Merry Christmas

5 reasons that it doesn't really feel like Christmas:

1. I have class tomorrow and will spend the majority of today (Christmas day) studying. So, Merry Christmas from the library!

2. Christmas music isn't playing ubiquitously...or even at all. I have to chose to listen to Christmas music rather than being surrounded by it non-stop for a month.

3. I just spent 8 days celebrating Chanukah which meant eating sufganiyot (donuts) and latkes (potato pancakes).

4. I haven't been stressing about what gifts to give people! Present buying is usually a stressful and unpleasant experience for me. That being said, I do love watching people open presents that I've given them.

5. People aren't happier or jollier. In Oklahoma people genuinely seem happier and more caring in December. There is a palpable difference in the air and I always liked that. The air hasn't changed here. Israelis are still Israelis.

Despite it not really feeling like Christmas here are 5 things that I really like about Christmas this year:

1. I spent a day down in Jaffa and found several Christmas trees!

2. Studying has been made more jolly and happy by listening to acoustic Christmas music!

3. As mentioned above, no stress regarding gift giving!

4. I got to help decorate these Christmas cookies!

5. I'm celebrating Christmas by having dinner with a friend with whom I lived when I spent my first Christmas outside of the States 12 years ago!

Interdisciplinary Seminar

Last week I talked a little about one of my classes and this week I'm going to tell you about another: Interdisciplinary Seminar.

This MA program aims at being very interdisciplinary and so our classes range from socio-psychological approaches to history of the Middle East all the way to Buddhism and mindfulness. Just to make it that much more interdisciplinary, they gave us an interdisciplinary seminar in which we organize the speakers. We can choose speakers from any field or perspective we want to hear from.

We've heard from a woman who worked with an NGO in South Sudan for the past 6 years, we've heard from a US diplomat, this week I think we're going to hear from an international business man.

Of course, sometimes, a speaker has to cancel at the very last minute so we end up watching an Israeli film about an aspect of the Israel-Lebanon war in '82. Where else could we watch such a film but in the "poofim" room (Hebrew for the bean bag room, Bean Bag Blessings).

The interdisciplinary seminar definitely qualifies as the most laid-back class that I'm taking this semester.

History of the Middle East

I'm currently taking 9 classes.
It is a bit overwhelming right now but thankfully the material is generally quite interesting!

So, what material am I learning?

One of my classes is 'history of the Middle East'. We've studied Islamic modernist apologetics regarding democracy, Pan-Arab Socialism, Islamism, Muslim Brothers, and some elements of radical Islam. We've switched our focus away from the Arab/Muslim side the last couple of weeks to look at Zionism and the creation of the state of Israel.

Yesterday we went on a field trip!

We visited the kibbutz of one of the founding fathers of Israel, the first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion. Apparently he is known for standing on his head? There is also a statue on the beach in Tel Aviv of Ben-Gurion standing on his head.

I wonder if George Washington ever stood on his head.

We also visited the largest bedouin settlement/city, Rahat. Bedouins are a minority group within the Arab community in Israel. Due to politics, stricter border control, and modernization bedouins have generally been forced to give up their nomadic lifestyles. There are around 70,000 bedouins living in Rahat today.

I asked one woman if they ever miss the tents. She said that they love going to their "summer home" (a tent) and that her father does miss the nomadic life. I also found it interesting that Rahat neighborhoods are divided by families or clans. They have encountered conflict due to sharing the same space with different clans. As they build new neighborhoods in Rahat they are hoping to mix the clans in order to develop a more integrated city.

We also took a slight detour to visit Mitzpe Ramon - a massive depression in the Negev desert and a beautiful lookout point.

I'll try and give you guys a brief synopsis of my other classes in the coming weeks!

Trip to Ramla

One of the beautiful things about Israel is the coexistence of modernity and the ancient world. For instance, Ramla is a town which was founded sometime in the 8th century. The ruins of a mosque from that same century are still lying around with modern buildings just beyond them.

A couple hundred years after this mosque was built a large tower was constructed next to it. While the mosque was destroyed in an earthquake hundreds of years ago, the tower still stands and you can climb the circling staircase all the way to the top (which is the point from which the above picture was taken).

