An American Girl in Israel

2010

2010-01-11T06:18:00.002-05:00

Halfway...Halfway through my program....my time in Israel....very weird feelings...

a little late but HAPPY 2010 Everyone....For new years, we rented out a room at a club with all the other oranim groups and people from career israel and other groups around tel aviv and it was a great time from what I remember.

SACH...work has been extra busy with all of the group visits...the last 2 weeks we have had 3 or more groups coming through the house meaning I have worked 830-6 a lot of the last few days..Other than just birthright groups coming Idan Raichel who is a famous Israeli singer came to the house and taped a video segment endorsing SACH because he personally donates to the organization and it will be part of the Valentines Day Campaign. The Valentines Campaign is the entire month of February we are trying to raise $100,000 to bring 10 more children to Israel for surgery. I love my job so much :) This has honestly opened my eyes to so much and i love every child and mother that comes through the house. Not only am I helping these children and working in the house but I am learning about different cultures but I am establishing relationships with many of the mothers from around the world.

Sidon...our internet still sucks...it is a necessity to go to a cafe to get halfway decent internet as I am right now...My roommate is hardly there and when she is she is just as psycho as always...only 10 more weeks...

the last of 2009

2009-12-28T08:40:00.003-05:00

I cannot believe 2009 is coming to an end but I am thankful for the year I had graduating college and now living in Tel Aviv. I must say so myself 2009 has been a great year, in my books. Our internet has been a little better but not nearly what the United States has, but we all have to deal with something. Nothing to exciting has been going on in my life over here except for the fact that I have been wearing sundresses since christmas. On Christmas day, there was a festival with all these dj's and stuff on rothschild (which is a hot street in tlv) and we just were outside all day in the gorgeous weather, and it has not gone away, its been 78-82 degrees and sunny everyday since then :)

Last thursday, Oranim took us to the Holon Blind Museum which was a really cool exhibit in which everything was pitch black and you had to get on a "boat" order at a bar and do different tasks that blind people may encounter daily. All of the guides were blind, some were born blind and others lost them at a later age. It was a really good experience.

Were getting ready for NYE on thursday night, were going to this club/bar place with a lot of Oranim and Career Israel people, should be a good time...

WIshing everyone a happy holidays and a healthy New Year from me in TEl AVIV :)

lets try this one more time

2009-12-12T06:43:00.004-05:00

I know I have not been updating my blog that often but not because I am lazy or to busy but because the internet in my apartment does not work....ever..

A lot has been going on since I have last posted, this week we went to Haifa on Thursday..it was soooo pretty we went hiking in Mt. Carmel, to Rothschild's grave and gardens, the Bahai Gardens and a Druze village. Druze is a sect of Arab's who are NOT muslim but Druze, Druze do not know anything about their religion until they are 40 and noone can convert to Druze you must be born into it. It is pretty weird since, these kids are born into this religion and lifestyle but yet do not know anything about it.

I also am loving work still which is great and my little Ethiopian boy that I took to the hospital two weeks ago is back in the house :) When i walked in on Tuesday he gave me the biggest hug and it was soo cute...

3 of my girl-friends went to Turkey this week for Hannakah so now I am with just the boys and my floor seems like I am living on an all boys floor in the dorms. Its kinda fun not going to lie, the boys take me under their wing and its amazing.

Tonight my friend Jared and I are going to cook peanut noodles and teryiaki chicken (or attempt to on our hot plate) last night my mom's friend Marsha and Larry took the two of us out to an AMAZING dinner in Neve Tzedek and it was so nice of them..

The weather has been gradually getting colder and it has been raining the past few days...not to happy about that

Also, it is sooooo weird not hearing any Christmas music or lights here that it doesn't even feel like the holiday season...But on that note HAPPY HANNAKAH! :)

jerusalem and such

2009-11-20T10:53:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday, I went to Jerusalem for the day with my friend Alex. We took the bus from Tel Aviv, its a short 50 minute busride. We arrived in Jerusalem and it was raining, so we took a cab to the Old City. The cab driver dropped us off at the Christian Quarter, so we walked through their saw David's Tower, then through the Armenian Quarter and finally into the Jewish Quarter. When we arrived in the Jewish Quarter some old guy, showed us where we needed to go and dropped us at David's Tomb. We went inside and there were MANY tour groups so we kept trying to follow them but they stopped every two feet. While walking around, in the ruins, there was a huge mouse and a cat trying to eat it. We watched for about 15 minutes and it was a pretty cool sight. When we finally found our way to the Western Wall, it was gorgeous and breathtaking and sunny for about 10 minutes. Being in Jerusalem was a very different feeling than being in Tel Aviv. Much more spiritual and 1000 times more religious. After the Wall, we went to a cafe for lunch and then to the Ben Yehuda Market. This market was so much cleaner and bigger than our shook but all the same stuff. We decided it was starting to rain so we would trek our way back to the bus station. Alex had a map and circled what she thought was the station. We were following her map and walking our way through Jerusalem and were so proud of ourselves that we thought we found it but ended up in a tribeca-ish type area and when we asked where the bus station was, they stated that we needed to take a bus or a cab back to where we basically started our walk from. So we got in a cab and just felt that we had a nice little stroll through Jerusalem.

