Bye Seoul

Off to Gwanju, which is a small city about a 4 hour bus ride from Seoul.  By small, I mean that it only has 1.3 million people.  When Seren was here, she lived in a city (Naju) outside of it.  Tonight we're staying with Seren's hosts from her first trip and tomorow night and through the rest of our trip, we'll be in a hotel/motel in Gwanju.

 

A tout a l'heure.

The Largest Department Store in the World

is apparently not Macys of Herald Square. It is Shinsegae and we're in it right now. There is an Apple Authorized Retailer so I'm using the computer ever so briefly. Today we "climbed" the highest mountain in Seoul (Namsan) and saw a folk village as well as toured a Folk Village (imagine Sturbridge or Old Bethpage Park). And now we're shopping.

Love,

Craig

Tv in Korea

Flipping the channels I caught a voice that I would never confuse.  We're watching Iron Chef America, battle of apples.  The voice was Alton Brown, my food guide par excellence. 

 

The last few nights, we caught the Simpsons.  They also have Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters.  In other words, besides the subtitles, my tv watching habits are the same here as at home.

It's so French!

To backtrack (now that we have better computer access in Korea)...

Upon emerging from the Metro en route to our hotel in Paris, we were greeted by the Bastille memorial. As we walked toward our hotel on Charonne, I thought, 'Wow! This is so French!" If you've never been to Paris, you're likely thinking, 'Duh! Of course Paris is French!" But perhaps if you've been there you know what I mean. Most cities I've visited have a mix of old and new; classic and modern. It appeared to me during my brief encounter with Paris that even the new is modeled after the old, and it's beautiful and SO very French! Wrought iron balconies and flowering window boxes adorned every building, commercial and residential; cafes with little tables had every chair facing the street; stylish, hip people enjoyed coffee (and a cigarette), wine (and a cigarette), or beer (and a cigarette) while socializing and observing passerbyers. Paris was just as it is portrayed in film. I can't fully explain how Paris fulfilled every expectation of how France should look-- it was just so French!

I appreciated how France preserves its 'old.' We enjoyed, for example, the Musee d'Orsay, an art museum established in the great hall (and beyond) of an old train station. And how the Arc de Triomphe is preserved and functions as a roundabout at the end of the magnificent Champs-Élysées. And art is everywhere! Sculptures in parks (we enjoyed attempting to emulate the poses of Rodin's pieces) and gardens, and museums everywhere you look. It was so exciting!

We hit, as I mentioned, the Arc de Triomphe and the Musee d'Orsay. We also explored the Musee Rodin (The Thinker!!), Musee de l'Orangerie (Monet's Waterlillies!), Musee du Louvre (Mona Lisa kept staring at us), and the Eiffel Tower. We walked around and through the entire city, so you name a park or garden, and we visited it. For instance, we walked by and got a kick out of the funky eye sore that is the Pompidou and we later took a brief nap in Les Tuileries.

We had a lovely Shabbat dinner on Friday night at the home of our new Pardes friend- thank you Pascale! We also enjoyed spending time with Craig's friend David who flew to Paris from Nice (thank you, Madame Bloom!).

Our stopover in Paris was really lovely!

What haven't we done?!

We've been in Korea for three days and we sure have covered a lot of ground in the nation's capital! We toured a palace (Chongdokgung, including the Biwon secret garden); visited a Buddhist temple (Jogeysa) during prayer servcies (so we enjoyed the chanting); walked around two parks (Topgol Park and Jongro Park) and saw dozens and dozens of Korean men playing a chess-like board game of strategy called Baduk; enjoyed Buddhist temple food and a traditional dance and music performance (at Sanchon in Insadong); crossed the border into North Korea (we took an eight-hour USO-sponsored tour of the DMZ and its surrounding areas); viewed all of downtown Seoul from the top of the modern Millennium/Jongro Tower; toasted with soju and dongdongju (traditional Korean alcohols); met friends (we love you, Jen and Kate and Neil and Annette!!!); and the while we've gotten a kick out of the funny Korean English.

But wait...there's more!

We plan to check out the Korean War Memorial, the Seoul Tower, and a few markets with a friend. We are packing as much in to our brief visit to Seoul as we can before we head south (to Jeollonamdo- Gwangju and Naju) and east (Busan).

All is very well for us! Hope all is well with you, too :)

love, seren

Fox News and the USO

The USO office in Seoul is showing Fox News's Sean hannity's interview
with Mark Fuhrman (yes that Mark Fuhrman). Can't I escape FN
somewhere? I thought CNN was the standard international American news
outlet?

