Passover in Greece: Something Interesting

So I ran the Jerusalem Half Marathon (somehow), waved the team flag at a Jerusalem basketball game, and saw Mosh Ben-Ari in concert without having to buy tickets (thank you apathetic Israeli security).  Quick recap before something interesting:


-The Jerusalem Half Marathon was really cool.  The route was a mix between dirt paths, the streets, and up the sides of mountains.  Incredibly scenic.  There was a really long uphill which almost knocked me out between miles 5-8, but after that it was pretty much smooth sailing to the finish.  I guess I'm in better shape than I thought.  This made me want to run Chicago again, and they sent me an email with the following header about 3 hours ago which really got me thinking:

Registration Approaching Capacity for the 2010 Bank of America Chicago Marathon

I considered it, then forgot about it, then got another email 3 hours later:

Registration Has Closed for the 2010 Bank of America Chicago Marathon

AGH!!!  It filled up a full MONTH before it reached capacity last year, which was a record time already.  Ridiculous.  Since when do Americans care about exercise?

-Jerusalem basketball game: Final score was something like 104-52.  Yeah, they doubled the other team's score.  The 100th point was an alley-oop dunk and I won a long-running debate when it turned out there WAS room on the high-school style scoreboard for the extra "1".  Here's a picture of me waving the flag:

-Mosh Ben-Ari blends rock and reggae into a distinctly Israeli style of music.  It's really soothing.  Check him out:  Cool song

As is the case with anything in Israel, we got within 15 feet of him.  Everyone started dancing near the stage at the end.  Dude has crazy dreds.

Drum-roll please...

SOMETHING INTERESTING

After the Jerusalem vs. Tel Aviv quarterfinal soccer game tomorrow night, and after my Yam al Yam trip from Thursday to Sunday (Sea-to-sea hike from the Mediterranean to the Sea of Galilee) I'm going to Greece for 8 days.  I get there on the first night of Passover.  Sucks to not be in Israel for Passover, right?  WRONG.  

Something Interesting

That's right.  Guess where Santorini is?  Greece.  I'M WHERE THE PLAGUES ACTUALLY STARTED.  CRAZY.

not gonna have regular access to a computer for 2+ weeks, but I'll fill you in afterwards because I'm such a nice guy.  I got a new camera too, so there will be pictures (don't worry Mom!)

Hag Sameach,

Daniel

First Buzz Cut, Joe Biden, and the Coolest Class Ever

First of all...

HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY HANNA!!

If you don't wreck the car you'll have a belated gift from me when I get back in June.  Ok on to 3 events in the past 3 weeks of my life, because I took way too long to blog since Istanbul.

1) Buzz Cut

Christina from South Africa who speaks Swahili gave me the cut.  I now look 50% more Israeli.

2) Joe Biden

I went to Tel Aviv at 5 am on Thursday to see Biden speak at TAU.  We got there 2 hours ahead of time and, just like with the Netanyahu speech, were able to easily and inexplicably get unbelievable seats.  We got 2nd row seats, only about 15 ft from Biden.  The coolest thing about it was that we sat directly behind the bigshots in the first row.  NAME DROPPING ALERT:

Before and after the speech, I talked with these people:

Tzipi Livni

She will likely be PM of Israel after next elections

Dennis Ross

I saw a man hand a brown envelope to him and say "Give this to the President".  He was not talking about the President of Tel Aviv University.

/END NAME-DROPPING

The actual speech was amazing.  Biden spent a lot of time fluffing up Israel before criticizing its decision to form 1600 new settlements in a controversial area in East Jerusalem, a decision with terrible timing because it threatened to undermine the indirect peace talks that Biden came to Israel to promote, between the Palestinians and the Israeli government.  The full text of the speech can be found here but I recommend watching it here because then you can see me!  I'm first visible at 1:00:17 when the camera zooms out, leaning forward in a white shirt in the 2nd row next to my friend Mike in the blue shirt.  If you pause it, you can see Tzipi in the first row with red hair four seats to the right of me, and Dennis is sitting next to her on the left.  There were a ton of other bigshots but those were the two I spoke with.

