The Ultimate Israel Experience

Now that I have come down from the exhilarating Yam experience, I would like to reflect on the more every day, run-of-the-mill activities that have been keeping me busy here in Israel. (This is also a perfect time to reflect because it is very close to (if not at) the half-way point of this adventure.)

For starters - I've been putting in 25-30 hours (ok an average of 26 as so not to appear to be a minimalist) at my internship. I have been creating the communications materials for the international nutrition conference being held in Tel Aviv in June. This is really exciting for me because I have been able to let loose creatively. I have designed two posters, a banner, a magnet, and the folder for their materials. As anyone who has ever been in a grad school group project with me knows - I love making the communications materials.

After work, I usually walk around downtown - exploring and such. Most days I end up at the Shuk. I like buying my produce there. I buy carrots, onions, peppers, apples, dried strawberries, bananas, pita, (on Shabbats, we buy challah!), and tonight we're having artichoke! (Sarah buys eggplant like it's going out of style). We are eating really healthfully here. Which makes up for the fact that I felt terribly guilty eating a pastry for breakfast while sitting at my desk in the nutrition department.

On Tuesdays, we have a meeting with NotRabbi Pesach. Pesach is this religious/knowledgeable gentleman that Career Israel has wrangled up to talk to us about religious happenings. I made the mistake of calling him Rabbi – he is a scribe…so now we refer to him as NotRabbi. Tuesdays are nice time to see the other Jeru kids (who decide to go, it’s optional, of course). NRP also provides dinner (so at the very least we are fed one day a week). Sometimes he’s very ethereal and mystical (for instance, this past Tuesday he used the word synesthesia...most times he paints us a very nice picture, touching on main points of the holidays)

This particular Tuesday, our apartment got two new additions. Members from a different MASA program (OTZMA) moved in. OTZMA is a 10 month MASA program, and they are beginning their final 3 months – which is the internship leg of their program. Laura is from Weston and went to school at ::mumble::FSU::grumble::... and Gaby is from Boston and went to Goucher(in Baltimore, for those of you – like me – who have a hard time with school geography when they don’t have a D1 football team). They are awesome and energetic girls. I'm excited to have more people to go out with in Jeru.

On Wednesday, we had a MASA program in Tel Aviv for Holocaust Remembrance Day. It was a Seder - some of it was even in Spanish. Afterwards, a bunch of us walked home from the hotel. It took maybe 35-40 minutes. Sarah and I had our hiking bags because we were spending the night in TA, and we joked that we can't get enough of our bags. Though, she got Aaron to carry her bag back to Beit Leni. psh. On Thursday, Nina, Sarah, and I went to the beach early in the morning to get a (for the lack of better term) "good" spot for the siren. We walked along the beach/busy street (not quite a highway). The wind/waves were going pretty strong. At 9:59, all the cars came to a stop, and the drivers got out of their cars. At 10:00, the siren went off. For a full minute everything froze. Even the birds were quiet. It seemed as if the wind died down, too. It was quite the experience.

On Friday, Sarah and I went to the Shuk (ma nishtana, right?) to prepare for the Sabbath. She bought two loaves of challah, and we got the normal groceries. Then we went back to the Kfar (student village, in case you're not up to snuff on our lingo). After a quick snack, we decided to do some exploring. (No time like the present). We took a walk and kept taking random turns in our surrounding neighborhood. (In the hopes we would find something that would be opened on Saturday...) We saw some great views of ::cough:: Jordan and East Jerusalem. Don't worry, we didn't go touch the Separation Wall, like I dared us to. After our walk, we met up with some boys from the Israel Government Fellows (MASA) program, so we hung out with them outside Burgers Bar in front of the Kfar. It was like eating lunch at the Rat. We saw everybody we know walk by. Friday night, I went to conservative Shul with the new roomies. Afterward, we were going to go to the 'Hillel', but it was super crowded, so some of us came back to the apt and made a delicious dinner.

Saturday might have been my favorite. Sarah made French toast for the whole apartment!! So delicious. Then we went exploring again. We are branching out of our little bubble. We walked across the light rail into the French Hill neighborhood. After a quick iced coffee break, we got our books and read outside. The weather was magnificent. Finally, Laura and Gaby's guests - Ellie and Robin - made us dinner/dessert to say thanks for letting them stay the weekend. Delicious pasta with veggies and a bread pudding - which was made in the toaster over  - impressive AND delicious.

I have been keeping very busy - truly experiencing Israel - branching out from just hanging out with Americans, meeting new people, making new friends. I am having an amazing time here in Israel, and I am so glad I decided to come on this program.

When in Rome...

 (yes, go on...)

Yam L'Yam Captain's Blog: Day 4

It has been brought to my attention that it seems I "was the navigator of the trip"... I would like to remedy that misconception right now. In no way was I navigator. As anyone who knows me, I have the WORST sense of direction. (Like I even have to bring up the Thanksgiving Debacle of '07... - Andi gets another shout out!) All I did was walk in front of 21 other people for an extended period of time, making sure that I periodically saw paint stripes on rocks in the appropriate trail colors. Do not worry, I was never more than 30 feet in front of an Israeli who knew exactly where he was going.

Now that I cleared that up, let's wrap up this saga!

So remember that mountain we had to climb to reach our five-star campsite? Well, as Newton said, "What goes up, must come down, so you should have planned that before you hiked up a mountain." (I'm paraphrasing) Our first order of business was to climb back down that doozy of a hill. It didn't seem as bad now that we weren't fighting gravity and fading sunlight... but we still moved cautiously.

