FINALLY... after nearly 3 and a half months of classes... and hearing about everyone's fabulous spring breaks and events-- LITTLE 500-- I am on SPRING BREAK!!
This past weekend, my friend Tamara and I went to Sinai-- it was beautiful. We stayed at a private Hilton Resort-- all inclusive and it costs us each 50 dollars. We also spent a night in Eilat which was fun as well.
We returned to Be'er Sheva for a few days of class (and a Hebrew test...) and now it's all over for a glorious week and a half. We're leaving in a little over an hour for Eilat and tomorrow Tamara, Lauren, Susanna and I will cross the Taba Israel/Egypt boarder crossing again as we head to CAIRO!!! I'm really excited--pyramids, museums, etc. We booked a 2-day tour with an Israeli tour company and it was really reasonably priced--there's an english speaking guide and we're staying in a 5 star hotel. We return to Eilat on Thursday evening and are heading back to Be'er Sheva on the lovely 1 am bus.... ehhh hmm....
When I return to Be'er Sheva-- I'll have about 8 hours to repack all my things for my week in EUROPE! Friday morning, Liza and I are heading up to Tel Aviv to have seder at Ohad's house and bright and early Sunday morning I'm flying to Barcelona (via Brussels on Brussels Airlines). I'm going to be in Barcelona for 3 days and then jumping over to Berlin for 4 days! :-) Let's start rackin' up those passport stamps!!
I'll be sure to take PLENTY of pictures. Upon returning back to Israel... it'll be the last month here... filled with lots of trips and lots of school work... until then...
Chag Pasech Samecha!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
It'll be like we're in that Prince of Egypt movie...
As much as I hate to admit it... my semester is quickly coming to an end... thus... I am happy to announce that I will be making the most out of the next (less than) two months I have here in Israel... specifically-- I'm really excited about my next planned trip!
Next Thursday, April 10th after Hebrew my friend Tamara and I will be boarding an Egged bus and heading to Eilat!! We're spending Thursday night at Beit Ha'Arava Hostel and spending Friday at the beautiful Eilat beach. Friday afternoon... we will be heading to the Taba Israel/Egypt boarder crossing. That's right... WE'RE GOING TO SINAI!!! Friday-Saturday we'll be at the Hilton Nuweiba Coral Resort in Nuweiba City, Egypt. An all-inclusive resort vacation (i.e. all meals, snacks, non-alcoholic drinks, a hotel room with a balcony either over looking the Red Sea or Sinai Mountains, two pools, restaurants, shopping and a private beach... aka heaven) all for the fabulous price of fifty two dollars. :-)
I'm excited... nothing like reenacting the Exodus the week before Pesach!
Next Thursday, April 10th after Hebrew my friend Tamara and I will be boarding an Egged bus and heading to Eilat!! We're spending Thursday night at Beit Ha'Arava Hostel and spending Friday at the beautiful Eilat beach. Friday afternoon... we will be heading to the Taba Israel/Egypt boarder crossing. That's right... WE'RE GOING TO SINAI!!! Friday-Saturday we'll be at the Hilton Nuweiba Coral Resort in Nuweiba City, Egypt. An all-inclusive resort vacation (i.e. all meals, snacks, non-alcoholic drinks, a hotel room with a balcony either over looking the Red Sea or Sinai Mountains, two pools, restaurants, shopping and a private beach... aka heaven) all for the fabulous price of fifty two dollars. :-)
I'm excited... nothing like reenacting the Exodus the week before Pesach!
Monday, March 31, 2008
78 and Sunny all day and every day in B7
Hello again!! :-)
I'm trying to stay on top of this to the best of my ability... at least this time I didn't wait nearly 2 months. Things are going extremely well--as expected. Classes are reaching the midterm point-- and yet I've done very little in terms of school work (which is nice). A few midterm exams that were on little more than general Israel/Zionism history and a 3 page paper due before Passover. Glorious!
As I'm sure many know... Purim was celebrated a few weeks ago. Purim is similar to Halloween in the sense that everyone dresses up and goes to parties and similar to Little 500 at IU in the sense that everyone drinks... a lot. I spent Purim in Be'er Sheva, Jerusalem and on Kibbutz Sasa in the north where my friend Hannah lives. Jerusalem was crazy... we spent the evening around Kikar Tzion and Ben Yehuda St. There were people everywhere in crazy costumes, Heradi (Ultra-Orthodox) men dancing and singing about the Messiah in the middle of the square, and even a blinged out (rope light decorated, music blasting and guy on the hood dresses as a big clown) van driving through the city. We went to Hebrew Union College for the Megilah reading, which was really nice and after went to dinner and explored the busy area.
