יד ושמ

let's seee... thursday, i went to bezalel again to register for classes. for some reason, they didn't realize that they had to set aside an allotment for the study exchange students because guess what?! there are no classes for us. so i had to beg and plead... actually, i had to be really stern and tell the photo secretary that the only reason i'm at bezalel currently is to study pure photography and if there are no classes, my time and money is being wasted for nothing. after i said that, she gave me options that i could look into. for a full semester of classes i need a minimum about 12 credits. i have 9: israel: place & culture; collage; art & activism; documentary workshop; and the sea, the mountain, and that in-between. that last class should be interesting. it is a friday class, which is kind of unheard of in israel since it's the start of shabbat, and it is a 6 hour class. oh well. i need at least four more credits in order for me to get full credit from SMFA. argghh.

after all that israeli bureaucratic nonsense, sarah, suley, jonathan and i went to the יד ושמ (yad veshem), the holocaust memorial. it was super intense and depressing. the exhibits were laid out really carefully and it was done well. they brought back a piece of the ghetto and recreated a scene around it. they also had original torahs that were saved from the burning synagogues. the museum is located on mount herzl, which is incredibly gorgeous and the memorial takes up most of the mountain. it's freaking huge. we're going there for our culture class so hopefully i get to see more of it.

today, friday, i wanted to go to the שוק to take advantage of the low prices. however, i was beaten with hail and torrential rain. it's been raining and thundering nonstop. i hate it but it's good that israel, or jerusalem, is getting so much water... to somewhat alleviate the water crisis. and my umbrella broke. later, i hung out with arielle and lisa. their suitemate, liran, is really funny and cool. his friend, edad, is like a super gentleman. he also happens to be a bartender and recommended a drink that i should try called martini biano. or i think that's what he said. it's a really smooth drink that should be savoured, not devoured. i liked it. afterwards, we were feeling a bit hungry so edad took us to this arabic food place. i got something called malewach, which consists of a flat bread (reminds me of naan) that is smothered in choice of hummus, tahini, sour cream, or cream cheese. then you get a boiled egg, chopped tomato, some spicy concoction, salt, pepper, za'atar and olive oil. OH MY GOD. it is super awesome. i got hummus, tahini, and cream cheese on mine with an egg... it just melts in your mouth. kind of like a sauce burrito but not really. kind of amazing. ahhh. i really should go to the gym if i keep eating street food. dammit. oh well.

classes start sunday. ahh!

orientation

so we had orientation today. it was nice to meet the people who i'm going to be hanging out with (hopefully) for the months to come. they are all really nice and super artsy looking. plus the two guys from france are really really really good looking. haha. we got an introduction to the school and how the semester is going to run. it appears that we can't really deviate beyond our department because the classes are prioritized for the department students. but i'm going to try anyway. we have a mandatory culture/history class, which will be taught by a professor from germany. we'll be going on trips around the city, learning about the culture and what not. sounds cool. it turns out we have a three week break for pesach: april 8-april 29. how awesome is that? classes will begin monday and i'm really excited. woo.

gosh, i've spent quite a lot since i've gotten here. ahhh! anyways, that's all i have to say for now. will probably update later! i think we're going to hang out tonight. i hope so!

edit 8:39 pm - i just got back from rock climbing for the first time ever with joseph and kimmy. it was really fun and exhilarating BUT SCARY. my body was on overdrive with adrenaline because i didn't want to lean back and clung to the wall for dear life. maybe i have some height issues. whatever. now my hands are stiff and my arms feel like they're about to fall off. i really liked it so i might make it a regular thing? but that means buying shoes and a harness.... booo

edit 1:21 am - my friends, joseph and kimmy, and i went out on the town... which means to city centre. joseph brought along his friend, harris and kimmy brought her friend, jenny. we went in search of a bar, was turned down because we weren't twenty-two or twenty-three. we finally found this place called blue hole. it's a pretty decent bar... with random music that keeps you guessing. i had a sex on the beach. please don't judge. the server was right there and i wanted a long island iced tea but she said no.. we also got free shots on the house of penguin, which is their house shot specialty. it was being able to go out and have fun.

another trip to the old city

sorry for the absence since thursday.  it was raining all weekend and i was inside.  sunday i did stuff but not very significant besides meeting an awesome girl named lisa who's doing photography like me!  oh i discovered an amazing falafel place near campus on הגבעה צרפתית  (french hill).  i just came to the realization that i'm going to walking along two freaking hills: mount scopus and the french hill.  my legs are already complaining.  anyways...

