Saturday, December 27, 2008
St. Louis
I arrived home in St. Louis this afternoon safe and sound, althoguh I am definitely tired now. I have a number of updates that still need to be posted to the blog and they will be in the next day or two. Now, it is time for sleep.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Off to the airport - L'hitraot Yisrael!
I am off to the airport shortly. It has been a wonderful time in Israel and I will miss this amazing country and the wonderful people I have met here. I hope that we can all be reunited again.
This is not the end of the blog. I still have several posts that I need to make from this past week. I will do that either at Ben Gurion Airport or in Newark or at home in St. Louis. Hopefully, all of the flights go smoothly and waiting in the airports is not too horrible.
I'm excited to see my family and friends, but will miss Israel.
L'hitraot Yisrael! Ani ohev otach!
This is not the end of the blog. I still have several posts that I need to make from this past week. I will do that either at Ben Gurion Airport or in Newark or at home in St. Louis. Hopefully, all of the flights go smoothly and waiting in the airports is not too horrible.
I'm excited to see my family and friends, but will miss Israel.
L'hitraot Yisrael! Ani ohev otach!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
A Last Email From Israel
Shalom m’Yisrael,
This will likely be the last time you will see me starting an email with “hello from Israel” while I am studying abroad. Time flies. I just realized that I haven’t written since Thanksgiving. A lot has happened since then. In four days from now, I will be at Ben-Gurion Airport preparing for my flight back to the United States. In five days, I’ll be home. It’s a little insane and I definitely do not have enough time to do everything I still would like to do.
Here are some highlights from the past few weeks. For more details, check out my blog at http://joelportman.blogspot.com.
- On Thanksgiving, we went to a large empty area, made a bonfire, and cooked a one pot meal. It was good, but not the usual Thanksgiving. I later found out that the area was an illegal dump and the wood we were burning was collected from the area.
- I have been to the Old City of Be’er Sheva a number of times. Including Falafal Yarok, which may be the best falafel stand in Israel. On Friday, I saw several yarmulke wearing Jews selling dancing Santas and fake Christmas trees. That was amusing.
- I went on a tour of the Air Force Museum, which was pretty awesome. Besides the planes one would expect to see, they also had anti-aircraft weaponry, remains of Israeli destroyed Egytian planes, and a bird zoo. Explain that one to me. On the way there, we found an amazing shwarma stand that I have since returned to.
- We went on an Overseas Student Program trip to Mitzpe Ramon and hiked a lot in and around the giant crater. We stood in a sort of hippie dance place in not-quite mud huts.
- My birthday! I turned 21 on December 8. They brought me a cake in my Hebrew class. In the afternoon we went to Falafel Yarok and then got fresh fruit smoothies. About 22 of us got together and went to a great restaurant. They brought us tons of salads and other fun things that they kept refilling. I also got a lamb kabob. We then went to a pub/bar near campus and later to a student party at a club. It was fun and most of the people on my program came to at least something with me which was really nice.
- We had a walking trip around the Old City with Ora, my Hebrew teacher, who explained to us some sights in Hebrew. We then went back to her house where she made us a delicious lunch.
- We had a farewell dinner for the learning program I’ve been doing at a nice restaurant called Jerusalem’s in the Government Center Mall one night and the next night had a farewell dinner for the Overseas Student Program at the best Indian restaurant in Israel.
- Last weekend I was in Jerusalem for Shabbat. It was my last visit to Jerusalem during this time in Israel and I visited the Kotel (Western Wall) where a Hassidic guy told me I could move to Israel and he would find me a wife to make/raise a family with. This Shabbat I spent in Be’er Sheva.
I have a lot to do before I leave Israel. I still have places that I want to see that I will not be able to see. When we got to Be’er Sheva, I figured there would be things that I would do and then have nothing to see in the city. There aren’t a ton of sightseeing places in the city, but I still haven’t seen them all. I also have to finish papers and study for tests, go to class, take tests, see people, clean, pack, etc.
I am going to miss this place and the people. I am finally starting to use my Hebrew with Israelis and becoming a part of the society. I’m leaving soon and I could definitely spent more time here.
For those of you that are wondering, I get back to St. Louis on December 26 and leave for Denver on January 4 in time for classes on January 5.
Hanukah started tonight. I want to thank all of you who have written me and/or read my blog while I’ve been in Israel. Happy Hanukah and Merry Christmas to everyone and a Happy New Year as well.
