New Friends, Partying, and Working

Me and a bunch of people at Inter-Mate

Hey, so this past week was so busy, I barely got a chance to breathe at some points. Like I said in the last post, I went with a bunch of my Master's friends to make new friends at the Inter-Mate program. The Israelis we met were really cool! They all go to the Academic College of Tel Aviv, located in Jaffa, which is southern Tel Aviv. Everyone was between the ages of 22-28 (roughly) and no one was afraid to interact and meet new people. We went to this place on a street off of Allenby and we were welcomed by a big group of people and refreshments. The first activity we participated in was the non-Israelis got into a big external circle and the Israelis got into a smaller internal circle. The Israelis moved around the circle, meeting new people and talking about predetermined conversation topics such as "If you could be a superhero, who would you be?" and "Where have you traveled to?". Then we got into groups based on what kind of chocolate you like (white, milk, dark, none) then what kind of animal you like (cats, dogs, reptiles, not an animal person/allergic). In each group, we were supposed to ask each other more predetermined questions, but we never followed that. In the milk chocolate group, we played "Never Have I Ever" (NOT the dirty version!) and in the cats group, we just went around in a circle telling each other about ourselves. After that, we went to a local bar and I got to know more people. I made friends with Israelis named Adi, Nofar, Hila, Shaun, Tal, and a couple other Oranimers named Anna and Michael. What a fun night!

Left to right: me, Asaph from the
Partners program, and my friend, Dan

The next day, I had classes, then Hilary and I met with our boss for the internship to discuss logistics, and I went to volunteer at Neve Tzedek after school with Nicole. It was the first time I got a chance to tutor someone in English -- in Israel! I helped this little girl (I keep forgetting her name, but it was a cute name) distinguish between am/are/is and has/have, colors, and tall/short/long/thin/etc. She understood as I spoke with her mainly in Hebrew and she was very determined to get it. I was so proud to have made a small difference for this little girl! The hour went by in a flash. After that, the Master's program and internship program went to this bar called Polaroid for a party introducing the new Oranim internship group (7 people) that just got to Israel. I hung out with my friend Dan and a couple Israeli friends of his from the Partners program, the internship program's version of Inter-Mate. I also saw my new Israeli friends Adi and Nofar and spoke with them for a while.

Last Thursday was volunteering at Ironi Yud Aleph High School, the last opportunity high school that I had talked about. I was the only volunteer there, and I helped a 17 year old kid (who's actually a French Jew who immigrated to Israel with his mom about 5-7 years ago) do a little reading in English. He's actually quite good, I just helped him read a few difficult words and discussed the underlying meaning of some quotes and connected them to the story with him. He was studying for a test. I enjoyed doing that, too. What a rewarding experience! At night, I met up with my new Israeli friend, Hila, at the Hemingway Bar in Dizengoff Square for her friend, Lital's, birthday party. It was very fun, a loud bar that had people dancing on the bar. We talked, had cake, and danced a bit. Then I ran into a few friends from Ramla, so when Hila left, I joined them for a couple hours.

Marc and I counting balls

Friday was FILLED with working on project after project. To release stress, Dan and I went out with his roommate to Mike's Place (an American bar across the street from Tsidon) for a bite. Dan and I then proceeded to go out to the other side of town to meet a couple of my Ramla friends. We joined their Brazilian friends, trying to find a place to go. We ended up splitting, some of us going to this really cool bar at the corner of Ben Yehuda and Allenby, while the rest went to a club next door. I have no clue what the name of the bar was, but Dan claims it looks like a scene from Roadhouse, circa 1995. We played a few games of pool, each of us winning one game. Dan and I are going back there very soon.

Saturday and Sunday were COMPLETELY FILLED with working on projects for Org Behavior, Human Resource Management, and Staffing Organizations. 3 projects due in 2 school days -- not cool. On Monday, I had classes and gave my OB presentation with my friends Saul and Alex. We were a kick ass team! At night, I hung with Loni for a bit then went straight to bed. 4 hours of sleep the previous night did not do me any good.

Logo for the Children's
Museum in Holon, Israel

Tuesday was really cool and frustrating at the same time. We had a special enrichment today; we went to this "Dialog in the Dark" exhibition at the Children's Museum in Holon, a town over from Tel Aviv. About half of us from the program took the bus there, got off at the wrong stop, went to the wrong area, got lost, then finally found our way. This "Dialog in the Dark" thing was really cool. We went into this area of the museum that had no lights and we got led by a blind person. It may sound weird, but yeah, it really happened. The point of the exhibition was for us to feel what it's like to be blind. What happens (for those who don't know) is that since you don't have your most commonly used sense, your other senses heighten in sensitivity to compensate.

We all walked around the hallways, afraid we were going to walk into each other, often clutching the wall next to us. We explored a room that had statues on the wall, bicycles, and other really cool things. We got into a boat, going across some small pond. I was told to feel the outside of the boat, and try to decipher the 3 Hebrew letters on the side: it said חנה, or Chana (Hannah in English). That was the small boat's name. After we got out of the boat, we went into another room where there ended up being a bunch of produce (eggplant, peppers, lemons, etc.) that I smelled and touched. Then I walked into the middle of the room -- and ran into a car! Yes, a car. I'm just as surprised as you are. In the next room, we sat down against the wall and just closed our eyes (not that we could see) and were just told to listen to music. Imagination is such a powerful tool. I imagined I was in many different places, based on the music playing. I don't know the  names of anything, except some Mozart playing (thanks for drilling it into my head, Dad), but it was awesome! Last, we ordered food in the dark and ate together while asking our tour guide questions about being blind; we were allowed to ask anything. ANYTHING, including the most personal questions if we so desired. I asked, "Can you visualize things in your head even though you can't see?" and "Have you ever encountered someone who didn't respect your absence of sight and how did they react to you?". I don't remember the answers, but I learned a bunch. Because we were an hour late for the enrichment, I got a late start on working on projects once I got back home. I worked on one then on another in the course of 6 hours. I immediately went to bed due to extreme mental exhaustion.

I got up this morning (early) to finish up some work for one of my projects then went to school. It was Ben-Ami project day. Everyone presented projects in both classes, HRM and Staffing Orgs. Such a tiring day. I'm finally done rambling. I'll update you on more stuff soon.

Adios and l'hitraot!

Not Like Any Other Week...

Stupid woman monopolized the 4 (out of 6) working washing machines at the laundromat! Now I have to wait just to do my laundry. I really shouldn't be writing right now as I have 5 group projects due in the span of 8 days starting next Monday; however, here I am. Procrastination is an art, and I already mastered it as a student at UConn. I just hope my skills of doing homework well under pressure has carried over into my graduate studies.

This past week was filled with action and adventure! Last Tuesday, I had Ulpan then Simon and I went to Ironi Yud Aleph High School (about a 20 minute walk from home) for a volunteering orientation. We ran into Lucy's roommate, Rotem, there. The three of us learned that Ironi High School is a last opportunity high school. The troubled kids typically don't want to learn anything; they often don't come to class and need disciplining. Their parents often don't know how to read English, but we, as volunteers, would help them learn to read and write in English. I'm going to try out this volunteering opportunity this coming Thursday. Jesse (from an Oranim internship program) is an intern there, and he's second in command to the director. He brought us around the school, told us a little bit about the kids and what we would be doing, and hoped we would come next time.

