Saturday, November 21, 2009
The End of an Era (or just three months)
Beginning at the Farm
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Farewell, Rabi Meir Street
The upshot of all this is that I've picked an organic farm to work on for a month, through WorldWideOpportunities(on)OrganicFarms'ing (wwoof.org). Yes, you can use it in a sentence like, "Neat! Are you going to WWOOF as well?" I'll start next Sunday, and I can't wait. The farm I picked (and that accepted me) looks incredible!! It's a goat farm. And you must watch their little video on the website (goatswiththewind.com) and read their introduction. It will make you smile. I don't know anything about goats, except I like their cheese and they're pretty fuzzy, cute creatures. Reason enough.
On the topic of my Hebrew, a few days ago I had coffee with a friend I met through the volunteering with Chinese migrants. She's Israeli, but studied Chinese and lived in China for a year, and now is back working at Amnesty International. Needless to say, she is incredibly awesome. We went to a small coffeeshop filled with vintage furniture and cool art, and spoke English AND Chinese AND Hebrew over apple cake. It was a blast...I really was inspired by Emma, who did this with a Spanish friend of hers in Sevilla. I had no idea how it would go--if it would lag and be awkward or boring or filled with anxiety...but it was absolutely fantastic. Plus, I got to take a tour of her new apartment in Yafo (Jaffa), one of the oldest port cities in the world, with its beautiful teal wooden shutters and antique tiling in the bathroom.
So, I've said goodbye to one apartment with a fond farewell. But I've already started dreaming of the next one...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
(Don't) Deport(ed) (Me)
8.10.09 - 10.10.09
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Love-Hate List
1. The good, cheap, locally made yogurt I eat every morning.
2. Seeing a Filipina woman I worked with an Kav La'Oved at the bus station, and having her say hello because she remembered me.
3. No mice in Tel Aviv because there are too many stray cats. And seeing lots of kittens!
4. Getting invited to sit down and share a meal with our neighbor and her friends the first time we met her, purely do to the goodness of her heart.
5. Hummus.
Hate:
1. The fact I spent weeks buying over-priced yogurt because the good, cheap, locally made yogurt was in a weird looking container and shelved with the milk, not the yogurt.
2. Migrant workers who work for the same employer for 9-12 years and get paid below minimum wage without receiving any benefits they're entitled to for the last 9-12 years.
3. Seeing lots of homeless kittens.
4. The overwhelming number of awesome restaurants and cafes in the city, all of which taunt me to pull out my wallet and buy lots of delicious things.
5. Hummus up north is better than the stuff in the middle of the country. I would love to be proven wrong...on that note!
I LOVE Akko; it's a city in the north, right on the coast, with mad history (Napolean tried to conquer it). Besides being beautiful, it won my heart because 1) it's one of the only cities in Israel where Arabs and Jews peacefully live together and 2) it has the best hummus I've ever had in my life. Matan asked if I was going to take a picture of it, but I didn't because I thought it would not do the Abu Sayid hummus justice. Instead...
Even though we stuffed ourselves with hummus and pita, I insisted on Baklawa.
AHHH. IT'S SO DELICIOUS. Sigh...
A Most Delightful Day
If any of you are ever in Tel Aviv, I highly recommend this itinerary for a day...