Week One

Alright, the title of this post, and the title of the whole blog, are temporary. I was taking too long to come up with a good title, and didn't want to wait any longer to get some thoughts down.

Turkish Airlines is the best airline ever. Per customary Turkish hospitality, they give you little slippers to walk around the plane. The meals were awesome, and not even compared to other airline food. It was awesome compared to real food.  (I love being able to italicize! I couldn't do that on my bike tour blog without using HTML commands, which, like Hebrew, I never took the time to learn. I'm now regretting one of those things). The plane also had a fruit and pastry stand, just there for the taking in between meals. But most importantly, alcoholic beverages were free. It felt like first class!

Two of my camp friends were finishing up their birthright trips on Thursday, so we coordinated an overlapping weekend together. Corey booked a room at the Sheraton, right on the water, and we had an awesome party / beach weekend. We stayed up super late and slept the days away. Thank you jet lag! I met a few of his friends and a lot of the Israeli soldiers from his program. I'm psyched that I know some people now!

Israel is expensive in some ways, and cheap in other ways. Drinks at bars are insanely pricey ($9 for a beer) but meals at some restaurants seem to be fairly cheap. I'll have to learn the ropes so I don't drain the bank too quickly.

On Sunday I got on a bus down to Mitzpe Ramon, where I would be spending the next 3 to 4 weeks before the Career Israel program begins. Mitzpe Ramon is a small town sitting on the top of the Ramon Crater in the Negev Desert, the largest national park in Israel.

When I read about Mitzpe Ramon, with its desert location and hippy / artsy / music community, I wondered if it would be similar to my former stomping ground of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. When I arrived, though, Mitzpe seemed larger, with wider roads and a less intimate feel, even though Mitzpe's population is half that of TorC. Maybe it's because Mitzpe, like many Israeli settlements, is so new that the town's infrastructure didn't evolve organically over time.

I'll be spending this month volunteering at a guest house called Mati and Roni's Desert Tent. It's a Bedouin-style tent / hostel that caters to backpackers. The owners, Mati and Roni, are so warm and friendly, and made me feel right at home. They feed me really well; Roni used to own one of the top restaurants in Israel, so he's a very talented cook. Just the other day he taught me how to make shakshouka, a sauteed vegetable dish with eggs and spices.

They are in the process of refurbishing a house across the street and then moving, so most of my daily duties involve sanding and painting the walls and ceilings, and just organizing stuff.

And there is a lot of stuff. Mati and Roni are total hoarders! There's just stuff all over the place, inside and outside, and to make matters worse, they can never seem to find anything they need because everything is everywhere. It's a little stressful and overwhelming for me,  after the bike tour during which I had a small, finite list possessions and always knew where everything was. But I'm viewing this as a learning and growth experience.

The one staff member, and my roommate, is named Rudy. He moved to Israel from Russia when he was 14 and now lives in Haifa. He's connected to the music scene here in Mitzpe, and has already brought me along to his friends' musical gatherings. I like him a lot, but he snores. So I've been sleeping in the tent, which is too cold right now for guests. But it's nothing I can't handle. I actually love sleeping outside again.

I'm teaching myself a little Hebrew each night. Slowly but surely. Rudy is helping me a lot.

It's crazy how Judaism is everywhere here. Mati and Roni's daughter Nitzan and her husband Robi have an adorable one-year old girl, and today Nitzan was playing a Hebrew children's song for the baby. I asked her what the song was, and she said it's a Tubshvat song, since today is Tu bishvat. They also brought over a big platter of dried fruits in honor of the holiday, and there were commercials and news spots on TV about it. It's a powerful feeling, knowing that everyone in the room and most people in the country celebrate this Jewish holiday, by default, obviously, nonchalantly, tacitly. Same thing with Shabbat.

On the other hand, the language barrier is tough. I really wish I wasn't such a juvenile delinquent in Hebrew school. I know that most people around me are Jewish, but I don't really identify with them, at least not yet. I feel much more strongly associated with American Jews, and even just plain Americans, than I do with Israelis. Maybe that's because there are more Sephardim here? Maybe it's because all the Jews I've known have been "Americanized" whereas many Israelis came directly from the "old country." It's interesting. But I'm not too concerned about it because I've only been here a week.

All in all, I'm settling into this phase of the adventure.

Cool graffiti in Tel Aviv

On the beach in Tel Aviv

The backyard of the guest house. We've got a lot of work to do...

The Ibex just hang out around town. This one seems to have happened upon a yummy snack.

Evening jog in Mitzpe. I've going to try my hand at trail running while I'm here. So far, it's great!

Sunset on the crater

Robi's parrot, also named Robi.

Another photo from another jog. Pretty epic.

Flash mob dance on the beach near our hotel. We've been told Israelis LOVE flash mobs!

Me and my camp friends Corey and Cory

Shakshouka!

Corey and Gali, an Israeli soldier from his Birthright program

Nir, another Israeli soldier, took me and Jordan to the best hummus spot in town. It's the place to be on Friday afternoon before Shabbat. There was a huge line out the door!