The second leg of Day 4 consisted of a ridge. We hiked along the ridge of this mountain for a few hours. It was (my new favorite word) treacherous. We had just enough wiggle room on either side so that I didn't freeze with fear, but let me tell you, the drop-off was nothing to scoff at. 

This picture does not properly convey the pit I felt in my stomach
when I stubbed my toe and thought my life was over.

Once we reached (more) solid ground, I felt a lot better. Enough of the rock obstacle course. The Israeli Parks Department was kind enough to even add those metal rungs in some especially dodgy areas... but they only ended up giving me flash backs to the Negev (see: "Don't rush me, Brah").

I don't have a witty remark. I just think this is a really cool rock formation.

One thing (one of many things) that continually impresses me is how diverse the landscape is here. We trekked through the whole gamut. After emerging from our latest terrain, we had to cross a highway. Playing real-life Frogger was a different kind of scary from the cliffs. Next up, tall grasses and thorny bushes! Oh, and more cows. We walked through a thin path - and I am thankful I was wearing pants - because even with the extra layer, the three different types of plants with prickly leaves still got to me. At one point, there was a separation between the front half of the group and the back half, and a cow cut across the path...and pooped. I couldn't help but laughing.

The last leg before the home-stretch consisted of a dry river bed. It was a different type of rocky: sun-bleached, post-apocalyptic, last-people-on-earth rocky. And just like that, we reached a banana field. I knew it was coming, but we still made jokes along the lines of "Did we take a wrong turn? We're back where we started!" Give us a break, we had been walking for close to 80 kilometers, our material is bound to be a bit rough.

Miriam, Nina, Sarah, Yael, Jessica, and Me
We can practically taste the Kinneret (good thing it's fresh water)

So here's a funny story... we walked for 4 days and 80 kilometers... and the Kinneret was closed. YES. I said it. CLOSED. Apparently, all the beaches on the Sea of Galilee are private...so we could not technically get to the water. This was such an unexpected twist to our story, that even I didn't see it coming. ::shakes fist at dramatic irony:: (Also, our destination was a town named Ginosar - we made plenty of jokes, so I won't make any more here.)

Ladies and Gentlemen: I present to you, the Kinneret. Look, don't touch!

So after begging talking to the guy at the hotel to let us touch the water, we left and walked another 3km to a campsite. This was a very nice campsite compared to the cow pastures and rocky hills we slept on the previous nights. We also had to fork over a small amount of shekels to stay there (nbd). It was a lovely compound. Tal met up with us - and she wrangled up a grill and some chicken - and we had a great bbq. Best of all, we got to touch the Kinneret! I got to empty my Mediterranean Yam into the Kinneret Yam. (let's pretend both were salt water or both were fresh water...shhh)

You're free, Mediterranean Sea!!! (ps - awesome photography skillz, Nino)

There's also a picture of me doing the Lebron pre-game powder move - but with my Yam-bottle... but I just look ridiculous, so I won't post it. Anywho. It was a GREAT feeling to finish the hike!! Such an accomplishment. There were times where I thought "Bitch, you cray cray!" or "There's no way your 80 year-old knees will let you continue..." BUT I DID. Days later I'm still in awe. I want to say, "I am a lot stronger than I thought I was," but I feel like that might backfire on me this summer when I'm forced to climb up that fire tower (I'm telling you right now, family, I am NOT climbing up that rickety old fire tower). It seems I have digressed a bit...

Sarah, Me, Nina, and Molly in front of the Kinneret

Epilogue: The campsite was hosting a slew of "Jersey Shore" Israelis (Arsim). These folks were not, by any means, roughing it. They had a huge sound system, tables, impressive tents, and so on. I went to bed pretty early, but group consensus was that the blaring music never stopped. When we woke up (due to the untz-untz-untz - and a phone that wouldn't stop ringing, and a dog that wouldn't stop barking) at 6:00am - the music was still blaring! Let's just say, we packed up, called a sheruit bus, and got the eff out of Dodge by 7:15. We got out of there faster than any of the previous mornings! We caught a different sheruit back to Tel Aviv. I gathered my stuff from Beit Leni, and took the bus back to Jeru where I enjoyed a quiet, relaxing, weekend. I am sad that I missed out on the blister-tending parties, and feet soaking get-togethers, but there is nothing like a little peace and quiet after becoming one with nature.

Yam L'Yam Captain's Log: Day 3

And on the third day...we rested. (just kidding, that was all Molly. She wants to ghostwrite my Career Israel newsletter bio, so I figure I would feature her here first.)

The third day started with an incline to Mount Meron. I was placed in the front of the group again, but slowly trickled my way to the back of the pack. We stopped once to take pictures briefly, and I took that time to regain my post...and then trickle towards the back again. I like to take the inclines at my own pace. 

We reached the top of Mount Meron for our first real havsaka (break) - which usually consisted of halva bricks and dried fruit - around tea time. We used this time to take pictures atop the highest point that civilians can access. (If you look closely, you can see our house from the top of the gondola...)

Nina and I enjoying our considerably lighter packs.

All of the Yammers on top of Mount Meron!

I stole this picture from Meir... I think he took a great picture!

After the peak, we continued on our merry way - but the trail started to get clogged with "hikers" aka religious folk in tevas and high socks...or people who are not fit enough to climb 3 flights of stairs... This made traveling rather difficult. Unfortunately for one of our own, Tal, this ended badly. In the midst of walking/turning to tell people behind her to wait for people to pass, she lost her footing and rolled her ankle. Fortunately we were on a relatively flat area - they wrapped her ankle, and at the next parking lot (20 mins later) she took a cab to the hospital. :( 

Down one member, the fearless Career Israelites powered through. We walked for a while after leaving Tal in the capable hands of one of our 5 Israelis. The next time I checked my watch (ok that's a lie, I checked like every 5 minutes once it was nearing lunch time) it was past my normal lunch time. As the "trusty leader" I made the executive decision to stop for lunch.

