I only was able to teach in Ar'ara, not Barta'a. They dropped us off at the 7th/8th grade building and walked us up the hill to the 9th grade. My kids were about 15 years of age. I walked in, introduced myself in Arabic, and I started speaking with them in English. There were between 35-40 kids in the class, and their English was on a very basic level, but I was very excited to have the chance to talk with "real" people, as horrible as that sounds. I've been missing out on the opportunity to talk with Arabic-speakers in casual situations lately.
Purim Friday was great. Everybody and their mother, father, grandfathers and grandmothers were drunk off their asses, to put it frankly.
Givat Haviva tour today:
1. Holocaust memorial building; focuses on the importance of the people hurt who are NOT Jews
2. Art Center
3. Met with the heads--HaGuy and Dudu
4. Peace library
5. Heder Okhel, talked with the soldiers in Hebrew :))))
Summer options:
1. Work in the Catering Biz
2. Volunteer with Magen David
3. Marva--8 weeks in army training... hmm...
Monday, March 16, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Last Thursday: Bike to Givat Haviva graduation, bike back before the sun is down and the bicycle turns back into a pumpkin, take 5 minutes to change, go to Kung Fu, return from Kung Fu, go to the train station, up to Haifa!
In Haifa: Walk along the mountainside in the nightlight near University of Haifa. Snuggle in warm jackets and nice company. Get a history lesson.
Friday: Eat the delicious nutty cereal, take the neighbor's dog on a walk, head for the train and Tel Abib. Meet Dani and her lovely sister Hila at the market. Walk along the beach to Hila's apartment; have dinner at their grandmother's apartment. Chicken Noodle Soup!! I miss Jewish mothers... (Not that there's any lack of them. But I don't feel the connection achshav.) Sleep for 5 hours at the Mughraby Hostel (Love it! as adina would say) and had a really great time. Met 2 German girls, a French girl, and an undetermined who was determined to change her life of being addicted to cigarettes, alcohol, and sex. I stand with my belief that she is soon going to rebound and go on a shooting spree if she doesn't have her material items soon; she was awesome, but a bit unstable. Sat on my balcony and studied Hebrew from the German girl's book. Learned how to count to 10 in German. Went to a 25+ bar with Hila and friend; I was completely underdressed and obviously under 25, but I said "I don't know have my passport with me" in a very American accent and hakol was bseder. Got bar seats which was great; however, some really pushy girls and some aggressively persistent bartenders made it go from a great experience to an interesting one. After the bar, bonded with the older night-guard front-desk man. Also bonded with him at 4:30 in the morning when I got 3 phone calls and he told me to go talk on the roof. (So cool!) The religious guys were only dancing and singing loudly AND obnoxiously until 2 or 3, so it was quiet by then.
Saturday: (Somewhere in the past paragraph I switched tenses. Cool.) Had tea and toast; tea was great, toast was not worth the time or the stomachache. Started walking up to frisbee at 12:30 and came across the Israeli folk dancing (Horah) in front of the Renaissance Hotel at 1-something! Joined in for every single one of the dances, and after only 20-30 seconds of a song, I was picking up all the steps, depending on the level of difficulty. Partner danced with the Israeli-Joe in what I like to call circular salsa dancing. He was magnifique. Left that, went to Sportex Stadium and played pick-up frisbee at a Hat tournament!
Sunday: Arabic in the morning, trip to Daliyat Il-Karmel in the afternoon to the Druze village.
Monday: Purim day for the majority of Israel. Huge party in Jerusalem. Taking a shot of vodka with Izhar--straight. I was proud.
Tuesday: Played frisbee, made hamantashin, drank at the Purim gathering (not the party--that's Friday), talked with Lydia's son (has a girlfriend, but gorgeous beyond gorgeous!), and did homework with Uria
Tomorrow looks bright with a case of teaching English--twice! In Ar'ara and Barta'a. Fun! But worrisome. I'll figure it out tomorrow when the day arrives...
In Haifa: Walk along the mountainside in the nightlight near University of Haifa. Snuggle in warm jackets and nice company. Get a history lesson.
