israel: final thoughts and feelings

i have been in this constant state of reflection the past couple of weeks. my stay in israel has been a whirlwind of amazing experiences and the rare glimpses into this life that i didn't even know existed outside the bubble of my sheltered american life. i am so, so, so glad that i chose to come here to study and live and grow. i admit that israel is not the easiest place to adjust to and still some events are jarring. however, it's slowly becoming a part of my everyday vernacular and i find it quite wonderful. at first, i fell in love quite easily with israel: the sights, the history, THE FOOD!, the people. furthermore, this place gave me a break that i sorely needed. then after a while, what i loved about israel slowly began to smother me and hold me down. the political situation here is something that takes a lot of effort and time. moreover, most people in israel aren't even fazed by the conflict and sometimes consider it a nuisance or background noise (!). indifference runs rampant in these parts and it can be difficult and frustrating to breach this shield. i was also tired of being treated as a frier, a pushover, because i am a foreigner and the attention that came with looking discernibly different from the rest. the atmosphere in jerusalem was oppressive and stifling at times. it was hard to find something to do on shabbat because the whole city shut down and not many things were open. it was hard being in a country, that is surrounded by countries that do not believe in the existence of said country and want to annihilate it. i also became homesick after a while and wanted to desperately come back because i had thought i saw, learned, did whatever it was that i wanted to accomplish. after much reflection, this is not it. it is hard to explain how i have come to love this country that i have no connection to in any way. but it is in a way a flower in a desert. if you give it the right care and enough time and have great patience, it flowers into something quite breath-taking and amazing. that is israel. yes nostalgia can make me gloss over the bad things but the bad things are outweighed by the good i have come across in israel. the close knit group of people i call friends and perhaps even family. the people that i have met on my trips who have shown me great hospitality to a complete stranger. the determination of both israelis and palestinians to keep persevering despite all the opposition that exists. i might not ever make aliyah but i see myself returning again and again. it is true what itamar and matan had told me before i left. i have a home here. for good or bad, it is someplace i can begin to call my own.

last day for lasting memories

june 26, 2009 was my last full day in jerusalem, last day in israel period. it was a whirlwind of last minute errands, museum visiting, last shuk run, finishing packing, last shabbat service and dinner with friends. i can't believe that the day just snuck up on me. i was expecting so much more time and i didn't have any. it was shocking and depressing. i also had a total of 100 shekels to use the entire day, not counting the 50 shekels i was saving for my sherut ride later in the night.

i ran some errands in the morning to get a skirt fixed so i could have something decent to wear to shul. the tailor was really nice and helpful, understanding my broken hebrew as i tried to explain that i needed a zipper fixed. after that, jonathan and i rushed off to the museum on the seam where we spent a couple of hours walking around, taking in the art, and the breathtaking view on the rooftop. the receptionist was super, just having graduated from hebrew university's art history program. lovely. afterwards, jo and i got a falafel from moshiko's. ahh, my last moshiko's. it's so sad. at moshiko's there is this one guy who is constantly smiling and is the one offering free falafel balls to the people coming in. i think he recognizes me as i have frequented this shop many times before. i was explaining to him that it was my last moshiko's sandwich and he exclaimed "what a shame!" and said i need to make aliyah and visit him. haha. i told him i would be back soon and enjoyed this great falafel sandwich of jerusalem.

jonathan and i finally made it to the shuk and found it more bustling than ever. i honestly don't remember it being so busy in all the times i've been there on fridays or any other days of the week. i had planned a shabbat dinner with friends later in the evening so i wanted to make my rainbow salad and a carrot cake, the two dishes my friends associate me with. as we were hurriedly walking to and fro from each stand, comparing prices and goods, jo slipped away from me several times as he went off in search of something. after loading up with 20 pitas, 2 sweet challahs, ingredients for a HUGE salad, and carrots for the carrot cake, jo took me to a dry goods shop on jaffa, saying he needed to buy something. little did i know, he was ordering ground turkish coffee with cardamom and za'atar! the things i wanted to get before leaving israel. i was so touched but indignant that he was doing this for me. what a sweetheart. we decided to chill and i bought jo a demitasse of espresso while we sat and watched the passerbys.

we made our way back to lisa's place, where the dinner was going to take place. i got together the ingredients for the salad, chopped and assembled. i am truly a master of salads. anyways, after putting the cake into the oven, it was rounding up to 6 pm and service was starting in almost an hour. i was sweaty and gross and still unpacked. so i ran off to my place to take my last shower and get ready for shul. shul itself was very nice. it didn't have the small, homey feeling as the last one i attended on har hatzofim but it was good. the chazzan was quite amazing. there was also a jewish choir? didn't know those existed. interesting to sit in on an orthodox service albeit a little ruined by tourists with overwhelming perfume and obvious lack of respect for the service. but alas.

lisa, jo and i were starving by the end so i rushed over to my place to clean and pack and cart my luggage over to lisa's. it was slow to get started and suddenly a lot of people showed up, including itamar, dekel and matan, my favorite israeli boys. i was just so happy that all my friends were to there to spend my last evening with me. it made me feel so at home and made me want to stay in israel more than ever. i had also consumed an entire bottle of muscato wine by this point so i was a bit tipsy. i crashed in to walls and fell several times. heh. the time for the sherut was closing in so fast. around 1:30 am, my friends all carried my bags down to the street level and waited for me. this huge group of people waiting with me on jaffa st, hugging and crying. finally the sherut came, and i had to leave. my friends all gathered around me and hugged me and sent me off with a chorus of the song "so long, farewell."

that was the longest ride i ever had to take.

israel museum & museum on the seam

last tuesday, i had no more obligations at bezalel so i decided to go and visit the israel museum. israel museum is situated in an interesting place. it is in givat ram, which is known as the political seat of israel/jerusalem. the knesset is situated there as well as hebrew university's science and math campus. israel museum is the national museum and even though it is an art museum, it didn't strike me as one but more of a historical/archaeological one, which isn't something bad. there wasn't much to see because of the renovations taking place. they seriously hampered the viewing experiences as there were two permanent collections available and several temporary ones. the permanent collections were the miniature replica of jerusalem from the 2nd temple period and the dead sea scrolls. i thought that the miniature was quite fascinating to see and compare to the walls of the old city as we know it today. many consider the dead sea scrolls to be the highlight of the visit but it wasn't too overwhelming or grand. perhaps at this point, i have become accustomed to the weighty history of the place. the scrolls were nicely curated and well preserved. it was interesting to see that the hall they were housed in were also art pieces to tell of the history between the sons of light and the sons of dark. the temporary exhibits were pretty mediocre and the sculpture garden was nice.

on friday, my last day, i visited museum on the seam with jonathan. museum on the seam has a fascinating history. it advertises itself as a socio-political museum that brings into light contemporary issues that ranges from environmental to tolerance of any kind. the museum itself was a lookout point for israeli army, situated on the 1948 armistice border with jordan. now, it sits on the edge of east jerusalem, known for its arabic population, and on the edge of west jerusalem which gives you, mea shearim, the ultra orthodox jewish neighborhood. the current exhibit, titled naturenation, "examines the complex relationship between land and state and between people and nature from a socio-political stance." it was a well put together show and i wish i had enough time to fully incorporate the exhibit. the photos in the show were outstanding, besides the edward burtynsky's work, which i'm not a fan of. i found it fascinating that the museum still kept the original modeling of the lookout in certain parts of the museum, making a powerful statement about war and art and people and space. the rooftop also featured a small sculpture garden with a tremendous 360 view of jerusalem.

overall, i think the museum on the seam had a better space and used it well. i know i can't make a judgement on what i saw at israel museum but i think that for one that enhances people's experience of israel and/or jerusalem, museum on the seam is more on the beat than israel museum. however, if history and archaeological and nice art collections are up your alley, the israel museum is a nice place to visit. don't know if it's worth the money, though.

ben gurion: sitting and waiting

my computer is about to run out of power. but the free wifi in the airport is nice. i don't know why all the airports don't adopt this as well. boo.

i will be updating with my final thoughts about my stay and about the insane airport security that i had to endure for TWO HOURS including the departure with a visa.

i miss jerusalem. i want to stay. things were just starting to get amazing. damn time.