B’Shalom,
Joel Portman
P.S. Here are links to pictures for those of you who are interested:
Israeli Air Force Museum - http://picasaweb.google.com/mazeltovjp/Israel16IsraeliAirForceMuseum
Mitzpe Ramon & Hiking Trip - http://picasaweb.google.com/mazeltovjp/Israel17OSPMitzpeRamonHikingTrip
My 21st Birthday - http://picasaweb.google.com/mazeltovjp/Israel18My21stBirthday
Hebrew Trip Around Be’er Sheva - http://picasaweb.google.com/mazeltovjp/Israel19HebrewTripAroundBeErShevaOraSApartment
The Last Week-ish in Israel (still being updated) - http://picasaweb.google.com/mazeltovjp/Israel20TheLastWeekIshInIsraelLShanahHabaAh
This will likely be the last time you will see me starting an email with “hello from Israel” while I am studying abroad. Time flies. I just realized that I haven’t written since Thanksgiving. A lot has happened since then. In four days from now, I will be at Ben-Gurion Airport preparing for my flight back to the United States. In five days, I’ll be home. It’s a little insane and I definitely do not have enough time to do everything I still would like to do.
Here are some highlights from the past few weeks. For more details, check out my blog at http://joelportman.blogspot.com.
- On Thanksgiving, we went to a large empty area, made a bonfire, and cooked a one pot meal. It was good, but not the usual Thanksgiving. I later found out that the area was an illegal dump and the wood we were burning was collected from the area.
- I have been to the Old City of Be’er Sheva a number of times. Including Falafal Yarok, which may be the best falafel stand in Israel. On Friday, I saw several yarmulke wearing Jews selling dancing Santas and fake Christmas trees. That was amusing.
- I went on a tour of the Air Force Museum, which was pretty awesome. Besides the planes one would expect to see, they also had anti-aircraft weaponry, remains of Israeli destroyed Egytian planes, and a bird zoo. Explain that one to me. On the way there, we found an amazing shwarma stand that I have since returned to.
- We went on an Overseas Student Program trip to Mitzpe Ramon and hiked a lot in and around the giant crater. We stood in a sort of hippie dance place in not-quite mud huts.
- My birthday! I turned 21 on December 8. They brought me a cake in my Hebrew class. In the afternoon we went to Falafel Yarok and then got fresh fruit smoothies. About 22 of us got together and went to a great restaurant. They brought us tons of salads and other fun things that they kept refilling. I also got a lamb kabob. We then went to a pub/bar near campus and later to a student party at a club. It was fun and most of the people on my program came to at least something with me which was really nice.
- We had a walking trip around the Old City with Ora, my Hebrew teacher, who explained to us some sights in Hebrew. We then went back to her house where she made us a delicious lunch.
- We had a farewell dinner for the learning program I’ve been doing at a nice restaurant called Jerusalem’s in the Government Center Mall one night and the next night had a farewell dinner for the Overseas Student Program at the best Indian restaurant in Israel.
- Last weekend I was in Jerusalem for Shabbat. It was my last visit to Jerusalem during this time in Israel and I visited the Kotel (Western Wall) where a Hassidic guy told me I could move to Israel and he would find me a wife to make/raise a family with. This Shabbat I spent in Be’er Sheva.
I have a lot to do before I leave Israel. I still have places that I want to see that I will not be able to see. When we got to Be’er Sheva, I figured there would be things that I would do and then have nothing to see in the city. There aren’t a ton of sightseeing places in the city, but I still haven’t seen them all. I also have to finish papers and study for tests, go to class, take tests, see people, clean, pack, etc.
I am going to miss this place and the people. I am finally starting to use my Hebrew with Israelis and becoming a part of the society. I’m leaving soon and I could definitely spent more time here.
For those of you that are wondering, I get back to St. Louis on December 26 and leave for Denver on January 4 in time for classes on January 5.
Hanukah started tonight. I want to thank all of you who have written me and/or read my blog while I’ve been in Israel. Happy Hanukah and Merry Christmas to everyone and a Happy New Year as well.
B’Shalom,
Joel Portman
P.S. Here are links to pictures for those of you who are interested:
Israeli Air Force Museum - http://picasaweb.google.com/mazeltovjp/Israel16IsraeliAirForceMuseum
Mitzpe Ramon & Hiking Trip - http://picasaweb.google.com/mazeltovjp/Israel17OSPMitzpeRamonHikingTrip
My 21st Birthday - http://picasaweb.google.com/mazeltovjp/Israel18My21stBirthday
Hebrew Trip Around Be’er Sheva - http://picasaweb.google.com/mazeltovjp/Israel19HebrewTripAroundBeErShevaOraSApartment
The Last Week-ish in Israel (still being updated) - http://picasaweb.google.com/mazeltovjp/Israel20TheLastWeekIshInIsraelLShanahHabaAh
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Pictures of the Last Week-ish
I have created a new photo album with pictures from my last week/week and a half in Israel. It will be continuously updated during my remaining time here.
Here is the link.
Here is the link.
