Pilgrims Meet the Hippies Meet Menachem Begin

    What's Thanksgiving without a Thanksgiving dinner? Therefore it was only natural to have a big feast. And boy was it a feast. My stomach agreed.
    Because I only had one class, until noon, I helped my friend get everything ready. She doesn't live on campus so I had to go to Mercaz HaCarmel...by myself. That was a big feat. It was the first time traveling anywhere in Haifa alone. I didn't get lost and I got off at the right stops and even used some of my hebrew.
    Once at my friend's apartment, I helped her figure out stuff about the turkey. How do you cut off the neck? Do you cut off the tail? Did I get all the organs out? Which way does the turkey cook? Not having ever cooked a turkey, I had to look all of it up online. Once we figured out all the answers, we put it in the oven to cook for the next four hours. We had no thermometer that says when the turkey is ready nor did we have a turkey baster but it managed to come out fantastic, if I do say so myself. And we managed to almost drop it only twice. Along with turkey we had the usual thanksgiving delicacies: stuffing, sweet potato stuff with marshmallows on top, cranberry sauce, a fruit relish and then of course everything that everyone else brought. It was so good and so filling. There was also dessert. I think by the end everyone was about to explode from the food.
    Friday was a day filled with laziness and reading. I went to Friday night services and then had dinner with a friend. There was no potluck because it was moved to Saturday so that we could have more time to cook and dress up like hippies. It was a '60s themed potluck. With Jimi Hemndrix (spelling intended) and Janice Joplin and Bob Dylan playing, we chilled with our groovy delicacies of Kool-Aide Electric Acid (Sprite) and Magic Brownies, which was actually challah french toast and bananas dipped in chocolate. There were only a few people there but it was nice because everyone had a place to sit, enough food, and we could have one big conversation.
    Today, I went to Jerusalem. The only reason I went again was for class. But our professor didn't come and four people out of the twelve in our class showed up. It was a international school wide trip so there were other people. Once in Jerusalem, we walked through the Armenian quarter and then through the room where the Last Supper was held. It has been turned into a mosque since then so there's not much to see there except some Romaneesque arches. We then made our way to the Jewish Quarter and to the Kotel. After putting a note in the Wall, me and the three other people from my class walked to the Begin Center. This is why I was surprised that our professor didn't show up. Menachem Begin's (pronounced BAY-gin) relationship to his mentor Jabotinsky is analogous to our professor's obsession with Begin. So I thought that our teacher would want to come and guide us through his life. Instead we joined a tour group and "learned" about his life. I say "learned" because besides the fact that we learned everything already in class, they just threw information at us and it was hard to absorb all of it. It was a good museum and if you're in Jerusalem you should go, but not if you've spent the past two and a half months talking about him. The good thing about going to the museum was that we had an hour afterwards to kill before catching up with the rest of the group so the Madrich that we were with gave us a small tour of the Cable Car used in the war with Jordan. Jordan forbade the entrance of food and water to Israel so the Israelis built a cable with a car so that it could bring food over. Food was transfered by night and the cable was brought down in the day so that the Jordanians wouldn't be able to see it. It wasn't until like twenty years later that the public was informed of this cable. As a plus, a meeting with the Khzakastan Parliament was going on in the Mount Zion Hotel (right next to the cable) so we got a sneak peek of them. We then caught up with the group went to Machanai Yehuda for some shopping and food and made our way back to university.

The Simple Things

    Compared to last weekend's trip to Ramon Crater (pics here), this weekend was pretty boring. Although it was nice to relaxing.

