Rockets, and Tel Aviv

So I’m writing this on my computer. No internet access. Correction: I have sort of an internet connection that keeps kicking me off. BAH. Internet in Israel is such a mess. Or at least in Lakiya.  Partly due to the rockets.

Yes. I said rockets. Sadly the few months of peace and the slightly raised hopes after Gilad Shalit are now kaput.  Groups from Gaza (not Hamas) are sending rockets into Israel. Schools were closed yesterday/optional today for those in south (and lucky enough to be closer to the rocket fire). Otherwise, life goes on. Yes, two people are dead and a few are injured, but this is a part of life in Israel. 

Yes, I was freaked out when I heard a rocket. I’ve only heard one, this evening. I know this doesn’t make you feel better. But, it’s still more dangerous to get into a car in Israel (or America) than any rocket fire. I still get into a car every day. And perhaps I won’t sleep perfectly tonight, but I will sleep. Call me crazy or someone who thinks she’s immortal. But I know I’m mortal, I understand the risks. I make my choice to be here.  You don’t have to like it, but you have to respect it. 

So this past weekend:

I finally visited very distant relatives (cousins of my great aunt’s husband kind of distant). They live in a town north of Tel Aviv).  I got in Friday mid-morning, and wandered around Tel Aviv. Note: don’t carry your laptop with you: it’s just dead weight. And boy was it dead weight, my neck still hurts from carrying it. I saw a lot of the residential area of Tel Aviv by the university. Plus a gorgeous park next to a river. Ruth and Kuti picked me up around 430

About Ruth and Kuti: they are lovely people. Kuti was injured during a bomb accident during his time in the Army. I don’t think it was during the war, but he was in the army around 1967. He lost his hands, his vision is impaired, and has trouble hearing. Still he’s brilliant and studies West Africa, specifically Liberia. He was fascinating to talk to.

Ruth, his wife, was a nurse. She’s lovely, and helps Kuti immensely from simple hospital procedures, to daily tasks. I enjoyed spending time with her. She explained a lot to me about Tel Aviv, Israel, and her life and experiences. She was a lovely hostess, and I hope to spend more time with  them while I am in Israel!

For Shabbat, all their kids and grandkids came over for dinner. They’re older than me: the youngest is 30. Everyone was really nice, and spoke English! One was a head hunter for Google, and others were corporate analyst. It was great meeting them.  My mother would have loved the youngest grandchild: she loved shoes and wanted to try on everyone’s shoes. It was adorable. 

The next day I went with Ruth to the Tel Aviv Boardwalk. Turns out things are open on Shabbat in Tel Aviv. Went shopping, and found some froyo! Tons of families were out, and lots of dogs. It was great to see the ocean and get a feel for what people in Tel Aviv do. That evening, we went to a protest in Rabin Square. Israelis are protesting the high cost of living, taxes, and low wages. They want more social services from the government. Protests have been happening all summer. Tons of people came out, filling the square. We left early (well, Ruth and Kuti aren’t the youngest people), and people were still streaming in. 

Sunday: I woke up and Ruth told me about the rockets. I found out that classes were canceled, but all public transport was working. So I went into Tel Aviv, hoping to take a bus to explore Tel Aviv. However, I thought it would go at 12, but it didn’t go til 1. So I got the bright idea to wander on foot towards the train station. Stupid idea. I got lost, and wandered for awhile, not really seeing anything. Eventually, I accidentally stumbled upon the train station! I just took the train home early. Next time, I’m taking the damn tourist bus to see the city. 

Fun fact: at a major mall in Be’er Sheva there is free wifi, which I used to skype my parents. Even if they couldn’t see me. It was fun, and strange to be chatting into my computer in a food court. But w/e. It looks like I’ll be doing that more to keep up with people. 

I should write about my host family. But this post is getting super long. So next time. I’ll let you know where I’m getting the internet (lol new game: guess where Katie is getting online???) 

Much Love,

KAS

Some things change... some never do

Things change:
1. I forgot that Halloween is in two days. Don't care that I don't have a costume or things to do
2. I love family shabbat dinners on Friday nights. It's like a weekly thanksgiving. Sometimes less food
3. I live out of a suitcase/backpack. and I don't mind
4. I don't feel like I need to buy any "things" other than: presents for people, food. and transportation.