Then on Thursday, we were all invited to MASA IDF day. In which any MASA sponsored group, which is Oranim, Career Israel, Israel Government Program, and others came together and we had 3 lectures in the morning, 1 with Professer Asa Kasher, who is a Israeli linguist and philosopher who wrote the IDF Code of Conduct. Then there was a panel that consisted of Nahman Shai, who is an Israeli Journalist who is currently serving as a member of Knesset, Alon Ben-David, who is a journalist and news anchor who has been covering Israeli Military affairs for over 10 years. And the 3rd member being Benzi Gruber, who is a commanding officer for the IDF. After the morning session we re-boarded the buses and went to an Army base in Beer Sheva. Once we arrived on the base we had a question and answer session with 4 soldiers and then a tour of the base. It was overall a really awesome day.

2009-11-15T07:12:00.002-05:00

Hey all, haven't wrote in a while. So after day 1 at my internship I decided it was not what I could see myself doing for 5 months, since it was such mindless work. I talked to our internship advisor and she said I could volunteer at this organzation here in Israel called "Save a Child's Heart" which takes children from African and Arab countries to Israel to give them life-saving heart surgery which would cost their parents more than they will earn in a lifetime. I will be working with the children pre and post-operation and help them recover and prepare for surgery. I am very excited about this internship and will be starting next week.

Yesterday, it was supposed to be raining but it turned out to be a gorgeous day so Alex and I went to explore the city of Tel Aviv, we began at Neve Tzedek which is an area that is all small streets with cute boutiques and restaurants and is just gorgeous. We just walked around and took in the scenes. Across the way on the beach is the famous restaurant called Manta Ray, we just went to their "beach bar" and had a drink and laid on these couches that over looked the water and relaxed for about an hour before heading to Jaffa. We walked around the old city of Jaffa which is gorgeous and explored a little more but since it was Shabbat the majority of stuff was closed. We want to go back when their flea market is open.

Today, I went to the beach this morning and now have Ulpan at 4. Tommorow we are going on a tour of Jaffa with our city coordinator and to the Arab/Jewish Museum something like that. I will post more on that. :)

ALSO A SHOUTOUT TO BRETT, wish I could of been at the bar-mitvah with all my faves but saying MAZEL from ISRAEL :)

eilat and since

2009-11-11T02:40:00.002-05:00

This weekend Oranim took us to Eilat. The bus picked us up at 530 friday morning and what should have been a 3 hour drive to Eilat took about 7 1/2...we hiked for about an hour of that which was about a 15 minute uphill a 25 minute look over and 20 minute decline which was basically walking through a beach. When we finally got to Eilat and checked in it was time to shower and go for shabbat in the lobby at 530. We went out that night and kind of wandered around Eilat but went to the infamous bar Three Monkeys which we quickly found out in the off season is packed with the 40+ age range. We had our drinks and continued on to this place called park avenue which was fun but had a persian wedding going on. We then continued on back closer to our hotel and found our selves at UNPLUGGED which is where Oranim takes all their trips but its a GAY bar normally. After our adventures we all decided TEL AVIV is sooo much better. But I was dancing outside the bar with my friend Jordan and there was a piece of the sidewalk that was not paved at all and was a hole and I tripped and now have a completley bruised knee and probably needed stitches in part of the cut so now I will be adding scar #6 to my body.

On Saturday morning EVERYTHING was closed in Eilat due to Shabbat so we decided to go to the Hilton and hang by the pool there thought we could get a nice lunch and a nice pool but NOO the kitchen doesn't open till 1 and it was a special shabbat menu. Well it was a pretty nice morning but then we went back to our hotel for the provided lunch and nap time. Woke up and showered and we were going to go try to find a restaurant to eat in but that didn't work and we ended up at aroma (which is kind of like a panera/starbucks) Then Oranim had the night planned for us at UNPLUGGED again and it was fun for a little but the drinks were really expensive and very clubby scene we hung for a little and then decided we were going to just go back and chill at the hotel, since we had to wake up at 645 the next morning for another HIKE.