Off to the dmz.

Us in Seoul

Thanks Jenn for letting us use your computer.

Here's us today:

and a video of Seren to boot (remarkably, we can't upload a video to youtube in Korea):




Jenn's blog is http://www.fatmanseoul.com. Please check it out.

Hi from Seoul

So far so good. Seren is a wonderful tour guide and we're having a
great time. Tomorrow we're seeing the Dmz. Hopefully well be able to
write a full comprehensive writeup.

Love
Us

The "Lamed" Mobile

We're trying to play blog catchup, given that we didn't have access to a computer while in Paris, or for the last days in Israel as we were trying to do things and didn't have time to sit down and write. So therefore, I want to write two things about Israel as the time becomes available. This is the first - a discussion of the lamed cars. The second is our reflections on Pardes. Time for the first one first.

A "lamed" is the Hebrew "L." It's pronounced like an "L" and comes before the "M" letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It is also found on top of many cars. At first, we didn't know why. And then we figured it out.

Israelis aren't known to be the best drivers. They are very aggressive and can't handle anyone not driving as aggressively as they are. For example, the traffic lights turn both red and yellow before turning green. This is a warning for people driving manual transmissions to get into gear. If a car is a millisecond too slow, the car in back will let them know. If you are going too slowly on the highway, you will get passed, honked and cut off.

The lamed on top of cars is for a training car/drivers ed. (I don't know if the "L" is for the English word "learning" or just a coincidence. I would guess that it's a coincidence). Seeing these cars driving down the street is scary. They stop short, fail to see pedestrians and never start again after stopping. For example, I saw one stop really short for me while I was crossing the street. After the car squealed and stopped, I passed. The driver then stepped on the gas, but forgot to put the car into gear. Vrooom and no movement.

It also begs the question, why learn to drive? Israeli drivers drive purely by instinct and emotion. They really need a license to do this? Just let natural urgings govern the rules of the road.

Luckily, Seren & I made it through Israeli with nary a scratch or dent, unlike every car in Israel which shows the bruises of its Israeli existence.

Love,
Craig

Hotel Shopping

And it's taken a turn for the surreal.  Lots of fun.

Seren studying with her chavruta at Pardes

Excuse the backtracking...

Korea- day 1 reflections

I will write about Paris later. I am just so thrilled to be back in Korea and I want to blog about that now!

Craig and I arrived safe and sound this morning and effortlessly traveled from the airport to the guest house in which we're staying. This guest house is a great- a step above backpackers' accommodations, but with backpacker-friendly amenities, such as a computer room, open kitchen, and free washing machine that I used to clean our clothes (finally!).

While Craig napped to recuperate from our all-day travels from Paris (via Helsinki, where reindeer meat and smoked salmon are the proteins of choice, apparently), I did a bit of exploring. I forgot what it's like to NOT be anonymous. I forgot that people (especially older people and kids) look at me with interest when I walk down the street. I forgot that people approach me to ask if I need help, even if I don't. I forgot that when I do need help, people don't just tell me, they show me (I got a bit turned around looking for the fabulously artistic Insadong street, and two people insisted on walking me there, though it appeared to be out of their way). I am happy to be reminded of all of this. Korean people are so kind and so eager to help (whether to practice their English or to make sure a visitor has a good time in their country) that it's difficult to not feel happy and safe in Korea.

Craig and I are meeting two Fulbright friends for dinner tonight. As luck would have it, a friend who lives on Cape Cod happens to be visiting Korea this week (she was helping out with this year's new Fulbright ETAs in Chuncheon, but is returning to Seoul in time for dinner) and is staying with a our friend who happens to live very near to where Craig and I are staying. I am so excited that this dinner engagement fell into place so beautifully and effortlessly. I can't wait to see my friends, introduce them to Craig, and have dinner in Seoul!

Other excitement lined up for our visit in Seoul: dinner at a traditional restaurant that serves (Buddhist) Temple food and offers traditional dance and song performances for diners (Mom and Dad- we went here with Kate--- Dad danced with exuberantly the performers, if you recall); a day tour with the USO to the DMZ so we can check out what's really going on in North Korea (just kidding! we'll be safe- I promise). There are palaces and temples and people to see, so I'm sure we'll be busy in Seoul these next few days. We're heading south to Kwangju on Friday so I can show Craig where and how and with whom I lived in 2002-3----- I can't wait!

My language skills have clearly deteriorated, but I am hopeful that they will slowly return to me. I seem to be able to get by OK, but I find it frustrating to search for words and expressions that I know I once knew.

