Destination Israel in the Desert

This past weekend my program organizer, Destination Israel/ Israel Way, coordinated a group trip to the Negev Desert for all of its current participants on its programs.

Left to right: Maks, Brielle, Dima, me, Kostia

Most of the participants were American. But not all. There was a pretty large faction of French participants. All of the program instruction was in English. This presented a problem...

There were a few times during scheduled programming where some of the instruction was translated into French, but most of it was not. If it were me who didn't speak English, I think I would feel a bit slighted, especially since their programs are for French speakers. Being in a foreign country where the national language is not your mother tongue you expect to feel lost a lot of the time. But when you are inside of your safety net in the keep of your organization you expect to feel a sense of familiarity and not distance.

Being that I only speak about 15 words of French I didn't actually speak to any of the French participants about this issue. However it was obvious that there was a sense of separation between us, the English speakers and them, the French speakers.

The best part of the trip for me was the first hike we did since we were able to bridge the gap a bit. A hike can present many a challenge - people have all kinds of different abilities. Some feel invincible against heights, some have spider-like rock climbing skills, and some have the strength to push on for miles and miles. And then there are others who have never hiked a day in their lives.

I was excited to have the opportunity to help those that were struggling at the end of the group - most who were French speakers. It gave me the chance to work on my nonverbal communication skills and to show that we are more the same than different :)

That night we slept at a Bedouin campsite - I'm not sure of the name of it. We ate an "authentic" Bedouin meal and then slept in rows of sleeping bags in a large tent. A couple interesting tidbits from the host of our dinner: Unmarried Bedouin women wear all black so that men know they are single and are not allowed to approach them. A Bedouin man may have up to four wives.

It wasn't exactly that stimulating...

The next morning I woke up EARLY to go on another hike.

The bus ride was maybe two and a half hours. We saw the Egyptian border from the bus. There is a pretty hefty fence separating Egypt from Israel that did not exist until recent years. Our tour guide told us the Israeli government built this fence for a two main reasons: 1) The Sinai peninsula is not currently policed by Egypt and it is important that independent militants don't cross over. 2) Refugees from countries in Africa other than Egypt have been entering Israel illegally for years via the Egyptian border.

This second hike was a bit more challenging than the first and was just a hop and a skip outside of Eilat. From the top of the mountain we climbed we were able to see all of Eilat and Aqaba (in Jordan), and our tour guide also told us that some mountains we saw in the distance were in Saudi Arabian territory. This means that in one day I saw four different countries.

The mountain we climbed is called Mt. Solomon and it is the second highest mountain in all of Israel. It took us about four and a half hours to climb up and then descend back down.

The view from the top was INCREDIBLE!

And... at the end of the hike we of course took a group picture!

The rest of the trip was in Eilat which wasn't extremely exciting for those on my specific program since we already live here. But I must say it was nice to have some new faces around. I even like to think I made some new friends :)

Up and Running Again (Pun Intended!) - Petra, Christmas and New Years

After a month and a half of doctor-ordered rest, I went running again today for the first time. Stress fracture no more :)

I'm back in my right mindset! And motivated more than ever! In this post I will provide a recap of everything that's been going on since Hanukkah... I'll go in reverse chronological order. Sit tight, because it'll be a long ride.

My dear old ma and pa were here in Israel for a few weeks while my mom attended a work conference. I went to visit them for a weekend in Tel Aviv and the following week they came to visit me in Eilat. And then together, we went to PETRA!!!

In front of the most well known of Petra's surviving ruins: the Treasury building. Carved out of a mountain!

For those who don't know, Petra is in Jordan. The climate is similar to that of Jerusalem's, which is similar to that of Atlanta's (I think...). It was cold! Petra is one of the modern-day Seven Wonders of the World.

Basically Petra is a historic village carved out of mountains - no bricks, no mortar, no stones - just mountains as building materials. It is really quite amazing. But what amazed me the most was finding out that it wasn't discovered by the Western world until the 1800's.

The government in Jordan purchased the land from Bedouins [I think] sometime within the last few decades on the condition that the only people permitted to earn employment there would be Bedouins from that particular tribe.

My mom: Ellen the excavator!

My dad: Leon the legendary!

This man on the right offered to make a trade with my dad: nine camels for me. It's a good thing my parents don't have that big of a backyard!

The worst part of the trip for me was to witness the abuse in Petra of camels, donkeys and horses. I had to hold myself back from crying while I watched as a camel nearly collapsed as it was lowering itself to let an overweight male passenger off of its hump and back onto the ground. I looked into this camel's eyes and never before have I seen such a look of desperation and sadness. It was truly depressing.

Then as we were exiting the site I saw some signs that helped me again find the light at the end of the tunnel.

It reads: "John should've thought about his size and the animal's welfare before taking a ride." Damn right he should have.

We got back from Petra to Eilat at about 7:00 p.m. Crossing the border back into Israel took a little bit longer than crossing into Jordan, since there was more security. I showed my parents where I live, they met my roommates and then we bid one another farewell.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention: our tourguide Nizar (pictured right) left a man in our tour group (pictured left) in Petra. He was not happy!

REWIND to New Year's:

In the U.S. we refer to the time period of Dec. 31 - Jan. 1 as New Years, since you are beginning a new year. In Ghana they refer to it as Pass Over, since you are passing over to a new year. In Israel, they refer to the same as Sylvester. The reason is one I didn't know until this week.