Basically we told them we were Americans studying abroad and they were very happy to hear, and they even seemed a bit surprised that we were in the second row.  I don't know how it happened either.  But it was so cool to talk to them, and they told us we were Israel's future.  Just watching them throughout the speech was an amazing glimpse at the front stage of international politics.  It made me feel like I could do it.

There is one regret to that amazing experience.  As some of you may recall, I happen to own an Obama mask that Dad gave me as a gift for Halloween.  I left it at home.  I didn't think of this until after... but what if I had snuck the mask into the speech, and put it on?  You can see how close I was to Biden - he would've HAD to notice his boss staring at him from the second row.  It would probably throw his speech off, I imagine he would've had to say something about it.  I could've been on the front page of CNN!  But I wouldn't want to throw off Biden... maybe if I put it on before asking him a question during the Q and A, and then asked him something like, "Great job, Joe.  You're doing great.  Look, do you wanna grab lunch later?"  If only I had the mask...

3) The Coolest Class Ever

I'm in this class called Archaeology of Jerusalem, a class that anyone studying at Hebrew U needs to take.  Last week we spent the class walking around the Old City of King David, which dates back to the 1st temple period (1000 BCE).  This week, we talked more about what we saw.  

What you are looking at is proof that Jews were in Israel first.  And it was discovered less than 5 years ago.  Let me back up:

There are these seals called bullaes used during the time of the First Temple that were wrapped around letters.  The seals said the name of the person who sent the letter.  Because Hebrew is a very old language, we can tell that the one above belongs to Gedalyahu, and it was one of two seals found in the past 5 years in the Old City.  The other seal found belonged to someone named Yuchal.  There is a third seal, which was found earlier, that belongs to Gemaryahu.  Do the names sound kind of weird?  They should.  They are Biblical names.  From the Old Testament: "So the officials took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes into an empty cistern in the prison yard. It belonged to Malkijah, a member of the royal family. There was no water in the cistern, but there was a thick layer of mud at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it." [Jeremiah 38:6]

Gemeryahu is believed to be Jeremiah.  The spelling is a common way to spell Judean names from that historical period.  They are very similar, but it could be a coincidence.  The recent discovery of seals belonging to Gedalyahu and Yuchal, however, also match up with names in the Bible - the very people who threw Jeremiah into the pit!  This is strong historical evidence that events from the time of the Bible are found in the city of David.

I wish I could write the entire 4 hour lecture down here, but I simply don't have time.  It was filled with historical evidence - from the Old City of David, that we walked through just last Monday, which lies not 5 miles from where I sleep at night - that events from the Bible happened in the Old City.  This is why I came to Jerusalem.

Schedule for the next 21 days:

Thursday, March 18 - Jerusalem Half Marathon.  Haven't been training at all.  Should be fun.

Friday, March 19 - Climb Masada in the morning (it's going to be a tough 24 hours for me).  Ein Ghedi hike during the day.

Saturday, March 20 - Dead Sea and Jerusalem Basketball Game vs Bnei Hasharom

Thursday, March 25 - Sunday, March 28 Sea to Sea trip.  Hiking from the Mediterranean to the Sea of Galilee. 

March 29 - April 6 Greece

THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNA!!!

Love and miss you all (especially Mango, she keeps getting comments every time I use my credit card),

Daniel

Istanbul...

Not Constantinople!

The above picture is courtesy of Hannah Gerstenblatt's camera.  I lost mine in Istanbul, so my camera is somewhere in Istanbul, not Constantinople.

Turkey was awesome. We flew out on Wednesday night and got into the very cozy Sultan's hostel around 10 pm. I don't know how this hostel is in business; it must be losing money. $8.50/person/night, and it includes FREE complementary breakfast (tons of hard boiled eggs, yogurt, granola, and rolls), FREE coffee and apple tea until 6 pm (apple tea is the staple drink of Turkey, it's amazing, tastes just like apple cider but a little tangier), and FREE internet/tv (proud to say I barely utilized that) to go along with a very nice location, right in the heart of the old city, about two blocks from all the sights. I got more than my money's worth just with breakfast, we stuffed rolls and hard boiled eggs in our pockets like packrats and ate them throughout the day while walking around the city.

