Where to begin?
The food in Turkey is absolutely amazing! My friend Miriam and I got hooked on Borek, which is pastry dough that can be filled with cheese or potatoes. It probably comes a million different ways but these are the ones that I tried. I got potato borek the first night from a vendor on the street and it was only a dollar or two. Coming from Tel Aviv, which is one of the most expensive cities in the world, this was a nice treat. We also ate Turkish meatballs, shish kebab, doner, fish and bread, and a ton of Turkish desserts. I tried Turkish coffee once and it was okay. But instead of coffee I drank this apple tea that was so unbelievably delicious! I probably had two or three cups of it a day.
What else?
We toured a ton of museums, chuches, mosques, and palaces, which were incredible. We had a boat tour on the Bosphorous and swam in the Black Sea. We rented bikes on one of the Princes' Islands and walked up an incredibly steep hill to see the Greek church, Saint George. We went to the Egyptian Bazaar, the Spice Market, and Pierre Loti. We experienced so much but still only managed to see a fraction of the city.
All of these things were incredible, but one of the most memorable experiences was Saturday night. After dinner, we walked around and found this great little place playing Turkish music. There was only one man dancing in the front and he was a big, big man. I told Evan that I would give him 20 lira to go and dance with him. Evan said he would give me 40 if I did.
Done.
We started dancing and before I knew it the whole place joined us and was dancing in the street. (I was wearing a long dress that got so filthy because the ground was wet and muddy. The next morning my feet looked like I had bathed them in mud!) Everyone danced the night away to some really good Turkish music. It was such a blast!
Another of my favorite moments was the last dinner we had. It wasn't that something extraordinary happened, except for the fact that Patrick left the table for a few minutes and came back with these ridiculous looking glasses with a nose that lit up. I think it is one of my favorite memories because it was just so much fun to sit down to a nice dinner with all of my friends in the middle of Istanbul and laugh and talk and get to know each other.
So blessed.
P.S. Visit Istanbul if you can!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
I am leaving for Turkey in four days! Seven of my friends and I are taking the two hour flight on Thursday after Hebrew class and staying for 6 days. We will be staying in a hostel, which will be a first for me. (I agreed to stay there on two conditions: there had to be a shower and they had to allow me to use my hair dryer and straightener.) There will be four boys and four girls so I feel okay about it. I think this will be a phenomenal experience. Plus, it will be nice to get out of Israel for a couple of days. In case you haven't heard, there has been a ton of activity here...
On Thursday, I was eating falafel with a group of people at this small restaurant by school when suddenly everyone went silent and their eyes were glued to the television. The news was in Hebrew but someone there told us what was going on. Apparently, gunmen from Egypt crossed over the border and started shooting at a bus. It was later found out that there were explosives and a suicide bomber involved as well. Eight people were killed. The IDF retaliated and killed five of the gunmen. Then they launched an airstrike into Gaza that killed five others who were a part of the same group that attacked the bus earlier. (Yea, the IDF doesn't mess around.) Since then, there has been nonstop fighting. We read today that over 100 rockets have been launched from Gaza into Israel. More people have been killed and many have been arrested.
It's so interesting being here during all of this. I think the media wants us to believe that when these things happen here all of Israel panics and runs for cover. But that's not what it's like at all. People just go one with their lives; they work, go to coffee shops, go out to dinner, go to the park. Whatever it was they were going to do, they just go ahead and do it. So we all did the same thing. We were supposed to take the bus downtown to meet some of our Israeli friends, so that's what we did. It was actually liberating in a way.
In other news, I made couscous tonight that was so delicious! I was thoroughly impressed with myself. Oddly enough, this is the first time I've cooked something since I've been living here. Usually I go out or just eat something that doesn't require a lot of work like pita and humus. But the problem is, I am already sick of falafel, humus, and schwarma, and these are basically the only things you can grab on the go here. As my friend Miriam put it, these things are like McDonalds in the U.S. Anyway, I just mixed the couscous with craisans, carrots, cucumbers, almonds, and parmesean cheese and that was it. So yummy!