My friend, Mike, on
the L.A. trip with one
of the coolest kids ever

On Wednesday, we had classes all day then I went with my friend, Nicole, to another volunteer orientation. Nicole has been volunteering at the Neve Tzedek Community Center since she came to Israel on the internship program in March (now, she's on the Master's program). Neve Tzedek is a neighborhood in southwestern Tel Aviv in which the affluent live. Nicole and I went to the community center to help tutor kids in English. On this day, there weren't that many kids, so we kind of just sat around the whole time. Randomly, Emanuelle from the internship program joined us at the orientation. I seem to like that place, it's calm and collected, and I get the chance to work with little kids. I remember when I went on a Hillel community service trip to Los Angeles in March, and for much of the week, we tutored little kids in Math, Science, spelling, and reading; it was such a rewarding experience when I got the chance to see a child spell a word right or solve a problem correctly. If they didn't, I helped them the best way I knew how. That's the type of thing I'm looking to get out of my volunteering experience. At night, Alex, Adam, and I just hung out playing some video games, but it's weird... I feel like I had dreamed about experiencing this night before.

Tzfat, I took this picture
on Birthright

Thursday was originally devoted to a program trip of a hike in Miron and spending time in Tzfat, one of Judaism's holiest cities. It's located in the Galilee area, the highest elevation in the whole country. Tzfat is known for being the birthright of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). The trip was postponed, so we'll be going there soon. My friends Aline and Kenny (separately) spent time with friends there for the weekend, and they both had fun with their respective experiences. Instead of the trip, everyone took the opportunity of free time to catch up on some group work. We were all busy at work all day. I worked on a couple projects and also on some internship work, writing another blog.

But the weirdest thing happened Thursday. All day, up until a certain point, I had known that everything would happen the exact way it did. I knew I would be playing Battlefield 3 with Alex and Adam, eating cheese puffs. I knew I would walk down to the bank to apply for a credit card, answer my phone, get off it right as the employee came in the room again, listen to the exact same music, walk back, see Simon in his room every time I went to the bathroom or got a snack, and just sitting in my chair doing work. The only different things were Alex telling me he got hired for an internship and my friend Jason calling me to ask about borrowing books from me. It was a very odd day. At night, I hung out with Shawna from Ramla.

Friday was also used to catch up on work. I was so busy, it all feels like a big blur to me. I spent Friday night in Ramla, just hanging with Shawna again. Saturday and Sunday weren't really too exciting, just more work and staying at home relaxing and sleeping. Monday was classes then later, I went with Loni and Hunter to Mike's Place to watch Kenny do stand-up again. He was much better this time. Like I said, he is improving by the week.

I gotta go, need to take my laundry out and run to an enrichment program. We're going to be learning about Hanukkah (which starts in just 6 days, next Monday) and a bunch of us from the Master's program signed up for this program called Inter-Mate, where we will meet a bunch of (most likely Israeli) Tel Aviv University students for a social hour. It's a way to branch out and get to know Israelis personally. I'll tell you more about it next time. Laundry time! L'hitraot!

Busy and Fun Week

At Aline's birthday party left to right: Sarah, Joan,
Andrew, Nohar, Aline, Anna, me, Lior, and Marjorie.

Sorry I haven't written in a week, things got busy and crazy. So last Monday, we had class then later that night, a bunch of us went out to Club Seret for Aline's 22nd birthday party. Aline is this really cool Brazilian girl in my program who is living in Jerusalem. She comes up to Tel Aviv (or technically Rishon LeZion) for classes then stays over at her aunt's in Tel Aviv for enrichment programs we typically have on Tuesdays. It was a very fun night.

On Tuesday, we had Ulpan (as you could tell from my last post, I am getting better and better with my Hebrew) and then an enrichment lecture. Our guest speaker was Jason Seymour, an American diplomat working at the U.S. Embassy. He was pretty cool; he told us about his work history and certain procedures for applying to be a diplomat, why he got into what he does, etc. Mr. Seymour became a diplomat because he loves to explore new countries and loves to learn languages; he said that was enough to make him get into the industry. He has done tours in Pakistan; Guangzhou, China; and Barcelona, Spain. He had always wanted to come to Israel, given his Jewish roots. He finally got the chance two months ago and he is now here for 3-5 years, working right here in Tel Aviv.

Wednesday was packed with fun. School was ordinary (again). Afterwards, Adam, Lewis, and I went shopping at the local supermarket called Chetzi Chanim (Half something) in Rishon. We walked around for about an hour trying to find the place and asking people in Hebrew where it was. We finally got directions, in English, from this Canadian dude. We got there and realized it was much more than a produce store but a regular (big) supermarket. We hit the jackpot! Adam bought 400 shekels worth of stuff (about $107) and I spent 125 shekels. We got home and then I went out to dinner with a girl originally from West Hartford. Shani is the daughter of someone who works in the front office at my synagogue at home. For the first time I met her, she was very nice. We went to this pizza place I've been to before on Ben Yehuda called, Pizzafino. We got to know each other for a couple hours and agreed that soon, I would come down to Jerusalem and visit her. Shani works in Lod, about 40 minutes away from her house.

The lovely (and now engaged)
couple: Idan and Samantha

After that, I got back and found out that Samantha (on my program) had just gotten engaged to her Israeli boyfriend, Idan. They've been together a mere 7 months. That story gives me hope for the future; I told Idan about my Bubbie and Zadie falling in love. They met on a blind date and it was love at first sight. They were engaged 3 weeks later and married 3 months after they met. My grandparents were married for 55 years before my Bubbie passed away in 2003, but their love was as strong the last day they were together as the day they met. Idan was touched and I hope he'll remember my story for the future. A bunch of us from the Master's program went out to the club to celebrate; what a fantastic evening.

Zao t-shirt!

Thursday was an interesting and productive day. Hilary and I got up in the morning to take the train down to Rehovot to meet our boss, Ziv. We met the Zao team, got our own company t-shirts (they're so cool and sleek!), and talked strategy with Ziv. Then we went out to lunch to this place called River, delicious Asian cuisine. After we got back, I just relaxed for the day until I went to my friend Max's birthday party at a local bar that night. I danced, drank, and had a lot of fun. I definitely plan on going back there.

Friday was low key; I don't even remember what I did that day (no, I was not hung over from the previous night!). However at night, two friends from the Ramla crew came up to Tel Aviv to hang out with me and Alex. Nathalie and Shawna went out to Max Brenner's Chocolate Factory with us and halfway through dinner, it kind of turned into a double date. Alex and I paid the bill and we went back to my room to watch a very late movie. Great night! We didn't do too much Saturday, just sitting around hanging out and watching another movie. Cory and I continued our recent awesome collaboration which is sure to turn into a tradition during our program: joining forces on making macaroni and cheese. After that, I went to Mike's Place, a local American bar, with my friend, Dan. He and I just caught up, enjoying ourselves while having a beer and eating some pizza and fries.