Ramla also offers an underground boating experience which was delightful and unexpected. There is an aquaduct that runs from the mountains (maybe around Jerusalem area) to Ramla. In the first picture above you can see stone square holes in the ground, these are shafts to this aquaduct. The aquaduct continues to the "Pool of Arches".

Shortly after arriving, my friend Miranda and I were the only ones left (Miranda also writes a blog, if you want to check it out you can at A Year in Israel). We canoed around and around the arches. At one point I tried to spin us in place between them. It worked for a couple of circles before I started hitting the pillars. This quickly became one of my favorite places in Israel.

It happened to be Sunday when we visited Ramla so we stopped in at a Franciscan church service which was being held in Arabic!

We finished the day by visiting the local outdoor market, my favorite way to shop for groceries. 

I'm going to feel like a tourism advertisement as I conclude this post because I'm still blown away by the fact that I was able to have such a wonderful day trip for under $10!

Soulful Sunrises

I spend most of my time right now either reading or sitting in class. The classes are great and I find the readings very interesting. Staring at a screen or the insides of buildings for hours on end, however, can be a bit draining to the soul.

That is why I am so incredibly grateful that my bedroom window opens to the east. I watch the sunrise most mornings. Sometimes it's just the sun rising but quite often it is something rather spectacular and soul-refreshing.

Some days I even have time to go and bike along the beach, thus balancing the warm beauty of sunrises with the cold beauty of the Sea.

I guess there are uglier places to be studying.

Bean Bag Blessings

This year is a red-letter year for reading. I had read about 36 new books before I started school. I haven't read a single book in the past month but that doesn't mean I haven't been reading. Every week I read hundreds of pages worth of articles on various topics related to my courses.

I am taking 8 courses. These include international law, negotiations, history of the Middle East, research methods, an interdisciplinary seminar, and classes on various approaches to conflict: socio-physchological approaches, cultural approaches, and political approaches. Needless to say, I am reading on an almost non-stop basis right now.

So, how does one break up the oft experienced monotony of non-stop reading? After all, to quote Pride and Prejudice, one needs something refreshing "after sitting so long in one attitude".

The library here has provided at least some degree of solace in this regard. They have a bean bag room! You can sleep there if you like (well, as he likes). But you can also change your "attitude" by reading in a colorful bean bag!

There are so many bean bags to choose from, there are even more than are pictured here!

What an ingenious idea for a university library! It makes me want to go do some more reading!

Jocular Sculptures

On Mount Bental there is a UN outpost. From this outpost you can see into Syria and you can see the valley of tears. The valley is so named because of the number of lives lost there during wars with Syria. Also on this mountain top there is a garden of sculptures. These sculptures are made from reclaimed iron.

In contrast to the heaviness of a UN outpost and the valley of tears, these sculptures are quirky and quite jovial!

I guess it is good to remember that even in the midst of difficulties and tragedies there can be joy just around the corner.

22 Years

22 years ago the Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated at a rally supporting the Oslo Accords. My parents and some of my siblings had been in Israel either that summer, or the preceding one. I was in Israel for the 10-year anniversary of this event. This year I joined tens of thousands of other people in Tel Aviv commemorating it. The rally was held in the exact location of his assassination.

There were many political speeches voicing different ideas but generally communicating a desire for peace. Interspersed amongst the speeches were songs! A beautiful range of musical styles which captured me. It was hard for me to leave because I kept wanting to hear what the next song would be.

And of course there were balloons. It's nice to know that politics, music, and balloons can all still get along.

Baba Ronit

This past week I got the news that one of my former guards became a dad for the first time! Sarah wrote about how we helped him get married (Hongera Mr. Sakwa) and his wedding (Anticipation of a Wedding, Experience of a Wedding) in her blog.

I used to call him Mista Sakwa, now I will be calling him Baba Ronit. He named his daughter after me!

Baba Ronit was the first guard that I hired for my house in Tanzania and he was with me to the end. He is a wonderful man of God and was a very faithful guard. I was sad not to be there for his wedding but I am honored to be a part of his family through this new Ronit in the world.

