One Last Night/Day-Tel Aviv and Haifa w/Leya and Eyal

So, after a nice relaxing day, I hopped a train to Tel Aviv via Binyamina with Leya. We talked about everyone at home, and discussed what kind of souvenirs I planned on getting in Tel Aviv. We met Eyal and went to a market in the pier. This market was populated by merchants from Sderot and other southern areas that are being hit hard by violence in Gaza. We bought a few gifts and navigated the chaos that rivaled that of Yafo or Ben-Yehuda. Hadar and I had plans for the night, but they fell through, so I went back with the Snirs and went to bed.

At 9am I left with Eyal to Haifa. We chatted and drove around the high tech areas of Haifa.
We saw the Baha'i Gardens, and lounged around the cheesy downtown until the English tour began. On the way back, I recognized Max (from Mayanot) and Andrew. We took the tour together and bullshitted about Mayanot and their future plans, including Max's world travels. Eyal invited them to come to lunch and the Drew's Village with us, so we stopped at a delicious hummus place (probably the most authentic food I've eaten the entire trip) and shopped around the Drew's Village for more souvenirs. We stopped at an Arab bakery for some shaibeat, which was unbelievable, and I've already begun my search for some in the States.

We dropped the guys off at their hostel and returned to Karkur. Leya was there to teach me to make challah (not to mention pack it in a shoebox so I could bring it home.) After watching the news, playing with the dog and eating some schnitzel, it was off to the airport.

We said a long goodbye at the gate, and I hooked up with another Taglit group so I wouldn't get lost. We exchanged currency and got some water before boarding the 12 hour flight home. I slept a good 8 of the 10 hours, and made it home around Wednesday at 5:30AM. I texted Carly as soon as I was home, and she was over by about 8. I spent the day at home trying to practice and to work out, but I'm so damn jet-lagged that none of it's really working.

Karkur Day One and some Thoughts from Taglit

Okay, enough introspection. Eyal was already at the airport when the bus arrived, and after I said my teary goodbyes, it was off in his car to the Snir house in Karkur. There, I saw Leah in person for the first time in a while, and met the family dog, Lori. I blogged a bit and caught up on my e-mail and such. Got to bed around 12 and slept till 11.

Today I spent a lot of time with the dog, thinking and writing about Taglit and talking with Ben. I went to a market in Tel Aviv and purchased some gifts for people. My plans with Hadar fell through, but I'm okay with that, because there's always next time.

I found out tonight that I'll be heading to the States tomorrow (well, Wednesday) at midnight, which sucks but at the same time I know I need some time to regroup, practice and see some special people and share this experience.

Here's a bit of one of the poems I wrote while in the desert:

A land of ancient dreams and sights to see

And possibilities

That centers every one of us, inviting us to come inside and stay

A while comfortable within these ancient walls

Jerusalem I call you, call your name

And one from Jerusalem:

Looking back on how far we've come

A simple prayer is all I need to bring home

This simple prayer is all I have

Not envious of innocence

The kind that only blissful people know

We pray for strange deliverance

But don't know quite what we are waiting for

A prayer of desert constellations

Silent rides and missing railroad stations

In the wind I swear I heard them call your name

A song that rests on backs of cats

That took over the city when the sun went down

You listen too intently sometimes

And in this war

It isn't where you are or where you're going anymore

All we need

The friends we make, the risks we take

The places we have seen

B'yachad

The Last Day with Taglit, and Finally some Rain

So we woke up early and got settled, took some pictures over the balcony. We got on the bus to Mt. Herzel. It was freezing, but I decided against a jacket. Bad call number one. Also, I decided to drink about a liter of water before leaving. Bad call number two. So we saw the tombstones of the country's greats, from Theodore Herzel himself, to Golda Meir. We also saw the military cemetery, including the new graves from soldiers slain in Gaza. As our guide was speaking, and Roee shared an anecdote, we noticed soldiers congregating around a new grave behind them. We had accidentally stumbled upon the shiva for a fallen soldier, and had all turned to gather and watch. We held one another as we gradually lost composure over this fallen soldier.

