also pretty uneventful. I went to work. For lunch I met up with Shelly who worked in the art center at Chi last summer- she works about 2 blocks from where I do so that was nice to see her. After work I came home and did a little more work because I dont have a key and everyone left early. Then we had a meeting about the last 2 days. After Rachel and I went to the supermarket to buy food for dinner and for lunch tomorrow. We're now going to go meet Ari at the beach in Tel Aviv to just hang out.
I'll post before I leave for Jordan. Feel free to comment with any questions or what not about previous or this current post.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Hebron, White Night, and Jlem
So Thursday July 1st, we went to the West Bank to go to Hebron. When we got to the West Bank it didn't really seem like much had changed from Israel- except for the wall. In some places the wall is a wall and in most places the wall is just a fence. I'm not sure if I had ever seen that much barbed wired as I did Thursday. We toured H2- we weren't allowed in H1 which is ruled by the PA. While most of us technically could, no one that is an Israeli citizen can. H2, looked basically like a ghost town. So many people have left there. Our first tour in Hebron was called Breaking the Silence. They are soldiers that are radical lefties and did not like what they were seeing while they were in the army. Here is a link for their website http://www.shovrimshtika.org/index_e.asp. It was very interesting to see it from their point of view. We ended the Breaking the Silence tour at the boarder between H1 and H2 and we were allowed to go near the gate and take pictures. The difference was beyond ridiculous. I saw cabs, shops open, people walking around, trees- it seemed like a completely different country. After the Breaking the Silence tour we had lunch and then met with a Jewish representative from the Hebron community. We went to the tomb/temple whatever it's called of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. The building was pretty but thats all I really thought about it. We then went to this building owned by Hadassah, which used to be a hospital prior to the Hebron massacre Arabs and Jews both used it before then. After we met with the spokesmen for the Hebron Jewish community. He basically just answered questions we had- dancing around most of the true answers. Both the Jews were radical righties. Then we took the bus back to Jlem/Bat Yam.
That night was an "event" called White Night or Lila Lavan in Hebrew. White night is basically one big Tel Aviv wide party. There were things going on everywhere- all over the city. We took the bus in, got off around Shook haCarmel and then got dinner. After we started to walk to the Namal (Tel Aviv port). It was a really long walk, so some of us ended up taking a cab. We got to the Namal and waited around for the two that had walked. We ran into some more Amirim people while waiting. We were trying to get over the bridge to get to the power station for a concert/rave thing but it was full so they weren't letting people over. We walked around for a little trying to figure out what to do and then eventually was able to get over the bridge. We pushed our way through the crowd to get to the very front, one more song played and then that show was over. Some techno DJ played after though. We stayed for a bit and then started to head home. A usual 45ish min bus ride/20ish min taxi ride took 2 and a half hours. First we sat on a bus for 45 min before it left, then we thought we were on the wrong one, tried to get a cab unsuccessfully, and then got on another bus and sat in traffic. While White night was fun, I wish we had had some list of all events going on, because we walked around for most of the night aimlessly for the most part.
Friday we slept in and then decided to go to the beach for a bit, though we never ended up making it to the beach because we ate lunch instead. Then Rachel and I headed to Jlem with some people from the Jlem group. A kid threw up on the bus, which was extremely gross but we all made it to Jerusalem in one piece. Once we got there we relaxed for a bit and got ready for Shabbat. Rachel and I went with this girl Lani from Milwaukee to her family friends for Shabbat. We first went to services and then went to their house for dinner. It was really relaxing. I got so much sleep that night. Saturday we went to the Kotel and the Arab Shook. I bought so much at the shook. We then went back to the Jlem amirim place to relax. I went to Waffle bar with Yelana, Robbie, and Ian for dinner. It was so good. Then went to Ben Yehuda street for the night. The weekend overall was a lot of fun.
Sorry for the delay, but I will catch up with this hopefully tomorrow.