I also got an additional East African gift this week when I got to meet a Kenyan and chat with her in Swahili. We spoke fondly about chips mayai and chapatti and I addmited that I'm not a huge fan of Ugali. I'm so grateful for the continued connections with my life and home in Tanzania!

Intro to the Conflict

I moved to Tel Aviv last week for my masters program. Finally! I've been here 8 months and I'm just now starting. Phewph!

During orientation week my MA cohort (conflict resolution and mediation) were taken on a two day trip. We visited several places but the ones that stand out to me are the borders. We visited Mt. Bental where there is a UN outpost looking into Syria.

Along that border line is an opening between the two countries at which UN officials (and brides) can pass through.

We also visited the border with Lebanon which is harder to pick out in this picture.

We had two tour guides at one point; an Israeli and a Palestinian. Throughout the day we got to hear both of their viewpoints and narratives on life in Israel and the modern history of this land.

It was a great way to introduce us to some of the material that we will be covering in greater depth in the coming months. My first class starts tomorrow!

Freewheeling and Farewelling

Sarah left on Saturday to continue her adventuring and traveling. I am sad to see her go but excited to hear about her onward travels!

She did not, however, leave without one last adventure for us here. As we waited for her taxi I decided to pull out my guitar and see what would happen if I left the case open. I was honestly surprised that I made 21 shekels and a handful of pretzels! It's not much but when I'm hard up for cash during my master's program I guess I can try it again!

I did experience a few conflicting emotions whilst busking.
1 - guilt for receiving money from a random passerby.
2 - pride that someone enjoyed the music well enough to not simply walk on by.
3 - A large group of tourists stopped to take pictures with Sarah and me. If they think I'm a musician does that make me one? Or am I just a poser?

I'll let you know how those feelings progress if I get around to trying this again!

Sea to Sea

Finally!!! I've wanted to do the Sea to Sea hike for 12 years. With Sarah as my trusty hiking companion I finally achieved this goal! It was beautiful and empowering.

We walked, over the course of 4 days, from the Mediterranean Sea...

to the Sea of Galilee.

I put my Hebrew and map loving skills to work navigating the way.

Sarah used her resources to put together a very delicious hiking menu for us. We didn't get tired of eating couscous every night, it was so yummy! We just poured cool water over it and 30 minutes later, dinner. No fire needed!

Refilling water bottles every evening was an important part of our routine. Our last night we got to fill them from a 'mikvah'. A 'mikvah' is a ritual bathing area in Judaism, the source of the water must be "living". This means that the water is fresh and running from a natural source. It just so happened that when we first walked up to fill our bottles, there were over a dozen men standing around who had very recently completed a bathing session. We averted our eyes and came back a couple of hours later.

Then of course, all the beauty that we passed through:

It is a tradition to carry a bit of Mediterranean water to the Sea of Galilee. The delivering of the water marked the end of my first real multi-day backpacking trip.

Hiking and Technical Difficulties

I'm out hiking from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee. Wish me luck!

Additionally, due to technical difficulties (my computer is dead and won't charge anymore... Eek!) I can't do a proper blog post with pictures. When I get back from the hike I'll look into what I have to do to get that fixed.

Have a great week!

Toil to Truancy

I've spent the last two months volunteering at a guest house. I've cleaned rooms, watered flowers, prepared breakfasts, swept (a lot) and performed many other tasks. Some tasks were expected (like the ones just mentioned) others were unexpected (like spending hours on a phone talking to an internet provider because the guest house owners liked using my Hebrew skills).

It was an unique experience for me to have a more physical job rather than mental and I thoroughly enjoyed the break from mental exertion, especially as I begin a masters program in three weeks!

Now, on to holiday!!! The following weeks are full of a holiday in Cyprus, a hike from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee, and a stay in Bethlehem. To start all of this holiday-ing off I decided to be a bit of truant. Sarah and I went out for mint shisha to celebrate our work at the guest house being done.

Then, I plucked a pomegranate from this tree in Cyprus. It wasn't my tree, but the pomegranate had literally burst with its ripeness and it needed someone to put it to good use.

Here's to three weeks of fun and frivolity before I become a serious person again!!!