ruminations, reflections, and non sequiturs

Soon I have to go do my Ulpan homework and pack for my busy weekend, but I realized I may not have the chance to blog for a bit and wanted to get some thoughts down. Tomorrow we have Ulpan at 9am, and the "bus" (actually a ten passenger van) is picking us up at 11:30 am midway through class. We have scheduled programs/ workshops/ speakers/ services/ tours from very early morning until 11:30 pm both nights, but I'm hoping to maybe still see some friends while in Jerusalem. We'll see how realistic that proves to be. We leave after Havdalah and get back to Arad around 9 pm Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon after Ulpan all forty of us are going back to Jerusalem for a cultural event with WUJS. Tuesday we have an all day study tour (not sure to where but we have tours every Tuesday), and Thursday we're going to Jerusalem AGAIN. There's a Hadag Nachash concert being organized by MASA. I can't wait to see them again! I saw Hadag Nachash at NFTY Convention in Philadelphia this past February. Israelis seem surprised to hear that they played in the US for over a thousand Jewish teens and youth workers. So as you can see, there's a very good chance I will not be blogging again until next weekend.

Allie and I were very productive today. We got up early for a memorial service held in our courtyard to commemorate Yitzak Rabin's assassination. It was led in three languages (Hebrew, Russian, and English) and was very moving. All of the flags today flew at half mast, but most of Israel went on as though it were a regular day. The teachers and most professors here have been on strike for quite some time and schools and universities are closed and some even padlocked. Today they opened for memorial services and then were promptly closed again. This amuses me as it seems counterintuitive. Banks and post offices and such appeared to be open and working regular hours. I was disappointed not to see the day mentioned in most major international news sources. I expected more to be different about today, but other than the displays in our courtyard and the entrance to our building all is as before. We did spend the first half hour of Ulpan however discussing the historic event and current conditions.

After Ulpan (where I continue to amaze myself with how much I've learned in less than a week!) I wanted to take a nap but instead joined Allie for a trip into town. We ran a number of errands and finally bought laundry detergent as well as a drying rack. The drying rack serves to save us money in not having to pay to use the dryer but also saves our clothes from its industrial strength AND lessens our carbon footprint on the environment. Now that's a good deal for $10! (Walking everywhere and not having my car for the time I'm here also makes me feel very green friendly, but I still miss the freedom of driving sometimes. Or maybe just my car.) My Russian was once again useful in finding the rack at the general store as well as getting free hangers from a clothing store at the mall. Paying for hangers seemed silly. I have no idea why there weren't some already here left behind by previous participants. Carrying the rack and a large bottle of fabric softener all the way back gave my arms a great workout. It's quite amazing how quickly my body responds to toning. I feel great!

My first Israeli Art & Culture class with Steve Israel was very interesting as was the dinner seminar he led on social justice for those of us in the PSJ track. I'm so glad I decided to be in this track rather than art. The art track takes only one class, and they spend most of their time creating art/ music or writing in their studios. I don't feel like my personal mission in Israel is to express but rather to pour knowledge and experiences into myself as a sort of vessel. I feel so very hungry for knowledge about everything. I'm ravenous! I still want to take every class offered! I was impressed with how much I am able to bring to discussions despite a few people's stigmas about a "Reform education." Just goes to show education is education. There's so much we absorb through involvement of any kind, but I think active participation and engagement is key. On a random note, I miss my Dan Nichols's cds! I have "all the world's a narrow bridge..." stuck in my head and in general I really need to get Mim or someone to email me some tracks. Being in Israel very much lends itself to his music, but to most of you, that's probably redundant.

Yesterday was as fantastic as I'd hoped it would be. Beautiful, scenic, educational. Very hot and a very long day to be sure but so worth it. The garden we visited had a special sensory garden with water components and herbs for olfactory stimulation for the blind or hard of seeing visitors. Very cool.

Jonathan (our educational director) made an intriguing statement during our pre-departure meeting Monday night. He was talking about the importance of the waves of aliyot to Israel's history and said that they are especially crucial in Judaism's history because ours is not the telling of the story of one central figure or person but of a people's journey towards statehood. I'm not capturing his words accurately, I know, but the idea is something I'm still pondering. Zichron Yaakov and the events that took place there are certainly critical to Israel's existence today when seen from that vantage point. [Non sequitur alert] We also had delicious Chinese food for lunch. Not one of the six of us could resist the business lunch special. It was a little more than the average cost of an entree but included soup or eggrolls, Chinese salad, steamed or fried rice, entree, AND dessert. SO much food! We knew it was more than we would eat for lunch, but leftovers are a wonderful thing and the deal was simply too good. We tried to resist. We really tried. Most other people ate at cafes and also had delicious meals. (Food is good.) The town as a whole was adorable, and I made a mental note to go back either one weekend or during my month in Israel after this program ends. There were many cute shops we never made it to, but the winery tour was worth putting the shopping off until next time. I'm realizing I may not actually have an idea of what I want to do after May until I start my internship in January.

I'm certain there's more to tell, but homework awaits. Please keep the comments and emails coming. I'm sorry I can't reply as consistently as I'd like, but they mean a lot to me! (Victor, Jamie, & Janet- thank you!!)

Whoever posted the food comment anonymously that I didn't publish... and you know who you are (Andrew- was it you??)... I want to assure you I have not "lost it." Sometimes mashed potatoes really are that good!