Enjoying a much needed post-lunch siesta.

 After lunch, things got interesting. We walked for a while (for a change of pace...), and then we walked some more. Some hours later, we reached a wooded area. With springs...and Hasidim. I am not entirely sure how to describe it....other than a woodsy nature preserve where you have the opportunity to use the river as a bathing/swimming area? Let's go with that. All I know is that Meir made us drink a liter of water and then refill our bottle before we left the previous water source, so I had to pee so badly. There was no place I could go where there weren't Hasidim...and I am not ready to punch my ticket straight to hell.

Around 5:30 we stopped. We had two options...as night was going to fall in 2 hours. We could continue forward about 40 minutes... then take a STEEP hike up to our campsite. WHICH we would have to return back down the next morning. Or we could backtrack 15 minutes, then hike a little further to a different campsite. (Well you know which one I voted for) Obviously we picked the more treacherous route.

OH. SIDE NOTE. When we got to the beginning of the steep up-mountain (I would call it an uphill, but it was an effing mountain), there was a sign. BY DECREE OF the Israeli Parks, this route was CLOSED. Not to worry, we have Israelis. We disregarded that sign and climbed straight up up up. It was touch and go, but I finally made it. (When I got to the top, Yoni told me the sign said that was for "excellent hikers only" - I'm glad I qualified) 

Our five-star campsite - a cow pasture with the occasional horse.

We were so close to civilization! We tried to get delivery for dinner... but for some reason it didn't work. No cab driver wanted to deliver kosher l'pesach pizza or hamburgers to a side-of-the-road cow pasture. Go figure.

So close to Tzfat, yet so far!

So, we Uri built a fire, and Molly roasted our meat sticks. She claimed they were better charred... but I don't prefer them either way. Finally, we got in the tent and got ready for bed when Molly declared she would sleep out under the stars. When was the last time I was described as "out-doorsy"? Yeah right, I was going to sleep in my tent... where it was more.... ::cough:: comfortable.

#OutOfTheTentFOMO not on your life.

Yam L'Yam Captain's Log: Day 2

The crew woke up to the realization that sleeping on the hard ground and sprinkling of rocks after hiking all day is not a recipe for a refreshed feeling. It also did not help that there was a rooster who had been crowing since ONE A.M. I swear, he's meshuggie. We also woke up to a really sick puppy. Aaron (aka Scooby) had fallen ill... we've decided it was the quantity of hard boiled eggs he shoved down his gullet during Day 1. Lucky for us, the people who's backyard we had been using........came out and graciously took him in - and they'd figure out how to get him to our next checkpoint when he recovered. (Later that day, we would realize that our beloved Scoobs had been adopted by another family).

After we got Aaron taken care of, we set out (on the road again... just can't wait to get on the road again). Due to my "performance" on Day 1, Yoni told me to lead the pack. That's what's up! Lucky for me, Day 2 was relatively flat. I owned Day 2. The first portion of the hike occurred on the side of a highway. We had to bypass a nature preserve. Finally, we made it back on to the trail. It was really peaceful to lead the pack, with one headphone in, and not a care in the world.

Leading the pack, keeping a good pace, rocking out to sweet tunes

Our trusty Israeli, Meir, kept telling us we would have opportunities to swim in a spring (oh joy, let's hike another 4 hours in wet clothes...) We People who could speak Hebrew would ask "how far to the water" "oh just a few more minutes" - this went on for a while... To spare you the anticipation that we felt... the "water" of which they spoke...turned out to be an overflowing trough. We ate our lunch in a nice shaded area and took a siesta.

The crew, making great time!

After the tuna fires died down, and we had digested, we continued on our hike through what Sarah referred to as "the Sound of Music" hills... from the only logical reason I can think of: we were running from Nazis? I jest... because I was skipping along singing "I have confidence in sunshine/I have confidence in rain/I have confidence that spring will come again/Besides which you see I have confidence in me." Ok, I'm being ridiculous. The topography was reminiscent of Austria.

Our life savor, Meir, with all of the Career Israel girls

An hour or so after lunch, the terrain changed. Here's where I really came into my own as a leader. The hike changed to woodsy yet sandy with the floor covered in pine needles. It was like walking through Morikami with a peppering of Gumbo Limbo. Jess (from Miami Beach) and I tore through this portion and enjoyed a nice havsaka (break) at the end.

The last portion of our hike was a short incline (which I had blocked out until about 5 minutes ago when Sarah reminded me). Then we arrived at our campsite near Mount Meron (a short 17km day). There were jubliant cheers from the crew when we saw port-o-potties. I was extremely hesitant to jump on that bandwagon. Just because I'd been in the woods for 36 hours does not mean I was ready to use a port-o-potty. It was like the lesser of two evils... ::shudder::

We made camp really early (aka way before sunset) so we Uri had time to gather enough fire wood to make a decent bonfire. We ate our respective meat batons (or meat sticks, in my case) and hung out around the bonfire. This time we got to sleep on a relatively less-rocky surface...but we were on a slope. The thing about sleeping on an incline... I would wake up in the middle of the night and have to caterpillar crawl up my way back to the top of the tent - without waking the other 4 girls in my tent. (To quote Molly ""I just assumed you four were sleeping like little cherubs as kept spinning in my sleeping bag like a rotisserie chicken.")

