To simply put it, I am not a complicated person. I do not possess a deep inner dialogue that is filled with questions of identity and truth, nor do I go about my days struggling to find the meaning of life. This said, my last post was an aberration and this blog will continue in the style that has been used previously. I am a man of the people and what the people want the people get.
So where to start? This past weekend five friends and I went to Eilat, which is the southern most city in Israel, and comparable to Florida, where all the older Jews go in the Winter to get away from the cold in the rest of the state. We left Thursday, which was also the last day of intensive Hebrew study, in the afternoon. There are two ways to get to Eilat, either a thirty-minute flight or a 6-hour bus ride, we chose the latter option due to economic reasons. I booked the bus and got there about ten minutes before it left the station, the other people on the trip got there literally seconds before the bus left, and so the vacation started. The second half of the ride was scenic for we were driving through valleys with mountains on all sides.
Once we got to Eilat we ate at a really good restaurant where they serve you about ten different types of Israeli salads and sides with fresh lafa (like a pita, but bigger and without a pocket) and grilled meats. You could order tong, testicle, heart, and other parts of cows and lamb. Though none of us were adventurous enough to try bulls balls I was reminded of the scene in HBO’s Rome where the mother tells her son to eat the testicles of a bull for it helps with the growth of a certain body part that rhymes with… penis. And the night just started there. After buying a 24 pack of knock off red bull (eddie I am sorry you know I hate red bull and it was way cheaper) and a pair of liquor bottles we returned to our room where we downed both to the genius songs of Daft Punk and Girl Talk. Last Thursday also happened to be Valentine’s Day, and like in America this romantic holiday is celebrated by Israelis, though not with the traditional chocolates and roses, rather at pubs and dance clubs. The first pub we went to had heaps of red and white balloons and was a filled with 20 somethings just sitting around and talking, a little too un-hip for 20 year olds who were trying to get a little rambunctious. However, at this point in the night is when Adam, a L.A. Persian who rarely drinks, started feeling the effects of Peter the Great on his fine motor functions and walking abilities. He is stumbling all over and we the rest of us decide to take him back to the hotel so we don’t have to worry about him for the rest of the night. We had to carry him into the hotel and up to the room, and when doing so got a funny look from the security guard. The rest of the night was pretty normal after that. I met up with one of the soldiers from my birthright trip at a bar and we went to a really small place filled with locals. Like everything in Israel and Europe the bars stay open until the late morning when he sun is starting to come up, and when in Rome do as the Romans.
We slept for a few hours and woke up in time for the free breakfast (please see the previous post about free food). Barely physically able but mentally strong, we went to the beach where we stayed until it started to cool down, around 4:30, and strait chilled (Stock has nothing on this chill ses).
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
My New Edition
So after the last posting I received some comments and feedback from friends and family about my writing style and syntax. I created my blog as a forum for my unedited thoughts and a way of keeping my fan base (just joking) up to date on what I have been doing in Israel. However, after contemplating these comments from others and reading Jeremy Borovitz’s blog, which for those who haven’t read the long narratives, it is very intelligent and an interpersonal narrative I have decided to take another approach to this post. So here it goes.
**an abbreviated version will be posted below for those who hate the long posts**
Today I visited Jerusalem. However, this was not the Jerusalem that I was familiar with from my previous visits this holy relic city, not just for Jews but also Christians and Muslims. After waking up at seven in the morning to board a bus that was scheduled to leave Tel-Aviv at 7:30 (8 ish Israeli time, see conversion calculator below) I was a little weary for the skies looked gray and the forecast for the day overcast and rainy. And as predicted the rain fell on and off throughout the day with glimpses of sunshine on a cold winter day.
But I did not despair. We arrived to our first destination, an outlook of the entire city, where a FREE breakfast of tuna sandwiches, apples, energy bars and water was served. So as a son of my ‘free’ loving father, I ate two sandwiches even though one was more than enough and stuffed a few extra energy bars in my pockets. I seem to forget the excitement that people get from seeing Jerusalem. Form observing other students, who for them it was their first time, taking pictures and being over anxious to see everything I am reminded of the significance of the city to all religions.
We next entered the old city though a gate where conservationist are trying to preserve parts of the old city wall as taxis and trucks drive by at 25 mph. We reached the rooftop outlook where I snapped my first pictures of the trip. In my attempts to be somewhat artsy and not just come home with point and shoot pictures I was able to come out with, in my mind, some neat overhead pictures of the Dome of the Rock, Al-Aqsa Mosque, numerous church and the Kotel. Our tour guide, a graphic designer from Tel-Aviv named Asaf, was very good in my experience of tour guides and gave us a detailed historical account of the points of interest and their meanings in today’s religiously tense world.
