Another Jerusalem weekend

Unless you have specific plans, which I did not, the weekend in Jerusalem isn't very interesting. This time I wasn't the only one home, though. Liz got sick, so Charlie and Becca stayed home to help her. On Friday I went to the shook to get some challa, and I spent the rest of the day not doing all that much. I went to dinner with the remaining people at what was probably the only restaurant open in the entire city. It wasn't bad; they even had that sparkling apple juice we love so much.

On Saturday evening, after doing nothing at all for most of the day, I went down to Ben Yehuda for a bit. There were all sorts of things going on, including what seemed to be a Chinese choir. I got some dinner and then walked around a bit. The first time I passed it, the bookstore was closed, but they opened by the second time (I was wandering), so I popped in. I needed some books for the plane back, so I picked up two that were highly recommended to me: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the first Discworld book.

And that's about it. Today we have a speaker, so that should be interesting.

Jerusalem Pride

Since we've had so little to do at work lately, Jacob and I decided to call in before leaving the apartment yesterday. It turns out there wasn't much of anything for us to do there, but Dalit had some other work for us. So she used the phone and email to give us what we needed to do. Jacob and I agreed to take the day off and start on Sunday, since neither of us was really feeling up for it that day. That night, the whole group went to the Old City to see the "Night Spectacular" at the King David Citadel. Before that, a few of us went to a very strange Armenian bar. Among the "hot deserts" on the menu were ice cream and a hooka. The drink orders were interesting; "beer, beer, beer, fanta, beer, beer". The people with me ordered the hooka as well, but canceled it when it was taking too long. The show was pretty awesome; it used a lot of the same techniques as the thing they showed at the light show earlier in the trip, and a lot of the projections looked 3D. It was overall pretty awesome.

Today, I didn't do too much until the pride parade. I had a bit of trouble getting to the park where it started, but I made my way there and joined the group. The march itself was pretty short; only an hour. There were a bunch of speeches in Hebrew that I didn't understand, but the music was good and there was a lot of energy. Lots of fun; glad I went.

Crisis Averted

Well, after a frantic search I found my G1 charger and adapter under the couch, and there's no reason for it to have been there.

I'm just not in a good mood tonight. Hopefully I'll feel better in the morning. This is assuming I get much sleep, which doesn't seem likely; my roommates are insisting we let someone else sleep on the other couch, and knowing my luck he probably snores too. Here's hoping, right?

Like I said, not in a good mood.

Naked Mole Rats in the Bible?

I actually thought today was Monday, because I literally don't remember anything that happened on Sunday.

On Monday, we once again had very little to do at work. We worked on a table of data for fundraising or something, and we were only there for about two hours. When I got back, a few people were going to the zoo. After changing my mind about three times, I decided to join them. It's a biblical zoo, so it has animals that were in the bible. But as they m,made quite clear, they did NOT have a pig; just an animal that looks like one (I forget what it's called). Some highlights include some playful bears, climbing monkeys, a bunch of young ibexes, a pelican that nearly bit Ben (it was sitting very close to the railing), and what we think were naked mole rats giving birth. That is, we know they were naked mole rats, and we're pretty sure they were giving birth right there in the exhibit. I can't decide if the little baby ones were cute or gross (the adults are the latter). In another part of the exhibit, one of the naked mole rats was continuously trying and failing to climb up something. He's probably still trying.

Today was another very short work day. After an hour of work we had the ulpan, during which I showed off my inability to read maps well, and that's about it. Maybe I'll do something fun tonight. I slept on the couch the last two nights, and I probably will again.

Boring Weekend

So, on Tuesday we went to Tel Aviv where they were having a big festival for the centennial. After Itzik gave us a brief tour of Jaffa, we were set loose. I browsed around a bit with Alex around the market, and after we had some food, we met up with Itzik, Charlie, Becca, and some others at a restaurant called Doctor Shakshuka or something.

Not much happened after that, unfortunately. We browsed the festival a bit but there wasn't much to see.

There were only a few of us eho didn't stay for the weekend. I wanted to, but I didn't have my medication or a place to stay. From what I've heard, I didn't miss much. It was really hot, and people were doing exactly what they do here: drinking and smoking.