Sarah and Molly with Carmel and the Meat Baton

Yam L'Yam Captain's Log: Day 1

This saga starts like many do: first thing in the morning! Spirits are high at 7:30 am. The crew met promptly outside Beit Leni. Only minimal standing around - just enough time to readjust our packs a few times and then saunter out to the bus stop. (Our packs weighed an average of 20 kilos...42 pounds - we were advised to not let the bags exceed 30% of our body weight....oops) We arrived at the train station early enough for all of us to buy our tickets to Nahariya. From there, we had approximately a two hour train ride - last chance introspection/nap (and in my case, a chance to make a friend. a girl in the army who blasted Disney music on her iPod loud enough for the whole car to hear).

Look how clean and put together we are!

After a quick sheruit ride to Akziv/the Mediterranean Sea - we quickly dumped our packs and filled up our Yam containers. I had decorated mine with Mike earlier that week, but apparently permanent markers do not apply to yogurt-drink bottles. We met up with the rest of our group (the Israelis who did not travel with us from Tel Aviv), took some commemorative pictures, and then headed out on the green trail.

Collecting some Mediterranean Yam!
(because the last thing I need is extra weight on my back)

Molly...what are you doing?

Finally, we got started on our 22 kilometer hike (Jeremy, that's 13.7 miles) very close to high noon. The first part of the hike takes you through a banana farm (it reminded me of that time Andi and I got lost in the middle of Florida over Thanksgiving).

After the plantations, we entered the real trail. We ate our first can of tuna. We also learned that with a little bit of (pink) toilet paper, you can set the tuna in oil on fire. Apparently it tastes a lot better than regular tuna. If I had known.... I would not have convinced Sarah, Molly, and Nina to buy their tuna in water because it's "healthier".

This part of the trail went along a river/creek/brook. Which is aesthetically pleasing... but kind of a pain in the tuckus when you have to cross it and you don't have water shoes.

Nina had awesome bright pink water shoes.

 I was never one to play hop-scotch in grade school, so my rock-hopping skills are not as developed as they could be. I promptly gave up and put on my flip flops.

I wish I had played the "I don't have water shoes" card.
PS - I saw her with sandals the next day... just sayin'.

The above picture sparked some testosterone matches. Uri and one of our Israelis, Meir, decided they could carry each other with their packs on. As impressive as it was, I ended up falling behind the main group. Unfortunately, I would spend the rest of the day playing catch-up.

As you can see, spirits were high on day one.

This next picture wasn't even taken after the difficult part of the day... After finally reconnecting with the rest of the group, I had about 30 seconds to recollect myself before our steep climb to summit.

Danger of Collapse... Me or the Rocks?
After hiking 90 minutes in my sandals, I'd say Me.

The climb up probably wasn't as bad as the Pinnacle... and it was only 30-40 minutes. But for some reason, I truly struggled. I think it was the combination of the big rocks to step up on, a 40lb bag, and the fact we had been walking for 6 hours that gave me the troubles.

I was tempted to tap out, but I powered through!

We made it to our campsite, aka a gated community/kibbutz(maybe?) near Ma'alot just as the sun was setting. We pitched our tent, ate some meat sticks for dinner, and I went to bed as soon as I could. I would like to mention this as gently as possible while still maintaining some lady mysteriousness. It turns out we were not in the woods as we might have preferred... yet we were camping out on someone's property...very near to their front lawn... as in.... you get the picture.

At the end of Day 1, I felt like I was not as fit as I should have been to undertake such a feat... but don't worry, readers, this adventure is just beginning! Things might just turn around for this ole gal on Day 2!

Career Israelites

In case you haven't heard, for Pesach break, we it was decided that we should hike from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret). Other ideas were tossed around... spending the week at a resort in Eilat... taking a cruise to Cyrpus... but we settled on hiking Yam L'Yam (Sea to Sea).

It was an amazing experience, and I want you to get the full play-by-play complete with Julie-Commentary. That might take a few days (seeing as the 80(+3)kilometer (50ish mile) hike took us 4 days and 4 nights). 

Just a quick look at our hike

In the meantime, I don't want you to go without a post. So I have decided to create a post just like the game we played while hiking. You know that game "I'm going on a picnic, and I'm bringing..." and you go through the alphabet? Of course you do. Well, ladies and gentlemen... without further adieu...


I'm Hiking Yam L'Yam, and I'm Bringing...
A - Aspirin
B - Band-aids for the many, many blisters
C - Camelback water spigots (best purchase - besides the bag itself) (the hose attached to our water bottles - see "L")
D - Dried fruit - to counter the effects of matzah
E - Endurance
F - Flashlight (a headlamp is preferable)
G - Grill for the Arsim picnic
H - Halva - finally! it's socially acceptable for me to eat that much halva in one sitting
I - Israelis - without them... I'm not sure we would have... survived
J - Junk food (ok, just kosher for Pesach chocolate/candy that melted on the first day)
K - Kilo of tuna (in oil... if you insist)
L - Liter (4-6) of water / also Lametayel - the hiking store that sponsored our trek
M - Meat sticks / Meat batons
N - Nutella
O - One-ness with nature (aka Open-Defecation)
P - Privacy (See "O")
Q - Questioning why we did this and if we will survive
R - Rope... the cliffs were scary high
S - Sunscreen
T -  Tevas and Tents (according to the only non-Israeli who slept one night without a tent, Molly said she felt like a wet dollar bill when we woke up feeling like a million bucks (but did we?))
U - Underpants
V - Very.Sore.Muscles.
W - Wet Naps x1000 (aka Baby Wipes... if it's good enough for a baby, maybe you won't get boonda asada)
X - Xerox of the itinerary (so it's not the blind leading the blind out here...)
Y - YAM! (from the Mediterranean to bring to the Kinneret)
Z - Zinc (you can never have enough sunscreen, in my opinion)

I hope you are as excited to hear about my adventure as I was to live it. I will get these posts going in the next few days, so keep an eye out! If you're on Facebook, some people have already posted pictures, so you can take a look. But now, I'm really excited to be sleeping in my own bed tonight, and not some rocky/hard and uneven/cow-poop filled/or boisterous (Arsim picnic) ground.

