This week, I moved into my apartment in Jerusalem. I'm now living with 2 boys- Avi who has a type A personality and just graduated with a degree in finance and Warner, who lived in India the past 2 years. We're quite an odd mix, but so far it works. This is the first apartment I've had all year where we do dinner together. Warner and I trade off cooking and we all sit and have family dinners together. Warner had to push me and Avi a little into doing it but it's really nice.
What I did not previously know about this apartment is that it's actually a hotel room. I'm living in the kitchen. That means that of the ten months total I will spend in Israel, I will have spent 5 months living in a joint kitchen/living room, 1 month living on army bases, 2 weeks sharing a bed which the previous owners probably died in, 2 weeks having no home, and 2.5 months living in an apartment that actually could have been made for the amount of people living there.
It's really nice to be in a city. We live in the center of the city so its always busy and there are always people around. It's also nice to have more people from OTZMA around. Even though only 12 out of the 50 live in Jerusalem, that's still double the amount that was in Kiryat Malachi. It's also great to see stores being open past 7 and things like resteraunts and coffee shops- wonders almost too good to be true.
I've started my internship for Ethiopian National Project. ENP works to help integrate Ethiopian-Israeli teenagers into Israeli society. I'm doing a lot here- researching grants, writing grants, writing articles, putting together the newsletter, and preparing for next year's General Assembly. The GA next year is in Washington DC so I'll help put together the booth while I work here and then I'll probably be volunteering at it next year. Check out one of the articles I wrote for ENP at enpblog.blogspot.com
I really love what I'm doing here. It's a small office and everyone is really nice. It's also great to feel useful and productive. I think I'm really going to enjoy my time at ENP
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Istanbul was Constantinople
We have a 2 week vacation for Passover so I decided to go to Istanbul for a week with Sarah, Rena and Becky, a few friends from the program. All of us loved the city. It is a very modern European looking city. It is also a very clean city, although we could never find a trash can when we needed one. About half the population is religious so it's very interesting to see the contrast between the modern city and people walking around with their heads covered, some wearing the full burka.
There are some things that we define as being distinctly Israeli that we all learned were Middle Eastern, not Israeli. For example, in Israel, it is hugely popular for boys to wear shirts with horizontal stripes. Everyone wears them all the time. Sunflower seeds were also very popular in Istanbul as well as in Israel. And of course all clothing was bedazzled in Istanbul too. I will never understand why people here love sparkles as much as they do. In Istanbul, we actually found a bedazzlement shop. Thousands and thousands of sparkles in all different colors, shapes and sizes, in case your clothing didn't have enough sparkles already.
As I'm sure you all know, our President visited Istanbul this past week. As soon as anyone found out we were Americans, they were so excited and all shouted, "Hey, Obama!" at us. Everyone wanted to know if we had voted for him. They absolutely love Obama in Istanbul. Everyone was so excited he was coming. On Tuesday, when he was actually there, there were 1400 CIA agents and 4000 Turkish police officers guarding the city. Obama was visiting the main tourist attractions, the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, and we stayed near them, so we couldn't leave our neighborhood because all the roads were blocked off. We had to go outside the walls of the city and walk along the water to get out. Even the water was being guarded, although these guards were obviously not taking it very seriously. They were standing around eating sunflower seeds and inspecting what the fishermen were catching. A group that we passed standing on the walls of the city saw us looking up at them and waved at us. We passed the attractions and reached the main city just as a road was being cleared off for the president to pass by. We stood at the side of the road and saw the whole presidential parade go by. I was able to see Obama in his car as he drove by.
Another interesting experience for us was the Turkish Bath. Our hostel had a deal with the oldest Turkish bathhouse in Istanbul so we went there. We were given towels by a women who doesn't speak English and once we had changed we were shuffled into the bath room by a women who looked like she had worked in the bathhouse for its entire existence. She wore nothing but a bathing suit bottom and a head covering. Once in the room, she ripped off Sarah's towel and moved here to a seat on one of the marble benches. We all sat down next to basins and were given pans to spoon water onto ourselves to bathe ourselves. In the middle of the room, we noticed a huge table with a girl lying on it. Apparently, the table in the middle of the room is where each person has their turn being massaged. After she finished massaging you with soap, the old women, whom we decided was named Hagar, splashed a bucket of water on you. It was without a doubt one of the most unusual and awkward experiences of our lives. That says a lot considering the past seven months we've been through.
We decided to leave Istanbul one day and go to Bursa, the former capital of the Ottoman Empire. Bursa was a cute little city on a hill with lots of trees and a river running through it. We were the only Americans on our tour. There were 2 women from Morocco, a women from Brazil and 3 couples from Bahrain, 2 of whom were traveling together. We learned that Bahrain is an island country off the coast of Saudi Arabia. None of us were surprised to see that sunflower seeds, striped shirts, and bedazzlement were also popular in Bahrain. Apparently there is an American Naval base in Bahrain and the princess married an officer. Although it is around 130 degrees in the summer, there is so much air conditioning, you can't even tell. Even the streets are air conditioned. It was really interesting learning about life in Bahrain. There are Christian, Jewish and Muslim families that all live together. They also love Obama and were excited to be in Istanbul when he was there too. All of us got invited to spend our next vacation in Bahrain.
All of us had been keeping quiet the fact that we live in Israel. We didn't want politics to be a part of our vacation and it was our first time in a Muslim country so we weren't sure how people would react. Although we didn't we all wished we had told the people from Bahrain that we live in Israel. A huge part of our year has been learning about the conflict and sessions and seminars on everything related. We had talked to people from all sides and had conversations with Palestinians, West Bank settlers and Israeli Arabs. However none of us have ever talked with people living in an Arab nation who weren't handpicked out to talk to us. Bahrain is right next to Saudi Arabia, but people have lots of rights, they can practice their own religion and women do not have to cover their hair. It would have been nice to see what a random person from a different country thought about it all.