The rest of the weekend was boring, but at least with the apartment to myself I was able to sleep. Last night I got no sleep at all. I tried to get to sleep before my roommates, the Snoring Wonders, but they were very loud and wouldn't close the door no matter how many times I asked them. With Scott on our couch for absolutely no good reason, I couldn't use that for refuge. I ended up going outside. Ben was out there and offered to let me sleep on their couch. I tried that, but it wasn't very effective. So, I got no sleep. I will try to take a nap after work today, but the apartment will be as loud as it was last night, so I doubt I will have too much luck.

AC/DC

My posts will probably be shorter from now on, since I am forced to use my G1 instead of my laptop. And I mean. Actually usibng the browser, since I cannot figure out the way to make Blogger in English and figure out email-based posting. The reason for this problem is that my laptop's AC adapter is commpletely dead. The computer side has been on the verge of fraying to death for a while now, but I didn't think it would actually break as long as I was careful. Apparently I wasn't careful enough. I doubt I will be able to replace it until I get home, since I have to order it online. The charger for my DS is also dead for some reason. That's easier and cheaper to replace, but I will still probably have to wait until I get home.

Today I went to Malcha Mall to see if I could replace at least one of them, but not only did I have no luck, I got on the wrong bus home again. Luckily the driver was a nice guy, and he took me to the right stop to get another bus. I got a funny book at the mall, but no chargers. I'm stuck with my G1 for now.

When I got home from the mall, I decided to stop by the convenience store for something to drink. There I met up with some girls from the program who informed me that not only was almost everyone out drinking. They also told me one of the rooms had mice. Shortly after I got home, they caught one in a humane trap and asked me to help get rid of it. I felt kind of bad for it.

Anyway, here I am, about ready for bed. Tomorrow we are going to Tel Aviv, so I will post again soon.

Gay rights and sushi

So, Sunday was the first day of volunteer work. Me and Jacob worked at the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance (or just Jerusalem Open House), helping them prepare for the upcoming gay pride march in Jerusalem. Specifically, we were tasked with updating the English version of the website and getting the word out on english-speaking websites. It was actually pretty easy, and the people who work there are really cool. It's a small place; they hold meetings and events there, as well as a youth group and a clinic. The only person working when we got there wasn't actually expecting us; our contact at the place came later.

After work, a bunch of us went to a sushi place near the apartments. It wasn't great, but it was pretty good; I got a Tiger roll and it was pretty good, but not too filling. After that we all headed to the old city for the light show. "Light show" is a pretty vague term; basically, they lit up a bunch of stuff in the old city in cool ways, had some booths set up where you can buy cool light things, and had some other lighty attractions. The best part was a short film called "Ori". Basically they took one of the old buildings and put screens on three of the windows. These screnes each showed part of the scene, panorama-style. But a lot of the stuff interacted with the rest of the building, and the audience. Leaves would fall off trees and fall onto the ledge of the building under the screen, water would flow off the screen and trickle down the building's arches, and lights behind the lower windows changed based on the scene. When a car was driving, for example, the lights would reflect where the headlights pointed, and when they pointed at the audience, bright lights would shine. It kicked butt, basically.

We called it a night after that and a little bit of arguing over what we would eat; nobody could decide. So we went back to the apartments and went from there. This morning, we started work a little bit later, and we only had to be there for an hour; our guy wasn't there, and the stuff he asked us to do in his email was easy. So, after some more sushi, Jacob and I went back to the apartments until it appeared my computer charger died. As it turned out, it's just a crappy plug. Obviously it's working now, but not before I went to the other side of the city trying and failing to replace it. Tomorrow a few of us are going to check out the big mall in the city, but for now I think it's time for bed.

Shabat Shalom (Hey!)

So Charlie and the others didn't end up going to the shabat dinner after all, but after I didn't hear from them for a while, I decided to go anyway. I went with some girls from the apartment across the hall, since I didn't remember how to get there. A couple of them had actually stayed there before the program, and introduced me to their friend Steve. We talked a lot, and it was fun; the food was pretty good too. I ended up being quite funny, first when I made up an Amirim song on the spot after Steve joked about it, and then when I told my story from the other night. I showed a lot of sides of myself; I also, for example, participated in the religious discussion. Over all it was a very fun night.

After my adventure the other day and my late night last night, I'm pretty tired. Also, it's shabat, so nothing is open, and a lot of the people from the program went to the beach in Tel Aviv. I didn't feel like joining this time around, because it's going to be crowded. I'm pretty sure Max and I are the only ones here, so we're going to chill until tonight. I'm going back down to Ben Yehuda tonight; I'm not sure what Max's plans are.