Sunday was filled with Ulpan and doing some work. Monday was just classes, but fun this time. Cory and his group gave their presentation for Organizational Behavior and, knowing Cory, it was the funniest academic presentation ever (if I haven't mentioned this before, Cory lives his life by the creative mind of Larry David, specifically "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm"). His group showed clips from an episode of "The Simpsons" and they connected the episode to the academic article they reviewed. It was the one where Homer accepts a job in Cypress Creek and moves there with his family to work for Hank Scorpio and Globex. Great episode! Tonight, Loni and I went out to the bar to watch our friend, Kenny, do his stand-up comedy routine on stage. He's getting better every time he goes up there. We also enjoyed the company of Cory and Dave.

Well, gotta go. It's time for bed. I got Ulpan tomorrow morning and I'm going to an orientation for volunteering. I'll let you know how it goes. Lilah tov (good night)!

Israel Public Diplomacy 101

I've realized that doing laundry is a good time to reflect on my recent experiences. So here I am at the laundromat again. Anyway, a number of weeks ago, I signed up for this non-academic class at Tel Aviv University (not through Oranim) to learn more about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict because I am less than informed. The class is called Israel Public Diplomacy 101. When I get into a discussion in the future with someone about the Conflict, I want to have the ability to present to the other party the right facts about Israel, and correct them on anything not true. This is because what we see in the media often portrays Israel in a very negative light.

This past Sunday was the second class, which takes place every 2-3 weeks, but it was the first time that my friends and I could attend (we couldn't go to the first one because we were in Eilat). So Simon, Shoshana, Anna, Nicole, and I hailed a couple cabs to TAU. We got to Beit Ha'Kvutzot, or the Diaspora Museum. We eventually found the room and settled in.

The teacher, Ari Applebaum, started off by having all of us introduce ourselves and say what place in Israel we would be. I said, "Hi, I'm Josh and I would be the Kotel (the Western Wall)." Lots of people chose Tel Aviv. Ari then got into the class, discussing the physical aspects of Israeli diplomacy. He mentioned that there is a difference in perception when people see a map of Israel in the center versus a map of Israel off to the side. When in the center, Israel looks bigger and is therefore viewed as a national power. If seen off to the side, the country is viewed as an underdog because it's surrounded by big countries like Jordan, Syria, and Egypt. However, Ari pointed out that Israel shouldn't be viewed as an underdog given its strong military, history of superb strategy, and being known that Jews are really smart and run things.

I also took away a few other things from the class. People say that when officials come to visit Israel, one place they have to visit is Yad Vashem, the Israel Holocaust Museum. It's important to understand what the Jews have gone through in their long history, especially something as damaging to a people as the Holocaust, but the teacher said that officials, and visitors, should not just take into account that Israel was founded in response to the Holocaust, so Jews could have a place to call home. I am not sure whether I agree or disagree with that point yet.

In 1975, there were a number of Communist countries who hated the U.S. and a bunch of Arab countries who wanted to get back at Israel. They joined forces in the United Nations and passed a resolution stating that Zionism (which protects Jews for desiring a Jewish state) equals racism. RACISM? Really? The Arab League is THAT dumb? Either way, the resolution wasn't repealed until 1991. The fact that the U.N. was founded on the belief that everyone and every country deserves an equal say in their desires and also BASIC FREEDOMS is key. That resolution should never have passed, but it's good that it was repealed.

In order to understand the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in broader terms, it seems like you can't just view it locally. You have to view it as more of an Israeli-Arab Conflict, given that Hamas, Hezbollah, and Arab countries support the Palestinians and want Israel not to exist. I'll be learning more in this class, and I'm looking forward to it.

My laundry is almost done, so I will leave you with some Hebrew that I have learned, thanks to Ulpan. Here is the Hebrew, transliteration, and translation into English. Enjoy!

.אני יהושע. אני גר ברחב צידון בתל-אביב. אני גר על יד הנמל ולמלה רחב דיזנגוף וקרוב בתל-אביב אוניברסיטה

Ani Josh (or Yehoshua). Ani gar b'rehov Tsidon b'Tel Aviv. Ani gar al yad ha'namal v'lemalah rehov Dizengoff v'karov b'Tel Aviv Universita.

I'm Josh. I live on Tsidon Street in Tel Aviv. I live next to the port and the top of Dizengoff Street, and near Tel Aviv University.

Whew!

Whew, what a great past week! For a shorter blog post, I'll just give the highlights...

On Sunday, I had Ulpan. Then Hilary and I met with our new boss for the first time as interns. We planned out what Hilary and I will be doing for the next few months before the product launches, researching and writing blog posts on employee referrals programs, bonuses, and business strategy. Once we launch, we'll begin selling the product, speaking with American companies. We're all looking forward to it. Hilary and I also get the opportunity to meet the rest of the team this Thursday at the company offices. 

Monday was just classes and relaxing. During break in between classes, Alex and I went on an adventure. Instead of just going to Kanyon HaZahav (Gold Mall, next door to the abandoned mall we have classes in) like we always do, we journeyed to another local mall, Cinema City (and we used our growing Hebrew skills to ask people how to get there!). This mall has a bunch of stores in it, too, but also a big movie theater (25 screens). We missed the time to see the movie we were interested in, so we just chilled and explored the surroundings. Tuesday was Ulpan then more relaxing.

Sitting in the middle of the
multicolored lighted floor
of the Cinema City theater!

Wednesday we had classes again. After class, Alex and I went over to Cinema City again and saw "Olam HaZmon", or in English, "In Time", with Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. Yes, the movie was in English but there were Hebrew subtitles. For anyone who has not seen it, I suggest you see it. JT did a great job in the movie, the love story was a bit weird, though. Great premise for a movie. Hollywood is running out of ideas; too many businessmen and not enough creative minds. "In Time" is basically a cross between Robin Hood (not Men in Tights :P) and Bonnie and Clyde. Afterwards, we took the bus home. I then hung out with my friend Loni (she prides herself on being from Detroit), watching the majority of "Bridesmaids". It's relatively funny, but "The Hangover" is way better. Then, my friend Hunter and I went to the club. Damn, that was a fun night!

Thursday was completely packed! I started off at 1pm meeting with my Organizational Behavior group, which includes Alex and our friend, Saul (he's South African). We have to do a presentation on work teams and trust. The project is a work in progress, but slowly coming together. After that, I worked a little bit on my first blog post for my internship. At 6pm, I made a Skype call that was long overdue; talking to my close friends Ilan and Stacie. Miss ya guys! Mazel Tov to them because they're getting married in June 2012. 

Left to right at Thanksgiving: Andrew, me,
Cory, and Lucy. What a great holiday!

The best part of Thursday was the Israeli Thanksgiving Seder we put together. That's right, I said THANKSGIVING SEDER! At the helm was our program coordinator, Orly, who is Israeli. She ran everything and delegated responsibilities to everyone. She even special ordered a turkey from a deli in Jaffa (southern Tel Aviv) and cooked it herself! And she did a DAMN GOOD JOB! Everyone else brought food and drink as a potluck; half of the table was cooked by my friends Lucy and Lior. I brought wine, one chardonnay and one Merlot. About half our program joined in and the dinner was absolutely delicious! After my first Thanksgiving in Israel, some of us went out to a popular club in Tel Aviv called Seret. We spent a few hours there, pretty fun. I'll be back there on Monday night for another friend's birthday party!