Ein Gedi Seminar Weekend

Shalom Ya'll! Happy April to all you fools. I hope you had a prankful day! I am not feeling very mischievous after the long weekend and Sunday work week. But let's be honest, I don't need it to be April 1st to cause mayhem.

Last week I completed my third week of interning/handed in my time sheet for March. I met with my internship coordinator over coffee and a croissant. He asked me about my likes/dislikes/hopes/fears/aspirations/etc. It is nice because I believe his Tel Avivian "campers" (for a lack of a better term) had a 20 minute session. I sat with him for nearly an hour. I think he was surprised when I said I loved Jerusalem and am happy here. My only complaints statements were that the majority of the people (and my friends) live in Tel Aviv, and 98% of everything (including public transportation) is closed on Shabbat in Jeru...which is inconvenient to say the least. Oh, and the sidewalk hills are very slippery...but what can you do? Go back in time and ask King Whats-His-Face to use a different stone? Everything is fine - הכל בסדר

But I digress... This weekend we had a seminar in Ein Gedi (for those of you who don't know, it is on the Dead Sea). Our program hosted this seminar so we could meet Israelis our age and discuss a wide variety of topics. Most of the discussions got heated. Especially the last discussion we had. Our facilitator gave us a word or phrase, and we had to say "Beseder" or "Lo Beseder" (Ok or Not Ok). Topics included, but were not limited to, legalizing marijuana, the release of Gilad Shalit, marrying Jewish, and Big Brother. (obviously I said beseder for Big Brother for my big brother). Israelis and nonIsraelis alike are very opinionated - and in a room full of advocates and future-lawyers, you are destined to have an intense debate.

We had time on Friday to go to the Dead Sea before Shabbat. I went on Birthright ::cough:: a few years ago, so I was really excited to go back. Unfortunately, the terrain was a bit more rugged than the spas they take you to on Birthright... so after cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof stepping it, we made it out in onto the water. It is a crazy sensation - for any of you who have not gone in the Dead Sea - I highly recommend it. Just don't splash...because if you get it in your eyes, it burns like a B. Floating around is quite the workout, too.... I mean...if you are trying to doggy paddle over to your friends, and then someone grabs on to your ankles and hitches a ride....and maybe even someone grabs on to her ankles! I became the human tug boat.

Synchronized swimming would be less impressive if it took place in the Dead Sea...

And of course we took a few of these.... before Aaron came and started to Gator-Chomp us...

I love how Molly still manages to sit like a lady in the water...

Saturday we took a hike walk out doors with a man-made path/stairs through the Ein Gedi Nature Preserve. I don't know if that is its official name, so just go with it. We "hiked" David's Stream - the Hebrew translation probably sounds better, you lucky I remembered the English! So we enjoyed the beautiful weather. Some of us enjoyed the waterfall/fresh water pool.

Ein Gedi... Israel's Niagara Falls. So naturally we took the Maiden of the Mist to get there.

I really enjoyed seeing the diabetic sand rats (remember from the Negev?). They were just chillin'...in trees - managing their blood sugar, checking their A1C levels in the shade, and laying spread eagle on a rock. These rats (hyrex - also microwavable safe) are pretty awesome. I even saw one scamper across the land - it makes me happy to see they know the simple steps, like exercise, they can take to prevent diabetes.

It's 4pm, and this poor guy probably needs a glass of orange juice pick-me-up.

All in all, it was a great weekend. (Though, I could use a nap). I met some cool Israelis and learned their perspectives on a wide range of topics. Also, sorry for taking pics from the Internet or the guy who took pictures all weekend long... I left my camera in Molly's bag...so I'll get it this weekend before our 4 day hike: Yam L'Yam (Sea to Sea)!

The Part Where the Posts Start to Stagger...

As the title suggests... this is the part of the trip where I start to lose blogging steam. Partially because I'm so behind on everything...I have like 10 hours of shows that are backlogged, I haven't kept up with movies (though Sarah and I saw Hunger Games last night... phenomenal), and I surely do not know what songs are hot right now (sorry, Mom, I can't help you update your iPod...). Also, I would rather not bore you with mundane work things. Not that my work things are mundane...because I'm awesome, and my job is exciting! Never a dull moment. I have graduated from researching, and now I am making posters and communications materials for the International Nutrition Conference in June. I guess new responsibilities is a part of getting older...(ps thanks for all the bday wishes)

Yesterday was a pretty cool/exhausting/utterly confusing day. Apparently on Mondays, my office has meetings in Tel HaShomer (Next to Ramat Gan and Tel Aviv). It is this GINORMOUS hospital complex. (And from what I gathered from the woman who drove me to the wrong bus stop after the meeting, it has classes, a museum, and a lot of research) I could be completely wrong, so here: Tel HaShomer.

