Nearing the end...

In the next few minutes I will attempt to update you all on this past blogless month through pictures. This "picture tour" may be much more efficient than trying to remember the entricate details of this past month, which I must say went by awfully fast! It's not only December, but in less than two weeks I will be heading home... First stop on the picture tour takes us to Mt Shlomo in Southern Israel, near the most southern city of Eilat. Our overseas programs, as well as a few Israeli students/friends, went down south for a few days of hiking and hanging out in the resort city of Israel. The picture below is some of the group on top of Mt. Shlomo. It might look like I'm not enjoying myself, but don't be fooled. From this point, we were able to see four different countries! Besides Israel, we were a few miles from the border of Egypt, Jordan was our left side (in this picture) and if you tried really hard, you could see a glimpse of Saudi Arabic across the Red Sea. It was pretty crazy.
After a busy few days of writing papers (this I do remember quite well), I made a trip to the airport to welcome my parents to Israel! They were here for a full week, leaving on Thanksgiving morning, and I was able to show them some of the sights and sounds of Israel. Over the weekend that they spent here, we stayed in Jerusalem, which we saw lots of, and one day we drove up and around the Sea of Galilee. It was so great to be able to do that with the and their rental car! Its so much more convenient than taking a bus, and less exhausting then hiking. I returned to BeerSheva for a few days of class before meeting back up with them in Tel Aviv for a day and night. Below, is a picture of my lovely parents strolling along the Mediterranean Sea at Caesarea, site of one of Herod's palaces, and later one of the Crusader Cities.
It was great to see my parents, and through them I was able to have a little taste of home. Along with a few American snacks that my parents brought over for me, my mom brought me pumpkin pie mix that I could make for my roommates, who had never had it before!! They all really liked it, and below are two of my roommates, Avital (in pink) and Anna (in red) enjoying their pumpkin pie. Tom, Avital's boyfriend, pictured below as well, is in the army and comes to visit once a week. He just happened to pick the right day to visit that week!

Thanksgiving this year came a week late. It was said that since we're "outside the land", that our Thanksgiving should extend an extra day, as is usual for most Jewish holidays outside Israel. My first Thanksgiving, was spent relaxing here in BeerSheva with my roommates, and that night Daniel & I went to this really great Indian restaurant near the university. Although it wasn't a typical Thanksgiving meal, it was delicious. Last Thursday, we had an actual turkey Thanksgiving dinner that the overseas program held for us. It was fun to get all together over a meal, especially with the provided enertainment of Becky dressed a turkey, a poem that Scott & Sarah wrote about various people from the group, and a slideshow of random pictures from this past semester. Really showed how much we have seen and experienced together. Here's a picture of half of the group from the dinner; a mix of Americans, Israelis and even Chinese!

The first weekend in December, all my aspirations coming to Israel were accomplished; I rode a camel. About a dozen of the students here went on a camping trip to the craters in the Negev Desert. It was our last organized trip for the semester, and was a really fun time. We hiked a lot, rode camels, and that night we slept in a "Beduoin tent" at a campsite, where we were served meals. Here are some pictures from this weekend:

Last Wednesday, Kyle & I went to Jerusalem to meet up with Nadine, a friend from DU who was passing through Israel on her way around the world, literally. She studied abroad this past semester in New Zealand, and after finishing up class a month ago, has been traveling and slowly making her way west, eventually ending up in Denver. It was quite a busy weekend, as we attempted to show her a lot of Israel. We managed to see modern Jerusalem, the Old City of Jerusalem, Mt of Olives, Tel Aviv/Mediterranean Sea, the Dead Sea, Bethlehem and even a little of BeerSheva. It was a busy few days, but completely worth it. It was Kyle & I's first time to Bethlehem, as it is in the West Bank and deemed off-limits by our program. So, this will stay just between you and me. The Church of the Navitity and Manager Square was neat to see, but just seeing life in the West Bank and having to walk through the check point was extremely interesting. Within the past few years, Israel has built a wall, mainly for security reasons that separate the two. It was crazy to see all the grafitti on the West Bank side of the wall, especially since the majority of it was in english! Going through to the West Bank wasn't anything unusual, we pretty much just walked through. However, coming back was what made the experience so interesting. The entire check point is inside a building, but there were literally no IDF soldiers in sight. At security, it was just like the airport, an x-ray machine where you sent your bags through and then a "door" you walk through. But, no one there directing or assisting you. It had a very erry, impersonal feeling to it all. On either side of security though were offices or booths that had dark windows, where the guards/soldiers were. After you went through security and everything was good, they would hit the switch to open the gate so you could move through. It wasn't until one of the soldiers open one of the windows to talk to a guy behind us that we even noticed where they were at. It was quite the experience. Oh, what also made Bethlehem so great was the amazing falafel we had for lunch. Not only was it the best I've probably had in Israel, but it was definitely the cheapest! 25 shekels (approx. $6) for the three of us! Well, here are some pictures from our weekend with Nadine. Garden of Gethesmene, betrayed by a kiss.