Some things don't change
1. I have gotta start watching my money. I went crazy this week and need to calm down on the spending.
2.  I still hate not understanding foreign languages around me.
3. I want to pet all the dogs i see. Except for the wild ones/guard dogs. Still don't like them
4. I still love Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream

Will write more tomorrow: spent the weekend in Tel Aviv and went to a protest! Amongst other things... Plus i'll hopefully have a story of Katie's mad dash to her first day of class...with all her stuff from the weekend. should be comic. so stay tuned!
And now a word from our sponsors.
KAS

Jerusalem, First Day of School, and Haifa!

Hello!

So things that have happened since my last update:

-i am very confused by the orange big talk system. about 20 bucks went down the drain when i tried to top off my phone. i don't know what i bought, but it was wrong. I finally got it fixed with another 50 shekels to them. I am going to look into a short term plan. I might save future money that way
-I went on the bus again! Met some more couch surfers for coffee. Mom don't worry: they were all really nice. I'm also starting to feel comfortable on the bus. Even better: i found another route that goes directly to Lakiya! Much shorter, but it doesn't run as often as the 63. Good to know about though :-)
-Went to Jerusalem today. we had a meeting with the deputy director of Tourism. They're hoping to increase tourism to the Negev and want to promote our organization! Very exciting, and a great resource to help us increase our marketing
-Went to the Arab market. One of the few non arabs there, but it was fine. I spent way too much on Baklava for my host family. oh well, I know better for next time. And I'm moving houses tomorrow! Gotta pack tonight...good thing I only have a suitcase.
- tomorrow: first day of teaching! I'm super nervous. I'm going to have each group for 45 minutes. I've made a short presentation about my family with photos and everything just to introduce myself. Really want to get a feel for where the students are mostly so I can figure out what to plan. I'm worried about it, but it will be what it will be.
-Found out I don't have work the week of November 5th. So I'm going travelling! Going to go up to Haifa for a few days and then over to Akko for the weekend. Trains and buses run to both, so transport won't be an issue. It will be nice to go North and escape the desert for a bit.

Not much else to say right now, might also do some 1-1 tutoring as well. Update you with the details on that later.
Love,
KAS

Meeting people and public transportation

Exciting news: I took the bus for the first time! Yes, I now can get in and out of Lakiya on my own! So there's this great website called Couch Surfing, that connects travelers from all over the world. I used it last year when I traveled to Italy with a friend and we met some amazing people and got a few places to stay for free/the cost of making chocolate chip cookies (that's a whole other story).

So, since I don't know many people/what to do in Beer Sheva, I posted a message to some people in Beer Sheva, asking to hang out/have some help exploring the city. One guy replied and we met up today. So, I took the bus into the bus center, at the edge of the old city.  I was super nervous because I haven't ever taken a public bus before by myself. I got to the bus stop, and got on the bus fine. I had some issues getting off, but I ended up exactly where I wanted. On the way back I had a miscommunication with the bus driver about money. I didn't have exact change and only large bills. luckily, it all worked out and I made it back to Lakiya! I'm sure I'll make more mistakes, but I CAN DO IT! and that's the important part.

So I met up with Shay, the guy I contacted online, and we got coffee and then wandered around the old city. Old City for Beersheva is the city that began with the turks at the turn of the20th century. It was the desert outpost. Unfortunately, on Fridays, things close super early. So we saw the Friday market, went into a small art museum, and saw the old train station. It was just nice to get out, and talk in English for awhile. It was exactly what I needed.

So that was my day. Tomorrow me and Riham, are going to hopefully watch Amelie. Most things are closed, so tomorrow will be a hang in Lakiya day.  But after getting out and about today, I think it will be nice to be here.

