Friday, February 27, 2009

Photo Slideshows

Hello again-
So my last 2 adventures have required many many photos to be taken. I have tried to make a slideshow of both my adventures (Cave Day, Haifa, Bahai Gardens & Eilat, Petra). Hopefully this works and you can view my slideshows :)






Love,
Talia

Monday, February 23, 2009

Eilat and Petra

This blog will be another one of only words, as I have too many pictures to put up. I'm going to try to add a slideshow blog post for yall to see all my pictures, so stay tuned for that one. I spent this last weekend in Eilat, the southern-most city in Israel, and also in Petra, Jordan....such a beautiful city. Side note: For those of you who don't know, part of the movie Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade was filmed here at Petra, and if you saw the movie, you'll recognize some of my pictures.

February 19- After my last ulpan class finished, I hopped onto a bus, along with several of my friends here, and rode 4 hours down to Eilat. Once we got there, around 9 pm, we walked to our hostel which was called Arava, dropped our stuff down, and decided to go find dinner and explore the boardwalk near the beach where we were staying. The boardwalk in Eilat is called the Tayelet, which is essentially the Hebrew word for walkway/promenade. We got a delicious burger dinner from a burger stand called Yam Burger (in Hebrew, it means ocean burger), ate on the beach and continued along our merry way on the tayelet. We didn't stay out too late because most of us were getting up early to start our journey across the border to Petra.

February 20- The morning began around 7 am with a taxi to the Israel/Jordan border in attempts to jump ahead of the tourist groups that would be arriving when the border opened at 8 am. We actually beat the border guards to the border, but we wanted to get there early so we'd be first to cross. If you think security in Israel is extremely tight, you should see the security/crossing process to go into one of her neighboring Arab countries. It took about 2 hours to get 13 people across into Jordan, going through security, customs, passport check, ticket check, and paying for tickets to get into and out of the country. Finally, our group was through and then we took a 2 hr van ride to Petra. The group then split up into 3 smaller groups of people, depending on how fast you walked/how much you complained. I spent most of my trip with 2 of my closest friends here (Josh and Larissa) and we began a faster walk through the park to get to the sites we wanted to see. We were offered free horse rides down the beginning path if we would exchange these guys' Israeli Shekels for either American money or Jordan Dinar (which we were able to do) and so got to horseback ride down the path in Jordan (not quite like Indiana Jones). Then we walked through the Siq, which is an approximately 1 km long gorge/valley that opens up onto what's the Treasury in English and Al Khazneh in Arabic. This is Petra's most famous monument, mostly thanks to Indiana Jones. This monument is basically a temple-like carving out of rock. It's gigantic and carved out of the canyon walls...and it's absolutely beautiful. Sidenote: One of Petra's nicknames is the Rose Red City because all of the stone/rock in Petra is a very beautiful red, especially when the sun hits it just right. We didn't linger at the Treasury too long because we wanted to go visit the Monastery (aka al-Deir in Arabic), which we heard takes a long time to get to. There are 800+ steps to get up to this Monastery (yes, I did in fact say 800+, that wasn't a typo) so in order to save ourselves and to save time, we took the ever popular donkey up to the Monastery. It was absolutely worth paying a few Dinar to ride up, as we passed by many a hiker nearly passed out. Plus, it was really fun to ride these donkeys. Our guide was a 20-something young Jordanian whose English was quite good actually, and along with his younger brother maybe, led me and my 2 friends up to the Monastery on our donkeys. He said he did that hike about 3-5 times a day, which impressed us endlessly as he kept up with the donkeys the whole time. I rode a donkey named Bob Marley, who was a little "uncontrollable." He ran me into a sharp bush and sliced open my pants' leg along a piece of wood with nails on it along a jewelry table. However, it was still a memorable experience as our guide was shouting to all the hikers ahead of us "EXCUSE ME! DONKEYS OUT OF CONTROL! NO CONTROL, WATCH OUT!" and kept us highly entertained all the way up. We had to climb the last 100ish steps on our own because the donkeys couldn't really make it, but it was not a problem. So basically the Monastery is very similar looking to the Treasury... a temple-like structure carved out of the rock. But there were lots of small hikes to be done around here, and we hiked around to different views the Jordanians had labelled "End of the World/Top of the World” which were breathtaking. After that, we hiked all the way back down and took another 2 hr van ride back to go through the extremely long border crossing, which was actually complicated by the fact that in our group of people was a 20 year old guy whose father was Israel, which technically made him eligible for Army service (if you didn't know, all Israeli men/women are required to go into the army right out of high school for 3/2 years respectively). So our friend was getting harassed as to why he wasn't in the army and took us awhile to get through. After we got through, we went back to the boardwalk to find food because we were absolutely starving at this point. So we got food at a place CafĂ© Optimi and after cleaning up, decided to do nothing but relax on the beach, and drink some wine.

