Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Don't Mix Acid and Gnomes
One time, these three boys decided to take acid. They went out that night, drove around for a while, and came across a lawn covered in lawn gnomes. The boys were convinced one of the gnomes was moving around and speaking to them in a language they couldn't understand. The boys decided it was best to "get rid" of this gnome because it was freaking them out so they took the gnome and put it in the trunk of the car. They drove around a while longer, went about their night. Went to dinner, met up with some friends, etc. When they got back to the house, they took the gnome out of the trunk and put it in the bedroom closet. The next morning the boys were woken up by noises coming from the closet. When they opened the closet they were shocked to find a 4 year old Mexican girl. They kidnapped a little girl speaking Spanish the night before. Panicked, they anonymously left her at the doorstep of the local police station and later got in some serious trouble.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Jerusalem until the 8th
I spent the next week in Jerusalem. On Thursday we just relaxed and then went to the market to get food for Shabbat. We were planning on having 18-20 people over! We got tons of stuff and then we went out to the pub. The next day we cooked and cooked and prepared. We lit candles and then people started coming over and we had a lovely shabbat dinner.
Saturday we relaxed. The next couple of days were a blur. Sarah went to class often and I just chilled. I had no idea Sarah was in a seminary. She has become super religious and it was fine, just somewhat of a shock to me. I wish she talked to me more about it.
I went shopping one day, got gifts for everyone. We went to Tal Bagels on Emeck Refiem. Went to the crackhouse. The puppies the boys were supposed to be watching ran away. :( Angie and I met up one more time and went to the Sachlav office to see everyone. I went out another night with Nosson, Bev and Amira to this really cute place after going to what I think was a gay bar. I enjoyed meeting all her friends. These South Africans are out of control crazy. They are all on their holiday so they have no responsibilities. They just get messed up and listen to techno all day and night. Its crazy. But they are good boys. I enjoyed meeting them for sure. Some of my favorite quotes "We have the best of everything. We have the best food, the best homes, the best AIDS." They have slaves in South Africa and one of the boys actually said "My father knows how to slap a black man." Seriously, another world. But I'd still like to go visit. It sounds like a beautiful country.
One of the boys was the top medic in South Africa and was volunteering for a bit in Israel and we were out at this hookah bar cave place one night and he got a phone call from the army saying he was going to get picked up in two hours and brought into Gaza because they needed him. Seeing that face again was heartbreaking. He ended up telling them he couldn't go (he was wasted) but ended up going the next day for 2 days, saved some lives, and then came back.
Oh and I also learned a new term. FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out. Cute! Sarah also took me to the Arab shook. She told me much of the money funds the terrorists. Scary.
Then it was time for me to leave. I took the van to the airport, got interrogated for about 3 hours and finally made my was on the plane. I sat next to Jonathan, a 20 something who was on business and happened to be in the building in Sderot that got bombed so he was in the hospital all week. He was fine talking to for a bit but then he got kinda douchebaggy. I just fell asleep but the ride was very bumpy so it wasn't pleasant. But, I MADE IT! Now here I am, all moved in to my new apartment which I love, looking for a job, 24 years old, and just feeling like a better person. I am excited to see what the future will hold for me!
Saturday we relaxed. The next couple of days were a blur. Sarah went to class often and I just chilled. I had no idea Sarah was in a seminary. She has become super religious and it was fine, just somewhat of a shock to me. I wish she talked to me more about it.
I went shopping one day, got gifts for everyone. We went to Tal Bagels on Emeck Refiem. Went to the crackhouse. The puppies the boys were supposed to be watching ran away. :( Angie and I met up one more time and went to the Sachlav office to see everyone. I went out another night with Nosson, Bev and Amira to this really cute place after going to what I think was a gay bar. I enjoyed meeting all her friends. These South Africans are out of control crazy. They are all on their holiday so they have no responsibilities. They just get messed up and listen to techno all day and night. Its crazy. But they are good boys. I enjoyed meeting them for sure. Some of my favorite quotes "We have the best of everything. We have the best food, the best homes, the best AIDS." They have slaves in South Africa and one of the boys actually said "My father knows how to slap a black man." Seriously, another world. But I'd still like to go visit. It sounds like a beautiful country.
