That Time I Worked a Lot, but Still Explored

The funny thing about Blogger in Jerusalem is that it's in Hebrew when I load it, and not until I sign-in to make posts does it switch to English.  Very tricky of you, Blogger!!!

Yesterday, after a pretty awesome breakfast in our building, I worked most of the day, probably around 8 hours straight without a break.  I was working on lectures, recitations, lab rubrics, playing around with sound... nothing too exciting for blog content though.

(one of the images I put in a lecture)

After lots of work, someone or other decided to go by the old city for falafel.  (I think I heard it from David, but he didn't end up going, so maybe it wasn't him?) 

(Nick being awesome on Woody's crutches)

In any case, we piled into two cars, and drove there.  Except the normal route was blocked off,

(pride parade protesters.  lamesauce.  they got MAD about this pictures...)

 and we got rerouted into traffic, and then I made a wrong turn, and then....  well, in any case, we eventually got there.  And THE six-shekel-falafel place was open.  Ha!  It was just as delicious as I remember it being, and just as crowded.  I ordered in Arabic, saying "everything" to indicate my toppings, and he obviously understood me.  After a year of Arabic, I can easily read signs, and I can pick up on words and tidbits of conversation, but I don't know nearly enough to be able to converse about anything.  And as far as food is concerned, I know chicken, meat, fish, salad, soup, and a few other things, but nothing that ever seems useful.  But, nevertheless, the written language is no longer random indiscernible scribbles, and the spoken language is no longer harsh, intelligible babble.  So there's that.

The party van walked around EJ and a little bit of WJ afterwards, on a "10-minute walk."  We didn't actually walk down to the park/divot/hole in the ground, though I'm sure we'll make it soon.  We did however buy dried hibuscus leaves, apple soda, and/or ice cream, get free baklava samples and a pear which wasn't a fig at all, and end up in a really charming little alley that lead to who knows where.  As we were admiring grafiti, I managed to cut my toe open on something or other, and now I'll probably die of necrotizing fasciitis. Or not.  The blood matched my shoes; I was just trying to be trendy.

Work o'clock is upon us, so I leave you with a picture of Damascus gate,

and a reminder that I miss you all, especially mj and ms.

That Time We Went to the Old City Twice

Today was hot, sunny, and amazing. After not having the sun for a long time, returning to it is a blissful, blissful occurance. And the monotony of two months of nothing but sun does not hinder my appreciation of the blazing skies.

I woke up around 10:00 today, not exactly in time for breakfast, but getting closer and closer with each passing moment. I'm still aiming for 9am right now, but I'll need to get up even earlier than that when the program actually starts. (The seven hour time difference means I need to wake up before 2am tomorrow, I'm quite proud that I've adjusted so quickly already!) I joined Shira and a few instructors for boxed breakfast downstairs in our little office, then met with “Group One” outside for our first Teen Workshop.


MEET has several training sessions, both in Boston and in Jerusalem. As training coordinator, I organized the ones in Boston, including an introduction to the program, communicating across cultures, old/new instructors dinner, teaching workshop, and final session. There was supposed to be an additional “intro-to-the-conflict” session, but it fell through time after time. This is quite unfortunate, because it provides a very crucial understanding of the history of the region for those unfamiliar with it. Then again, perhaps it is best to retain our ignorance and allow the students to teach us the ways of the region? It's hard to say what the best way to go about this sort of preparation, and any given set of debators or mediators or presenters or just PEOPLE is going to give a different spin on the material. But that is a discussion for a different day.

The point of the matter is that half of the group (David, Harpreet, Rishi, Amelia, me, Amanda, Ted, and Woody, to go around the circle properly) joined Eden in our first Jerusalem training session. (If any instructors in Group 2 are reading this, please stop here... it will spoil the session for you, maybe.)

This workshop was the first of a two part session on interacting with teenagers. In this first session, we focused on teenagers as individuals, on both their interior and exterior worlds.

To start things off, Eden explained the components of the two sessions using “new and improved powerpoint.”