Much love,
KAS

Times they are a Changing

This is another post of lists (I am probably running out the door soon so it's gotta be short)

1. Sweets here taste funny. I don't know if it's because it's sugar > butter or if its sugar>corn syrup. I'm not a huge fan.
2. SHWARMA IS DELICIOUS. especially when you haven't had lunch and its 6 pm.
3. I'm starting to speak colloquial! its great!
4. Eggs are still delicious.
5. Salt is the new sugar. And it goes well with raw onion
6. Ben and Jerry Pints of ice cream look so much bigger here (keep your minds out of the gutter). I don't know if it's because packaging is smaller here or if they actually package these pints differently 
7. I have become totally inept at planning farther than the next day. And I often forget what day of the week it is
8. What seems like important news is very different here. 
9. All American TV becomes good TV. except for the doctors. That's just crap.
10. If you don't ask for what you want/need you're not gonna get it. And that's hard for me.
11. I still can go through a pack of gum in 2 days. 

 Alright gotta run. more later. especially since I GO TO TEL AVIV NEXT WEEKEND! turns out i have reaaaaally distant relatives here. who knew?
KAS

So I got into a fight with a hot pepper... and lost.

Funny story about the title of this entry: it actually happened. Specifically at 8 am as I was trying to have a healthy breakfast. Note, breakfast here revolves around bread (of course), yogurt, and maybe some veggies. So, me trying to be healthy, I went rummaging for veggies in the fridge. And I found a long red pepper. Excited (cuz I love red bell peppers) I took half and putit inmy sandwich. took a bite. and to my horror found out

IT WASN'T A SWEET PEPPER IT WAS HOT!!!!!

Steps you then must take to deal with such hotness:
1. Bread
2. Milk
3. Wash face and brush teeth
4. Try to deal with burning flames around your mouth
5. Find an ice pack. leave it there FOR AN HOUR.
6. Dance with joy when pain subsides.

Thank you god for giving me time to heal before work. I don't think I could have focused otherwise. Was still able to eat bell pepper later on today. May now have an aversion to red peppers.

Other fun things:
a) Went to the Dead Sea last Friday. Turns out that there are public parts of the Dead Sea. Went with my host family. We sat out ate fruit, and enjoyed the beach. The moon was huge and bright. I didn't go swimming, but it was fun driving there. We sang and danced. It was fantastic. I'm gonna miss living with them when I move.

b) the main couple of my Turkish soap opera KISSED. it was a big deal. although something tore them apart. again. what a shock. OH WAIT NOW THEY'RE BACK TOGETHER. yes. and now i may be learning all about her parents torrid past. HOW DID I NOT LOVE SOAP OPERAS BEFORE?

c) Visited a small woman's business in Tel Sheva today. Miriam was a really amazing woman. She started her own organic skin product line (products similar to what you would find in body shop or Lush). She had to struggle a lot against her family, which was hard to imagine (shout out to my family! thanks for being supportive of my crazy travelling ways). It was amazing getting to talk with her. She's going to Spain for a cosmetic conference. I'm super jealous.  I bought some foot cream. It smells great.

d) i may be reading through all of meg cabot's romance novels. I may get these novels in a less than legal fashion. ITS STILL AWESOME.

e)wracking my brains to figure out what to start my classes with on my first time with them. I'm going to be having discussions with them in English, helping them practice etc. I have no idea how to start...any suggestions/thoughts? comment away!

that's it. hopefully i'll have fewer stupid antics this week. although... who knows?
حب من النقاب(Love from the Desert),
KAS

Things I do in my free time in Israel

1. Facebook/Skype
2. Google translate
3. Hang out with my host family. 
4. Listen to arabic conversations. try and discern what is happening (i'm getting better at it!)
5. Watch arabic soap operas. Try and discern what is happening (not as easy...but i'm trying)
6. Work out in my room (thank you julia s for bodyrock.tv)
7. Dance on the roof (in the mornings as the sunrises. please be jealous)
8. Read a ridiculous number of webcomics and manga (girlswithslingshots.com READ IT SO GOOD)
9. Mooch off of Jews I barely know for weekends away.
10. Learn Israeli public transportation
11. Go for walks in Lakiya/mountains
12. Get mistaken as an Israeli/someone who speaks Hebrew
13. Get stared at, whistled at, laughed at. alot. 

I start teaching next week!!! I will get small groups of students throughout the day, and will host a discussion. basically: i get to talk to people. in english. it should be fun. only question... what do i do my first discussion about?

