Rainbows, Rain, and Oranges 12/19/07

This morning I woke up and as usual looked outside my window for the usual “Omigod I Live in Jerusalem” routine. It looked pretty yucky and cold outside so I continued on my routine as usual. To my surprise and wonder there was a RAINBOW outside my window! Today is fast day and I felt really uplifted that even though it’s the day we commemorate the beginning of the siege on Jerusalem the universal sign of G-d’s mercy and forgiveness was shining in the sky. I even took a picture ☺
Then on my way out the door I had to run back upstairs to grab an umbrella because it was seriously raining!!! We have been in desperate need for rain this year (what’s new???) and considering its December already and we’ve had only 2 real rains…it’s amazing that we got some this morning. After the big flood in 2001 I have been relatively traumatized by rain so its pretty nice to enjoy it for once.
THEN on the way to school I was sitting on the bus (which was nice and warm while it was cold and rainy outside) I noticed for the first time that in one of the concrete and planter barrier things in the middle of one of the main roads on the way to campus (like on braeswood) there were Orange Trees! Since now is orange season the trees were covered in tiny orange balls and it was really something beautiful. Only in Israel do they plant fruit trees as decoration in the middle of a busy thoroughfare!
While I was thinking about all of this on the bus a thought popped into my head: Wow you are naïve. I live in one of the (if not the ) most contested cities in the world, people are being killed in my country every day, and if no one dies then there is SOMETHING controversial in the news… and im sitting on the bus getting excited about rainbows and orange trees. And then I started to think that those are exactly the types of thoughts I should be having. If I can’t remove my mind from all of the negative things that go on here and focus on the beautiful and wonderfulness of everyday things then I have wasted my time moving here. I didn’t move here to sit around and be depressed and scared. I moved here to be with the Jews in the Jewish homeland and to help build the future of the Jewish people. That is a beautiful thing worth taking a minute to smile about.

A Zionist Dreidel 12/4/06

Happy Chanukkah! So my first night of Chanukkah as an Israeli citizen started out pretty depressingly. On my way home from school I only saw 5 menorahs displayed in windows and since my roommate is sick there wasn’t much cheer in my apartment. Even though I think I’m also starting to come down with beginning of winter crud I knew I couldn’t have an unpleasant first Chanukkah. Fortunately my friend Talia is also under the weather and is home from the army. I went to her house to get some real Chanukkah feeling. Man am I glad I did! Aside from having a great evening with a wonderful friend I left with my first Zionist Dreidel. One that has a peh instead of a shin. I haven’t stopped playing with it since I saw it and Talia’s mom let me keep it as a present ☺. Thank goodness for those who know how to save Chanukkah from lonely despair by emphasizing the little yet important things!

Greece with the Fam 11/18-23/07

mom had a convention, seth turned 17, and daddy and i did a ton of sightseeing! it was a fantastic week to spend with the family...a special bonus time to be together just the 4 of us before the wedding!!!

When School Strikes Go Crazy 12/3/07

The entire Israeli education system from grades 8 and up has been on strike for at least 40 days. The high school teachers and the university professors are striking for different reasons that are completely unrelated but who cares: no one is learning and everyone is unhappy. Fortunately or not, depending on your point of view, my program has gone on unhindered by any strike attempt and we have had class every day of the semester. The university students are really really fed up with the strike. They don’t agree with how the professors are administering their strike and as long as there continues to be a crisis with the high school teachers nothing will be done about the universities. The students are essentially paying for a semester in which they are only partially learning (most students have about 25% of their classes and most in the sciences are being taught by their TAs and are responsible for the information exactly as if they were truly being taught by their professors) or not learning at all. This is quite painful especially after shutting down the system for 6 weeks last year over the cost of universities.

Today the student union, the representative voice of the students, at Hebrew University decided to COUTNERSTRIKE in protest of the professor’s strike. One of their main complaints is that the professors aren’t doing enough to garner public interest in their plight or to force the government into negotiations to bring the strike to a close. They are simply staying home, doing their research, and waiting for the government to come to them. The situation is finally reaching a crisis point where closing the semester officially is increasingly becoming the only option. This is a disaster for everyone especially for students who have made plans and worked out their lives to fit their academic schedules. So today the student union locked down the campus. Literally locked down with chains and everything. I obviously had class today because my program is part of an external school that just happens to be housed on the campus. My school along with the Betzalel art school was in session. There was one gate all the way in the back of campus open. I got a ride with a friend’s father and it was really interesting driving up to campus. There were massive signs everywhere that the campus was closed and please find other alternatives for the day. Huge signs begging for the return of studies and fair education for all covered the outer walls of the campus. It made me fell really guilty to be entering the school instead of standing with the student body (which I will hopefully be a part of next year.)

Once I got into my building it felt as if nothing different was happening, but all the same, I wish things weren’t so volatile here. I don’t understand the concept of striking to get your way. In America the electric company doesn’t just decide to stop working in order to get better wages or working conditions. Things don’t instantaneously shut down because a certain piece of the population is unhappy. It’s hard to make plans for the future when a degree might take 4 years instead of 3 because of factors completely out of my control. If only we had a competent government who could help solve the problems rather than ignoring them. The entire future of this country, which is heavily dependant on its brain trust, is at risk. Nothing is being done and it is infuriating. I wonder if next week there will be a counterstrike to the counterstrike. It would be quite entertaining. Thankfully for now I still live within the insulated overseas student’s bubble. For now.