lisa, sarah, and i wanted to go to the old city again to explore.  i don't think lisa has been there before so score.  along the way we were further accompanied by suley, a hebrew university student, and joseph, another bezalel exchange from wash u in st. louis.  the first stop was the holy sepulchre.  and OH MY GOD!  i'm going to be an art history nerd here and i apologize in advance.  it was really cool walking into the holy sepulchre, not only because it is an ancient church but because i've actually studied it in my medieval architecture class in krautheimer's essay on iconography.  so cool.  as mentioned earlier, the last five stations of the cross are in the holy sepulchre.  they are located on the second floor and it was really crowded.  station eleven is the site of golgotha, where jesus was cruxified.  there were so many people, most who i think were pilgrims, kowtowing in front of the altar, lighting candles, and murmuring prayers.  it was really a sight to behold.  the altar itself was amazing.  everything was bathed in gold or silver and of course it wouldn't be complete without a medici altar next to it.  we explored further, visiting christ's prison, chapel of the discovery of the cross, and of course the anastasis, jesus's burial tomb.  it was this massive wooden structure in the ambulatory.  the entrance was tiny and in the first room was this slab of rock... i'm racking my brain right now, trying to remember what it was... oh!  it was part of the boulder that closed off the cave he was buried in.  the actual tomb itself is very overwhelming.  it was tiny and cramped.  everything was lit by candles and gold shimmered everywhere.  there was an intensity being that close to what is believed as his tomb.  furthermore, there were so many well-preserved mosaics on the ceilings and walls... and frescoes that are still present today.  being in the holy sepulchre just overwhelmed with the feeling of antiquity.  i just couldn't believe that i was walking around in the same space, on the same ground as many people have for thousands of years.  it's just... wow.  yes, it's wow.

after the holy sepulchre, (since no one wanted to walk via dolorosa) we went in search of the western wall and got lost in the muslim quarter.  in the meantime, friends bought spices, pots, and almost bought a hookah and some tobacco.  and it was sketchy.  we were led in the right direction finally and we were all hungry so each of us went in search of food.  sarah got some bagel at a store in the jewish quarter.  lisa got bonker's bagel.  bagels seem to be a luxury here for some reason.  i don't get it.  joseph and i got shwarma.  i never had it before and it's really good.  it's marinated turkey that's cut up in pieces and put in a pita or a lafah, a pita-like tortilla.  it comes with the same condiments as a falafel.  it was yummy.

the western wall was interesting.  it was really busy and i heard chants of prayer coming from the wall.  the old city is so overwhelming.  at least to me it is.  from there we went separate ways.  joseph and i went in search of the שוק because we're going to cook dinner together.  at the  i שוק found wonderful goodies!  three cinnamon sticks for 3 sh = .75$.  awesomeee.  i also got some rice and walnuts and that was 5 sh.  ahhh!  i also found this middle eastern food/candy/whatever called halva.  it's made from sesame seeds and something and comes in many different varieties.  it has the consistency of marzipan.  i love ittt.  i got some in coffee flavor and pistachio flavor.  !!!  i scored 10 pitas for 5 sh and they were still warm and fluffy and amazing.  love it!  i love the marketplace!

for dinner, lisa made fried rice with red cabbage, corn, yellow bell pepper and celery.  it was yummy.  i made a salad of spinach, apples, walnuts and tomatoes.... and for dessert: rice pudding!

i'm starting to adjust better, i think.  or i'm being more adventurous and giving things a chance before writing them off.  tuesday we might go horseback riding or maybe to mount of olives.  we have an orientation this wednesday.  i can't wait to meet the rest of the group.  i'm excited for classes!  i might challenge myself and take a history/theory class that is solely taught in hebrew.  but others photo classes are looking good.

my feet are exhausted as am i.  today was a good day.

שוק, oh how i love you

שוק is the israeli marketplace.  but it's just not any market.  oh no.  it's like foodie heaven but it's still more than that.  they don't just have food, but other things that you can get for really cheap, considerably so.  this was my destination for the day.  i ended up in the city center again today near ben yehuda and king george v.  this is promenade is what is referred to as a tourist trap.  there are jewelry shops, book stores, many clothing stores, cafes, falafel places, etc etc.  what i found most exciting was finding a mcdonald's and a burger king.  lots of food that americans eat are not considered kosher such as a cheeseburger, a meat pizza, and chinese food is definitely not kosher.  i didn't see the menu but before i leave israel, i must try the mcdonald's here.  

