Blurred Lines

There are no lines here. I walked into the pharmacy and picked up shampoo and conditioner before heading to the cash registers. All were occupied so I waited patiently until the next cashier looked available. I saw that one lady was getting her receipt and began inching my way closer, when all of a sudden an Israeli walks right past me and sets her stuff down to pay. I couldn't believe it, I have to admit I was slightly offended. I looked at the cashier to see a look, or anything that she noticed this woman had cut me in line. But there was no such look. Being "rude" is more or less how one gets stuff done in Israel. If you are waiting for the bus and decide to be patient until it is "your turn", you will never get on the bus. People cut each other frequently and it's no big deal. You are just supposed to stick out your elbows and fight your way to the front.
I tried fasting for Yom Kippur to experience what it is like to not eat for 24 hours. I was grumpy and tired and might have reflected a little bit, but I felt so good breaking the fast with a big hearty meal of Shukshuka and garlic bread.

I have been taking Hebrew classes and going to various teacher training workshops to get ready for my first big day teaching. My routine of teaching 5-6 days a week will begin October 1st after Sukkot (the next and final Jewish holiday during the month of September), and I couldn't be more pumped! Putting together lesson plans has been by biggest challenge. I am working with 1st through 6th graders at my Elementary School. So far, I have activities surrounding food and body parts. I still have a lot of work to do before October 1st obviously :-). When I visited the school, the principal introduced me to all the teachers and showed me the room where I will be teaching. The school is quaint and very beautiful. There are pots of flowers everywhere and the actual school is located near the edge of the desert so there is a view of the Negev from the playground.

The school is semi-religious and the principal informed me that they practice something called horizontal student to student mediation where the kids will help each other solve conflicts that arise out in the court yard or in the hallways before involving a teacher or an adult to help students gain problem solving skills. Additionally, the students are educated about the state of Israel and how to keep Israel green a midst all the development that is happening right now in the country. I brought 2 fellows with me to visit the school on my second visit and we worked with a group of 3 students. I was amazed at the English the three of them knew. We worked on their practice vocabulary lesson surrounding food by taking turns pretending to be on a cooking show using the names of ingredients to explain to "the audience" what he/she was cooking. It was a bit of a mess, but I think we all had fun and learned a few English words in the process.

We also met the teachers and I found out that all the female teachers wear long skirts and cardigans covering their elbows. It is amazing to me that they don't have heat stroke when it is so hot here!

Women's Fashion...sexy can I?

I bought a soccer ball after visiting my cousins a few weeks back so I could play soccer with other fellows and hopefully the students at the elementary school. Every time an Israeli sees me with a soccer ball, I get a look of confusion. I went to a Hookah bar last night and met three Israeli guys who are in their first year in the army. I told them about how I get funny looks for playing with my soccer ball and they explained to me that girls don't  really play soccer because it isn't "girly"... then they helped teach me a few curse words. I must be the weirdest girl in Israel. I play soccer and I curse.

The next week, I am on break and will be visiting Tel Aviv for a few days and then camping in the desert for some hippie festival :-) Thinking of all my friends and family back at home. Love&Peace

Be Flexible

A lot has happened in the last week. Rosh Hashana happened and I spent 4 days in central Israel with super distant cousins but I feel as though they are just family because we get along in that way. I ate really great food and drank and even napped in the afternoons. It was amazing!

Celebrating birthdays with family on RH

Family photos

PITA and HUMMUS

 I learned a lot about Israelis and a lot about myself as an American by hanging out with Israelis. First interesting difference is that it is not uncommon for family to get together for Shabbat dinners and the high holidays and when I say family gets together, it means 20-30 people and sometimes more. I also learned that with family there is no need to be politically correct, you just need to tell the truth and that is all and Israelis listen to everything you say. I learned something about myself as an American, that we like to do things by the book and we tend to be very polite. For example, I bought my train ticket and the machine didn't read my ticket so I went to ask the guard about it and some Israeli stopped me and showed me that I can just walk around through the disability gate. Of course! I bought the ticket so there is no problem.

Tomorrow I am visiting the school where I will be for the next 10 months and I couldn't be more nervous and excited. Today, we reunited with fellows in the other cities to meet the Ministry of Education representatives and our pedagogical mentors to learn about the Israeli public education school system and to get stoked on teaching.

Earlier today I was placed in a secular elementary school with my dear friend/another fellow Anna at a secular school. However, my director, Maor, came to me an hour ago and told me that he would like me to teach at a semi-religious elementary school by myself. I told him, "But I speak in broken Hebrew!" And in the most reassuring and comforting way that only Maor can respond in a situation when I am on the verge of a panic attack, he told me he believes and trusts that I will be great. Anna, my former teaching partner in crime/ confidante, reassured me and said awesomely "You become alive at the end of your comfort zone". The most cheesy, but I laughed and I'm getting more and more excited for the opportunity to be by myself at a school to have the chance to grow as a teacher and as a student of Hebrew.

The school is walking distance from my apartment. I will know more information after tomorrow but for now all I can say is that I have learned that being flexible is a gift to yourself and cheesy quotes help sometimes. 

Beer She'va

I am writing on the bus on the way to Beer Sheva, the city where I will be living permanently for the next 10 months. Since I arrived in Israel, I have met the people who will be teaching on my program. They are from all over the United States two are from Canada. We toured the north and center of Israel by bus and stayed in Jerusalem and Tiberius, two beautiful cities. In Jerusalem, we went to a "Shuk" which means outdoor market in Hebrew and toured the old city at night which was absolutely incredible. In Tiberius, we hiked to a view of the Sea of Galilee and afterwards got to go swim in the water.

Fruit juice stand at the Shuk

Israel Teaching Fellows in Beer Sheva

I learned about Rambam, the Jewish philosopher/physician/writer who wrote the talmd from an orthodox rabbi from Berkeley, CA. He gave us a riddle to figure out. The riddle went as such:

A rabbi has 4 people stand in a row and they aren't allowed to turn around. They can see the heads of two people in front of them, so the first guy doesn't see anyone. The second guy sees the first. The third sees the second and the first, and the fourth sees the third and the second. Then the rabbi places 4 hats, 2 white and 2 black, on their heads without them knowing which order they are placed and tells them not to look at the color of their own hat. The order he places the hats on their heads is: White, Black, White, Black. They have no idea it is in this order. The rabbi then says to the group, "There are two white hats and two black hats that I've placed on your heads, only one of you knows the color of the hat on your head. You can look at the color of the hats in front of you only. Once you figure it out, yell out the color." Which of the four guesses the color of his hat?

The answer is the third guy who yells out the color white. Can  you figure out why?

So fast forward, I have moved into my apartment! I went to the market and bought groceries and now am settling into the new space. I live in a suite with two other fellows from the program and we have made our space quite lovely. I love looking out the window and seeing lights for miles. I still can't believe I will be living in the desert. Tomorrow will be the first full day here for the next 10 months.

Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheva

I am excited and nervous but most of all ready to meet the kids who I will teaching. But that will have to wait until October 1st. That's all for now folks. Laila Tov to everyone reading, good night!