The meeting was 5 hours long... 88% in Hebrew. My brain hurt afterwards. It was really interesting to observe. The meeting was about different food pyramids from around the world, and how Israel should update theirs. I understood 1.5 presentations. Namely because they were from my office, and I did the research for them. Also, because my boss gave me her slides on Sunday and I translated them. At one point, a dog came in from the back of the room, trotted up to the front to the podium, sniffed around, then left. #onlyinIsrael

When it was over, I took a bus back to Jeru and a 2nd bus to the Malha Mall to meet Sarah. We went to go see Hunger Games last night. Phe-no-me-nal. Ok, that's all the boring stuff I have for you this week. We're going to Ein Gedi this weekend, so hopefully I will have pictures and stories for you!

Hail Yes! The Weekend Tel Aviv Came to Play

Thursday, aka the last day of the work week, aka the new Friday (well the old Friday, if you're still in college), a handful of kids took the bus over from Tel Aviv. The Jerusalem Marathon was on Friday - so they came to stay at our apartment. It was great to get the old gang back together. (Unlike Sarah, I hadn't made it back to Tel Aviv since we moved....last week)

We met everyone at the Central Bus Station so the runners could pick up their registration packets. Since the marathon runners were provided a pasta dinner, the 10k runners and the cheerleaders went to Ben Yehuda for some dinner.

Fast forward: 6am Friday morning. It's a brisk, foggy day. Ok, it's freezing and raining. The ::cough::half marathon runners leave pretty early for their 8:30 start time. I made a yummy omelet for Molly, Nina, and myself, and then we left around 7:30. We had a brief difficulty finding the marathon area (let alone starting line). So we missed the half-marathon start... but it probably would have been a mad-house.

After we got Molly situated by the starting line, we left her to go find the finish line. Thank goodness we hurried away, because not 3 minutes after Nina and I arrived, Uri crossed the finish line. I got a great picture of him....on Aaron's camera. Talk about perfect timing. Then we waited around for the other runners. It was really exciting to see people we know finish the race. (We were standing right on the sideline past the finish line)

Aaron, Zach, Eric, Sarah, and Uri - all proud Half-Marathon Winners!

After the Half-Marathoners finished, they went to go get their snacks and bags, and Nina and I stayed to wait for Molly to finish her 10K. (For those of you who don't know, a half-marathon is 13.1 miles, and a 10K is 6ish miles - a ridiculous amount of distance to cover on foot, in my opinion...) While we were waiting... IT STARTED TO HAIL! What the what, Jerusalem!? Nina and I tried to take pictures of us under her umbrella, but we failed and after several attempts my hands got cold, so we gave up...

I spotted her jogging in from 30 meters out! What a champ!

On Shabbat, we decided that we wanted to go to the Old City... but how would we get there? Well, we would walk, of course! (Because they didn't run through Jerusalem yesterday...?) We decided that since the Light Rail wasn't running (Shabbat and all), we would take that path to the Old City.

Just some cool kids walking on the train tracks.

We went to the Kotel, ate some hummus, tried to buy University of Miami shirts in Hebrew... all in all, this has been a wonderful Shabbat in Jerusalem.

Au Revoir, Shoshana!!!

Thursday morning we finally moved to Jerusalem. We boarded the short bus promptly at the predetermined time of 10 am...and then left 45 minutes later... *some* people are not as prompt as us. Our apartment is a PALACE! Five bedrooms, a living area, a dining table with more chairs than people, two toilets, and a shower! No more shoilet for this girl (Sorry, Molly). I have more shelves than I have chotchkies. Right after the brief tour of the Student Village, Sarah left me for Tel-Aviv. I shed a single tear, than did some grocery shopping. Thursday night we (Jenn, Oriel, and I) went to Jaffa Street to celebrate Shushan Purim. Apparently, Jerusalem - being a the walled city that it is - gets an extra night of Purim...but then again people were partying it up in Tel-Aviv well into Sunday...so.......

Veruca Salt, Mike TV, Violet Beauregarde, and Agustus Gloop

Can we talk about the craziness that is Shushan Purim?! Oh. My. Goodness. It was like Halloween met Mardi Gras, had an illegitimate child, and that child ran off with a music festival. (but not many promiscuously clad as you might think) People were teeming throughout Jaffa and more on Ben Yehuda Street. The thing is... the light rail (metro) runs right down the middle of the street. I'm surprised that more people didn't get run over by the slow moving train.

Another thing! Every few minutes or so, someone would set off a firework or a cap gun or some loud noise reminiscent of an explosion. WTF, JERUSALEM! You'd hear the explosion, people would scream and duck, then we'd realize it was just a firework and laugh it off. MULTIPLE TIMES. Fool me once, shame on me... fool me for the 17th time, I'm kinda tired of the explosions. One would think that people would not appreciate the faux explosions.

Friday, we went to the Shuk - did a lot of shopping for the apartment. We made a Shabbat dinner, then we watched The Vow. Saturday, we walked to Hebrew U and went to the only coffee shop that was open in what seems like a mile radius. I know that's a gross exaggeration, but I cannot know for sure because we are forbidden to go in two directions out of the Village.

Sunday: The Israeli Monday! Today I started my internship. (Now I'm sorry for all of you who are reading my blog on behalf of your children who are here with me... Most of them are in Tel Aviv, so from here on out, most of our experiences will be different... I'll probably slow down the blogging anyways because who really wants to hear about the 6 hours I spent researching food advertisement policies to minors in the US and Europe?) I'll still blog about the adventures we have when your children are with me.