    After a hard week of presentations and tests, I had no food left in my fridge and so a few of us made our way down to Horev's SuperSol. We stopped at the pharmacy in the mall and I needed tissues so I bought the best tissues ever...princess ones! They're the travel kind so there are like packages in a pack. It's awesome!
    And then started the Movie Hours: Pick a Chick Flick. My friend and I, after being stressed all week, decided that we wanted to watch a movie and so we watched A Walk to Remember. A good sappy movie with Mandy Moore. Friday, I woke up really late and decided that instead of sleeping the day away, I should get up and do something productive. The result: watching Pride and Prejudice...the 5 hour version. The one with Colin Firth. I had never watched any version or read the book and surprisingly (to me) it kept my attention and was interesting. We stopped for lunch and random phone calls in between and by the time we finished it was 7pm. After a dinner of chicken and veggies and my apple crisp as dessert, we watched two more movies: What's up Doc? (with G-pa's favorite actress, Barbra Streisand...right?) and Clue, which was kinda stupid. All of us then decided to actually use our brains before going to sleep. (Although to be fair we did because we had to put the subtitles on because the volume wasn't loud enough so we had to read those) So I ended up reading some Chick-Lit. I finally found the fiction section in the library so I took out a bunch of books.
    Thus ended the Movie Day. Saturday, it rained and what better thing is there to do than to watch a movie. Just kidding. My friend and I decided to make chocolate chip cookies. It took longer to find all the ingredients than it took to make the actual cookies. I have the basic ingredients like flour, sugar, and chocolate (of course), but I didn't have the other stuff...mainly an oven. My friend did so we used hers, but we also had to find vanilla (didn't), baking soda (kinda), and more chocolate chips (of course we found those!) along with eggs and measuring cups. The oven, the toaster oven that we used, only fit ten cookies so it took a while to bake. Not wanting to stay on campus Saturday night, a few of us went bowling (בולינג) at the Haifa Mall. I started off okay and by the second game, I was beyond awful with a score of 19. My first game was 33 and my second 63. So I did improve...kinda.
    In other news, today I volunteered at the school. The girl I'm working with actually kinda learned her letters so we were somewhat productive. What I don't understand though is why even after three weeks they don't know their letters. What are they doing in school that is preventing them from learning English? The Madricha who runs the volunteering told us that all the younger kids (ie those not in high school) are all below their grade level for English. I'm tired of doing the letters and I'm sure she gets bored of it. We actually went on to words today. But even that is hard because she doesn't know many/any words. Not body parts, only some colors and few other random words. I wonder if the Israeli education system is bad all subjects or just this?
    Anyway, my roommates and I have a microwave...this calls for some microwave popcorn and some hot tea to warm me up from my cold showers, but that's a whole other story.
   

The desert did not desert the dessert

I don't think I've talked about Israeli drivers yet. So here are the rules of the road:
1. Green means keep going and red means you can go if there are no other cars
2. You can drive in whatever lane you want, that includes the middle
3. You can immediately switch lanes without warning, that includes going from the far left to the far right to switch lanes.
4. If you almost crash, which happens often, you can get out of the car and start yelling at each other in the middle of the road
5. There's no speed limit
6. If you do crash, then you can still yell at each other in the middle of the road
7. If you're a pedestrian, red means don't cross and green means cross. This is the one rule that they do follow. There is a fine if you don't. But none of the Americans follow this rule because if the light is red and there are no cars coming, why not cross?
8. check the horn because although it's not often used, a foreigner will always use it due to the way Israelis drive.
9. remember...you can always just stop in the middle of the road and do whatever you need to do