Oh, and I got a 100% on my second test. :)
Matsuyan! (That's Hebrew for "excellent")
On Thursday, I was eating falafel with a group of people at this small restaurant by school when suddenly everyone went silent and their eyes were glued to the television. The news was in Hebrew but someone there told us what was going on. Apparently, gunmen from Egypt crossed over the border and started shooting at a bus. It was later found out that there were explosives and a suicide bomber involved as well. Eight people were killed. The IDF retaliated and killed five of the gunmen. Then they launched an airstrike into Gaza that killed five others who were a part of the same group that attacked the bus earlier. (Yea, the IDF doesn't mess around.) Since then, there has been nonstop fighting. We read today that over 100 rockets have been launched from Gaza into Israel. More people have been killed and many have been arrested.
It's so interesting being here during all of this. I think the media wants us to believe that when these things happen here all of Israel panics and runs for cover. But that's not what it's like at all. People just go one with their lives; they work, go to coffee shops, go out to dinner, go to the park. Whatever it was they were going to do, they just go ahead and do it. So we all did the same thing. We were supposed to take the bus downtown to meet some of our Israeli friends, so that's what we did. It was actually liberating in a way.
In other news, I made couscous tonight that was so delicious! I was thoroughly impressed with myself. Oddly enough, this is the first time I've cooked something since I've been living here. Usually I go out or just eat something that doesn't require a lot of work like pita and humus. But the problem is, I am already sick of falafel, humus, and schwarma, and these are basically the only things you can grab on the go here. As my friend Miriam put it, these things are like McDonalds in the U.S. Anyway, I just mixed the couscous with craisans, carrots, cucumbers, almonds, and parmesean cheese and that was it. So yummy!
Oh, and I got a 100% on my second test. :)
Matsuyan! (That's Hebrew for "excellent")
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Tales from the Coffee Shop
So, I am sitting on the patio of a trendy coffee shop in Tel Aviv right now trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'm sitting on the patio of a trendy coffee shop in Tel Aviv. I just had this amazing watermelon juice drink and am waiting on my feta and eggplant sandwich on brown ciabatta bread. Then I'm going to continue working on my writing. Not to shabby.
Anywhere you sit outside in Tel Aviv you will see cats. There are a ridiculous number of wild cats here and I have no idea why. We were at a burger place the other day and a cat jumped onto one of the chairs at our table and begged for food. When we put him down he just jumped right up again. There was another time when my friend Miriam and I were heading out of the campus gate to go downtown when she had to run up to her apartment to get something she forgot. As I was waiting downstairs for her, six cats (that's not an exaggeration; there really were six cats) surrounded me because they wanted food. As I write this, a cat is walking along the ledge right beside me.
I'm allergic to cats.
It's also interesting because dogs are allowed in many restaurants here. In fact, there is a dog sitting with his owner at the table across from me. The waitress even brought him a bowl with water in it. Are there places in the U.S. like this? I can't think of any.
You know what else they do here? They bring toothpicks to the table when you are done with your meal. This has been the case at every restaurant I've been to here, which I think is interesting. In the U.S. they might have toothpicks by the door that you can grab before you leave, but there they assume that you will leave in a timely manner. Here, people take their time to eat and drink. They stay for hours. I guess the servers just assume that you might as will pick your teeth while you sit.
~~~~~~~
So yesterday was Tu B'Av here, which is the Israeli Valentines Day. The only reason I even knew about it was because a couple of us were at Max Brenner the other day (Max Brenner is an Israeli company that specializes in making cholcolate, but their restaurants also serve food) and it was clear from all the red hearts that something was up. Our waitress told us that Tu B'Av was on Monday. But on Monday no one even talked about it. It isn't nearly as big of a holiday here as Valentines Day is in the U.S. But it's interesting because the U.S. made Tu B'Av a big deal there. A friend of mine in the States was telling me about an article he read (I think it was in the New York Times) that talked about how there was a speed dating event in some cave in Jerusalem. Supposedly, one of the guys who went to this event felt sure that he was going to find true love in that cave. I hope he did.
How did I celebrate Tu B'Av? Me and three of my girlfriends went and ate sushi together. Then I watched Couple's Retreat on TV with Hebrew subtitles and finished my homework.