The rain continued and the temperature got down into the high 30s and low 40s F to my estimation for I was able to see my breath when talking. We slipped and slid down narrow pathways and walked down wet stairs where drainage is a problem to the Western Wall. I believe that some of the aw of the Kotel has worn off on me and the whether put an additional damper on praying outside, nonetheless, I picked up a siddor and prayed the morning prayer from start to finish. It was the first time in a long time since I have prayed however, I was still able to communicate with god and ask him for a few things (good health for my family and friends, and a little help in cracking the dense force field surrounding Israeli girls that is preventing me from picking them up).
at this point I have taken a break in writing this entry and it may revert to my previous form of dangling participles and subjunctive clauses or something like that
Upon leaving the Kotel the rain started to come down harder and at an angel for the wind picked up some. We walked to the excavated ruins of the corner of the Western and Southern wall near the Robinson Archway where we walked through a little museum where we watched a movie poorly dubbed and found more entertainment out of the bad accent and poor storyline than the museum itself.
All of the tourist things I have done before and I enjoyed walking around the old city and seeing the sites again, but the next part of our tour I was not prepared for. We walked through the Jewish art galleries then the Arab merchants selling the cheesy t-shirts (Guns & Moses being my favorite) until we reached the Christian section. We walked past a few merchants selling crosses on any piece of jewelry imaginable, candles and pictures Mary and Jesus. We stopped at an old looking building with indistinguishable exterior features that I have never visited on any of my Jerusalem trips. This was the Church of the Holy Sepulchral, the second most holy site for Catholics next to the Vatican and one holiest places for all of Christianity. Walking in I was not sure what to expect, this being only the second time ever in a church and of one with so much significance. It was an interesting and beautiful site. The painstaking detail and breadth of the murals as well as the vastness of the dome are great pieces of art. Though there was a lot of confusion and disillusion among other Jewish students about visiting a Christian site, I felt at ease and able to respect and admire the iconic artwork. Visiting the church allowed me to see Jerusalem from a perspective that I never saw in the past.
Leaving the church we boarded the buses and went to the market to eat. The rain was not conducive to a market excursion so a few of us broke off and ended up at a mom and pops eatery. This place was unique in that the menu for the day was whatever the mom was cooking. We walked up to the women standing behind three large cooking pots and pointed to what we wanted to eat. I ate kubae soup, houmus, cigars and pita. It was delicious and I felt kilos heavier when I left. The food was great and the atmosphere even better.
**an abbreviated version will be posted below for those who hate the long posts**
Today I visited Jerusalem. However, this was not the Jerusalem that I was familiar with from my previous visits this holy relic city, not just for Jews but also Christians and Muslims. After waking up at seven in the morning to board a bus that was scheduled to leave Tel-Aviv at 7:30 (8 ish Israeli time, see conversion calculator below) I was a little weary for the skies looked gray and the forecast for the day overcast and rainy. And as predicted the rain fell on and off throughout the day with glimpses of sunshine on a cold winter day.
But I did not despair. We arrived to our first destination, an outlook of the entire city, where a FREE breakfast of tuna sandwiches, apples, energy bars and water was served. So as a son of my ‘free’ loving father, I ate two sandwiches even though one was more than enough and stuffed a few extra energy bars in my pockets. I seem to forget the excitement that people get from seeing Jerusalem. Form observing other students, who for them it was their first time, taking pictures and being over anxious to see everything I am reminded of the significance of the city to all religions.
We next entered the old city though a gate where conservationist are trying to preserve parts of the old city wall as taxis and trucks drive by at 25 mph. We reached the rooftop outlook where I snapped my first pictures of the trip. In my attempts to be somewhat artsy and not just come home with point and shoot pictures I was able to come out with, in my mind, some neat overhead pictures of the Dome of the Rock, Al-Aqsa Mosque, numerous church and the Kotel. Our tour guide, a graphic designer from Tel-Aviv named Asaf, was very good in my experience of tour guides and gave us a detailed historical account of the points of interest and their meanings in today’s religiously tense world.
The rain continued and the temperature got down into the high 30s and low 40s F to my estimation for I was able to see my breath when talking. We slipped and slid down narrow pathways and walked down wet stairs where drainage is a problem to the Western Wall. I believe that some of the aw of the Kotel has worn off on me and the whether put an additional damper on praying outside, nonetheless, I picked up a siddor and prayed the morning prayer from start to finish. It was the first time in a long time since I have prayed however, I was still able to communicate with god and ask him for a few things (good health for my family and friends, and a little help in cracking the dense force field surrounding Israeli girls that is preventing me from picking them up).
at this point I have taken a break in writing this entry and it may revert to my previous form of dangling participles and subjunctive clauses or something like that
Upon leaving the Kotel the rain started to come down harder and at an angel for the wind picked up some. We walked to the excavated ruins of the corner of the Western and Southern wall near the Robinson Archway where we walked through a little museum where we watched a movie poorly dubbed and found more entertainment out of the bad accent and poor storyline than the museum itself.
