Hello all,
It's been a long time since I last posted, but it might be okay because I never officially gave the address to anyone. I sit here at my computer, five months into my program, which is about the half way marker for me, and I am determined to reflect for a little bit on all that has happened in the last few months, and make the decision to blog more regularly.
The bulk of my work and experiences here in Yaffo have been volunteering- at four really great organizations and centers. Three days a week, I volunteer at a nature center for Arab and Hebrew speaking kindergarteners and through that, I have gotten to know roughly 850 local three and four year-olds. On the other days, I tutor English to three Ethiopian high school age girls, teach an after school club in English to 8th graders in a College 4 All program, and assist a special education group of 5th graders at the city's Sea Education (Hinuch Yami) center.
Each experience has been rewarding in it's own way, as you can imagine.
I'm not going to attempt to summarize my experiences here, in a single blog post, but rather, include a couple of excerpts from some personal emails I've sent out during the semester, in a hope of capturing some of the more poignant moments. From here on out, I'm going to try to write twice a week so that I can be in touch better, and keep a record for myself, as my view points and opinions will undoubtedly continue to evolve.
Love,
Amy
"i got to jerusalem and instantly wanted to be back in yafo. I don't know what it was but i didn't like it. not to mention that there were about 60000 people at the wall on thursday night because a famous rabbi was leading prayers. It was just all too much...but don't worry. I will return to Jerusalem. it was just too big of a city at points for me and a little too religious, but i didn't even make it down to the wall and i have much more to see. i have to mosque hop, at the very least still. :-) i'll go back on a less holy day."
(After a slichot tour in Jerusalem before Yom Kippur. I have grown to appreciate the city more in the past months, but still often feel the same way. I think many other people do too.)
"One of the great perks of my program is that they have been organizing speakers and tours for us, all around Israel to look at different segments of Israeli society and different coexistence programs. Just yesterday, we went to Wadi Ara, to meet with a man studying the sociolinguistics behind Palestinian Arabic, as well as with an Arab community leader who has started a public library and a movement to name the streets in Arab villages, so that mail can be delivered. From there, we moved on towards another side of the argument and went into the West Bank to see two Jewish settlements. It is one thing to know they exist and another entirely to see them and speak to people who live there. It was an intense day filled with difficult feelings, but mostly a lot of sadness to see people who feel so afraid of losing something that they are willing to move onto land that doesn't belong to them, and put themselves in danger to keep it. Their opinions of Arabs, as well as Jews who stand for a two state solution, were difficult to stomach, but I'm glad we got the chance to hear them out."
(Pictures are on facebook. :-) )
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Contradictions
When people ask me how I'm feeling about living in Israel, and about the country itself, I say that its amazing and bizarre at the very same time. I have found that these surprising contradictions exist everywhere in Israel- especially in Yafo- where on the most simplest of levels, you can be sitting on the beach in Yafo, wearing a bikini, listening to the call to prayer coming from the minaret yards away, watching women walk by in full veils, with the Tel Aviv hotel sky line as their back drop. In a place that is touted as one of the shining examples of an integrated Jewish and Arab city in Israel, it is far from integrated. We have come to see that most of our "coexistence" work this year will be being the only Jew within the very Arab community center, public school or non-profit organization. For many of these kids and teens, we might be the one Jewish person they can relate to, despite the fact that they live in a Jewish country.
Yom Kippur has been a time to think about a lot of this. The entire country observes this holiday, in that you see no cars or buses on the roads, and there are very few stores open. This is interesting because only a very small percentage of the population considers themselves religiously Jewish. Regardless of your identity, within Israel, you are culturally Jewish, and so it is common place for your Arab taxi driver to wish everyone exiting the cab a "shana tova" (good year). Signs all around stores and restaurants, even within the Arab sections of Yafo, spread the cheer as well, like signs do in America during Christmas time. As a person who is used to secular life, it is quite bizarre to see.
As I stood in the bathroom brushing my teeth tonight at 1:30 am, I heard my next door neighbor screaming Hebrew curses at his crying infant daughter which was one of those rare times that made me wish I knew less Hebrew than I do. This happens though, coming off of a wonderful afternoon of visiting a local public high school where amazing teachers from all over Israel come to this Yafo school to teach English to Arab and Jewish students through creative ways. Yafo is vibrant and beautiful, and so far from perfect. There is so much happening already, and yet so much more to be done.
This place is far from integrated. The prime minister of Israel sat in peace talks with Abbas, as Haredi Jews congregated half a block away from our apartment to protest the construction work being done on the Sderot Yerushalayim median, because it may be disturbing the site of an ancient Jewish cemetery. However, at the same time we smile daily, when we are met with greetings from the man at the makolet (convenience store) on the corner, as he wishes us good night, or the friendly shoe salesman who threw in an extra pair of sandals for free, or the people on the bus who help us findour stop when we look confused and American.
