Happy new year everyone! May the year 5773 be filled with happiness, sweetness, and may it be like the head not the tail. (The head not the tail is a very common expression here, but to be honest I don't quite understand exactly what it means. All I know is that it has something to do with fish and that it means something good.)
For Rosh Hashana I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a host family for dinner with my friend Casey (another teaching fellow/one of my temporary roommates). The daughter of the family was in her early twenties and was high school friends with our madricha (counselor/guide). She came and picked us up from our apartment and walked us to her grandmother's house. We were welcomed with warm hugs, but only after an awkward elevator incident. We didn't realize the elevator would stop on every floor because of Shabbat and got yelled at by an orthodox man for pressing a button (oops!). After pressing the button we all stood in the cramped elevator for a few minutes only to realize that the elevator was not going to move at all, so we gave in and climbed the five flights of stairs. This is actually one of the things that puzzles me. Shabbat is all about being the day of rest and not doing any work, but in the end everyone goes out of their way to avoid work and ends up working more. I don't get it.
Anyway, the Rosh Hashana dinner was wonderful. It was different from the Rosh Hashana dinner I am used to though, as they bless each and every vegetable, meat, etc. present on the table. Each individual person (13 including Casey and myself) said each blessing which took a while. Thankfully I was just able to say "Amen" because it would have taken at least another hour if I had to say each blessing myself. After everything was blessed I was served chicken hearts without knowing what they were. A few people told me that they were delicious, but one of the cousins sitting across from me refused when her mom tried to give her one, so I was a bit scared. I decided to try it anyway, as I have been very "seize the moment" these days. It wasn't that bad, but it also wasn't that good. It was just really tough and chewy but the flavor was okay. I only had one though and do not plan on having them again any time soon.
The majority of my dinner was actually just meat, couscous, and veggies. For dessert we had cookies with pomegranate and cactus. The cactus was surprisingly pretty good, but it had lots of seeds which were annoying to spit out. After dessert they brought out a variety of different nuts for snacking on. I found this to be very interesting because it seemed like some of them were eating more nuts than actual food. After talking to the others from my program, it seems that this habit of snacking on nuts after dinner was something unique to my host family.
My favorite part of the dinner was talking to everyone at the table. There was a twelve year old girl and a thirteen year old girl who were absolutely obsessed with us by the end of the night and were bummed when we declined their invitation to have a sleepover party. At the beginning of the night they barely spoke to us because they were shy, but once we mentioned something about Justin Bieber they started talking more. Their English wasn't perfect and they had to ask their cousin a few times to translate certain words. They were amazed that I knew the colors in Hebrew and loved asking questions about our lives. They have invited us back for Passover and I can't wait!
Happy New Year!
Melanie
Friday, September 21, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
September Seminar: Lake Kinneret
Two weekends ago Israel Pathways took us on a trip up north to Lake Kinneret (The Sea of Galilee) for our opening seminar. We were there with the Israel Teaching Fellows group from Be'er Sheva, the Zoom Israel group (a 5 month photography/graphic design program in Tel Aviv), and Israel Corps (a 5 month volunteer program in Kiriyat Shmona). We left straight from training in Holon on Thursday, but the drive up North ended up taking about four and a half hours because of traffic (lo tov). We ate dinner at the hotel and afterwards there was an Israel Pathways Opening Ceremony.
The next morning we woke up early for a short but scenic hike up Mount Arbel where we learned about the geography of Israel. After endless posing for pictures, we learned about the important role Lake Kinneret plays in politics, as it is the major source of fresh water for Israel. Basically if anything happens to Israel's control over Lake Kinneret they would be willing to go to war to get it back. After Mount Arbel, we went on a water hike through a river. While Jews are usually known for wandering through deserts, it was hilarious to see about 75 of us hiking through a river with water up past our knees. This was perhaps one of the highlights of my weekend, I felt so adventurous!
Following the water hike and lunch, we did the most natural thing possible...we went on a cruise! Well it wasn't so much a cruise as a daytime party boat on Lake Kinneret. Picture a bunch of 20-somethings dancing around ridiculously to a mix of upbeat Israeli and American music. It was a blast, and I had to pause for a moment as it took me by surprise how close I felt to all the people around me having known them for only two weeks. I honestly feel I have known some of them for years already, and I am so glad I chose to come to Israel.