Then we dove into the first half of the session by drawing a teenager. Amanda bravely volunteered to sketch the teenager, a lovely, pink stick figure.



We then talked about internal issues or characteristics of teenagers, giving examples of such characteristics. We came up with an extensive list, and just talking about these things made us start to remember what this time period was like.


Our instructor age ranges from 20-31, so for many of us, our teen years weren't too terribly long ago, but once you've moved on from a stage of your life like that, it quickly becomes “THE PAST.” We then went around the circle and shared a story about ourselves on one of the topics. I spoke about angst, and how I had a lot of it as a teenager. (My family members reading this may clearly remember such teenage angst!) It's hard to tell whether that feeling resonates with my students here, though clearly, many of them go through similar issues and emotions by sheer necessity. The stories of other instructors were as familiar as my own, reminding me that we all have this common “teenage experience,” even if we feel like we have an entirely unique existence at the time.

After a short break, we reconvened to discuss the exterior world of teens. Eden related this to a bunch of balloons that we carry with us whereever we go. Again, we brainstormed some ideas and filled all the balloons with the exterior world.

Eden saved one crucial ballon for last, the MEET balloon! We then zoomed in on the MEET balloon, and filled it with more information about the MEET ex perience, and what makes it special to our students. A lot was shared during this information session, and as I said to Noa beforehand, “It reminds us that we are working with PEOPLE first.”

Following the info session, the group headed down to Damascus gate to get six shekel falafel. There is more construction now than before, as the city is building train tracks right outside the Old City walls, but it didn't deter too much from the scene, despite my whining. What DID deter was the fact that the six-shekel-falafel stand was GONE. Just straight up not there at all. :-( Downtrodden, we went into the city, where we would soon be non-downtrodden.

We wandered through Damascus gate, and down Beit HaBad. For several, it was there first time in the city, and it was quite unfortunate that we couldn't stay long (Ted needed to be back on campus at 3:30 due to the flight situation and such). We only covered a few streets, going down Via Dolorosa, passing through the Christian Quarter, and then out Jaffa Gate. I'll save some Old City history for our tour in two weeks; for now, just a few pictures.

(tower made of spices!!)

It should be noted that we DID in fact eat falafel. And it was six shekels. It still wasn't THE six-shekel-falafel-stand, but it was actually quite delicious. I was impressed.

After stopping by the MEET office to get a Ted, we returned to campus, all 9 of us packed in the mini-van, and then relaxed or napped for awhile. Around 6pm or so, a few of us decided to go back to the Old City for dinner. I drove, and Harpreet, Anna, Rishi, and Froy joined in the fun. We got a little lost in route, but didn't need to look at the map, especially since we accidentally stumbled across the German Colony. We ended up parking in EJ, on A-Zahra street!!!! Within view of the old apartment!!!! Much love to Ranger, and the dentist office, of course. 

Again, we wandered through the city, this time trying to eat at Lina cafe. Sadly, it was closed, as was Abu Shukri, but we'll be sure to go much earlier next time if we can (and I will HAVE to learn how to parallel park). We ended up getting some overpriced Lemonade with Nana (mint) on the way out, then eating at Al Ayed Restaurant for real dinner.

Froy made a few friends at one table over, a British guy and an American guy who had travelled from Haifa, and were spending a few weeks in the West Bank. The American guy is going to Berkeley next year, so of course, he and Froy exchanged e-mails. And of course, he fed Froy some rice. A typical Froy encounter, you see!

On the way back to the van, we discovered that THE six-shekel-falafel stand DID exist! Oh happy days!!

Tomorrow... boring. Work.

That Time I Re-met the MEET Staff

Ah, Jerusalem. How I've missed you!

I had no idea how excited I would be when I stepped off the KLM flight to Tel Aviv. I was practically jumping out of my skin as I walked on from the plane to the baggage area. The advertisements were the same as last year, and the moment I saw the first Israeli citizen sign, memories just flowed back instantly.