Throughout all of the news, and all of the worldwide chaos surrounding Operation Cast Lead, you almost forget that these are real people. These are people with mothers and families, friends and lives outside the military. The compulsory military service of Israel is a source of such unity, as we heard Roee say he knew the guy. Israelis read headlines hoping no soldiers have died, let alone encounter the name of a person they knew. We all felt pretty crappy about being tourists on this intimate moment between family and friends, but in a way, we all were family now and that was unimaginably reassuring.

We went back to the plaza and sang Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem, and got on the bus for the Old City.

In the Old City, we got lunch and cheered ourselves up with a little shopping and some Pop-Rock Chocolate. (Hopefully I'll buy some tomorrow for home!) I did buy Dad his postcard and a kippah for myself, which I was inspired to wear in support of Israel. We visited a Yeshiva where we heard a talk about the role of ourselves in Hashem's plan. The rabbis professed that we were part of a hierarchy of self, soul and Hashem. In the end, he sold a few of his books on Kabbalah, and we all walked away with some interesting insight.

We made our final visits to the Wall, put on tefilin and talked to the rabbis there. I was basically verbally abused by one of the older guys for having a pierced ear, but whatever, he is entitled to his opinion, and that's all. I went to the wall with my paper containing a small poem I thought to send the night before. This was the final moment, the summit of the whole spiritual experience, and it was magical. By the time Eric had finished his summit and reached the rest of us, the heavens opened up, and rain came down like I had never seen it before.

We tried to wait it out, but when a very wet Phil came to rescue us, we ran through the rain, past the Wall to the archway where the rest of the group met us. Naturally, the rain stopped by the time we arrived and a rainbow had appeared over the southern part of the Wall. I didn't get a picture, but I know someone did. I can't wait to see it.

On the way to the hotel for our wrap-up session, it had occurred to us that we were all leaving one another, and in most cases leaving Israel for real. We exchanged gifts and shared our feelings about the trip. It was an amazing experience for those who let it be such an experience. I shared that the experience itself had led its way to a whole new philosophy, and was indeed a life-changing experience. I wrote down this new philosophy on the little yellow pad they provided, and as I put down the last word, the pen ran out of ink.

All in all, as I left the Taglit group and said goodbyes, I knew how much this experience changed me, and how much I will miss these people. Mayanot 38 will always have a place in my heart, and Israel always a place in my thoughts.

Our Last Shabbat in Israel

We woke up super late (aka 9am) because it was Shabbat and we had no place to go. Andrew became Bar Mitzvah this morning, and we were all happy for him, even if we didn't all make it out of bed in time to see it. From there we took a walk to Jerusalem's capital center and took some cool pictures along the way. We had another session of 'stump Malka' like the one in Tiberia. This one took on the subjects of evolution, Creationism and science in general. Basically, it killed me and I couldn't wait for it to end. Kaila fell asleep on me, as did Emma at one point.

We made it back to the hotel and had some random adventures. John used my harmonica and in like 10 minutes learned how to beatbox and play it. Crazy talented kid, but we all had fun. By now the group had really become cohesive for the most part, and everyone was hanging with everyone. We pissed hotel security off by breakdancing and playing drums, showing each other our sweetest dance moves. I turned my back for about two minutes and other Ben was wearing a wig, earrings and Malka's wig. He proceeded to act like Liz for a while, and continued to wear the makeup etc. all throughout the night.

Gift of Life paid us a visit, but since Eric and I had already done it with AEPi, we sat back and messed around with the Israelis. After Gift of Life, it was off to Ben Yehuda Street! We bought some beer and some falafel, and John, Jackie and I hit up a sweet hookah bar. I gave my second beer before walking in, really just to be nice. Since we had no timepiece, and I didn't want to third-wheel it any longer, I left to get someone who did. I found Liz and Ben, still in drag from the shoulders up. He got propositioned by a bald guy selling hookah, and I guided Liz to the Burger King so she could use the facilities. We finally made it back to the hookah bar, but wanted to go dance.

