Farewell, Rabi Meir Street

I moved out of the apartment on Thursday, which was a much sadder occasion than I expected. Lots of good memories there, and it of course signifies that change is soon to come. This will be my last week interning in Tel Aviv, which is ridiculous...time! Where did you go? 7 weeks in Tel Aviv, and I have become attached...the other night I took a very touristy tour of Tel Aviv's famous architecture and homes of historical leaders. I always loved the style of Tel Aviv apartments, but now I'm really addicted to looking up when I walk down streets, to catch the neat designs and elements of the buildings. I also had my very last yoga class on Wednesday and said proper goodbyes to both the teacher and a graduate student who was my personal translator/yoga companion. The teacher gave the class in English for the first time, I think as a special parting gift to me. I'm glad the goodbyes are happening slowly--the ones at the hostel and Kav La'Oved will be harder next week.

The empty apartment...how depressing!

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...

The street we lived on, good ole Rabi Meir.

(Don't) Deport(ed) (Me)

Spending a Saturday at the New Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv is like...not being in Israel. It's the end of the weekend, the time when all the caregivers and domestic workers in the city are returning to the homes of the employers. And the Station is absolutely flooded with Indian, Sri Lankan, Filipino, Chinese and Nepalese workers...I barely saw Israelis there at all, or they were hidden among the foreign faces. It's like an entire underground population has risen out of no where. Even though I see the migrant workers all the time in the office, it was shocking to witness the massive numbers of them, momentarily stepping out of their usual invisibility.

These are some posters/street art that can be found around this area, where many of the migrants live. There are so many opinions on this: the migrants are good, bad, useful, sly, naive, smart, strong, weak. Whether or not you think they deserve to be here, to work and live and create families here, no one can deny the fact that immigration is a pressing issue in Tel Aviv. An Israeli woman told me to not forget that in my work with Kav La'Oved, I am "only seeing one side of Israel." Absolutely--it is only one side, but one I am glad to be aware of. More than that, I'm proud to be a part of the cause.

A new campaign to protect the children of migrants. These posters are everywhere--car windshields, restaurant and store windows, street corners, building walls, back of bikes...

"גירוש עכשיו" means "Deportation now!"

8.10.09 - 10.10.09

This is an ode to a wonderful weekend filled to the brim with seeing friends and getting to know their families. In an attempt at organization, here we go...

The Serious: Last week I had several talks with great people, and each and every time the topics of converting to Judaism and living in Israel came up (who knew that I would incite such conversations?). Whenever people ask if I'm ready to live here and become Jewish, the answer is slightly...complicated. The last two months have really opened my eyes to both aspects of Israel and Judaism I love and value (i.e. family, tradition, lifestyle) and aspects I do not always understand or accept (i.e. immigration, politics). No place is perfect, indeed. But as many friends have point-blank told me, "Israel is not an easy place to live." A friend from Cornell, a Jewish-American, told me that after two years here she still grapples with being a foreigner at times. I tell people all the time that I love Tel Aviv, since it is the best place in Israel for a liberal non-Jewish Asian-American to live. True fact, but a city isn't representative of an entire country. Most days I am happy with my life here, surrounded by some of the most loving and warm people I have ever met, doing satisfying work that I am passionate about. But sometimes I am still very bothered by the fact that the country, in its foundation, sees my presence as a threat to the Jewish people. While Matan, his family, and our friends are as supportive and encouraging as possible, I need to come to terms with the fact that some people (in Israel and out) will always think that I have no right to be here. Yes, there are probably racist Americans who think that I am not a "real" American. But there's a difference between being born into a country (the US) and then actively choosing to establish a new life in a new country (Israel). And I haven't even gone into the related topics of conversion, religion, God, the army, war...so. I told you it was complicated...:)

The Less Serious: This is the first time I've lived in a city, and I adore it. Next week will be my last in Tel Aviv, which makes me a little teary already. For years I've been jealous of my city-dwelling friends. I'm glad I ended up in rural upstate NY for college, but I'm equally (if not more) glad that I moved out of there and found myself here instead. There's just this buzz that I feel so energized by, the constant movement of people, the density of individuals in one space. The overwhelming number of fascinating streets and corners, cafes, stores, galleries. It is like one big treasure hunt all the time. The apartment is located in such a central spot--I really feel the pulsing of the heart of the city. Plus, Tel Aviv just has this young, liberal, eclectic vibe, with beach-side yoga, vegan restaurants with names like "Buddha Burger," tons of NGOs, and a disproportionate number of people with tattoos of Chinese characters. Tel Aviv won my heart very quickly. BUT despite my love for this city and its beach, art, and culture...I am quite ashamed of how "loose" I've been with my wallet lately (mainly with food, honestly). URBAN LIFE IS EXPENSIVE. I want to keep living in cities. Cities are expensive. I want to keep working with NGOs. NGOs do not equate big salaries. What a dilemma.