homosexuality and jerusalem

today is the gay pride parade in jerusalem. i think one occured one or two weeks ago in tel-aviv. people are not kidding when they say that tel-aviv and jerusalem are worlds apart even though they are just an hour away from each other by car. while tel-aviv tries hard to exude this european mediterranean city atmosphere, jerusalem really hasn't changed much in a long time, holding on to its roots with an iron grip. so while tel-aviv is more of the accepting variety, jerusalem is not so much. i am a part of the fan page of jerusalem on facebook. and in lieu of today's event, the maintainer posted that the gay pride parade was occurring today. this seemed to be a cause for outrage among the other fans of the page. people were writing how gays are going to hell; they don't want their kids to be exposed to this kind of behavior; the torah said it is abominable; how rude it was to defile the holiest city; how they should be focusing on gilad who has been missing for three years today; etc. i don't understand how people can think that homosexuality is a behavior that can be taught. total misconception and one that is ruling in california at the moment. i also think that using religion as a tool for spreading hate and uncompromising with the changing times, not that this is really a change... religion should serve as a guideline for life. it shouldn't be treated as something strict and unbending. i think it is a great thing that there is such an event occurring in the 'holiest of holy cities'. it is a shame that people still have a need to hide who they are. it is fascinating to me to see a place where men are more open with each other than women are, homophobia runs rampant. but i guess that is part of the idea of this area. people in jerusalem need to get their act together and stop discriminating and being so filled with hate and trying to form scapegoats for the problems of israel.

jericho, you busted.

yesterday, lisa, jan and i decided to venture out to jericho, a city in the west bank. we must have been a little crazy because the hamsin winds were on full blast making the day around 93 degrees. maybe it was because it was hot and we were all tired, but jericho was less than stellar and it was rather disappointing. bah. jericho is known as the longest continually inhabited city in the world. fascinating but not really. there was no one out due to the heat. the cable car to the mount of temptation where jesus was tempted three times by the devil was closed. we could have hiked but who the hell hikes in that kind of weather?! so lisa and i rode a camel instead. it was the weirdest feeling and i was so excited that the guy leading the camel made fun of me. i had no idea camels were so tall! i think jan got some funny pictures out of the experience. there was an austrian casino that was closed due to the conflict. and that was also the first gambling place i laid eyes on in israel. after riding the camel, we walked around for a little bit, doing little photo shoots in abandoned, decimated houses along the way. there are also banana farms in jericho; how random. is desert climate good for growing bananas?

we finally arrived in the city area and crawled in the nearest restaurant. one of the things i'm going to miss about israel is paying so little for such a grand spread that we shared between the three of us. big plates of hummus, various salads and other dips, fresh hummus and a plate of succulent lamb. oh, plus a hookah and sweet turkish coffee. our server, named mr. smiley, was incredibly nice and helpful and even offered to let us nap. haha. we kindly declined the offer because we really should really be on our way and left, full of delicious food and hazy apple smoke. we caught a cab back to abu dis and experienced one of the most lax checkpoints back into israel. the heat can take a lot of a person so lisa and i dragged ourselves slowly down jaffa st to our houses under the intense sun.

סוף סוף!!

ahh! i am finally finally done with classes for the semester. i think i had pretty successful reviews on the work that i've been doing for the past couple of months. i found out that it is really easy to get caught up on certain ideas of what a place should look like and feel like in the place and there is too much subjective tastes to be found. i was told that i was successful in capturing a contested place as a respectful viewer of the life and culture there! that's so nice to hear! i was also made aware that some of my photos have failed to transcend this notion of touristy image. i think it's rather hard to do so in a place that is completely new and foreign. i'm sure that an jewish israeli or an arab israeli would have done my project completely differently but i'd like to think that i can see things in a new way that puts things in a different light. i also developed my first!! cross-processed film! it looks pretty damn amazing. now i know why lisa does it all the time. i'm ready to relax for the next couple of days before i return to the states.

masada and rotten eggs

i found myself still in israel after making plans to go to jordan. c'est la vie, i suppose. however, i did something that i haven't done yet so i'm pretty excited about that. after shabbat dinner at petra & jan's, i was hanging out with lisa and jonathan. petra invited me to come to masada to see the sunrise. this was 2:45 am. twenty minutes later, i had my backpack packed with a litre of water and cameras. everyone recommends the dawn hike up the snake trail up to masada to see the sun rise over the jordanian mountains and the dead sea. oh masada, how you test me. i must be pretty out of shape at the moment because the hike that was supposed to last 45 minutes seem to drag on forever, over countless steps up steep inclines and rocks ready to give out. that wasn't all. there were about 90 almost vertical steps into the actual site. damn you, masada. however, it was all worth it. we got to the hike just in time to see the sun beginning to rise about three quarters of the way, the sky changing from midnight blue to cerulean blue tinted with orange and pink as the sun peeked out of the mountains. as it rose, it illuminated the amazing, wonderful desert scene around us, highlighting the white canyon walls below and the orange red walls around the place. we all celebrated this beautiful event with sips from the wine bottle and quiet contemplation.

masada is an important cultural heritage site for israelis. it is where the jewish people died rather than having to surrender to roman rule. geologically, it is at a great advantage as it is situated on top of the plateau with steep, challenging cliffs on all sides. approaching enemies could be detected. the site is in pretty great condition with many things to see besides the amazing 360 desert views. the most impressive part was the souther water cistern. it is a huge cavern with plastered walls with several holes at the top to draw water. it is amazing to see the extent of the place and see how it aided the jewish rebels in evading capture for so long. it is known that the israeli defense force is initiated on masada with the declaration: masada shall not fall again. fascinating.

afterwards, we descended from masada to board the car to take a short trip to metzoke dragot, a region on the dead sea that is less populated by tourists had has irregular intervals of fresh water. we hiked a fair way up the coast to find a remote enclosure of water. the hike was interesting as the air was permeated with the smell of rotten eggs, salt from the dead sea, and quicksand areas on the ground. never again. since i don't swim, i just waded a little before leaving. petra managed to bottle up some of the mud that is so popular near the dead sea area. now, i just need to figure out how to smuggle that back to the states.

moved!

so, it turns out that my hebrew understanding and speaking skills have increased unbeknownst to me. yay for me. but for the next two weeks i will practicing more korean than hebrew. i will be living with two korean girls and they are super nice. the area is a welcoming scene than the one at the student dorms. a nice send off.

obama and israel

there seems to be a lot of hate for obama coming from israelis/zionists: ha'aretz op-ed

i don't know whether to take this as a joke or not.

edit: my taxi driver today (14/06) called obama an arab and kept emphasizing his middle of 'hussein.' he also drove by some posters near the city centre that show obama with the traditional muslim head gear, calling him an anti-semite. interesting, israel, interesting.

first steps inside a korean church in 8 years

went to a korean church.

was sung to by the congregation as a welcome.

had hamburgers for lunch.

engaged in conversation reminiscent of korean tv comedies.

watched defiance together.

talked some more.

will be moving in with them tomorrow.

living out of suitcases for next two weeks.

rent is free.

the west bank experience (part 4)

last wednesday, my friend, jan, and i went on a trip to ramallah and then to nablus.

ramallah is a mere 16 km outside jerusalem and is considered very liberal in comparison to the other west bank cities. the ride there was very interesting as the bus drove through givat shaul, a jewish settlement. although i knew the existence of several settlements, i had no idea that some were quite close to jerusalem and that there are more than just several. there are many! furthermore, due to many government headquarters, ramallah serves as the de facto capital of palestine. it is also where yassar arafat established his headquarters (and is buried?) and lots of diplomatic missionaries and NGOs work out of ramallah. it is also home to one of the most stingiest checkpoint (qalandia) in the west bank.

our stay in ramallah was quite short as we were just there to meet tim, our mutual friend who lives in al-bireh, who was going to be our designated tour guide for the day. after a short coffee break, we headed toward the central station to catch a taxi to nablus. nablus is the northernmost city of interest in the west bank. as ramallah is the center of government, nablus is the center of commerce and culture, known for its knafeh, a sweet goat cheese pastry, and olive oil soap. nablus is also home to one of the most stringent resistance to israeli occupation and has seen much rough action as a consequence. my well-worn lonely planet tells me that that the northern west bank is referred to by old testament purists as samaria* and there is quite a thriving samaritan community in nablus.

nablus was bustling by the time tim, jan, and i arrived. many were lounging about drinking turkish cafe or a refreshing yogurt with fruit. tim led us around the centre and then we dove right into the old city, walking around the myriad of stores and alleyways that date back to roman times in the 7th century. the people in nablus were very frank and openly gawked and twittered about our presence. i have come into terms that it wasn't tim or jan's presence but mine that garnered a lot attention. what can i say? asian looking people are a rarity in these parts. the children followed us, demanding that we take their pictures and yelling 'welcome!' every few minutes. it was also very odd feeling because while visiting other west bank cities, i was able to get a definite feel but nablus laid dormant.

because of nablus' history with resisting the occupation, there were many posters of boys and men carrying guns with the background of a palestinian flag or dome of the rock plastered all over the walls. tim said these posters are a commemoration to those who fought the occupation and died. these were completely idealized images of the people and while they were strongly political, there was something strangely pop cultural about them. the macho poses coupled with the heavy artillery were quite ridiculous.