Hmmm, what else? My shower is still leaking and I still have to bag my own groceries, but I am having the time of my life.
Anywhere you sit outside in Tel Aviv you will see cats. There are a ridiculous number of wild cats here and I have no idea why. We were at a burger place the other day and a cat jumped onto one of the chairs at our table and begged for food. When we put him down he just jumped right up again. There was another time when my friend Miriam and I were heading out of the campus gate to go downtown when she had to run up to her apartment to get something she forgot. As I was waiting downstairs for her, six cats (that's not an exaggeration; there really were six cats) surrounded me because they wanted food. As I write this, a cat is walking along the ledge right beside me.
I'm allergic to cats.
It's also interesting because dogs are allowed in many restaurants here. In fact, there is a dog sitting with his owner at the table across from me. The waitress even brought him a bowl with water in it. Are there places in the U.S. like this? I can't think of any.
You know what else they do here? They bring toothpicks to the table when you are done with your meal. This has been the case at every restaurant I've been to here, which I think is interesting. In the U.S. they might have toothpicks by the door that you can grab before you leave, but there they assume that you will leave in a timely manner. Here, people take their time to eat and drink. They stay for hours. I guess the servers just assume that you might as will pick your teeth while you sit.
~~~~~~~
So yesterday was Tu B'Av here, which is the Israeli Valentines Day. The only reason I even knew about it was because a couple of us were at Max Brenner the other day (Max Brenner is an Israeli company that specializes in making cholcolate, but their restaurants also serve food) and it was clear from all the red hearts that something was up. Our waitress told us that Tu B'Av was on Monday. But on Monday no one even talked about it. It isn't nearly as big of a holiday here as Valentines Day is in the U.S. But it's interesting because the U.S. made Tu B'Av a big deal there. A friend of mine in the States was telling me about an article he read (I think it was in the New York Times) that talked about how there was a speed dating event in some cave in Jerusalem. Supposedly, one of the guys who went to this event felt sure that he was going to find true love in that cave. I hope he did.
How did I celebrate Tu B'Av? Me and three of my girlfriends went and ate sushi together. Then I watched Couple's Retreat on TV with Hebrew subtitles and finished my homework.
Hmmm, what else? My shower is still leaking and I still have to bag my own groceries, but I am having the time of my life.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
DIRT
So, yesterday we went on a tour of Neve Tzedek, which was the first Jewish neighborhood built outside of the walls of Jaffa. It was really interesting at first, but since we were an hour and a half late to Neve Tzedek because of Tel Aviv traffic, we were pretty ravenous. Thirty minutes into the tour, myself and four of my friends left in search of some food. Because some of my friends here are Jewish, the restaurant had to be kosher, which is surprisingly difficult to find in Tel Aviv because the city is so secular. After walking for an hour in crazy humidity, we finally stopped at this little kosher Italian place called SouPizza. My friend Miriam and I split a Spinach and pesto calzone, which, by the way, had a boiled egg in it because boiled eggs are in a lot of dishes here, and a Marguerite Pizza with mushrooms and zucchini. The food was so delicious and the service wasn't as bad as usual, which was a plus.
Good customer service is popular in America and perhaps a few other countries. Unfortunately, Israel is not among them. Service in restaurants is pretty terrible here, but you just get used to it. As long as they bring you your food and the correct change for the bill you learn not to complain. One of the biggest shocks to me was when I went to the market (the shuk) for the first time. After they had scanned my food, I waited patiently for them to bag it. Little did I know the cashier was waiting patiently for me to do the same. In Israel, the customer bags his or her own groceries, which is a far cry from my experience shopping in Publix, where the teenagers bag your groceries, bring them out to your car, and help you load them.
I was talking to my friend Anna the other day about the little conveniences we miss here in Israel. One of the biggest is AC. Luckily, we have AC in our bedrooms (which, by the way, was only installed 3 years ago), but there is no AC in the kitchen or the bathroom. There is AC in some of our classrooms, but there is none in the common areas of campus buildings.
