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.

Preparations

So, my first adventure outside the cozy US and A begins in a few short days. That's right, I leave for Birthright Israel on Thursday. It's been an adventure I've been waiting for since October, and I've been doing a fair amount of preparation for my Israel experience. For starters, I've been learning Hebrew for about two months, and that's going really well. I can't wait to order a drink at a bar in Tel Aviv, give (or get, more likely) directions, or even ask for the bathroom. It's all so fun and exciting.
Additionally, I've been talking to friends and family, all of whom say I'm going to fall in love with Israel. I'm very fortunate to go with a bunch of close friends from AEPi, and then to stay with family in Karkur. Look forward to a whole lot more in future entries.

L'hitra'ot B'Yisrael!