Nothing too exciting over the past week but I felt I should update anyway.
Sunday night about 15 of us went out to a bar in Jerusalem that is owned by American immigrants to watch the superbowl. We got there at about 11:30pm but the kickoff wasn't until 1:30am our time. The night started with a beer chugging contest (so American!) and they had a wings eating contest at half time (also, so American!). It was a good feeling of comfort to be there, feeling so American in the middle of Jerusalem. Actually, Jerusalem is a city with A LOT of immigrants so you hear a lot of english on the streets anyway. The broadcast we were watching was from ESPN but it was something international so we didn't see the commercials. We did, however, see many commercials of sports clips during which I cheered every time the sox, pats, celts, or bruins showed up on the screen. Two cheers for the obnoxious Boston sports fan :). We got back at 6am and for some strange reason I woke up two hours later to go to class.
Wednesday I met my sister Allie at the airport when she returned from LA to get the suitcase that my momma sent with her. I now have an egg crate, mattress pad, snuggie, coffee mugs, rainboots, some coats, a beach towel, night light and a few other things to add to my three suitcases worth of possessions I have here.
Friday night I had Shabbat dinner at my friend Gadi's house. I've known Gadi for two years now and I've met his family but I have never had dinner there, just lunch Saturday afternoon. When I arrived there were only 5 of us. After about a half hour the gang was all there, all 25/30 people! I really enjoyed remembering that this isn't an exception for Shabbat dinner, this is the norm. It is such a great tradition here, to be with family and friends for dinner once a week every week. Gadi's mom is from Uruguay originally, she made Aliyah when she was 18, and his dad came here from Australia when he was really young. Everyone spoke in Spanish, Hebrew, and some English for me, although I CANT WAIT until I feel more comfortable in Hebrew, especially in these settings. The food was AMAZING, and tasted even more amazing because the food at my ulpan is extremely sub par. Gadi's mom reminded me that there is nothing like "mom's cooking," and told me that I must come more often.
Here when someone invites you over, especially for Shabbat dinner, the invitation is not because they think that they should invite you. If you are invited for Shabbat dinner you are expected to attend, and it's kind of insulting if you don't. Hospitality here is amazing. When someone says you have an open invite you truly feel that this is true, and the next Shabbat that you don't have plans you will go there. It's not imposing, it's expected.
After dinner/dessert/games with the family, Gadi and I picked up some friends from Ulpan and went to my friend Abe's party. Abe was having a "Long Live Liberated Egypt" party. How perfect that Mubarak resigned literally 3 hours before the party! Abe lives in East Jerusalem, which, for those of you unfamiliar with the area, is the Arab area east of Jerusalem "proper". I like to think that I expanded the horizons of my Israeli friend Gadi by bringing him there, let's leave it at that for now, haha. Next post: I live over the green line and I don't know how I feel about it.
Running is going well, I finally registered for the Tel Aviv half marathon yesterday. I am about to head out for my "long run" of training week two, five miles. I have been doing pretty well getting out to run 4 or 5 days a week, even with all the hills. The problem is not the hills, its the lack of nutrition I am putting into my body because of the food at my Ulpan. As you probably know, I am a vegetarian. (sidenote: the chicken and chopped liver at Gadi's last night was delicious! ;) ). I am SO down for eating chicken at Shabbat dinners because 1. it's usually delicious, and 2. I am extremely protein deprived. Besides potentially on Shabbat though, the only protein I receive from my diet is in the form of dairy (mostly yogurt) and eggs. AKA: not substantial. Yes, I need to work on this. My legs remind me of their lack of protein every run, they feel more tired on these hills then they should. I'm sorry legs, but the meat in our dining room here actually disgusts me because I'm a picky meat eater. I must figure something out...
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Bone Marrow Donation Update
As you may remember, I donated bone marrow on December 15th. If you have no idea what I'm talking about you can read about it in a previous blog post, here.
This week I emailed a few people from DKMS to see if I could find out anything about the patient's current status. I received an email back today and found out that the little girl did indeed receive the transplant two weeks ago! I don't have any more information yet but apparently it can take up to 30 days to see if her body will accept the blood or not. I'll write again when I find out more. Until then, everyone say a little prayer that the transplant is successful!
This is all I had to do to potentially save a little girl's life? I never would have thought. Terrible quality pictures, haha, I took them from my laptop while donating.
This week I emailed a few people from DKMS to see if I could find out anything about the patient's current status. I received an email back today and found out that the little girl did indeed receive the transplant two weeks ago! I don't have any more information yet but apparently it can take up to 30 days to see if her body will accept the blood or not. I'll write again when I find out more. Until then, everyone say a little prayer that the transplant is successful!