Our Haggadah for Thanksgiving

On Friday, I did a little more work on my internship blog and met with Hilary. Then I rushed to pack to go to Ramat Gan for Shabbat. Ramat Gan is the next town over from Tel Aviv, a short bus or monit sherut (shared taxi) drive away. I went there to meet the oldest son of my dad's friend from college, Shmulik. He took me to this place where he is a counselor of sorts at a religious Jews' version of a Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts organization. There, I met his kids and other kids in the "Scouts", mainly between the ages of 12-19. It's weird -- to me, every Israeli who hasn't been in the army yet looks older than they are, and once they get out of the army, they look younger than they are. It's like the army does something special to you... 

Anyway, Shmulik and I became fast friends and I with a bunch of his kids, too. They are all so warm and welcoming (thanks to Ron, Roni, Shiri, Shira, Michel, and others)! We did Kabbalat Shabbat service and had dinner with everyone, then had a long discussion about moral values and beliefs which I did not understand about 98% of it because it was all in Hebrew, so I couldn't really contribute. But it was fun to hear everyone talk. We slept over his best friend's house, right around the corner from the synagogue-ish building, and got up early to go to Shabbat morning services. Just like the night before, I constantly lost my place because everyone knows Hebrew fluently and read the prayers really fast, so I was barely able to keep up sometimes. I got a hold of the situation, though. Afterwards, we chowed down on lunch and prayed Mincha (the Shabbat afternoon service). 

Shmulik just called me and told me that they're doing some singing and dancing thing on Allenby in Tel Aviv, so I'm going. Obviously, this post was long than intended, but better to be detailed than say nothing. I'll update you on more later! Peace!

Suk/Suq/Souq/Souk/Soq/However It's Spelled

So yesterday was the first time I went to the local souk, aka HaCarmel Market, in Tel Aviv. It's about a 30-40 minute walk away from my apartment, at the corners of HaCarmel, Allenby, and King George streets. What an exhilarating experience! Simon and I went for about an hour and a half. We explored what the market had to offer for a bit, then I started buying stuff. They have phenomenal prices. I got a whole branch of bananas for 7 shekels, 3 big Granny Smith apples for 7 shekels, 4 pairs of boxers for 20 shekels, and 6 pairs of socks for 20 shekels. All in all, I spent about 58 shekels at the souk, which equals to about $15.67. Can you say BARGAIN?!?!

It took us a while there partially because we got caught in the rain, but we planned leaving perfectly, once the rain had stopped. I also stopped to check out a Fedora just for fun. Then I realized that I looked kind of good in it. I've been told that I look good in them before, and I still don't understand how. Here's a picture, what does everyone think?

On the way back, Simon and I got Subway (yeah, it's in Israel)! I got tuna and he got chicken. However, I'm not that impressed with it as I am at home. Maybe I'll try it again, a different sandwich. Either way, the souk was fun; I think I'll go every once in while to get some necessities, like produce (and any knickknacks for people). It'll save me some money because TLV (Tel Aviv) is expensive.

I gotta go do some work for my new internship. Peace out!

Employed!

I officially took the internship I was offered and I brought my friend, Hilary, on board, too. She and I are both really excited to get this whole internship off the ground. In case you don't know, the company is developing a software product that will revolutionize the HR (human resources) hiring process. I will be getting experience in marketing, PR, recruitment, entrepreneurship, and learning about how American HR departments do hiring for their companies. It is a great feeling to know that you're going to be a part of something big. And to think if this company succeeds... wow, I don't even know. All I know is it will take a lot of hard work and selling. Good luck to me and Hilary, I guess. Both of us are looking forward to this job.

Look for an update later this week on everything! L'hitraot!

Eilat (and Everything in Between!)

So all of Oranim went to Eilat this weekend. Eilat is a port city at the southernmost tip of Israel, at the bottom of the Negev desert, sitting on the Red Sea (the sea that Moses parted when the Israelites made the exodus from Egypt). For me it was a great, bad, and everything-in-between weekend.

Left to right: my friends Talia, Dave, and Naum

On Friday, the Master's program woke up at 5am to catch the bus at 6am. We picked up some Russians whose program in also in Tel Aviv and we headed down south. We passed through Jerusalem and drove all the way through the Negev, hitting places such as Dimona (where we got breakfast) and Beersheba, and driving past the Dead Sea. We stopped to take a short hike at Makhtesh Ramon, which is the biggest natural crater (or more accurately, erosion cirque) in the world. The Bedouin tribes (mainly Arabs) are known to inhabit this area and surrounding cities, along with Syria and Jordan. The Bedouins used to be governed completely by the Israeli military, but they have developed to be more independent for themselves. They govern themselves off of RESPECT for each other via honor codes. They are, however, well-known for being skilled thieves, desert nomads, and hosting Taglit-Birthright groups all the time (they are very modern, given that they use electricity and have indoor plumbing but live in tents). After the hike, we drove another 2 hours or so, stopped for lunch, then drove to Eilat.

The rest of the day was devoted to relaxing and getting ready for Shabbat. I moved into Room 531 with my roommate from home, Simon, and a friend from Ramla, Geoff. I futzed around for a bit, then went to a small Kabbalat Shabbat service (beginning of Shabbat) led by some really Orthodox guy who spit out the Hebrew words quickly. I then went to the program's Kabbalat Shabbat service with some friends from Ramla. I had dinner at the hotel with my Ramla friends and hung at the hotel for a while. Later, we went out to a bar called Joya (for anyone who clicked the link, I originally wanted to make a corny joke involving Goya beans, but realized they're not spelled the same way). We did a little dancing, got down tonight, but made no love (two out of three ain't bad).

Dinner at Pastory, an Italian restaurant.
Pictured left to right: Caroline, me, Zak, Anna,
and Shoshana.

On Saturday, I got breakfast then went straight to the beach. My Ramla friends and I went snorkeling (most of us, including me, for the first time). Boy was it exciting (I wish I had pictures, but alas, I don't have a waterproof camera)! We swam around the main buoyed area, chilling with the fish and coral for about an hour. After taking a break and some of us checking out the rest of the beach, we went back in, swimming to the second pier on the side of the beach. We looked at the fish on the way and I swam right through a school of fish. On the way back, I was having trouble putting and keeping my goggles on and breathing out of it considering I accidentally swallowed about half a gallon of seawater, so I jumped out at the first pier and walked the rest of the way. We all left the the beach and come back to the hotel.

Then I noticed something... I lost my necklace! If anyone who has talked to me about it knows, my Chai (חי) necklace is one of the most important of my possessions. It belonged to my Zadie (Yiddish for grandfather) until he passed away June 2010; I have worn the necklace just about everyday since to keep his memory close to my heart. I immediately bolted from the hotel, took a cab the 5 kilometers to the beach, and frantically searched for the necklace in the small area where I KNEW I placed my backpack. I had put the necklace in my shirt in the bag and it must have jumped out when I packed up earlier. I spoke a little Hebrew to the guys who were sitting right there, and after a few minutes, one found it for me! You should have seen my face. He pulled it out of the sand and my eyes and mouth widened, I gently grabbed the necklace, and thanked him for saving my day. I would have been devastated if I had not found it. I gave the guy a hug, thanked him again, and hailed another cab home. That was the best 64 shekels (or $18) I have ever spent.

