Thursday, April 4, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Le Azza
So on the first Saturday of the trip, we went to Gaza. Well, sort of. We got really really close. With my uncle Amir driving, my grandfather, parents, sister, cousin and her bf (and me, of course), loaded up into big van for a "spin" around the Negev Desert. We started off driving through a town called Rahat, which is the largest established Bedouin city. Now, I know, that sounds like an oxymoron. Bedouins are naturally nomadic people so how are they living in a town? Basically, they were doing too much wandering and there were too many land disputes that the government built up a town for them to keep them contained. There are still small villages but about 60,000 people live now in Rahat. There were parts of it that were very run down but the mosques and minarets they were building were definitely strong and new.
Next we drove through Beit Kama, a kibbutz that houses a pharmaceutical plant where my uncle works. Although technically, it's a kibbutz, it's a lot smaller than it used to be. The younger generation grew up and eventually left the kibbutz so in order to keep the kibbutz running and relevant, the members sold the land next to the kibbutz to build up a new town that would be privately run but these residents would have access to the services of the kibbutz. Many former kibbutz members returned and became to work back at the kibbutz. So that's one way to keep in business. The area surrounding the kibbutz was full of pea plants and a few poppies and bright yellow and red flowers. My cousin and his fiancee took their wedding invitation pictures here a few weeks ago and it was just a sea of red. Wish I could have seen it!
Next we headed past the town of Sderot (famous for being the target of many falling rockets) until we reached the viewpoint next to the border with the Gaza Strip. Yep, no biggie. We were able to see the towns of Gaza but also the bare area where the Israeli settlements had once been. Their houses were all destroyed but nothing had been rebuilt since. It was pretty sombre but at the same time, fascinating to be so close to an area that's known for such violence. We saw none of that on our cloudy Saturday afternoon.
Our second to last stop of the day was Kibbutz Be'eri. We did some driving around first because Aharon had a specific place he wanted to take us but couldn't quite remember. Finally we got it figured out and drove to an old water tower next to an old almost castle-like structure. Here we received a history lesson from the historian's mouth. After Yom Kippur, 1946, the Israeli Youth Movements settled 11 kibbutzes in one night. One was Be'eri, where we were, and another was Hatzerim (represent...) At the time, the British mandate prohibited the establishment of new Jewish villages but Turkish law, the law that had governed Palestine before the Brits, stated that as long as there is a roof on a house, it can't be demolished. The IYM decided to set up the settlements on one of the High Holy Days, taking the British by surprise. Aharon was in the group that established Be'eri and built the watchtower we were standing by as he was telling this to us. These kibbutzes would later be areas of defense during the War of Independence. The big question though was why Aharon ended up in Hatzerim instead of Be'eri. According to him, Be'eri was a bit too Marxist for him. According to my uncle, he moved because there was a pretty girl from Haifa who had only been allowed to move down to Hatzerim. I guess it's a good thing that he moved because otherwise none of us would be here!
Last stop of the day was a restaurant in Be'er Sheva that had the BEST fried cauliflower, the BEST sweet potato ravioli and apparently really good liver.... It was sooooo windy though, so much so that halfway through his pizza, my grandfather got up, picked up his last slice and went to go sit inside while the rest of us stayed outside. Not surprising.
And now.... pictures!
Next we drove through Beit Kama, a kibbutz that houses a pharmaceutical plant where my uncle works. Although technically, it's a kibbutz, it's a lot smaller than it used to be. The younger generation grew up and eventually left the kibbutz so in order to keep the kibbutz running and relevant, the members sold the land next to the kibbutz to build up a new town that would be privately run but these residents would have access to the services of the kibbutz. Many former kibbutz members returned and became to work back at the kibbutz. So that's one way to keep in business. The area surrounding the kibbutz was full of pea plants and a few poppies and bright yellow and red flowers. My cousin and his fiancee took their wedding invitation pictures here a few weeks ago and it was just a sea of red. Wish I could have seen it!
Next we headed past the town of Sderot (famous for being the target of many falling rockets) until we reached the viewpoint next to the border with the Gaza Strip. Yep, no biggie. We were able to see the towns of Gaza but also the bare area where the Israeli settlements had once been. Their houses were all destroyed but nothing had been rebuilt since. It was pretty sombre but at the same time, fascinating to be so close to an area that's known for such violence. We saw none of that on our cloudy Saturday afternoon.