February 21- We woke up late, got lunch at Yam Burger again because it was cheap, and laid around on the beach relaxing in the warm sun. After a couple hours, Larissa and I decided to explore the boardwalk shops a little more, and to get this yummy food called a Fro-Yo. It's like frozen yogurt with a bunch of fruit blended into it, similar to a smoothie, but more ice-cream-ish. I got a really yummy one of kiwi, strawberry, melon, peach, and mango. That night we ate dinner at Russian restaurant called Gulf Restaurant for a friend's 21st birthday, and since most of us were still exhausted, we just hung out on the beach. One of the popular things to do in Israel, but especially on the beach, is smoke Hookah, which many of our group did...but I'm not a fan of it, I just like the way the pipe or contraption or whatever it's called looks(very middle eastern and pretty).

February 22- I took the 10 am bus back here, and unpacked just in time for my first class to start! I have only one class on Sundays (and even then it's every other Sunday). The class itself was very boring, but I'm hoping that the internship, which should be with an organization called StandWithUs, will be really worth it and a lot of fun.

Ok, I think that's all for now. Let's see how good my slideshow creating skills are and hopefully soon I will post lots of pictures.

-Talia

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

A Comedy, Some Spelunking, and Haifa...Oh My!

This blog will cover the adventures of my fourth-ish week here, from February 11-15. Sorry I haven't been keeping up with my blogging on time, I promise I'll get better.



February 11- An Israeli improv comedy troupe (actually a duo) came to my Ulpan class to have some fun with us. They were great, and it was some good Hebrew practice since not only everything they said was in Hebrew, but when we had to participate in their fun and games, we had to speak in Hebrew. It's also interesting to see, and very easy to tell, when Israelis cater their Hebrew speaking to your level of understanding. The comedy duo, and all of the Israeli lectures we've been to (3 of them), spoke Hebrew slowly and of the level where we could understand what they were saying. But even when you don't know every word spoke, it's great how comedy can still be so much fun!



February 12- Cave Day! Our school held a program called Cave Day, where, if you signed up, you could go exploring some caves called the Beit Guvrin Caves. The first cave we went to was actually just a big open cave, called a bell cave, that we just walked around in. The walls of this cave were essentially made out of chalk...as in you could just wipe your finger along it like if you were checking for dust, and your finger would be covered in chalk! We didn't stay there long, but continued onto caves called the Bar Kochba Caves. They were named so because this is where the Jews hid out during the Bar Kochba Revolt. I happened to have crawled around in these caves 4.5 years ago, when I was here in Israel on my High School in Israel program. The tunnels were specifically dug very narrow and small so that it was impossible for any Roman soldier to come in with his weapon. If you were much bigger than me, this cave crawl would not have been so easy for you. The best part of all was that I got to use my headlamp! And while a bunch of people were making fun of me for it before we started crawling, they all wanted to crawl behind me in the caves because I was shedding the best light around, in addition to the only other 2 Israelis, who also had headlamps. We crawled for about 10-15 minutes towards this bigger cave where the Jews used to raise pigeons. There were hundreds of holes dug in the walls for the pigeons to live in. The Jews used to raise pigeons for both messenger purposes and for food, because they were smaller to transport around than goats! It was slightly muddy inside, but I had no problem with it, it was great fun! After spelunking, we made our way towards this mound called Tel Azaka, where we climbed our way towards the top to watch the sun set over the country. This was all near an area SW of Jerusalem, called Beit Shemesh. It was a beautiful view, and after which we were all provided with some yummy Israeli snacks to tide us over until we returned.