The next day I headed up to Sasa to spend the weekend and go to their Purim party. The theme was הישרדות (Survivor) The Israeli version of the show is really really popular (I'm hooked... it's a really funny show) Hannah and I wanted to dress the part... so we went for the beach look... leggings tank tops and srongs as dresses/skirts. It was a really fun party and of course... the rest of the weekend at Sasa was wonderful as well.
Last weekend I headed up north once again to spend time at the University of Haifa with Danny and Gillian from camp. On the way up, I made a stop for the day in Tel Aviv where I met up with Ohad. He works at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and we spent the afternoon at the museum. He showed me around and I got to explore the exhibits for a while as well as help him set up for a project he was doing that evening with some art students... (really reminded me of camp...) That evening I took the train up to Haifa.
Haifa is a beautiful city, everything was green (which is a nice change from the arid desert) and we spent the two days wondering around the city. We went to Hadar where we shopped at a really nice shuk and had lunch at a cute cafe. Danny and Harrison (a friend from EIE) led services Friday evening and they were followed by a free dinner at the university and a pajama party to watch Ratatouille. ;-)
On Saturday we heading to the Baha'i Gardens... it was soooo pretty, absolutely unbelievable to see in person. That is one place I wish we would've gone to on EIE. We were able to get on a tour and walk down roughly 700 stairs... of course taking pictures the whole way. Gillian had been on that tour 3 times previously... so I made sure to thank her for doing it again for me. After the gardens, we headed to lunch-- pizza in an Arab village near by and then to the beach. It was rather windy and chilly, so we sat in the sand for a while. Hopefully I'll head back up there again when it's warmer. The train station is literally right across the street, so it'd be really easy. That evening we went for sushi dinner and I headed back to Be'er Sheva motzi shabbat.
Like I've said (about 100 times now) I'm having a fantastic time and can't believe how quickly the time is going by! This weekend my friend Rebecca is coming down to Be'er Sheva and the following weekend a friend Tamara from BGU and I are doing a weekend in Eilat! ... followed shortly there after by Passover and my vacations to Barcelona and Berlin.
That's all from here... we just had daylight savings time--so I'm back to 6 hours ahead of EST and 7 before CST. The weather is getting warmer... it hasn't rained in Be'er Sheva since mid February and it won't again until next December. We had a little bit of a heat wave last week... it was between 95-105 degrees for a few days... but now its back to a very nice at least 75 and sunny forecast everyday...so for now... I can't complain about the weather. It does get rather chilly at night and it's lovely! ;-)
I would really like to hear from all of you, keep in touch!
Pictures:
Purim-- http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2408186&l=7ca8b&id=6825807
Haifa-- http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2408197&l=5c3ae&id=6825807
Traci
I'm trying to stay on top of this to the best of my ability... at least this time I didn't wait nearly 2 months. Things are going extremely well--as expected. Classes are reaching the midterm point-- and yet I've done very little in terms of school work (which is nice). A few midterm exams that were on little more than general Israel/Zionism history and a 3 page paper due before Passover. Glorious!
As I'm sure many know... Purim was celebrated a few weeks ago. Purim is similar to Halloween in the sense that everyone dresses up and goes to parties and similar to Little 500 at IU in the sense that everyone drinks... a lot. I spent Purim in Be'er Sheva, Jerusalem and on Kibbutz Sasa in the north where my friend Hannah lives. Jerusalem was crazy... we spent the evening around Kikar Tzion and Ben Yehuda St. There were people everywhere in crazy costumes, Heradi (Ultra-Orthodox) men dancing and singing about the Messiah in the middle of the square, and even a blinged out (rope light decorated, music blasting and guy on the hood dresses as a big clown) van driving through the city. We went to Hebrew Union College for the Megilah reading, which was really nice and after went to dinner and explored the busy area.
The next day I headed up to Sasa to spend the weekend and go to their Purim party. The theme was הישרדות (Survivor) The Israeli version of the show is really really popular (I'm hooked... it's a really funny show) Hannah and I wanted to dress the part... so we went for the beach look... leggings tank tops and srongs as dresses/skirts. It was a really fun party and of course... the rest of the weekend at Sasa was wonderful as well.