The city is gorgeous. On a scale from 1 to 10, pictures don't do it any justice. There are two HUGE mosques, the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, that are impossible to miss. The outside of the Blue Mosque is shown above, and the inside looks like this:

I bet the maintenance guys are happy the chandelier is so low to the ground, I can't imagine replacing light bulbs on the ceiling.

                                              

Outside from the imposing mosques, another highlight of the trip had to be the Grand Bazaar.  It's like the shuk, but about 10x as big and with a much bigger variety of things for sale.  Imagine Mall of America outside, spread out all on one floor.

This photo courtesy of Lindsay Weisberg

None of us had phones while in Istanbul because our Talk n Save are only set up to work in Israel, so one of the bigger challenges of the trip was staying together while we were in the bazaar.  I made things tough on everyone when I peeked my head in a rug shop and saw the two owners taking a break eating a meal.  I was about to leave but they beckoned me in, sat me down, and started feeding me while asking me where I was from.  It's painful that I had to type that out, because it was such a normal thing for them, it's custom to invite strangers in to eat if you are in the middle of eating, and just being hospitable is a part of their culture.  But it doesn't really work like that in America, especially in the malls.  I had a great talk with them and completely forgot to tell anyone where I was.  I emerged about 25 minutes later, full, knowing the full life story of Mohommed the Turk (he's got an uncle in New York), and saw the frantic faces of everyone I was with.  Oops.

Sightseeing was great, but since we were there for 5 days, we had time to do non-touristy things too, and those ended up being the most fun parts of the trip.  The first morning in Istanbul, we (Me, Isaac, Mike, and Sarah) all went for a jog around the city.  Our hostel is prime location so we got straight to the Bosphorous River, which runs through Istanbul and literally divides Europe from Asia.  That was one of the coolest running experiences I've had.  A bunch of young Turkish students started chasing after Isaac at one point, thinking he was Ussain Bolt.  Here's the river:

Not terribly exciting... BUT LOOK AT THE BOARDWALK!!!

You walk down that boardwalk, and you feel like a celebrity.  All the restaurant owners are standing out waiting to approach you as you walk by.  We literally didn't walk five feet down that boardwalk without someone trying to get us into their restaurant with special deals.  None of them really understand the word "free" though.  They say it to get your attention, but it doesn't mean anything.  Here is a typical way they would approach us.

"Hello, can I just say one thing?"

"Sure"

At this point, 2 different conversations will follow, depending on if you're a girl or guy.  

GUY

"I give you special deal.  Here is menu but don't look at prices, I'll give you a special deal."

"Ok.. what kind of special deal are we talking about?"

"Everything... FREE!"

"You mean, on the house?  Free?  We don't have to spend anything?"

"Yes, yes... FREE!  All... FREE! Special deal."

Then if you are naive enough to believe that there IS such thing as a free lunch (only if you stumble in on rug shop owners in the Bazaar), you will eat the meal and then receive the bill.

GIRLS

"You are beautiful.  I want you in my restaurant."

"Haha... what's so special about your place?"

"We have nice... chairs"*

"Sorry, we are gonna keep walking around, maybe we'll come back!"

"I hope you come back!  If not you break my heart."

*This was a verbatim quote from one flustered restaurant owner.  After walking around all day though, the nice chairs were appealing

Ironically, we passed on all of them and settled at probably the most expensive restaurant on the boardwalk, where I got a fish (which was delicious, to be fair) for about 24 Turkish Lira (about 16 bucks).  The best food opportunities in Turkey are buying from the street vendors.  They all have delicious rolls or drinks or clam, all for just one lira each.  Impossible to resist.  That's like not even 70 cents.  