After the hike, we made our way back to the hotel to clean up and prepare for Shabbat. We had a nice outdoor Shabbat service followed by dinner and staying up late with friends. The next day we were able to sleep in (Yay for the day of rest! Booo for my strange roommate who woke me up at 8:30!). In the afternoon we walked to a nearby kibbutz, called Degania. Degania is actually the first kibbutz ever in Israel and it was very interesting to hear about it's history from the grand-daughter of the founders. The purpose of going to the kibbutz, however, was to meet some Americans who moved to Israel to join the army. They are part of a program where young Americans come to Israel and live on the kibbutz so that they have a support system and family during their army service. We broke up into smaller groups to ask them questions about their decision to join the IDF. I enjoyed hearing their reasons for coming to Israel, what their roles were in the army, and how their family and friends from back home reacted. The ones I talked to said they have rough days here and there (one said his mom calls him once a week crying), but that they do not regret their decisions and love their lives in Israel in the army.
That evening after dinner we had a Havdalah service back at the hotel and made our way back to Netanya. It was a fun weekend but it felt nice to be back home. It is strange to think of my apartment here as home, especially considering the ceiling next door still hasn't been fixed, and I am still living out of a suitcase in a room with too many people. Basically the source of the water that caused the ceiling to fall is still unknown. With the holidays coming up it is impossible to say exactly when it will be fixed and habitable again. For now I am living in what is going to be my apartment my entire time in Israel, but I am living in it with the two girls who are supposed to live next door. My real roommate is temporarily living upstairs. It is strange to think we are roommates when we haven't even started living together. Oh well! My room has been dubbed the orphanage because the only way we fit is to have our three beds basically next to each other in a row. I love my temporary roommates but hope their room is done sometime soon.
I will try and post pictures of everything soon!
Yalla Bye,
Melanie
P.S. If you have any suggestions for a real title for my blog, feel free to comment on this post. I am leaning towards Melanya in Netanya, WTF ITF, or something to do with my chai (life) in Israel.
The next morning we woke up early for a short but scenic hike up Mount Arbel where we learned about the geography of Israel. After endless posing for pictures, we learned about the important role Lake Kinneret plays in politics, as it is the major source of fresh water for Israel. Basically if anything happens to Israel's control over Lake Kinneret they would be willing to go to war to get it back. After Mount Arbel, we went on a water hike through a river. While Jews are usually known for wandering through deserts, it was hilarious to see about 75 of us hiking through a river with water up past our knees. This was perhaps one of the highlights of my weekend, I felt so adventurous!
Following the water hike and lunch, we did the most natural thing possible...we went on a cruise! Well it wasn't so much a cruise as a daytime party boat on Lake Kinneret. Picture a bunch of 20-somethings dancing around ridiculously to a mix of upbeat Israeli and American music. It was a blast, and I had to pause for a moment as it took me by surprise how close I felt to all the people around me having known them for only two weeks. I honestly feel I have known some of them for years already, and I am so glad I chose to come to Israel.
After the hike, we made our way back to the hotel to clean up and prepare for Shabbat. We had a nice outdoor Shabbat service followed by dinner and staying up late with friends. The next day we were able to sleep in (Yay for the day of rest! Booo for my strange roommate who woke me up at 8:30!). In the afternoon we walked to a nearby kibbutz, called Degania. Degania is actually the first kibbutz ever in Israel and it was very interesting to hear about it's history from the grand-daughter of the founders. The purpose of going to the kibbutz, however, was to meet some Americans who moved to Israel to join the army. They are part of a program where young Americans come to Israel and live on the kibbutz so that they have a support system and family during their army service. We broke up into smaller groups to ask them questions about their decision to join the IDF. I enjoyed hearing their reasons for coming to Israel, what their roles were in the army, and how their family and friends from back home reacted. The ones I talked to said they have rough days here and there (one said his mom calls him once a week crying), but that they do not regret their decisions and love their lives in Israel in the army.
That evening after dinner we had a Havdalah service back at the hotel and made our way back to Netanya. It was a fun weekend but it felt nice to be back home. It is strange to think of my apartment here as home, especially considering the ceiling next door still hasn't been fixed, and I am still living out of a suitcase in a room with too many people. Basically the source of the water that caused the ceiling to fall is still unknown. With the holidays coming up it is impossible to say exactly when it will be fixed and habitable again. For now I am living in what is going to be my apartment my entire time in Israel, but I am living in it with the two girls who are supposed to live next door. My real roommate is temporarily living upstairs. It is strange to think we are roommates when we haven't even started living together. Oh well! My room has been dubbed the orphanage because the only way we fit is to have our three beds basically next to each other in a row. I love my temporary roommates but hope their room is done sometime soon.