לילא תוב
That night was an "event" called White Night or Lila Lavan in Hebrew. White night is basically one big Tel Aviv wide party. There were things going on everywhere- all over the city. We took the bus in, got off around Shook haCarmel and then got dinner. After we started to walk to the Namal (Tel Aviv port). It was a really long walk, so some of us ended up taking a cab. We got to the Namal and waited around for the two that had walked. We ran into some more Amirim people while waiting. We were trying to get over the bridge to get to the power station for a concert/rave thing but it was full so they weren't letting people over. We walked around for a little trying to figure out what to do and then eventually was able to get over the bridge. We pushed our way through the crowd to get to the very front, one more song played and then that show was over. Some techno DJ played after though. We stayed for a bit and then started to head home. A usual 45ish min bus ride/20ish min taxi ride took 2 and a half hours. First we sat on a bus for 45 min before it left, then we thought we were on the wrong one, tried to get a cab unsuccessfully, and then got on another bus and sat in traffic. While White night was fun, I wish we had had some list of all events going on, because we walked around for most of the night aimlessly for the most part.
Friday we slept in and then decided to go to the beach for a bit, though we never ended up making it to the beach because we ate lunch instead. Then Rachel and I headed to Jlem with some people from the Jlem group. A kid threw up on the bus, which was extremely gross but we all made it to Jerusalem in one piece. Once we got there we relaxed for a bit and got ready for Shabbat. Rachel and I went with this girl Lani from Milwaukee to her family friends for Shabbat. We first went to services and then went to their house for dinner. It was really relaxing. I got so much sleep that night. Saturday we went to the Kotel and the Arab Shook. I bought so much at the shook. We then went back to the Jlem amirim place to relax. I went to Waffle bar with Yelana, Robbie, and Ian for dinner. It was so good. Then went to Ben Yehuda street for the night. The weekend overall was a lot of fun.
Sorry for the delay, but I will catch up with this hopefully tomorrow.
לילא תוב
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The rolling seas
So Monday wasn't too eventful. I went to work- I'm going to be helping edit the new website (I'll post the link when it's up.) I'm still working on the Implementation Plan. There is so much to be done for it. Very small details, but all the details are extremely important. After work I went back to my apt and we had to clean it a little, and after cleaning Rachel, Eric, and I went to the mall for dinner. After we headed back and then Rachel and I decided to feed this kitten that was outside our apt, who has a broken leg. It's so cute but cries in pain constantly- it's such a sad sight to see. We were then late for a speaker in Israel Advocacy. I didn't think it was that interesting, but others did.
Tuesday I went to work and got a few interesting projects to work on. About 10 years ago, Richard Gere said something about how he would fund an organization that was working towards peace. So now one of my side jobs while I'm here is to try to get into contact with him... if anyone has any suggestions or leads LET ME KNOW! I spent most of the day finding foundations for Windows to apply to this year. I soon will probably start writing some grants. After work I went to meet up with Ari Orenstein. I walked from Windows to the shook near Shenkin street. It was a very nice walk- about 20 min. We then walked through the shook and then started walking to where we were going to be meeting her parents for dinner. We did some shopping on the way and I got 2 dresses. For dinner we went to a place called Japanika, which is really good and not super expensive. After I hailed a cab to Jaffo to meet up with my group at a place called Cafe Jaffo for a concert. After the concert, Amy, Shay, Eric, and I went to the Jaffo port to just look at the water. I sat on the rocks and just watched the waves roll in. It was so peaceful and calm to just stare into the sea. Nice to reflect for a bit, and the view was amazing. To my right was Tel Aviv, and to my left was old Jaffo. After we went to hang out with Shay's cousin for a bit.
Today I got to sleep in before work which was fabulous. At work I worked mainly on the implementation plan, which is hopefully almost completed. I also tried called the British Embassy in Jordan because they needed some visa stuff straightened out for the Palestinians for their trip to Scotland, but that didn't work because they dont talk to people about Visas over the phone. After work I just came home to relax. We have a program with the scouts and then I may or may not be doing stuff afterwords. Tomorrow we are going to Hebron and we have to leave at 7:15 am.
This weekend I will be in Jerusalem so I will post another blog Sunday evening most likely.
