...she told me I could be a tooth...

I am going to America for a quick visit.  Here is a short funny for while I am gone.

Thanks for the teeth, Mom and Dad!!

The other day, I was sitting at the bus stop reading the news on my phone while waiting for my bus to come. A woman walking by stopped to ask me what all these young people on these phones are looking at all the time. I tried to explain that we are checking emails, texting friends, reading the news, etc. I realized how silly this must sound--that my generation cannot live without constant connection--and began to smile a bit at the thought.  Suddenly the woman switched gears from youth and phones to complimenting me on my smile. It was so Israeli when she wouldn't continue on her walk until she reiterated several times that I should really look into modeling in a dental commercial.  It made my day because I take my teeth seriously (and still where my retainer every night), but it also made me smile because it was so Israeli--to walk down the street, have a question, just ask it, and smoothly move onto something else entirely.  Luckily this transition was a compliment and not a reprimand for going out with wet hair.  I have had a few of those too.

...I voted!!

I was hoping election day wouldn't turn into an experience suited for a blog post, and to my surprise it didn't.  The process was very simple and straightforward.  I walked to my voting place, went to my assigned room, gave my ID and voters card, was given an envelope which I took behind a 3-fold display board, selected a piece of paper to put in it, and then placed it into a cardboard box with a slit in the middle and a menorah (the symbol of Israel) glued on the front.  In and out in five minutes!  Not so technologically advanced, but very simple and successful.  Oh an a national holiday with warm  (sandals) weather!

UPDATE:  It was an almost painless experience, except for the three phone calls I received within twenty minutes of each other around 5:00pm asking if I had voted yet or telling me to go vote.

UPDATE: And for a fourth one a bit after 7:00pm

...I dreamed in Hebrew...

Voter's Card

I hit the two year mark, I moved up four levels in ulpan, I finally received my voter's card in the mail (elections are next week, and I am voting!!), and to top it off, I had my first dream in Hebrew.  I have been waiting for this to happen, and when I least expected it (after an evening of English with lab mates) my wish came true.

My second year of life in Israel had a lot of other firsts.  Most of them were mentioned in previous posts, but I will give a bit of a summary of where I have come from, how I am feeling and where I am going.  Of course, we celebrated my aliya-versary with food and drink and friends--friends being the most important part.  I have made amazing friendships since moving to Israel, and however cliche it sounds, they are the reason I am still here.  I have found a family with whom to celebrate holidays and other simchas (joyous occasions).  I have found a group of girls with whom to have girls' night, watch trashy tv, and to go out to eat at a moments notice.  There has been board game playing, break-up ice cream, end-of work cheese eating,  an hour-long 90's sing-along, and a scavenger hunt (post on that coming soon...).  There have been shabbos meals, picnics, museum outings, and bar-be-ques.

Food

Drink

Friends

At a wedding.  We sang (read: screamed) 90s
 hits the whole way home...from Tel Aviv, Yafo.

It has been a busy year, and I have accomplished all of the goals I set for myself.  I improved my Hebrew (ulpan, Israeli roommates and friends); I continued to explore Jerusalem/Israeli culture (museums, concerts, shows, festivals); I sorted out my future (Movement Ecology Lab for the foreseeable future); I kept up with my blog (an average of four posts per month); and I got over my irrational fear of cats (I still don't like them, but progress nonetheless).

All in all, the year has been a good one: friends, graduate school, and tons of adventures (in and outside of Jerusalem).  I have done things I never thought I would (worked with vultures, drove a cherry picker, seen real snow in Jerusalem).  I have experienced things I hoped I never would (tzeva adom--emergency siren--in Jersualem, Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza).  I finished some things (wiping kids tushies--i.e. preschool, my internship at the GZA), and started others (researching, taking classes in Hebrew, watching TV).  I met amazing (influential, famous, etc) people both in my lab, at Hebrew University, and from around the world.  And most importantly of all, I still feel unbelievably settled and at peace in this country.  Whenever I leave to visit America, I get antsy, and as soon as my plane arrives here, I let out a sigh of relief and feel a physical unwinding...a feeling in my gut.  I may not be Israeli through and through (yet), but I love it here, and I can't wait to see what my next year has to bring!

...I woke up to a white winter wonderland...