I will try and post pictures of everything soon!
Yalla Bye,
Melanie
P.S. If you have any suggestions for a real title for my blog, feel free to comment on this post. I am leaning towards Melanya in Netanya, WTF ITF, or something to do with my chai (life) in Israel.
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| A terrifying moment in a beautiful place. |
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| Hiking through the river, or in my case, walking on top of it. |
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| View of the Kinneret from our hotel. |
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Training
Training started at Talpiot college in Holon (just south of Tel Aviv) last Sunday. It is a religious college so we have to dress conservatively on training days, which is a pain considering the heat. Also I am much too fidgety to wear a skirt on a bus ride for an hour and a half twice a day but I just keep telling myself that if the orthodox men who wear suits every day are able to survive that I should not be complaining. At training we started learning formal grammar (yay!) so that we aren't embarrassed when Israeli children know what the past progressive tense is and we don't. We also learned about different types of games and even created our own board games to help students with English. Mostly the lectures have either been about grammar none of us have ever learned (even as a linguistics major I am often clueless as to what they are talking about), or about making songs, games, chants, and other engaging activities for our students.
One of our training days involved a school observation. We went in groups of five or six to various schools in Netanya where we were all met with warm Israeli hospitality. The school I visited even had a sign welcoming us to their family, and the principal's daughter gave us a tour of the school! This was definitely my favorite day of training so far, as I learned more in a half hour there than at all of the other training days combined. It was very interesting to see the differences between the Israeli and American school systems. Besides the small differences (the students raise their pointer finger instead of raising their hand), there were some differences that were quite noticeable. In a fourth grade classroom two students broke out into a kicking fight in the middle of the lesson. In America both students would have been sent to the principal and their parents certainly would have been called. Instead the teacher simply moved one of them to her desk and went on with the lesson as if nothing had happened. I know that it is the Israeli way to just go on with life whenever things get tough, but it still took me by surprise.
Some highlights of the day came from talking to the Israeli children during their recess. The children were so happy to have us at the school and found us fascinating simply because we are Americans. They wanted to know everything about us--where we are from, what music we listen to, and how long is it going to take us to be able to speak to them in Hebrew. I can't wait to get my school assignment and meet the students I will be working with all year! None of the ones I met during observation could even come close to pronouncing my name though, so once I get my school assignment I might just say my name is Mel.
I have been a bit behind on my blog, and for that I apologize. Hopefully I will have time later today to write another post about my weekend seminar trip to the Sea of Galilee and update about everything else that has been going on here, but for now that's all!
One of our training days involved a school observation. We went in groups of five or six to various schools in Netanya where we were all met with warm Israeli hospitality. The school I visited even had a sign welcoming us to their family, and the principal's daughter gave us a tour of the school! This was definitely my favorite day of training so far, as I learned more in a half hour there than at all of the other training days combined. It was very interesting to see the differences between the Israeli and American school systems. Besides the small differences (the students raise their pointer finger instead of raising their hand), there were some differences that were quite noticeable. In a fourth grade classroom two students broke out into a kicking fight in the middle of the lesson. In America both students would have been sent to the principal and their parents certainly would have been called. Instead the teacher simply moved one of them to her desk and went on with the lesson as if nothing had happened. I know that it is the Israeli way to just go on with life whenever things get tough, but it still took me by surprise.
Some highlights of the day came from talking to the Israeli children during their recess. The children were so happy to have us at the school and found us fascinating simply because we are Americans. They wanted to know everything about us--where we are from, what music we listen to, and how long is it going to take us to be able to speak to them in Hebrew. I can't wait to get my school assignment and meet the students I will be working with all year! None of the ones I met during observation could even come close to pronouncing my name though, so once I get my school assignment I might just say my name is Mel.
I have been a bit behind on my blog, and for that I apologize. Hopefully I will have time later today to write another post about my weekend seminar trip to the Sea of Galilee and update about everything else that has been going on here, but for now that's all!
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