Also, check this out:
http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Articles^l2536&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Profiles

Busy night, busy day

Yesterday was an interesting day. We had to get up quite early for orientation, which took place at this little community center place called Merkaz Hagmashimim, where we were told about our volunteering places and stuff. We were also given bus passes to get around Jerusalem. Itzik recommended we go from the apartments to our volunteering places to make sure we know how to get there. I'm working at Open House, a gay rights organization. The only other person working there is Jacob, one of my roommates, so he and I headed off there together.

After waiting about half an hour for the right bus to come, we got to the area and followed Itzik's instructions to find the place. After that, we headed back...or at least that was the plan. Jacob decided to walk all the way back to the apartment, which I could not do. So it was up to me to find a bus stop on the other side of the road to go back to the apartment.

Unfortunately, the roads in that area are curved and angled wierdly, and there was no bus stop on the other side of the road. So, I was kind of lost. I walked around a bit, trying to find a bus going the right way, and had no luck. By that time I was pretty tired and just wanted to get out of this area, so I hopped on the same bus that took me there, knowing it was going in the wrong direction. I decided to see where it went and go from there.

It brought me to Mount Scopus, and Hebrew University. I kind of wanted to check out the campus some more, but I couldn't really find an entrance and my feet were starting to hurt. During this time, one of the Israeli college students commented on my Street Fighter t-shirt, which was cool. Anyway, I decided the only way I could get back to the apartment in one piece was to take a cab, and there were indeed a few in the area. I hopped in one and hoped for the best. Only trouble was, I didn't have many sheqels; certainly not enough to get all the way back to the apartment. I doubted I had enough to get anywhere, but I figured the best in-between point was Ben Yehuda street. It was somewhere between Mount Scopus and the apartment, and I knew I could find an ATM and another cab there, so I asked the first cab I saw what it would cost to get there, explaining I didn't have a lot. He was cool with it, so I payed a good price for a cab to Ben Yehuda.

Once there, I decided to look around a bit. I hadn't been there yet this trip, and I knew it was a cool place. Music playing everywhere, people speaking English, and a lot of shops and restaurants. After a little bit of getting lost, I came upon one of the few non-historical places I knew I wanted to come back to from my last trip to Israel: the crepe place. Right next to it was a sushi restaurant, of all places. So my dinner was set. After I ate, I decided to sit around a bit and absorb the atmosphere. After that, I caught a cab back to the apartment. It was a pretty crazy evening.

After getting back, I wasn't quite ready for bed. So I decided to do some stuff online for a while, until I was ready to go to bed. My apartment mates, who went to Ben Yehuda after I did, staggered back at various times. The first back was Charlie, who broke off from the main group with his girlfriend (also on the trip) and randomly stumbled on a very interesting place. It was a free expression, poetry circly bar place. They had musical instruments for anyone to play, and people just talked and played music. He's going to take me there on Sunday night.

We talked for a while after he got back, and we went on facebook. It was at that time he told me he was interested in cloud computing, which I thought was cool. I showed him Dad's book and website and said they should talk some time. Later on, the others came back, all drunk. I decided to go to bed, but first I wanted to take a shower.

Turns out that wasn't the best idea. The bathroom uses an incredibly archaic lock system, with a big key you have to turn to get the door locked and unlocked from inside. Because it's an old key and lock, it's not very straightforward. You can probably see where this is going: I was stuck in the bathroom for over an hour until Charlie came back and explained to me how to use the lock. It wasn't fun. After that fiasco, I actually showered and went to bed.

Needless to say, after last night I slept a lot. I woke up around 1:30 and went with Charlie, his girlfriend, Max, and another girl to a little food market. We got some excellent breads, fruits, and vegetables for the apartment and for dinner tonight. But it looks like that dinner's actually not going to happen; the others just went to visit the Western Wall, and I got a call from Charlie a few minutes ago saying they're going to eat at the Merkaz place and have the other dinner tomorrow night. I don't remember how to get to that place, so hopefully I'll find somebody to follow.

Morning

I decided to get up earlier than I had to; it's orientation day, and stuff starts in about an hour. I'm not sure why I got up early, but I've been chatting with Charlie and we've been comparing facebook pictures. I showed him our cat from school, he showed me his cat. So now we're just chilling, waiting for orientation.