Welcome to the West Bank...

"Merry Christmas, from Bethlehem"

(Beit Lechem in Hebrew, 'house of bread')

Less than two more weeks here in Israel... where has the time gone?!

Is it finally fall?!

Israel has turned me into a tea-drinker. Not that I didn't like tea before, but I never before found myself drinking hot tea daily, or thinking to myself, 'I'd really like a cup of tea'. There may be two reasons why this has come to pass. 1) As of Sunday, it has become quite chilly out! It was gloomy and raining all day Sunday and although the sun has shined sinced then and it has warmed up, my hands and feet are having a hard time dealing with this quick change of weather. 2) Due to the change in weather, my roommates are constantly making coffee or tea for themselves, and are sweet enough to offer me some. Now I'm finding myself make it when I need something to warm me up. I think I may have a hard time adjusting to winter when I return home...

Last Thursday, Hannah, Kyle, Scott & I took a bus to Ashkelon, a city just north of the Gaza Strip on the coast of the Mediterranean. We arrived just in time to watch the sunset on the water, absolutely beautiful. From there we began our hike north up the coast of the Mediterranean. That night we hiked a few hours along the beach and set up camp between Ashkelon and Ashdod, another coastal city. And by setting up camp, I mean we laid down a tarp and our sleeping bags. We had a full moon and clear skies... couldn't have asked for more. (Unless you were Kyle, then you may have asked for a sleeping bag...) After arriving to Ashdod on Friday, I took my first dip in the Mediterranean Ocean! (yes, I have been here for 3.5 months...) Crazy to think less than a week ago we were swimming and didn't even need a towel to dry off. Friday afternoon, I decided to head back to Beersheva before Shabbat began in order to do a little school work. I figure I've been in class for just about 2 months, its about time I do some work.

Last weekend two of my roommates decided to stay here as well to catch up on work. It is not typical for students here to stick around on the weekends, which is why all the concerts, parties, and student activies are during the week. Its nice, because you don't miss too much of the university life by traveling on the weekends. So, not only was I productive last weekend, but I also got to know Lily & Avital a lot better. Avital, who is always cooking it seems like (no complaints here), made egg-drop soup (or 'chinese' soup as she called it) which was quite impressive.

The bulk of my course work here are research papers which at first didnt sound too fun, but after deciding on topics and getting in my research, I have really began to enjoy it. I mean, I'll definitely be excited when all of these papers are done, but I am learning a lot as I go along. Most of my courses deal with some aspect of history, something very new and different for me, despite challenging at times. For my terrorism & guerilla warfare class I have decided to write on the use of child soldiers, specifically looking at Sierra Leone and Palestine. Definitely hard issues to learn and wrestle with, but its reality.

On a different note, Marie & I had our picture published in the campus' magazine this week. Like shots of celebrities at the grocery store or out in New York shopping, we were photographed browsing through the shuk (market) that was on campus last week. When I showed it to my roommates, they were slightly upset that they had spent 3 years here and have yet to be in it.

And lastly, for all of you back home who have never seen a Hebrew-speaking parrot... listen carefully, the parrot says 'yalla-bye', which is actually Arabic-Hebrew slang. Pretty great stuff.






pictures will be added soon....

PETRA!