Our tour guide in Bursa had a friend who had recently traveled to the gulf. She had brought back authentic kohl eyeliner for our tourguide. The directions were written in Arabic so the guide couldn't read it. She asked the women from Bahrain to translate it and explain to her what to do. Apparently, the eyeliner she had received is no longer used. It has a 5% lead content, so no women in the gulf states use it anymore. Now, they just us Lancome Paris, MAC or other makeups from Europe and America. The women all laughed at the tourguide and she was a little upset she couldn't use her authentic eyeliner.
We all really enjoyed our trip. It was refreshing to be in a big city after spending so much time in our little towns. Everyone was really friendly. Multiple times when we were lost, people would stop to help and walk us to where we were headed. We loved meeting people from all different places and talking to everyone. It was a really nice to go away for awhile and refocus before we all move to cities for the final 2 months of OTZMA
There are some things that we define as being distinctly Israeli that we all learned were Middle Eastern, not Israeli. For example, in Israel, it is hugely popular for boys to wear shirts with horizontal stripes. Everyone wears them all the time. Sunflower seeds were also very popular in Istanbul as well as in Israel. And of course all clothing was bedazzled in Istanbul too. I will never understand why people here love sparkles as much as they do. In Istanbul, we actually found a bedazzlement shop. Thousands and thousands of sparkles in all different colors, shapes and sizes, in case your clothing didn't have enough sparkles already.
As I'm sure you all know, our President visited Istanbul this past week. As soon as anyone found out we were Americans, they were so excited and all shouted, "Hey, Obama!" at us. Everyone wanted to know if we had voted for him. They absolutely love Obama in Istanbul. Everyone was so excited he was coming. On Tuesday, when he was actually there, there were 1400 CIA agents and 4000 Turkish police officers guarding the city. Obama was visiting the main tourist attractions, the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, and we stayed near them, so we couldn't leave our neighborhood because all the roads were blocked off. We had to go outside the walls of the city and walk along the water to get out. Even the water was being guarded, although these guards were obviously not taking it very seriously. They were standing around eating sunflower seeds and inspecting what the fishermen were catching. A group that we passed standing on the walls of the city saw us looking up at them and waved at us. We passed the attractions and reached the main city just as a road was being cleared off for the president to pass by. We stood at the side of the road and saw the whole presidential parade go by. I was able to see Obama in his car as he drove by.
Another interesting experience for us was the Turkish Bath. Our hostel had a deal with the oldest Turkish bathhouse in Istanbul so we went there. We were given towels by a women who doesn't speak English and once we had changed we were shuffled into the bath room by a women who looked like she had worked in the bathhouse for its entire existence. She wore nothing but a bathing suit bottom and a head covering. Once in the room, she ripped off Sarah's towel and moved here to a seat on one of the marble benches. We all sat down next to basins and were given pans to spoon water onto ourselves to bathe ourselves. In the middle of the room, we noticed a huge table with a girl lying on it. Apparently, the table in the middle of the room is where each person has their turn being massaged. After she finished massaging you with soap, the old women, whom we decided was named Hagar, splashed a bucket of water on you. It was without a doubt one of the most unusual and awkward experiences of our lives. That says a lot considering the past seven months we've been through.
We decided to leave Istanbul one day and go to Bursa, the former capital of the Ottoman Empire. Bursa was a cute little city on a hill with lots of trees and a river running through it. We were the only Americans on our tour. There were 2 women from Morocco, a women from Brazil and 3 couples from Bahrain, 2 of whom were traveling together. We learned that Bahrain is an island country off the coast of Saudi Arabia. None of us were surprised to see that sunflower seeds, striped shirts, and bedazzlement were also popular in Bahrain. Apparently there is an American Naval base in Bahrain and the princess married an officer. Although it is around 130 degrees in the summer, there is so much air conditioning, you can't even tell. Even the streets are air conditioned. It was really interesting learning about life in Bahrain. There are Christian, Jewish and Muslim families that all live together. They also love Obama and were excited to be in Istanbul when he was there too. All of us got invited to spend our next vacation in Bahrain.
All of us had been keeping quiet the fact that we live in Israel. We didn't want politics to be a part of our vacation and it was our first time in a Muslim country so we weren't sure how people would react. Although we didn't we all wished we had told the people from Bahrain that we live in Israel. A huge part of our year has been learning about the conflict and sessions and seminars on everything related. We had talked to people from all sides and had conversations with Palestinians, West Bank settlers and Israeli Arabs. However none of us have ever talked with people living in an Arab nation who weren't handpicked out to talk to us. Bahrain is right next to Saudi Arabia, but people have lots of rights, they can practice their own religion and women do not have to cover their hair. It would have been nice to see what a random person from a different country thought about it all.
Our tour guide in Bursa had a friend who had recently traveled to the gulf. She had brought back authentic kohl eyeliner for our tourguide. The directions were written in Arabic so the guide couldn't read it. She asked the women from Bahrain to translate it and explain to her what to do. Apparently, the eyeliner she had received is no longer used. It has a 5% lead content, so no women in the gulf states use it anymore. Now, they just us Lancome Paris, MAC or other makeups from Europe and America. The women all laughed at the tourguide and she was a little upset she couldn't use her authentic eyeliner.
We all really enjoyed our trip. It was refreshing to be in a big city after spending so much time in our little towns. Everyone was really friendly. Multiple times when we were lost, people would stop to help and walk us to where we were headed. We loved meeting people from all different places and talking to everyone. It was a really nice to go away for awhile and refocus before we all move to cities for the final 2 months of OTZMA
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