it was insanely hot. so much so that the three of us were sweating copious amounts. so gross. to take a break, we ducked into a knafeh shop and sat down to enjoy some of the best that i have ever had. i am going to miss this pastry so much come two weeks. i had some good ones in nazareth and in hebron but the ones in nablus blow others out of the water. after a much deserved snack, we walked back toward the centre and explore an olive oil soap factory. because it is more expensive to use their own olive oil, oil from from spain and italy are imported. while the soap is mixed by machines that are quite old, cutting and drying are done by hand. upstairs, a great majority of the floor is covered with the wet soap for it to harden. afterwards, the soap is hand cut and towers of soap are constructed to further dry it out. the conical towers of asymmetrical soap provided a beautiful contrast in the room of grey stone.

six bars of soap later, we boarded a taxi to balata, one of the largest UNRWA refugee camps. over 15,000 people occupy a ridiculously small space of 1 kilometre square. it was supposed be a temporary residence for those thrust out of jaffa and nearby areas. but over the years, the tents gave way to concrete buildings with many as 40 people living on one floor/apartment. there is a program, yafa cultural centre, that try to ease the problems that arise from living in close quarters but it can only do so much. just as nablus resisted/is resisting the occupation, balata residents were also heavily involved in the palestinian intifadas. the living conditions in balata are miserable. the alleyways between the buildings are so tiny that large people cannot use them. there is no privacy. the economy is pretty much shot through the roof. the people still live with hope that they will be able to return to their homes. i can understand now, what heshem said about the palestinian support of hamas. in a situation like this, one can only hope for change.

sometimes, i think israel really, really sucks.

*there is so much history in this area and so many different conquest, i can hardly keep up with the changes. i have a newfound respect for those who study the complicated history of the middle east. sometimes facts are myths and myths are facts. if that makes any sense...

some thoughts on work

bezalel has been an interesting experience thus far. i'm really glad that i came here and i feel fortunate to study art in a place that is truly unique. i have never done so much work. although it seems like i haven't as i've missed classes more often than attending (!) but the amount work i have done is quite a lot. thus far, i have shot 11 rolls of 120 film, giving me around 132 frames to choose from. (for comparison, when i take classes at smfa, i am only able to take 3 or 4 maybe 5.) but i'm not even done. i have 7 or 8 more rolls to develop with one or two more trips to hebron in attempts to finish my work. in a vain attempt, i also tried taking other art classes but failed at grasping the medium or maybe i didn't care enough. screenprinting is nice but i just didn't know what to print. i have an idea that i should finish before leaving but that is about it. collage was a major fail.

the teachers are a bit eccentric and old-fashioned. there are worlds upon worlds of differences between the teachers in smfa and the teachers here at bezalel. while it was refreshing to get a different perspective on my work, it wasn't all that pleasant to hear that my work is not "serious" or that it looks to "snapshot-y." i've also been thinking about why i'm doing art and it seems i can't answer that question legitimately anymore. i used to love photography and now i have almost fallen out of favor with it. i don't know how to hold myself artist, defending my work and talking about my work.

henri cartier-bresson's idea of the decisive moment was something i was striving for.

"The simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression... . In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotif."

i tried by using toy cameras because it didn't take "work" to find the correct aperture and shutter. you just depress the shutter button. any cameras besides toy cameras or point-and-shoot cameras were too entrenched in what people seemed to think photography is and i wanted to get away from it. but somewhere along the way i forgot everything, especially the reason why i was photographing.

it was nice to have free reign over what i wanted to do with great support and TIME to do it. time is of the essence in art work. if there is not enough, the work will suck and it will show. i want to believe that i took advantage of my semester of doing nothing but art and hopefully it will show. i'm ready to go back to what i'm good at: reading and talking abstractly. i am afraid i forgot how to study but i'm sure it will come to me again soon.

two week countdown

two weeks ago, i created a list of things i wanted to do. some of them realistic, some of them not. so i will revise and see what is possible now that i have two more weeks left.

1. egypt must happen. even if it means taking a week off classes. (what was i thinking? not possible.)

2. go to jordan. weekend trip, anyone? (next weekend.)

3. west bank city hop: jericho, ramallah, nablus, and bethlehem.

4. bauhaus architecture walk around tel-aviv. (maybe this weekend) (not really all that important!)

5. haifa for bahai garden hike and akko for the beautiful port and the best hummus joint in israel. (quite possibly this coming wednesday!)

6. antique and junk shopping in jaffa. (don't need more crap to carry back!)

7. shabbat service at the great synagogue. (this i will do the friday before i leave with a last shabbat dinner with friends.)

9. church tour in mount of olives. (last thursday)

10. museum visiting: rockefeller museum, israel museum, museum on the seam, chagall windows. (if i have time)

the west bank experience (part 3 cont.)

the daughter of the person i was going to meet, met me at one of the checkpoints. she was waiting with her little brother, looking rather uninterested. we went through the checkpoint and they took me up a hill, through rubble and garbage. the passageways were not determined by anything but rocks and the direction upward. i can't believe that they climb up and down to get into town. the house was hidden from view by growth of trees. there, heshem greeted me and welcomed me into his house. the rooms were clean and well-maintained. he showed me to his sitting room and told me his story.

heshem is in an difficult predicament as he lives right below one of the most religious fanatic jewish settlers in the area. he is involved with the organization called b'tselem, an israeli human rights organization of the occupied territories. the program distributes camera and video equipment to the palestinians who live near military outposts, settlers, checkpoints, etc. they record their daily life, living precariously on the edge of potential violence. it goes without saying that heshem has had a difficult life. the settlers above continuously throw down garbage, old machinery and rocks, trying to maim him and his family. heshem believes that two state solution is not the way to go. he thinks that it will only cause more problems and violence between israel and palestine. he is determined that one state is the answer; everybody living together in peace as one. the separation, for heshem, has gone on too long. he also gave me his opinion of hamas, saying that the hamas party was the one at the moment that appeared to want and bring about change to palestine.

after much talk, he showed me around his house. the trees on his property were cut by jewish settlers and one is barely flowering. the windows of his house were broken so heshem installed metal grills. now the settlers use long sticks to get through the grill. heshem said that there were many graffiti on the walls and doors but he painted over them. he showed me one door where there is still the star of david as he wasn't allowed to paint over that by the IDF, who told him that if he did, they will arrest him. all the natural walkways into his house are blocked. on the roof, his water tank was shot and couldn't be repaired.

heshem had several videos he wanted to show me so we went back down to his house. the first video he put on showed heshem trying to pick up the olives from his olive trees. the IDF only allowed heshem to do it. while he was gathering olives, the settlers saw him and came down, screaming. they were calling him a stealer, a murderer, and a nazi. a woman started wailing in the middle, creating a commotion. she kept saying things about how the jewish people have no land and no way of life, that everything they have is being stolen, etc. the next video showed a gathering of jewish school girls chanting "die arabs" "murder the arabs", etc. the third video, by a swede, showed a group of palestinian girls on their way to school. they were bombarded by jewish girls and boys who kept pushing and hitting the girls, including the teacher. the IDF stood around doing nothing while the teacher pleaded with them to do something. the boys threw rocks at the girls from below. the last video i saw was frightening in all levels. heshem told me that several years ago, there was a curfew installed so that the palestinians were not allowed to leave their houses for several hours. during these hours, the jewish settlers would come into their villages and terrorize the people, who were not able to do anything. the video showed the settlers coming with long metal poles and guns, destroying property and breaking windows to grab the people inside. again, the IDF did nothing to stop this from happening. imagine living like that, in constant terror, living in fear that these people, will one day no doubt commit murder because of their hatred. heshem also told me that the jewish women would come and kick his wife around, telling him that they will come back another time with men so they can rape her. someone must be at home at all times so that the settlers do not come and destroy their home. his children cannot go to sleep at night unless the light is on and their parents are there to console them.

it was getting late so i had to leave. i thanked heshem for his story and for showing me great hospitality. i made my way back to the old city to wait for egged. while waiting for the bus, i ran into a soldier who recognized me from before. he seemed very happy to see me and greeted me. i also saw a great celebration near the synagogue. i believe it was a wedding ceremony. it's funny to see such happiness when those people are the ones creating fear in those who live not 50 metres away.

happiness is...

baking carrot cake with a good friend while catching up.

a wine and cheese tasting get together with french wine and french cheese.

making plans with people who are amazing.

not happiness but excitement is making plans to go to ramallah and nablus.

oh, and prayer calls at 3:30 am means insomnia.

indeed.