Booze cruise with my Ramla friends left
to right: Max, me, Geoff, and Max.

I came back to the hotel and took a nap before Havdalah (the end of Shabbat). After all of Oranim did the Havdalah service next to the nearby shopping mall, I went to this great Italian restaurant across the river from our hotel with Shoshana, Anna, and our Ramla friends, Zak and Caroline. I got a delicious dinner of ravioli with aubergine (smoked eggplant) and a four cheese sauce (Bon appetite!). I'm still licking my fingers. All of Oranim then went on a cruise around the Gulf of Eilat (tip of the Red Sea) and we had a booze cruise! I took a billion pictures, check them out in my Eilat album on Facebook. We danced, sang, celebrated, and partied. Alex and I then strolled back to the hotel together and just shot the shit. I then ran into Shawna from Ramla in the lobby and talked with her for a good 2 hours. I went to sleep at 3am.

We woke up at 7am on Sunday and we got ready to go, leaving at 8:45 to take a hike at the Red Canyon in the Eilat Mountains. It was a very rocky hike (literally) walking up and even rockier down. We took a break on the way to play a game in which Alex had to pretend to be a kangaroo and everyone had to guess what he was. No one guessed right because he was set up to look funny! :) Once we got to the top, it was the most beautiful sight. As far as the eye can see, we could see the Red Sea surrounded by parts of Saudi Arabia, Egypt's Sinai peninsula, Jordan, and the very south of Eilat. After the hike, we drove to David Ben-Gurion's resting place in Sde Boker, a kibbutz. It was used by Ben-Gurion and his wife, Paula, as a retirement home until they both died. They are buried side-by-side there. David Ben-Gurion is very important to the history of Israel and its politics. He was Israel's first Prime Minister 1948-1963 and helped build Israel's statehood. He moved himself and his wife to the Negev late in his life for a reason; he had a dream that one day, 5 million Jews will inhabit the Negev. Currently, 700,000 Jews are sprawled throughout. There is hope that it will grow in the future. After getting close to Ben-Gurion's grave, we hopped back on the bus and went home to Tel Aviv. On the way back, I enjoyed a very long talk with Aline, a Brazilian girl in my program.

Me overlooking southern Eilat and the edge of Jordan

Well, I'm beat from an intense weekend. I leave you with the music video of a song I've been listening to on my iPod a lot recently. Thanks for reading!

Run!

Jaffa in the distance

Oh my God, what an amazing run! The gym was closed today because they're getting ready to throw a party tonight. I decided to take a run along the beach instead. I ran from Tsidon 1 (my apartment building) to Charles Clore Park and back. By the time I got to the park, I took a long breather and looked around. I took in a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea and from afar, Jaffa (the southern section of Tel Aviv). It was about 8.5 kilometers, or in US terms, 5 miles. Never have I run so long before. I'm damn proud of myself!

View of the Sea and part of the park

Weekend, Poker, and Yitzhak Rabin

Me, Noa, and Aviad at Shabbat dinner

Here I go again, writing a post while at the laundromat... this has got to stop. So I left off on Friday night where I was about to go to Noa's house for Shabbat dinner. Oh my God, what a great dinner! I saw her boyfriend, Aviad, again. I met Noa's mother, Hannah, and her boyfriend (and his daughter and her boyfriend), and Noa's older brother's family. A total of about 13 or so people over for Shabbat dinner, doing a late celebration of Noa's 23rd birthday. Great food, great conversation, and a wonderful time. I got some insight of my job dilemma from Noa and her mom's boyfriend's daughter, and we looked at pictures of Noa's mom and her boyfriend taking a trip to the Bahamas, Vegas, Miami, and New York. I got back from Modi'in at 11pm and went out with my friends to a nightclub for a friend's birthday. A bad night of dancing: not a single girl would give me a single dance, except my female friends. I have better luck next time. No worries!

On Saturday, I finally caved. I didn't want to do this but I did. I bought an HDMI cable for 70 shekels (thought I'd say something more exciting, didn't ya?). Thats only about $19. It was a good idea, though, because now I am running my computer on my TV, meaning I can more easily watch movies and go online on my bed. At night, I went to hang out with my Birthright friend, Patrick. I saw his digs (a studio apartment with 2 roommates, but comfortable) then we went to a coffeehouse with some of his friends. I met a couple Australian girls (the first Australians I have ever met) and this guy from Vancouver. A fun dinner hanging out with a good friend.

On Sunday, I went to Ulpan (Hebrew study) and learned some more words. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing. At night, I went to this American bar right outside my apartment building, called Mike's Place. I got a basket of fries and a half liter of Goldstar (Israel's BEST beer) for just 100 shekels. Good deal. Shoshana, Kenny, and I watched the Jets beat the Bills. I was not happy, especially the next morning when I heard that the Patriots lost to the stupid Giants. Thankfully, there's a place I can go to watch football. Unfortunately, it's at the most inopportune times of the day (stupid 7 hour difference). Good night, though. I did, however, miss out on hanging with Alex and our new friend, Melanie, who just happens to have dated an old friend of mine from West Hartford (now that's Jewish Geography for you!).

Cory looking at his poker cards

Monday was a class day. Org Theory and Design was fun. I met with the guy who wants to hire me for his new company again. He told me more about the product and how I'd be learning about how companies run their HR systems now, but if I worked for him, I would also help change how that system is run. Honestly, I am almost ready to say yes, at least for now. We'll see... After that, I messed around in the mall for a bit then went to OB. I learned more. We went home and I just relaxed, watching a movie (Eurotrip). I then played some poker with my buddies. We taught Cory how to play, he still didn't understand, and just made jokes the whole time. No one is so funny without even trying. Adam won, and Alex scratched by without losing a dime (or a shekel). I kind of lost by going all in and losing the hand because I thought Adam was bluffing. Lesson learned.

Today, we had Ulpan in which we played a game. Lucy, Alex, and I teamed up and had to come up with the most Hebrew words with the letters all the groups were given. We won, partially because we had the most words and partially because we're awesome. I helped Naum and Lucy (and Dave) with some words today, and it felt good. Maybe if the HR career doesn't work out and business is a fail, I'll go into teaching. You know what they say, "If you can't do, teach". A few hours after that, we went to the Israeli Museum at the Yitzhak Rabin Center. We took a self-guided tour of the establishment of the State of Isreal, all of Israel's wars, and Rabin's life.

Yitzhak Rabin was born in Jerusalem and lived in Tel Aviv most of his life. He is known as one of Israel's most important and critical political and military figures. He served in the IDF for about 25 years, holding many positions including general and Chief of Staff, leading Israel to victory in the Six Day War. He also served Israel as Prime Minister twice and was elected to the Knesset. He also won a Nobel Peace Prize with Yasser Atafat for negotiating the famous Oslo Accords, which originally was meant to put Palestine and Israel at peace. With this, Israel agreed to give the Palestinians Gaza and the West Bank and recognize the PLO. The Palestinians were supposed to recognize Israel as the Jewish State. This did not last long and they were back to fighting. Unfortunately, on November 4, 1995, Yitzhak Rabin was walking out of a rally for the Oslo Accords at Kings of Israel Square (now Rabin Square) in Tel Aviv and was shot in the back of the head by an Orthodox Jew and was assassinated (the perpetrator was sentenced to life in prison). Found in Rabin's pocket later was a bloodied piece of paper containing the song "Shir L'Shalom" ("Song for Peace"), which explains that it is impossible to bring a dead person back to life, and therefore, the need for peace. Hopefully, the Palestinians and Israel will find peace in a foreseeable future.