Two years ago today, I arrived in Israel.  Not on a 10 day trip, not on a 9 months gap year, not to volunteer for a couple of months, but to live here, as an Israeli.  There were some things I was nervous about (my Hebrew), some things I would miss (Sunday mornings with my family) and some things I wouldn't (cold, wintry weather).  This week has been wintry by Israeli standards.  Lots of rain and wind.  Last night, though, it started to snow.  This light dusting, though rare, was still within the realm of winter weather in Israel.  This morning, though, felt like waking up in Chicago.  Everything was white.  I never thought I would have to wake up to something like that again, but it was amazing to see.  I didn't dread the weather because I didn't have to go outside in it and freeze--everything was cancelled today.  It didn't get black and ugly, either, because nobody drives here when it snows.  It was peaceful and beautiful, and oddly ironic that I was in a winter wonderland in Israel.

I should probably write a reflective blog post for my aliyah-versary: make comparisons to last year's post, and see where my life has take me.  I will, but not today because today is a lazy snow day...and a real one, mind you; not just a light dusting that scared everyone silly.  (Yesterday, though, class was preemptively canceled from 4pm despite the fact that no snow had started to fall--so Israeli, so silly.)

Snow on the roof of the lab

Holy cow; it's actually snowing.

Wow.  It's good snow!

Let's go outside and play...

 

Snow!!

Well, good morning!

Still snowing!!

...there was a "rain day"...

In Chicago you get snow days (if you're lucky).  In Israel, you get rain days.  The country is largely desert, and praying for rain is the norm, but when we get it, we just aren't so great at dealing with it.  For those living and working in the Mercaz (Center; Tel Aviv area), there was a rain day:

Highways and railways flooded.  (From this site)

Flooded highways.  (From this site, but floating around elsewhere on the web)

Highways and roads throughout the Mercaz are flooded.  (From this site)

The flooded railway station.  (From this site)

Tel Aviv and the surrounding areas may have had a rain day, but Jerusalem also had crazy weather of its own.  The howling winds were unreal.  Trees fell, buildings flooded, and roofs leaked.  We have huge puddles in the lab from a leaky ceiling, and with the forecasted snow tomorrow night and the next day, we have no idea what to expect.  It has been raining on and off (but mostly on) since Friday night, and the weather is starting to get chilly.  

It isn't all bad news though.  Yesterday, one of my classes was cancelled, so I got to stay in bed and watch the rain fall.  When I did venture out (exactly ten minutes after the last bus went by and exactly ten minutes before the next one was due), I stepped out of my apartment, walked down the steps to the crosswalk, and saw my bus.  I made a silly face at the driver--complete with hand gestures--took the right-of-way that pedestrians have, crossed in front of the bus, and sprinted in the rain to the bus stop about a block downhill.  I saw the bus get to the stop before me.  And then I saw that it wasn't leaving.  I finished strong and got a compliment on my running from the bus driver as well as a couple smiles from the passengers.  And I made it to campus safe, sound, and mostly dry.  

What I discovered, though was not safe and sound: an upturned shade tree (the one we sit under to eat our lunches), puddles, mud, wet, cold cats, and other wintry sites.  Below is a collection of Jerusalem pictures, both that I took and compiled from other sites.  Not just Jerusalem and the Mercaz have been affected, though.  The whole Middle East is under snow and water.  Flooding, flash flooding, and snow piles are a common site this week.  Regardless, it still isn't as horrible as the blustery winters of Chicago.

A felled tree on the Temple Mount. (From this site)

A fallen tree in Jerusalem.  (From this site)

Yucky, rainy day!

Our uprooted tree!!

Guide dog in training...on the bus.

...they thought it was like Valentine's Day...

Living in a Jewish country, we celebrate the Jewish new year in September/October as marked by the holiday Rosh Hashana.  Being Israelis, we like to party, stay out late, and dance.  Being Anglos, we understand the reason for partying on December 31.  It seems, though, that some Israelis did not.  As I was riding on the bus (that's why I wasn't able to snap a picture) to a friend's party, I saw a bit of a holiday mix-up.  It was so Israeli when they thought New Year's Eve (or "Sylvester" as it's called here) was like Valentine's Day.  There were tons of red roses, I love you balloons, and teddy bears on display in front of a local flower shop.  There was so much red and pink overload that even I was a bit in shock.  Even if the point of the party was unclear, though, Israelis sure do know how to have a good time!!

Happy New Year!