This is all I had to do to potentially save a little girl's life? I never would have thought. Terrible quality pictures, haha, I took them from my laptop while donating.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Feels Like Home to Me
What a great week it has been! After a hard few days last week of being homesick, I have had no complaints this week! Some combination of going to Shorashim and spending Shabbat with my sister and the Morse's (my sister's, and now my, "adopted family" here in Israel), talking to friends and family from home, and changing my way of thinking pulled me through just fine.
The biggest thing I was hung up on was the feeling that I did not have good friends at Ulpan yet. I knew, in my head, that in two weeks I could not expect to have formed best friendships, but the fact still made me feel very lonely. Once I realized two ways that I could improve my situation, things got a lot better. First, I decided that I would push myself to spend more time in friends' rooms and with friends outside of Ulpan. This is pretty easy because we live in what is like apartment style dorms, so my friends are all literally a minute or two away from me, if that. Second, while spending this time with friends I decided that I needed to stop thinking and analyzing so much. I realized that during the times I was with my friends I wasn't truly being myself. I had so many thoughts constantly running through my head (what am I doing here, was this the right thing to do, what are the next few years going to look like, can I see myself being good friends with these people, etc) that it was inhibiting me from being myself. I was more quiet and reserved than "normal" me, I wasn't letting myself open up and actually be present in the interactions I was having. If you know me, then you probably know that analyzing, ruminating, and thinking so much is REALLY not like me, so this was a frustrating realization to have. Ultimately, I needed to stop thinking and just be.
The good news is that this week I have felt the most like myself since I have been here, so I think my two step solution is working :). I genuinely feel more happy and energetic, I am more excited to spend time with friends getting to know them and forming relationships. I actually feel like I am living here now and not just visiting. All I can hope for is to have many more weeks like this week.
I am staying home for the weekend for the first time since I have moved in, I am excited to spend Shabbat with my new friends in Jerusalem. For now I'm off to go give my friend Brandon a hair cut, I can't believe he's trusting me!
The biggest thing I was hung up on was the feeling that I did not have good friends at Ulpan yet. I knew, in my head, that in two weeks I could not expect to have formed best friendships, but the fact still made me feel very lonely. Once I realized two ways that I could improve my situation, things got a lot better. First, I decided that I would push myself to spend more time in friends' rooms and with friends outside of Ulpan. This is pretty easy because we live in what is like apartment style dorms, so my friends are all literally a minute or two away from me, if that. Second, while spending this time with friends I decided that I needed to stop thinking and analyzing so much. I realized that during the times I was with my friends I wasn't truly being myself. I had so many thoughts constantly running through my head (what am I doing here, was this the right thing to do, what are the next few years going to look like, can I see myself being good friends with these people, etc) that it was inhibiting me from being myself. I was more quiet and reserved than "normal" me, I wasn't letting myself open up and actually be present in the interactions I was having. If you know me, then you probably know that analyzing, ruminating, and thinking so much is REALLY not like me, so this was a frustrating realization to have. Ultimately, I needed to stop thinking and just be.
The good news is that this week I have felt the most like myself since I have been here, so I think my two step solution is working :). I genuinely feel more happy and energetic, I am more excited to spend time with friends getting to know them and forming relationships. I actually feel like I am living here now and not just visiting. All I can hope for is to have many more weeks like this week.
I am staying home for the weekend for the first time since I have moved in, I am excited to spend Shabbat with my new friends in Jerusalem. For now I'm off to go give my friend Brandon a hair cut, I can't believe he's trusting me!
Monday, January 24, 2011
"They call it: 'the hill fom hell' "
Let's talk hills for a moment...
I have been running around my neighborhood, East Talpiot, Jerusalem, for 2 weeks now. I was aware of the hills before moving here because my sister used to live here, but let me try to explain to you what a typical run is like.
Upon exiting my apartment complex I have the choice to either go left, "down the hill" or right, "up the hill." Today I chose left, downhill, for the first time. I was hoping that if I started off downhill then I would be able to finish my run uphill. I wanted this option because I am used to finishing my run with a 8-8:30 downhill decent as the sole way to get back to my apartment. I would rather not spend the last 10 minutes of my run exherting so little energy, since this is when my body has the potential to be using up the most energy. Anyway, after about 3 minutes of a steady decline today I approached a rotary and stayed to the left. This wasn't the street I thought I would end up on but I figured that I'd realize where I was eventually. Oh dear, and the uphill battle began.
Let me just tell you, I have never run up such large hills before in my life. These things put heartbreak hill to shame, both in degree of slope and ultimate length.
I cannot find a topographic map of the area, so all I know is that Jerusalem is at an average height of between 750-850m above sea level. Without numbers though, I can tell that when I am running uphill consistently for half my run, it is a large incline. There are times when the slope is definitely manageable, but there are also times when I feel like I might as well be running backwards the hill is so steep.