Last weekend I headed up north once again to spend time at the University of Haifa with Danny and Gillian from camp. On the way up, I made a stop for the day in Tel Aviv where I met up with Ohad. He works at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and we spent the afternoon at the museum. He showed me around and I got to explore the exhibits for a while as well as help him set up for a project he was doing that evening with some art students... (really reminded me of camp...) That evening I took the train up to Haifa.
Haifa is a beautiful city, everything was green (which is a nice change from the arid desert) and we spent the two days wondering around the city. We went to Hadar where we shopped at a really nice shuk and had lunch at a cute cafe. Danny and Harrison (a friend from EIE) led services Friday evening and they were followed by a free dinner at the university and a pajama party to watch Ratatouille. ;-)
On Saturday we heading to the Baha'i Gardens... it was soooo pretty, absolutely unbelievable to see in person. That is one place I wish we would've gone to on EIE. We were able to get on a tour and walk down roughly 700 stairs... of course taking pictures the whole way. Gillian had been on that tour 3 times previously... so I made sure to thank her for doing it again for me. After the gardens, we headed to lunch-- pizza in an Arab village near by and then to the beach. It was rather windy and chilly, so we sat in the sand for a while. Hopefully I'll head back up there again when it's warmer. The train station is literally right across the street, so it'd be really easy. That evening we went for sushi dinner and I headed back to Be'er Sheva motzi shabbat.
Like I've said (about 100 times now) I'm having a fantastic time and can't believe how quickly the time is going by! This weekend my friend Rebecca is coming down to Be'er Sheva and the following weekend a friend Tamara from BGU and I are doing a weekend in Eilat! ... followed shortly there after by Passover and my vacations to Barcelona and Berlin.
That's all from here... we just had daylight savings time--so I'm back to 6 hours ahead of EST and 7 before CST. The weather is getting warmer... it hasn't rained in Be'er Sheva since mid February and it won't again until next December. We had a little bit of a heat wave last week... it was between 95-105 degrees for a few days... but now its back to a very nice at least 75 and sunny forecast everyday...so for now... I can't complain about the weather. It does get rather chilly at night and it's lovely! ;-)
I would really like to hear from all of you, keep in touch!
Pictures:
Purim-- http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2408186&l=7ca8b&id=6825807
Haifa-- http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2408197&l=5c3ae&id=6825807
Traci
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
2 months... feels more like 2 hours...
Wow... I'm really good at this, aren't I? SO sorry... the last two months have gotten the best of me--but I'll try to be a little more diligent from now on. ;-)
Like I said... The last two months (since my last post) have gone by way too quickly for my liking... specifically hard to realize today-- I had to book a flight back to the states for the end of the semester. Enough about that--
Things are going really well, I'm very, VERY happy and am having a fantastic time--surprise surprise. Ulpan ended the second week of February and we had a long 5-day weekend. Two friends and I headed down south to Eilat--and crossed the boarder into Jordan for a few day trip to Petra (reference: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) and a Jeep trip in Wadi Rum. Despite being a little chilly... it was beautiful and a lot of fun. Links to pictures are below.
Album #1: Petra
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2394926&l=d67f5&id=6825807
Album #2: Petra and Wadi Rum
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2394939&l=710e9&id=6825807
Album #3: Wadi Rum
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2394961&l=3c562&id=6825807
Upon returning to Israel...
I entered the country on a 3-month tourist visa... because I was accepted to the program in early December--not enough time to apply for a student visa. (I was not the only one). Our plan to leave the country and return to receive another 3-months failed... as we were issued 1-month visas at the boarder and told to get student visas. Fast forward and 300 shekels later... I have an Israeli student visa--just a crazy annoying process--but two nice full page stickers in my passport. haha...
The official semester began shortly there after. I'm taking 5 classes... all very interesting and none really too demanding--which is nice, leaving plenty of opportunity for travel and the like.
Class schedule:
Monday: 8:30-10:00 Hebrew, 10:15-12:00 Ethnic Perspectives on Israeli Society
Tuesday: 8:30-10:00 Hebrew, 10:15-12:00 Disease that Shaped Modern Israel, 16:15-20:00 Holy War in Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Wednesday: 10:15-12:00 Diseases that Shaped Modern Israel, 14:00-16:00 Ethnic Perspectives on Israeli Society
Thursday: 8:30-10:00
I'm also taking a class as a reader class--meaning the course was too small to have as a real class, so I do the reading, write a few papers and meet with a professor once every two weeks-- Visual Culture in Ancient and Medieval Judaism
If you can't tell... my weekend starts on Thursday at 10 am and goes well into Sunday. It's wonderful. I've spend one weekend here in Be'er Sheva in the past month and a half. Tyulim (trips) include down to Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea-- wonderful hiking... so pretty... too bad I forgot my camera on that trip. I participated in the TaMaR (Tnuant Magshamim Reformim) Movement of Reform Zionists--the young adult movement of the World Union For Progressive Judaism--veida or seminar. I spent a week and a half in Jerusalem last March on the same conference. This year's was really nice... I saw some good friends from the states and we had the opportunity to travel around a little... spend time in Tel Aviv, down south at Kibbutz Yahel and Lotan, Eilat, and Jerusalem.