February 13-14- I made my way to the city of Haifa to spend Shabbat with my friends Jessica Feldman (from college) and Neri Stein (from camp) who both happen to spending a semester here in Israel at Haifa University. I brought my friend Larissa along with me, and we actually joined up with 2 of our guy friends who also came to Haifa but stayed with other people. After class on Friday we made our way on a bus from Jerusalem to Haifa and arrived in the early evening. After simply relaxing and enjoying some homemade challah from Larissa, we all went out to a pub in downtown Haifa called The Bear Pub after grabbing a quick bite to eat before. Now, as most of you may know, Friday-Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath, which means that many many things here in Israel are completely shutdown until sundown on Saturday. While that still holds true in Haifa, many many places were still open, and it was quite weird for Larissa and I, who had gotten used to Jerusalem, where ABSOLUTELY everything shuts down for Shabbat, to be able to go out on a Friday night. We didn't stay at the pub too long because we were getting up early Saturday morning to go to the Baha'i Gardens. So, if you ever have the opportunity, go to Haifa and visit the Baha'i Gardens...they were stunning. Apparently, this is the Baha'i faith's 2nd holiest site. The way the gardens are set up is that near the bottom is the main focal point, a placed called the Shrine of the Bab. It wasn't that impressive inside, but I'm thinking that they only let us inside a very small part and the rest is closed off for worshippers? Anyways, the garden and the view from that part overlooking the water is amazing. But it gets better... After we explored the gardens at the bottom (which you don't need a tour guide for) we made our way up a very large hill where the terraces begin. Quick timeout- on our way up the large hill, we pass by the Sculpture Garden section, where we all hung out for awhile, relaxing in a very pretty area with tons of human sculptures all over. Anyways, we climbed the rest of the way up and waited to join up with a tour to walk down through the terraces. This part of the garden you do need a tour guide, but you don't have to reserve one ahead of time. There are 9 terraces leading down to the Shrine, and I can't find the right words to describe how pretty these are. It was also a beautiful day outside, sun shining, and just a perfect day to walk through the gardens. However, because the gardens are a holy site, women have to dress modestly. The funny thing is that according to our guide, the Baha'i faith is all about equality between men and women, as evidenced by the perfect symmetry of the layout of the gardens (yet somehow they can wear shorts and we can't!) No fair, boys get everything, girls don't get anything! The Baha'i people apparently don't accept money from anyone outside of the faith, so all their expenses for this garden, which total several million, come from only the Baha'i people. People have described this as the 8th wonder of the world, and after visiting, I might have to agree.



Anyways, that's all for now. Stay tuned for another blog post coming up as I'm heading to Eilat and Petra, Jordan this weekend for a fun little trip between ulpan and rest of our regular class schedule.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

A Short Humbling Experience

I know I just blogged recently about my amazing week/weekend, but I have one more thing to add to my experiences here. This will be a short blog, but I thought I should tell you about it anyways...

In case you didn't know, I have joined a student organization/group here called Activists for Asylum. It's an organization that attempts to help refugees (currently specifically from Sudan) get asylum, or at least get into, Israel. I volunteered with this group to help type up and edit the interviews with refugees themselves. Tonight, our group got to sit down and have dinner (well, order in a couple pizzas) with 2 of the refugees, Gabriel and Malik. Having dinner with them, hearing their stories, and reading the stories of prior refugees has been one of the most humbling experiences I've ever gone through. They've watched their villages burned to the ground, their family shot before their eyes, and the struggles they go through just to reach the border is astounding. Especially considering how easy it was for me to just pop on over to this country and how easy it was for me to even STEP FOOT onto this land while for them it's one of the hardest things they will struggle through. Here's the website of the organization if you'd like to check it out. http://4asylum.org. We're in the process of editing the interviews for spelling mistakes and such, but please go read their stories.