Tuesday I went to work and got a few interesting projects to work on. About 10 years ago, Richard Gere said something about how he would fund an organization that was working towards peace. So now one of my side jobs while I'm here is to try to get into contact with him... if anyone has any suggestions or leads LET ME KNOW! I spent most of the day finding foundations for Windows to apply to this year. I soon will probably start writing some grants. After work I went to meet up with Ari Orenstein. I walked from Windows to the shook near Shenkin street. It was a very nice walk- about 20 min. We then walked through the shook and then started walking to where we were going to be meeting her parents for dinner. We did some shopping on the way and I got 2 dresses. For dinner we went to a place called Japanika, which is really good and not super expensive. After I hailed a cab to Jaffo to meet up with my group at a place called Cafe Jaffo for a concert. After the concert, Amy, Shay, Eric, and I went to the Jaffo port to just look at the water. I sat on the rocks and just watched the waves roll in. It was so peaceful and calm to just stare into the sea. Nice to reflect for a bit, and the view was amazing. To my right was Tel Aviv, and to my left was old Jaffo. After we went to hang out with Shay's cousin for a bit.
Today I got to sleep in before work which was fabulous. At work I worked mainly on the implementation plan, which is hopefully almost completed. I also tried called the British Embassy in Jordan because they needed some visa stuff straightened out for the Palestinians for their trip to Scotland, but that didn't work because they dont talk to people about Visas over the phone. After work I just came home to relax. We have a program with the scouts and then I may or may not be doing stuff afterwords. Tomorrow we are going to Hebron and we have to leave at 7:15 am.
This weekend I will be in Jerusalem so I will post another blog Sunday evening most likely.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
lots of soccer... and a dirt road
This past weekend was pretty relaxing. Friday, after going to the beach- Marisa, Rachel, and I went to Tel Aviv. We did some laundry at the Davis's apt, and then went to the port for dinner. The Chile v Spain game was on and so we watched it while we were there. The manager came over to us at one point and asked where we were from, we said the states we were from and he was like perfect. We were a little confused but then he asked us to help someone that needed to figure out how to call the states. A few minutes after I went over to help, he came over with passion fruit smoothies for our help. After dinner we walked back to the Davis's apt before Marisa and I went to meet Dana and Ashleigh at a party in a farm like thing. It was pretty fun- though the taxi driver wouldnt drive on the dirt road and made us walk. It was supposed to be a 10 min walk... but about half way we got picked up by a car to drive us the rest of the way. At the party there was a guy that was playing Israeli folk songs... I didn't recognize most of them, but the ones that I did recognize I loved hearing- I felt like I was back at camp. It was very much like song session at Chi on Friday nights. People were dancing and singing along to the music.
Saturday, we spent most of the day at the beach- where I ran into some guy from Minnesota/Emtza region that were on Muss, who all know Sally. Since I was so burnt from being at the beach for a few hours Friday I chilled under an umbrella the whole time- and slept most of the time we were at the beach, it was extremely relaxing. After we went back to the Davis's apt and chilled napped- after Shabbat was over we went to get Sushi take out and went back to watch the USA v Ghana game. After we went back to Bat Yam and I skyped with my parents and then went to sleep.
I didnt need to be at work until 11 today so I was able to sleep in a little. I spent most of the day finishing the implementation plan and helping out with some other things as well- the implementation plan is so tedious. I will also be helping out the website sometime soon. Didn't do anything special the rest of today, just relaxed... I haven't been feeling the best so I'm trying to take it easy.
There are so many homeless cats in Israel. I will be walking to the bus or to the store or wherever and there will be many cats, meowing for my attention. It is heartbreaking to see these hungry and homeless cats. I wish Israel was taking more action to help end this. It makes me miss my cats at home so much.
Also after this summer I don't think I'll need to watch soccer EVER again.
Saturday, we spent most of the day at the beach- where I ran into some guy from Minnesota/Emtza region that were on Muss, who all know Sally. Since I was so burnt from being at the beach for a few hours Friday I chilled under an umbrella the whole time- and slept most of the time we were at the beach, it was extremely relaxing. After we went back to the Davis's apt and chilled napped- after Shabbat was over we went to get Sushi take out and went back to watch the USA v Ghana game. After we went back to Bat Yam and I skyped with my parents and then went to sleep.
I didnt need to be at work until 11 today so I was able to sleep in a little. I spent most of the day finishing the implementation plan and helping out with some other things as well- the implementation plan is so tedious. I will also be helping out the website sometime soon. Didn't do anything special the rest of today, just relaxed... I haven't been feeling the best so I'm trying to take it easy.
