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.