At right, the song "Shir L'Shalom" (Song for Peace),
which Yitzhak Rabin had in his pocket when he died.

I hope you enjoyed this post and I will bring you more in the coming days and months!

RIP Suzete Berrincha

Just yesterday, a girl named Suzete Berrincha was murdered. I knew her from my days at Hall High School in West Hartford, CT and UConn. She was such a bright star in the sky, talking with her for just a few minutes was a highlight of my day. She was so upbeat, so happy, and so sweet that it seemed she could go anywhere in life. Unfortunately, she was taken from us way too early.

Here was my Facebook post on her wall: RIP Suzete Berrincha: I didn't know you all that well, but whenever I talked to you at Hall or UConn for just a few minutes, it was always a highlight of my day. You were such a great and happy person to be around, it's so sad that you were taken from us so young. I wish I could have gotten a chance to know you better. You wil be missed. :'(

Homicide Suspect Captured In West Hartford

Please keep Suzete in your thoughts and prayers for her family. I know I will, even though I'm halfway around the world from home in West Hartford. Rest in peace, Suzete.
_______________________________

Update 11/10/11: Here is a copy of Suzete's obituary.

Decision Drama

There are two things that have rocked my mind this week, and one of those is not school. I am trying to decide whether to take an internship or not. On Sunday, I met this guy who started his company 2 months ago. He left his old job in the U.S. because he noticed a gap in the marketplace. He is developing a product to make human resources departments more efficient with the hiring process. He wants me to come on board as an intern and help market the product to U.S. companies, working late afternoons into evenings. But I wouldn't be working all the time, just a few days a week. It would cut into my social life, but that wouldn't be the worst thing. The main issue is that I came to Israel to get a Master's degree in Organizational Behavior then work in the human resources field.

For whomever doesn't know, I originally found out about the Master's in Israel program while I was compiling a booklet of Israel opportunity programs for my Hillel internship. I came across the MASA website and read through a bunch of programs in which I thought would interest many students who would eventually see the booklet. All of a sudden, I saw the description for the Master's program and knew I had to do the program. I was simultaneously taking a Social-Organizational Psychology class, which was very interesting to me. This class, and the professor, Janet Barnes-Farrell at UConn, made me want to do HR for a career. And this past summer, while my friend Mike was interning at GE, I shadowed his HR manager to make sure this career field was what I wanted to do. I figured out that it is! So then why am I having such a huge time deciding whether to take this internship?! This job is not really related to HR, but I would get more experience in marketing and entrepreneurship selling an HR product. I originally wanted to get HR work experience. The other choice I have is to work at an HR department at a hotel (which I mentioned in my previous post) or do whatever Oranim finds me for an internship. Does anyone have any suggestions?

The other thing is a girl. No joke. She agreed to go out on a date with me last week but then turned me down and said we should just be friends. I don't know, I just can't get her out of my head. I wasn't so serious about it when I asked her out, but now my mind has changed. She didn't really give me a chance. She's really cool, not a bitch at all. I just want to show her that I am worth trying to date.

Let me know what you think about both subjects... please comment!

Learning and Partying

Tuesday was my second day of Ulpan (Hebrew study) class. It was a trying one, given that the Dan Bus company was sitting in the classroom where we normally have class, providing bus passes for everyone in the Master's and internship programs that wanted one. Therefore, we had class in the lounge of the apartment building. We learned how to write more letters and read simple paragraphs. I already know how to read and write Hebrew, so most of this is old stuff to me from my years at Solomon Schechter; however, it is a good thing I am in this level class because I am learning so many new words (and relearning some old). After our break, we moved to Naum's apartment a few blocks away to provide for an easier learning session. He provided his old tenant's mirror as a whiteboard and we sat on his couch and chairs in a circle. Great job for thinking on your feet, Naum!

Theodor Herzl, the Father of
modern Zionism

The rest of the day was pretty lax (except for me going to the gym) until we had an enrichment session: Intro to Zionism with Ofer. Ofer, Director of Oranim's programs, came to educate us on the Zionist people who helped make Israel what it is today. We learned how Theodor Herzl wanted a Jewish State after seeing Alfred Dreyfus treated with such hatred just because he was a Jew; Herzl basically decided that his dream was to find a place, preferably Palestine, in which the Jews could live in peace and not be persecuted for being themselves. At one of the Zionist conferences, he almost settled on Britain giving him Uganda, but no. The Jews eventually got what they wanted and established the State of Israel in May 1948. We also learned about Jabotinsky, Ben Yehuda (who revolutionized the Hebrew language), and other important people who have streets in Tel Aviv named after them. Afterwards, I went out with my friends Simon and Anna to Benedict's, a 24/7 breakfast restaurant. This place has the fluffiest (and most delicious and filling) pancakes you will ever have. I ordered white chocolate pancakes and a hot chocolate. Oy, what a dinner/breakfast! I then went to enjoy some hookah with some other friends.

Wednesday was more class. I actually learned quite a bit in both classes, HR Management and Staffing Organizations. The only issue is having the same teacher for 6 hours straight. I'll get used to it. At night, we had the biggest party yet; everyone was going out. Oranim sponsored a party at this bar called Lima Lima. A bunch of people from both programs went and it was a blast. It was an early night for most, but the drinks were awesome, the music was great, I danced, I talked... That's the kind of night you're looking for in Tel Aviv!

Thursday was enjoyable. I woke up late and I began searching for an internship. I have to go to HR departments at hotels to find an HR internship. Annoying, huh? Anyway, I went to a few along HaYarkon St.: the Hilton, Carlton, Tal Hotel, and Herods. I'm going back probably on Sunday to start really looking. Afterwards, Alex and I went to the gym (I'm really getting a workout there!) then I relaxed for the night. Instead of going out with a friend from the internship program, I stayed in and brushed up on my cooking skills. I made french toast for the first time, without any vanilla extract or sugar... and if I say so myself, it came out pretty good. I would like to make more in a bigger pan, though. Oh the frustrations of having just a hotplate, a pan, and 2 pots. Then I made some pasta to fill me up. All in all, a delicious dinner. Then, I went upstairs to join in on a little party.

I've so far been in Israel for just 3 weeks and it feels like I've been here 2-3 months. It's crazy. Tonight, I'm going to Modi'in for Shabbat to visit Noa and meet her mother. I can't wait! See ya soon!

A Great Week!