the west bank experience (part 3)

today is the last day for "official" field work for documentary workshop class. so i hightailed it to hebron again, with the notion in mind that it will be my last time. boy, does it make me feel nostalgic. i decided to take egged this time for one reason or another. waiting for the bus was a different experience than the first because there were actually a lot of people milling around, mostly IDF. #160 was completely full. i was aware that there would be a difference in taking an israeli bus and an arab bus but i didn't realize that it would be so drastic. the first blatant difference are the vehicles. the egged bus resemble charter buses, air-conditioned, albeit without bathrooms in the back. the arab buses are old vans, with windows that open sometimes. next are the people. of course, only israelis ride the egged, which isn't to say that israelis do not ride arab buses but they don't make it a habit. the atmosphere was completely different. on the arab buses, the people are an amalgamation of the population. they bustle. they bump. they gossip. they are alive. on the egged, orthodox jews and IDF proliferate. the air is calm and silent. and the lady next to me kept scooting over as if i was diseased. the ride was pleasant, however, because i knocked out, waking up in kiryat arba.

upon my arrival in the old city, i walked around, taking pictures of the people (it's illegal for me but whatever) and the graffiti that occupy the landscape. it was much more livelier than the last i've been. little jewish kids riding bikes and running around. there wasn't much to see since most were out of sight inside so i made my way toward the city. i never had a problem with my passport but they were much more adamant to see it this time, asking questions such as "are you christian?" (no i am not but i said yes.) and finalizing with "you from america?" (yes. [what a freaking dumb question.]) the market area was bustling this time! i was excited to see. i walked toward the women's coop shop and got some shopping done for people back home. while picking out wares, one of the women engaged me in a conversation. i found myself explaining my purpose in hebron and showed her my photos, telling her that i need to start focusing on people, instead of the landscape. she got really excited and said that there was a person i needed to meet and talk to. so she calls him up and tells me that he will meet in 10 minutes and his daughter will pick me up at the checkpoint. wait, there is another checkpoint? (i found out there are 6? 7? checkpoints in hebron. ridiculous!) so the guy i met previously in my group excursion leads me around, showing me places i haven't seen yet. when he delivered me to the daughter, he shamelessly started asking for money, ending with phrases like "as you like" and "please". this guy is really annoying. i don't mean to be callous. what he does is really rude and i don't like being harassed.

i'm sorry but this will have to be continued later. i'm pretty exhausted. ta.

my first security (bomb?) drill

the national security administration or something issued an announcement that yesterday at 11 am, there was going to be a security drill. okay, so i guess the tension between israel and iran are heating up. being from california, i had my share of drills: earthquake, fire, crazy guy in the hall, etc. this was different. i was at school in the library reading and the librarian came over to me to say that at 11, i had to evacuate the area to the auditorium. so at 11, the siren rang and everyone was making their way to the auditorium. this was unlike any other drill because everything was calm and orderly. the auditorium was not big enough to hold all the students in the school so many were standing just outside the doors. and a lot of people were using this time as a photo op and took many pictures. interesting. i heard that while people inside buildings headed toward the nearest shelter, those on the streets just went about as usual. many didn't even realize that it was a security drill. this drill, named turning point 3 (was i not aware of turning points 1 & 2?), is based on a presumption of a missile and rocket attack from all sides, with large-scale terror attacks from within the country itself. this scenario is not fictional, according to deputy defense minister matan vilan'i. somewhat related but not, israel was ranked 141 on the global peace index. i'm beginning to feel sorry for israel as it is surrounded by countries who want to annihilate it.

the rest of the day was rather uneventful. had my first photo crit in documentary photo. was told my photos were very snapshot like and that i needed to hire a tour guide to take me around places so i can get direction.

that is all.

שבועות

shavuot (שבועות) is the second of the three pilgrimage festivals in judaism. literally meaning 'weeks', it celebrates the anniversary in which god gave the ten commandments to moses on mount sinai. it marks the conclusion of counting of the omer. the date of shavuot is directly linked to pesach. beginning the second day of pesach, seven weeks are counted, leading to the conclusion that is shavuot. the counting of days and weeks expresses anticipation and desire for the giving of the torah. on pesach, the jewish people were freed. on shavuot, they were given the torah and became a nation under god. shavuot is also connected with the harvest which lasted seven weeks.

shavuot is very different from other jewish holidays because it has no prescribed observances. however there are some that are pretty unique to it. dairy products and fruit are consumed during the holiday. this is because when the jewish people received the torah, the meat they had on hand were not kosher to the laws found in the torah.

*info mostly taken from friends and wikipedia

i have to say that i love jewish holidays. not only does it commemorate family but the food is beyond amazing. examples: purim: hamentaschens; pesach: matzah and charoset; shavuot: cheesecake, blintzes, etc.; channukah: latkes, sufganiyot, etc. i didn't get a chance to celebrate pesach correctly so hopefully i will be making some amendments to that for shavuot. there are many torah readings and lectures about god in many different subject matter. it would be great to go to these events to learn. the night will culminate in the pilgrimage to the kotel for the first prayer of the day come next morning.

month countdown begins today

so in a month, i will be waiting all night at ben gurion airport for the flight back to boston. with alitalia's crappy service, i know i will be delayed for one to two hours at most. however, that's a different topic. this is my to do list before my time in israel dwindles down to nothing.

1. egypt must happen. even if it means taking a week off classes.

2. go to jordan. weekend trip, anyone?

3. west bank city hop: jericho, ramallah, nablus, and bethlehem.

4. bauhaus architecture walk around tel-aviv.

5. haifa for bahai garden hike and akko for the beautiful port and the best hummus joint in israel.

6. antique and junk shopping in jaffa.

7. shabbat service at the great synagogue.

9. church tour in mount of olives.

10. museum visiting: rockefeller museum, israel museum, museum on the seam, chagall windows.

I WILL GET TO THEM. I HAVE TO.

seriously?

seriously.

i have no opinions. first one is asking for boycott. the second one is a response to the boycott action. these are just videos i stumbled upon. take it or leave it.

hebron visit

words i repeat a lot, not counting common words

click for bigger

note to smfa

dear smfa,

i really like your photo facility. i really do. however, i think you could use some improvements in the color lab. first, it's really uncool to send out film constantly and pay for developing. it gets pretty expensive in the long run. the mini lab machine would be a wonderful addition to the color darkroom. it's simple and you can factor in the price into the tuition. it would be worth it and many people would use it. color services are nice people but it sucks having to wait the two day turnaround service and trying to get the film to the media stockroom before the time cutoff. so please, get a mini lab. it would encourage the photo students to do more color.

best,

jenny

the west bank experience (part 2)

okay, this hebron experience is different than others. lisa, sarah, stefanie, jeremie, yael, gloria, petra and i traipsed to hebron. i have to say that hebron is THE most dangerous west bank city. i know i keep mentioning it a lot but there really is a palpable sense of unease that permeates the air. i felt even more unsafe this time as yael and gloria are israeli and israeli citizens are in no circumstances allowed in hebron as it is area a, which means it is under palestinian authority and control. the fact that they blatantly ignored this was really disrespectful as there are many contestation about the area regarding jews and arabs. it wasn't fair that they jeopardized everyone else's safety by their presence. we were very lucky that no one really caught on or questioned us.

we were aimlessly wandering around the city. to be honest, there is not much to see or do in hebron besides cheap shopping and visiting the abraham mosque in the old city. this guy named ibrahaim friended us and decided to be our tour guide for the day. he showed us several watchtowers and the destroyed houses caused by the jews living in the settlement. it is really astonishing that kiryat arba is so close to the arab hebron. they're practically neighbors. the arabs (i think) had to build a ceiling fence in the shuk area because the settlers are proned to throwing random debris to harm the passerbys. i saw many water tanks riddled with gunshots as to deplete the water supply. when ibrahaim led us to a rooftop to show the settlement, i saw jewish boys walking back. they saw me looking and started to scream obscenities at me. it's really horrible, this living situation.

finally we reached the abraham mosque after many stops into shops for random trinkets and scarves and pots. here i was also put off by the rude behavior of the people i was with. first of all, we're in a holy place, a gravesite of the ancesters of the three monotheistic religions of the world. we were not allowed to take pictures inside, yet they kept whipping out cameras to discreetly take pictures. that is just so disrespectful to the people and the religion. i may be going overboard but it is something i have come to notice and it bothers me so much. just because you are an artist doesn't give you the right to ignore and belittle the social practices and laws of others. there are boundaries and it's just common courtesy to respect that, i believe. sorry, i sound so orthodox about art practices. meh.

ibrahaim had ulterior motives it seemed. he led us deliberately to shopping places and lingered for long periods of time. when we arrived at the old city, we acquired an annoying pest, who was peddling cheap goods. when we didn't want to buy his wares, he accused us of not supporting palestine and its people. right. then he proceeded to follow us around, shouting 'welcome' every few minutes and trying yet again to press his bracelets and keychains on us. at the end, he wanted baksheesh (tip) from us for being our tour guide... what?! at this point, i have had enough. i was so ready to leave.