This time last week, Kyle & I were headed down south to Israel's well known tourist spot, the city of Eliat, also one of the border crossings between Israel and Jordan. It's about a 3.5 hour bus ride from Beersheva, with a lot of desert inbetween the two. Arriving in Eliat, we were able to see some of the city and boardwalk, put our feet in the Red Sea, and attempted to make our way towards the large Jordanian flag. After quite the walk (in which we saw much of the Israel/Jordan border), a friendly run-in with Israeli soldiers who offered us cookies, and a slight misunderstanding with Israeli border control, we made it to Jordan! Details are still a little fuzzy of exactly why we appeared so suspicious. But, as Kyle kept telling me, its not what goes right that makes a good story, but of what went wrong. So, I suppose it was a great way to start off the trip, plus it made the rest of the weekend a piece of cake!

I didn't have too many expectations going to Jordan, but I think that I was surprised by many things (which might actually say that I had expectations after all). The city of Aqaba can be seen from Eliat, as it is also on the coast of the Red Sea and just right next door. We saw only saw some of the residential area of the city, which was very modern and developed, before we headed out to Petra (about an 1.5 hrs from the border). One of the things that surprised me the most was how friendly people were in Jordan. Although we came in contact with most of them through business deals (taxi, hotel, food, souvenirs, etc) it was really cool to see people go out of their way to be friendly in a way that was obviously not tied with money. I think somtimes its hard to be in a completely different culture, especially one in which you stand out completely, not to mention a touristy area (as Petra definitely is), and not trust people or interact with them as you normally would for fear that they're trying to take advantage of you. Our taxi driver to Petra was very friendly, and even bought Kyle & I drinks even though we told me we didn't want anything. He would also offer us tad bits of information as we were driving through different towns, and he even said, "excuse me" when he wanted to get our attention! This may not seem revolutionary, but to me it was (as I have brought it up quite a few times since then). You rarely hear people say excuse me (or the hebrew equivalent, slicha) here in Israel.

We spent all day Friday in Petra in order to see everything! From the entrance, you can walk or ride a horse into the canyon. After about a 25 minutes walk, it opens up and you see the famous Treasury of Petra. It's pretty breath-taking when you see how beautiful the red rock is, not to mention how grand the buildings that have been carved are. I cannot fathom how the Nabataeans did this, it must have taken years! From the Treasury you walk another 30 minutes before you hit what opens up and there are many tombs, and other ruins. From here there are several trails you can take to visit sites. The most impressive one was the Monastery (see picture below of tiny Kyle in the doorway), which is the largest building, 47 m wide and 40 m high! I look like an ant compared to it! Within Petra there is also a theatre, resembling Roman times, many tombs, the Roman cardo, the great temple, and a Byzantine church with mosaics. I'm taking an art history class that focuses much on religious art, so it was fun to see a lot of these sites. We managed to see pretty much everything, quite the accomplishment. I had decided on my flip-flops, as you may know how I feel about shoes, and my feet were quite lovely when the day was over.

Within Petra there are lots of people offering donkey or camel rides, jewelry and other souvenirs. All of them speak english really well. I definitely put to use my Arabic vocabulary consisting of two words, la (no) and shukran (thank you). Before I left, Scott wrote out a page of useful Arabic phrases, one of which was "la, u-REED al-chutub laka" (No, I don't want to marry you). Although I never used that line, it was definitely helpful to know a few sayings, and its a nice gesture to make. While we were eating lunch, one guy that was offering donkey rides came over to talk to us. It was cool to be able to turn him down on his offer, but then continue talking with him about Petra and life in Jordan. There were also tons of children running around! They may have had the day off from school for the holiday, Et (or Ed), but it was fun to see so many kids. One of which wanted to get in a picture.

The following morning, Kyle, Ara (who had met up with us Friday night) & I made our way back to the border, having no complications this time passing the border and went straight for the beach in Eliat to relax until buses began to run. It was definitely a quick trip, but quite memorable.