    We left for the Negev/Ramon Crater early Friday morning when no college student back home has gone to sleep (5:30 am). We made it to Be'ersheva in five hours where we stopped at a shuk for breakfast, but not before getting into an accident. The bus driver and the car driver started yelling at each other from their cars and then we pulled over and there was a whole debacle, but I think that it was the car's fault. Everytime I'm on a bus, I see a car almost hit the bus so it was bound to happen, but it was totally the car's fault. Anyway, we also passed Be'ersheva University so now I know where my brother was for a year...the middle of nowhere. After getting food at the shuk, we went to Ben Gurion's grave and home. It was nothing too exciting. David Ben Gurion, a prime minister of Israel and one of the original pioneers, lived in a simple but nice home. His grave site overlook was gorgeous and peaceful. We drove to Advat and after lunch, we learned about the history of the Spice Path and the Nabaeteens. There was a bunch of old ruins which was interesting to see and our tour guide told us their story. Finally, we made it to Ramon Crater and we walked up to an overlook and managed to fit forty people on a small platform. By sunset, we headed off to the Bedouin tent and made a dinner of pita, meat, and various salads. After a shortened Kab. Shab. (Kabblat Shabbat), we ate. And for dessert we had s'mores, but one of the madrichim forgot to bring the chocolate bars so we used chocolate spread which was just as good. We were also served Bedouin tea, but it was too sweet for me.
    The next morning we awoke at a more reasonable time and had breakfast. I think that I had too much coffee (only a cup, a literal cup) because I had so much energy for the rest of the day, but that was a good thing. We hiked from 9 in the morning until 430 in the afternoon. We walked in and along the crater. It's not actually a crater because no foreign body hit it. I think that it used to be a mountain and it was eroded so now there's a big whole in the ground. We took breaks during the hike, but not a lot which was good because hiking with forty people is only fun when we don't stop every five minutes. We also climbed the mountain (I want to say Har Hebron, but I think that's wrong) at the end of the trail and you could see everything! It was gorgeous especially since the sun was beginning to set. I tried to take panaromic pictures of the view. Oh, and the climb up was at a 100% slant. It was a straight line up. But that's because we were all racing each other (only 15 people did this everyone else stayed at the bottom) and the path kinda ended, or so we though, and we made up our own path. Going down was easier because this time the tour guide was in front of us and showed is the path. It was a tiring, but really fun weekend. This week is full of stupid presentations and tests. Ick.

Pictures will be in the next blog. Or when I have time. Or when I want to procrastinate. One of those.

I hate it when they're right

    The most awful non-required class I ever took was "Immigration to Israel" taught by a teacher who a) could barely speak English so b) couldn't pronounce her students' names even though she was their advisor and c) made groups of three write a ten page paper and present it and didn't even pay attention to the presentation. Although that turned out to be a good thing. So in this miserable seventy five minute class we talked about, well, immigration to Israel from the early 1900s to today. The two things that stuck out in my mind besides the monotonous teacher was that there was a huge Russian immigration and a big Ethiopian immigration. I don't know why I remember that but I do.
    Now fast forward a year (aka now). I am volunteering to tutor some Ethiopian kids in English. On the way home the Madricha who organizes the volunteering started talking about the Ethiopian immigration and though her explanation was helpful, I'm glad (it hurts to say this), I'm glad I took that stupid class. There were also several times in the past months that she has talked about thr Russian population here. My professor was Russian so I knew a bit more about that.
    Monday was the first day that we taught English. Everyone has their own kid (or two). They range from age 11 to 17. Most of the younger kids know very little English. Me and my luck got a girl who doesn't really know the alphabet. Even from just an hour of tutoring, you can realize how hard English is. I had to explain what vowels were and which letters they were. Try explaining that in a different language, or even in English. I think we spent most of the time spelling soccer. She spelled it logically (SIKR) it's just that We write out the vowels in English. Since this girl knows no English I spoke in Hebrew for an hour and I have to say that I am proud of myself for doing so.
    Also on Monday was HaZikaron Yitzchak Rabin--Yitzcahk Rabin Memorial Day. (Yitzchak Rabin was the Prime Minister of Israel and was assassinated 13 years ago). There was a service that might have been interesting if it was in English, although those who are fluent said it was boring anyway. My friends and I picked out words that we knew.
    On Sunday, after watching two movies the day before (The Bookdock Saints--hilarious, and the new James Bond Movie--I think it's better if you see the first one), a few of us decided to go the Shuk to get some fresh veggies and fruits. We made our way down to the Arab shuk, which we forgot was closed, and instead of getting veggies and fruits, we went to one of the best Hummus places in Haifa, possibly all of Israel. After lunch, we walked to Hadar, the Jewish shuk that we usually go to, and got a few fruits and veggies. Today my friend and I made our way back down to the Shuk to get the rest of our groceries. After my 8am class, I didn't have class again until 415 and had a whole day to waste so to the Shuk it was. This time we were more successful. After some of the "Best Falafel in Haifa" (there are two falafel places that are the best in Haifa right across from eachother. You can literally have both feet in each store), we went to the spice store, the fruit store that has more variety than any fruit stand I have ever seen, the Hummus store (yes, there's a whole store for hummus), and the deli where they cut meat like an artist. It was a very successful trip.
    Class update: Hebrew-- we're learning about Nifal, which is the passive voice (I was doing, I was cleaning, etc.) and we learned how to conjugate verbal nouns which I didn't understand until she said that it was a gerund so now I get it. Not class related, but when people speak hebrew to me, I'm not translating word for word. It's just there, like in English. And I'm getting so much better with numbers. When people tell me a price, I know what it is without going through the whole 1-10 thing. Except I still get mixed up between the 20s and the teens. Oh well, I'm getting better!
                        Rab. Lit.-- on monday we talked more about the Shema and the two different schools of thought on what the Mishnah means by "one long and one short" (Mom, I'll email you what he said, 'cause it's too long to write here)
                        Psych of Conflict--we don't do anything in that class. It is so israeli. The teacher comes late. We take a break every hour. Sometimes for 5 mins, sometimes 10, sometimes 20. Our teacher told us to write a 10 page paper. No directions. No due date. No nothing. We talk about what we want. Menachem Begin in jail. The conflict in the middle east. Whatever we want.
                    Psych Seminar--the shortest class, but the most boring. we have to give a 10 minute presentation on our topic, which we haven't chosen yet and might not be approved but we have to research it anway.
    Anyway, some friends from umass are going to be Haifa on Thursday and Friday so hopefully I will be able to see them! And Friday and Saturday I'm going to the Negev...Hot by day, Freezing by night.