The last day of the trip was by far the best one.  We took a ferry to Prince's Island, and fed the birds that flew alongside the boat during the ride by throwing bread crumbs at them.  They would swoop and dive to catch the bread in midair before it hit the water.  Then I came up with the genius idea to catch one of the birds.  I used the string from my 1 Lira Turkish top and tied it to a 1 Lira breadroll and waved it over the side of the boat, hoping to reel in a big bird.  I didn't have any luck, but I had fun trying:

When we got to the island, we rented bikes and rode around for about an hour.  We found a crazy high hill and pushed our bikes up it, then saw this really old church with intricate artwork at the top of the hill.  There was also a restaurant, so of course we had to get a beer and sip on it while looking out at the amazing view.  Then, we rode down the hill, which was not as fun as it seemed it would be because the rental bikes don't really have brakes.

All in all, Turkey was incredible and I wish I still had my camera but the memories will live on forever.  I definitely want to go back sometime.  There was one interesting piece of news waiting for us when we got back to Israel...

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/02/22/turkey.sledgehammer.arrests/index.html

THAT HAPPENED WHILE WE WERE THERE!  Didn't hear a word about it.  Crazy.

Bibi Netanyahu, End of Ulpan, and a Negev weekend

Lots to update on:

Bibi

Last Wednesday (the night before my Ulpan final), I walked five minutes out of the Kfar Studentim (student village) to the Hyatt Regency hotel nearby to see PM Netanyahu speak.  I walked into the hotel unnoticed, waited in a line for security, and after about half an hour was ushered into a small conference room, with probably less than 200 people.  I grabbed a seat in the fifth row and sat down with the translator headphones I had been given upon entry to the conference room.  About 15 minutes later, the Prime Minister of Israel walked into the room.  Take a look at the view from my seat:

Absolutely surreal.  Imagine if Obama were to speak in the small gym at Aptakisic, and all you had to do to get in was to literally walk in (and pass through a metal detector), and then once in, you got fifth row seats with virtually no effort at all (I could have gotten a seat in the first row but it was all the way at the end; still I kind of regret not shaking his hand because it would have been so easy to do so).  That's what this was like.

His speech was very different from the kinds of political speeches you'd here in the US.  "Bibi", as he is affably nicknamed, wasn't running for anything.  There were no lofty words of hope or change.  And he wasn't particularly PC either, at least in the English translated version of the speech I heard.  He told it how it was.  At first, he started talking about the city of Jerusalem, how it was the home of the Jewish people, and how small it was - he pointed up and mentioned a soldier's name who had been killed just three years earlier, two stories directly above where Bibi was standing.  He discussed this soldier's sacrifice and tremendous courage for about five minutes of his 35 minute speech.  The anecdote wasn't used as an emotional rallying cry - there was no push to fight back, to retaliate.  Instead, Bibi waved his arms to the left and the right, mentioning how the streets around the hotel (the same streets I walk every day, running around Hebrew University) had a remarkable coexistence of Arabs and Jews, and he expressed the belief that one day, the rest of the country would get to that point.  How it was possible.

The most surprising part was when Bibi dovetailed his speech into a rant against Iran.  It's clearly the #1 issue, but he didn't speak in the careful, balanced tones I expected from a politician.  He told us, after mentioning that he was aware there were a lot of Hebrew University students in the small crowd (we all cheered) that he was telling us the same thing that he told Obama five days ago, and Hillary three days ago.  He told us how he had been warning against Iran's nuclear presence for seven years and that finally, now, the cat was out of the bag for everyone and there was no denying the truth.  The only remaining question, he said, was how the international community would respond - would they impose the sorts of strict sanctions against Iran that were necessary for Iran to hold off on the nuclear program, or would they allow Iran to set off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, threatening not only Israel but the entire world?

Bibi never came across as pleading, or desperate, or helpless.  But it took me a while to realize that his speech was a cry for help from the international community.  Israel can't stop Iran on its own.  This was such a different tone from the sorts of speeches I was used to hearing, how "WE" need to do this or "WE" won't stand for that.  This was very clearly a diplomatic call for help against Iran.