One of the boys was the top medic in South Africa and was volunteering for a bit in Israel and we were out at this hookah bar cave place one night and he got a phone call from the army saying he was going to get picked up in two hours and brought into Gaza because they needed him. Seeing that face again was heartbreaking. He ended up telling them he couldn't go (he was wasted) but ended up going the next day for 2 days, saved some lives, and then came back.
Oh and I also learned a new term. FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out. Cute! Sarah also took me to the Arab shook. She told me much of the money funds the terrorists. Scary.
Then it was time for me to leave. I took the van to the airport, got interrogated for about 3 hours and finally made my was on the plane. I sat next to Jonathan, a 20 something who was on business and happened to be in the building in Sderot that got bombed so he was in the hospital all week. He was fine talking to for a bit but then he got kinda douchebaggy. I just fell asleep but the ride was very bumpy so it wasn't pleasant. But, I MADE IT! Now here I am, all moved in to my new apartment which I love, looking for a job, 24 years old, and just feeling like a better person. I am excited to see what the future will hold for me!
Wednesday 31/12/08
Took the train back to Tel Aviv. It was time for me go to Sarah's in Jerusalem. We got into a fight on the train with an old bitter man because he wanted us to get rid of our luggage.
I was sad to be away from David but I knew I would see him later that night for New Years. We parted ways at the Tel Aviv train station and then I had to find my way to the bus station. People looked at me like I had 4 heads every time I asked a question. The second you aren't on a trip or with an Israeli, the true Israeli comes out. Rude, rude, rude. It is amazing how hospitable and yet how rude these people can be. Long story short, I make my way to Sarah's. It was so good to see her and I was glad to be staying in the same place for a couple of days.
It took some convincing to keep Sarah's plans to go to Tel Aviv. I was really upset if I wasn't going to go and she knew so she got her ass in gear, convinced all her South African friends to come with us and after hours of waiting we finally made it. It was a crazy sherute ride down there but we finally made it and at 12:03 we walked into Lima Lima and all was good. Kiss and all. :) I was so happy. Sarah was miserable though so she left and met up with her friends and I stayed with all the birthright kids. It was cool that we were all able to hang out like this. That night, David and I decided to make things official. We all went to this street party on Florentine with a bunch of hippies and ravers and it was pretty entertaining.
At 3am we all parted ways and I was definitely sad but so tired I could barely think. I waited for Sarah at the shady bus station for an hour and at 4am we got on a sherute to go home. A group of drunk German girls got on and then one jumped over me to puke out the van. New Years is now officially over. It wouldn't be a New Years if someone didn't puke on me, or something bad happened. It was just too good to be true. So this girl then passes out on my shoulder and the driver takes and hour counting money and then accusing someone of not paying. We all gather money just to get things going and he blasts the air conditioner even though it was freezing and drives like a maniac back to Jtown. Stopping just before we get home of coarse for a vodka stop after hand fighting with Dovi Braun, Sarah's friend sitting in the front.
I was sad to be away from David but I knew I would see him later that night for New Years. We parted ways at the Tel Aviv train station and then I had to find my way to the bus station. People looked at me like I had 4 heads every time I asked a question. The second you aren't on a trip or with an Israeli, the true Israeli comes out. Rude, rude, rude. It is amazing how hospitable and yet how rude these people can be. Long story short, I make my way to Sarah's. It was so good to see her and I was glad to be staying in the same place for a couple of days.