The guys who I gave my beer to directed us (mostly in Hebrew) to a dance bar called Bonita. When we arrived, we paid 40 shekel to get into a club that was packed....with eleven Australian Taglit students who could NOT dance. So I continued to third-wheel it for a while until we found another bar with less dancing space, but no cover. I had been done drinking for a while so I just chatted up the other Americans, who thought I was Israeli and had a really awesome eyebrow. We left around midnight for the hotel, and continued the party.

As if we hadn't pissed the people at Jerusalem Gate off enough, we decided to light up the hookah in my room. I wasn't smoking, and I really shouldn't have been there, but one of the guys knocked the burning coal off of the hookah onto Harrison's leg, which he promptly shook onto the carpet. We heard security was coming and everyone would have jetted if not for me, who made everyone stay and clean. (Flashbacks from the fall semester? Maybe.) After that, everyone relocated the hookah to an uncarpeted room near the elevator, where we hung till about two talking about our experience and about life in general. The highlight there must have been Ami, our slightly nerdy tour guide, taking a hit or two of hookah, and our trip organizer Hadassah trying her hardest to blow smoke rings. I left for Kayla and Emma's around 2, and we got a good 2 hours of sleep.

A Heavy Day in Yerushaliym

This day opened in Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum. It was very moving and well-designed. Its impact is so multifaceted that you can't help but respond emotionally. It was difficult to hear so many personal stories and to see the impact the Holocaust had on Israel and the Jewish people. On the other hand, it was very inspiring, in that the Jewish people have survived after several nations have tried to wipe us out, not to mention the most systematic genocide attempt in human history. It has become much more important to me to keep Judaism alive in whatever way I can, so that we can be the nation to outlast the nations.

We went from there to the Old City for Shabbat. It couldn't have been better. The men on their side, the women on theirs, we had collectively almost 300 Mayanot at the wall. There was dancing, chanting, shouting, silent prayer all within the mosh-pit that was the Kotel. I hope to bring a piece of that energy and euphoria everywhere I go.

We walked back to the hotel at night and hung out for a bit. I slept in Emma and Kaila's to avoid Josh's snoring. Poor guy.

Masada, Dead Sea and Jerusalem

We got up just before the sun, and Ariel led me to the desert where we saw the sun rise. Amazing and invigorating. We had yet another Israeli breakfast of peppers, humus and chocolate nutella-like something. We played with a dog that was around, and went to the camels.

Let me tell you, after witnessing the beautiful act of camel sex the night before, I wasn't really ready to, well, mount one of these lovelorn beasts. I actually got a donkey at first, but that's okay. Eeyore was nice, but at the halfway point I was ready to get on that camel. It was cool, I mean I can say I rode a camel in the desert, but it wasn't amazing, and I stand by my comment that camels are some of the ugliest animals on Hashem's green earth.

After the camels we boarded the bus for Masada. There's a great history there, and it was a cool walk. After the hike, however, we were ready to go swimming in the Dead Sea. We got to the park, had lunch and changed (2 shekel for the sherutim, dammit.)

The Dead Sea was okay, another experience I can say I had, but nothing worth repeating, except maybe with someone who has never done it. We showered and hit the bus for Jerusalem!

The Israelis said goodbye once we got to Jerusalem, which was really sad. We all connected over the last few days, and it was sad to see them back in uniform and ready to go.

We got to the hotel and showered, this time it was me, Eric and the great Josh. We went to Hebrew University to hear the army talk about Gaza. It was very invigorating, as we heard about how many ways the IDF is trying to counter the bad press. They seemed very sincere, but unlike the American government, this is clearly a self-defense case, and they provided us with what we need to know to argue this case. It is really important to advocate for Israel in any way possible, especially back in the States.

We had dinner at the hotel, and hung out at the mall and the bar. Overall a very quiet night. I wrote some lyrics and fell asleep to the awful sound of Josh's snoring.