Anywho - Today was a very productive day at my internship. I have 3 projects already! My boss is going to a conference in Copenhagen next week (take me with you!!!) so I have been researching like a fiend for her. Thankfully I wrote my third policy paper on the topic of her conference - MPHers, you know what I'm talking about. (Take that, GW!) (I'm 100% certain I won't need a policy paper on H1N1 or gun laws in national parks.......bummer.)

We still don't have internet in our apt. So Sarah and I are sitting downstairs in a children's park using the convenience store's internet. Hi, my name is Julie, and I'm required by law to tell you I just moved in next door.......

Ok, I'm freezing, and the Dude is probably ready by now.... The Jerusalem Dude takes 2-3 hours to heat up...but he is bigger than the Tel-Aviv Dudes, so he lasts longer.

My Shakshouka's a Doctor!

Drum roll, please! Finally, we went on our walking tour of Yaffo! This trip has been postponed twice due to inclement weather (the "storm" of the "century"). To be honest, after all the hype and anticipation, Yaffo kiiiinnnnddaa looked like Islands of Adventure's Lost Continent - minus the sassy talking fountain.

Bob's Israeli cousin...

It was very cool to walk around a different part of town and glimpse back at Tel Aviv from afar. It was also cool to see where Nina and I exercised not two hours earlier. (In case you were dying to know, we started at the short orange-ish building about 40% in from the left and walked right to the end of the photo and back)

Which building was yours, Jeremy?

After our brief tour, we hoofed it over to Dr. Shakshouka for a typical Boca dinner - because we ate at 4:30. According to Wiki, Shakshouka is "is a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili peppers, onions, often spiced with cumin." Career Israel folks have been raving about this dish, and felt privileged to have the opportunity to try it from a certified licensed practitioner of shakshouking. I'll have you know, I did try the shakshouka. I can honestly say, "PhD or no PhD, this dish is not for me."

There is the famous shakshouka. Looks...delicious.

Tomorrow night is Purim! I have my costume ready to go! People are already walking around in their costumes, like it's a normal thing. Nobody gives them a second look. Imagine if you were to walk around, decked out as a Smurf, on October 30th. Tomorrow night we're going to hear the Magilla reading, exchange Mishloach Manot (small gifts - kind of like a secret Santa), and go out in our costumes! JenTen, I wish you were my Secret Santa, bc I bought a small variety pack of Kinder. Yumm. (Thursday bright and early, we are moving to Jerusalem. So I will update you about Purim and the move, etc over the weekend!)

PS. I would just like to point out to anyone who is interested (MOM). This is my 15th post. Jeremy only made 10 entries. BAM.

Murderball

After Ulpan today, we had the opportunity to volunteer. We were given five different volunteer options: something to do with impoverished kids, something to do with sick kids, working at the pound, playing with disabled athletes, or fill Purim care packages to soldiers. My initial reaction was for sure to go to the pound and play with the puppies. Then, as the minutes passed, I thought about the dog park by our apartment, the mangy dogs roaming the city, and all the rain we have had the past week. I also thought about how diiiiiissssguuuusting the Tri-County Humane Society is... and that's Boca! Second, we were told that the care-packaging would happen at 7pm - and they were providing pizza...so we could go to that and another location. (obviously we would stop by for some free pizza, but it was too crowded so Nina, Sarah, and I packaged 2 each and then went for noodles...)

Sarah, Nina, Molly, and I chose to go to the Israeli Sport Center for the Disabled. It's an amazing facility (if you want to read all about it, visit their website here). We were drawn in with the promise of meeting disabled athletes, and then we would be able to play basketball with them. Upon arrival, we were given a brief overview of the facility. Shortly thereafter, we suited up. We got to test out wheelchairs and roll around the track and basketball court.

Nina, Molly, and Sarah sporting their new wheels.

After we got as acclimated as we could get in 5 minutes, we split up and played 3-on-3 (on our half of the court). I was getting the hang of it... two pushes before you have to dribble or it's considered traveling. I even scored a basket! (Which is one more basket than I have scored in the past 12 years.) The only thing I was having problems with was braking. I may or may not have rolled into the surrounding wheelchairs. (Ok, I totes did, and I wasn't the only one!)

MVP

 Unfortunately, the athletes were running late, so we ended up playing a massive 7-on-7 basketball game. It was a very dangerous game (not the most dangerous game) but it was up there - because the other side of the court didn't play with out-of bounds... so the opposing hooligans kept racing out of bounds and ramming into the wall/wheelchairs.

Great Game, Team!!

The final score was 2-2...with Nina hitting the tying basket at the buzzer. Afterwards, we took a tour of the facilities. They are impressive. There are two swimming pools, tennis court, gym, table tennis, school for the young kids. The man described it as a country club more than once. Mom, they had crank bikes, and I wanted to hop on and go...

It would be really cool to go back and volunteer there. (Maybe even some of the Tel Avivers might do that) All I know is my arms will be sore tomorrow!

A Better Place

Thursday, I had the opportunity to visit A Better Place - a company that makes electric cars. It was a really cool facility - created out of an old water tower (not as cool as your water tower, Jenna). It wasn't so much a tower as a large cylindrical concrete building. First, we got to watch a movie about the company and the need for electric cars. The home theater was outrageous. Each chair was a recycled car seat. After the movie, they took us to the showroom. Finally, we got to test drive an electric car! We went in groups of three. The first person in my group, Oriel, turned on the car as I was sliding into the backseat. I did not hear a thing. I even asked the Better Place rep if the car was even on. We pulled out, and went around the track. There are no gears to shift, no noise, nothing. It's unreal. The rep said we could get a CD of car sounds if we miss it so much. On my turn, the rep told me to floor it.... I got to about 40mph... which is not as exhilarating as I imagined it would be. The rep did say that an electric car costs about as much as a Mazda 3 or Ford Focus... but you can only go 100 km per charge... I guess that's good for Israel, but that would barely get you anywhere in the states. I doubt AAA would cover battery changes.

