To All of Our Christian Friends: Villa De La Rosa

[pictured: street sign in old city and the marker for station #5]

I survived the first week of school! I even managed to have some fun. On Wednesday night we joined the Public Health Students and other medical students at the Student Pub on campus, for a welcome back party. It was a lot of fun! The pub sponsored an incredible trio. We sat around for hours having a good time. Oren was able to meet almost everyone and teach them a little bit of Hebrew! They were giving away free popcorn and cotton candy. First of all, many of my classmates have never had cotton candy. Second of all, when one of them said that to the vendor they gave the world’s largest role of cotton candy. It was humongous! It looked like a plant from the dr. sues book about the Laurax. Tons of pictures were taken until it started dripping on my hair and other people around us. It turns out when Oren and I left the party really got started. The International Students took over. Apparently, they were dancing and singing. Many of them sang songs from their native countries. It was the talk of the class for the rest of the week. Oren and I are sorry we missed it.

Our dessert party was a lot of fun! It even got a little rowdy. The students are not shy, that’s for sure! The vodka and wine was well utilized. We had people singing songs from their countries, telling stories and taking tons of pictures! The funny thing is at 9pm one person said they were leaving and they all left. If one goes they all go. It wasn’t because they had a bad time; it was because they wanted to stay together. It was fine with me too, because I was sleep deprived from the start of the school year.

Now to the Villa De La Rosa! Oren and I have officially walked along Jesus’ path. Every few weeks our group has an excursion somewhere in Israel. This week we went to the old city. Oren and I have been there many times, but never through the eyes of a religion other than Judaism. We spent hours walking along Jesus’ path before his crucifixion (Note, I am writing from the historical view point, that I was told). Many of the churches we visited where absolutely beautiful. I did not catch all of the history because it was hard to hear our tour guide. Many of the students were enthralled with the afternoon. To them it was one of the holiest places a Christian can visit. They wanted to take pictures of EVERYTHING, delaying much of the tour. It was interesting to learn about their beliefs. We saw the place that Jesus is buried. What caught Oren and I by surprise was the lack of security at many of these locations. They had security but compared to the Jewish holy sites they were much less guarded. I think it has to do with the fact that they are less controversial than the Jewish and Muslim sites. You touch most historical items which from a preservation standpoint seems odd. When I was in Spain you could not take pictures or touch items within the churches. In my free time, I hope to read a little more about the significance of the places we visited.

After touring the Christian sites we had an overpriced falafel lunch. We are wondering how much of the kickback the tour guide gets? After that, we walked through the shops in the Muslim quarter and then proceeded to the Jewish Quarter. The students were also very fascinated with the Jewish History and significance of the Western Wall. Many of the students even went up to the Western Wall and left a message in it. We have a very ethnically and religiously accepting group of people.

Now it is Shabbat. Oren and I are resting, doing homework and staying away from the rain. It is predicted to rain all week! Yippy!

NEXT BLOG FROM OREN AND PICTURES!!! SOME ARE ALREADY ON THE LINK TO THE RIGHT…

Man Purse

Oren and I are doing well! We are super busy, especially me! I started school on Sunday. It is going to be an interesting and very intense year! I take 13 classes per week including 3 statistic classes, 2 Epidemiology Classes, Nutrition, Organization of Public Health Systems and more!!! The school week is Sunday- Thursday. Most days we are in class from 8:30-4:30pm with only a 15 min break between classes. So far the 7 classes that I attended are very interesting! Even more interesting are the students. Who would have thought that I would be a minority within my community in Israel? Our class consists of 24 students. 21 of the students are Medical Doctors. 22 of the students come from countries other than US and Israel. Only 2 of us are from the United States and both of us are Jewish. The countries represented in my class are Cameroon, India, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Dominican Republic, Kenya, Albania, Mongolia, Buldova, Uzbekistan and Georgia. Everyone is so interesting and I am excited to learn with them. Many of them have worked in AIDS research, which is one of my top interests. Many of the professors are well recognized Public Health Professionals around the world. I know that they will teach us a lot and expect a lot from us!!!