All of the tourist things I have done before and I enjoyed walking around the old city and seeing the sites again, but the next part of our tour I was not prepared for. We walked through the Jewish art galleries then the Arab merchants selling the cheesy t-shirts (Guns & Moses being my favorite) until we reached the Christian section. We walked past a few merchants selling crosses on any piece of jewelry imaginable, candles and pictures Mary and Jesus. We stopped at an old looking building with indistinguishable exterior features that I have never visited on any of my Jerusalem trips. This was the Church of the Holy Sepulchral, the second most holy site for Catholics next to the Vatican and one holiest places for all of Christianity. Walking in I was not sure what to expect, this being only the second time ever in a church and of one with so much significance. It was an interesting and beautiful site. The painstaking detail and breadth of the murals as well as the vastness of the dome are great pieces of art. Though there was a lot of confusion and disillusion among other Jewish students about visiting a Christian site, I felt at ease and able to respect and admire the iconic artwork. Visiting the church allowed me to see Jerusalem from a perspective that I never saw in the past.
Leaving the church we boarded the buses and went to the market to eat. The rain was not conducive to a market excursion so a few of us broke off and ended up at a mom and pops eatery. This place was unique in that the menu for the day was whatever the mom was cooking. We walked up to the women standing behind three large cooking pots and pointed to what we wanted to eat. I ate kubae soup, houmus, cigars and pita. It was delicious and I felt kilos heavier when I left. The food was great and the atmosphere even better.
Monday, February 4, 2008
My American Football
So its been a while since I have wrote anything and I know my fans have been on the edge of their seats, checking this blog daily. Slowly, I have been making my extremely small dorm room into my room with some small furnishings. I have also got some pots, pans and plates so that I can make meals instead of spending all my money on eating out. However, most of the times I stick to leftovers given to me by relatives or sandwiches/pita with hummus and deli meat, I also bought one of those seen on TV choppers and use it to make salads. This past week it snowed in Jerusalem and there was a mad rush by Israelis and tourist to the city to see the snow. However, I came to Israel to get away from the snow and had no urge to see the dreaded white substance, so I stayed in Tel-Aviv while some of my friends went to Jerusalem to see the snow.
A friend of mine got a job serving at a English style pub near the beach so I whenever we go out now we go to where she works. I have been there so many times the past week and a half that I feel that I am starting to become a regular.
Last night was Super Bowl Sunday/Monday. A small microbrewery (the dancing camel) located in Tel-Aviv was hosting a superbowl party that for 20 dollars you got all you can eat and drink. Needless to say I took full advantage of the hospitality of the place and got my moneys worth of food and especially drink. A group of friends arrived there 10 local time and the game didn't start until 1:30. The food was sub-par but the four types of beer were good and by the start of the game I had a good buzz going. The first quarter of the game went by really fast and all I was rooting for was for the patriots to score a touchdown by the end of the quarter so my box would hit (boxes for my readers who don't know is a means of gambling on the score of the game with complete randomness). My box ended up hitting for the score at half-time and I was exited not only from winning but for Tom Petty (hoping he would play American Girl...a classic jammy jam). Though this was a high point in the night for me I began to get tired and crash hard. It was 3:30 in the morning and I had no energy left. I took my winnings, tipped the bartenders and left for the night with a pocket full of cash and big ... stash.
A friend of mine got a job serving at a English style pub near the beach so I whenever we go out now we go to where she works. I have been there so many times the past week and a half that I feel that I am starting to become a regular.
Last night was Super Bowl Sunday/Monday. A small microbrewery (the dancing camel) located in Tel-Aviv was hosting a superbowl party that for 20 dollars you got all you can eat and drink. Needless to say I took full advantage of the hospitality of the place and got my moneys worth of food and especially drink. A group of friends arrived there 10 local time and the game didn't start until 1:30. The food was sub-par but the four types of beer were good and by the start of the game I had a good buzz going. The first quarter of the game went by really fast and all I was rooting for was for the patriots to score a touchdown by the end of the quarter so my box would hit (boxes for my readers who don't know is a means of gambling on the score of the game with complete randomness). My box ended up hitting for the score at half-time and I was exited not only from winning but for Tom Petty (hoping he would play American Girl...a classic jammy jam). Though this was a high point in the night for me I began to get tired and crash hard. It was 3:30 in the morning and I had no energy left. I took my winnings, tipped the bartenders and left for the night with a pocket full of cash and big ... stash.
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