It was an amazing, unforgettable experience to get that close to a world leader, especially the PM of Israel.  I kept wondering how it was so easy to just walk into the hotel and see him - why would he give a speech there?  Well, Israel's a small country, and he wanted to be at the furthest east point possible to make a statement - like Israel still has a presence in East Jerusalem.  Why weren't more people there?  Most Israelis are making about 1/2 as much money as Americans, but they are paying the same price for everything - they are more concerned with getting by than listening to schemes about international politics.  Even so, the ones who were interested have the opportunity to see the PM in such an intimate setting so often - he was in Herzelia (right next to Tel Aviv) and Eilat just a few weeks before - that it's not really that huge a deal.  Israel's a small country, I have to keep telling myself, and the football stadium-sized speeches that I'm used to just don't happen here.  There's not enough people.

End of Ulpan


I got an 84 on my Ulpan final (somehow, without studying), and while the final grade is still pending, it doesn't matter at all because the credit doesn't transfer.  School starts today (Sunday), with my first class at 4:30 - Foreign Politics of Israel.  I've heard so many good things about this class, and it's probably my most anticipated class of the semester.  The professor, Medzini, is supposed to be amazing, and I'm signed up for another one of his classes - The Middle East: Coexistance and Rapprochement - so hopefully the hype is true. After that, I have an internship class from 6:30-8:30.  It's kind of a weird time for classes but I like having free time during the day; now I finally can go pick up toilet paper.

Negev


We spent the weekend in a small town called Arod, in the middle of the Negev desert.  After getting up at 6 am on Friday, we got there at 8 and promptly spent the next five hours hiking in the desert.  It was awesome.  Here's a pic of the view:

We went bug catching and caught a scorpion, lizard, and millipede.  The guide knew EVERYTHING there was to know about bugs, and just desert life in general.  Throughout the hike, he stopped us multiple times to eat the plants.  They were delicious.  We collected them and made tea and fried them into chips later in the hike.  Shabbat was another amazing dinner, and then Saturday largely consisted of laying out in the 80 degree sun, listening to music, talking, and reading.  We got an intense game of whiffleball going later.  Overall it was an extremely relaxing weekend, I got some color, and I learned the best way to poop in the desert: hold a friends arms and both of you lean back at once (didn't try it, it was just one of the guide's words of wisdom).

After just getting back from the Negev, it's hard to believe I'm headed for Istanbul in four days, or that Purim is in a week.  Crazy.  And I am really really starting to appreciate the constant warm weather - why do we put up with snow in Chicago?  WHY????  IT'S SO NICE OUT ALL THE TIME HERE.  WHY DO WE LIVE WHERE IT'S FREEZING AND SNOWING FOR HALF THE YEAR?  IT MAKES NO SENSE!!!

shalom

Tzfat Round 2

I spent last weekend in Tzfat for another Shabbaton.  I already wrote about the city of Tzfat when I visited it a little over a month ago, but this weekend was completely different.  Instead of having a crazy kabbalah shabbat in the streets, we went caving, rope swinging, and ATV'ing before having a Hebrew U/Tel Aviv shabbat on the hotel balcony.  The highlight had to be the ATV'ing.  For those who don't know, ATV'ing is basically off-roading in these golf-cart-like jeeps.  In order to do it, they tested you before hand because you are literally driving over rocks and it can be difficult to control the vehicle.  I passed because of my superhuman strength and got an authentic check mark on my hand which is impossible to duplicate.  Below are some pics of the ATV experience:

As you can see, we went on dirt roads through streams and up mountains, with breathtaking scenery all around.  At some points on the 45-min drive, we went on the highway, which was actually more scary than driving up mountains because there would be huge trucks zooming past you in the opposite direction while you are in this tiny golf cart, not wearing a seatbelt, armed with a red helmet.  The vehicles could actually go up to 45 mph, so it was a lot of fun to gun it on the highway and feel the wind in your face - it made me want to get a convertible, weather permitting.  Anyway, near the end of the drive we heard popping and the engine died shortly after - luckily, we were able to get off the highway before the very expensive ATV stopped moving.  But it was a convenient place to run into engine trouble because all we had to do was hike up a short hill and then we had an amazing lookout point and were treated to snacks while we took pictures and met up with everyone before heading back.