i'm at a point in my israel stay where my cup is so full that everything else is overkill. i am enjoying and not enjoying my time. i don't know if disillusioned is the word but i just don't care. i am desensitized to all the ulterior motives of the people, the rudeness, the way of life, the violent overtones, etc. it is how they live and they cope. how come i can't do that?

the pope's visit amongst other things

in hopes for peace and reconciliation, the pope visited israel and palestine last week. i have to say that his aspirations backfired in his face. in his wake, the traffic increased much to the chagrin of commuters in jerusalem. everyone was so irritable, the bus drivers more so. there was an influx of italian tourists. what, you don't see the pope enough in italy? everyone was more than ready to feed the pope to the dogs, which they did. the newspapers in israel printed the pope's involvement in hitler youth and the general air of anti-semitism of the roman catholics. furthermore, the entire student village was on military lockdown with snipers galore because he was landing in the helipad that is located right next to the dorms. lucky us. it seems that even though the people were looking forward to the pope's visit, it was gone soon after his arrival.

last monday was my first photo crit of the semester. it was also the first one in which my photos sparked a 30 minute debate of the differences between documentary photography and well... political undertones of the photography. because i chose to do my project on the different travel modes to hebron, i guess i could have expected nothing less. however, as stated below, i'm getting tired of the underlying political aspects. sometimes, things are just what it is. it is nothing more. i also do not want to do a critique on the relations between israel and palestine. here is where i am truly an outsider. i have never lived here nor do i have any connections with the place besides my fascination of the language and culture. i will never have the deep-rooted feelings that the israelis have accumulated over time. in a way, i feel like it is not in my place to do this project but it is one that i can do because i am a foreigner. i feel i cannot do the places and people justice in my photography because even with all my research, i will still be a 'tourist', an outsider. my photos of israel will always gravitate toward the things that have political charge to them, such as a watchtower, the wall border, military personnel, etc. i don't mean to only take pictures of that, not that i do. it is just that this is what comes from the project and it is hard to separate the politicalness of the photos, but my intentions are clear. it is merely a project documenting MY journey to hebron using egged and the arab buses. documentation and nothing more. but i cannot stop an arab israeli and a jewish israeli seeing something completely different that i mean to show.

i'm still alive and this is going to be rather long

there have been a lot of things on my mind the past couple of weeks, that started during the end of my pesach break. those 'lots' of things can be condensed into two: religion and politics.

living in jerusalem is not the easiest thing to do. everything this place is, what it is not, and what it can be weighs down heavily. sure there is the jerusalem syndrome where foreigners who visit this place believe that they are the next messiah or develop psychological symptoms that they never exhibited before. this is something else entirely. it might be a combination of living in israel and jerusalem simultaneously. i'm constantly surrounding by politics, religion, history, hatred, oppression, not to mention the underlying hint of violence (which really frightens me now). if any society is a master of switching 'faces' or maintaing one so steadfastly, israel has others beat. needless to say, after being immersed completely in this environment for 3.5 months, i'm so heart and head tired. i think pretty soon, i can call myself an israeli by the way i'm "ignoring" the political troubles, even going out of my way to avoid the discussions altogether. i'm disgusted by those who use academia as a means to support their hate-filled biased statements. i'm tired of nothing GOOD happening. i've talked shop here more so than i have back in the states and i just want to throw in the towel. as childish as this sounds, israel and palestine should just hug it out. instead of showing violence and fear of one another, an extension of trust and happiness surely will fare better in the negotiations. i've started telling people here that i'm switzerland. indeed.

another thing that i've realized, being in the land of holy, i have been reflecting back on my past as a christian. i always went to church because my mother made me. but after a while, i decided that it was something that i liked doing and did so willingly. i was never a "die-hard" but it is safe to say that i had a relationship with god. at the age of thirteen/fourteen, i had a falling out with religion as i saw so much hypocrisy within the church. it was disgusting and i did want any part of it. in the meantime, i experimented with other religions such as wiccan (who doesn't), buddhism (to an extent), and even toying with atheism as i'm coming to see that god has a lot of bloodshed in his footsteps. but i have been spiritual and i don't know how to really explain that. after certain personal experiences, i felt that there was something missing in my life. i don't mean to get sentimental or religious in any fashion, i merely want to outline my progression of thought. i don't know what this missing 'thing' is but i'm starting to get the feeling that i want to return back to some form of god. i don't know if it is a christian god or a jewish god. while learning hebrew, i toyed with the idea of converting to judaism.

i'm surrounded by the culture that comes with judaism and i am very fascinated and drawn to it. judaism is such a strong community based religion. even those who say they are not religious still uphold the culture and customs of the religion such as going home for dinner with the family on shabbat, having seder on pesach, etc. it is so lovely to see that in the midst of a tumultuous globalization, that this traditionalist religion still strongly carries on. instead of celebrating the individual's connection with god, judaism focuses on the community's altogether relationship with each other and how that relates to god. it's so beautiful, really it is.

i've been to synagogue for shabbat service and it was comforting. i will hopefully accompany kimmy to her yeshua group and get my comparison going. i can't say for sure which i will eventually turn to but i see myself on a journey with god in the future.

moving

i have finally decided to move into a different suite in the כפר הסטודנתים. the past few weeks were agonizing with palpable tension that did not bode well for my well-being or my outlook on my stay in israel. i dreaded coming back to my room if i was out and when inside the suite, i didn't want to leave my room, not wanting to run into my two atrocious suitemates who made my stay in this suite living hell. i'm moving in temporarily with my friends with hopes that i will be able to move out finally into the city centre.

*fingers crossed*

i feel so much lighter and happier now that i'm moving out.

tel aviv beach front

tel aviv is prettier from sea.

click for bigger.

a cause for celebration!

happy independence day, israel.

you sure are young.

heh.

a vigil for those past

israel sure does know how to do sadness, unsurpassed by any other. in the course of ONE week, there are three sirens, to remind the entire nation of its past and those who fought to make israel a reality. although they are relatively short bursts, its enough to penetrate the thoughts and actions into momentary sadness. even though the holocaust rings strongly in israelis' past, none hits further home than the soldiers who perished while protecting the values and the land of israel. the israel defense forces are comprised of people who are younger than i am, as military duty in israel is compulsory. while most do not see action, it is undeniable that their time as a soldier on duty has impact on the rest of their lives. i am not writing off the american memorial days but the ones here in israel are more... harrowing, to say the least. the people who die for this country are mere young men and women, aged eighteen to twenty-two. i don't know what i'm trying to say. i shouldn't even be comparing america and israel together, seeing as they are completely different ideologically, historically, culturally, etc. but for some reason, i feel more affected by the services in israel than i do by the ones in the states. i can't explain it, i just feel it. i will also be happier once these days are past, which will culminate in israel's independence day which will be nothing short of amazing fun. supposedly, there is a jerusalem day coming up in may. there is also shavuot. may these be happier times.

i am also ready to start school again; i'm tired of break.

musings

i've always had this ideal in my head--that when one goes abroad, one engages in adventures that are one in a million, changes into a different person, etc. well it's been almost three months, yet i feel completely unaltered from when i first arrived. these are my assessments. i am more vegetarian than before. i won't touch meat here. however, if someone has prepared some for me, i will eat it out of respect, i suppose. i adore coffee and won't be able to tolerate the weak american one once i return. i love fresh produce and haggling. political discussion rule my day to day living. i don't know. perhaps i was banking on this experience too much. maybe it is what it is and i shouldn't expect to "miraculously" change although i am engaging in different social customary practices and whatnot. i feel more affiliated with israel than america, which should amuse my friends, especially my teachers. i find myself keeping shabbat inadvertently. this is a terrible assessment. i will stop now.

remembrance day

as mentioned earlier, last night and today is יומ השואה, day of holocaust. last night, there was a service at the yad veshem, the holocaust museum in jerusalem. today, i got to witness the siren. at 10 am, a siren blares across the entire country for two minutes. in these two minutes, crowds of people, buses, cars stop in their tracks to stand and observe the deaths of their ancestors in the holocaust. i don't know how to describe the experience. it was... a bit overwhelming. there is a palpable feeling in the air of remorse for the dead. the city isn't as buzzing as it usually is. i just felt an entire nation's feeling of despair and the effect of the diaspora on my shoulders.

in lighter news, kimmy and i went to beit ticho to see some nice paperwork art. the exhibit was small but the works on display were really amazing. i'm starting to gain a new appreciation for paper related art. there was even sound installations of paper. interesting. the whole place is such a nice reprieve from jerusalem. cute cafe, nice garden and an awesome little library of art history, artists, poetry, and literature. kimmy and i have a date to go there often and lounge around eating desserts and drinking tea while reading. afterwards, she took me to jerusalem's printmaking workshop. what a cool studio! there was a gallery up of woodcut prints and they were really nice.