Our second to last stop of the day was Kibbutz Be'eri. We did some driving around first because Aharon had a specific place he wanted to take us but couldn't quite remember. Finally we got it figured out and drove to an old water tower next to an old almost castle-like structure. Here we received a history lesson from the historian's mouth. After Yom Kippur, 1946, the Israeli Youth Movements settled 11 kibbutzes in one night. One was Be'eri, where we were, and another was Hatzerim (represent...) At the time, the British mandate prohibited the establishment of new Jewish villages but Turkish law, the law that had governed Palestine before the Brits, stated that as long as there is a roof on a house, it can't be demolished. The IYM decided to set up the settlements on one of the High Holy Days, taking the British by surprise. Aharon was in the group that established Be'eri and built the watchtower we were standing by as he was telling this to us. These kibbutzes would later be areas of defense during the War of Independence. The big question though was why Aharon ended up in Hatzerim instead of Be'eri. According to him, Be'eri was a bit too Marxist for him. According to my uncle, he moved because there was a pretty girl from Haifa who had only been allowed to move down to Hatzerim. I guess it's a good thing that he moved because otherwise none of us would be here!
Last stop of the day was a restaurant in Be'er Sheva that had the BEST fried cauliflower, the BEST sweet potato ravioli and apparently really good liver.... It was sooooo windy though, so much so that halfway through his pizza, my grandfather got up, picked up his last slice and went to go sit inside while the rest of us stayed outside. Not surprising.
And now.... pictures!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
TLV
On my first day in Israel, I decided to hitch a ride with Rotem into Tel Aviv to spend the day exploring. I really didn't have anything in mind as she dropped me off at the Harbour on a glorious spring morning. The sun was out, the coffee was good, the waves were crashing against the shore and people were milling up and down the boardwalk enjoying the Passover holiday.
At one point I had an interesting conversation with a man who sat down on a bench next to me. That's one thing about Israelis- there is no compunction in just sitting down and chatting with a total stranger. We talked about the weather and then about why I didn't live in Israel. He used a lot of metaphors. His name was David. He was nice. But it was still awkward. I'm not used to just random conversations with random people.
Before I knew it, I had reached the Carmel Shuk and was kind of hungry to made my way up and down the narrow path, eventually picking up a HUGE bottle of water (gotta stay hydrated, folks), some super, super, super fresh fruit, delicious pitas and other goodies to make a delicious lunch. I also found a used book store with English books and picked up a Deborah Crombie mystery. How I love her stories!
I had lunch in a little park, finding a bench in the shade, before making my way over to the new art museum. They had just built this beautiful new building and I went there first, as it was mainly Israeli artists. It was certainly more of a modern feel to things and I was surprised to see the metal faces on teh ground liek I had seen in the Jewish museum in Berlin! Unfortunately there was no explanation. The new building also had five stories and an open layout so that on the walls going up and down, there were phrases and comments painted. It was captivating.
The older branch of the building had the more typical artwork, especially lots of impressionists and post-impressionists. My favorite section though was an exhibit where local designers had made dresses inspired by famous works out art. My favorite is the picture below. I love the bright colors of the face reflected in the dress.
I eventually met Rotem back up at the University and then got to spend the afternoon with her kids, Amit and Ivri. Obama was speaking to a group of students at Hebrew University so we watched his speech and then watched Amos's interview on the news afterwards. I LOVE these two kids and could spend hours with them without getting bored. I already miss them tons!
Before I knew it, I had reached the Carmel Shuk and was kind of hungry to made my way up and down the narrow path, eventually picking up a HUGE bottle of water (gotta stay hydrated, folks), some super, super, super fresh fruit, delicious pitas and other goodies to make a delicious lunch. I also found a used book store with English books and picked up a Deborah Crombie mystery. How I love her stories!
I had lunch in a little park, finding a bench in the shade, before making my way over to the new art museum. They had just built this beautiful new building and I went there first, as it was mainly Israeli artists. It was certainly more of a modern feel to things and I was surprised to see the metal faces on teh ground liek I had seen in the Jewish museum in Berlin! Unfortunately there was no explanation. The new building also had five stories and an open layout so that on the walls going up and down, there were phrases and comments painted. It was captivating.
