This morning I helped out in the 11th grade boys class. They were having an English test and a few of the students receive extra help so we are able to read the passages to them and write their responses for them. The articles they have to read are definitely challenging but the questions can be so vague. They come from a book written by an Israeli group that prepares practice tests for their country wide exams, I really think they could use some help revamping the articles. The students are really appreciative of all of the help that we give them. Its times like these when the little cultural differences are hard to understand. When I asked my teacher a question in a class in America, you knew how much information they were going to give you, its unclear to me how much I should be helping them. I was helping a student named Naor write his response and I was told to write it exactly as he does. Its very hard to not teach and correct him as he forms sentences that I would never put together.
This afternoon I went for a run in a new area and caught up on some work I had to do. Jordan and I are doing a lesson for the girls class about Purim so we have been doing some research and planning for that.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
My schools Purim festivities were moved today because of the rainy weather forecast for Friday. I decided to put together a little cowgirl costume for school, it turned out alright. I showed up at 8:30 and the students slowly arrived for about the next hour. In the center of the school buildings is a courtyard and they had live music and most people were dressed up. People are not messing around here, some of the teachers even went all out.
There was a bit of dancing but since it was a religious school the boys and girls were separate. One of my students was dressed up as a cowboy so I asked him to take a picture with me, he said he was religious so we could not touch in the picture but he could take one. Its interesting to me because I know a lot of the rules of orthodoxy but in Israel is it never evident how practicing people are, as I have been finding out from all of these experience.(Mekif Yud Purim Celebrations)
They were selling tickets for lunch and lotteries and it seemed to be a half day activity and then everyone goes home. I left before it ended because I can only watch high schoolers run around for so long. I didn’t see some of my students so I am not even sure that they take attendance or care if people show up. One of the teachers told me that today is the beginning of many crazy days in Israel. The mayhem and music will continue in Ashdod and everywhere else around the country until at least Monday.
After class I rode my bike to the shuk to do some shopping. I spent a lot of time roaming the aisles to put together a fun costume. I have decided to be a bohemian lady because I could buy a lot of items that I will actually want to wear later, including some really cool sweat pants. We will see how the outfit works out. I got the usual vegetables, dried fruit, candy, fruit and by the time I was done I had sampled a lot of delicious food. I biked home which wasn’t so easy on the bike with all the food but it worked out.
This afternoon I went to volunteer. I was on the bus there and we were stopped for a while because there was a group of religious people dancing in the road with a big van blaring Purim music. Technically the holiday has not even started yet…only in Isreal. We got to Efshar Acheret and Wednesday is soccer\futball day so we went down to the court to watch them. There was a guy there coaching them and organzing the game, I guess he comes on Sundays and Wednesdays to help out. He is out of the army and studying Business in Israel. He seems like a really good role model for the kids. We were talking with him for a little and when he found out we were Jewish he was so excited. This has happened a few other times as well and its funny to me that they would think we would not be Jewish. Next week we are going to show up earlier so we can play with them.
It started to get dark and we headed in for the usual ping pong games and sugary drinks that the boys create. Some of them have such huge personalities, its incredible. They do not have the best English but we have a good time communicating. I think it will be really nice to get to know them, we already feel pretty comfortable with each other and are definitely enjoying each others company. It should be good for me to work on my Hebrew and I am learning from them, they are very conscious of their Judaism and its interesting to see how they live their lives even in the short time I am with them. They say the prayers over their snacks so we can all join in with them, its nice.
I decided to run home from volunteering. The nights are so pleasant and I love to be able to be in the city by myself. I ran by a guy and as I passed he said, “Kol HaKavod Liat” which literally means “all the honor to you” but can be taken as “great job to you”. It nice that people can be so friendly and supportive of the most random things. Just thought that was an interesting encounter.
Thursday, February 24, 2010
This morning I woke up and went for a nice walk along the beach. Just since we have arrived here they have really been building up the area, they have added more work out facilities, water fountains, something that looked like a scale but was not working and even a dog water fountain. The drip irrigation was also on watering the plants this morning, which I have not seen yet. Too bad it stormed this afternoon.