I'd just like to say how grateful I am that I live the life I do, and am capable of having the experiences I have. It's great to live in a country so free and grow up in a wonderful, safe, loving environment. I'm truly humbled by what these Sudanese refugees have been through and I don't wish it upon anyone. So please keep in mind what a wonderful life we all have.

-Talia

Sunday, February 8, 2009

A Very Busy Week


Sorry it's been awhile, but unfortunately not much had happened until the last week or so, and then I got a concentrated dose of activity. Be patient through this blog, there's a lot...

February 2- Made my way on a couple buses down to an area called Emek Refaim to have a dinner/movie date with my friend/former coworker Michal Kabatznik. She recently made aliyah (moving to Israel) and is essentially half American, half Israeli. We had dinner at a cute restaurant called Kafit, which has amazing food, of all kinds. Then we traveled on more buses to the Malcha Mall to see the Benjamin Button movie, which again had an intermission if you don't remember. In the end, Michal offered me her companionship and Israeli knowledge, which are both an asset here.

February 3- Our ulpan class was ended a little early so we could go on a historical tour of the campus. It wasn't the most interesting tour I've been on, but in the end, we were taken up to the rooftop of the school, where we saw an amazing view (see attached photo).

February 5- I attended (along with friends) a political rally for Benjamin Netanyahu in the Crowne Plaza hotel, downtown Jerusalem. I won't say that I believe in all of his political stances, but it was very fun to go hear him talk. I sat in the second row, and was very close. He spoke in English, with this rally directed at the 250,000 English speakers living/voting in this country. We also got some free stuff and had a great time hearing the potential leader (and a very similar physical replica of my Uncle Avi) of this country speak 30 feet from where I sat.

February 6-7- Definitely the highlight of this blog... I went up north to the Golan (the disputed territory in northern Israel) for Shabbat. I went with this orthodox/frum group of people/organization who work for a man named Jeff Seidel. They didn't force religion on us at all, instead, provided the opportunity for us to participate and learn from them if we wanted. But anyways, the day began with the bus leaving Jerusalem at 6:30 am on Friday. We arrived at a place called Manara to ride a cable car up to the top. From there, we could either choose to take a zipline halfway down (which looked like a lot of fun) OR we could rapel down a 42 meter cliff (~137 ft). As you could guess, I rapelled down a cliff in Israel!!!! It was absolutely the most terrifying thing I've ever done, but by far the COOLEST thing I've ever done. After which, we had to hike about 10 minutes straight back up to get to the top. Only 3 people chose to rapel, and all 3 of us were girls. Then we drove to a place called Ramat Naftali to go ATVing. There weren't enough ATVs for everyone, so I ended up driving this little off road golf-cart thing, but it was ok, I still had a blast driving through vineyards and orchards and resting at one of the most stunning views from one of the highest points in the Golan. At one point, we were standing 5 km from Lebanon. After ATVing, we drove to a hotel called Kinar near the Kinneret. This hotel was kind of cool for me to see because it was Shomer Shabbat hotel (this meant that it observes all aspects of the Sabbath, so the lights are on a timer, etc). I've never seen so many Orthodox Jews running around with their 30 children (slight exaggeration, but not really). We were mixed in with kids from Tel Aviv University and Beer Sheva and had a very pleasant Shabbat, eating and relaxing at this hotel by the Kinneret. I spent the majority of my evening (after Shabbat dinner) sitting on the shore of the Kinneret in the moonlight with a few other friends. In addition, our security guard/medic for the trip was a guy named Arye, who was born in America but his family made Aliyah here 19 years ago (he's 24). The most interesting thing about him was that he was in the recent operation in Gaza, he just got back 2 weeks ago. I spent many hours talking with him, hearing his war stories (and man does he have a lot). In the end, I learned that he actually lives 6 floors above me and is going to be a great resource to have here! All in all, it was a wonderful weekend of major excitement followed by much relaxing.

Thanks for being so patient with my long blogs, things just come in clumps sometimes!
-Talia