Irony: one of the heads of my NGO is going to be in DC at the end of October. Really wish I could go and see DC in the fall and play tour guide. It's one of my fave things to do.

anyways. That's all folks.catch ya on the flip side (10 pts if you know the epic movie i'm referring to)
KAS

Fasting for Religion, Fasting because your stomach is passive agressive and won't communicate properly with you.

Long Blog title. Mostly because after starving/thirsting for 25 hours two days ago... i can barely keep down any food/drink right now/the idea of both is pretty gross (don't worry... i'm drinking tea). So here's what has happened.

Yom Kippur started on Friday and went through Saturday. I took the train up to my boss's, Nicole, town called Renaan. Its about 15 minutes outside of Tel Aviv. Fun fact about suburbs/relative distance: you are only a suburb of Tel Aviv if you live 5 minutes outside the city. Amazing how people think of distances here.

The train was really uneventful. They're pretty nice, a lot of soldiers travelling back and forth because of the holiday. Some nice people helped me switch trains, but I feel pretty comfortable using it. For 2 hours, it was only about 10-12 USD. It seems like its mostly focused on the coast, Tel Aviv, Haifa, etc.

Arrived in Herziliyya, a town near Nicole's. Wandered through a park while waiting for her. Israelis love public spaces to play. Parks seem to abound in most Jewish neighborhoods (not down in Lakiya). Met up with Nicole, and we went to the mall, chatted, and grabbed coffee/lunch (well i did... I had an early breakfast).

Fun fact about Friday shopping in Israel: its generally a mad rush. People try to buy all their stuff for the weekends on Friday because Saturday the shops are closed, and Sunday they're back to work. Most Fridays, they close by 3. For Yom Kippur... it was 1 pm. I was glad I didn't need anything.

Finally went to Nicole's place. Nicole is married to an Israeli (who spent much of his childhood in the States) named Asaf. They have three girls: one set of twins who are 5 (Lital and Shani), and a 14 month old baby (Tamar).

In the house, the use of language was really interesting mix of English, Spanish, and Hebrew. Nicole is Colombian, and for the first 3 years for the twins, they were in Colombia. Asaf speaks Spanish, but he and Nicole mostly talk in English since they met in the states. Now in Israel, Nicole and the girls learned Hebrew, so its one big mess. Often times, Asaf or Nicole will say something in English and the twins will respond in Hebrew or Spanish. Shani speaks English more than Lital, but they both have adorable little accents when they speak English. Tamar says Abba (Hebrew for Father), gurgles, occasionally says Mama, and mostly bye when starts walking off somewhere. That baby is adorable.

Because daylight savings time changed earlier here, we had to get ready and eat dinner by 4 pm, so we could finish by 5:05. Afterwards, we walked to shul. Fun fact: most Jewish neighborhoods have multiple temples. I think there are at least 3 in Nicole's neighborhood. We decided to go to a more distant one (10 mins walk) that was an American Modern Orthodox temple. The best part of the walk? no cars at all on the street. You could walk in the middle of a usually busy road. People generally don't drive on Shabbat, but Israel shuts down on Yom Kippur.

Modern Orthodox service was interesting. It felt like a mix between a social gathering, with kids everywhere and a service. We were lucky that people lent us prayerbooks for the service and pointed out where we were in it (since we arrived late). I missed my home temple services, with more emphasis on each prayer, taking time to really focus on the prayer. It felt like i was rushing through it. I'm glad I got to go for services though.

We walked back, tired even though it was only 8 pm. I went to bed by 10 pm. It was a hard fast because I was hungry by the time I went to sleep! Next day I mostly lounged around, read some of the Bible and tried not to think about food too much. We went to services at 5 pm to hear the Shofar blown. This was a different temple, but also a modern orthodox service. Im glad I got to hear the Shofar, and was successful at a full fast. Not having the smell of bagels at home definetly helped :-)

Afterwards, we broke our fast with a quick snack / some water. This is crucial 1) to alleviate hunger and 2) not to stuff yourself silly initially. Although you are very hungry, your stomach has to readjust to eating, and frankly has shrunk w/o food. I had a couple pieces of delicious fruit (fruit here is so fresh. i love it) and then we drove over to Nicole's grandmother's place in a nearby town.