Classes have definitely become busier. I am really enjoying my roommates and getting to know them better. On Sunday, we started volunteering at a Bedouin elementary school about 20 minutes outside of Beersheva. There is a large Bedouin population in the Negev, and many of their villages aren't recognized by Israel. There are also many social, environmental, and educational issues that involve this people group. Every Sunday, Daniel, Asher, Miriam, & I are going to be assisting the english teacher at this school. The kids begin learning english in the third grade! It is definitely a huge challenge as they also begin to learn Hebrew around this time. All of their other subjects are taught in Arabic. For the most part, all of the teachers were quite young, including the principal, but the children were extremely well behaved. What was perhaps the most interesting thing was talking with the english teacher who just started teaching at this school a month ago. Although she is Arab, she said that she was shocked when she first started teaching as she began to learn more about the Bedouin culture. She said that it is not unusual to have an aunt/uncle with a niece/nephew in the same classroom (due to the practice of polygamy). In one class we noticed that about 75% of the students in the class all had the same last name. It will definitely be a unique experience to volunteer here, and I'm excited about picking up a little more Arabic (I think I have become a little bored/frustrated with hebrew).

Again, gotta run... the Mediterranean is calling me!

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."

1 John 4.7-21

Gelato & the Druze

Sukkots, or the Feast of Booths, lasts for an entire week granting us the second week of October off from class. With the time off from class, I was able to visit Arielle & Bryan in Bologna, Italy. Although the trip there was fairly long (night spent in Ben Gurion airport and a 9 hour layover in Vienna) spending time with Bryan & Arielle for a week was well worth it. It went by fairly fast, but we were able to squeeze in time to eat lots of gelato (including an amazing gelato sandwich with actual bread!) & pizza, play scrabble, visit the local nutelleria, cook some delicious dinners, and even travel a little around Italy. Within the first 24 hours of being there, I'm almost certain that I broke just about every Jewish dietary law there is. That weekend, we went with four other DU students to Venice, which was beautiful. I was also able to see Florence and Forli (where Jami & Arielle had to conduct an ecology lab). Throughout the week I found myself answering (or having the urge to answer) people in Hebrew. I've come to the realization that my mind can only contain 1.2 languages at a time, if that.

It was quite the experience going from Israel to Italy and back, although they are quite different in many respects, both of their culture & major sites are very much tied to religion. It was quite shocking and unusual to see so many crosses and churches as I walked through the streets of Vienna and then in Italy. As I spent quite a bit of time in varying airports that week, it was fun to see different people on their own "pilgrimage". In Vienna, there was a large family in which all of them practically wore a large cruxification around their neck; very gothic in style. In Ben Gurion Airport here in Israel, you cannot be there for more than a few hours without seeing someone wave an Israeli flag, or hear some sort of song, chant, or cheer for Israel (let alone a few minutes before you come across someone in a kippa). It is quite a festive airport. Throughout the trip it was hard for me not to compare the two, and although I won't go into a great length of detail there was two rememorable things that I saw in Italy that one would never see in Israel. 1) On a sign for a restaurant, below the restaurants name was a pig on a platter. 2) In a nice shopping district of Florence was the clothing store, Gentile.

Since returning to Israel, I have kept surprising quite busy! It took me a few days to recooperate from traveling, as I came down with a head cold (ahem, I won't mention any names of who I think gave it to me...), but after a few good nights sleep I was back to normal. Its actually surprising at how fast I get over colds here, must have something to do with the warm weather, although it has cooled off, the high is still in the upper 80s. This Sunday classes began for the Israeli students here at the university. There are about 17,000 students and it makes a remarkable difference on campus. We no longer feel like we run the place, but it has been fun to meet more Israeli students and be apart of university life here. I have two new roommates, Anna and Avetal, who just moved in this past week. They are both very friendly, and I am enjoying having roommates again.