"Israelis are just like the pigeons in Rabin Square. We are very in your face."

Rabin Square was an interesting insight into the assassination that changed the course of the country, especially in terms of how government officials behave in public. After seeing the memorial, we saw a guy's car break down in the square. Not uncommon, says Ariel, so we help him. When he got the car started the whole square applauded. We met a representative from Mayanot NEXT!, which was cool.

We took a drive to Yafo for some history and some shopping. The city was beautiful, right along the Mediterranean. We heard a little history about the ruins that exist from the Roman times. I went to eat with Alon, Josh and Sarah. He says it's my turn to order only in Hebrew, so I tried my best, and got pretty far. The schwarma was incredible and gigantic. After we tried to eat, we made it to the flea market. I overheard a shopkeeper try to rip off another Taglit student, so I decide I'll go in speaking Hebrew. It went surprisingly well. I bought two necklaces, both of which were talked down substantially. We left Yafo after another tie-in session for the Bedouin tents in the Judean desert.

On the way we stopped at a rest stop, I met a soldier who had made Aliyah from West Orange, New Jersey. He was maybe 19 or 20 and headed to Gaza the following morning. He looked scared out of his mind, and frankly I don't blame him.

The bedouin tent was like Disneyland. Nothing near authentic, but a lot of fun. We heard a guy play ud, which was cool. We had a delicious dinner and some tea, and got set for a long night by the campfire. Max and I played guitar, people traded off on djembe, and the whole group had a camp-song session. It was really cool. After a while, a bunch of our bus marched into the desert and got a 'taste of the Israeli Army.' I never liked stuff like that, but why not? It's another adventure. Afterwards, we took a chance to meditate on our lives and enjoy the silence of the desert. It was beautiful after all.

I abandoned the group for a while to think and get a little alone time. I ran into an AEPi brother at Chicago by the camel pen. We talked for a while until we noticed that two of the camels were having sex before our very eyes. Believe me when I say that camel sex is some of the funniest sex ever. We returned to the fire, which was dying out at this point, and I grabbed Chele and took her to the camels. It was pretty cool, and she and I got to talk about a lot of deep stuff. The other Taglit students would disagree, but I saw a different side of her then. We returned and smoked hookah with Eric, Alon and Nadav. I think we went to bed around 4 but I honestly don't know.

New Vocabulary (Transliterated)

hungry-raev

eat-ochel

walk-olech

mall-kanyon

bitch/prostitute-zona

son-of-a-bitch-ben-zona

shit-chara

to speak-lidaber

to dance-likor

Mount Arbel, Peppers and Tel Aviv!

Well, little did I know, after our night together, Heather would progressively phase me out for the rest of the trip. This morning she decided not to sit near me, etc. It didn't get me down, because this trip is not about girls, it's about the experience and the friends you make along the way. I sat with Ariel, Eric and Emma on the bus, and just put on music.

I took a bunch of pictures with the Iraelis, and this is where Alon and I really began to become friends. We talked a lot about his plans after the army to come to the States, and my plans to return to Israel. He also began to teach me more Hebrew, and encouraged me to try to speak even if I couldn't get it right. The hike was treacherous but a lot of fun. After a quick food break we loaded up the bus to Tel Aviv.

On the way, we stopped in Alon's neighborhood at a farm for an organization called Table to Table. They wanted us to pick peppers for a few hours. It was nice out, so why the hell not? Lama lo? So Emma and I and some nice Australians grabbed buckets and went pepper picking. We talked about life, love, Judaism, lesbianism, New Orleans, you name it, really.

After a few hours it was time to head to Tel Aviv, where we packed into our tiny hotel. We showered and packed for the night in the Bedouin tent. We got all excited for the club, but since it was going to happen immediately after Independence Hall, which was a drag, the club kind of blew.

I went back by like midnight and fell asleep in Heather's room until I returned to mine.