It was WINDY!

Also, it started raining while I was driving. So, I made a (mediocre) joke about driving an electric car in the rain...[insert punch line about getting electrocuted]... the joke fell short. I'm blaming the culture gap for that one...ok, it was my poorly executed (electrocuted) joke.

Alright, it's Shabbat, so I'm looking forward to getting some much needed rest and catching up on some TV. :) Shabbat Shalom, ya'll.

Julie Doesn't Do Israel...

I would like to take a moment and mention what a few people have been thinking...and some even brought to my attention. Apparently...my blog web address is very similar to a very popular... how do I put this delicately.... porno.

I can say with complete honesty: I had no idea that there was a film of the adult persuasion named "Debbie Does Dallas". I know that those of you who know me personally probably know that this was just an unfortunate faux pas. Classic Julie. For those of you whom I have yet to meet, this is a little awkward... but then again, so am I.

Good talk, folks. 

See?? I am such a goober!

Desert Storm

Negev Adventures: Day 2. Friday we had a 3am wake-up call. Naturally a morning person, even I have my limits. I reserve waking up that early for traveling or trips to Disney World. It also helped that Jeremy was texting me at 2:30am. Hat? Check. Three liters of water? Check. Flashlight? Check. Raincoat? Nah...it's the desert, I won't need that. My bad. According to our tour guide, it rains less than 250mm a year. Based on my experience, the Negev met its quota this past weekend. So, once it started drizzling, the tour guide made us stop (seeing as we were hiking in a ravine). She was worried about getting swept up in an imminent flash flood... no need to start panicking, right? She led us to a plateau where we proceeded to sit in a circle to read passages about the desert...on the cold rocks. Finally, the drizzle stopped (for now), we had a mini rave sesh, then continued our hike.

Nina and Itzik (our counselor) *rocking* the night hike!

Once we started moving again, my spirits lifted... There was also the promise of an amazing breakfast that kept me going. (There were no pancakes, but the tuna fish was delish) It also helped that it felt like it was noon - even though it was barely sunrise. After breakfast, we walked (relatively flat) to the nature preserve. Here we finally encountered indoor plumbing... though most of the group used the natural bathroom. I am lucky enough to say that I'm the 1% that didn't.

The nature preserve is beautiful. Just after telling us that we might encounter wildlife (specifically the diabetic sand rat) we saw a family of ibex! (ibexeem in plural?) I overheard some Midwesterner mention how they see so many deer at home (that home being OHIO...), and that she wasn't impressed by these 'deer'. PSH! Ibex are so much cooler than deer! Can a deer scale a mountain side? No! Deer just stare at you when you are driving.

The Ibex. Nature's tightrope walkers. Such bad *asses*.

Next, we came upon a pretty waterfall...whose name escapes me...Ein something or another. (Not Ein Gedi) But we took a lovely picture in front of it, so I figured I'd mention it.

Sarah, Nina, Me, Sara, and Jenn

After this lovely part, we had to do some strenuous work in order to make it to lunch. Does my blog surround food? I didn't notice. As you can sorta see from the picture above... We are deep in the canyon. The only way out is UP. Seeing as I don't readily have access to a curmudgeonly old man or 10,000 balloons...we had to climb.

Only half-way. Can you see Molly down there? I think she got a pic of me throwing up the U!

After the steep switch-backs, we encountered the rusty ladder portion of this perilous climb. It may have been my mild fear of heights, or my diligence, but it is possible that I took my time climbing the ladders. At one point I couldn't find Nina in front of me... but I could feel Eric breathing on my neck ankles... so I very eloquently requested, "Don't rush me, Brah!" Apparently Nina wasn't that far ahead where she heard it and thought my fear-induced comment was hysterical.

"Don't rush me, Brah!"

Just a quick note, because most of you know I can talk about this all day... We went to a goat farm!! We tasted goat cheese and goat yogurt. We saw kids and big goats. Sadly, these Negev goats don't get the pleasure of mowing lawns... ::sigh:: one day, Julie.... one day.

A goat drinking goat yogurt... [insert Inception reference]

Skip ahead to Shabbat! Friday night it POURED!!! Saturday we were scheduled to go for a medium hike... keep in mind this hike is within walking distance of the hostel because of the Sabbath. So we started our hike, mostly downhill... (family and Vermonters: the terrain started out like the ending of Stirling Pond...so basically we sat down and butt-scooted our way to the bottom). At one point we leveled out at a road... after a few minutes it dawned on me that this road was the same one we crossed not 26 hours before (this time it was completely flooded)! We were so close to the hostel when everyone was peeing in the desert! Finally we had to hike up the steep part. Itzik (our counselor) told us this hike would take us 40 minutes (so I was mentally preparing myself for the Pinnacle - or at least the Fire Tower Hike...) I timed it... it took me 11:46 (and only because I stopped half-way to pretend take a picture to real catch my breath).

Me, Sarah, Molly, Lilah, and Miriam - because Molly is sitting right next to me and was bummed she wasn't in any of the pictures because she's on the other bus.

The view from our hostel... which I'm now pretending is the view from the hike.

Last but not least. We went to the grave of Ben-Gurion. Only at the last moment I realized I was here five years ago on Birthright with Jeremy. I tried (and failed). It would have been really cute. Oh well, the moment has passed.