This is my last week of Ul-pan, just got back from a 3 on 3 basketball tourney which we lost in the semis, this weekend we will be camping out in the Negev and I'm excited to say I just booked a trip to Istanbul next Wednesday, getting back on Sunday in time for Purim.  There are a lot of groups going to Istanbul at that time because we don't have class.  I also made my schedule, I'm taking Foreign Policy of Israel and Archaeology of Jerusalem - the two classes I really wanted to take, archaeology is basically a walking tour of the city - as well as the mandatory Hebrew class and my internship class for JCPA.  I don't have class on Thursday so I will be able to keep traveling - Petra and Cairo are next on the list.

It was summer today.  Everyone wore shorts and sandals and a t shirt, we played basketball outside, after Ul-pan ended I came back and took a nap in my room with the window wide open and the sun shining in.  Just unbelievable weather.  I'm very excited for the weekend, we have our big Ulpan final on Thursday so I need to start studying for it, but Ul-pan really hasn't been that stressful since the credit doesn't transfer so it doesn't matter how I do, and the teachers are very understanding if you miss days or don't turn in homework on time.  Weird to think I haven't even started classes yet; seems like I've been in Israel forever.

Oh, one more big update.  Last night (Valentine's Day), me and Isaac cooked stir fry for about 10 people.  It was delicious.  We didn't use any oil, just paprika, chili pepper, black pepper, and teriyaki sauce, but we had a ton of fresh veggies from the shuk and got tofu from the supermarket.  It took about an hour to prepare but it was amazing, so I'm slowly making progress in the cooking department.  

Another update: we switched rooms.  The old room just wasn't working out and we had zero communication with the roommates, and it's so easy to switch rooms, so we figured why not.  A few days ago we packed our bags and moved to building 4, and the new roommates are awesome, one is Israeli who cooks very well and one is an Arab Christian who I've already had tons of very interesting talks with.  He has lots of Jewish friends but still brings a unique perspective to everything; he flat out asked me why Jews have a right to the land of Israel and I was stunned to realize that my best answer was "We were here first, it says in the Bible" to which he asked me if I truly believed everything in the Bible.  It's obviously a very complicated issue, and one that I've had explained to me about a million times, but evidently it didn't stick so I need to brush up on my Jewish history.  

Also, we went to an AMAZING dinner at this Arabic restaurant in East Jerusalem with a huge crowd of people last Thursday night.  The walk there was kinda intense because it wasn't the best area to walk through at night, but we were a group of about 16 people so it wasn't that bad.  Once we got there, the owner was so happy to see us he just brought out a ton of food.  They don't use menus, the eating is very communal, so you get huge portions of food in the center and you're expected to share everything.  We sat on these couches and they brought out a ton of sides and HUGE pitas, I ate a ton but then they brought out a gigantic pot of rice and lamb, after that they brought out a ton of fresh apples, bananas, and oranges - it was delicious.  Gotta go back there, if I can find it, it's a hole in the wall place (literally, the walls are rock).  A lot of pictures were taken but I was only able to track down one, of course it's the most awkward one but you can kinda see what it looks like, how we were sitting on couches with a curved rock wall/ceiling around us:

It's just been endless new experiences here and hasn't slowed down a bit.  Can't wait for the Negev and Istanbul!

EDIT: WOW LOOK AT THIS WEATHER

YES PLEASE.

Weekend Update

This weekend was a ton of fun.  After Ul-pan ended on Thursday, I walked back in the freezing cold to the gym, where I have vowed to go at least 20 times/month to get my money's worth.  After working out, I took a shower and saw about 18 missed calls when I got out - Alex and his friend Aaron had gotten in from Tel Aviv and were standing around on campus with no clue where to go.  Oops.