This past weekend, our group went on a trip to the western Galil. Its nice having group trips every once in a while, they are definitely cheaper than traveling yourself (free transporation, meals, place to stay... you catch my drift). We hiked a little on Mt. Carmel, saw a beautiful overview of the Mediterranean Sea, and visited an old cave. From there, we visited a Druze village and had an authentic Druze lunch. The Druze people are Arab, but a long time ago they broke away from Islam and developed their own religion/culture. The man whose house we went to shared a little with us, but a lot of their religion is not talked about. He said that a Druze's life is very black and white. There are certain guidelines and rules that one must follow (such as marrying another Druze) otherwise he/she will be excommunicated. Also, every Druze decides if they want to be religious or secular. If they decide to be religious, they give up all material pleasure. It would be interesting to learn more about them. Our lunch here was perhaps the best meal I've had in Israel so far. Homemade hummus & pita, and we had amazing rice that had cinnamon, nutmeg (? we guessed) and cashews in it. In this picture I had just tasted my first fresh fig, and I was pleasantly surprised, they're actually quite good!

We stayed Friday night in a city of 70% Druze, 30% Christians and one Jewish family (or so said the sign we saw the next day on our tour). Perhaps next week I will elaborate a little more on our time spent here, and the significance of the town. But right now I am on my way out of the door to catch a bus to Jordan where I will see the city of Petra! Yalla!

High Holy Days

It appears that I have fully adapted to Israeli culture. For the past month (yes, since my last blog) I have heard time and time again, "after the holidays are over...". During this time of year here, I've decided that nothing really gets done, everything just gets pushed off until after the High Holy Days are over. Well, as of last Saturday, they are, and already there is a definite change in everyone's pace and focus.

Two weekends ago was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. In Israel it lasts for two full days, so we had Sunday off from class. I spent the weekend near Tel Aviv with Sarah, a student here from Chicago, at her sister & brother-in-laws. On Friday we spent most of the day cooking and preparing for the holiday and then the rest of the weekend we spent eating lots and lots of good food. I tried my first gefilte fish, which is interesting. One of my favorite things were these honey, nutty pastries. I definitely ate my fair share of them that weekend.

After only a few days of class last week, another weekend was upon us and another holiday, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Yom Kippur began Sunday evening and went until Monday evening (thus we had both Sunday and Monday off from class). This is one holiday that almost everyone in Israel observes. It is regarded much like the Sabbath, but to a higher degree. That Thursday Kyle, Marie, Alex & I went up to the north to do a little camping and hiking. We didn't quite make it to the camp grounds that night, due to our bus arriving late, but instead had an urban camping experience. We were encouraged by someone to not spend the money on a campsite since it was late, but instead to go around the corner from this field school where we would be able to camp for free. As we turned the corner, we saw not only a soccer field, but many apartment buildings and people out walking their dogs. That night we all relived the childhood experience of camping out in our backyards.

We finally made it the next morning to Yehudiya Nature Reserve where we stayed the next two nights. Apparently Israeli campsites are much different, as we were directed to a large fenced in area with a number of circular shelters that one could sleep under, a bathroom (toilets and showers), and rocks dispersed randomly (not natural rocks, but rocks you might use to landscape). It was quite an enertaining experience, and it was fun to get to know others that were camping here as well. Israel is quite a small country. We were constantly running into people that someone in our group knew or had a connection with. In the bus station, Marie ran into a guy she had met two years ago in an ulpan in Haifa who is just finishing up his service in the Army. At Yehudiya we ran into Daniel's (one of the American students here) cousin, who's Israeli and we also met three Americans who are studying abroad in Jerusalem. Each of them had some kind of connection with us, it was crazy.

On Friday and Saturday we hiked the two major trails in Yehudiya. Both went down into valleys and followed a river, and then came back out of the valley (literally straight up out of the valley, quite the workout). All their trails are clearly marked, and throughout them you run into pools of water where you can jump into and cool off. There were also beautiful waterfalls and even a fresh water spring. The first day we took a hike that you actually had to climb down a ladder that alongside a waterfall and then jump in and swim across the pool in order to resume the trail. On our way down to this point we passed a memorable couple. We're not sure if her significant other had told her what exactly they were going to be doing that day, or if she normally hiked/swam in platforms and jean capris. The guy with her was practically having to assist her with every step, and sadly, we were a little enertained when we were able to watch her climb down the ladder and jump in (as you can see from this picture).