i found the chain bookstore, סטימצקי, to buy a lonely planet guide.  foreign books are terribly expensive!  200 sh for a travel guide?  oh dear.  i don't care much for the store but the location.   is located on ben yehuda which is where many orthodox people look to reform the passing people.  there is also a circle of young guys dancing around to music and sometimes, they even drum and play guitar, i believe.  it was pretty cool to view something like that.  

finding the שוק was not hard but an experience.  it was also my first time using hebrew outside my personal bubble of teachers and friends.  i think i did pretty well!  you know you're heading toward the right place when you see a bunch of people carrying colorful plastic bags of various things.  i just followed the trail and the noise.  the שוק is sight to behold.  if not the sight, the smell will certainly get you.  there are various fruit and vegetable stands filled with lots of varieties and cheaper than מיסטר זול.  there are also meat kiosks, which i stayed away from.  cheese stands, nuts stands, fish stands, everything stands.  my favorite though has to be the bread/pastry stands.  oh the goods!  i got myself a sweet challah filled with chocolate, some cinnamon rolls, and various fruit and caramel rugelachs.  i didn't know what things were so i just sniffed and picked what i liked the best.  the challah wasn't what i expected it to be.  my suitemates say it is a challah but to me it's more like a danish bread.  but whatever.  i also scored some bananas!  yayyy.  

i should definitely go back there again and look around more closely.  maybe even get גבנא, a farmer's cheese thing that's supposed to be really good.  now that i have a lonely planet guide, i want to explore more.  school doesn't start for another week or so.  i have time!  מצדא and  ימ המלח, here i come!

food! glorious food!

okay so, i didn't do a lot today.  but i did do something very important: grocery shopping.  it's disgusting what i've been eating for the past five days.  nothing but peanut butter, bread, and honey... throw in some milk and water and you got it.  and maybe some falafel here and there.  there's nothing wrong with peanut butter.  in fact, i love peanut butter, crunchy please.  but i cannot subsist on peanut butter and honey alone.  plus the bread that i got here in the beginning is this "dark diet" bread and it's about 50 calories a pop.  so i wasn't getting much in the way of energy.  

so מיסטר זול it was.  i bought some apples, yum.  lots of pasta.  i got a 500 g bag for around a 1$.  i got some chicken soup mix, tomato soup mix...  since my hebrew class didn't teach me a lot of practical hebrew, i had to guess from the pictures what the contents were.  not fun.  got a box of black tea, oatmeal, more bread and some instant pasta mixes.  haha.  i think i'll be living off of pasta and instant stuff.  hopefully not though.  that would be utterly disgusting.  

when i got back, i made one of the instant pasta things.  it's was rice and noodles in the style of chinese.  i kid you not, that is the literal translation.  it took me a while to work through the cooking directions.  the end result was alright.  i modified it with some ketchup and pepper.  it's funny because ketchup seems to be an essential to an israeli college student's pantry.  my suitemates put ketchup on EVERYTHING.  well ketchup is good.  so i'm not complaining.  the taste to this pasta dish was interesting.  it didn't taste very chinese food-y at all.  oh well.  sarah tells me chinese food here is really bad.  i mean, they serve it in a baguette thing.  what?  i know.

tomorrow, i'm going to go into the city.  i should have bought a lonely planet back home but i didn't.  i also need more socks and still in need of hangers.  my suitemates urge me to explore now because when school starts i won't have time to.  they're really nice.  i'm glad i got this suite.  and talking about school, i saw the curriculum for next semester.  I WANT TO TAKE A LOT OF HISTORY & THEORY CLASSES!  they sound amazing.  for example: ruminations of photography: from walter benjamin to roland barthes, the scream: the liminal locus of artistic & poetic representation, the arist: myth & reality, the body as a symbiotic field, etc.  AH!  but the classes are taught in hebrew, i believe.  so we'll see how that works out.  i'm excited nonetheless.

furthermore, i hate rain!

today was the day for jet lag

as the title suggests, i did absolutely nothing besides sleep today.  i wasn't able to get proper rest after landing on friday and since i'm settled in as much as i can be, i just slept!  so that's my story for today.

maybe tomorrow sarah and i will go to the museums like planned.  she keeps telling me to go the שוק on friday because everything will be cheap.  supposedly it's because it's the last day of the market and they want to get rid of stuff so everything will be dirt cheap!  ahh!

that's it for now. 