Today was a half day of school because it is the Fast of Ester, a fast that happens the day before Purim (or in the case of this year 2 days before because you cannot fast on Shabbat). When I walked into class I accidentally stepped on a red X on the floor and one of the girls yelled that I had to bring in candy for them. They explained to me that they do this during Purim and if a teacher steps on the X then they have to bring in treats for the students. Funny because I did bring in candy but I could not give it to them because half of them were fasting. Jordan and I had our first lesson that we had planned for a class. We were teaching to 11th grade girls but only 7 showed up today, probably because the fast. We read with them a sheet about Purim and a sheet about Halloween then divided them up in to 2 groups to play a game with them. We asked them questions about both holidays proving to them that they really have no similarities besides the costumes. The girls were really in to the program and it was interesting to learn that they celebrate this holiday every year but do not know all of the details. I think Sania was really happy with our work as well.
I went home for lunch and than we had Ulpan early this afternoon.
Afterwards we all went to Beit Yididim, an at risk youth center, where were prepped for a Purim carnival that we are running for 70 children on Monday, ages 6-12. Should be quite an experience. Anna and I had a nice dinner with Eric, another participant on our program at Aroma and then went home for the night. A lot of people have to work tomorrow to go to their Purim carnivals but mine took place on Wednesday so I have some free time. I am looking forward to Shabbat with my host family and celebrating Purim in Israel.Friday, February 26, 2010
It started raining today and I am not sure if we will ever see the end of it. Its interesting because in Israel they literally pray for the rain and love it because they never get it and its good for the crops but for us Americans who are used to it, enough is enough.
Today I made hamentashen and challah with my roommates. I have to say it all came out delicious, thanks for the great recipe mom.
This evening I decided to go to services where my host father goes and a friend from my program, Eric, said he wanted to join me. I was waiting for him at the corner by his apartment and my students, Dor, was also going to services. We all went together and Eric had someone to sit with and explain the services to him. He says he goes every week so I am hoping he will know a girl who can sit with me to help me. I asked him why no one really helps me and he says they probably assume I know where we are in the service if I am there. After services he said he would walk me home which was completely out of the way but I let him walk with me and it was nice to talk with him. He said that I could go to dinner with his family for Shabbat whenever I wanted. He goes to services every week but his family does not join him. Maybe they are busy, maybe they don’t like it, I don’t know. He said his father was helping his mother with dinner, but its interesting that goes on his own. I think they become very familiar with their little communities, he has been going to the same synagogue since he was little which is around the corner from his home and across the street from his house. I asked him about the chaos that exists in school and why they are so different there, he said that he feels like he’s trapped in a cage while in the classroom, my friends have heard other students say similar things. Its really interesting because students do not feel this way in America. The students seem to be smart, well rounded, religious but still untamed. Over time I will unravel this further. I also mentioned what I like about services in America verses here. I wish he could experience the difference, because it really is a whole other ballgame. I said we should continue to talk and he agreed. I am looking forward to getting to know the students better and giving them a real impression of what being Jewish in America is like. Its also notable how much more informal things are here, in America it would be a bit uncomfortable to talk so informally with a student or go to their home but here this is the normal.
After I went to have dinner with Zahavah and Amram. I guess Amram was at temple but I did not see him. For dinner we had some different food tonight, she made a different kind of fish with potatoes, meatballs, vegetables and quinoa. There are always moments of quiet at the table but its pleasant and Amram always surprises me with some funny joke or something. While we were cleaning up, Yizchak, their neighbor, came in to talk to me. He asked me why I was in Israel, and I answered to learn Hebrew, celebrate the holidays here and to give back to Israel. He said, you are not here to find a husband? It was interesting that he thought that would be someones main goal for coming here. He had read some articles about birthright and knows how much these programs like to encourage that. We talked a bit more about Judaism in America, marriage and other things. Its definitely interesting to learn other peoples perspective. After dinner Zahavah had me read a childrens story book in English with her to help her with her English. As we read it she would say what she thought it was in Hebrew so it actually helped us both. Miriam, her neighbor is pretty good at English and joined us. After wards we played cards again and Miriam’s son joined us. They will play for hours. When I said this was going to be my last game and that I needed to go sleep they said “that’s what Shabbat is for, you can sleep all day tomorrow!” Needless to say I went home. I have really enjoyed Shabbat with them for a chance to really understand what Israeli life is like. I get to see what goes on in their homes and how they treat each other and what they care about.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The rain continues. This evening my roommates and I all traveled to Tel Aviv to celebrate Purim. We took the first bus after Shabbat ended and made it to Tel Aviv before 8. We arrived at our hostel to put on our costumes. We headed to Flourentine Street. Supposedly this street party was canceled because of the bad weather but it was not raining so people still showed up in large crowds. It was like carnival in Europe with crazy costumes, music and people everywhere. It was really quite a sight. People everywhere we happy, celebrating, smiling and enjoying the holiday.