After our hike on Saturday we went down to the northeast coast of the Sea of Galilee. We were directed to a free beach by our friends back at the reserve, which ended up being an ideal place to camp. There were many Israeli families out camping, and others just out for a day of swimming or wind surfing (which is something that I want to try sometime in my life). I was surprised by the waves we found there, as I kinda of disregarded the guy who said that people surfed there (although at that time I didn't know he was referred to wind surfing). On Sunday, we made our way back down to Tel Aviv where Alex & I left Marie & Kyle and headed back to BeerSheva. Only after we found a shawarma stand (shaved lamb, chicken, or turkey sandwich). After a weekend of lots of pb & j, tuna, and nutella, we were all ready for some hot meat.

Due to daylight savings, Yom Kippur began that night at sundown, approximately 5:30pm. I decided to fast alongside Scott and Becky, who were a few of the only American students here for Yom Kippur, which is one of the major fasts (lasting sundown to sundown) in Judaism. There are a few minor fasts that only last from sunup to sundown. Scott & Becky had done a little research and had found a synagogue that most closely resembles a Conservative synagogue, a sect you might say of Judaism. Shortly after our last meal, we walked approximately 3 miles to it only to find the service had already began, and no seats available. We stood with quite a few others in the doorway as Scott gave Becky & I a condensed translation of what the Rabbi was saying. The following morning, Becky & Scott went back to the synagogue, and later that afternoon (after they had taken a nap between services) the three of us attended the last service of Yom Kippur (this time getting seats, although we stood for the majority of the service). I give a lot of props to those two for walking there and back on no food and very little water three separate times.

As I said before, Yom Kippur is one of the only days that is observed by practically every Israeli. As we were walking Sunday to the synagogue, one might not have thought it was any different than another day. However, the closest it got to sundown the more it became apparent. Traditionally, people wear white on Yom Kippur. I think it is to symbolize purity, or "a clean slate" as it is a time of community repentance. During a portion of the service, there is a time when a list of sins is read and with each sin, one taps/pounds his fist against his chest, admiting to be guilty of that sin. As we were walking, we passed many people dressed in white and men carrying their tallits (prayer shawls) as they to head to synagogue. Perhaps the most obvious thing that marks Yom Kippur differently than any other day, or holy day, is that no one, and I mean NO ONE drives. Scott's Hebrew teacher was telling them that her kids call Yom Kippur, yom haOfanayim, which means 'day of the bikes'. This is because there is not a single car on the streets (except for patrolling police or the occasional ambulance), therefore every child in Israel has the streets to themselves to ride their bikes up and down.

After the service, Dotan (who grew up in BeerSheva) wanted to meet up and go walking, because that's what you do on Yom Kippur. It was so much fun to see the entire city of BeerSheva out walking around, stopping to chat with people they knew, and the millions of kids everywhere out on their bikes. Dotan told us stories of how when he was a kid him and his friends would bury eggs a few weeks before Yom Kippur, and then dig them up before sundown to throw at the police cars they saw, all in fun, he added. At one intersection, Dotan explained to us that within the next 30 minutes the majority of the city will be in this one block. I had never seen anything like this before, but the closest thing I could compare it to were cities in Colorado after the Broncos won the Super Bowl, with the exception of the riots, screaming, gazillion cars out. It was very unique to see such a large population of people, especially one that encompasses a variety of ethnicities and traditions gather on the streets to greet each other and socialize. What might be the oddest thing about it was food was no where in sight. In many cultures food can be the staple to fellowship/socialization. One last memory before I wrap up Yom Kippur (and perhaps this blog, its rather lengthy). Something that really struck me being here in Israel is how some American styles really catch on, such as Crocs. These are the must haves here in Israel. The night of Yom Kippur, as we are walking around BeerSheva we ran into an older man (probably in his 70s) who Dotan knew, he was memorable because he was completely decked out in white, all the way down to his white Crocs.

The following week was Sukkots (or the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths) which granted us an entire week off from class. During my time off, I was able to fly to Italy to visit Arielle & Bryan. This, my friends, is where I will pick back up in a few days, after I return from our weekend trip to the western Galil. Hopefully, now that the holidays are over I will be able to blog a little more faithfully. Until then, yallabye!