Sunday morning we all wake up to NO WATER in the hotel, had to brush our teeth and was our face with bottled water and the toliets wouldn't flush. really great hotel choice oranim. The hike the second day was gorgeous we went through the mountains and it was really pretty. Then it took us again about 6 1/2 hours from start to finish to get back to Tel Aviv. But when we finally arrived at about 430 we all couldn't wait to be HOME :)

I started work yesterday and I need to switch asap because it is mindless work and I was just sitting in a closet one on one while the "students" read english passages and I was basically falling asleep. SOO now I need to go email my internship placement person and find a new one asap. :) going to go to the beach now its 80 and gorgeous out :)

2009-11-05T07:46:00.002-05:00

Finally it is nice out again.....it is 80 and sunny!! yipppieeee

To start off, last night we went back to neveen which is our favorite bar since we have been here and hung with Yuval (the owner that we befriended) he gave us so many drinks on the house and brought over calamari and shrimp...just a great night and he is sooo nice....

Woke up this morning to Alex calling me and going be ready at 12 Yuval is taking us for lunch...in my mind I thought just a hummus joint or something....NOOOOOO wait he took us to ToTo the MOST expensive Italian restaurant in all of Tel Aviv...AND paid for it all....we got 2 appetizers, an tuna tartare (which I didn't eat) and a roasted eggplant dish (which I tried and it was amazzzzing) than 3 main courses, I got a pizza with salami and tomato, Alex got a cheese tortellini with a mushroom cream sauce and Yuval got an oxtail tortellini that was ALSO amazing....Then we got 3 desserts, I will post a picture of these on my facebook later when I upload....but OMG like I am in heaven...Apparently Alex saw the bill and it was 1500 sheckels like I can't even begin to tell you how amazing this restaurant was....If I could I would order EVERYTHING on that menu....

Then BEST NEWS ever....i walk in from Lunch and My psycho demon girl roomate goes this isn't going to work out I am finding someone else to live with WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! and like she thinks its me, everyone on the trip is like MY friend and think shes crazy I think she may be bipolar or schizophrenic or something BUT yayayayayaya today has just been A GREATTTT day so far!!!!

Tommorow we are leaving for Eilat for the weekend :) SOOO ill post after that :) :) :)

I am just SOOOO happy here...

2009-11-02T05:24:00.003-05:00

After being here for a little over 2 weeks, we are quickly learning that oranim is probably the most unorganized company in the world. We are supposed to be having intensive ulpan for the first 2 wks before all our internships start, so already we have had 1 day cancelled, and 2 days that were supposed to be 4 hours of instruction cut down to 2 hrs and we have never been at the same school 2 days in a row. We usually don't find any of this information out until about 30 minutes before we need to be somewhere, and one of the schools is about an hour walk from our apartment.

So, yesterday morning, my friend Alex and I decided to wake up around 9 to go to the shook to get some vegetables, fruits, cheese and I wanted a tapestry for my bed to make my room look a little more like home. We take the 40 minute walk up to the shook get there have a nice morning strolling through the shook, then we realize its about 1230 and we need to get back to our apartment, collect our ulpan stuff and then head out to ulpan at the school which is acutally located on penis st that is an hour away...As we are heading out at about 115, we all recieve a text message that ulpan is now not starting until 4. So we are all annoyed as usual but we decide to go to the beach.

But back track a few steps, as Alex and I are running to the bus stop, out of no where this guy in plain clothes comes up to us and says "immigration services" let me see your passports. First off I don't carry my passport around...then we are very skeptical because we all know how many guys pose as cops and rape girls, or could of possibly ran away with Alex's passport. Then we are kind of not giving him full answers and then a guy in uniform appears also out of no where. We try to get on the bus and they completley blockade us. So after this i walk away for a minute closer to the stores behind us and call our group coordinator Tomer, eventually he gets on the phone with these s0-called immigration workers and Alex shows the passport. But they were threatening to arrest us if we didn't show one. So after all that both of us are very shaken up and now thinking we are about to miss Ulpan.

That is my first crazy story from Israel and i am hoping something like that doesn't happen again and I was so happy to be with Alex because if I was by myself I would of been shitting in my pants.

Well right now its another thunderstorm outside :( thats all for now

the start to a "wet" israeli winter

2009-10-30T08:13:00.003-04:00

It has not stopped raining here since yesterday morning and I have been hearing more thunder and seeing more lightening than i have in my entire life in one sitting since then. We have today off since its the weekend here in israel and shabbat, we wanted to go to the tel aviv art museum but they closed at noon....theres nothing to do in the rain here because the majority of markets and things are outside...so I have a feeling it will be a longggg rainy wet winter.

Last night a bunch of us went to the same bar Rosa Parks and it was fun but apparently they want you to be 25 here to get in bars which I think is ridiculous since the drinking age is 18...we had a little hassle at the door but then they let us in....

