Dahlia, Leah, beautiful Haifa, and I.
Wow, it was such a struggle to get to this page. I literally just spent 15 minutes trying to navigate blogspot in Hebrew. Ahh... language.
It seems like time is flying by at such a rapid pace, yet I feel like things are also running in slow motion. It's just a strange dynamic. I just schlepped my computer and readings outside and am sitting on a bench in the dorm courtyard. It's kind of foggy and one of the dirty cats that inhabits this campus is sleeping on adjacent bench. It looks totally troubled.
So, I'm not going to lie. I'm kind of struggling. It's very strange because I don't think I've struggled so much in a long time. I guess that this is part of the entire experience. I feel so out of my comfort zone. I miss my friends, my comfortable Eugene bubble, and most of all, I miss people who really know me. I know that is totally cliche, but I've found it really hard to be in a foreign country with people who are all foreign to my life. I find people making assumptions about me, me making assumptions about them, and then, feeling like I have something to prove, to communicate forward, etc. I think that this is a very important part of the experience. It's interesting -- I wasn't 100% content with being so comfortable and now, I'm totally uncomfortable being uncomfortable. I think that in the end I will appreciate all of this because I will grow from it. And, that's what this is all about. I guess I just expect this kind of growth so that is a lesson in itself. This isn't depression, but maybe a wake up call. I don't know what I'm waking up to, but I do no know that it is going to be important, special, magical, etc. Everything is a process and things don't just happen instantaneously. I need to be confident in myself, my surroundings, and remember that I am in charge of this experience and my own personal fulfillment and perspective of it.
Anyway, I digress from the emo stuff. Elie and I ventured off to Jerusalem last shabbot. The buses stop running pretty early on shabbot and we almost missed our last bus. Super stressful, but low and behold, we got to Jerusalem somehow. It was SO nice. JCHS is on their trip to Israel and invited us to come spend a night with them. I really enjoyed the 24 hrs I spent there. So good to see Franny and co. It was also really nice to spend time with Elie because we haven't really spent that much time together in the last few years. Just a joyous day of connections and reconnections. I feel like i really needed a bit of home in my life. It's like this perpetual warmth. I love appreciating all of the connections in my life. It was super weird to be around high school kids and feel significantly older than them. It was a "shit, you've grown up a bit" kind of moment.
I'm chewing on the biggest wad of gum right now. FYI.
Anyway, on shabbot morning, as the kiddos and fellow jews went off to services, Elie, a large group of JCHS faculty, and I ventured off to the old city. We wanted to see the dome of the rock. Major fail. At first we approached the security in our natural state -- white, waspy, and totally touristy. Elie argued. Fail. Only Muslims allowed in. Second time...same thing. And, then, Elie, Franny and I decided to split off from the group and try to sneak in as Muslims. Haaaa. After we wrapped our scarves over our hair, pretending they were hijabs, we spent a good few minutes immersed in a photo op -- you know maybe in view of the guards. Please, Muslims shmuslims. As we walked down to the stoic looking guards, Franny's huge umbrella clumsily fell out of her hands and I almost slipped down on the wet limestone. We were a mess.
"ARE YOU MUSLIMS?!"
"PSSSSH..ya?"
Fail. After giving our IDs to these iffy guards, he looks at Elie and says "YOU ARE JEWISH," at Franny and says "YOU ARE CHRISTIAN" and of course, with a name like Lyubov Yusim he had nothing to say to me. I could've been Muslim. There are a lot of Russian muslims. Fail. Fail. Fail. At least it was funny. And, I can safely say that five years ago I would never have thought that the three of us would be walking around Jerusalem trying to sneak into the dome of the rock as muslims. And, shockingly (not), later than night a riot broke out between the Muslims and the Jews. Where? At the Dome of the rock. People were barricaded inside and police were injured. Purim squabbles. Again and again.
What else? I'm two hours into my internship! I'm interning at a NGO called Isha L'Isha (Woman to Woman) here in Haifa. This is Haifa's local feminist coalition and they work with women of all backgrounds -- palestinian, ethiopian, etc. It's an umbrella organization for many other groups. I'm working for their anti-female trafficking project. My boss, Rita, is a 34 year old Ukrainian immigrant who is one of the leading activists in Israel's anti-trafficking movement. She's totally left, sassy and inspirational. I'm going to learn SO MUCH. Everything is in Russian. I was so nervous and overwhelmed, but I think these are the best kind of feelings because I know that this challenge will be so rewarding. And, I've never met a left Ukrainian. So weird. This is going to be great.
As far as Haifa's international school is concerned... I'm super disappointed. Programs are unorganized, professors are bad, politically incorrect, and totally not my style. I'm taking one good class though where I think I'll learn a lot. Surprisingly (ha!), it's not through the international school, but through the Political Science department at the university. In English, but a mix of Israeli and international students. I'm taking Assymetric Warfare, Cleavages in Israel, and Biblical Theology. I'm somewhat dissapointed because I really had high hopes for some of the programs, but decided to drop them because they seemed like they wouldn't meet my expectations and would be a waste of my time.
So, what now? I'm reading up on the prostitution industry and am dreaming of chicken. I want protein. Surprise, surprise. Hah. Tomorrow, I'm off to Jerusalem again and then on Thursday to Eilat (VERY southern Israel) for a hike through the desert!
Love to all. What an experience. Shit is crazy. This is such an insane country. I can't even begin to explain. But, I will try in the next entry...which will come soon. Pinky swear.
Elie, Franny and I pre-third time fail to get into the Dome of the Rock. Shocking. We totally look legit.
And, this is from Turkey. Jace bought some honeycomb. I've never had it. After my first bite, it was clear that I almost ate a dead bee. Just my luck.