Two Holy Cities of Israel

Like those back in Denver, classes are finally starting for the year. As I previously mentioned, our ulpan ended on Wednesday. That night we had a celebration dinner at Abraham's well which was really fun. After dinner, there was lots of dancing. In one of these pictures is a group of students dancing Israeli-style, very fun even if you don't know the steps! Although ulpan is finished and half of the students that were here have left, we will be continuing Hebrew throughout the semester. Which is really good, because there is so much more for me to learn! We barely got into past tense, and my vocabulary is still pretty small.

With an extra day in our weekend (since we didn't have ulpan on Thursday), Becca, Becky & I decided to trek it up north. It is fairly easy to travel around Israel, as the train goes straight from BeerSheva up the coast of the Mediterranean (through Tel Aviv, Haifa, etc). We took the train north, then a bus to Sefat (or Safed, its spelled so many different ways, its ridiculous). Sefat is considered one of the four holy cities in Israel in Judaism, and a major center for Jewish Mysticism or Kabbalah. For the 24 hours that we were here, the number of religious/orthodox Jews was remarkably higher than in other cities/towns we have been in. Sefat is also known for its artists, as there is a whole Artists Quarter in the old city. Throughout the old city we noticed the highly creative and colorful electrical boxes, as seen in this picture. We mainly explored the town, visiting the shops and galleries that were open. Sefat was hit by katyushas in July, and we were able to see a few of the places that were hit. The war has officially been over for a month now, but it was a reminder that there is still aftermath and unresolved conflict.

From Zefat, we took a sherut (only after waiting at the bus station for an hour) to Tiberias which is on the cost of the Sea of Galilee, or Kenneret. This is also one of the four holy Jewish cities of Israel. Here's Becca & I with the beautiful Galilee. We also walked around quite a bit, both along the coast and through the streets (not as old city-isc as Sefat). We visited the tomb of Maimonides, the famous Jewish philosopher and St. Peter's church, which was originally built by the Crusaders. The church was extremely hard to find, and when we finally discovered it, we realized we had probably passed the entrance at least 5 times. The sanctuary of the church was shaped like an overturned boat, to represent a fishing boat overturned at the edge of the sea. The booklet that I picked up about the church, said that the boat represented Peter leaving fishing behind to follow Christ. We were able to swim some in the sea, although swimming beaches were rare (and not free!), it is mostly a rocky coast. We believe we experienced the bountiful fish of the sea, as something kept tickling our feet in the water.

Up north, the terrain is much different than down here in the Negev. Both towns, Sefat & Tiberias were built on hills or mountain tops, unlike the flatness of BeerSheva. Which, I am thankful now, being back here. It is quite the workout walking up and down those hills in the heat of the sun! This picture is of the view from Sefat, Israel's highest city, or so my travel book tells me. This is also near one of the katyusha hittings. Beauty & destruction all in one shot. One of the themes of this past weekend was in the people that befriended us. In Sefat, we stopped to get a snack at a small shop, and the older man who worked there sat down with us and chatted with us, then offered his assistance in helping us find the place we were staying. He spoke very little English, so it was fun to be able to communicated, but mostly understand what he was saying. Becky, was our Hebrew speaker for the weekend, and she did a terrific job. Later that night, we were walking to get some dinner and came across an older woman feeding these randomly placed horses & goats. As we began to leave her, she asked if we could help her carry her bags up the hill. Once up the hill, she continued to guide us throughout that part of town, explaining different buildings, asking us questions, and then preceding to make sure we found exactly what we wanted for dinner. Even away from BeerSheva and Dotan (who we call 'aba' because he is always looking out for us) we managed to find a replacement aba and ima.

Today was the first day of our semester classes. I will be taking five classes: Hebrew, Visual Culture in Ancient & Medieval Judaism, Critical Decisions in the State of Israel, Faith & Reason in Jewish Philosophy, and Terrorism & Guerilla Warfare in the International Arena. I had two of them today, and it looks like they will be interesting. It will perhaps take a little while to get used to a new schedule, a little sad that I won't have my free afternoons anymore. However, there are many Jewish holidays approaching, which means days off from class. The first up: Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.