It took some convincing to keep Sarah's plans to go to Tel Aviv. I was really upset if I wasn't going to go and she knew so she got her ass in gear, convinced all her South African friends to come with us and after hours of waiting we finally made it. It was a crazy sherute ride down there but we finally made it and at 12:03 we walked into Lima Lima and all was good. Kiss and all. :) I was so happy. Sarah was miserable though so she left and met up with her friends and I stayed with all the birthright kids. It was cool that we were all able to hang out like this. That night, David and I decided to make things official. We all went to this street party on Florentine with a bunch of hippies and ravers and it was pretty entertaining.
At 3am we all parted ways and I was definitely sad but so tired I could barely think. I waited for Sarah at the shady bus station for an hour and at 4am we got on a sherute to go home. A group of drunk German girls got on and then one jumped over me to puke out the van. New Years is now officially over. It wouldn't be a New Years if someone didn't puke on me, or something bad happened. It was just too good to be true. So this girl then passes out on my shoulder and the driver takes and hour counting money and then accusing someone of not paying. We all gather money just to get things going and he blasts the air conditioner even though it was freezing and drives like a maniac back to Jtown. Stopping just before we get home of coarse for a vodka stop after hand fighting with Dovi Braun, Sarah's friend sitting in the front.
Tuesday 30/12/08
Saba (Grandfather) came to pick us up in the morning. We went to the mall and got some Negrin stuff for David's family. Then we went to lunch but on the car ride there, Saba wanted to put a CD in and it turned into such a typical old man driving like a crazy person scene. This bizarre music was playing, and we were swerving. It was so hard to keep quiet in the back seat. His saba is really funny cuz he is your typical aging grandfather who just makes these funny ridiculous comments. We went to this place that reminded me of Cosi but just keeps bringing out all these free sides. Everything on the menu was gross, like liver and hearts and parts. When we got back, David and I took a nap and Ethan went to get our bags. I'm not sure where they went for 3 hours but it was nice to nap since he was waking us up at 9am every day. He was the new dad. Daniel first and now Ethan. Kinda funny. Then Ethan's aunt and cousin got home and brought us dinner. Pizza and hummus. I was going to burst. I had ate so much since coming to Haifa! Then we tried to watch a movie but every DVD he has was a burned DVD and written in Hebrew so it took an hour just asking Saba what everything said. We watched some silly black comedy with a pug and passed out.
Monday 29/12/08
We were going to go to the Gardens but apparently the like one holiday this religion has a year was today so the Gardens were closed to members only. So we opted for the beach. It was windy and not exactly beach weather but we roughed it out. There were some crazy water spouts we watched for a while and then met the rest of the guys for some hot drinks and some crazy fairy restaurant on the beach. We got picked up by Ethan's other uncle and drive a little further into Haifa to stay with them for the night. We had a nice lunch, took showers, made dinner with some of their family and friends. Homemade pizza and pamela fruit. Sagiv, Ethans cousin made me a CD. He refuses to speak english for some strange reason. It was pretty funny though when the only thing he said was "Wassup my nigga." Then Ifat, a family friend who just got back from India, after serving in the army, took us to an Irish pub. She was so cute and I really enjoyed meeting her. We met some of her friends, met up with Ben and Justin, had some drinks, and then came back at like 2am.
Sunday 28/12/08
Haifa! Ben, Justin, Ethan, David and I somehow figured out the buses and trains and made our way north. Ben and Justin went to Ben's uncle on a Kibbutz and we went to Ethan's Aunt and Uncles apartment. They lived by a beach called Carmel Beach which seemed like a nice place to hang out in the summer. It was a little chilly but still nice. I liked being by the water. We were immediately fed and watched some wedding videos of his family members and then had a nice family dinner. Some of his cousins came by. Then we went on a drive to see downtown and the beach. The Behai Gardens were really cool at night and we were planning on going the next day. We were all so exhausted though that we went to bed before 10 that night.
Boys on the bus.
Boys on the bus.