on a completely different note of deliciousness. there are four king of sandwiches in israel: falafel, shwarma, fuul, and sabich. and now i can say that i've tried all of them. in order of desirability: falafel, fuul, shwarma, sabich. falafel for me is going to be the quintessential israeli food. fuul is an amazing pita pocket of beans, egg, and veggies. shwarma... it's okay; i don't get the hype. but if you like meat, go for it. sabich was interesting. not sure if i'll get it again. maybe i'll try one at moshiko's.

i haven't been to see a lot of art while my stay in israel. so this week i will remedy that by going to israel museum, museum on the seam, seeing the chagall windows at hadassah hospital and just general church hopping in mount of olives. then i will shut myself in the darkroom for hours to crank out some photos.

april is the month of rebirth, rejoice and remembrance

yesterday for my israel: place and culture class, we went to the old city to view the greek orthodox easter celebration at the holy sepulchre. it's quite a bizarre celebration. there was a procession into the apse of the church which the patriarch led while chanting and singing in latin. there were many people in the church as well, visiting the calgary and the stone upon which jesus was anointed before burial. people crowded around the stone tablet, laying candles and various knickknacks, covering them in the oil and fragrance laid out on the stone. my teacher, doron, told us there was another celebration earlier called the miracle of the holy fire. a holy blue fire descends from heaven to the tomb of jesus, which the patriarch catches with two candles. as he appears among the people, the crowd goes crazy in chant and praise, vying to light their own candles with this holy fire. it is also the only time in the year where the holy sepulchre is open late.

today and tomorrow are the holocaust memorial days. tomorrow morning at 10 am, a siren will go off in which people will completely stop what they're doing for two minutes to remember the tragedy. many will be flocking to the yad veshem, the holocaust memorial on mt. herzl. the radios will only play sad songs... and people will be in mourning.

next week wednesday is israel's independence day. so that will entail a lot of fun, i hope.

i also realized that the semester is quickly coming to a close and i have yet to print any of my photos. i'm disliking my digital camera and from now on will only shoot analog.

places

we went to:

tel meggido

nazareth

tiberias

yam kinneret

kiryat shemona

har hermon

majdal shams

yehudia reserve

ein gedi

mitzpe ramon

21 L of water

four gas refills

400+ km

4 days on the road

awesome.

more substantial update once energy is back to full.

random thoughts about photography

i have this teacher named yosef cohen. he may not be the most liberal minded when it comes to photography but he does provide interesting insight. i remember saying that i "shoot" pictures rather than i "take" pictures. yosef then proceeded to kind of chew me out on my choice of words saying that i do not shoot but take or record things. i think it was also in his class where someone talked about how a photograph is a gift. it is offered to you to take. otherwise it is stolen. this is interesting because i have never come across this mentality in the states while studying photography. the photo students always nonchalantly used the word shoot or take. it is true, i think, that a photograph is a gift that has been given to you, especially if you work with people. it is a reward to getting to know the subject better. if one just barges in, demanding good pictures, there will surely be none. moreover, it's difficult to say if this mentality would inherently provide the best pictures. then this discussion goes into the intent of the photographer and whether the subject is being manipulated. etc etc etc. photography has always been an heated subject with many theories in approval of the medium and many more ready to tear it to pieces.

perhaps i should adopt this method and see where it takes me in photographing jerusalem and/or israel.

a hodgepodge of things

in addition to the birkat hachama last wednesday, today was the birkat kohanim. it is a massive ritual blessing at the kotel. each year thousands flock to the wall on the intermediate days of pesach to be blessed by a convocation of kohanim, judaism's hereditary class of priests. this tradition is normally conducted at people's respective worship place but the kotel as a location has been around since temple eras. the kohanims' chant, "may the lord bless you and keep you; may the lord shine his countenance toward you and be gracious to you; may the lord lift up his countenance toward you and give you peace." this is chanted over the tallit-shrouded believers, raising their hands in praise.

picture courtesy of jerusalem.com

furthermore, spring should be around the corner but the weather today was pure summer. maybe it was the weather in conjunction with the thousands of people milling around jerusalem today. it was a nice sight to see after all the quietness in the beginning of pesach. there were tourists from other places, some making a pilgrimage to the churches around jerusalem for easter sunday service. and then there were the israelis escaping their homes for the vacation. the central bus station was crammed with tents, coolers, sleeping bags, IDF, etc.

i was out and about the entire day, getting a good dose of sun. i went to mt. zion as it is one of the places on my list. here is the tomb of david, the last supper room, the church of dormition, oskar schindler's grave, and the church of st. peter in gallicantu. i visited the first three. mt. zion is not too far from zion gate and i was surprised by the close proximity. the tomb of david appeared to be one of the many prayer sites in jerusalem. there is a partition to create room for women space and men space. there wasn't much to see as there were many people reading their prayer books. so i went in search of the last supper room. the lonely planet guide can be misleading sometimes and the people milling about can be misleading too. i don't think i saw the 'actual' room but it is a nice place. what else can i say about it? nothing more than davinci's last supper is rather a figment of his imagination... because the room doesn't look anything like that. anyways. my last stop in mt. zion was the church of dormition. this is the traditional site where the virgin mary died, or 'fell into an 'eternal' sleep'. the latin name for the church is dormitio sanctae mariae. i have to say that this is one of my favorite churches in comparison to all the others i've seen so far, and i've seen a lot. this might even top church of all nations. the crypt was very peaceful and beautifully constructed. there is a stone effigy of mary in the center with jesus calling his mother to heaven. i don't know if you are aware of this but while jesus ascended to heaven, the virgin mary's is called assumption meaning she needed to be helped physically to reach heaven. take it however you want it.

on an excited note, i'm leaving on a road trip around israel tomorrow morning. i will be going down south to the negev to hike in the mitzpe crater and up north to hike in the woods/rivers and ascend mt. hermon to see into syria and maybe lebanon. and hopefully make it to akko, caesarea, and meggido. but anything that happens will be fun. i am very excited for this. afterwards, i will also hopefully partake in the greek orthodox easter celebration at the holy sepulchre and then be on my way to egypt for a week. AHHH!

jerusalem at night

חג סמח!

it is the holiday season in the holy land. and there is so much to say and i apologize in advance if this post reads a little scatterbrained.

pesach just started and i can already feel its effects in the city. the streets are completely void of people and cars. there is silence in the air as people sit down with their families to remember the time of israelites' imprisonment in egypt. if you know anything about the ten plagues, this is what pesach is all about. the holiday lasts for a week and this is one of the few times many people in israel have a break from work or school. it is also a time when many haredi jews go on vacation so on my travels, i will see black and white clad perons in the negev or the galilee area. pesach is one of the three pilgrimage festivals, along with shavuot and sukkot, which are the three times in which the jews offer up a sacrifice to God. and just like any jewish holiday, pesach involves the family. there is the reading of haggadah, which elaborates the story of enslavement in israel, the ten plagues and the exodus from egypt. along with the story, there is an intricate service, involving drinking of wine, partaking in bitter herbs, and consumming the matzah.

i wasn't able to join a family for the seder dinner so my friend, jonathan, and i decided to spend the holiday together. it was really nice since both of us weren't going to be alone. jonathan cooked a fabulous dinner of salmon steak with sweet curry sauce, vegetables and quinoa, and a nice salad. avi left us a copy of the haggadah so we can partake in the seder service. since we didn't get to eat until midnight (we napped for a long time), we gave up on the story halfway through and made hillel's sandwiches (matzah, haroseth, bitter herbs) and drank the customary four glasses of wine. our own tradition was in the making.

the one thing that makes me weep a little inside is how forlorn the bakeries appear this time. during pesach, no leavened products (חמץ) are consumed and the pesach cookies are so unforgiving. they are made from coconut, eggs and sugar. some have jam and some are covered in chocolate. these cookies are the hardest, nastiest tasting things i've ever eaten. there are no more pitas, breads, rugelach, bourekas... it makes me so sad. there is no more lovely smell of yeast in the air. i'm a little crazy, sorry.

this year, the seder pesach was made extra special because of the birkat hachama (creation of warmth). this is 'sun worship' happens every twenty-eight years. the prayer is said to commemorate the creation of the sun, which supposedly happened on tuesday night/wednesday morning. and because of the way the earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun, the exact same point is reached every twenty-eight years. for the prayer service, many flocked to the western wall before sunrise and created a frenzy of voices as the sun rose. while the birkat hachama occurs every twenty-eight and pesach every year, the next time the two will coincide won't be for another five hundred years. so indeed, this pesach is something special.

it's 9 PM; why are you still here?