The kitchen equipment in the apartment, at least some of it, is basically unusable; the water heater, for example, has old milk in it. Gross.

I'll post again tonight. I think a bunch of us might go to Tel Aviv for the weekend; I'll find out today.

I can't hike

How many Jews does it take to change a lightbulb? That's what we're trying to figure out, as the light in my bedroom is out and we don't know how to fix it. So far we're on 5.

Anyway, the reason I didn't post yesterday was that we spent yesterday and today in the north. Yesterday, after stopping at this tiny food store in the middle of nowhere that had the BEST schnitzel, we went to the Golan Heights area. We got a great view of the Sea of Galilee, while our counselor Itzik told us about its history and sang a song about it.

After that, the trouble started. We did a short water hike, where we had to walk on a rocky riverbed with the water coming up to hour knees. The water didn't bother me at all, but I couldn't balance on the rocks that I couldn't see. Tom, our security guy/medic, helped me out a bit. I managed to make it to the end of the hike without falling, somehow. In fact, I think the only person who fell was Itzik, who was splashing people.

It was so freakin hot yesterday that Young Judea's security people wouldn't let us do any other hikes, which is good, because one of them was going to be three hours long and I don't think I'd be able to handle that. Instead, we spent a while in a little town called Tiberius. We didn't do much there; we found a restaurant to eat at, and other wise didn't do much else. After Tiberius, we headed to the hostel where we would be spending the night. After some really weird icebreaking activities, and playing the Israeli version of Uno for a while during our free time, it was time for bed. The beds were nice, but one of my room mates was snoring, so I had some trouble getting to sleep.

This morning, after breakfast at the hostel, we headed right to another hike. I didn't enjoy this one either; I got eaten up by bugs, nearly fell on rocks, and got really tired out really quickly. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fun. After the hike we went to Tzfat, the home of kabbalah. We learned a little bit about it, but mostly we just had some food (really good falafel) and checked out the little shops. One of my travelmates knew of a guy from when he was here before who sold some cool kabbalah art. The guy was from Detroid, but moved to Israel after getting into kabbalah. He didn't have much time to talk, but he seemed cool.

The next part of the trip was the worst. A one and a half hour hike through very rocky terrain. We had to go uphill for quite some time, and it was the hardest thing I've ever done. I felt my heart pounding; I had never worked my body so hard. I had to take frequent breaks, helped again by Tom. It was not fun in any way, and I most certainly will never do that again.

So now I'm back at the apartment, and very tired. I'm going to go to bed. I took some pictures, but the connection is terrible, so I can't get them to upload right now.

First night in Israel

First of all, here's the combined video remote/game controller/phone/plane services thing from the plane:

Pretty awesome, huh?

Now I'm in the apartment. Getting to this point was rather difficult, because I spent hours in the airport looking for the mythical Arrival Gate 26, which doesn't actually exist. Once I met up with some other dudes from the program, we got together and asked at the information desk. They informed us that, indeed, it does not exist, and pointed us to gate 24, where we met the rest of the people from the program. We ended up having to wait for quite some time, but eventually we got on the bus. The person who was so late ended up sitting with me on the bus, and we had a good conversation.

The apartments are cool, but a lot more bare and unorganized than I expected. But I got unpacked, met my apartmentmates, and now we're going to do some last-minute food-getting. There isn't much in the area, but there's a supermarket and a gas station, so we should be able to at least get something for the hike tomorrow and whatnot.

It's going to be a crazy trip; two days of hiking, and one of the hikes is three and a half hours long. Hopefully I'll manage.

Traveler!

Israel time: 3:40 PM

Here I am at the airport in Tel Aviv! It will be a few hours before I get picked up by the people from my program, so I will have to wait it out in here. The plane was cool; it had one of those personal screen on demand things for coach, which helped. I watched some tv shows and X-Men.

I'll have a lot more to say this evening; right now I am on my phone. Later!

Leaving on Sunday!

I've been getting ready for the trip all summer, and it's really coming down to the wire. Yesterday I got my flashlight, hat (it was hard to find one that fit me), and other stuff. Tomorrow I'm packing, and then it's off to Jerusalem! Using my phone, I'll keep you posted when I'm at the airports, but obviously not on the plane!

Intro

On June 7th I will be heading to Israel to participate in the Amirim program. In this blog, I'll keep track of my trip and show you pictures and videos of what I've been doing there. I plan to blog the entire 4-week trip, so keep watching!