This Thursday, Oren and I are inviting my classmates over for dessert. Everyone knows we like to entertain! More than entertain, we want to get to know the students better. Josh (the other American) and I are the only people not living in the dorms, so it is harder to get to know them. I also want them to get to know Oren and many of them asked when they get to meet him! This is the perfect chance, in a fun setting! This Friday, we are going on a trip around Jerusalem. They are even allowing Oren to join us! For the first time Oren and I will get a guided tour of Jerusalem from many different view points other than Jewish.

(A short digression story- Last Thursday, I met the other students for the first time. Our student social Organizer, Hanni, took us around the city. I was nervous to meet everyone, but it was fine! Everyone is super nice! They were all very curious to know why I don’t stay in the dorms. So I explained to them because my husband is in Israel with me and you cannot live in the dorms if you are married. It turns out that 80% of them are married and many of them have kids who stayed in their home countries. I can’t imagine not seeing Oren for a year, especially if I had a child.

Anyway, many of them thought because I am American I am rich (or at least I got that impression). Everyone, except Josh and I, are on a special scholarship in which their entire program is paid for. We on the other hand don’t come from countries that can be considered for the scholarship and have to pay our own way. For me that means lots and lots of LOANS. I had to explain to them I am taking out loans to pay for my program. After that, one person commented on how pretty my wedding ring is. She was very sincere about it, but it made me realize that many of them may have misjudged me because of my rock! In many countries they do not wear wedding bands with diamonds. They are much simpler. Also, many people have preconceived notions about Americans from TV, Politics etc… I was telling my academic advisor about this and she said she thinks that Israeli’s actually have more of a preconceived notion of Americans being JAPS. After she explained, I understood what she meant. Many Americans who come to Israel are ones with a lot of money. Many of them donate to specific causes and expect programs to be run in a certain way. Don’t get me wrong, they are appreciative of the donations but many have a skewed view on Americans. Back to going around town!!! It was a lot of fun! Many of the students were amazed by Israel. Some even took pictures of hotel buildings. If I thought it was hard to adjust to Israeli life, I know it is harder for them! Going grocery shopping, taking buses, getting use to the food, and even trying to find your way around campus is challenging. Luckily, I had Oren and others to ask questions and help me get adjusted. I am trying to help the other students as much as possible!

Now to the Man Purse

Anyone who is a fan of Seinfeld knows about the man purse episode. In the US it is definitely not seen as a trendy accessory for men. In Israel many men wear one! EVEN OREN! Yes, that’s right Oren bought his own man purse and he is very proud of it! Next time we go on a cruise he will be able to play the game “what’s in your purse.” Anyway, it comes in very handy when you do not have a car and are always on the go. His does is not an average size man purse. It is a mid-size man purse! In my opinion it makes it seem more like a backpack. We learned that he can fit a variety of items in this handy dandy bag such as wine, text books, ipod, lipstick, ID cards, snacks, maps and money. It is great; I don’t need to carry a purse anymore because my husband does. It is even more fun to make fun of!

Bracha’s Visit

We had our first house guest last Thursday. Oren’s mom came to Jerusalem for the weekend. It was a lot of fun! On Thursday, we went to the Shuk (a huge outdoor market with lots of fresh foods) and went out for a yummy meat dinner. On Friday, we went shopping on Ben Yehuda Street for souvenirs for her friends and for Oren and me to send back presents for family and friends that had recent b-days. During the evening we cooked a Shabbat Meal together (our first real home cooked meal besides Veggie Soup). It was super yummy! During the evening we watched the movie Bride and Prejudice, a Bollywood movie. Super cute and cheesy at the same time! (I told some of my new Indian friends about watching the movie and they are all in love with the main actress) and even became the Scrabble Queen! Actually, Oren and I are tied for wins. On Saturday, an old classmate of Bracha’s from the kibbutz invited us over for lunch. It turned out to be a lot of fun! They made ton of food and we sat around for hours talking. They explained to us a lot about the different types of Judaism in Israel. Boy is it interested and very political! If you are interested, give me a call. Saturday evening we went to the old city. We were all very surprised to find many shops and restaurants open. I think most of them were Arabic, but still took us by surprise. We went to the wall and looked at shops. Shopping didn’t last long because I could not take the store owners. They are way too pushy. Maybe being pushy works on some people, but it is a turnoff to me! That was our weekend!