today was a pretty good day, despite the fact i didn't get to enter temple mount and that i was detained for 30 minutes because i, stupidly, brought an x-acto knife in my backpack to the western wall. it just proves that i'm not yet used to the lifestyle here. and it's illegal to carry a knife in israel.. what? but i'm an art student! anyways...

this weekend, i kind of did what the people do and rested the entire weekend. i slept day in and day out all of friday and saturday. i kid you not. it was marvelous!

the israel culture class wasn't as interesting as it normally was, as we explored the kotel and the jewish quarters. maybe i just wasn't in the mood after dealing with the whole knife fiasco. honestly.

some pretty alley way in the jewish quarter
remains of the broad wall and map behind it (jewish quarter)
um, i actually have no idea what this is; it's pretty, though.
after the class, i went to prisma to pick up my photos from my fisheye. OH MY GOD. i love this camera. thank you mark! it might just be beginner's luck but i got some amazing shots from it and i don't even remember half of the shots. hrm. also, my baby (nikon d60) is clean and ready to go. woo. kimmy and i got some food to go at moshiko's which serves pretty damn good falafel. afterwards, we trekked back to bezalel to do some work before break and classes.

avi and i've been working on this project for about 3 weeks now. we didn't even start til last week. oh dear. but it's coming along fabulously, if i do say so myself. it's a collage/installation on a crime scene. avi and i are trying to do something absurd with it and i think it's working. i think that because of this project, i'm becoming the crazy art girl who does everything the hard way. yea. and what is the deal with kicking everyone out at 9 pm. what is this?! how do they expect us to get any work done with only 3 hr class periods while taking 7-9 classes throughout the week. you are insane, bezalel. i also do not like being nagged by police officers. i was on such a good working mood too.

that's all i really have to say, so here are pictures of the upcoming work:

avi made this metal structure
in a different location
this is my corner. i like it. it's my baby.

happy birthday, serge gainsbourg and lisa weiss

i went to tel-aviv for the first time yesterday. it has a completely different feel than jerusalem-- definitely more urban, open, and free. it reminded me of los angeles for some reason. lisa, jonathan, carla, avi and i went to an art show somewhere between yafo and tel-aviv. it was in this building called the panorama. the displayed work was not necessarily good but definitely interesting. avi and i walked through the part of the building where there was a fog machine running. we couldn't see anything and avi caught me freaking out on camera. the art scene is more happening, as people say, in tel-aviv than in jerusalem. lots of the art students i talked to reference berlin, germany as the next new york art scene and tel-aviv a close second after berlin. in conjunction with the art show, there were also musical performances. i ended up talking with this old, eccentric looking man. what i didn't like about this conversation was that he asked everyone where they were from in hebrew. when i answered in hebrew, he said that i should speak in english because it's my native tongue. when i told him that i wanted to speak hebrew because i'm in israel, he said that it doesn't matter, just speak english. i didn't understand this. it was also at the art show when i realized the question 'יש לך סיגריות?' (do you have a cigarette?) is somewhat of a pick-up line. it's a given that any person in israel smokes and therefore has some to share. sometimes, the cigarette in question is a joint.

yesterday was serge gainsbourg's birthday. avi, being french as he is, he heard there was a birthday party in gainsboug's honor. the place wasn't even a kind of bar or a club. it was someone's house that they put a tiny bar in. i loved the homey feeling exuding from the white walls covered in kitschy art. everyone there looked decadent in their french styles, sipping beer and red wine. the deejay spun some 50s/60s music, much to the liking of my friend, lisa. we twisted and shimmied and just had good fun. it was funny that even though it was gainsbourg's birthday, they played none of his music.

i met three soldiers at the party. so far the best experience i've had with the off-duty IDF. their names are dekel, matan, and itamar. they were very nice and offered me a grand tour of tel-aviv the next time i'm back there. dekel is in the process of learning spanish. matan and itamar can't wait for their service to israel is over and move to berlin where matan wants to study music and itamar, history or film studies.

and of course, how can one visit tel-aviv without a visit to the beachside? we trooped over to the ocean around 430 am. the walk there peaceful and nice. i was constantly reminded of santa monica, walking through the residential areas to the pier/beachfront. and, i dipped my feet into the mediterranean! from the sand, tel-aviv appears to be just like any mediterranean city/port. it's pretty at night. i am told that this after midnight past time is one high schoolers engage in. nevertheless, it was a fun, but tiring, experience. i definitely have to go back to tel-aviv as much as possible.

we got back to jerusalem at 630 in the morning by the way of a sherut. jerusalem by morning light is really an amazing place. the streets are empty. there is lively silence in the air. oh my god, i love it. by the time i made it back to mount scopus, the entire city was enveloped in a dense fog. it was peaceful.

i'm really starting to really like being in israel. the life style is radically different and i can feel myself changing, acclimating easily into the life here. the food, the people, the sites-- i'm amazed by it all. interestingly enough, i'm practicing korean more so than hebrew. i don't know if i want to come back to the stateside!

פסח

it is getting to be that time around the world: spring cleaning. here in israel, i feel like that has more depth than just throwing away junk and cleaning out your house for the new year (i am now wondering why the new year doesn't start with the spring season). פסח, or passover, is one of the most important religious holidays in judaism. i don't know if you are familiar with the bible, especially the old testament, passover is connected with the ten plagues god unleashed on egypt for not releasing the israelites from slavery. for the tenth plague, god intended on killing the first born sons. however, israelites were instructed to mark their doors with the blood of a spring lamb and god would pass over their house. when the pharoah let the israelites go, they left in such a hurry that they didn't wait for their bread to rise. פסח is celebrated for seven days in the festival of unleavened bread. it is also one of three pilgrim festivals, the other two being שבועות and סכות.

one or two weeks before the start of פסח, most households in israel clean out their houses. the orthodox jews do so even more vigorously to remove any traces of חמץ, wheat products, which include yeast goods, certain cakes, and most distilled liquor, from the house. afterwards, they do a formal search of חמץ with a feather duster and a wooden spoon. any found are then burned. while, none of my flatmates are religious in any way, they partake in cleaning out the house thoroughly. there is an elaborate meal called סדר (seder) for פסח that is quite long and can span the course of two days. there is retelling of the story, washing, and consumming unleavened bread and bitter herbs. hopefully, i'll be adopted by a family for this!

on the road to hebron via egged

in an earlier post, i mentioned the semester project for my documentary workshop class. the class takes place on hebron road but i intend on using hebron road as it was meant to be used. today was the first day of the project, so to speak. i called יקוב, my teacher, telling him that i will be doing a dry run of the journey. since i know hebrew more than arabic, i decided to travel using egged, which for the purpose of my project i will call jewish bus. the cost of the ride is 8.80 shekels, which is barely over 2$, going from jerusalem to hebron. total time of travel was about 1 hr and 15 mins.

on the bus, i befriended a jewish woman, who made עליה to israel 5 months ago from canada. she lives in a jewish settlement 10 mins away from hebron. she told me that the bus initially traveled on hebron road before the building of the rail commenced and when it was 'safer.' after the bus was attacked on many accounts, a tunnel highway was built that bypassed the initial entry into the west bank. after 10 mins on the bus, the travelers on the left side were treated to an amazing view of the wall cutting through the landscape. i am still astounded by how close jerusalem is to the west bank area, being nearly encompassed by the giant concrete structure on almost all sides. the ride was mostly uneventful but i appreciated seeing the landscape of israel for the most part. there is a certain beauty in the hilly, deserted terrain, dotted with housing complexes or the occasional rundown buildings occupied mostly by arabs. there were also several farms along the way and i think with a little stretch of my imagination, this is probably what the area looked like 2000 years ago.... that actually might be too far a stretch.

hebron. what to say about hebron. a little history: hebron is the largest city in the west bank. it is the biblical region of judea and it is the second holiest city of judaism, after jerusalem. the most famous site of hebron is the cave of patriarchs. even though the site is holy to judaism, both christianity and islam hold the site sacred due to the connection with abraham. he bought a piece of land to bury his wife, sarah, and afterwards abraham, issac, leah, jacob, rebecca are all buried there. in recent history, as any piece of arabic land, there has been many tense conflicts between arabs and israelis. hebron is heavily patrolled by israeli military guards. rabbi moshe levinger and his wife began colonising the centre of town after israel incorporated the west bank in 1967. even though this move was illegal, it gained endorsement, even after the settlement of kiryat arba was established to draw the settlers out. each armed settler in the old city is protected by as many as four armed soldiers, who are stationed on rooftops and street corners, emboldening the ~600 jews there to parade in the streets chanting anti-arab calls and wielding guns. on february of 1994, baruch goldstein, a physician, entered the ibrahimi mosque and open fired on the praying palestinians. palestinians believe the israeli jews are stealing their rightful land and protest against the military occupation. the israeli jews believe they have every right to occupy hebron because it was jewish under abraham. however, it appears as if the palestinians always get the wrong end of the bargain. their homes are constantly decimated or taken over. they face constant harassment from the settlers.