I sit here In a laundromat doing my laundry, reflecting on the past week. Tuesday was fun. I was able to relax the whole day, and then we had an enrichment program at night. Everyone in the Master's program and in the internship program walked over to the Devorah Hotel on Rehov (street) Ben Yehuda. We heard Avraham Infeld, President of Israel Way/Oranim and former President of Hillel International, speak. He Is known as one of the leading Jewish educators in the world because of what he has done for Jewish history, Jewish identity, and young Jews. He spoke about his childhood and how his father declared, "Judaism is NOT a religion!". He spoke about how he was sent by his father to live in Israel at age 16. He said he discussed with a non religious Jew whether Judaism is a religion. he then mentioned that there are 5 legs of Judaism: memory, family, the Covenant, Israel, and the Hebrew language. Each explanation was fascinating and touched me (I heard this speech once before on Birthright 3 years ago). At this time in my life, I feel I possess memory of the Jewish people, my family identifying as Jewish, and living in Israel. I have previously had the Covenant when I gave back to my Jewish community in college when I worked for Hillel both as a student board member and an intern. But everything has been about Israel. I want to learn Hebrew to complete the table. Check out the website: http://5leggedtable.org/en

Wednesday was classes, HR Management and Staffing Organizations. I will be learning a lot in those classes. Thursday was awesome. We went to the Carmel area, somewhere I had never been before. First we went to Caesarea, the first place I had gone on Birthright. It rained and wasn't as nice as had been on Birthright. Nothing new to me. We got lunch at Daliyat al Carmel, a small Druze village. I learned that the Druze took beliefs from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They are a people that keep to themselves. One of the only ways to be a Druze is to be born into it; the don't accept converts. You can't convert. Lastly, we went on a hike in the woods near the area that had a big publicized fire last year. During the trip, I made some friends who are in Oranim's new Israel Teaching Fellows program. They're some really cool people. I talked with a girl named Julia for a long time and she invited me to a Halloween party her group was having on Saturday at a restaurant on where the program is stationed, in Ramla, a low class Arab and Israeli town about half an hour from where I live in Tel Aviv.

Friday was fun. I went to the beach with Mairin and Emma from the internship program. We relaxed for a bit. At night, the programs went to a local Reform synagogue for Kabbalat Shabbat (the beginning service of Shabbat).

On Saturday, I ran a couple errands then spent too much time working on my costume. I was Clark Kent in the midst of becoming Superman. Pretty cool, huh? Thanks to Shoshana for the brilliant idea and helping me put the costume together. She gets all the credit, rightfully. With a great costume, I took a cab to the Tel Aviv University train station, tool a train to Lod, then met Alex to take a Sherut (shared taxi) to Ramla. We drank, had fun, and met more people.

My new friend, Caroline, and I

On Sunday, I started Ulpan (Hebrew study). We learned for 3 hours. All I remember from Solomon Schechter is the alphabet, how to read and write, and a small select number of words. It'll take me a while to become fluent, but hopefully not too long. I then went to a job interview. I met this guy who wants me to work as an intern for him, selling a product he is developing. I can't tell you more than that for now. More to be updated about that later. Afterwards, I went to the Idan Raichel concert, a special presentation put on by MASA Israel, the organization which is giving me a generous grant for studying in my program. It was a pretty cool concert. Good music, but not typically of my taste. It was nice to get a taste of real Israeli music, though. I ran into both my friend, Patrick, from Birthright, and Miriam, from home. I didn't know that my childhood friend, Simon Lichter, is/was in Israel on a MASA program, too. What are the odds?! He was featured in a MASA promotional video during the concert. I got a chance to know more of my new Ramla friends, including Rachel, Zack, and Caroline.

The Idan Raichel concert, sponsored by MASA Israel

Last day in this long post. Today, was just classes. I decided to drop Marketing because I've taken enough classes and worked enough internships in marketing that it should be second-hand nature to me. I unfortunately probably wouldn't have learned anything new in that class. Instead, Alex and I will spend 4 hours in the middle of Mondays just hanging out and watching movies or something.

Anyway, I gotta go; my laundry's done and I'm going to sleep soon. I will begin posting shorter posts more frequently. Once a week is not good. L'hitraot!

First Weekend and First Day of School

Alex dancing on Simchat Torah

Hey followers, so this past weekend was pretty fun. Thursday, I met up with my friend, Patrick, from Birthright. He went to Colorado State for undergrad and now is doing MASA's Career Israel program, living near Dizengoff Center (a central shopping area in Tel Aviv) and teaching kids English for 5 months. He and I went to this pizza place on Ben Yehuda St. (which parallels Dizengoff); I had pepper pizza and he had toscana. Sooo good.  We caught up, we hadn't really seen each other in almost 3 years. After that, he and I walked over to Rabin Square to celebrate Simchat Torah (for those of you who don't know, it's the holiday at the end of Sukkot that celebrates the end of the reading of the Torah for the year; it's always a big celebration). On our way, I saw from a distance, my friend Alex dancing the Hora at an Orthodox synagogue, so we joined in. I got to dance and carry 2 Torahs. We then walked to Rabin Square to meet up with Simon, Loni, and Emma to watch the big celebration from afar.

First roommate picture with Simon

Friday night was a blast. I have become good friends with Shoshana and Anna L, who live in the apartment right above Simon and me. Shoshana, Anna, and I went to this restaurant (know idea what the name is, but it's known for its red cones) on Frishman Beach and drank and smoked hookah. It's a great feeling to be able to smoke hookah on the beach late at night; it's just so relaxing. On Saturday, I just relaxed during the day but   went out with Shoshana, Anna, Lucy, and an old friend, Jeff, from my Los Angeles trip in March. It was really nice to see him. He's mutual friends with Lucy, what a cool girl. We all went to a couple bars after going to dinner at Cafe Cafe (a restaurant/coffee place). An nice Israeli guy tried to pick up Shoshana, but she declined a date from him because she has a boyfriend. Shoshana and I met both a guy and a girl named Tal (WHOA!) and we just drank.

On Sunday, everyone in the program took the bus to school to register for classes....... We took Bus 72 (I need to keep that in mind the whole year) and we were all disappointed about the school's location. Get ready: we have one classroom hidden away on the third floor of an abandoned mall. Yes, that's right -- an ABANDONED mall. Next door is a real mall. But it's cool, the professors seem to be okay so far, except for the Organizational Behavior professor, who is pretty cool. I'll have fun learning stuff in her class which I never learned in Social-Organizational Psych at UConn. I'm signed up for OB, Marketing, Organization Theory and Design, Staffing Orgs, and HR Management. This should be a good first semester.

Lucy's Abraham Lincoln (or something)
masterpiece at Max Brenner's

When I got back from signing up for classes, I had laundry to do. I went to the closest laundromat and did laundry. The weirdest thing happened, though. While there, I met a couple girls and a guy (2 American, 1 Israeli) who were charging their phones. I randomly started talking to them and we played Never Have I Ever. We hung out for an hour while my laundry finished. I just found it a bit odd how this 38 year old guy was chilling with two 17 year old girls. At night, I went out with Lucy, her roommate Rotem, and a few other people from the internship program to celebrate Rotem's 23rd birthday. We had sushi, then we split off and some of us went to Max Brenner's at the port. The fondue was DELICIOUS!