After getting through passport control, the baggage claim, and customs, I was greeted by a very happy (although tired) Ted (head of instructors), and then walked to where Amanda (year two instructor) was sitting. Noa (CEO), who was coming to pick us up and drive us back to Jerusalem, joined shortly. She gave us chocolate while we waited for Woody (year two instructor), which was a great pick me up. After Woody arrived, we drove to the Hebrew University campus in Jerusalem, where we'll be staying for the next week or so. We're moving on July 1st to some other apartments, I guess because it's cheaper to split the time like this? Who knows!

In any case, we got to our rooms at 5:30am here. We made up our beds and crashed shortly there after.

I foolishly assumed I could get up for breakfast, which was going to be at 9am. I woke up at 1:30pm, which was just fine by me, and after a shower went to the little restaurant on campus with David and the Y2 instructors. The meal was cheap by US standards, only 25 NIS. (The rule of thumb is to divide by 4, so 25/4 = ~$6) But, with a small stipend, I like to spend as little as I can from day to day, so hopefully the 25 NIS meals can be minimized. Besides, six shekel falafel is where it's at!!!



Following lunch, the Y1 instructors (minus Anna, who is arriving tonight) met with Ted for our first little year meeting. Froy gave me the MOST AWESOME BAG EVER!!! Good story behind it as well. :-)



After this meeting, everyone went to the MEET office for an intro session. On the way, we saw the Old City for the first time, which got me even MORE excited than before. I can't wait to go exploring in it again, hopefully tomorrow after a training meeting. But, that was not for this evening. Instead, we got to see the MEET office, including the new annex with additional computing space. Also, many familiar faces abounded, included Rafat, Yohanan, Areej, and Mustafa, along with a few new ones, Shira, and Sigal. Like the ads in the airport, and the old city's walls, seeing everyone excited me even MORE!!! AH! I'm just about to explode, for real!!!

I felt everything was more organized this year, and want to commend the staff on attending to my complaints from last year. We received a list of divisions of job duties for the staff members, as well as maps of the city. And most importantly, we got expo markers!! It's this really silly thing, but it totally irked me last year, when I was trying to teach, but didn't have markers or erasers. Hurray to Jon and Ted for lobbying for us!



After the intro, we went to Azkadinya, a restaurant in East Jerusalem which has become the de facto MEET kickoff dinner location. Rafat led us on a really “scenic” route, but the multiple u-turns were a good way to introduce the newbies to the MEET way of life... As for Azkadinya, it was delicious, and it was also great to catch up with some of the staff. Abeer even came, though I didn't get much of a chance to speak with her as she was sitting at the other end of the table. Sadface.



Other than that, nothing too exciting. Tomorrow, the real work begins!

Also, I'm going to be uploading all/most of my pictures to Picasa. I'll put up links for those interested.

That Time I Went to Amsterdam Alone

I'm sitting here in the Amsterdam airport, and thought I'd pay a few Euros to hop online for a little while. (I composed this before hand to maximize time.)

It's been a really long day for me. My flight left Boston at 7:05pm EDT, and arrived in Amsterdam at 7:25am CEST. I couldn't have slept more than maybe three hours on the flight. I ate the on-flight dinner, and watched “Milk.” (I've been meaning to see it for some time, and highly recommend it. It really puts the gay rights movement into perspective for those of us young enough not to know how far we've come. To think that you could be fired from your job for sexual orientation... outrageous!) Next thing you know, they were serving breakfast. Geez!!!

In Amsterdam, I hopped on the train, and headed to Amsterdam Centraal, the main train station in the heart of Amsterdam. I got there a little before 9am, so killed some time walking before renting a bike for 9.50 euros from Mac Bike right beside the station. I also got a free bike map, which was quite helpful in not only orienting myself, but also in pointing out the best bike paths.