I have been researching online and comparing running on flat ground and running on hills so that I am better equipped to tailor my training schedule for the half marathon as needed. For example, if I am supposed to run 7 miles one day should I actually still run 7 miles even though it will take me much more time and energy because of the hills. I found a website that labeled hills into three categories: short, medium, and long. Short hills were those that take up to 30 seconds to run, medium hills take 30-90 seconds and the long hills take up to 3 minutes to run. So, I asked myself out loud, "If a long hill is one that takes up to 3 minutes to complete, what the hell are the hills that I run categorized as? One hill today took me 14 minutes to reach the top!" My roommate answered, "They call it 'the hill from hell'".
I have been running around my neighborhood, East Talpiot, Jerusalem, for 2 weeks now. I was aware of the hills before moving here because my sister used to live here, but let me try to explain to you what a typical run is like.
Upon exiting my apartment complex I have the choice to either go left, "down the hill" or right, "up the hill." Today I chose left, downhill, for the first time. I was hoping that if I started off downhill then I would be able to finish my run uphill. I wanted this option because I am used to finishing my run with a 8-8:30 downhill decent as the sole way to get back to my apartment. I would rather not spend the last 10 minutes of my run exherting so little energy, since this is when my body has the potential to be using up the most energy. Anyway, after about 3 minutes of a steady decline today I approached a rotary and stayed to the left. This wasn't the street I thought I would end up on but I figured that I'd realize where I was eventually. Oh dear, and the uphill battle began.
Let me just tell you, I have never run up such large hills before in my life. These things put heartbreak hill to shame, both in degree of slope and ultimate length.
I cannot find a topographic map of the area, so all I know is that Jerusalem is at an average height of between 750-850m above sea level. Without numbers though, I can tell that when I am running uphill consistently for half my run, it is a large incline. There are times when the slope is definitely manageable, but there are also times when I feel like I might as well be running backwards the hill is so steep.
I have been researching online and comparing running on flat ground and running on hills so that I am better equipped to tailor my training schedule for the half marathon as needed. For example, if I am supposed to run 7 miles one day should I actually still run 7 miles even though it will take me much more time and energy because of the hills. I found a website that labeled hills into three categories: short, medium, and long. Short hills were those that take up to 30 seconds to run, medium hills take 30-90 seconds and the long hills take up to 3 minutes to run. So, I asked myself out loud, "If a long hill is one that takes up to 3 minutes to complete, what the hell are the hills that I run categorized as? One hill today took me 14 minutes to reach the top!" My roommate answered, "They call it 'the hill from hell'".
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Ellyn's Birthday!
Week 1 of Ulpan came to a close and a group of us beit canada'ers headed off to tel aviv to celebrate Ellyn's birthday in fashion. Public transportation doesn't run for the 24 hours during Shabbat (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday), so in true Israeli fashion we caught the last bus from Beit Canada to the central bus station and the last bus from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Minor breakdown on the way to Tel Aviv (typical) but another bus came and saved us very quickly. A shared taxi ride to the hotel and we had finally arrived; hungry, cranky, tired, and excited to relax in the hotel room
before going out. Not surprisingly, however, something had gone wrong with the hotel reservations and we had to wait outside the hotel sketchily for 45 minutes until it was all sorted out. (sketchily because we were fitting many more than 3 people in this hotel room.) Check out the view from the hotel room Ellyn got us :)
Once we figured out the number for a pizza place that was open and would deliver, thanks, Domino's, I was a happy camper (or, happy hotel guest?). We went out to a club called Gossip and it was really fun! Everything except all the smoke that was inhaled all night, ugh.
Saturday we hung out on the beach all day and I got some Hebrew studying done. Great first weekend of bonding with the ulpaners :). Geared up for week two of hebrew class...
before going out. Not surprisingly, however, something had gone wrong with the hotel reservations and we had to wait outside the hotel sketchily for 45 minutes until it was all sorted out. (sketchily because we were fitting many more than 3 people in this hotel room.) Check out the view from the hotel room Ellyn got us :)Once we figured out the number for a pizza place that was open and would deliver, thanks, Domino's, I was a happy camper (or, happy hotel guest?). We went out to a club called Gossip and it was really fun! Everything except all the smoke that was inhaled all night, ugh.
Saturday we hung out on the beach all day and I got some Hebrew studying done. Great first weekend of bonding with the ulpaners :). Geared up for week two of hebrew class...
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Beit Canada Beginnings
I am finally a J-towner! I dont think people really call Jerusalem J-town except for (shout out) Melissa Gold and Michelle Suconik, but I'm officially adopting it.
Quick lingo update: I'm living in the absorption center which is called Beit Canada and my Hebrew language program is called Ulpan (read: oolpahn) Etzion.