There are so many homeless cats in Israel. I will be walking to the bus or to the store or wherever and there will be many cats, meowing for my attention. It is heartbreaking to see these hungry and homeless cats. I wish Israel was taking more action to help end this. It makes me miss my cats at home so much.
Also after this summer I don't think I'll need to watch soccer EVER again.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
98 degrees and rising
Actually not- thankfully. The temperature has gotten back into the 80s, but the heat was blisteringly hot for a few days. Prior to going to Herzliya, we cooked dinner for some of the other people on our trip. Going to Herzliya was a lot of fun, Argentina won! Wednesday I went to work and then went back to my apartment to relax. That night we had people went bowling- an activity that the Scouts set up for us. After bowling, some of the people on my trip went into Tel Aviv to go hang out. Thursday we spent the day in Tel Aviv-Yaffo doing a musical tour of the area. We started off watching this ballet/belly dancer, then went to this art gallery, and then went to listen to this poet talk. They told us about this really cool place to watch indie music- i'm currently blanking on the name but hopefully I'll be able to go watch some shows. After I went to dinner with Marisa and then some girls from the Jerusalem group. A place called King George's. It was so tasty and extremely not expensive as well. After that we went to watch this band perform; since it was in Hebrew I didn't understand anything but it was still fun to watch. Today Adam, Loni, Rachel, and I are going to the beach in Bat Yam and then heading to Tel Aviv for the night.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Where the East meets the West
Israel is a country that is so unique. While it is a first world country it still has many qualities of a 3rd world country. There are occasionally carts being pulled by horses and often peddler carts. The architecture is very old fashioned looking. On my bus route to and from work even though it is only 30 min, the view changes often. My ride starts in Bat Yam, a lower-middle class suburb of Tel Aviv. The apartments look relatively disheveled, and the city isn't very vibrant looking. Then my ride takes me to Jaffo, the signs start having Arab in them as well and the buildings start having more of the stoney look. More of what you see in Arab countries, and then I get to Tel Aviv, there are so many stores for high end shopping, vibrant and beautiful hotels, and just an atmosphere of amazingness. Though with all the metropolitianness of Tel Aviv, there are still the disheveled apartments in most parts of the city. On my ride in I see extremely secular people, religious people, and people in between. The culture here is so different from the states, I am having difficulty articulating it.
I am extremely happy that I am volunteering during the heat of the day in air conditioning. It has been so hot here lately- it got to around 100 if not more in Bat Yam. One of the things that I am helping with at the moment at my internship is going over the implementation plan that is going to be sent to USAID. Windows has so much to do now that they got the grant, but it is going to help their organization a huge deal. Another thing that I am going to helping them with is trying to start interactions with organization in the States. One way I will be doing that is trying to find groups (youth groups, hillels, summer camps, peace organizations) that would be interested in watching a documentary that has Windows featured in it. If you are interested in watching some excepts from the organization here is a youtube clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiZ7vlRf8aI.
also here is a youtube clip that is a little about Windows in general
http://www.youtube.com/user/windowsforpeace#p/a/u/0/zsxLrfzyAIo
So yesterday after work, I went back to Bat Yam and relaxed for a bit. Then we had a meeting with one of the vice director of Young Judaea. After we had a program with Michal Ben Dori, where we discussed Israeli music throughout the ages. It was extremely interesting to see how the music has changed so much throughout the years. After about 10 of us went to the beach to relax for a bit. It was so hot and humid yesterday- the cars, chairs... everything had condensation on it. It was sorta like the opposite of the frost we get at home. Today I am volunteering for the day and then heading back. I took a different bus route today and surprisingly it worked. Tonight most of us are going to Herzliya to watch the soccer game.