That's all for now! I'll try to 'backtrack' and write about our fabulous four days in Paris soon :)

I hope all is well!

love, seren

Good Morning from Seoul

From here we transfer to Pyongyang and points north where I'd be a foot taller than everyone else.

Just kidding. But we are safe and sound in South Korea.

Flight progress

Hello Beijing. Too cloudy to see the Great Wall but it's probably
down there. We slept through Mongolia. It's breakfast time.

A Mail Tale

From Israel. Craig's Mom and Seren's Dad both celebrated their birthdays while we were in Israel. Early in our trip, we bought birthday cards and mailed them. We mailed them both at the same time. They each arrived about 3-4 days late. The punchline? Dad's birthday is a week later than Mom's. The Israeli post knew how to be exactly 3-4 days late with both.

4 1/2 Hours Into Our Flight

And we're still over russia. Approaching Krasnoyarsk. Is it Siberia? I'll check wikipedia from the ground. Near Gobi desert and maybe a few hours from Mongolia. Hi genghis. Watched Notes on a Scandal. Dame Judi Dench was superb.

Is it live blogging if I write a few entries in the flight and post them from the ground.

Helsinki

Nice airport. The farthest north I've ever been. Looking at our flight plan, we won't quite go over the arctic ocean but pretty much all of Russia including Siberia. In Helsinki, we split a cheese and a salmon sandwich. Both were local specialties. We avoided the local game - reindeer, elk and bear meat. Small airport with lots of fun shops. And we got our passports stamped for leaving the EU. See you in Han-gook.

Decathletes

On board our flight to helsinki, sitting next to us, there is an older
man from Wisconsin going to Helsinki to compete in a masters (ie,
seniors) decathalon. I really want to ask him if he's Bruce Jennings,
but I don't think he is. He's too old (75). I get the sense he started
competing at this high level at an older than Olympic age.

Btw, I wrote this at our cruising altitude.

Au Revoir Paris

Until we meet again. We had a short trip but packed a lot in. We didn't see everything but saw a lot. And sorry, no frog legs. Kermit would be pleased.

Was a great romantic trip and we'll come back.

A bientot
Craig

Hi from paris !

Hi from paris !

Late notice: this was supposed to be a picture, but it obviously didn't come out.

Hi from paris

Where it rains each afternoon as if it were Miami. So far so good. Too
much to say to say anything now. But we saw a lot in 48 hours. 36 left.

Aux Champs Elysees

Au soleil, sur la plie, a midi ou a minuit. Il y a tous que vous
voulez aux Champs Elysees.

Hi from Paris.

Israel pictures (thanks, Dave)

Our pardes friend put up some pictures of our visit to the Dead Sea last week.
Check them out at daveberman.smugmug.com
We said goodbye to Israel early this morning and are now enjoying beautiful Paris. Hope all is well!
Love, Seren

Paris

Safe and sound in paris. Just walked into the hotel. Now to find
crepes and wine.

Shalom Israel; Bon Jour Paris

In the airport ready to board our flight to Paris via London. Israel
was a great adventure. We could have used more time here but further
adventures await.

Our last day at Pardes

Getting Ready to Leave Israel

Today is our last day at Pardes. Tonight we pack, eat at Burgers Bar
and say goodbyes. I'll write more but wanted to provide a status update.

Another picture of us, sort of

http://daveberman.smugmug.com/gallery/8822162_fQK6v#591795104_DAVZQ-L-LB

That's us in the bottom right corner of the picture, taken at the Temple Mount. Thanks Dave.

Shabbat 3

Happy Sunday night from Jerusalem. Thanks go to Rachel Z. of Pardes for allowing us to use her computer.

I'm just going to recap Shabbat itself. We did fun things Thursday pm (Dead Sea) and Friday am (explored the Old City of Jerusalem) but won't discuss them here.

Friday night, we went to a shul named Yakar, around the corner from our apartment. It was in a community center (I think) and there were two services. Downstairs was solemn singing. We figured that out soon enough and went to the upstairs minyan (thank you Seren for exploring the building). Upstairs was a very traditional Carlebach-style davening, complete with many of the same songs as we had heard the previous Shabbats. This time, however, instead of being atop the Pardes building or the Kotel, we squeezed 100 people in a room for 75. Therefore, as everyone sang, the words echoed and the spirit reverberated throughout the room. I find this echoing effect to be very spiritual and a wonderful aid to my Shabbat.