Obamanation-- It ain't no abomination

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    You get two in a row!
    Hillary Clinton must be so mad. To explain: She's orginally from Illinois but moved to New York just be a senator. If she has stayed in her home state to run for senate, Obama wouldn't have been elected as a senator and Clinton might have been in Obama's place. But alas, that's not how it worked out. Sucks to be her.
    This was a monumental election not because Obama will be the first Black president sworn in. Not because it was my first presidential election that I could vote in. But because for the first time in eight years a Democrat will be president (and will be the majority) meaning that I will remember the history as it happens. I mean the only thing I remember about Clinton is the whole Monica Lewinsky fiasco and learning what impeachment was. I'm not saying that Bush isn't an important president but I am sure that the American people are glad that his term is up. I heard he was rated as the worst president in American history, even worse than Nixon. Now that says something.
     Last semester I took a class called “Ghosts That Haunt Us”. (All Umass people should take it if you can). The class was about racism in the Americas. I wish I could take this class again and see what people would say about the election. With Obama as president, I think it shows how far we have come as a country. If Obama had been born a few years earlier, he wouldn’t have even been able to choose where he wanted to sit on a bus or vote and now look at America! The 2008 election shows that maybe racial tension in America has loosened. I think that this election showed not only how stupid McCain was in picking his VP candidate, but also how much more accepting America has become. However, I think that we shouldn't get caulky with this "First". It is a great feat that Americans have overcome but racism still exists and I think that yes this shows how far we've come but it also shows how far we have to go. I mean it's exciting that Obama is "The First Black President" but really his color has (or should have) nothing to do with being president, but unfortunatley the media will portray him based on his race.
    I am now fearful of Sarah Palin. I read an article saying that if Palin lost the election there was no way she was going to fade back into the background and I think this is correct. It said that she might run for Senate and eventually President. I think she is a dangerous woman and I am glad that as of now she does not have a lot of power. She's the mayor of Wasilla. A place no one even heard of until she was chosen as John McCain's VP choice.
    Last night/early this morning at two in the morning there was an election party. It was actually a good time to be up because I got to talk to a lot of people that I don’t normally talk to during the day because of the time difference. In the Moadon, where the party took place, there was a lecturer, whose only purpose was to explain to the Israeli Political Science majors how a US election works. We had our own pseudo-election and Obama won so we knew it would be a good night/morning. Keep in mind that it was only somewhat biased because there were Israelis and non-American international students. Still, twenty percent voted for McCain. We watched Fox News only because other than BBC, which probably wouldn’t cover the election, it is the only News channel in English. It was really exciting to be there as history made way. For both parties it was a monumental election. Sarah Palin would have been the first female vice president. With two cups of coffee, I was able to make it to six in the morning, and shortly after going outside to see the sunrise, the California votes came in. Obama is officially the president for the next four years. With the winner decided, I took a nap before my 8am class.