Quick story about Nicole's family: Nicole's family originally hails from eastern Europe. With all of the craziness of the 30s and 40s, her family fled and eventually settled in Colombia. Later on, some moved to Israel, including her grandmother and atleast one Aunt of Nicole's. Nicole's mom and dad moved to Israel from Bogota around the same time as she did.

So it was a big family dinner at Nicole's grandmother's house. The dinner was mostly in Hebrew and Spanish, although lucky me I could understand some b/c of my french (one day my language skills will work in this country!!!). Colombians also love bread: pasta, ravioli, matzah ball soup. Thank god there was salad and this delicious eggplant dish. Still, the food was delicious, and it was a nice way to break the fast.

Spent Sunday and Monday at Nicole's as well. We did some work, went shopping (turns out the cost of living/price of goods is ridiculous here, partly due to the political situation. They can't do mass shipping to Israel + middle east. So goods imported go up in cost.

So... somehow I got sick in all of this. Sunday night Lital had a stomach bug and was throwing up. We thought it was odd... but she stopped by yesterday morning. Seems I might have gotten it. Woke up nauseous. don't want to eat. Barely want to drink. And have been sort of throwing up all morning. blegh. Hopefully tomorrow I will be better. Can't go to Jerusalem today to the meeting, but I can get some work done from Lakiya via computer. Resting now, and hopefully this time tomorrow I'll be great.

Sorry: super long post, but hope you enjoyed. As always, much love
KAS

Protests, Classes, and Yom Kippur

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. Not too much stuff to report back until now. But here are a few updates:

Things that have happened this week:

1. Had my first big tour group come through! They were BYU students who were studying in Jerusalem. There were nearly 90 people there, which was one of the biggest groups so far. It was also exciting because I went for the first time to an unrecognized Bedouin village. For those who don't know, unrecognized villages are different because the government hasn't recognized their rights to build there. Essentially with the creation of Israel in 48, the state assumed much of the Bedouin land even though people have lived there for centuries. In these villages, the government provides no services such as water, electricity, or public transportation. It was certainly eye opening to see, and learn about.

 2. Somehow I have started working on web design. If any of you have seen the Lakiya Weaving/Sidreh website: it's a mess. We're using a program to help us build the website. I'm focusing right now on photos and creating a catalogue. For all you Americans(which i think is almost everyone..), we actually have a distributor already. www.bedouinweaving.com  Check it out if you get a chance!

3.  There's a plan right now to force the relocation of thousands of Bedouins in the Negev. Huge numbers of Bedouins live in unrecognized villages in the south and or unrecognized parts of villages (parts of Lakiya aren't recognized... it's complicated). The government wants to relocate these unrecognized villages to other townships. They will be given alternative lands, but only up to 50% of their current claims. As of now, their claims make up only 2.7% of  the Negev. Click here to read about it from Haaretz.

Bedouins have ever right to be skeptical of this plan: in the past, replacement lands that have been given to Bedouins aren't as good farming lands as previous lands were. Their lands were taken and given to Jewish Kibbutzes, or the JNF (the planting trees people). There's stiff opposition in the community, and a huge protest earlier today. Don't worry: no violence, no police, just hundreds of people standing in front of a government building in Beer Sheba protesting this plan. It was amazing to see, and extremely hot. I'm hoping I didn't get burned!

That's life right now and here are a few upcoming things:

1. looks like I'll be taking a class at Ben Gurion Universtiy! Their fall courses don't start til after Sukkot aka end of October. I can take a course through their Middle East Studies MA which is in English. I'm going to try and stop by their office next week and fill out the paper work.

2. Going to Herzeliyya with my boss, Nicole for Yom Kippur. It's about 1 1/2 hours north of Lakiya. Might be going to a modern orthodox shul for services. I'll let you know how that goes. Nicole is very nice, originally from Columbia, and I can't wait to meet her family.

3. Update: looks like I'll also start working in the school starting soon. Meeting with them sometime next week. I'll let you know what happens with that.

I'll try to keep up writing frequently.... Sometimes I forget that everyone else doesn't live my life with me.
Much Love,
KAS