It is getting late and I have class very early in the morning. I am not sure when I will write another blog! Oren will probably write most of them from here on out! It will depend on my school load. Another important piece of information is that we had our internet and cable TV installed today. Unfortunately, our vonage is not working yet. Something is wrong with the Modem and technical support should be working on the problem, but is too busy catching up on a months worth of loss TV time.

Long over due update

A Long One: Since this is a long one, I included a Table of Contents for your easy viewing:

1. Sukkot at Ein Hashofet
2. Eilat= E-ilat of Fun
3. New Apartment
4. New Friends
5. Hebrew Word of the Blog
6. Oren Report

1. Sukkot at Ein Hashofet

For Sukkot we rented a car and headed north to Kibbutz Ein Hashofet. This is where Oren’s mom grew up. What a beautiful place!!! This is one of the only fully functioning Kibbutz’s left. By fully functioning, I mean that it still operates under the philosophy that the kibbutz was established. For example: Everyone on the kibbutz has a particular job that they are responsible for during the work week, you can eat at the cafeteria for breakfast, lunch and dinner, holiday celebrations are open the to the community and there is a swimming pool, tennis courts, grocery store and a general store. It is a very friendly place. The type that would be perfect to raise a family! (Although, the strollers they use are hideous, but functional. It is like a playpen on wheels).

We spent time with Oren’s grandfather who is 93 years old. He is one of the founding members of the Kibbutz from 1937. He loved visiting with Oren and talking about the Kibbutz. Bracha is in town for the month of October. He also loves his time with her twice a day!!!

During our visit to Ein Hashofet we stayed with Bracha in a hotel like room. It had 2 beds and an extra mattress, a bathroom and a small kitchenette. It is sufficient for a short stay.

The highlight of Sukkot was the community dinner at the cafeteria. We were joined by Uncle Lenny, Aunt Daniela and Cousin Ofer (was off from the army for the holiday). It was GREAT getting to know them better! After dinner the kibbutz had a dessert party with plenty of yummy pastries, coffee and tea. Following the dessert party we went to a musical show. Different talents from the kibbutz sang songs and did skits. The theme of the night seemed to be the Lebanon War. They cracked a lot of jokes about the Bomb Shelters. A poem that had people in hysterics was about the lonely bomb shelter that was calling a Hezbollah bomb shelter because he was not used enough. They videotaped the preschool kids while asking them questions about the war. The responses were hilarious (even when translated by Oren). Israeli’s take the war seriously, but they also know how to live their lives. Part of living with uncertainty is easing and/or expressing your concern with jokes!

The following day, Saturday, we went to a Druze market in Dalyita Carmel with Bracha. This is the happening place, because so many places are closed on Saturday’s. Oren and I found solid wood end tables and a coffee table that we bought. It only cost us $140. What a bargain compared to buying imitation wood tables that cost just as much! Even more impressive is the fact that we were able to stuff them in our rental car! After a tiring morning of walking up and down hill we drove to Haifa. In Haifa we walked around the ocean pier. Another beautiful site! Oren and I are hoping to spend more time there during the year.

2. Eilat= E-ilat of Fun

During Sukkot many Israeli’s travel! Whatever the Israeli’s do, Oren and I have to try! OK, it was just an excuse to vacation. Anyway, we spent 3 nights and 4 days in Eilat. Eilat is a resort town, for those of you who do not know. It is known for the coral reefs. We found an awesome internet deal for the Red Mountain Hotel. It turned out to be a nice hotel (Actually, anything was a luxury compared to Beit Shithole) including an Israeli breakfast each morning.

The highlight of our visit was snorkeling. It was INCREDIBLE! We saw the most colorful fish and coral. We went snorkeling in Cozumel on our Honeymoon and it was nothing compared to this. If we ever get our pictures posted you can see some of the fish we saw. If you have read the book Rainbow Fish, we saw a ton of fish that looked like that. There were also sword fish, zebra fish, Nemo fish and much more (Caution: these aren’t the scientific names of the fish). Other highlights include the Aquarium, swimming with the dolphins, eating at a Brazilian Steak house (similar to Fogo de Chow) and eating at an Asian Fusion Restaurant named Giraffe.. Overall, Eilat is a tourist town. We would go back again for the snorkeling, but if we want to go to a beach we will stick to Tel Aviv.