We unloaded their stuff and after a brief tour (I took them back to the gym, they were very impressed with it), we met up with their friend Nikki, who they came down with and who was staying with Kayla.  A group of us headed off to the shuk to stock up on food for the big Shabbat dinner on Friday.  It was my first time at the shuk since I moved in to campus, and I quickly realized two things: 1) everything at the shuk is free if you have quick hands, and 2) 2 arms aren't nearly enough to carry everything.  Luckily I had Alex and Aaron with me, so we were able to divide all the fresh produce and DIRT CHEAP AVOCADOS!!!! amongst us as we made our way along.  The shuk adventure ended at a famous marzipan place, with regalla that cost literally one shekel.  The regalla was delicious, Alex ate 3.  I found another deal that seemed too good to be true: they were selling 6 packs of beer in cardboard boxes that came with free Doritos!  Of course I had to buy a box, just for the Doritos.  Take a luk at the shuk:

Do you notice anything about that picture?  Look to the right, at the rectangular sign with blue lettering.  IT'S THE NACHMAN'S!!! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!!

Thursday night was a pretty typical Ben Yehuda night.  It consisted of us hopping from bar to bar, settling at Zoli's, and having trouble getting in to at least one club.  The highlight has to be a random Nachman girl who joined our table at Zoli's and started helping herself to our popcorn, before getting bored and throwing kernels at us.  She started a mini food fight and then vanished in the chaos that followed, leaving us all to wonder why we started throwing popcorn at each other and where 3 shots went.  

Friday morning Alex, Aaron and I went to the Old City and, after some aimless meandering, decided to follow the funny hats and sure enough ended up at the kotel.  We all did tefillin and for the first time I actually read the Hebrew myself instead of having someone recite it for me.  The guy just handed me a booklet, I guess after two weeks of Ul-pan I now look like I can read Hebrew.  After the kotel we were starving so Alex found this amazing bagel place that overlooks the wall.  We had gigantic lox bagels that were probably the best bagels I've had in Israel, but Alex was on a mission and immediately next door to scarf down schwarma and falafel.  So much good food.  With our stomachs full, we decided now would be just as good a time as any to try to get into the Dome of the Rock.  I led them through the Muslim quarter (the same area where the confrontation on Hamerkaz happened, but this was during the day with tourists all over, not at night, so we were fine), and we found the gate.  We take two steps towards the gate and the security guard gives us a once over and sees three Jews wearing Northfaces, then tells us in English "Closed.  Only Muslims."  We didn't try to press our luck because we were clearly not Muslim, but I plan on returning with Isaac and a few other people and it is now my goal for the semester to get into the Dome of the Rock at some point.  It'll happen.

Friday night we shlepped all the produce to the girls' room and we started cooking.  There were 8 of us, and we cooked for a solid hour and half.  I chopped up the veggies and scooped the avocados while Alex did something to turn the chicken from pink flabby meat into delicious tender strips.  The dinner was delicious and we just hung around and talked for a few hours after.  It was very relaxed and overall an amazing Shabbat meal - the only thing was there was a miscommunication regarding bread crumbs, so we couldn't make schnitzel, and we forgot to use the onions.  But it was a legit feast, with a gigantic salad featuring every veggie imaginable, mashed potatoes with hot sauce, chicken, wine, pita, and hummus.  I was proud of everyone involved for putting it together.

This morning (Saturday) we went to an amazing look-out spot on campus and took some pictures.  We wanted to go to the amphitheater because that has the best view, but school was closed on Saturday and not everyone was up for climbing the gate.  It was probably a good call, because you really shouldn't mess with Israeli security.  After we took pictures, we went to the tiny falafel shack that's a few minutes walk from our dorms, and scarfed down 9 sheckel pitas and 12 sheckel falafels.  It was perfection.  Alex fell in love and is going to insist on going there every time he comes down now.  How can you resist the Falafel Guy??!!