Pictures from TaMaR Veida:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2394990&l=5b577&id=6825807
Other happenings... I also spent a fantastic weekend up on Kibbutz Sasa (in the North... about 15 KM from Tsfat and has a GREAT view of Lebanon...stam...) My very good friend Hannah (from EIE) and my friends Jomi (from camp) and Julie (from EIE) live up on this kibbutz. They made aliyah about a year and a half ago and joined a program called Garin Tzbar-- overseas young adults who make aliyah together, live on kibbutz and join the army. I have other friends in the 2007 year of the garin living on different kibbutzim as well. I was a great weekend... a lot of fun and I'm heading back up there this weekend for PURIM!! It should be a really good time.
Really... other than that... the time is flying by. I continue to find new and exciting things in Be'er Sheva-- it's not as lame of a city as so many people think... There's a monument to honor the soldiers that fought a battle in Be'er Sheva during the War of Independence (1948-49). It's on the top of a hill overlooking the city and the whole negev. We took a little hike up and watched the sunset... It was so beautiful.
Sunset Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2394919&l=4a6c9&id=6825807
Last Thursday, I headed up north to Zicron Ya'akov-- between Tel Aviv and Haifa. My friend Josh--who is in the garin-- turned 21 that day and it was also his tekes masa kumpta. [Tekes: ceremony Masa: journey Kumpta: beret (army beret)] His whole unit began a long hike (2 am) that concluded at 9 am. Friends and family were invited to join them on the last 500 meters of the hike and at the end was a ceremony where they received their berets. Josh is in the tochanim... artillery--noted by the bright blue kumptot. This tekes marks the end of their basic training as well. Usually... each soldier receives a kumpta and that's cool... Josh however, was given a kumpta from his Samech Mem Pey (his commander's commander). Receiving his personal kumpta was a HUGE honor-- a sign that Josh was one of the best men in the group. Amazing, actually.
Photos from Josh's Tekes:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2395007&l=66281&id=6825807
Well... I think that was a pretty good 2-month catch up. Like I said, I'll try to update more often. Spring Break (Passover week) is coming up... and I'm heading to BARCELONA, SPAIN to meet up with some other Phi Mu girls, explore the city, etc. I'm also hoping to spend a few days in the middle of the week in Berlin, visiting a friend from TaMaR. I'm really excited.
I'd love to hear how things are going in the states...
my e-mail: tstratfo@indiana.edu or
phone (from the states): 011-972-52-6092493
Like I said... The last two months (since my last post) have gone by way too quickly for my liking... specifically hard to realize today-- I had to book a flight back to the states for the end of the semester. Enough about that--
Things are going really well, I'm very, VERY happy and am having a fantastic time--surprise surprise. Ulpan ended the second week of February and we had a long 5-day weekend. Two friends and I headed down south to Eilat--and crossed the boarder into Jordan for a few day trip to Petra (reference: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) and a Jeep trip in Wadi Rum. Despite being a little chilly... it was beautiful and a lot of fun. Links to pictures are below.
Album #1: Petra
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2394926&l=d67f5&id=6825807
Album #2: Petra and Wadi Rum
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2394939&l=710e9&id=6825807
Album #3: Wadi Rum
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2394961&l=3c562&id=6825807
Upon returning to Israel...
I entered the country on a 3-month tourist visa... because I was accepted to the program in early December--not enough time to apply for a student visa. (I was not the only one). Our plan to leave the country and return to receive another 3-months failed... as we were issued 1-month visas at the boarder and told to get student visas. Fast forward and 300 shekels later... I have an Israeli student visa--just a crazy annoying process--but two nice full page stickers in my passport. haha...
The official semester began shortly there after. I'm taking 5 classes... all very interesting and none really too demanding--which is nice, leaving plenty of opportunity for travel and the like.