Life here is oh so complicated, yet strikingly beautiful. I'm so happy to be here for this coming year.
Shana tova to everyone! (And a post will come soon about my high holiday travels).
Yom Kippur has been a time to think about a lot of this. The entire country observes this holiday, in that you see no cars or buses on the roads, and there are very few stores open. This is interesting because only a very small percentage of the population considers themselves religiously Jewish. Regardless of your identity, within Israel, you are culturally Jewish, and so it is common place for your Arab taxi driver to wish everyone exiting the cab a "shana tova" (good year). Signs all around stores and restaurants, even within the Arab sections of Yafo, spread the cheer as well, like signs do in America during Christmas time. As a person who is used to secular life, it is quite bizarre to see.
As I stood in the bathroom brushing my teeth tonight at 1:30 am, I heard my next door neighbor screaming Hebrew curses at his crying infant daughter which was one of those rare times that made me wish I knew less Hebrew than I do. This happens though, coming off of a wonderful afternoon of visiting a local public high school where amazing teachers from all over Israel come to this Yafo school to teach English to Arab and Jewish students through creative ways. Yafo is vibrant and beautiful, and so far from perfect. There is so much happening already, and yet so much more to be done.
This place is far from integrated. The prime minister of Israel sat in peace talks with Abbas, as Haredi Jews congregated half a block away from our apartment to protest the construction work being done on the Sderot Yerushalayim median, because it may be disturbing the site of an ancient Jewish cemetery. However, at the same time we smile daily, when we are met with greetings from the man at the makolet (convenience store) on the corner, as he wishes us good night, or the friendly shoe salesman who threw in an extra pair of sandals for free, or the people on the bus who help us findour stop when we look confused and American.
Life here is oh so complicated, yet strikingly beautiful. I'm so happy to be here for this coming year.
Shana tova to everyone! (And a post will come soon about my high holiday travels).
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Kibbutz Ketura and settling into rehov Dr. Ehrlich
Shalom me Yafo! (Hello from Yafo)
As you all know, I'm spending this upcoming year living in Yafo, Israel, working with mostly kids and some adults in the area, educating and helping the community with the areas they need help with. Yafo is a beautiful city connected to Tel Aviv, but certainly has its own character. I'm going to try my best to update at least twice a month, as well as video blog for younger students of mine.
Here's a quick update:
After landing in Israel with Jodi (another participant on my program) we met Benji, Izhar and Dan- some of the Tikkun Olam coordinators, to drive to the apartments in Yafo. They dropped us off, gave us keys and set us out to wander and explore the neighborhood. It was surreal, and literally so as it was hotter than I've ever known! We wandered for a couple of hours around the flea market, into the old city and the Souk (Arabic for shuk/ market). All along the way streets were bustling with Arabic and Hebrew, about half and half, and there were plenty of stores, restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, and apartments buildings all spread out around the city.
The following day, after a good night's sleep we met the entire group at the Daniel Center in northern Tel Aviv and then after some introductory sessions, headed off for the 4 and a half hour drive (one of the longest drives possible in Israel) to Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava, near to Eilat. We spent a week at the Kibbutz getting to know each other, swimming in the Kibbutz swimming pool, exploring our Jewish and Zionist identities and exploring the Arava desert. We went on two great tiyulim- one to climb the red mountains behind the Kibbutz, that then overlook the three Kibbutzim in the area and look right over the Jordanian border. It's truly AMAZING to be sitting so high up that you can look right at Jordan. The other trek we went on was to the Kasui sand dunes, which are huge "mountains" of sand that stretch out farther than you can see, and the sand is so fine that it feels like velvet when you touch it. It may just be the world's greatest sand box.
Today, we left Kibbutz Ketura sadly this morning, and returned to Yafo, where we spent the afternoon moving into the apartments, getting a tour of the area (Benji our madrich pointed out all of the great places to eat and grocery shop) and then headed out to the super market, the "Super Shuk" to buy what we need for the next few days. Tomorrow is Erev Rosh Hashannah and because that is a two day holiday that then leads right into shabbat, most of the stores in the area (some are still open because the neighborhood is very Muslim) are closed until Sunday. My housemates are excited to celebrate the New Year together, and I will be sending my love from a far as I will be in the Beit Shean valley celebrating the chagim with cousins on Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu. I'm very excited to see them and to spend holidays with extending family for one of the first times in my life.
Reactions:
Being at Kibbutz Ketura felt a lot like being at summer camp. The announcements in shabbat were done in rhyme, and all of the meals are communal. The kibbutz, although it is very American in that many of its members are Americans who have made aliyah to Israel and they speak a lot of English, it is still very true to the model of the first kibbutzim in Israel and remains very socialist. It is a great feeling to be walking around in such a nice, close knit community where everything is provided for you, and you work for the benefit of the group. Of course, there are many issues with modern day kibbutzim, however, the idea of living in a 24 hour intentional, Jewish community, was incredible to see in action.