The older branch of the building had the more typical artwork, especially lots of impressionists and post-impressionists. My favorite section though was an exhibit where local designers had made dresses inspired by famous works out art. My favorite is the picture below. I love the bright colors of the face reflected in the dress.
I eventually met Rotem back up at the University and then got to spend the afternoon with her kids, Amit and Ivri. Obama was speaking to a group of students at Hebrew University so we watched his speech and then watched Amos's interview on the news afterwards. I LOVE these two kids and could spend hours with them without getting bored. I already miss them tons!
Monday, April 1, 2013
Oops...
Um, so I could have SWORN that I had posted at least one blog about my trip but clearly I did not. I'm sorry, few but faithful blog stalkers. I promise to be better. My goal for April is to blog at least once a day for the entire month. I know, I know, I can hear you laughing all the way from here. But I'm gonna do it!
So for my first post, let's talk about yesterday. I'ts only fitting, I suppose, to write about the first day of the trip as well as the last day. Then everything in between can be taken care of at a later date...
Yesterday started at 3:45 am when my alarm went off. I groggily got dressed and Amir drove me in the dark up to Ben Gurion. When you fly out from Israel, you have to show your passport no less than five different times, as well as be asked questions about whether you packed your own bag and if they were in your sigt at all times, etc. On the plus side, I could do everything in Hebrew, so that was nice. I got through passport countrol and security in no time flat and so had an opportunity to watch an episode of "The Wire". How I love Dominic West.
Because it was only 7 am by the time we took off, I dozed on and off, waking up for some matzah and omelet. I was blown away at how polite and respectful all the passengers were. Clearly this was a different crowd than those who were coming into Israel two weeks prior. I also missed out on watching "Life of Pi" because I was asleep.
We landed in Zurich and had to go through security again... I had just gotten off the plane- did they think I picked something up in the two minutes it took to get from one gate to another? We also had to go through another type of passport control, which seemed a little ridiculous, but who am I to question the inner workings of an airport. I watched another episode of "The Wire" before finally getting a gate assignment and then heading to where my flight was leaving. SwissAir didn't board by rows- it was just kind of a free-for-all- and there were some Americans behind me who were not pleased. Oh Americans.
Although the flight attendants were lovely, the food on SwissAir sucked. I watched "Won't Back Down" which was pretty good and "Lincoln" which I liked but dozed a bit towards the end. The flight also felt endless. The girl sitting next to me was a TOTAL wannabe model/fashionista, from her aviators worn inside to her weird high-tops and Vouge magazines.
I was starving by the time I got to Chicago so after going through customs and back through check-in and security part 2, I grabbed a Mediterranean Chicken salad that I paid $10 for. It was awful. Buyer's remorse for sure. I had five hours to wait around and again didn't have a gate so I found a computer plug, watched some more "The Wire" and eventually stretched out and napped on and off on the floor. At that point, I didn't even care. I had lost all desire to be socially acceptable. When I finally got a gate assignments, I trekked over to the other concourse and waited. I was hoping to see "Life of Pi" but it turned out that we were on one of those teeny-tiny planes that made you gate-check your roller bags so I ended up trying to nap as much as I could.
When I finally landed in Boise, it was after 11:00 pm and I was again starving. Niki came and got me and we stopped at Del Taco so I could grab a Del Classic chicken. I decided to drive home after being dropped off at Brooke's to get my car because all I really wanted to do was sleep in my own bed. I was home by 1:15 and after some quick unpacking and teeth-brushing, I was asleep by 1:30. Not bad...
So for my first post, let's talk about yesterday. I'ts only fitting, I suppose, to write about the first day of the trip as well as the last day. Then everything in between can be taken care of at a later date...
Yesterday started at 3:45 am when my alarm went off. I groggily got dressed and Amir drove me in the dark up to Ben Gurion. When you fly out from Israel, you have to show your passport no less than five different times, as well as be asked questions about whether you packed your own bag and if they were in your sigt at all times, etc. On the plus side, I could do everything in Hebrew, so that was nice. I got through passport countrol and security in no time flat and so had an opportunity to watch an episode of "The Wire". How I love Dominic West.
Because it was only 7 am by the time we took off, I dozed on and off, waking up for some matzah and omelet. I was blown away at how polite and respectful all the passengers were. Clearly this was a different crowd than those who were coming into Israel two weeks prior. I also missed out on watching "Life of Pi" because I was asleep.