Class schedule:
Monday: 8:30-10:00 Hebrew, 10:15-12:00 Ethnic Perspectives on Israeli Society
Tuesday: 8:30-10:00 Hebrew, 10:15-12:00 Disease that Shaped Modern Israel, 16:15-20:00 Holy War in Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Wednesday: 10:15-12:00 Diseases that Shaped Modern Israel, 14:00-16:00 Ethnic Perspectives on Israeli Society
Thursday: 8:30-10:00
I'm also taking a class as a reader class--meaning the course was too small to have as a real class, so I do the reading, write a few papers and meet with a professor once every two weeks-- Visual Culture in Ancient and Medieval Judaism
If you can't tell... my weekend starts on Thursday at 10 am and goes well into Sunday. It's wonderful. I've spend one weekend here in Be'er Sheva in the past month and a half. Tyulim (trips) include down to Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea-- wonderful hiking... so pretty... too bad I forgot my camera on that trip. I participated in the TaMaR (Tnuant Magshamim Reformim) Movement of Reform Zionists--the young adult movement of the World Union For Progressive Judaism--veida or seminar. I spent a week and a half in Jerusalem last March on the same conference. This year's was really nice... I saw some good friends from the states and we had the opportunity to travel around a little... spend time in Tel Aviv, down south at Kibbutz Yahel and Lotan, Eilat, and Jerusalem.
Pictures from TaMaR Veida:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2394990&l=5b577&id=6825807
Other happenings... I also spent a fantastic weekend up on Kibbutz Sasa (in the North... about 15 KM from Tsfat and has a GREAT view of Lebanon...stam...) My very good friend Hannah (from EIE) and my friends Jomi (from camp) and Julie (from EIE) live up on this kibbutz. They made aliyah about a year and a half ago and joined a program called Garin Tzbar-- overseas young adults who make aliyah together, live on kibbutz and join the army. I have other friends in the 2007 year of the garin living on different kibbutzim as well. I was a great weekend... a lot of fun and I'm heading back up there this weekend for PURIM!! It should be a really good time.
Really... other than that... the time is flying by. I continue to find new and exciting things in Be'er Sheva-- it's not as lame of a city as so many people think... There's a monument to honor the soldiers that fought a battle in Be'er Sheva during the War of Independence (1948-49). It's on the top of a hill overlooking the city and the whole negev. We took a little hike up and watched the sunset... It was so beautiful.
Sunset Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2394919&l=4a6c9&id=6825807
Last Thursday, I headed up north to Zicron Ya'akov-- between Tel Aviv and Haifa. My friend Josh--who is in the garin-- turned 21 that day and it was also his tekes masa kumpta. [Tekes: ceremony Masa: journey Kumpta: beret (army beret)] His whole unit began a long hike (2 am) that concluded at 9 am. Friends and family were invited to join them on the last 500 meters of the hike and at the end was a ceremony where they received their berets. Josh is in the tochanim... artillery--noted by the bright blue kumptot. This tekes marks the end of their basic training as well. Usually... each soldier receives a kumpta and that's cool... Josh however, was given a kumpta from his Samech Mem Pey (his commander's commander). Receiving his personal kumpta was a HUGE honor-- a sign that Josh was one of the best men in the group. Amazing, actually.
Photos from Josh's Tekes:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2395007&l=66281&id=6825807
Well... I think that was a pretty good 2-month catch up. Like I said, I'll try to update more often. Spring Break (Passover week) is coming up... and I'm heading to BARCELONA, SPAIN to meet up with some other Phi Mu girls, explore the city, etc. I'm also hoping to spend a few days in the middle of the week in Berlin, visiting a friend from TaMaR. I'm really excited.
I'd love to hear how things are going in the states...
my e-mail: tstratfo@indiana.edu or
phone (from the states): 011-972-52-6092493
Sunday, January 20, 2008
The beginning of a good week...
An agreement with the striking professors and the government was reached Friday morning... and everything is finally going to get back to normal. :-)
More updates on my weekend in Jerusalem and hike today to come... after I finish preparing my Hebrew presentation for tomorrow morning!
shavuah tov!
More updates on my weekend in Jerusalem and hike today to come... after I finish preparing my Hebrew presentation for tomorrow morning!
shavuah tov!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
The Wonkavator can go sideways and slantways and longways and backways...and squareways and front ways...