So now with this rainy weather I am just cuddling up in bed with my e-reader which I am currently reading The Help....the book is very good and the e-reader is one of my favorite gadgets that I own(thanks mom and dad)

We are thinking of cooking a floor shabbat dinner tonight to make a rainy day activity...we shall see tho :)

the beginning of hebrew intensive

2009-10-26T05:28:00.002-04:00

Yesterday started our 10 day long intensive hebrew sessions. We have class from around 2-530 everyday....for me sitting in one classroom for this long is a challenge itself but when mixed with a language I do not even know an ounce of....this becomes a major challenge. Our teacher Elana is like a little old grandma who is so cute and has the patience for all of us americans who have the WORST israeli accents ever. When it was my turn to read I cannot get the sounds of the vowels because its only a,e,ee,o,oo and its drawn in pictures then we are trying to learn block and cursive at the same time....oh wow am I confused.

But on a better note, last night we went to a bar called rosa parks it was a cute little chill place but I just had a diet coke, was very tired and came home with my friend Alex at about 1115 and went to bed. We just felt like we should go be social.

Some girls on our trip found an American Apparel store here in Dizengoff Mall, which could be very dangerous except I am DEFINITELY not ready to shop yet :)

thats all for now

xoxo :)

all settled in

2009-10-23T18:12:00.002-04:00

Moved into the apartment on Monday...very big it was set up as a bedroom with two twin beds, a living room, kitchen and bathroom. Once everyone kind of unpacked and met roommates we all decided that we are all in ours 20's and want our own space so converted the living room into another bedroom...so here we all are with our own bedrooms. My roommate is the most opposite person than I am so I am very glad to have my own space. I got a couch in my room and all its the biggest room on the floor...go me =)

I have been basically touring the area around my apartment and the rest of the city and Jaffa...last night Oranim tried to take us on a "booze cruise" which #1 was not a "cruise" it was like a party boat and the water was soo rough it felt like we were on a roller coaster and was going to tip so about 10 people were vomiting out the window of the bottom floor so after about 20 minutes the trip directors made them turn around and bring us back to the port. After that we decided to walk home about an hour and then my friend Alex, the boys and I went to this club called gallina. Apparently Israeli clubs still think its the 1970's and they are like studio 54 in which unless you have a "table" or look like they want you in their club you can't get in so after about 10 minutes of waiting the guys went to the bouncer and bought a table for us and 2 bottles and it was an AWESOME night...

Today, we went to the beach my friend Alex and I and it was a SAND STORM ive never been covered in more sand in my entire life but then we started to talk to these Israeli guys and they had chairs so it was muchhh better...for dinner tonight we cooked a shabbat dinner at the school where our hebrew lessons are and it was really nice to do that

Tommorow we are going up to Jaffa to my friend Jared's moms apartment and beach and to explore the area over there....

first weekend in tel aviv

2009-10-18T10:25:00.002-04:00

I arrived here on friday afternoon it was a warm 95 degrees. Friday night we went for dinner at a restaurant called King Georges and of all the things to eat I had cheese ravioli....( I havent even had a schwarma or falafel yet) It was a very good restaurant but I am learning quickly the service here SUCKS completley. Since it was alex's birthday thursday night everyone here was pretty worn out so we just chilled and relaxed (which i didnt really care about since I had just flown for 2 days)

On saturday we went to the beach which is a block from alex's apartment and it was gorgeous out...it was like the perfect breeeze and was so relaxing..I laid on the towel and read my e-reader and took in the sun while everyone back in ny is stuck in the 40 degree weather and rain (except stacy may be having some snow up in buffalo) We then came back and chilled watched my sisters keeper and we all cried our eyes out (oh how i miss college living and having friends together at all times...(.reminded me of 6110 and 213)

Saturday night was a festival of 100 years of Tel Aviv down at the port which is on the water and has a lot of the clubs and restaurants...apparently this is where I will be living for the next 5 months...which I will find out tommorow. It was a huge dance party/light show/fireworks/concert outdoors which was soo amazing... We ate at Max Brenners (so israeli right) it felt like I was right back home in NYC.

So thats it for now :)

the FINAL countdown

2009-10-11T20:15:00.000-04:00

whoa....starting laying out all my clothes and junk today....choose my seats for my flight its all happening soooo fast and i just CANNOT wait!

2 weeks to GO!

2009-10-01T13:55:00.000-04:00

As I am sitting here, relaxing, researching Israel, I am getting SOOOOOOO excited to leave and start my new life in tel aviv. I spoke with Helen, the internship coordinator in Tel Aviv and I am going to be working in a high school with at risk teens. Should be interesting....I cannot wait to go....2 wks and counting!