In Eilat, I met more of Oren’s cousins. Ronni, Ami and baby Yoniton. We spent a couple of hours with them at a local park. I hope that we will get to know them better. They are very nice!

The bus ride to and form Eilat is very scenic. During the drive we passed Bedouin Tents, Masada and the Dead Sea. The entire ride was through the desert.

3. New Apartment

We are finally out of Beit Shithole! The last straw is when you can't even go to the bathroom without water leaking on you. Oren joked that I should bring an umbrella in with me! Luckily, I don’t have to deal with that anymore. We are very happy to be in our new apartment! The first couple days were a bit rough. The dust level from remodeling was horrific. It took 3 days to clean out the apartment. Now I have a cold! Lucky me!!! Besides that, things are coming together nicely. We bought a Sopapa (couch/bed), mattress, TV, Refrigerator, Table Oven, 2 burner stove and other odds and ends. Tonight we even had our first home cooked meal: vegetable soup. One of these days we will get our pictures posted! Don’t hold your breath too long, but we are working on it! Supposedly, our internet is being installed next week. If they are not on Israeli time, it will be up and running by Oct. 24. That means we will have our vonage set up!

4. New Friends

Oren and I finally met people! Rachel set us up with her friend Yael. She was so nice and invited us for Simcha Torah! Oren and I tried out a Carelbach service. This is a type of Orthodox service that is very accepting and has a lot of singing and dancing. Many aspects of it we liked, but there were also many that we are uncertain of. It was definitely a good experience. Following services we had dinner at Yael’s apartment. There were 14 of us. We met a lot of Americans and felt very accepted. It was a great Shabbat evening with eating, meeting people and lots of laughs. We are looking forward to going on a double date with Yael and her boyfriend Yossef. Oren even found a group of people that love to hike, rock climb and rappel. I will follow them a long with my first aid kit.

5. Hebrew Word of the Blog

Whenever you get directions from people they say Yashar, Yashar, Yashar. Yashar means straight. For some reason they feel that they must say Yashar 3 or more times, even when you are walking less than a meter.

6. Oren report…

I am tired. From trying to figure which bus to take, to negotiating prices for a can opener at the market, to carrying groceries and laundry ½ a mile, to putting together furniture, to translating for Suzy, and figuring out what something says in Hebrew. All this has made me tired, my back hurts and my mind is melting. Did I mention my second Accounting Masters class started online last week? With all this said, I am enjoying our experience and I am happy here with Suzy. I think we have another 10 days of settling in and figuring some things out. Then all my focus can be on the job hunt and improving my Hebrew.

Interesting things about Israel – Almost everything financial for the ordinary person is done through their bank. Credit cards are first received through your bank. Its seems almost anything above 200 shekels or so can be bought with tashlumim, payments (200 NIS is just under $50 right now and NIS means “New Israeli Shekel”). You go to the grocery store and spend enough, so they ask if you want to pay it out right or tashlumim. I think it’s crazy that you can spread out your grocery bill into payments. Some places give you a discount when paying it all at once or within a few payments vs. 6-12 payments. So how do you pay this and how does it get charged? First, your credit card bill gets deducted from your bank account each month on some specified date (there is a choice). If you choose tashlumim for something, then each month its shows up on the credit and then deducted from your bank account. Either no interest or the interest is seen in the fact that you could get a discount when paid in full at the time of purchase. Then next issue is…what if you cannot pay off your balance with the money in your bank account? Your bank fronts you the money and you are then in minus, or negative. I am not sure yet how that works but I believe there is some sort of interest rate. Also, some recent changes in the law have capped how far people are allowed to go into minus. I cannot get a credit card here until I have a regular income. As far as Israeli banks are concerned, my perfect credit and rental property in the US mean nothing to them (seeing as I could cut and run).

Yom Kippur and more...