I am extremely happy that I am volunteering during the heat of the day in air conditioning. It has been so hot here lately- it got to around 100 if not more in Bat Yam. One of the things that I am helping with at the moment at my internship is going over the implementation plan that is going to be sent to USAID. Windows has so much to do now that they got the grant, but it is going to help their organization a huge deal. Another thing that I am going to helping them with is trying to start interactions with organization in the States. One way I will be doing that is trying to find groups (youth groups, hillels, summer camps, peace organizations) that would be interested in watching a documentary that has Windows featured in it. If you are interested in watching some excepts from the organization here is a youtube clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiZ7vlRf8aI.
also here is a youtube clip that is a little about Windows in general
http://www.youtube.com/user/windowsforpeace#p/a/u/0/zsxLrfzyAIo
So yesterday after work, I went back to Bat Yam and relaxed for a bit. Then we had a meeting with one of the vice director of Young Judaea. After we had a program with Michal Ben Dori, where we discussed Israeli music throughout the ages. It was extremely interesting to see how the music has changed so much throughout the years. After about 10 of us went to the beach to relax for a bit. It was so hot and humid yesterday- the cars, chairs... everything had condensation on it. It was sorta like the opposite of the frost we get at home. Today I am volunteering for the day and then heading back. I took a different bus route today and surprisingly it worked. Tonight most of us are going to Herzliya to watch the soccer game.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
First Day at Windows
So today was my first day at Windows for Peace. I though I was going to be late for my first day because the bus was taking forever to show up but thankfully it finally arrived. I knew where to get off which was awesome and got there around 10. When I got there though the person I was supposed to meet wasn't there. Instead the secretary was, and she doesn't speak much English. So we had some issues communicating and she thought the person I was supposed to be meeting with wasn't even going to show up today. So I was pretty confused about all of this- eventually she did show up though. We started talking about what I will be doing while I am there. One of the things that I am going to be doing is working to help them expand the awareness of their organization to the states, so with the little knowledge I had with the Jewish organizations from Minnesota and some from out east I started to compile a list. Donations is a huge thing that Windows needs and so we are also trying to find ways to get more donors. They just got a huge grant from USAID which is extremely exciting for them. There is a chance that I will actually get to go sit in on a meeting with them. Again if you want to see what organization I'm interning with it is www.win-peace.org. I will be working about 6 hours a day 4 days a week for 6 or 7 weeks. If you know of any groups that may be interested in watching a documentary about Windows or getting on their mailing list please let me know! Windows is a great organization working to promote peace in Israel and the West Bank through the youth.
After work I headed back to Bat Yam. The bus ride is between 30-40 min depending on traffic and amount of stops. I got home and Skyped with my parents and then took a nap. After that I made dinner with Shir and Shira, two of my apartment mates and then we all went over to Joel, Eric, and Jordan's apt to hang out. After many of us having a very exhausting weekend, it was nice to just relax tonight after our first day of our volunteer placements/internships.
After work I headed back to Bat Yam. The bus ride is between 30-40 min depending on traffic and amount of stops. I got home and Skyped with my parents and then took a nap. After that I made dinner with Shir and Shira, two of my apartment mates and then we all went over to Joel, Eric, and Jordan's apt to hang out. After many of us having a very exhausting weekend, it was nice to just relax tonight after our first day of our volunteer placements/internships.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Beach, buses, and Brenner
So today was Shabbat meaning that most things were closed. I got 12 hours of sleep which was amazing. Rachel Davis, her Aunt Jill, Marissa, and I walked to the beach and relaxed there for a few hours. Rachel had to get back to Tel Aviv for dinner, so we left the beach after a few hours and her and Jill headed back to Tel Aviv. Marissa and Ashleigh came over and we cooked dinner. After I headed to Tel Aviv to meet Ari Orenstein and Rachel for dessert. I had to take 2 buses to get there, and again had an adventure in the process. This whole language barrier is really difficult. On the bus the driver spoke Moroccan Arabic and French because he was from Algeria- so no English. The ladies sitting in front of me were able to help, but there English wasn't the best. I get so flustered when I am trying to speak and mess up tenses. Once I finally got to the port, I had to find Max Brenner's- and I went the wrong way. Eventually I found my way to Max Brenner's and met up with Ari and Rachel. We got a really delicious chocolate covered waffles thing. We ate it in less than 4 minutes. After Rachel and I headed back to Bat Yam; volunteering starts tomorrow and we both spent a lot of time in the sun today.