Grocery shopping in Yafo was quite the experience today. We had a lot of fun stocking our kitchen, however, it was tough finding everything in Hebrew and checking out at the koupa. Things we now know for next time: 1/4 kilo is "reva kilo" not "hetzi kilo"- not even when you panic at the last second. Learn how to say "breast" as in chicken breast before we go back. Barley, although it looks like brown rice, really isn't. When they ask you "1, 2, 3, or 4" at the register, were still really not sure what it means, but we're pretending it means how many times you'd like to pay. Probably not. Israeli cashiers often tell you to switch lines when they really just don't feel like serving you. Don't eat the bakery bread in the grocery store because chances are it fell on the floor while it was being stocked, and then was just naturally put back in the pyramid.
Regardless of lessons learned, I am loving Yafo and can't wait to start ulpan and choosing my volunteer placements this coming Sunday.
Chag Sameach and Shana Tova to you all! May you be inscribed in the book of life.
Signing off to Beit Shean!
Amy
As you all know, I'm spending this upcoming year living in Yafo, Israel, working with mostly kids and some adults in the area, educating and helping the community with the areas they need help with. Yafo is a beautiful city connected to Tel Aviv, but certainly has its own character. I'm going to try my best to update at least twice a month, as well as video blog for younger students of mine.
Here's a quick update:
After landing in Israel with Jodi (another participant on my program) we met Benji, Izhar and Dan- some of the Tikkun Olam coordinators, to drive to the apartments in Yafo. They dropped us off, gave us keys and set us out to wander and explore the neighborhood. It was surreal, and literally so as it was hotter than I've ever known! We wandered for a couple of hours around the flea market, into the old city and the Souk (Arabic for shuk/ market). All along the way streets were bustling with Arabic and Hebrew, about half and half, and there were plenty of stores, restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, and apartments buildings all spread out around the city.
The following day, after a good night's sleep we met the entire group at the Daniel Center in northern Tel Aviv and then after some introductory sessions, headed off for the 4 and a half hour drive (one of the longest drives possible in Israel) to Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava, near to Eilat. We spent a week at the Kibbutz getting to know each other, swimming in the Kibbutz swimming pool, exploring our Jewish and Zionist identities and exploring the Arava desert. We went on two great tiyulim- one to climb the red mountains behind the Kibbutz, that then overlook the three Kibbutzim in the area and look right over the Jordanian border. It's truly AMAZING to be sitting so high up that you can look right at Jordan. The other trek we went on was to the Kasui sand dunes, which are huge "mountains" of sand that stretch out farther than you can see, and the sand is so fine that it feels like velvet when you touch it. It may just be the world's greatest sand box.
Today, we left Kibbutz Ketura sadly this morning, and returned to Yafo, where we spent the afternoon moving into the apartments, getting a tour of the area (Benji our madrich pointed out all of the great places to eat and grocery shop) and then headed out to the super market, the "Super Shuk" to buy what we need for the next few days. Tomorrow is Erev Rosh Hashannah and because that is a two day holiday that then leads right into shabbat, most of the stores in the area (some are still open because the neighborhood is very Muslim) are closed until Sunday. My housemates are excited to celebrate the New Year together, and I will be sending my love from a far as I will be in the Beit Shean valley celebrating the chagim with cousins on Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu. I'm very excited to see them and to spend holidays with extending family for one of the first times in my life.
Reactions:
Being at Kibbutz Ketura felt a lot like being at summer camp. The announcements in shabbat were done in rhyme, and all of the meals are communal. The kibbutz, although it is very American in that many of its members are Americans who have made aliyah to Israel and they speak a lot of English, it is still very true to the model of the first kibbutzim in Israel and remains very socialist. It is a great feeling to be walking around in such a nice, close knit community where everything is provided for you, and you work for the benefit of the group. Of course, there are many issues with modern day kibbutzim, however, the idea of living in a 24 hour intentional, Jewish community, was incredible to see in action.
Grocery shopping in Yafo was quite the experience today. We had a lot of fun stocking our kitchen, however, it was tough finding everything in Hebrew and checking out at the koupa. Things we now know for next time: 1/4 kilo is "reva kilo" not "hetzi kilo"- not even when you panic at the last second. Learn how to say "breast" as in chicken breast before we go back. Barley, although it looks like brown rice, really isn't. When they ask you "1, 2, 3, or 4" at the register, were still really not sure what it means, but we're pretending it means how many times you'd like to pay. Probably not. Israeli cashiers often tell you to switch lines when they really just don't feel like serving you. Don't eat the bakery bread in the grocery store because chances are it fell on the floor while it was being stocked, and then was just naturally put back in the pyramid.
Regardless of lessons learned, I am loving Yafo and can't wait to start ulpan and choosing my volunteer placements this coming Sunday.
Chag Sameach and Shana Tova to you all! May you be inscribed in the book of life.
Signing off to Beit Shean!
Amy
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