Since I feel the Internet can explain to you better than I can the reason for this title, I will copy and paste a passage a few paragraphs a website:

Silvester or Sylvester (also spelled szilveszter, sylvester or sylwester) is the day of the Feast of Pope Sylvester I, a saint who served as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 314 to 335 and oversaw both the First Council of Nicaea and Roman Emperor Constantine I’s conversion to Christianity. The feast day is held on the anniversary of Sylvester’s death, 31 December, a date that, since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, has coincided with New Year’s Eve.

As a result, many Europeans call New Year’s Eve “Sylvester.” When European Jews started to emigrate to the Land of Israel starting in the nineteenth century, the new year in their new country was, of course, Rosh Hashanah. But they still wanted to mark the changing of the secular year as in their old countries, so they continued to celebrate “Sylvester.”

Over time, the practice grew in popularity – especially after the aliyah in the 1990s from the former Soviet Union, where Christmas was banned and everyone celebrated Sylvester instead – to the extent that Sylvester parties are now held in many bars, clubs, restaurants, and peoples’ homes each year. As more and more Israelis consume American and European popular culture, they have also become more familiar with other holidays such as Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.

Though there's no ball that drops here in Israel, the new year is still celebrated, but I didn't feel it on as large a scale. At work we made special flower arrangements to decorate the big dining room in the hotel.

I resolve in 2015 to smile every day!

REWIND to Christmas and my voyage to Tel Aviv:

Even though I am Jewish, spending Christmas in Israel felt a little bit unnatural. I am so accustomed to the culture of Christmas that you can even say I missed it! There were still some little signs of Christmas peeking out of the curtains here, but no Christmas songs on the radio :(

The hotel handed out Christmas candy to all of the employees. Side note: a good chunk of the employees are Christian and not Israeli. Many are African refugees, or are from Russia, Ukraine or other countries.

This restaurant has Christmas decorations since it is not Kosher.

Look closely, a menorah lurks in the background!

On Christmas day I rode the bus from Eilat to Tel Aviv to spend some time with my parents. It was lovely. My dad and I toured the shuk and I was able to find a few vegan delicacies! I felt like I was in the Mecca for vegans.

Vegan cashew cheese burekah!

Vegan Krembo! 

Vegan sufganiyot!

Vegan shwarma! It was so tasty!

Vegan donuts!

The only thing I was missing was another vegan person to appreciate all of this greatness! 

Thanks dad for joining in even though I know you weren't as inspired by it all!

I should also mention it seemed like there there were animal rights activists on just about every corner. We saw people with dogs from a shelter trying to find them homes right on the streets. We saw three pamphleteering booths within half a mile of one another. We saw a fake cardboard garbage can filled with fake little chicks in order to show onlookers what is happening in factory farms.

It was my kind of scene.

One of the evenings my parents and I spent Shabbat dinner with some recently discovered Israeli cousins on my mom's side of the family. I had already met them but my parents had not. Dinner was delicious, and it was like the closing of the circle for my mom to meet these people.

I snuck a picture for you all!

After dinner, cousin Roy kidnapped me and took me as a hostage at a Christmas party in Jaffa. He said he didn't think I would have gone had he told me in advance! (He is probably right... eek... note to self: I've got to stop being so boring!)

Ho ho ho!

Never did I dream I would see so many Jews in Santa hats...

They contracted Santa to be the DJ!

 The next day my parents and I met MORE cousins. It always seems like we have an endless stream of cousins popping up all the time. The hosts live just north of Tel Aviv and prepared for us an incredible luncheon. I can't even begin to explain how amazing the tomatoes stuffed with rice were!

Here we are! 

These newfound cousins couldn't have been nicer. They welcomed us like we had been family and known each other for years, and extended offers to me to come and stay with them at their homes. What a warm feeling :)

This week begins a two-week vacation in my program. I'm not sure what adventures it will bring or to where I will be traveling but my hope is that I will have some great new material for this blog! Hasta la vista baby!

Random Pictures Round Up #1

Here are some pictures that I took with a purpose and want to share with the world. No need for further elaboration. A picture is worth a thousand words, enjoy!

I pass by these almost daily on my walk into the main part of town. I have no idea what they are!!! Anyone have any ideas?

Quality graffiti spotted in Eilat.

I do not remember the entire story but I will try my best to summarize: Enemy nations/ groups have boats with these containers filled with weapons. The enemies themselves sink the boats- on purpose. These groups send divers to release a tab from the weapons containers that allow them to float to the top of the sea. They then retrieve the tanks and use the weapons to attack Israel.

This is what FRESH dates look like! Picked them up from the shuk :) Nice and juicy though not as sweet and chewy as dried dates.

A kibbutz worker is clipping branches from a date palm tree. Dates are the "gold" of Israel, they bring in more revenue than any other fruit.

A high-five goes to the first person who can guess what is being farmed here!

That fort is on Jordanian soil, you can see how close we go the the Jordanian border during our visit to Kibbutz Eilot. 

A beautiful view from a BATHROOM STALL on our visit to a nature reserve around Kibbutz Eilot.

Visiting a spice factory we got a lesson on algae! Not sure what the connection was... a bit odd...

Flamingos! (That's what those white dots are!) Such beautiful creatures they are :)

A train chugging along on the boardwalk in Eilat. Let's go for a ride!

An ice rink INSIDE a mall in Eilat!

A husband-and-wife-owned-and-opereated restaurant five minutes from where I live. They made me a customized vegan pad thai! They have been together for 27 years and met in the army.