a beautiful minds

since i last wrote, TWO DAYS AGO we FINALLY had dinner at momo's. he lives in a beautiful apartment in kfar saba with a terrace and view to die for on the top floor. before we ate the veritable feast that he had prepared for us, he gave a little speech about his dreams and thanked us for helping him achieve them. i got a little teary, i'm not gonna lie. the shnitzel be'd bangin' and he even made the veggie kind for al. afterwards, we had a bit of a drive to jerusalem. once we arrived, we met our lovely, charming tour-guide named esther. as a tradition of rosh hashanah (the jewish new year) the first thing we did was sit in a circle, each dipping an apple into honey and telling the group something we have accomplished over the past year that we ourselves made happen. i talked about my goal to have exhibited my work by myself (or at all) before the year was over and how i got printed, cut mats, built frames, and paid for 5 of my photographs to be shown at the cavern. and i am proud that i did that, which i didn't really even think about until i said it the other night. go me. we arrived at the valley of shadows in which moshe montefiore built neighborhoods 100 years ago to give jews another place to live besides the (at the time) disease infested old city. he, after many many many times trying to persuade them to come and live for free in these settlements that he'd built, finally got them to leave the place they were most comfortable. even though it was killing them, they were afraid to leave the walls. esther asked us what walls we'd stepped out from even though it was scary. i immediately said that coming to israel was the fear that i'd faced, leaving home (where i was most comfortable). that by doing something completely risky and unfamiliar, i am slowly realizing that it might be the best decision i've ever made. and even though it is scary and it WILL be hard sometimes, as long as i work through it and persevere, i'll do amazing things.

afterwards, we took a little tour through the old city, which was so cool. i'd never been there at night. it was pretty magical actually, with all the orthodox men and boys strolling, smoking, debating. since it was slichot, there were many people there singing, dancing, playing music. there was even a table discussion in a room that we could see through the window. it looked like something from ancient israel. i was really scared to take a photo for i didn't want to offend them, but after some encouragement from myself and others, i did it anyway. hopefully they turned out OK. since my friend deutsch lives in the old city, i kept hoping i'd run into him, but didn't. we went to the cotel and i wrote a little note, leaving it in the wall. we left the cotel, walked back to the bus and rode home to go to bed at 6AM.

YESTERDAY, woke up at 12PM instead of 9AM like we had planned to go to the beach. surprise guests met us and jen, jade, al, and i chilled out, played volleyball, and watched the sunset. after a wonderfully fun and relaxing day in the sand and VERY wavy surf, we grabbed a pint for happy hour and listened to a horribly hilarious performace of bad american songs. then, we went back to our friend's apartment to get ready and walked to a bar for one of our new co-worker's goodbye party. had a pretty chilled out night, then walked to the bus station to catch a sheruit. we had to squeeze in because there were only 3 seats for 4 of us. our reluctant driver hauled ass down the highway until all of a sudden, some soldiers pulled us over. the driver opened the door and the soldier started shining his flashlight into the sheruit, and checking one man's passport, asking him to get out of the taxi. at this point, i wasn't even scared, just curious as to what was happening. the soldiers checked two other men in the car. after about 10 minutes, all the men got back in the sheruit and we drove home. apparently, it was just a check that we later found out was to make sure there wasn't anyone with an expired VISA. it was pretty weird, but pretty interesting. finally home, we went to sleep.

TODAY, al and i woke up to orna (host mom) picking us up for lunch at their home in lupid (little adorable village between tel aviv and jerusalem. after an amazing breakfast of jakhnun (delicious melted, flaky bread), challah, and other tasty treats that orna makes, we left to go to jerusalem. on the way, drove through palestinian territories which are walled off. according to elan (host dad), israeli's are not, under any circumstances, to go into these settlements, because if you go in, "you don't come out. or at least, not the same way you came in". i started thinking about the type of person that would kill another person, and it reminded me of the fact (true or not i don't know) that most suicide bombers are males (and occasionally females) that are younger than 30, because they are so indoctrinated with being right about having to kill themselves while killing others that they can see nothing else in the world that may be important, whereas someone older would have a family and more invested in the externally existing, material world. so it made me wonder that being young and thinking that we are right are mutually dependent ideas. for one thing, between 20 and 30, we are beginning to form our own perceptions and belief structures about the world, so we are starting to decide things about the world on our own for the first time. therefore, to admit that one is wrong about such new perceptions might be negating one's individual identity as defined by such decisions and beliefs. so, no wonder people are so afraid to be wrong. especially these certain young people who don't have children to challenge their beliefs without feeling offended. because if we are wrong, then our world might not be the way we see it. and that can be devastating to the psyche. so maybe if these suicide bombers would just chill out for another 5-10 years, they'd decide that blowing themselves up might not be such a fabulous idea. maybe, who knows.

also i notice still feeling the same insecurities engaging in social interactions now as i did as a kid. does that ever go away?

so we arrived in jerusalem, met up for two other host families (jen, jade, alon, and buffy in tow) and spent hours strolling through the market there, which is the most fantastic fucking thing i've ever seen. so colorful and full of beautiful artifacts, fabrics, jewelry, musical instruments, bags, clothing, tapestries, and lots of other crazy cool stuff. al and bought a couple of big tapestry-like printed scarves for our beds that can also be fashioned into shirts, dresses, skirts, and a plain old scarf. our families like to feed us, so we ate these ridiculous baclava-goat cheese-honey soaked desserts that were to die for. after that, we had hummus with beans and pita at the most amazing hummus place in all of jerusalem. we said our goodbyes, and after i could no longer walk from eating so much, we got to the car and i took a little snooze on the way to drop off elan (dad), and pick up edan (brother) to take him to a skateboarding park in tel-aviv. this skate park was the coolest one i'd ever seen, with pools dug into the ground, huge ramps and half pipes, with poles to grind all over the place. luckily i brought my camera with me :) so those photos will be posted soon. along with beach, night, market, cotel, and every picture ever. al and i were dropped off and we have just been hanging out doing laundry, ulpan homework, and talking about boys. but that never changes. go figure. it's late, so i'm going to bed.

love always,

sally