As Oren and I sit here on Ben Yehuda, we give thanks for the FREE Internet! Actually, we are sitting at a Falafel/Shawarma stand, where we just enjoyed lunch! It turns out anywhere on Ben Yehuda St. you can access free internet! You won’t find that at Starbucks. The weather in the Jerusalem is getting cool. I wish I brought a sweater with me this afternoon. I am wearing jeans and quarter sleeve shirt and on my right Oren is only wearing shorts and a t-shirt! Because of the holidays, Jerusalem is crowded with tourist and locals who are off work. Here is a little about our last weekend:

Tel Aviv. Yes, Again! Currently, Tel Aviv is my favorite city in Israel. I love the Mediterranean. The beaches are beautiful and the water feels amazing. We decided to go back last weekend to see Karen, Gili and Maya, before they left for San Fran. Oren and I stayed at the Hayarkon 48 hostel! It was actually really nice and even had air condition. To tell the truth, any place is a luxury compared to Beit Canada! I won’t go into details, just trust me!!!

It is a blast to bring our niece Maya to the beach. She absolutely loves it! I remember the first day we took her their, she was afraid of going in. By her last day, you had to watch every step she took because became very adventurous.

On Friday morning we went to the Yafo market and then in the afternoon we went to Shenkin Street and the Shuk of Carmel with Gili and Karen. We had a lot of fun looking at the fresh fruits, veggies and art work! We didn’t buy much. I am more of an observer than a buyer!

IKEA of the Middle East : Oren and I were feeling a bit homesick in Tel Aviv, so we decided to go to a familiar place: IKEA. Actually, we needed a ton of household items for our new apartment. On Shabbat Ikea is closed. It reopens right after Shabbat every Saturday. This particular Saturday IKEA did not open until 8pm and it closed at 11pm. By the time Oren and I got to Ikea, there was a 25 minute line to get inside. The place was mobbed! Literally, it was difficult to maneuver yourself to look around. Anyway, it was an interesting experience. We bought a couple of household items, but not as much as we originally intended.

Yom Kippur in Jerusalem: This is what we were told to beware of on Yom Kippur: NO DRIVING, DO NOT USE ANY ELECTRICAL DEVICES OUTSIDE YOUR HOME, WEAR ALL WHITE AND NOTHING AT ALL WILL BE OPEN. This was indeed what happened! Oren and I took an observant route to Yom Kippur = watching people and how they act. The eve of Yom Kippur we walked around the community our building is in. The streets were empty of cars but plentiful of children. Since it is a law in Israel that no cars can drive unless you are army, police or Muslim, 100’s of children were in the streets on their bicycles. Think how much fun that would be if we were still kids? They spent the evening racing down the hills, congregating with friends in a local square or the middle of the street. Parents were out and about talking, as well. We did not see too many religious people. We walked to this place called the Haas Promenade where we could see a view of the entire city of Jerusalem, even one of the border fences. There, Oren engaged himself in conversation with a couple of police. He asked them how they got Yom Kippur duty. It turns out that one was a Druze and the other a Christian Arab. At the Haas Promenade we heard what sounded like gunfire. It turns out that it is Ramadan right now, and after the nightly meal the children go into the streets and shoot off firecrackers.

Oren and I were worried about entertaining ourselves on the holiday. We managed to do it. Besides taking several walks, we played scrabble and watched half a season of 24 on our laptop.

Oren report: I’ll try to point out some differences between Israel and the US on occasion. Growing up somewhere allows you to learn about all the little things you do not normally think about. How the post office works, where you can park, what typical bank fees might be, where is the best place to buy certain items and much more? Anyway, banks here charge their own customers to process checks you write or pull cash out of one of their own ATM’s. Its not very much, 1.21 shekels and as I write this it is about 4.29 shekels for 1 dollar. Another interesting thing for those of you who like fresh fruits and vegetables, in general they are much cheaper here. We paid less than 2 dollars for 5 big peaches and 4 plums. For those of you who do not shop much, I expect that might be 4-5 dollars. Also, Suzanne noticed something missing and now is dying for it…Broccoli. I heard that because it is not in season, its hard to find and more expensive.

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