There a scene at the end of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory--the 1971 version--sans Johnny Depp although that was a mighty good film... where Charlie and Mr. Wonka enter the glass elevator to leave the factory. It's not just any elevator-- it's the Wonkavator-- and it can go in all these crazy directions... depending on what button you press. Similarly, I'm thinking of the university teachers strike as a sort of Wonkavator.
As of right now-- from what I've gathered from speaking with students here, reading online newspapers and the updates we've received from Shlomo, the director of OSP--this whole strike is a glass elevator and is literally hanging by a string ready to crack and break into a billion little pieces. Inside the elevator stands the government-- specifically the ministers of finance and education... then you have the university presidents... oh... and now the judge-- but as we all know-- he's just kinda chillin' there for now. Anyway...
These people are in this very fragile glass elevator and have for the past eighty some days pressed EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE BUTTON IN THIS CRAZY ELEVATOR... there are buttons on the floor, on the ceiling, walls...everywhere... and while they've all gone somewhere... some went forward, some back, some sideways and upways and longways and shortways (I think you get the point)... they're still stuck inside the Wonka Factory (the strike... umpaloopas being the students stuck inside this mess) The university presidents decided to press another button... almost like an emergency stop... the "Close all Campuses until the Ministry of Finance Reaches Agreement with Striking Lecturers"... GREAT... fabulous choice. (ugh...) Proof and more information about this button can be found here:
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/944928.html
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/945375.html
Now... what does it mean for the umpaloopas...? For the Israeli students--it means they can't take their semester exams for the classes they are taking and if an agreement isn't reached, this semester and most likely the next will be lost. For us OSP students-- it means we're going on an extra tyul (trip) on Sunday!! YAY... seriously... I think we are... but again... for real... it means that if the campus remains closed, our ulpan courses are going to be moved to the old Ben-Gurion Univ. campus about a 10 minute walk from the moanot (dorms). There will still be some Israeli students there-- they're taking courses to prepare themselves to enter the university--kinda like community college-- it'll be a very different experience.
HOPEFULLY... someone will be cool and press the 'UP AND OUT' button--- you know... the one Charlie presses at the end and the elevator gains speed and goes bursting through the glass ceiling... that button here means they reached an agreement and universities can get back to normal.
As of right now-- from what I've gathered from speaking with students here, reading online newspapers and the updates we've received from Shlomo, the director of OSP--this whole strike is a glass elevator and is literally hanging by a string ready to crack and break into a billion little pieces. Inside the elevator stands the government-- specifically the ministers of finance and education... then you have the university presidents... oh... and now the judge-- but as we all know-- he's just kinda chillin' there for now. Anyway...
These people are in this very fragile glass elevator and have for the past eighty some days pressed EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE BUTTON IN THIS CRAZY ELEVATOR... there are buttons on the floor, on the ceiling, walls...everywhere... and while they've all gone somewhere... some went forward, some back, some sideways and upways and longways and shortways (I think you get the point)... they're still stuck inside the Wonka Factory (the strike... umpaloopas being the students stuck inside this mess) The university presidents decided to press another button... almost like an emergency stop... the "Close all Campuses until the Ministry of Finance Reaches Agreement with Striking Lecturers"... GREAT... fabulous choice. (ugh...) Proof and more information about this button can be found here:
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/944928.html
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/945375.html
Now... what does it mean for the umpaloopas...? For the Israeli students--it means they can't take their semester exams for the classes they are taking and if an agreement isn't reached, this semester and most likely the next will be lost. For us OSP students-- it means we're going on an extra tyul (trip) on Sunday!! YAY... seriously... I think we are... but again... for real... it means that if the campus remains closed, our ulpan courses are going to be moved to the old Ben-Gurion Univ. campus about a 10 minute walk from the moanot (dorms). There will still be some Israeli students there-- they're taking courses to prepare themselves to enter the university--kinda like community college-- it'll be a very different experience.
HOPEFULLY... someone will be cool and press the 'UP AND OUT' button--- you know... the one Charlie presses at the end and the elevator gains speed and goes bursting through the glass ceiling... that button here means they reached an agreement and universities can get back to normal.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
crunch time...
It was no surprise to me coming here this semester that the senior professors at all Israeli public universities were on strike... strikes are actually rather common in Israel-- last spring university students went on strike demanding that the tuition not be raised... imagine that happening in the states.
The professor strike has continued now for over 80 days and as the following article from haaretz.com explains... a decision--some decision is necessary in the next 48 hours or this semester is going to be a rather different Israeli experience. By no means, are we assured that the Overseas Students Program (OSP) will be effected--- we have a different set of teachers, etc etc... but the who atmosphere here at BGU-- at any university in Israel may be very different than expected....