המישביר is just like macy's except not really

so today i made my trip to the "city" which is funny because it's just a small concentration of shops, restaurants, and random stuff.  i had to buy a comforter, sheets, pillow, etc.  my suitemates told me to go to המישביר because it's just like macy's.  well macy's in the states do not do security checks.  nor is it filled with discount looking stuff.  anyways, it took me an hour to find the stuff only because i'm being super cheap.  the bed set was 119 sh, comforter 159 sh and a pillow for 49 sh.  the pillow was free because there was some buy one, get one free or something.  it seemed rather arbitrary.  the tax is 15.50%!!!!  what the hell!  so i ended up paying around 278 sh which is around 70$, which isn't bad.  the buses here are really weird.  the drivers are semi-rude and want to drive everywhere.  yeaaa.  it's 5.9 sh so it's a little expensive, i think.

everyone here is on finals crunch.  semester just ended a week ago so their tests have started.  i feel like i'm bumming again!  but anyways, i was able to meet sarah, one of my fellow exchangers.  she's pretty cool.  haha.  and my suitemate, eleanor, bought me a hebrew peanut snack ( במבה bamba) because she saw me eating peanut butter and as a welcome gift!  how sweet!  :)

finally, my phone was available for pick up!  yay!  it's a crappy bang up phone but whateverrr.  i can call people now, which comes to a grand total of two people!  hahaha.  

i need to brush up on hebrew...  i'm in way over my head here.  what i am doing here??  i don't know.  hopefully things will get better once school starts.  i kind of want to fly back to the states but won't because i'm stubborn... and also if i do fly back, that means this semester has been a complete bust.  no defeat!  

israelis believe every road is straight, even when it's curvy

today, i made my way to mt. scopus to get myself situated at the student village of hebrew university.  my taxi driver kept talking to about the changes happening, such as the building of the train tracks, traffic, etc.  he dropped me off at the student dorms, when i specifically asked him for hebrew university campus.  he swore this was the right place, dumped my luggage onto the streets and left me with a "מזל טוב" and ran off.  okay.  i'll be fine.  i entered the security office and the guy there didn't speak english and looked dazed when i tried speaking hebrew.  luckily a guy came by and asked if i need help.  i jumped at the chance.  we found the dormitory office.  however, it wasn't that simple.  

they told me to go to the dorm office on the campus in frank sinatra plaza, which by the way isn't a plaza.  so i begrudgingly walked up mt. scopus.  i will never complain how tufts' hill sucks.  mt. scopus beats tufts hill hands down.  then at another security check point, i was reprimanded for not having a student ID.  of course i don't have a student ID yet, it's my first day on campus.  what the hell?  now, everything is in hebrew at this point.  the signs, EVERYTHING.  i think people made fun of me a little because i'm sure i looked confused as hell.  it took me 20 mins to find frank sinatra building.  why is it even called frank sinatra?  he's not even remotely jewish... unless there is some bizarre connection with jews and the italians?  the directions to said building was... not easy.  everyone i asked said go straight, take the stairs on the left and it will be right there.  easy enough.  after i leave the student center (the forum), the road is windy and forks.  what the hell.  i keep walking and i don't see any stairs but some ramp way.  i walk up those things and the road curves elsewhere!  but keep trekking.  gah.  i finally find the office but the person, sivan, isn't there. 

so i went in search of bezalel.  it's a pretty small building but i'm guessing it looks deceiving.  i talked with jennie avery, the program director.  she wasn't helpful and didn't look very sympathetic toward my situation.  FINE.  i got my ID and left to go get the deposit slip to submit to the post office.  pay 100 sh and go back to the dorms again.

after all that, i finally got my room in the 7th building, the 7th floor, 1st apartment, second room.  thank god the people here are nice if not a little bit weird.  all girls.  three are from israel and one is from romania?  i don't remember their names...  oops.

my suitemate and her friend took me to "מסטר זול" (mr. cheap) which isn't very cheap at all.  i need to go to the city tomorrow to buy sheets, comforter, another converter since radio shack is cheap, hangers and pick up my phoneeee.  ahhh.

israel takes some getting used to and i'm nowhere near it.

middle eastern men are all womanizers

is there some kind of rule book about travel writing? do i just elaborate in its entirety or select a few highlights? screw this. onward, ho!

around 2 pm, i left the hostel to find one of my fellow bezalel students, gianvito. he is staying at the citadel youth hostel, which i found out, wasn't too far from where i'm staying. even though the walk wasn't far (5 mins tops), it took me 30 mins to get there. why? because all the store owners (who are men, by the way) kept calling out to me, engaging in a conversation with me and eventually took me inside to see their wares. the first one complimented my face and smile and said that he had the perfect thing for me, asking me where i was from, etc etc. his name was something i can't remember now. the second guy was a little bit more sketchy. apparently, it is the style of storekeepers to say that anything in their store is of their own design, especially if it's jewelry. whatever. the second guy's name is gizo. he asked me if i had a boyfriend and when i told him i had one back in the states, he asked me if i had one in israel. what the hell?! i said one was enough for me. he kept pushing these opal earrings on me and didn't take no for an answer. the price went from 500 sh to 250 sh to 200 sh to 120 sh and finally 100 sh and i caved. he made me feel bad. 100 sh ~ 30$ he asked me to a drink later. i said okay and just left. i am not returning to that shop ever.