Friday: Eat the delicious nutty cereal, take the neighbor's dog on a walk, head for the train and Tel Abib. Meet Dani and her lovely sister Hila at the market. Walk along the beach to Hila's apartment; have dinner at their grandmother's apartment. Chicken Noodle Soup!! I miss Jewish mothers... (Not that there's any lack of them. But I don't feel the connection achshav.) Sleep for 5 hours at the Mughraby Hostel (Love it! as adina would say) and had a really great time. Met 2 German girls, a French girl, and an undetermined who was determined to change her life of being addicted to cigarettes, alcohol, and sex. I stand with my belief that she is soon going to rebound and go on a shooting spree if she doesn't have her material items soon; she was awesome, but a bit unstable. Sat on my balcony and studied Hebrew from the German girl's book. Learned how to count to 10 in German. Went to a 25+ bar with Hila and friend; I was completely underdressed and obviously under 25, but I said "I don't know have my passport with me" in a very American accent and hakol was bseder. Got bar seats which was great; however, some really pushy girls and some aggressively persistent bartenders made it go from a great experience to an interesting one. After the bar, bonded with the older night-guard front-desk man. Also bonded with him at 4:30 in the morning when I got 3 phone calls and he told me to go talk on the roof. (So cool!) The religious guys were only dancing and singing loudly AND obnoxiously until 2 or 3, so it was quiet by then.
Saturday: (Somewhere in the past paragraph I switched tenses. Cool.) Had tea and toast; tea was great, toast was not worth the time or the stomachache. Started walking up to frisbee at 12:30 and came across the Israeli folk dancing (Horah) in front of the Renaissance Hotel at 1-something! Joined in for every single one of the dances, and after only 20-30 seconds of a song, I was picking up all the steps, depending on the level of difficulty. Partner danced with the Israeli-Joe in what I like to call circular salsa dancing. He was magnifique. Left that, went to Sportex Stadium and played pick-up frisbee at a Hat tournament!
Sunday: Arabic in the morning, trip to Daliyat Il-Karmel in the afternoon to the Druze village.
Monday: Purim day for the majority of Israel. Huge party in Jerusalem. Taking a shot of vodka with Izhar--straight. I was proud.
Tuesday: Played frisbee, made hamantashin, drank at the Purim gathering (not the party--that's Friday), talked with Lydia's son (has a girlfriend, but gorgeous beyond gorgeous!), and did homework with Uria
Tomorrow looks bright with a case of teaching English--twice! In Ar'ara and Barta'a. Fun! But worrisome. I'll figure it out tomorrow when the day arrives...
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Take a look, take a listen
Ultimate Peace Ultimate Frisbee Tournament for planting seeds in order to foster peace...
Look: http://www.ultimatepeace.org/ultimate-peace-events/
Listen: http://www.ultimatepeace.org/data-files/UltimatePeace_Radio-WROW-Afternnon-Drive-DaveBarkan.mp3
April 1-5th
I'm deciding between this and going to London... I don't think I can legitimize missing more than a week of classes....
Look: http://www.ultimatepeace.org/ultimate-peace-events/
Listen: http://www.ultimatepeace.org/data-files/UltimatePeace_Radio-WROW-Afternnon-Drive-DaveBarkan.mp3
April 1-5th
I'm deciding between this and going to London... I don't think I can legitimize missing more than a week of classes....
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Jerusalem
As a slightly sappy anecdote of this past weekend, I forgot to mention my time with Eric! It was amazing, terrific, wonderful, thrilling, brilliant, relaxing and fun. Probably could fit another few thousand words in their like "eating eating sleeping eating tv lots and lots of rain"-- but I won't.
Probably the most pacifistic, indie, Colorado moment I had happened while I was waiting for Eric and parents to pick me up. I climbed up the side of the hill with my two shopping bags and purse-- this was more bouldering, less climbing-- laid my jacket out on the ground, took out my book, and watched the sun sink further down and lower in the sky while being hugged by the valley walls, the eyes of the houses gazing out overhead. It was very peaceful; the hills surrounded me, the traffic was far below, the pedestrians were nowhere to be found because not everyone has tough skin like me.
The other amazing moment I'll just mention is when Eric and I were talking, we climbed out the window and onto the balcony (there's no direct access) and sat there chatting and watching the world go by until our feet got too cold to take it.
Some pleasant memories to keep the day =)
Probably the most pacifistic, indie, Colorado moment I had happened while I was waiting for Eric and parents to pick me up. I climbed up the side of the hill with my two shopping bags and purse-- this was more bouldering, less climbing-- laid my jacket out on the ground, took out my book, and watched the sun sink further down and lower in the sky while being hugged by the valley walls, the eyes of the houses gazing out overhead. It was very peaceful; the hills surrounded me, the traffic was far below, the pedestrians were nowhere to be found because not everyone has tough skin like me.
The other amazing moment I'll just mention is when Eric and I were talking, we climbed out the window and onto the balcony (there's no direct access) and sat there chatting and watching the world go by until our feet got too cold to take it.
Some pleasant memories to keep the day =)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Endless
[I deleted what was here; you're not going crazy]
Zippori
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepphoris
Beit She'arim
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beit_She'arim_National_Park
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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