I biked up to Java island, a little island wedged between rivers and accessible by bridges. It was quite and serene, and few people were out and about that early in the morning (ie, they were already at work or school or whereever). I then headed back into the city looking for Oosterpark, but got terribly lost. The good kind of lost, of course!! I wandered all over, ate some of the leftover food I had from the plane (cheese and crackers, bread and butter) and enjoyed the sun before it hide behind clouds. By the time I actually found Oosterpark, it was noon. I'd been biking for almost 3 hours!!



Amsterdam is not at all like I expected it to be. Then again, I suppose I had no real expectations. Everyone hails it as this crazy liberal pot-smoking whorehouse, but I didn't get that vibe at all. People seemed laid back, but not stoned. I only smelled pot once, and that was in the park. Not sketchy at all, or perhaps I just wasn't in the right part of town!!! Amsterdam also has a lot of interior canals. I was not expecting so much water. It felt quite Venice-like because of the numerous canals, but that was the only similarity between the two cities.



Finally, I was not expecting the extensive use of bicycles in the city. The 5 minutes of Amsterdam research I did before arriving there mentioned that biking was an ideal way to see the city, but I wasn't ready for the extensive bike paths. The city has really integrated all of its mode of transportation together in a rather seamless matter. Cars, bikes, and people all have separate paths and traffic lights to simplify matters. There are trolleys in the center of many roads, but it doesn't seem to be an issue. Also, the sheer number of bicycles I saw was astounding. After a few hours of seeing nothing but bikes, it got a little bit discouraging, much like seeing discarded aluminum cans on the side of the road tarnishes an otherwise clean city. That aesthetic fact aside, it was reassuring to see such a “green” town, where bikes and public transportation significantly outnumbered car transit.



Back to park talk though, Oosterpark was small but had everything a park should have: bike paths, a small pond, ample benches, and waterfowl. There was a pair of swans along with four of their F1, and several tourist-types were photographing them. (Me included.) Following a brief walk around the area, I crashed on a bench for an hour long nap before heading to get some food. I'd seen what I thought was “Hartdog's” on the way to the park, so I return. Un/fortunately, I discovered that it was Hartog's, a bakery. I bought a mini apple pie (Mini Appletaart) without using any English. Go team!



Following the park endeavor, I went to see one of the mosques in the city. It showed up as a blue symbol on my bike map, and a totally passed it because I was looking for the spires I've seen all over the middle east. It was instead quite unassuming, which is more fitting for a place of worship, IMHO.



Off to the Van Gogh Museum. But before I made it there, I ran into the I amsterdam sign, and took too many pictures of it. Eventually, I did make it into the Van Gogh museum. It's cliché to say these days, but I'm a big Van Gogh fan. I was totally blown away when I saw “Starry Night” at the MoMA and realized it is the size of a sheet of paper, more or less. So tiny!! This museum had a lot of other famous works (200 paintings!), and fortunately, most of them were larger. I knew that he had lived a troubled life (ear-cutting-off-and-such), but had no idea he committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest at the age of 37. Quite tragic. That information was provided, along with tons of other tidbits, on bilingual placards. What was way cooler though, was the computer system with letters to his siblings. I couldn't stay and read them all, but I was quite inticed by the ones I did read, and hopefully will be able to find an online collection or book one of these days.



After the museum, I biked back to the bike store, taking about an hour of meandering to return to the shop. I hopped back on the train, and now, here I am, sitting in the airport waiting for my flight. It is totally snack time right now.

Next post will be from Jerusalem!!!

That Time I Spent Another Summer in Jerusalem

Due to popular demand, nostalgia preservation, and sheer convenience, I will once again be blogging from the Middle East this summer. I have yet to determine the style of blogging I will employ. Last summer, I kept the blog strictly events-oriented, leaving the emotional aspects of the trip for other venues. I also wrote ample length entries with many pictures. This may be the case again, but given that I have already visited many of the areas, entries will undoubtedly be much shorter. Pictures may be more interesting, though we shall have to wait and see.

Departure date is June 21st. I look forward to alleviating a small bit of your summer boredom and reading your comments!