Overall a very solid weekend.  Between the shuk, Ben Yehuda, the Old City, touring campus, and making a feast on Friday night, we did a lot but it felt very relaxed.  We had a quality group of people together.  Hard to believe Ul-pan starts tomorrow, but I'm already looking forward to the next couple of weekends:

Next weekend - Skiing/Snowboarding Shabbaton at Mt. Herzl, Shabbat in Tzfat (I have to go back)

Weekend after - Negev hike/campout retreat

Weekend after - Tel Aviv, or maybe Petra (that is happening soon)

Only 2 more weeks of Ul-pan, then finally I start classes and have some more free time!  We have a 3 on 3 basketball tournament this Friday so I'm gonna go practice with my team, Ben and Max, in a few hours after Alex gets up from his nap and they all head back to Tel Aviv.  Alex will help me with my take-home Ulpan test first though.

Oh, and for those of you wondering, yes it did snow.  Just a little, and it never really accumulated on the ground.  It's back to being sunny and nice out, still a bit chilly but I'll take it.  Hopefully that's the worst weather we get here.

SHALOM

OMG SNOW

Jerusalem, 1/31/08

It might snow tomorrow.  Not a big deal at all, right?  You're all basically living in snow, and I've been around snow probably at least 4-5 months/year since I've been born.  So when rumors started whispering about the possibility of SNOW IN JERUSALEM on Tuesday, I didn't really believe it.  Of course, it was also sunny and high 60s outside and I was playing basketball in shorts and a sleeveless shirt, so it all seemed pretty farfetched.  But for people who live in Jerusalem, the mere possibility that snow is around the corner is a huge event.  Let me recap the events leading up to the eve of the (possible?) snowstorm tomorrow:

MONDAY - Rumors first swirl in my Ul-pan class about snow.  I look outside, see sun, and go back to trying to nap while my teacher babbles on in Hebrew.

TUESDAY - A strange man opens the door to our Ul-pan class in the middle of the day, cutting off our teacher (Israeli teachers don't get interrupted), and excitedly bubbles out about how "If there's snow coming, you will get an email telling you if class has been cancelled or not.  Make sure you check your email because there might be snow."  Later conversations with students in other Ul-pan classes confirm that the stranger went into every single class to spread this unnecessarily cautious message.

WEDNESDAY (today) - Class is again interrupted, this time by a slew of phone buzzes and chimes.  We all receive a message via the EMERGENCY TEXT MESSAGE SYSTEM that reads, "FYI: In case of snow in Jerusalem a Madrich-on-call will be available for any questions or problems: 054-882-XXXX"

A few things:

"A Madrich-on-call will be available for any questions or problems?"  We are dealing with snow, not a Haitian earthquake.  And what possible questions are we supposed to have, exactly?  "Excuse me, there are white powdery flakes falling from the sky... I'd like to confirm that this is the alleged snow and not an anthrax-based terrorist attack?"  I love how they have a madrich (counselor) on-call specifically to deal with issues related to the snow.  I might call him up and ask him where I can find a good hill to sled down.  You'd think the world was ending the way they deal with snow here.

It might have to do with the fact that the last time it snowed in Jerusalem was 1/31/08, in the picture shown above.  It's been over two years since it snowed in Jerusalem, and it was even longer prior to that.  There are people on my trip, from warmer, sunnier hometowns, who have NEVER SEEN SNOW BEFORE IN THEIR LIVES!  It baffles me.  Here I am, thinking I escaped the frigid Champaign winter, happily walking around in a T-shirt and shorts in the sun, playing basketball... and the snow just follows me.  And nobody else is unhappy about it - they're talking about the concept of snow like the Red Hot Chili Peppers are playing it in a concert at the Kotel!

***

With the exception of the snow flurry (bad pun intended) lately, things have settled into a pretty comfortable routine.  I still have yet to go to the shook, but it'll happen as soon as the weather gets warmer.  Ul-pan just dominates the week; everyone's too tired after to do much during the day.  I still want to explore more but there's plenty of time for that.  Basketball and working out and napping are my three main activities right now, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Tomorrow's Thursday, so it's almost the weekend!  Alex is coming in from Tel Aviv so it should be a great Shabbat.  Hopefully it DOESN'T snow tomorrow because, a) I hate snow, and b) if classes are cancelled, we have to make it up on a Friday.  A Friday!  The Day of Rest!  Oy vey.