Another thing, the showers here are different. Even in most hotels there are no shower curtains. There are half glass doors. But those are luxurious because at least you're standing in a bathtub. In my apartment, there is a stand-up shower with a glass door that doesn't really hit the ground. Therefore, every day water flows out of the shower and into the bathroom, under the bathroom door and into the kitchen, then under my bedroom door. Every day. Without fail. I'm not complaining at all, but it's interesting how we get so used to little convenciences that others don't enjoy at all.
One more thing, I've learned how to function without a car. Most people here take public transportation because not only is gas about $8 a liter, but cars are taxed 100%. That means if you purchase a car for $20,000, you end up paying $40,000 because of taxes. Therefore, it's not surprising at all that most people take public transportation. As a student, I've taken a cab a time or two, but the primary way my friends and I travel is by bus. Buses are pretty convenient but they don't exactly run on time. In fact, I'm not sure there's even a schedule. (It's customary when you get to the bus stop to ask the other people if they have seen the bus you need go by in the last ten or twenty minutes. If not, it might be close. If so, you might not see it again for quite some time.) But, even if there is a schedule, the drivers don't go out of their way to keep it. We just head out to our bus stop and hope for the best.
Another means of transportation here is the sherut. It looks like a mini-van. It's similiar to a taxi in the sense that it can be hailed from the side of the road, but it doesn't drop you off at your exact destination. It rides specific routes and you just have the guarantee that it will drop you off "near" your final destination.
These are just a few of the things I've learned in the past couple of weeks. As Dorothy told Toto, "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." :)
Good customer service is popular in America and perhaps a few other countries. Unfortunately, Israel is not among them. Service in restaurants is pretty terrible here, but you just get used to it. As long as they bring you your food and the correct change for the bill you learn not to complain. One of the biggest shocks to me was when I went to the market (the shuk) for the first time. After they had scanned my food, I waited patiently for them to bag it. Little did I know the cashier was waiting patiently for me to do the same. In Israel, the customer bags his or her own groceries, which is a far cry from my experience shopping in Publix, where the teenagers bag your groceries, bring them out to your car, and help you load them.
I was talking to my friend Anna the other day about the little conveniences we miss here in Israel. One of the biggest is AC. Luckily, we have AC in our bedrooms (which, by the way, was only installed 3 years ago), but there is no AC in the kitchen or the bathroom. There is AC in some of our classrooms, but there is none in the common areas of campus buildings.
Another thing, the showers here are different. Even in most hotels there are no shower curtains. There are half glass doors. But those are luxurious because at least you're standing in a bathtub. In my apartment, there is a stand-up shower with a glass door that doesn't really hit the ground. Therefore, every day water flows out of the shower and into the bathroom, under the bathroom door and into the kitchen, then under my bedroom door. Every day. Without fail. I'm not complaining at all, but it's interesting how we get so used to little convenciences that others don't enjoy at all.
One more thing, I've learned how to function without a car. Most people here take public transportation because not only is gas about $8 a liter, but cars are taxed 100%. That means if you purchase a car for $20,000, you end up paying $40,000 because of taxes. Therefore, it's not surprising at all that most people take public transportation. As a student, I've taken a cab a time or two, but the primary way my friends and I travel is by bus. Buses are pretty convenient but they don't exactly run on time. In fact, I'm not sure there's even a schedule. (It's customary when you get to the bus stop to ask the other people if they have seen the bus you need go by in the last ten or twenty minutes. If not, it might be close. If so, you might not see it again for quite some time.) But, even if there is a schedule, the drivers don't go out of their way to keep it. We just head out to our bus stop and hope for the best.
Another means of transportation here is the sherut. It looks like a mini-van. It's similiar to a taxi in the sense that it can be hailed from the side of the road, but it doesn't drop you off at your exact destination. It rides specific routes and you just have the guarantee that it will drop you off "near" your final destination.
These are just a few of the things I've learned in the past couple of weeks. As Dorothy told Toto, "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." :)
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tisha B'Av
We didn't have class yesterday because of the Jewish holiday Tisha B'Av. On this day, Jewish people are supposed to fast and mourn in remembrance of the destruction of the first and second temples, which are believed to have been destroyed on the same day hundreds of years apart.