(Celebrating Purim in Tel Aviv)
At the end of the night we decided to head back to our hostel area and grab some falafel. This crazy lady was dressed up and practically dragged us into her little restaurant to serve us. Turns out it was the worst falafel I had ever eaten in my life, I literally think it was frozen balls she put into the microwave with some stale potatoes. We ate what we could to not seem rude then headed down the street for some legitimate pizza. It was much better to say the least.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
We woke up early Sunday morning to torrential downpours. The street in front our hostel was flooding with water over the curb. We hopped into a cab to meet some friends for breakfast on Ben Yehudah street. I got shakshukah again but it was not as good as in Haifa. We ate with friends of Molly who are in Medical School in Tel Aviv. It was nice to spend time with them and see how their experience in Israel have been so far, obviously much different than ours. We headed home in the afternoon and everyone was exhausted from the weather and craziness of Purim.
Monday, March 1, 2010
The rain has finally stopped. This morning we still had off of school for the holiday so our whole program went volunteering at the Purim carnival we had been preparing earlier in the week. . I dressed up as a bear, my third costume for the holiday. We set up our booths and by 10 the kids were arriving. My job was to run a balloon booth. The kids came to me to write a wish on a balloon and at the end of the party they all let their balloons up into the air hoping their wish would come true. It was nice. It was interesting to see the different things the children wished for, from gerbils to peace in the world. A parent who was at the party made a wish for the return of Gilad Shelit. He was a soldier captured
in the Second Lebanon War.(The sign I made says, "Make a Wish!")
Recently Israel was
informed that he is still alive; he is now a national hero. Wherever you go on the street or school there are signs in his honor. Its very interesting to see how they react as a country to tragedy.
It was so nice to see the sun out today. Everyone was enjoying themselves, the costumes were great, we got to hear Purim music and see the kids have a wonderful time. After the carnival there was a clown who did activities and danced with the kids. It was interesting to see how things ran a bit differently than in the states. Each child who dressed up stood in a line up front to introduce themselves and what they are dressed up as. At the end some of the staff picked their top 5 costumes and then we voted by clapping on who was the best of the top 5. I feel like in America we would have just said everyone wins! But they decided 1st through 5th place and gave them each different prizes. Later
the clown was handing out a big Teenage mutant ninja turtles coloring book and one of the kids was dressed up as one so he thought he was going to receive it and the clown replied, just because your dressed as one does not mean you get it! There is really no sugar coating here and it did not seem like the young children were bothered or affected by that.The kids were really very sweet, well behaved and appreciative overall. The staff who work at Beit Yididim, where we were volunteering were also very appreciative. The leader thanked us at the end and gave us all a mishloach manot (traditional purim gift basket) to thank us for our time.
Afterwards we exchanged mishloach manot within our program, we did a mini “Secret Ester” and all traded our gifts and talked about our Purim experience so far in Israel compared to how we usually celebrate at home in the states.
(Our group with the vounteers who work at Beit Yididim)
This afternoon I decided to go to my host families because I had some free time. As soon as I walked in the door Zahavah was serving me an entire course meal at 4 in the afternoon. Delicious noodle soup, meatballs, vegetables, rice, cookies and oranges. Great and all but was she feeding me lunch or dinner and why? We talked for a while. She called all 3 of her daughters that live in the states so I could meet them over the phone because she can never call them on Shabbat when I am over. It seemed like she really talkes to them about me because they all mentioned different things they had heard about me. They had great English and seemed like lovely people. One of them may be home in Israel for Passover so I will hopefully get to meet her. She has been living in the US for a while but told me she is just starting to realize how much she misses Israel and may try and move home soon.
Yitzi and Miriam, their neighbors showed up with their granddaughter and 2 of their kids were home as well. Yitzi has been asking to see my computer because he is a computer guy so I brought it over to show him. He let me load several movies on my computer which was nice. Their son is around my age and is working on his English so we said maybe we meet up to chat. Just being in their apartments for a few hours is so pleasant. They are all so welcoming and lovely, I feel like I am part of a family not just living in Israel amongst Americans.
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