when i finally got to citadel, i met gian. he's italian and is studying industrial design. we took a walk toward the holy sepulchre, the site of anatasis, jesus's burial site. after seeing some members of the church make their way in, we left for via dolorosa. there gian pointed out a marker that denotes the path jesus carried his cross. there are twelve markers* in total and these are places where people sometimes preach or others touch in reverence. toward the muslim quarter, we had lunch. 17 sh for a tiny bowl of blah soup and water... that's expensive! afterwards, we went to the wailing wall (western wall). it was shabbat still so it was very crowded. the western wall is divided into the men and women section. the men's part is huge compared to the women's which was crowded by people holding prayer books and well, praying. i was told repeatedly not to take pictures. especially by this woman who had very red cheeks.

on our way back to citadel youth, gian and i ran into his italian/canadian friends. they were going to go walk the wall and invited us along. alessandro, roberto and alexander led the way through the muslim quarter and i found myself at a school at the top. the kids were drumming in a circle and some were on the field playing football (soccer). the five of us walked the eastern wall to oversee Mount of Olives and the Jewish cemetary. From then on we went along the northern wall and exited through damascus gate. the wall was pretty scary as the it was constructed a long time ago and the steps are irregular. cool nonetheless.

dinner was amazinggg! we went outside damascus gate and found a place that sold a falafel sandwich for 6 shekels! that's like barely 2$! score! then i bought a bag of candy because i was getting jealous of the kiddies with candy.

p.s. my hostel mate likes watching grey's anatomy.

*my mistake.  there are fourteen in total.  nine are outside and five are inside the holy sepulchre!   link of via dolorosa

the beginning

i am finally at my destination: jerusalem after two months of tedious boring-ness that consumed my life.  no offense yang, carole, mark, caitlin, and amrita.  anyways, i'm currently at jaffa gate hostel.  at first from the reviews, i thought the hostel was going to be amazing.  but it kind of isn't?  but no matter.  i'm sharing a room with three guys: czech, german, and a fellow american.  me being a girl, it's kind of awkward.  but alas it's only for two nights.

the flight here was interesting and very tiring.  i believe the total flight time clocked in at a grand total of twelve hours.  insane.  however, the flight from boston to rome was not good at all.  there was a tour group of annoying middle school kids who would not shut up.  they occupied the middle section so their voices echoed around the cabin.  the guy sitting in front of me was one of the tour leaders and also annoying;  he sounded like a know-it-all.  during beverage service, i was able to get white wine, which was pretty awesome and i got a little buzz from it.  hah.  the dinner was pretty good with some kind of roast chicken with veggies, a side of lasagna, a fruit cup, a PETITE salad, wedge of cheese and some crackers.  during the descent to rome, the view was amazing.  we flew over nice, france, which i never would have thought was that close to italy.  the overview of rome didn't look fascinating.  maybe because the airport is outside the city limits.  the people i encountered in the airport looked fascinating.  most of them wore flashy outfits that either looked well put together or just looked devastatingly ugly.  quite a few had fur coats.  ew.  most appeared to be on the skinner side, affirming people's notion that america is indeed one of the fattest nations on earth.  the flight to tel-aviv was uneventful.

when exiting the ben gurion airport, i was awashed by crowds of people and guys yelling at haifa?! or jerusalem?!  these guys offer the really cheap taxi services called nesher.  for 50 shekels a pop, it's not bad at all.  the ride from tel-aviv to jerusalem was cool.  israel seems to be a very brown place.  everything is brown.  i think the people and the signs are the only color in this place.  it quickly changed from a desert terrain to a mountainous one and got cool pretty quickly.  the nesher taxi chauffeured people to their hotels/hostels.  jaffa gate is pretty intense.  it's a huge fort with immense walls.  inside the walls, i was dropped off and was immediately confronted by this old man who seems like he carts people's luggage in a wheelbarrow for a small fee.  he was really nice and helpful.  i was sketched out at first but that happens.

and that is how i am now on my hostel bed.  i am in desperate need of food and a nice long hot shower.

shabbat tovah!