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/944303.html
The professor strike has continued now for over 80 days and as the following article from haaretz.com explains... a decision--some decision is necessary in the next 48 hours or this semester is going to be a rather different Israeli experience. By no means, are we assured that the Overseas Students Program (OSP) will be effected--- we have a different set of teachers, etc etc... but the who atmosphere here at BGU-- at any university in Israel may be very different than expected....
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/944303.html
Friday, January 11, 2008
Week 1 photographs
http://indiana.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2368555&l=85502&id=6825807
above is a link to my photos from this week... I'll try to post a link to any new pictures I put up on Facebook! :-) You may have to copy and paste it into your browser... but I think it works.
above is a link to my photos from this week... I'll try to post a link to any new pictures I put up on Facebook! :-) You may have to copy and paste it into your browser... but I think it works.
First week in the most beautiful country on earth...
I've now been in Israel for a week and have been overwhelmed with experiences and opportunities. This is my third time in the country and by semesters end--will be my longest stay to date. Returning to Ben Gurion International airport in Tel Aviv is a moving experience in itself... and each time brings back the feeling that I hope one day to make Israel my permanent home and for the next 6 months, it is.
Thursday night began our orientation weekend... the Overseas Student Program (OSP) director Shlomo welcomed us and spoke briefly about the academic strike that continues in Israel--this would be the first of maybe 15 times the strike was explained to us that weekend. Unlike the strike last year by Israeli students protesting the tuition increase, the strike that has been in effect since fall semester in Israel is being held by the senior lecturers/professors. Additionally, the high school teachers were on strike, however there issues were resolved a few weeks ago. There are still university classes in session--but only those taught by non-tenured professors. Generally speaking-- most of the people I've met are taking 2 or 3 of what would usually be a 5 or 6 course load. There are still students living in the moanot and on campus, although many of them do choose to stay here for a few days a week while they have class and then go home for the others. Everyone is holding their breath... if a solution isn't worked out by Sunday, the semester will most likely have to be cancelled and perhaps the next... our OSP classes are minimally if at all effected as we have our own lecturers and classes.
3.1 Arrival
We landed in Tel Aviv and after gathering our things, exchanging our American dollars for shekelim (in which the exchange rate was actually really awful...), working our way through the large and very loud birthright groups that were on our flight... we boarded a bus that took us to the University. And while I'd love to say that the drive was great-- going from rolling green hills to sand dunes and desert--I can't... because I think each and everyone of us passed out on the hour and a half drive down to Beersheba.
We arrived at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev at moanot gimmel (Gimmel Dormitories), received our room keys and moved into our rooms. The moanot are separated different benyanim (buildings). I live in benyan 86 on the first floor. The rooms are little apartments with a small kitchenette/sitting room area, shared bathroom and 4 single bedrooms--I live with 3 Israelis--and now a week later-- I think I've made what used to look like a jail cell a little more friendly and homey... my most important purchases-- a small space heater and rug... it gets rather chilly here and a tile floor isn't too great to use as a heat absorber. We cook for ourselves, which is great practice for next year and I'm learning the Israeli way to cook-- especially rice... it's wonderful... and the art of using the toaster (to Americans--a panini press) and a koom-koom (electric water boiler).
Thursday night began our orientation weekend... the Overseas Student Program (OSP) director Shlomo welcomed us and spoke briefly about the academic strike that continues in Israel--this would be the first of maybe 15 times the strike was explained to us that weekend. Unlike the strike last year by Israeli students protesting the tuition increase, the strike that has been in effect since fall semester in Israel is being held by the senior lecturers/professors. Additionally, the high school teachers were on strike, however there issues were resolved a few weeks ago. There are still university classes in session--but only those taught by non-tenured professors. Generally speaking-- most of the people I've met are taking 2 or 3 of what would usually be a 5 or 6 course load. There are still students living in the moanot and on campus, although many of them do choose to stay here for a few days a week while they have class and then go home for the others. Everyone is holding their breath... if a solution isn't worked out by Sunday, the semester will most likely have to be cancelled and perhaps the next... our OSP classes are minimally if at all effected as we have our own lecturers and classes.