Monday: The first day of NYU Poly grad school. I woke up at 7am to catch a bus and get to the abandoned mall for 9am. I had Org Theory and Design first. Classes are 3 hours long, and we get 30 minute breaks in between classes. OTD wasn't a bad class, the professor seems to know what  he's talking about. Marketing was kind of a boring class, I'm not sure I'm going to stay in it. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know, and I have the option of waiving a class if I've already taken it in undergrad. Org Behavior was a good class, though. The professor is nice and I think I might learn something I didn't learn before. My brain was completely drained, though, after sitting in the same seat for 10 hours, learning. One positive thing: I met this girl from Berlin, Germany who's in the academic part of the program, but not doing it through Oranim. She's really cool, cute, and sweet. She and I sat next to each other all three classes. She told me she has a boyfriend, though. That's okay, I'm keeping my options open for now. I've only been here 1.5 weeks, I've got time to find someone. At night, Alex, Shoshana, Anna, and I went to this nearby bar to meet up with a friend of Shoshana's. We just talked for a good 2-3 hours. I love getting to know people better.

Pictured left to right: me, Lucy, Jeff, Jess, and Shoshana.

Israel so far is amazing. I hope to be able to celebrate Noa's birthday this Friday with her and her friends. I will keep you updated. L'hitraot (see you later)!

My First Week in Israel

So my first week in Israel has been pretty phenomenal. I hung out with Noa, a soldier I met on Birthright 3 years ago, for the first 4 days that I was here. She lives in Modi'in, which is halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The first day, she and her boyfriend, Aviad, picked me up at the airport and we went straight to her house. I took a 4 hour nap, which was refreshing for me but not too exciting for you to hear. I met Noa's friend Hezi, shopping for a birthday present for his girlfriend.

The next day, Friday, Noa and I traveled with her friends Rinat and Eran to Jerusalem to go to the Kotel (Western Wall) and walk around the Old City looking at the shops. We celebrated Shabbat at her house with her and her boyfriend, Hezi and his girlfriend, and her brother. She made an absolutely delicious meal (which included chicken and Israeli salad) and then we went to Michal's (Hezi's girlfriend) birthday party. There, I had a deep conversation with some of the most interesting people I had met since I coming to Israel (a couple days). Erez, Carmel and I discussed our career paths and interests, psychology and math, their relationship, and a linguistic riddle. We plan on hanging out soon.

Saturday, Noa and I went to the beach in Herziliya with Rinat and Eran then ate at a very delicious restaurant nearby. I had ravioli and it was amazing. Later, I played basketball with Aviad and his brothers and father. 2-on-2 basketball can really wear you out when playing with these guys. Soooo fun. Aviad and his brothers are very good, and I surprised myself by putting up my best performance in probably 5 years. Noa, Aviad, and I then went to meet a few of their friends in Jerusalem that night for a short meeting. Sunday, Noa and I moved a couch with her friend, Shani. Very cool girl... she is Israel-born but her parents are both from New York and she speaks perfect English with no accent. She speaks mainly English at home but Hebrew was her first language. We had kind of a lounging around day then went to the gym. I am very thankful that Noa was willing to take 4 days off of work - just for me. :) I had a great time.

Monday, she drove me up to Tel Aviv for me to move in. This is the first time I have been in Tel Aviv since the last day of Birthright when we spent the afternoon here right before flying home. Last time, I had gone to Max Brenner's (a chocolate restaurant) with my friends Scott and Dan. This time, I met up with my friend, Miriam, from home. She is doing a Master's at Tel Aviv University, living a mere few kilometers away from me. We hung out, caught up, and she updated my iPod like there was no tomorrow. I then went to move in to my new digs at Tsidon 1, Apt. 504, Tel Aviv. My roommate's name is Simon, he is a Jewfro-wearing kid from San Francisco. He has the most amazing moustache I have ever seen; it's going to be growing into a curly moustache once it gets long enough. He and I seem like great roommates: we have the same eating habits (including Kosher) and some things in our past have been similar. It's crazy how alike we are. The main differences are that he is an early bird while I'm a night owl and he's not as social and I am. But he's awesome.

Since Monday, the Master's program participants have had icebreaker meetings, rules and regulations meetings, and a walk around the neighborhood to show us critical places. We are 30 people living together with about 30 others from the internship program (they're here for 5 months, the Master's people here for 10). About 12 of us from both programs combined went to this restaurant on the beach nearby called 9 Beach Mezizim. This place has the best personal pizzas EVER! So delicious and so filling. We also have had a few apartment parties, meeting new people and drinking. It has been a blast!

View from my bedroom window :)

I have met quite a few interesting people. There's people between the ages of 22-35 here, the median age seems to be 25. Everyone is from all over the U.S., with the exception of Germany, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, the U.K., South Africa, and Argentina. One kid I've met, who lives right across the hall from me, is Alex. He has a very similar last name to me, they both mean "fisherman" in Russian. It would be funny if we were something like long lost cousins. Alex went to Emerson for undergrad and studied video production. We joined a gym together and have hung out a lot. A bunch of the people I have met from the internship program are really awesome, too. There's American Jenny and Jenn-ay (Jennie from London). Words can't describe the awesomeness of either of these two girls. I have met Dan from South Africa, Loni and Emma, Brian from Argentina, and quite a few others who I haven't gotten close to yet. Everyone in both the Master's program and internship program are cool, and I can't wait to get to know them better. I'm about to go to the beach, a 5 minute walk from my building, so PEACE OUT!

My Realization

Wednesday October 12, 2011:

As I sit at the terminal at JFK Airport waiting for my airplane to board, I find myself reminiscing about what I realized earlier. In the shower this morning, after spending the previous 30 hours packing (I couldn't decide what to bring or how much to bring with me), I came to the culmination that I really AM going to Israel. I had spent the past two months planning everything involved in coming to Israel and getting ready for grad school.

I had done a lot, too. I signed a bunch of electronic documents, went to multiple doctor's appointments, spent lots of money (including tuition, which I owe my parents back for), and made MANY phone calls to Oranim to get help on what I had to do next in the process of applying for the Master's in Israel program.

I am beginning a great new adventure in a fairly new environment and atmosphere. I spent 10 days in Israel 3 years ago on Birthright, traveling all over the State learning about Israeli culture and history. As a result, I created a stronger connection with my Jewish heritage.

I feel like even though I'm spending the next 10 months in Israel going to grad school, I have not left my friends and family behind. I will be talking with everyone on Skype and Facebook all the time. At the same time, I already have a few connections in Israel. My friend Noa, a soldier I met while Birthright, and two other friends from the trip. One is working an internship in Tel Aviv and the other is going to a Yeshiva in Jerusalem. I have Miriam, my childhood friend who lived on my street, is doing a Master's degree at Tel Aviv University. And shortly, on Monday, my program starts, and I will make 30 new best friends. I can't wait! :)

Israel, here I come!

Josh

Thursday Oct 13:

My first sight of Israel in 3 years. It's great to be back! :)

I got to Ben Gurion Airport and my friend, Noa, and her boyfriend picked me up. For now, I'm staying in Modi'in with Noa, halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Today, my first day in Israel, I took a long nap, we helped a friend of Noa's buy a necklace for his girlfriend, and we went to a local Irish pub called O'Sullivan's. Good place, I enjoyed it. Tomorrow, we're going to Jerusalem for a few hours and then the day is open. I can't wait for orientation to begin next week. :)