IDF

Last week we were given some vacation time for Hannukah. We were offered the chance to participate in an army volunteering program or stay here in Ashdod. Most of us chose to participate in the army volunteering, without much knowledge of what we would be doing. (Just a little background for everyone. Military service is mandatory for men and women in Israel. Women serve a minimum of 2 years and men serve a minimum of 3 years.) We all met at the bus stop at 7 in the morning and were split into two groups. My group went north to a base called Hativa on the Lebanese border. Once we got there they gave us uniforms and sleeping bags and told us a little bit about what we would be doing. For those five days we were soldiers. We had to be up at 7, eating breakfast in uniform by 7:30, and on the bus by 8 which shipped us to an outpost on the border. At the border we carried sandbags for hours re-fortifying one of the many Israeli outposts. The bus took us back for lunch at the base and then drove us back to the outpost for some more heavy lifting. At night we had dinner with rest of the soldiers and afterwards we were free to do what we wanted. For me that meant playing soccer with some of the soldiers and many games of durak (a popular card game). On the last day we were given military clearance to go to the location of the event which triggered the 2006 Lebanon war. At that moment I was standing at the exact spot where two IDF soldiers were killed by Hezbollah forces and dragged back into Lebanon. This event led to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and was the beginning of the controversial 2nd Lebanon War. The commander was able to explain the kidnapping in great depth because his brother was part of the first special forces unit sent in to rescue the soldiers. The whole experience of volunteering at the base was one of the most fulfilling I've had thus far in Israel. There were many things that I wasn't allowed to take pictures of and that they asked us not to post online, so I'll take this as my opportunity to show off my de-classified modeling pics.

recreation room

luxurious accommodations

Hativa base

killing time

outpost

I can pretend

 On the other side of the fence is the UN buffer zone and beyond it is Lebanon.

Here's Ronald!

Bedouin Village

We recently went to check out one of the many Bedouin villages in Israel to learn a little bit about them. Bedouins are traditionally a nomadic Arab group. Bedouin society has been described as "a world without time." They live in their own tribal villages in the Negev desert, far from the lights of Tel Aviv. In the past they engaged primarily in nomadic herding and agriculture. Scarcity of water and pastoral land required them to move constantly. However, as the world around them has changed, they have for the most part been forced to abandon their nomadic lifestyle. As the younger generations of Bedouins move out of their villages for education and better jobs their traditional way of life is fading away.

Agel (tribe leader) this guy has 3 wives and 24 children no joke!

          

Thanksgiving

I'm a little late, but Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! My roommates and I had intended to cook a Thanksgiving feast, but as we were planning it we realized it wasn't going to work out. First off we don't have an oven in the apartment, so we wouldn't be able to cook a turkey. Sorry to all you vegans out there but it's not Thanksgiving without the turkey. Secondly, having 8 people trying to cook on 2 stoves wasn't going to work out either, so we said fuck it and went out for Chinese. Though two of my roommates are Canadian we still decided to invite them out anyway. So here I am in Israel, sitting at a table with Canadians, eating Chinese food which was cooked by Ethiopians. How did this happen? Anyways the food turned out to be pretty good, and the company couldn't have been better. We then headed down to the park nearby for some pre-gaming and after went out to a nargile (hookah) bar.

Chon Lee- the best and only Chinese restaurant in Ashdod

Park cocktails

Jerusalem

This past week we went on a day trip to Jerusalem. This was my first time in Jerusalem, but certainly won't be my last. We had a really cool tour guide named Ron, who I would describe as an Israeli Pauly Shore. It was really difficult to retain all of the biblical knowledge that he dropped on us and I don't want to bore everyone with historical facts so I'll just tell you a couple things. Jerusalem is really really fucking old and really important to the Jews, Christians, and Muslims. I'm sure this is news to everyone. There is so much history and so much to see in this city, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

view of the Old City

Al Aqsa Mosque

our guide Ron

bullet holes in one of the walls of the Old City

The Kotel (Wailing Wall)

prayer notes placed in the Kotel (Wailing Wall)

room of the Last Supper

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Hello everyone. Sorry for the lack of posting lately. I've been very busy with all the volunteer work and other mandatory activities. I wanted to fill everyone in on what it is that I actually do out here, aside from eating hummus everyday. My role here as a volunteer is to help high school students with their English. In Israel high school consists of grades 7-12, so I'm with different kids everyday. After two weeks of volunteering I can truly say that the classroom atmosphere in Israel is vastly different than what I am used to. To sum it up simply the kids rule the school. It takes a really great teacher who is able to control the class to get things done. While I have met a few of them, most of the teachers at my school can't control the kids. This generally ends up in a screaming match, which goes on for about 20 minutes. After this ends I go to a separate classroom with up to four kids and another girl which I volunteer with. Most of my time is spent just having conversations with the 12th graders about life in Israel and what they hope to do in the future. This is meant to prepare them for their oral English exam taken at the end of the year. They also ask us tons of questions about life in America and are always in awe of the fact that we came all the way here to volunteer. Though I really came here to experience living in another country and to get away from home for a bit it's still great to know that your work is appreciated. Talking with beautiful 18 year old Israeli girls isn't too bad either. Part of me thinks that this volunteering is more of a ploy to get me to stay here and marry a nice Jewish girl. We'll see.... In recent weeks I also went to Tel Aviv, but unfortunately I forgot my camera. I have a lot of trips coming up in the next month, so I'll be posting more often.

Here's a look at my weekly schedule:
Sunday: Volunteering in high school from 9-2:30  Hebrew class 4-6
Monday: Volunteering in high school from 9-2:30 Volunteering in senior citizens home 4-6
Tuesday: No high school volunteering Enrichment class 5-7
Wednesday: Volunteering in high school 9-2:30
Thursday: Volunteering in high school 9-2:30 Hebrew class 4-6
Friday/Saturday: Free

P.S. I watched You Don't Mess with the Zohan yesterday and after a month here I can honestly say that the movie is dead on.    

Though I miss all my friends and family back home, all I really want at the moment
is to eat some of this







while watching some of this

Dead Sea and Ein Gedi

Last night we decided to take an overnight trip to the Dead Sea. Through a series of mishaps we found ourselves on the private shore of a Dead Sea Resort. (We were not guests of the hotel). We got there at about 2:00 a.m. and by 2:30 a.m. we were floating with drinks in hand.

A couple quick facts about the Dead Sea:

It is the lowest point of elevation on earth

The high mineral and salt content makes it impossible for plants or animals to live

The salt content makes objects extremely buoyant.

We floated till 4 a.m., then passed out on the resort chair recliners. We were abruptly awoken by the guests of the resort bathing at 5:30 a.m. Who the fuck gets up at 5:30 a.m. on vacation? Anyways, so with no chance of getting back to sleep we got some coffee and went to Ein Gedi. Ein Gedi is a beautiful hiking trail in the region of The Dead Sea. We saw some beautiful waterfalls and swam in some of the natural pools. We got home about 5:00 p.m. and cooked up a really good dinner for Shabbat. Probably the most productive day I've had since I learned to wipe my own ass. It was rad. Here are some pics....  

view of the Dead Sea from Ein Gedi

uninentional boy band photo

Shalom and Hello to all. Keeping in touch with everyone is harder than I ever imagined, so I've decided to start a blog. I'll try and update it daily with my thoughts, pictures, and all sorts of good stuff. Stay tuned......