The Not Serious: Thursday night I saw 500 Days of Summer at the Haifa International Film Festival...hehe, international American movie! I also spent a lot of the weekend with my friend Amir, meeting the family's two new kittens (one named Pascal), two new puppies (half St. Bernard), chickens and roosters, frogs, birds, garden hedgehog, Amir's awesome family, and more cats and dogs. And seeing the lychee, mango, cotton, guava, pomegranate, fig, pecan, grape, orange, etc. trees/plants on their land. Amazing. Kittens and puppies and babies (Amir has a new nephew) make the world fuzzy and happy. In another life, I really wish I could go around distributing baby animals and spreading joy and love. In case the whole NGO thing doesn't work out...I also got to have Shabbat dinner with my friend Kesem and her aunt, uncle, and awesome cousins. Dinner started with prayers and ended with chasing each other around with foam swords. Very cultural, indeed...

A funny pic I've been meaning to share--the sign, and then me, Amir, Matan and Kes.

Love-Hate List

Love:
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...

This is the line outside of the place. It's small, cramped, and super-speedy. You order and get your hummus within a minute. See the guy waving in line? That turned out to be Matan's cousin getting some hummus, too...

Even though we stuffed ourselves with hummus and pita, I insisted on Baklawa.
AHHH. IT'S SO DELICIOUS. Sigh...

A Most Delightful Day

...occurred exactly 2 weeks ago. I have to document it here on the blog, because I don't want to forget it myself when I'm old and cranky and surrounded by my cats. It starts with a 6:20 AM alarm, because Matan is somewhat crazy and decided he needed to run. I like to run. I just don't like 6:20 alarms. But I couldn't let him out-energize me, so we had a really great run along the beach. By 9:30 AM, I was at Kav La'Oved, and I don't remember the specifics, but I helped some people, which is always a good feeling. I stayed till 3, and left the office pining for food. Israeli food. For weeks, I'd seen the constant crowd outside of Super Falafel. Oh wow, was it super...perfection. I ordered in Hebrew, to the amusement of the Falafel Man, asking for a hetzi mana, or half-order. The falafal was exquisite (and I don't say this about all falafel), crispy on the outside, but hot and soft on the inside. After finishing it on a park bench, I wandered into Halper's Bookstore, one I've been eyeing for weeks as well. It is a total maze of books, most in English--an incredible collection of fiction, history, philosophy, everything...and I even got to chat with Halper himself, who is actually quite famous in the blogging world (http://melchettmike.wordpress.com/tag/tel-aviv/). I headed back to the electricity-less apartment (we knew we'd have to pay at some point) , eating some melted vanilla ice cream for good measure. Matan's sis Nitzan met me then, and we headed over to another place I've been dying to go: 24 Rupee, a vegetarian Indian restaurant. Nitzan and I chatted over some chai until Matan met us there. The food was AWESOME, and served on the typical Indian tin plates, which I really appreciated. As you can see, the place is totally chill and relaxing. We booked it out of there to make it in time for "Not for Bread Alone," a play at the Nalaga'at Theater...the only deaf/blind theater in the world. It was an incredible show, illustrating the dreams of the 11 deaf-blind actors and actresses through sign language, morse code, dance, acting, and the process of making bread (http://www.nalagaat.org.il/bread.php).

If any of you are ever in Tel Aviv, I highly recommend this itinerary for a day...

Gilad Shalit

I found out about the story of Gilad Shalit because of the white and blue bumper stickers everywhere here. As you can see, there's an image of his face, the Israeli flag, and the words, "Welcome to the next millennium." The stickers came out 1000 days after the capture of Gilad, a means of reminding the country of his absence and the likewise hope for his return. The country has not forgotten...there is practically daily news about him in the papers and in TV.

Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who is now 23 years old, was captured by Hamas in 2006 and taken into Gaza. For almost 4 years, the country has been waiting for some sign of his well-being, his life. On Sept. 30th, Israel said that it would release 20 Palestinian women accused of attempted homicide in exchange for a videotape of Gilad as proof that he was alive. The video was released to the public last Friday, October 2, around 4 PM. Those 20 women have subsequently been released.

Around that time, Matan, our friend Kesem and I were sitting at Art d'Coco, a pretty nice restaurant known for its massive assortment of desserts. A flatscreen TV was playing scenes of chocolate-making, while the waiters buzzed around serving big salads and beautiful cakes and mousses. Suddenly, before I fully realized what was happening, the TV was switched to the local channel, the volume turned all the way up. The music playing in the restaurant stopped, along with the whirring of blenders and kitchen preparation. Everyone in the place turned towards the TV, twisting to watch the clip. Mothers shushed their kids. The video played, mere minutes. But everyone was visibly touched; you could sense the somber atmosphere, mixed with some relief and suspicion as well. The video is from September 14, two weeks before.

It was a moment I will always remember because it illustrates one of Israel's strongest traits so well...the respect, value, and worth they hold for their soldiers, for their people. It was touching to witness it: collective anticipation, followed by hope. We had some great conversation that afternoon about war, the army, views on life and death, morality and ethics. I admire Kes' ability to see the bigger picture, so to speak, to serve her own country while remembering the importance of human life for all.

I encourage you to watch the video--here's a copy with English subtitles. 2 minutes 51 seconds...and then much more to ponder in your own head. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edwwLIjSWR8