4-5.1 Orientation Weekend
Our first weekend in Israel was dedicated to orientation and getting to know each other. We left the moanot early and headed to Sde Boker--the desert home of Israel's first Prime Minister and the man that my university here is named after, David Ben-Gurion. We toured his home, which has been turned into a museum and visited his grave and the grave of his wife Paula. He is one of only two Prime Ministers not buried on Har Herzl (Mt. Herzl) in Jerusalem. We also went on a short hike at wadi Eni Avdat which was gorgeous. We went down to a waterfall in the middle of the desert and the went up the mountains that were surrounding the water. We spent shabbat on Kibbutz Mashabei Sade, about 25 minutes from Beersheba and where we lit candles, had kabbalat shabbat and spent a relaxing day in really comfortable beds... :-) and going over orientation information and playing a ton of get to know you games.
We returned to the university motzi shabbat (evening after shabbat ends) and two friends and I walked from the moanot to mirkaz BIG (BIG center)-- a huge shopping center which was about a 20 minute walk from where we live. We had dinner at Aroma and shopped around for little things that we needed-- bowls,plates, cutlery, blankets, groceries etc. They had any store you could ever need--electronics, food, clothes and yes and perhaps unfortunately... Office Depot and ACE hardware. We took a monit (taxi) back home will all of our stuff.
6.1 Orientation continues... and never really ends
Sunday we had a tour of the campus and continued our orientation to Beersheba, Israel and the OSP program. We met with the morim (teachers) for ulpan (Hebrew immersion program... generally for new Israeli immigrants). We have uplan 5 days a week, Sunday-Thursday from 8:30-10:00 ... half hour break... and then again from 10:30-12 pm for the next six weeks until our classes begin for the semester. There are four levels, Aleph, Aleph Plus, Gimmel and Dalet. I'm in Gimmel, the second highest with 4 other OSP students. It's a lot of time in class but the level is basically perfect for me and I generally really enjoy it.
7-10.1 First week of Ulpan... getting adjusted and seeing special people! :-)
We began ulpan on Monday. While it's hard getting up at 7... especially for someone like me who hasn't taken a class in college that didn't start until at least 9:30 am.... I know... pity, right? It's really nice having the whole afternoon off to study, walk around campus, go shopping, nap, hang out... whatever. Generally, we have little programs or opportunities every evening for us to take part in--lectures, movies, meetings, trips, etc. The OSP program offers 2-3 weekend trips a month for us. The next trip is next weekend to Jerusalem.
On Monday, we had a little Israel orientation program... about the country, fun facts, etc.... just us hanging around together for a little while.
Tuesday Yoni drove down from Jerusalem and spent the afternoon in Beersheba. It was really nice and a most excellent reminder of the number of friends I have either living in Israel, here this semester or will be visiting this semester. We went to lunch, walked around the mall and hung out for a little while in my dorm. That evening, the OSP played the Israeli film, "Yossi and Jager" for us. It is about two gay Israeli soldiers, Yossi and Jager (obviously) and I guess I won't say anything else about it... it is a really good movie, though.
Wednesday we had a volunteer session about opportunities for us to volunteer in and around Beersheba this semester. There was everything from walking dogs to teaching Ethiopian immigrants and Bedouins English. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do yet... but I'll figure something out. Wednesday night is also a huge party night in Beersheba... because most classes for the week are done on Thursday, many student head home that afternoon and aren't around Thursday-Saturday. There is a huge discoteck called Baraka about 5-7 minute taxi ride away that hosts student parties every Wednesday. They pass out cards in the student union every Wednesday for free cover before 12:15 am with a student ID, a few of us went this week... but I chose to take a little tyul (trip) around the local pubs with a friend of mine. There's a super cute little pub/restaurant literally across the street from our dorms called Gatro and another one behind the dorms called Coca.
Yesterday--Thursday-- after ulpan I took at bus to the central bus station and met Hannah. We went on EIE together and a year ago August she made Aliyah (immigration to Israel) and joined the army. Her base is in the Negev and she gets off every Thursday-Sunday...the bus she takes stops in Beersheba so seeing her weekly is likely. We had coffee in the city and came back to the moanot, hung out, walked to BIG. It's hard to describe how amazing it is to see here when I come to Israel... and how helpful she is-- my pelephone (cell phone) is now in Hebrew... learning slowly but surely... haha. Thursday night those of us who didn't go out of town for the weekend went back to Coca... where...well...lets just say we were a little bit too American...right...
Today I finally got to sleep in and did some last minute errands before shabbat comes in. I'm going to a Conservative Shul with one of my roommates tonight, I'm pretty excited. The rest of shabbat I think will be dedicated to studying Hebrew and relaxing-- it should be really nice.
!!שבת שלום
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