I didn't fast and mourn, but I did learn a crucial lesson: the importance of remembering. All throughout the Old Testament, God commanded His people to set up altars or build memorials so a certain event or period of history would be remembered for generations. Holidays also serve this purpose. The celebration of Passover commemorates the Exodus out of Egypt; Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ; Good Friday is the day Christians set aside to mourn the death of Jesus, and Easter Sunday is the day we celebrate His resurrection.
All of these holidays are meant to remind us of one important truth: God is faithful. I think if we set some time aside during the day to remember God's faithfulness in our own lives, perhaps we wouldn't be as anxious or fearful about what the future holds. We might even have peace, knowing that God has a much better plan for our lives than we could ever come up with ourselves.
I didn't fast and mourn, but I did learn a crucial lesson: the importance of remembering. All throughout the Old Testament, God commanded His people to set up altars or build memorials so a certain event or period of history would be remembered for generations. Holidays also serve this purpose. The celebration of Passover commemorates the Exodus out of Egypt; Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ; Good Friday is the day Christians set aside to mourn the death of Jesus, and Easter Sunday is the day we celebrate His resurrection.
All of these holidays are meant to remind us of one important truth: God is faithful. I think if we set some time aside during the day to remember God's faithfulness in our own lives, perhaps we wouldn't be as anxious or fearful about what the future holds. We might even have peace, knowing that God has a much better plan for our lives than we could ever come up with ourselves.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Ani Emily. Me at?
The Hebrew language is interesting; it's straight to the point. For example, one of the ways to introduce yourself to someone is to say Ani Emily, which means "I am Emily." (You would obviously insert your own name.) Then you can ask the person Me at?, which means "Who are you?" Can you imagine what would happen if you walked up to someone in the US, even in New England, and asked them, "Who are you?" It wouldn't go over so well. But Hebrew is different.
Hebrew is also interesting because there is no form of the verb "to be." It's just understood. So in the example above, Ani Emily is literally translated as "I Emily." And Me at? is literally transated as "Who you?"
My teacher told us that when she moved back to Israel from Washington DC she bought the first Harry Potter book. She had seen the English version in bookstores and it was well over 500 pages. But in Hebrew it was half the size. Why? Well, as you can probably gather, the Hebrew language is very concise. It's short and sweet, which makes it easier to learn than most languages I think. It also makes books translated into Hebrew from the English language much, much shorter.
~~~
In order to familiarize myself with the sounds of the Hebrew language, I leave my television on a local Israeli channel while I do my homework. Yesterday I ended up watching a reality show called "Chai b'LaLa Land," which is about 6 Israeli singers living in Los Angeles trying to get a record deal. Of course, I hardly understood a word of it, but I searched the show online and found out that these singers are part of the Mizrahi music genre. Mizrahi music, which is almost always sung in Hebrew, is a genre that was created by combining music styles from Europe, Northern Africa, the Middle East, and the West. When Jews moved to Israel after WWII they came from all over the world, brining with them elements of the culture they left. Thus, Mizrahi music was born.
Cool, right?
Hebrew is also interesting because there is no form of the verb "to be." It's just understood. So in the example above, Ani Emily is literally translated as "I Emily." And Me at? is literally transated as "Who you?"
My teacher told us that when she moved back to Israel from Washington DC she bought the first Harry Potter book. She had seen the English version in bookstores and it was well over 500 pages. But in Hebrew it was half the size. Why? Well, as you can probably gather, the Hebrew language is very concise. It's short and sweet, which makes it easier to learn than most languages I think. It also makes books translated into Hebrew from the English language much, much shorter.
~~~
In order to familiarize myself with the sounds of the Hebrew language, I leave my television on a local Israeli channel while I do my homework. Yesterday I ended up watching a reality show called "Chai b'LaLa Land," which is about 6 Israeli singers living in Los Angeles trying to get a record deal. Of course, I hardly understood a word of it, but I searched the show online and found out that these singers are part of the Mizrahi music genre. Mizrahi music, which is almost always sung in Hebrew, is a genre that was created by combining music styles from Europe, Northern Africa, the Middle East, and the West. When Jews moved to Israel after WWII they came from all over the world, brining with them elements of the culture they left. Thus, Mizrahi music was born.
Cool, right?
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