Shabbat in Jerusalem 27/12/08
We didn't do much in the morning or afternoon. The weather wasn't so great and some really depressing news came. For the first time in years, the army called in soldiers on Shabbat because there was something going on in Gaza. Some of the guys that were with us were called. It was very upsetting to witness this. You could just tell on the boys faces that they were scared, no matter what they say. They had 2 hours to pack up their things and then they would be getting picked up and heading off to Gaza. It was a really sad way to say goodbye to them.
In the afternoon we all sat around and had our closing ceremonies. Everyone went around telling them their Hebrew name or getting one if they didn't have one. Apparently my name doesn't mean anything. Awesome. Then we had time to pack up and get ready to go out one last time. We walked to Ben Yahuda and went to a club called Constantine. Some douche bags got on stage for an hour long performance and it really killed the mood but we still got a good hour in there. As sad as I was that it was over, I was ready to give up the responsible card. Bittersweet night.
I woke up super early in the morning to say goodbye to everyone because I would not be going to the airport. I went back to sleep and decided the night before that I would go north to Haifa with some of the guys. So we all met downstairs for checkout and part 2 of my trip began. Not before fighting with the front desk whore who claimed I had a party in my room. The only party I could think of was Tal being traumatized by the boobs lady next door.
At the naming ceremony.
In the afternoon we all sat around and had our closing ceremonies. Everyone went around telling them their Hebrew name or getting one if they didn't have one. Apparently my name doesn't mean anything. Awesome. Then we had time to pack up and get ready to go out one last time. We walked to Ben Yahuda and went to a club called Constantine. Some douche bags got on stage for an hour long performance and it really killed the mood but we still got a good hour in there. As sad as I was that it was over, I was ready to give up the responsible card. Bittersweet night.
I woke up super early in the morning to say goodbye to everyone because I would not be going to the airport. I went back to sleep and decided the night before that I would go north to Haifa with some of the guys. So we all met downstairs for checkout and part 2 of my trip began. Not before fighting with the front desk whore who claimed I had a party in my room. The only party I could think of was Tal being traumatized by the boobs lady next door.
At the naming ceremony.
Friday 26/12/08
This morning we went to Mount Herzl, the Israeli national cemetery where the leaders of the nation are buried alongside the soldiers who died while serving. Every Israeli knows someone buried there and every grave has a story. Daniel walked us around telling us some of these, and Divon did as well. The soldiers were still on the younger side so many didn't know anyone, yet. It was tough. It seemed like nothing really uplifting was in Jerusalem for the trip.
To lift the spirits a bit, we went to Ben Yahuda Market for the coming of Shabbat. It was a madhouse. We got more falafal and shawarma for lunch, grabbed a few things and then headed back to sneak in a nap before heading to the Kotel. Katie got lost so that was stressful.
I sat at the dinner table with Daniel and his family. His 4 year old son, Hunky, and I taught each other words. His favorite was flower. He screamed it a lot. David ran into his sister on another trip and I ran into a camp friend, Harrison. It's so crazy that you run into people. The chances of being in the same room in the same hotel all the way across the world. Or like last time, how I ran into people I knew on top of Masada. It's incredible!
We did a short Oneg Shabbat in the bomb shelter in the basement of the hotel and then some people snuck out, and others came down to my toga party. That turned sloppy quickly but everyone had a good time.
To lift the spirits a bit, we went to Ben Yahuda Market for the coming of Shabbat. It was a madhouse. We got more falafal and shawarma for lunch, grabbed a few things and then headed back to sneak in a nap before heading to the Kotel. Katie got lost so that was stressful.
I sat at the dinner table with Daniel and his family. His 4 year old son, Hunky, and I taught each other words. His favorite was flower. He screamed it a lot. David ran into his sister on another trip and I ran into a camp friend, Harrison. It's so crazy that you run into people. The chances of being in the same room in the same hotel all the way across the world. Or like last time, how I ran into people I knew on top of Masada. It's incredible!
We did a short Oneg Shabbat in the bomb shelter in the basement of the hotel and then some people snuck out, and others came down to my toga party. That turned sloppy quickly but everyone had a good time.
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