I arrived on Tuesday fully expecting my room to look like the typical, not-so-nice, very minimal, kind of grungy, cheap Israeli apartments and boy was I surprised! We have the nicest room here! "Completely" redone including neew actual tile floor, new closets, a new bathroom and kitchen, half new de
sks, etc. I say "completely" because, like most things here, renovations are done with the most minimal effort possible, so I am glad we are (probably) the first ones in this apt, haha. More pics on facebook.
I have 3 other roommates and they are all great! I am in the big common room-ish thing with Tali and the other Lauren and Allie are in the small bedroom. Tali is from Atlanta and went to school in Worcester (Clark), Lauren is from Long Island and went to Vassar, and Allieis from New York and went to U Delaware. We're all 22/23. Our room is clearly not an accurate representation of the diversity of the 220 students here which are 50% North American and 50% other.
I went to Tel Aviv this past weekend to meet up with Michelle, Melissa, Emily, and Tara before they went back to (the Republic of) Georgia. Ulpan started yesterday, we did icebreakers all morning, went to har herzl, then had a ceremony/party for us at the community center. Class today was good, the teacher was awesome but I think I might move up one class because I knew all the words/things we learned today pretty much. I am going to check tomorrow morning if I can move up.
So, week 1 in J-town: big success! I feel much better now that I am moved in and getting settled. My nerves have subsided quite a bit and I am feeling more comfortable. I have a credit card and things hung on my wall. Maybe it's weird but those two things made me feel more comfortable.
Our internet is fully set up and (knock on wood) very good! Once we figured out that we needed to put it by the window it started working great. Yayy I can finally start skyping again! Also, I decided that I am going to run the Tel Aviv half marathon on April 8th, so I am about to go out for my first run, I hope I can stick with it on all of these hills...
Quick lingo update: I'm living in the absorption center which is called Beit Canada and my Hebrew language program is called Ulpan (read: oolpahn) Etzion.
I arrived on Tuesday fully expecting my room to look like the typical, not-so-nice, very minimal, kind of grungy, cheap Israeli apartments and boy was I surprised! We have the nicest room here! "Completely" redone including neew actual tile floor, new closets, a new bathroom and kitchen, half new de
sks, etc. I say "completely" because, like most things here, renovations are done with the most minimal effort possible, so I am glad we are (probably) the first ones in this apt, haha. More pics on facebook.I have 3 other roommates and they are all great! I am in the big common room-ish thing with Tali and the other Lauren and Allie are in the small bedroom. Tali is from Atlanta and went to school in Worcester (Clark), Lauren is from Long Island and went to Vassar, and Allieis from New York and went to U Delaware. We're all 22/23. Our room is clearly not an accurate representation of the diversity of the 220 students here which are 50% North American and 50% other.
I went to Tel Aviv this past weekend to meet up with Michelle, Melissa, Emily, and Tara before they went back to (the Republic of) Georgia. Ulpan started yesterday, we did icebreakers all morning, went to har herzl, then had a ceremony/party for us at the community center. Class today was good, the teacher was awesome but I think I might move up one class because I knew all the words/things we learned today pretty much. I am going to check tomorrow morning if I can move up.
So, week 1 in J-town: big success! I feel much better now that I am moved in and getting settled. My nerves have subsided quite a bit and I am feeling more comfortable. I have a credit card and things hung on my wall. Maybe it's weird but those two things made me feel more comfortable.
Our internet is fully set up and (knock on wood) very good! Once we figured out that we needed to put it by the window it started working great. Yayy I can finally start skyping again! Also, I decided that I am going to run the Tel Aviv half marathon on April 8th, so I am about to go out for my first run, I hope I can stick with it on all of these hills...
Monday, January 10, 2011
Bye Bye Beach
<--- This is two blocks from my sisters apartment in Nahariya.Today was my last day in Nahariya with my sister, tomorrow I am moving to Jerusalem. I cannot explain how extremely thankful I am that my sister and a guy she works with are taking me (and my suitcases, of course) to Jerusalem in their work van. This means I don't have to trek to the train then change to the bus then another bus with all my stuff. WOO HOOO!!
I am excited to meet new friends. I hope my roomie (or roomies, I will either have one or three!) is nice and likes me! haha.
Brief update from the weekend: I went to Kibbutz Yavne, near Ashdod, south of Tel Aviv just a bit inland from the coast. My sister's friend from Ulpan lives there while he does his army service. Kibbutzim were some of the first Jewish types of communities in Israel. They are based on a socialist model. Now most Kibbutzim are less socialist, but they still have things like a common dining area and the residents usually work on the kibbutz in order to produce whatever the exports are (Kibbutz Yanve exports milk and cheese, of course, as well as pickles, chicken, watches, animal feed, and some other things). I'm thinking about living on a kibbutz while I'm in the army, it would be free! and a nice community, too.
It's finally starting to sink in a little bit that I am here. A longer post will come from Jerusalem. Shalom out.
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