Thursday
On Thursday, I had a visitor. One of the guys that was in my USY group to Israel in 2005 is in Israel visiting people and he came to Be'er Sheva to visit me. He was here Thursday until Friday morning.
We went to the Beduin Shuk, among other things. I've been to the Beduin Shuk a number of times, but I looked at a lot more this time and really realized how much stuff there is there. I probably could have bought several things there earlier in my trip for less money that would have benefited me. They also have a ton of random and worthless things, but it's all fun.
One guy tried to sell me a chamsah for 600 shekels! It was larger and maybe a little nice than some of the ones I have purshased for around 8-12 shekels that most ask 20 shekels for, but this was a crazy price. He told me that it was half off for me and "original". For that price "original" better mean from the Temple period. Logically, I didn't buy it.
We went to the Beduin Shuk, among other things. I've been to the Beduin Shuk a number of times, but I looked at a lot more this time and really realized how much stuff there is there. I probably could have bought several things there earlier in my trip for less money that would have benefited me. They also have a ton of random and worthless things, but it's all fun.
One guy tried to sell me a chamsah for 600 shekels! It was larger and maybe a little nice than some of the ones I have purshased for around 8-12 shekels that most ask 20 shekels for, but this was a crazy price. He told me that it was half off for me and "original". For that price "original" better mean from the Temple period. Logically, I didn't buy it.
Last Sunday & My Hebrew Class
Last Sunday, we had a Hebrew "field trip" around parts of the Old City in Be'er Sheva. We met our teacher, Ora, at Abraham's Well (biblical site) at then walked around several places in the Old City which Ora described to us in Hebrew. She is awesome.
We ended up at Ora's apartment where she made us lunch including several salads, shakshuka, fresh squeezed lemon aide, and some kind of chocolate & cream desert that was crazy good. She is an amazing cook. We watched a movie about the Children's Houses in Kibbutzim, where Children in a Kibbutz used to live all together, seperate from their parents. It's related to what we are talking about in class and Ora said we didn't have enough time to see it in class.
It was a good time. To see pictures, click here.
We ended up at Ora's apartment where she made us lunch including several salads, shakshuka, fresh squeezed lemon aide, and some kind of chocolate & cream desert that was crazy good. She is an amazing cook. We watched a movie about the Children's Houses in Kibbutzim, where Children in a Kibbutz used to live all together, seperate from their parents. It's related to what we are talking about in class and Ora said we didn't have enough time to see it in class.
It was a good time. To see pictures, click here.
Recent Thoughts
This may not seem so revolutionary to you, but they kind of took me by surprise. I had a number of thoughts on the bus ride back to Be'er Sheva from Jerusalem last Saturday night. Here are the cliff notes:
- I'm finally starting to feel acculturated and then I am leaving the country. Some examples: I am comfortable traveling by myself, I'm starting to use my Hebrew more when I'm out, I'm comparing more prices in shekels now instead of first converting them to dollars, etc.
- If everything were aligned correctly and I went home for a while in the middle, I could see myself staying in Israel for the rest of the year (Spring Semester). It's took late for that to happen now.
- I want to come back to Israel before too long. Perhaps I can staff a USY trip to Israel (the same one I went on, preferably) one summer. It likely wouldn't be this summer because I've already committed myself to Boy Scout Camp Staff (the last summer of staffing?), but perhaps for summer 2010. If I don't come back then, who knows how long it will be before I return? I wouldn't like that.
- While I had never said that I would "never" live in Israel, I basically said that I "couldn't see it happening". Now, though I could. There would be a lot that would have to work out for that to happen and I'm definitely not saying that I am planning on moving to Israel now, but I could see it potentially happening maybe. Who knows how long this will last once I get back to the United States and back in my groove there...
- I'm finally starting to feel acculturated and then I am leaving the country. Some examples: I am comfortable traveling by myself, I'm starting to use my Hebrew more when I'm out, I'm comparing more prices in shekels now instead of first converting them to dollars, etc.
- If everything were aligned correctly and I went home for a while in the middle, I could see myself staying in Israel for the rest of the year (Spring Semester). It's took late for that to happen now.
- I want to come back to Israel before too long. Perhaps I can staff a USY trip to Israel (the same one I went on, preferably) one summer. It likely wouldn't be this summer because I've already committed myself to Boy Scout Camp Staff (the last summer of staffing?), but perhaps for summer 2010. If I don't come back then, who knows how long it will be before I return? I wouldn't like that.
- While I had never said that I would "never" live in Israel, I basically said that I "couldn't see it happening". Now, though I could. There would be a lot that would have to work out for that to happen and I'm definitely not saying that I am planning on moving to Israel now, but I could see it potentially happening maybe. Who knows how long this will last once I get back to the United States and back in my groove there...
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