the egged bus dropped me off in the old city. so my initial viewing of hebron was very unsettling. i was surrounded by crumbling structures, closed shops, graves, pro-zionist graffiti and gun-toting civilians and soldiers. i thought that this was hebron itself. i was mistaken after some research. even though the area looks unpopulated, there are people, both arab and jew, walking around the streets. there are many palestinian and israeli flags flying from windows and houses. however, there are more of the latter. everyone seems to be very welcoming and friendly. i visited the muslim part of the cave of patriarchs. a man there gave me a brief tour, beginning with donning of a head covering. the mosque is one of the more unassuming ones i've visited but the humbleness is appealing. there is a shrine of a stone with an imprint of a foot. my guide told me that this is abraham's footprint. interesting. i also visited the tomb of abraham, isaac and rebecca. in all, my stay was brief as service was going to start soon.

i am glad that i picked this as my project. i will get to explore a place where most people are unwilling to go to because of the heavy military occupation and threat of danger. this is one of the few times i am thankful i'm from abroad.

history of the city of david, the mount of olives and the surrounding areas

that is a long title but it encompasses what i've learned today in my israel culture class. i am enjoying that class immensely.

today we met outside שער האשפות (dung gate), located right next to the הכותל (western wall). from there we discussed the ever famous al-aqsa mosque, the third holiest place for muslims of the world, next to mecca and medina. there is a jerusalem archaeological park in the area and near the entrance one can see the remains of the cardo maximus road which was supposed to be this amazing colonnaded road that lead to damascus gate and was used as the main road.

there was a lot of soldiers milling around. the professor said that before the soldiers go back to their unites, they do educational visits to important places of israel history, getting exposed to zionistic propaganda. they were loitering all around the western wall, dung gate, and the city of david. there are still ongoing excavations in the city of david. the excavations show different layers which go all the way to the second temple period (516 BCE - 70 BCE). he then also explained that archaeological digs are used for political reasons by the zionists to claim possession of israel/jerusalem as the rightful cultural owners.

right next to the city of david is silwan, an arab neighborhood of jerusalem. like every arab neighborhood in jerusalem, it is a highly contested area, where they have no building permits and jews are starting to infiltrate and take over the property. an very interesting fact: some of the houses in silwan are built on top of burial caves of ancient jerusalem. most arab houses are usually close to the ground but because the property is so expensive, the buildings are many storied. currently, jerusalem municipality is talking about destroying houses in silwan.

afterwards, we walked behind the temple mount/al-aqsa mosque. there were several muslim burial sites. i think only the rich are allowed to bury the dead there and also if their family for many previous generations have been buried there. on the other side, we saw the valley of jehoshaphat, where it is said that the events of the day of judgement are to take place. within this valley are series of tombs. here are pictures.

absalom's pillar

grotto of st. james & tomb of zechariah

after class, since we were in the area, kimmy sue, jonathan and i decided to trek over the valley of jehoshaphat to mount of olives. there we visited the church of all nations (basilica of agony) and the garden of gethesemane. the church is quite beautifully ornamented inside with mosaics of blues and golds. the ceiling shows twelve? nations. the garden of gethesemane was pretty as well. it is the place where it is believed jesus was arrested. the olive trees in the garden are some of the oldest trees, dating back 2000 years. amazing, if you think about it.

from there we returned to the old city and because kimmy sue and i have been talking about it for the past three weeks, we decided to do the walk of the cross. kimmy said that some of the stations are made up. it was such a nice day that i didn't mind a little make believe and visiting the places where jesus is said to have walked with the cross on the way to his crucifixion. i saw the ecce homo arch, where pontius pilate declared, "behold, the man!" to viewers on the street. i saw the places where it said he stumbled. then we ended the journey at the holy spulchre (this makes it my third visit). while the walk itself was very nice, kim and i didn't not appreciate the different catcalls from the arab men in the marketplace and the uninvited help. one went so far to say "i'm available." i don't even want to think about what that even means. i got even more 'china' and 'konichiwa'. i'm sort of getting used to them by now but it still bothers me. i have taken the politically correct nature of america for granted. oh, how i miss it.

later, lisa, carla, stefanie and i got together to plan our various trips for pesach break! soooo excited! but i am tired after walking around for a solid 6 hours so i will show you the places i will be visiting sometime later.

היומ היה מענין

i was up all night planning the trip to egypt and for the roadtrip around israel for the upcoming pesach break. i am so excited! seeing the pyramids and the cairo museum and alexandriaaaa! okay, that's enough of that for now.

today, i met up with lisa and omri in the old city. we were meeting petra for a catholic mass at 1830. it was interesting for me to go to a church service after i haven't gone in so long, especially one in jerusalem, the mecca of the three monotheistic religions of the world. it was conducted in english by father richard, who came to jerusalem four months ago, leaving florida. the service itself was nice and calming, even though i'm not by any means familiar with mass. i forgot how drowsy i can get during church. oops. afterwards, father richard came up to us and asked if we would like a tour around the rooftop of the church. what an amazing view! he was really kind and pointed out several noticeable landmarks in jerusalem. the church, pontifical institute notre dame of jerusalem, is also quite known for its replica of the shroud of turin. it is also a place where many pilgrims start out their journey in the holy city. we might go back there soon to see this shroud exhibit because we can't go to italy :P.

afterwards, we walked to המרקיה (the souperia in english). what a homey place! upholding its name, המרקיה serves several different kinds of comforting, vegetarian friendly soups as well as שקשוקה (shakshuka), which is what a lot of the israelis refer to as the omelette. however, it's more like a tomato stew with a cracked egg on top. it is delicious! i must learn how to make one so i can make it for people back in the states. המרקיה seems to be a hipster/foreigners hotspot. one of the workers is a boston native (!) who just completed his thesis in hebrew literature in israel. omri, lisa, petra, and i sipped on תה נענע (mint tea) and chit chatted. it was also cool that the cafe decided to observe earth hour, by turning off the lights completely, immersing the restaurant in total darkness with little points of candlelight illuminating the diners. i like it!

i bid goodbye to the bunch and walked toward zion square where i came across a group of asians singing praise. they were singing in korean. what?? ever since i got here, i am astounded to find a big population of koreans living in jerusalem. i made friends with one who is in my documentary photo class. she told me that most of them make a pilgrimage here. that's cool, i guess? i never knew there was such a big following though. i should find out more information on this and hopefully get a decent korean meal while in israel!

the good mood i was in was shattered when i came back to my room in the כפר. a meeting was held to discuss the nasty atmosphere that occupies apartment 771. however, i think it was just an excuse for the two flatmates who do now like me to attack me even further. they really make me feel unwelcome in a place that is rightfully my own. i hope i get to move out into the city centre so i can be closer to my friends, שוק and fun things. but i will have to haggle with the dorm office, who might not like the idea! wish me luck. tomorrow my israel culture class is meeting outside dung gate, near the jewish quarter. i think we're exploring kidron valley, the place between the old city and mount of olives. more info on it later after the lecture!

ideas for screenprinting

just going to jot down my ideas.

i had my third screenprinting class of the semester. it's kind of hard because i'm not really used to this kind of teaching where the teacher just gives us free rein especially when i'm new to the medium. i asked him about this but all i got back was a nonchalant answer of "i'll give you a project then." didn't happen. so i just looked around at what people were doing and decided to experiment with photo emulsion. i printed out an image i found on the internet that looked pretty cool (link). it's hard to think in screenprinting terms because things may or may not show up and it is an additive process. seeing that i don't have a painting background which probably most people do in the class, i got a little frustrated with the medium quite quickly.

kim printed on glass and it looked so cool! she then combined her etching stuff with screenprinting and made really awesome prints. she's really talented and a great artist!

i wish i was doing stained glass again so i can print on it. but c'est la vie! i might continue the class 'images on clay' from last semester and print in clay tiles or something. not sure yet. i want to do something that explores my duality as an asian and an american. maybe combining some kind of transparent and coarse paper. it would be interesting to combine my documentary workshop class with screenprinting and impose maps or some other thing on top of the photos? or, printing anatomical images juxtaposing with something... oh the possibilities! there are so many i just don't know what to doooo.

on a different note, my flatmate from romania yelled at me for taking a shower this morning. i didn't know that she was going to take a shower. she was making breakfast. she said that i was inconsiderate and how she had class at 8 am but it was 7:40 when i got in the shower. it gave me a sour outlook for the day. i don't understand her gripe against me. she doesn't know me and i her. she stares at me like i'm some weird animal from some distant world, like everyone else in israel. she is not a nice person.