Ahhh...history. Wouldn't miss it for the world.

Yitzchak-O-Lantern

    I'm not going to report about class, because frankly, that's just boring to read about. So I'm skipping from Monday to Thursday. Thursday night, my friend Hannah was in a very generous mood and made Tacos for six of us. Usually when we have dinner together, we either make dinner for ourselves and eat together or we all bring something over and contribute to a larger dinner, but this was just a free for all. After dinner, we met up with with some other people, making us a group of 13, and made our way to the Boardwalk at Hof HaCarmel, the beach. We ended up at a hookah bar where one half smoked hookah and the other half had ice cream. Yes, I know. Very Eclectic. It was a relaxing atmosphere, though. The restaurant was very open and you could see the stars and hear the waves crashing against the shore. It was very sukkah-like. Afterwards, half the group left, and the rest of us went to Mercaz Carmel (Carmel Center) where we played some pool. I am proud to say that as bad as I am at pool, I was one of the better players in my group. (We got two tables and split into 2 on 2). We left the pool bar at around one in the morning...an early night for Israelis, whose night starts at the time and caught the last bus back to the university.
    Friday, we had no class, so we went to the mall. (Don't worry, dad, the only things I bought were soap, potatoes, and grapes---hey, you want me to be clean, dontchya?) Some of the people I went with wanted to get a piercing. One, a nose ring, and the other two their cartilage. (Don't worry, mom, I didn't get anymore holes). After eating lunch, we split up so some of us could go shopping for food and others for clothes. I got back to my apartment and there was an Israeli there! Her name is Sandra (sounds like Mantra) and is super nice. My other roommate had a friend over from BenGurion University so all of us talked for awhile getting to know each other. After services and a Shabbat potluck, we had to celebrate Halloween. Basically the whole international school wound up at one apartment and luckily, unlike America, it is still relatively warm so the group could spill outside. Around two in the morning, a bunch of us decided that we were starving and we went to my friends apartment to eat. At 2:30 we decided that it was time for bed.
    On Saturday I was hoping to sleep late, which I did, but not considering the time I went to bed. My two friends, who had left the party earlier than I, were making French Toast and how could I resist French Toast, Challah French Toast at that. I didn't do much this weekend. On Sunday, we were supposed to watch Walk on Water, but the Madricha broke the DVD so we ended up watching a movie called The Band. It was soooo bad. At the start of the movie there were like twenty people and everyone just kept trickling out so by the end there were only five people. I left after twenty minutes and ended up talking to the Madricha and some other people about Arab-Israeli realtions. We talked for the length of the movie. So here's my perspective:

In the US, Haifa is known as the only city in Israel that has Jews and Arabs living together. Which is true, but it's not what the US makes it out to be. In the US I feel like it's made to be a society that people co-exist and live in peace and harmony. They work and live together and there are not many problems. Haifa is a place where everyone mingles and the only way you can tell the difference between one another is the way each dresses. But that's not how it is at all. It is Jews and Arabs living together relatively peaceful, but it's separated. Jews live in one area and the Arabs another. Individually, Arabs and Jews are friendly, but not when looked at as a whole. Basically, Haifa is not what it is made out to be in the US.

On Monday after Hebrew and a discussion of the Shema in Rabbincal Literature, I went to volunteer at community center where we will be teaching English to Ethiopian children, ages 9 to 17. I can tell that my hebrew is going to get a lot better by just talking to the girls I have. They speak NO English. But I managed to figure out how old they are, what grade they are in, and how many brothers/sisters they have. That's really as far as we got because the rest of the time we played ice-breaker games. Tonight, I am staying up to watch the election. That's at 2am and I have class at 8am, but I can go to sleep afterwards 'cause I don't have class again until 4:15.

Maybe the winner will be declared early...cough Ohio cough Florida cough.