Border Tour, Tel Dan and Galil

So I woke up on Eric's floor, surprisingly well-rested, and made it to breakfast. We traveled to Misgav-Am, the northernmost kibbutz in Israel, to see the Lebanese border and hear about Hezbollah. The gentleman who spoke was very un-politically correct, but we all enjoyed that. Not to mention, given his proximity to Hezbollah, he has a right to feel that way.

After that, it was off to Tel Dan, a modern-day Garden of Eden, where we saw the sights, and stopped by a giant pistachio tree to talk about our experience thus far. The discussion turned quickly to the military and Iraq, but we all felt pretty much the same way, so no problems really. We went to the entrance of the park where an authentic Jersey lunch of pizza and pasta awaited us. I got to know the Israelis really well, I think. We left for Galil winery.

Not going to lie, Galil was cool, but after a long wine-tasting, we were all feeling pretty giddy. We got a little rowdy during our tour of the winery, but we collectively bought almost 1000 shekel of wine, so it worked out. I bought a bottle of Rose for the Snirs, which hopefully they'll enjoy, since I can't bring it to the states.

We went to a field nearby, where the Lebanese had invaded a few years ago, and our guide Roee shared some anecdotes  about the invasion. It was very interesting, but too cold for me to focus.

Now at this point I had gone speaking mostly English, since the entire bus was English speakers until today. I figured now I'd try my hand with some Hebrew, and so I picked an easy question, like "Is there an ATM here?" since I had no cash at all. I picked the Israeli who spoke the least English, and she actually understood me! She then proceeded to teach me some more, and inform me that I would have to wait till Tel Aviv to get an ATM, or kaspomat.

After another gross Hotel Arbel dinner, we all took our wine to Harrison, Harrison and John's room for a night of Never Have I Ever and Sometimes Have I Kinda. Basically we got trashed, and I began to speak more Hebrew, much like I did in the States, except here people understand it! Later on, Heather took me back to my room. Nitzan was generous enough to sleep in the sleeping bag, so she and I could have a night alone.

Tiberia and the Golan Heights

We slept maybe 3 hours, and drove to the Golan Heights where we played more dumb games waiting for the jeeps. We did a cold, windy, awesome jeep tour of the Golan Heights. Our guide looked like the last of the Mohicans and he listened only to Spanish music, which was cool. The views were breathtaking, and the drive was exhilirating. We noticed piles of rocks everywhere, which were remains of Ottoman settlements; pretty cool. We also received a pretty intense history lesson on the situation with Syria regarding the Golan.

From there it was off to Tzefat, one of the holiest and most mystical cities in Israel. We met Avraham the painter, who made Aliyah from Detroit, and has since devoted his life to Kabbalah. He was a very interesting guy who sounded like a burnout. He made the study of Kabbalah seem like euphoria, and he was very approachable. We visited some old synagogues and drank pomegranate juice (at an insanely high price) and did some shopping. To be honest, the presence of swindling shopkeepers took away from the great spiritual presence of Tzefat, but nonetheless we did a little shopping. Heather and I spent some time on a playground in the middle of the city where we watched the sunset and watched two children play games. It was an incredible peaceful feeling.

We returned to Tiberia, where Eric and I moved out of our rooms to live with Israelis. Eric had Ariel, and I had Nitzan. The room they gave Nitzan and I was...special. Unlike the other rooms, which had two twin beds, this room only had one full bed. Great. Sleeping in one bed with a stranger. We laughed it off, until we realized the neon light from the hotel shined right into our room. Crappy, but we can live, I guess.

That night was quiet. We had a jam session with our newly-purchased djembes in the lobby, and Eric, the Israelis and I smoked hookah with some really jappy girls from another trip. Around 11:30 I felt it was time for bed, so Nitzan and I stayed up and talked. By midnight, maybe 12:30 he was asleep and snoring and kicking and gasping for air. I left and returned to the lobby to find Eric and Max there, playing djembe and guitar. We talked about philosophies of life and such for a while, Hadassah joined in, and we talked about Hassidism for a bit. Max was nice enough to lend me a sleeping bag, and I crashed on Eric and Ariel's floor.

