Yom HaZikaron, Yom Ha'Atzmaut, and the Beginning of May

I am doing a ton of things today; I went to the bank, did laundry, went to Ulpan, and I have homework to do. However, probably the highlight of my day was finding a toaster oven (that works!) on the side of the street (on the ledge of the building next door to me, to be exact, saving me about 150-300 shekels, or $40-80).

Michael Levin, one of the
soldiers remembered on
Yom HaZikaron

Last Monday (April 23rd), I went to school and then volunteered. Afterwards, Adam and I went to a Yom HaZikaron (Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day) ceremony on Mazeh St, off of Allenby. We watched videos of former lone soldiers (soldiers who immigrate to Israel and have no immediate family in Israel): Alex Singer and Michael Levin. Alex Singer was an American soldier in the Israeli army who was killed on his 25th birthday in 1987 in battle in Lebanon. His family has since composed a book of his letters and drawings to them into a book called Alex: Building a Life. They showed a video of people from his life reading excerpts from the book, and illustrating the letters with his drawings. Another video showed interviews about Michael Levin, an American who was shot in the head and killed in the Second Lebanon War on August 1, 2006. The interviews with family and friends tell of his passion, and his feeling of obligation, to help defend Israel. He had been on vacation visiting family in Philadelphia when he decided to cut his vacation short and go back to Israel to fight. Both are buried in the military cemetery area at Mount Herzl, Israel's national cemetery. The whole ceremony was very interesting and a little emotional for some people. I also ran into friends from BFL and went out with them for drinks afterwards.

Shoshana playing on a tank

The next evening officially began Yom HaZikaron, in which all MASA programs traveled to Latrun, a military base near Jerusalem. We watched a video on tanks (it was very action-packed, but a bit corny with the jokes), had group conversations, and played on the tanks (literally!). All 10,000 MASA participants then attended the special ceremony where we watched videos, people performed songs, and we remembered soldiers and victims of terrorist attacks. Just like on Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) in which there was a siren that rang throughout the whole country and everyone stopped to listen and respect the fallen, a siren rang out twice during Yom HaZikaron; one at 8pm at the beginning of the ceremony and another the next morning at 11am. At the end, we sang Hatikvah ("The Hope"), Israel's national anthem. I think that was the most connected to Israel I had ever felt when singing that song. The next day, we had no class because of the national holiday. But at night, everything changed from sadness to immense celebrations.

People dancing on vans on Rothschild Blvd.
on Yom Ha'Atzmaut

The next evening began Yom Ha'Atzmaut (Israel Independence Day). It was difficult to flip emotions quickly but doable. Simon, Adam, and I went to Rabin Square for the beginning of the celebration with a concert. After that, we walked to our friend, David's apartment to celebrate his upcoming birthday and the holiday. It took us a while to leave but we finally got on with our plans. We passed by a rooftop party and picked up a couple friends, including Elana, whom I met at BFL. We never got to David's party because the cops raided the place, so it had ended before we had even gotten there. Adam, Elana, and I went to Rothschild Boulevard and discovered the biggest street party you would ever see. We spent some time at a bar at the corner and walked around for a bit. Elana and I then walked all the way back to Tsidon at 4am, stopping on the way to grab some late night pizza, and stayed up until 6am hanging out. The next day, Adam, Elana, and I went to Herzliya beach and the Arena Mall to hang out. We walked around, ate lunch, built sandcastles (so much fun!), and went shopping. It was a fun-filled day. I'm so glad I was here to experience one of the saddest days and one of the happiest days of the Hebrew year one right after the other.

Elana's awesome sandcastle. Mine
was a sad excuse for a sandcastle.

The next night, I joined in to celebrate my friends Jenn and Erica's birthdays. We went to Viva Roma, a nice expensive Italian restaurant for dinner, and Dizengoff Club for dancing. A great night! On Sunday, Ulpan unexpectedly began again. Orly (my coordinator) had posted on the Facebook group that it was restarting, and I ended up being the only person in Ulpan Bet to see it, so I got a private lesson from the teacher. In Hebrew, I read two stories: Orly Vehakolnoa ("Orly and the movie theater", a story about a girl who is obsessed with seeing movies) and HaRoeh V'haze'ev ("The Shepherd and the Wolf", known in English as "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"). I learned a lot of new words now that the Ulpan classes have been split into three. At night, I went with my friends to our Israel Diplomacy Course, and this time we learned about skills in advocacy.

Monday was a day that I ran around in between places. I went to school, then to volunteering, and left early to catch a new program that Oranim is doing with Tel Aviv University. It's called the Partners Program, in which Oranimers get a chance to meet Israeli university students. The program was run much the same as the one I had participated in in December, called Inter-Mate, but that one was with the Tel Aviv Academic College. I met a lot of new people and made new friends. The next meeting is this coming Monday.

May 1st (along with it being my best friend, Sam's birthday) included an enrichment which involved us learning about minorities in Israel. A Druze guy shot out facts about the Druze, Christians, and Muslims. It was interesting, but he unfortunately hadn't prepared too well and then many people weren't paying attention (I was). There are almost 8 million people living in Israel, about 6 million of them Jews. The Druze make up a very small percentage (about 1.5%) and their religion is one that is relatively secretive, but comprising of many beliefs adopted from Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Only about 30% of Druze are religious because it's very difficult to learn the ways of the religion. About 16% of minorities are Muslim and 2% are Christian.

Yesterday, I went to class and met up with my new friend, Shayna, who went to UConn and is making Aliyah. We went to dinner at a nice restaurant called Bar Giora next to Dizengoff Center and we talked about my program, her program, and Israel. Today, in Ulpan, I learned all the different ways to say "to wear" different articles of clothing and items (there's a lot). We also read a couple stories. I just keep learning new words. Soon enough, I may become fluent (if I actually practice outside of class and in the culture, that is)!

Sunset at Latrun with Israeli flags :)

Here's some Hebrew (also transliterated and in English) for you to know a little bit of what I'm learning:

אני אוהב מאוד ללמוד עברית. אולפן שוב התחלה ואני שמח. לפעמים אני שוכח מילים כמו לאט אבל זה בסדר. אני רוצה   את החברים שלי לבוא איתי למסיבה מחר בלילה.

Ani ohev meod lilmod ivrit. Ulpan shuv hatchalah v'ani sameach. Lifamim ani shocheach milim cmo "le'at" aval zeh b'seder. Ani rotzeh et hachaverim sheli lavoh iti lamesibah machar balailah.

I really like learning Hebrew. Ulpan began again and I'm happy. I sometimes forget words like "le'at" (slow) but that's okay. I want my friends to come to a party with me tomorrow night.

Bye!