לילא תוב
לילא תוב
First Friday
Alright well about pictures from the hike, I sorta forgot to take any... it was so hot and tiring I was focusing on not getting too dehydrated more than taking pictures of the scenery. Friday I got 10 hours of sleep, which was absolutely amazing; so needed. Rachel and I went into Tel Aviv to spend the afternoon at the beach with Rachel's family who had just arrived in Israel that morning. The beach was really nice but so hot out. I got stung by my first jelly fish though it didn't hurt that badly. After the beach we went to watch the US v Slovenia game at a place called Mike's Place an American Bar- Marissa joined us as well to watch. It was strange hearing so much English being spoken. After the game we went to the port to grab dinner; while at dinner I saw the Sandersons, who had just arrived from Minnesota. After dinner we got ice cream and then went back the the Davis's apt got the stuff from home and then took a cab back to Bat Yam.
On another note... go help Nechama with tornado clean up if you are in the Minnesota area- the tornadoes have caused a lot of destruction and those towns need a lot of help to start to rebuild!
On another note... go help Nechama with tornado clean up if you are in the Minnesota area- the tornadoes have caused a lot of destruction and those towns need a lot of help to start to rebuild!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Hikes in the North
So June 16th-17th, I was in the North with my group and the Jerusalem Amirim group. We spent two days hiking and doing other activities. Wednesday we got up every early and drove to the North where we did a short hike on Mt. Meiron. After that we went to get lunch, and then went to an observation point called Misgav Am. It is a place that is right next to the Syrian border- probably about a mile away. It was so interesting to see the border so close to us. Apparently during the second intifada, people would watch the bombing from the observation point. After that we went to this soup place for dinner- it was extremely good, hummus, stew, salad, shakshook (sp?), and chai tea for after dinner. We then went to sade Golan for the night. We played some games that the Israeli scouts set up for us and then we just hung out. I actually got somewhat a good amount of sleep that night which was great.
June 17th- we actually got to sleep in a little, not waking up til 740 am. We ate breakfast and then headed for the hike. It was a at Zavitan stream. It was a four hour hike, and was pretty steep. There were ups and downs and rocks we had to climb. I kept slipping and falling, but it was still a good hike. Two thirds of the way through there was a natural pool that we got to swim in. It felt so amazing to be in the water, the weather was so incredibly hot out. The terrain in the area was so pretty and so sporadic. Over the course of the hike there was rocky, bamboo, waterfall, dry grass, cactus, trees with pink flowers on them... over the course of a few miles so much difference. After the hike we went to get lunch and then went to the Kineret to go swimming. Again the water was so refreshing to be in. There were para-sailors that we got to watch and some of them just got so high up in the air. After staying at the beach for about 2 hours we headed back to Bat Yam. Most of us fell asleep on the way back. The trip up North was a lot of fun and my group bonded a lot, plus we got to meet the Jerusalem group- more people to hang out with and places to stay now when in Jerusalem.
Not sure exactly what I'm doing this weekend. Probably hanging out around Bat Yam and Tel Aviv, my first day of volunteering is Sunday.
More updates to come in a few days.
June 17th- we actually got to sleep in a little, not waking up til 740 am. We ate breakfast and then headed for the hike. It was a at Zavitan stream. It was a four hour hike, and was pretty steep. There were ups and downs and rocks we had to climb. I kept slipping and falling, but it was still a good hike. Two thirds of the way through there was a natural pool that we got to swim in. It felt so amazing to be in the water, the weather was so incredibly hot out. The terrain in the area was so pretty and so sporadic. Over the course of the hike there was rocky, bamboo, waterfall, dry grass, cactus, trees with pink flowers on them... over the course of a few miles so much difference. After the hike we went to get lunch and then went to the Kineret to go swimming. Again the water was so refreshing to be in. There were para-sailors that we got to watch and some of them just got so high up in the air. After staying at the beach for about 2 hours we headed back to Bat Yam. Most of us fell asleep on the way back. The trip up North was a lot of fun and my group bonded a lot, plus we got to meet the Jerusalem group- more people to hang out with and places to stay now when in Jerusalem.
Not sure exactly what I'm doing this weekend. Probably hanging out around Bat Yam and Tel Aviv, my first day of volunteering is Sunday.