Tiberia Day Two

I woke up to Mikhail hovering over the couch-cot-thing. Apparently it was time for lunch. We headed downstairs for more of the same fried crap as usual. Afterwards my cousins dropped by to get me shaving cream, since mine bit the dust the morning I left for Israel. I walked with Roee to the Kineret, where we caught up considerably and made plans for the week I was staying over his place. Hopefully they will still pan out.

After a quick tour of the Kineret and some information we made it to a grassy area by more ruins to talk about our Jewish identity.  It was a pretty deep discussion that I feel brought the group together. You could really tell what kind of people we had in this group in terms of how they identified themselves as Jews.

We walked back to the hotel, where I met the Snirs for some time. My cousin lent me his watch, and they left so I could get ready for Havdala and the first club night. Havdala was cool, but everyone is still feeling each other out, and you get the sense that we aren't quite comfortable with one another yet.

We had dinner at a restaurant along the Kineret, which consisted of pizza, humus (yes!) fried fish, pasta and salad. Some of us tried our first Israeli alcohol (the beer of choice being Goldstar) but I stuck with water. The club was fun, got to do some dancing, some making out, and drink Goldstar by the pint. They rip you off when they know you're American, but whatever it was delicious and a good time.

There was some awkwardness in the club that night. Number one, Jews should NEVER EVER EVER dance en masse. It looked like a bar mitzvah out there. Secondly, I accidentally grabbed Phil's hand instead of Heather's. After the club, when we were watching Eurotrip, Heather and I basically watched sex. Well, something close to it, but it was awkward nonetheless. We left for my room, and hung till about two until we decided it was time for bed. Eric returned without shoes shortly after, and we gossiped like schoolgirls before going to bed.

Cesarea and Tiberia Day One

So what I decided to do, since I haven't had the chance to be near a computer since 2008, I will pretend that these are separate blogs, when in fact this is all being transcribed from my journal I took on the bus at once. I am currently at my cousins' house in Karkur, just outside Haifa and a short train ride from Tel Aviv. It's a welcome change from the hustle of Mayanot.

But let's ignore that bit and pretend I just landed in Israel....

Holy crap this is it! Israel! I've been waiting since forever to be here, and I'm lucky enough to be here with some really awesome people. In the airport I met Kaila and Emma, Max and Jonathan, all of whom seem pretty cool. We talked in the food court, enjoying our last bit of American cuisine. Some of us nursed our hangovers. I'm pretty sure Eric was still drunk. The plane ride was SO long, and El Al kept feeding us like every two hours, thereby making it impossible for me to sleep soundly. Either way, I had a great discussion on the plane with the other John, his two sisters and their friends from home Andrew and Amanda about music, movies and other cool things.

We landed in Tel Aviv and applauded. It was a good 50 degrees warmer than in New York, and we were all tired, jet-lagged and anxious for whatever adventure we had to look forward to. Emma, Max, Eric and I talked about hot flight attendants, more to ease the tension we were all feeling more than anything. After getting our bags and having yet another orientation, it was off to Cesarea.

Cesarea are ruins from Herod's time along the Mediterranean. Aka, these things are fucking old, but regardless there are kids playing on the ruins, and cats EVERYWHERE. Now, the first cat we saw was pretty cute, and kept invading our ice breaker game. The Israelis say you can spot a tourist from a mile away because they keep playing with the stray cats. Either way, we toured the ruins, and heard stories of Jewish uprising against Pontius Pilate.

We returned to the hotel in time for Shabbat. I roomed with Mikhail and Eric, which was a decent living situation. We showered and napped in shifts, and got ready for Shabbat. The service was not unlike that of our own Chabad house. The dinner, our first authentic Israeli meal, was deep fried crap. Those of us who were brave enough to stay up past 6PM played more ice breakers and swapped embarrassing stories. Made it to bed around 9, and slept till about 11 the following morning. A spectacular way to end that godawful jet lag.