We landed in Zurich and had to go through security again... I had just gotten off the plane- did they think I picked something up in the two minutes it took to get from one gate to another? We also had to go through another type of passport control, which seemed a little ridiculous, but who am I to question the inner workings of an airport. I watched another episode of "The Wire" before finally getting a gate assignment and then heading to where my flight was leaving. SwissAir didn't board by rows- it was just kind of a free-for-all- and there were some Americans behind me who were not pleased. Oh Americans.
Although the flight attendants were lovely, the food on SwissAir sucked. I watched "Won't Back Down" which was pretty good and "Lincoln" which I liked but dozed a bit towards the end. The flight also felt endless. The girl sitting next to me was a TOTAL wannabe model/fashionista, from her aviators worn inside to her weird high-tops and Vouge magazines.
I was starving by the time I got to Chicago so after going through customs and back through check-in and security part 2, I grabbed a Mediterranean Chicken salad that I paid $10 for. It was awful. Buyer's remorse for sure. I had five hours to wait around and again didn't have a gate so I found a computer plug, watched some more "The Wire" and eventually stretched out and napped on and off on the floor. At that point, I didn't even care. I had lost all desire to be socially acceptable. When I finally got a gate assignments, I trekked over to the other concourse and waited. I was hoping to see "Life of Pi" but it turned out that we were on one of those teeny-tiny planes that made you gate-check your roller bags so I ended up trying to nap as much as I could.
When I finally landed in Boise, it was after 11:00 pm and I was again starving. Niki came and got me and we stopped at Del Taco so I could grab a Del Classic chicken. I decided to drive home after being dropped off at Brooke's to get my car because all I really wanted to do was sleep in my own bed. I was home by 1:15 and after some quick unpacking and teeth-brushing, I was asleep by 1:30. Not bad...
Monday, March 25, 2013
IC Moroccan Night
The IC decided that we wanted to start doing International potlucks and our first lucky country was Morocco! After much planning and deliberating and discussing, we got together at Abbey's house for the inaugural event. One thing we wanted to do was cook together so all of us brought of ingredients and over the course of the evening, started to prepare the various dishes.
We weren't quite hungry at the start of the event so after getting some drinks together, we sat down for a game of Life. This was not the Life of my childhood: there was a lot of insulting, shouting, "douche-moves" and shenanigans that ensued. But mostly a lot of laughter.
Then we got down to cooking. Abbey had marinated some chicken and put together skewers with tomatoes and some peppers that the guys then put on the grill outside. Jon made some masterful couscous with slivered almonds while I prepared a salad made with tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, green onions and a lemon juice and olive oil dressing. Dinner was absolutely delicious. We could have eaten all night.
To work off the dinner, we went for a walk around the golf course. Then also involved some minor snowball throwing and fascination with a weird man standing in his dark living room not doing anything. It was odd and Matt and I were certainly curious. Matt's offering was a dessert of orange slices with drizzled cinnamon and honey ontop. Amazing as well. We ate this while watching "Liberal Arts", a movie by Josh Radnor, our one and only favorite Ted Mosby.
It was a spectacular night. Delicious food, good drinks, endless laughter, and most importantly, eager anticipation for the NEXT IC dinner party!
We weren't quite hungry at the start of the event so after getting some drinks together, we sat down for a game of Life. This was not the Life of my childhood: there was a lot of insulting, shouting, "douche-moves" and shenanigans that ensued. But mostly a lot of laughter.
Then we got down to cooking. Abbey had marinated some chicken and put together skewers with tomatoes and some peppers that the guys then put on the grill outside. Jon made some masterful couscous with slivered almonds while I prepared a salad made with tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, green onions and a lemon juice and olive oil dressing. Dinner was absolutely delicious. We could have eaten all night.
To work off the dinner, we went for a walk around the golf course. Then also involved some minor snowball throwing and fascination with a weird man standing in his dark living room not doing anything. It was odd and Matt and I were certainly curious. Matt's offering was a dessert of orange slices with drizzled cinnamon and honey ontop. Amazing as well. We ate this while watching "Liberal Arts", a movie by Josh Radnor, our one and only favorite Ted Mosby.
It was a spectacular night. Delicious food, good drinks, endless laughter, and most importantly, eager anticipation for the NEXT IC dinner party!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)