More updates to come in a few days.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
First few days
So I arrived in Israel around 4:30 pm Israel time on the 14th. Almost all of my trip was already at the apartments in Bat Yam, so Rachel Davis and I were provided a taxi to get to Bat Yam. I am living in an apartment with 5 other girls- 2 of which are Israeli Scouts. After arrival and unpacking we all went to our meeting spot to meet each other and learn the ground rules.
Today (June 15th), I rode the bus by myself for the first time. We were all supposed to find the place we are going to be volunteering so Sunday won't be as hectic. It took 45 min for me to get from Bat Yam to Tel Aviv by bus. I didn't know where to get off and the bus driver wasnt the nicest about it. When I got off, I didn't know where I was or were to go. I walked in both directions because there wasn't a street sign for the place I was supposed to turn. I eventually asked a sales women and she told me where to go. I felt very much like I was in New England- there are very few street signs, so if I didn't know where I was going, I didn't belong. And I felt like I didn't belong there- I was so lost. So I ended up finding the location of where I was working and then decided to explore a little. I got some chicken shwarma- my first of many for the summer and walked around a little. There are many shops near where I will be working, and I think I am about a 15 min walk from Shenken Street. After my trip I was exhausted, and was so happy to get back to my apartment and took a short nap. We then all met for some more ice breakers, and then got a tour of Bat Yam so we could see some of the places that we will need to go during our stay. Hopefully I am able to sleep tonight- I got only 3 hours of sleep last night, so I am exhausted. Tomorrow we're going to the North for 2 days so I will update this more when I'm back.
Today (June 15th), I rode the bus by myself for the first time. We were all supposed to find the place we are going to be volunteering so Sunday won't be as hectic. It took 45 min for me to get from Bat Yam to Tel Aviv by bus. I didn't know where to get off and the bus driver wasnt the nicest about it. When I got off, I didn't know where I was or were to go. I walked in both directions because there wasn't a street sign for the place I was supposed to turn. I eventually asked a sales women and she told me where to go. I felt very much like I was in New England- there are very few street signs, so if I didn't know where I was going, I didn't belong. And I felt like I didn't belong there- I was so lost. So I ended up finding the location of where I was working and then decided to explore a little. I got some chicken shwarma- my first of many for the summer and walked around a little. There are many shops near where I will be working, and I think I am about a 15 min walk from Shenken Street. After my trip I was exhausted, and was so happy to get back to my apartment and took a short nap. We then all met for some more ice breakers, and then got a tour of Bat Yam so we could see some of the places that we will need to go during our stay. Hopefully I am able to sleep tonight- I got only 3 hours of sleep last night, so I am exhausted. Tomorrow we're going to the North for 2 days so I will update this more when I'm back.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Israel so soon
Hey all-
So I leave this upcoming Sunday for Israel and will be there til Aug 5th. I'm going to try to have this blog updated pretty regularly so you guys know what's going on while I'm over seas. I will have regular internet access so I can receive e-mail while I'm gone as well.
A little bit about the trip I am going on. The program is called Amirim and it is for 18-27 year olds. While there I will be volunteering 4 days a week for 4-5 hours each day. I am volunteering for an organization called Windows for Peace: http://www.win-peace.org/home.html, and I will be hopefully helping with some fund-raising efforts and other office work type stuff. During the rest of the day/week I will be exploring Israel, hopefully studying at ulpan (Hebrew class), and just having enjoying all that Israel has to offer
Hope everyone is having a good summer and I'll update this when I get to Israel.
So I leave this upcoming Sunday for Israel and will be there til Aug 5th. I'm going to try to have this blog updated pretty regularly so you guys know what's going on while I'm over seas. I will have regular internet access so I can receive e-mail while I'm gone as well.
A little bit about the trip I am going on. The program is called Amirim and it is for 18-27 year olds. While there I will be volunteering 4 days a week for 4-5 hours each day. I am volunteering for an organization called Windows for Peace: http://www.win-peace.org/home.html, and I will be hopefully helping with some fund-raising efforts and other office work type stuff. During the rest of the day/week I will be exploring Israel, hopefully studying at ulpan (Hebrew class), and just having enjoying all that Israel has to offer
Hope everyone is having a good summer and I'll update this when I get to Israel.
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