End of 2007, Start of 2008

I resolve to eventually figure out how to post on this blog without writing a novel but I've had 3 full days in 3 different cities (actually we did things in 4 cities...) so this entry might not be the one where I figure that out.

On Sunday, my family met up with the Fines (a family from near home who we went to high school with). I had not seen any of them since I graduated and it was really cool to see how the boy my age had grown up from how I remembered him in high school. They had 9 people traveling with them- a family of 7 plus a girlfriend and a friend of high school (who was an older brother of one of Eric's friends from middle school and someone I had taken a class with in high school). The Fines have 3 boys in some process of the Israeli army (one finished, one in it, one about to join), which is really cool. All the Israelis are shocked when we tell them we know Americans coming to join the IDF. And of course, while wandering the streets of the village, my mom ran into someone she knows from home. Only in Israel...

Our families went on a tour of a Druize village. Druize are like a secret religion that make a small minority of the Israel population. It is really interesting because there are Druize in Israel, Syria, Jordan and a couple other middle eastern countries and even though they are all connected by their religion and culture, they feel bound to the country they are in. So an Israeli Druize is very loyal to Israel, they even fight in the IDF (and did even when Israel was gaining independence and few had faith in Israel becoming a country). Some Druize choose to be religious and others don't and those who do not choose to be religious are never allowed to read the books of the religion (hence why it is a secret religion). They also have really interesting beliefs about resurrection. Greek philosophy works are very important to them. I have to admit, I feel like I am on an interfaith tour of Israel- first the monastery, then the Druize village.

We also saw my one and only cousin on Sunday. Keren is 12 years older than me and I've probably only seen her about 5 times in my life and probably 3 of them were from before I was 5. Since I don't have any other young relatives, it was really interesting to see how similar to my siblings and me she looks. Same facial expressions as Tami, same eyebrows and coloring as Eric and me... She lived in the cutest little commune type place right off the beach. There were all these dogs wandering around everywhere just going into their neighbors house. The houses are tiny but really pretty and with everything that they need. It was interesting- Keren was vegetarian and is still organic... so my vegetarianism does seem to come from somewhere (assuming diet is the least bit genetic lol). She invited us to have dinner with her again later this week.

Monday we went into Jerusalem. We saw some ruins of David's City and walked around the old city. We went into the Muslim and Christian quarters, which I have not been in since I was really young. Tour groups like Birthright do not allow their students to enter the Muslim quarters. It was interesting to see the difference. The Jewish section seems neater with less items in bigger spaces while the Muslim quarter is crowded with very different goods. My favorite was a shop with teas and spices just out in big bowls. The shopkeeper wouldn't let me take a picture even though another man was taking a picture in the store (because I'm female? who knows...) so I just went outside and took a picture from outside. In the Christian quarter, there was a guy who called out to me "You look rich, come into my shop!" It's so different from the US. They perceive Americans as people who came and spend tons of money on little trinkets. We of course went to the Wall but my mom, sister, and I did not go by it- the women's side is just so crowded and small. I swear, the Wall is the most sexist place in all of Israel.

New Years was a dud. Tami, Eric, and I had at first planned to stay in Jerusalem and meet up with either the Fines or a friend of Tami but could not find a way to get back to Tel Aviv where our apartment is. Then we were going to meet up with someone else we know in Tel Aviv but he didn't end up coming to Tel Aviv. Tami went to sleep early. Eric and I walked over to Mike's Place, a pub that gets a lot of Americans. Although we didn't have any problem getting in (Eric is 17, the legal age here is 18 but it's not strict like the US), most the people inside were much older than us and we didn't want to just sit around waiting for New Years. Not only am I shy and not great at meeting people in a random pub, I don't have a clue how you would meet people if everyone is sitting at their own table. So we left saying maybe we would come back for midnight but back at the apartment, we just got over it. I was asleep before midnight. So that was the start to my 2008- in bed asleep. I haven't slept through New Years since I was too young to stay up... Oh well, hopefully it doesn't jinx me for the rest of 2008. I didn't have a great New Years in 2007 and I had a great 2007 so I'm not worried.

Today was our lazy day and we stayed in Tel Aviv. We toured Ben Gurion's house (first prime minster of Israel, helped bring Hebrew back as a regular spoken language rather than just a biblical language). Our apartment is actually next door to Ben Gurion's house. He had rooms and rooms of books in all sorts of language about all sorts of subjects in his house, which I thought was really cool. I would love to read like that and retain all that information. We then walked over to Jaffa/Yafo (some place, different spelling). It's right next to Tel Aviv (often considered to be the same city) with a lot of Arabic influence. It is really nice being in a city and walking everywhere. Jaffa is an hour walk from our apartment but we just walked there, along the beach the whole time. There were beautiful art galleries and people from all over- we heard people speaking French, Italian, Russian, English with British accents. There was also a group that said they were from Prague and a group from Japan and of course Americans and Israelis. There were also tons and tons of cats. There are stray cats everywhere in Israel but Jaffa just had like 10 cats around every corner. It was ridiculous!

Whenever I go to Israel, many people ask if it is safe. I feel very safe in Israel. We see influences of security everywhere. Many restaurants and stores have a guard outside. They stop some people to look inside their purse or jacket but not everyone. Bigger sites like the Wall or main train stations have security similar to at airports to enter the site. It is also not a dangerous time now. Several years ago, suicide bombings occurred daily but that is not the case now.

One thing that has been very strange in Israel is the presence of Christmas. At the airport, there was a sign "Merry Christmas and welcome to Israel" from the tourism department. There have also been Santa trinkets in a good number of stores. Today, there were big signs with Santas on them with happy holidays written in Hebrew. My dad's good friend here who we have seen several times has a Christmas tree in his house, although we don't think he really knows what it represents. I was in Israel over Christmas last year and did not notice so much Christmas stuff, although I doubt everything has just suddenly appeared this year. It's very bizarre, though.

I'm really enjoying being in a city. So much to do within walking distance and all these cute little coffee shops and interesting shops. I'm really excited to live in a city for the first time in Budapest. Less than 2 weeks until I will be in Budapest!