It is interesting to compare my three Friday night services. Week 1 was on top the Pardes building as the wind blew and the sun set. Nature was a primary focus in addition to the singing, and the spiritual came through as nature affected the service. Week 2 was in front of the Kotel in the midst of a gestalt (seren's word) of dozens of little minyans packed in together. The spirituality came in through the diverse Jewish groups (from left to right; happy singing to old man muttering) coming together to welcome in Shabbat in the same place, together even if we all prayed together. Week 3 was a Shabbat for the voices singing in unison and echoing throughout the room. The service was uplifted because of that as each person's singing aiding his neighbor's religious spirit.

After services, we went to our Pardes friend Matt's for a dinner. In keeping the theme of the evening, he fit and fed 25ish people in his apartment. The intimacy was fantastic and we all had a good time.

Saturday morning, we went to a service that was similar to Shira Hadasha (see Week 1) but in a gym and more Israeli. This one seemed to be a breakaway minyan to SH - what happens when people tire of SH. It was held in a community center gym (complete with basketball nets) and kids running all over. The acoustics were iffy, but the people were nice. And best of all, my darling wife got an Aliyah (was called to say the blessings over the Torah as it was read). Was tres cool. She was a happy camper, as was her supportive husband.

After shul, we went to lunch at Samantha's of Pardes, who made a delicious lunch for more people than could fit in her apartment. Matt and Samantha did a wonderful job of bringing together our small community for a final Shabbat before most of us go our separate ways.

After lunch, we napped. And then, we went to the home of the Director of the Pardes Summer Program for Seudah Shlishit (the 3rd meal of Shabbat, often neglected by us). He served a deconstructed nicoise salad (brilliant!) as we dined outside as if we were in Tuscany and discussed Jewish topics, Pardes, David Levin-Kruss (the host)'s view of Shabbat, etc. It was wonderful to be able to talk to DLK and our classmates in a relaxed environment and to share our respective approaches to Judaism. DLK does not believe in many right answers and that is something that both Seren and I appreciate.

We did havdalah (service at conclusion of Shabbat) at DLK's and then went home to grab money and meet Dave at Shnitzie's for some shnitzel on Emek Refaim. Junk food is so bad and yet so delicious.

Love,
Craig

@ Burgers Bar

It's delicious. Happy Shabbat to all.

Off to the Beach

We're off to the Dead Sea, to a beach about 30 minutes from J'salem (not Ein Gedi, for those who know the Dead Sea).  There, we will throw mud at each other and dip in the salt water of the Dead Sea.  See you all the next time.

Craig

A Beautiful Morning

Did Craig write about the Jerusalem Film Festival? Check it out: http://www.jff.org.il/?cl=en
Yesterday we saw a French flick (with English subtitles) called La Fille Du RER (The Girl on the RER Train) that is based on a true story. I enjoyed the film, though Craig didn't fully appreciate the artsy-ness of the flick (he kept leaning over to me and whispering, 'What's this movie about? Is there even a plot?'). Anyway, we are both glad that we found time to take advantage of the film festival!

We woke up extra early this morning to walk to the Old City. We met a friend at 7:30am to explore the Temple Mount (the site of the actual Temple, which is now home to the Dome of the Rock in which non-Muslims are forbidden to enter). It was lovely. The plaza was much larger than we'd imagined, but empty of tourists so early in the morning. It was relaxing to walk around the massive, colorful, impressive exterior of the Dome and among the olive and cypress trees. We cabbed* to school after taking magnificent pictures (we'll share pictures later) and enjoyed more wonderful learning in our classes.

We are social butterflies! Craig is dining tonight at an Argentinian steak place called El Gaucho, while I am meeting some classmates to browse the artisan store and get a lighter dinner (anything will be light than Craig's dinner- he may actual consume half a cow this evening). We are really enjoying our new friends here :)

Tomorrow after class, we are heading to the Dead Sea! We hope to float in the salty water and lounge on the beach. I'm also excited to play in the nutrient-ful sand (can you say facial?!) We'll be back in J-town for Shabbat, of course.

Hope you are well! Thanks for reading our blog!

love, seren

*Yes, sadly my motor-free streak had come to an end.

Finding People in J'salem

My parents were in Israel last December, after which my father jokingly told me that if you go to the Kotel on Friday night, you'll certainly run into someone you know.  Well, we were there Friday night and only Seren saw someone that we know (naturally, it was a student.  "MS. CEPLER!!").  Yesterday, I ran into someone for the first time.  Walking along Ben Yehuda Street (pedestrian mall, previously mentioned), I feel a tap on my shoulder and a friend from the states (Aaron) who often escorts trips to Israel was there as a camper on his own trip for adults.  It took a two weeks and a little, but I found someone that I knew.

Go me!

The Jerusalem Film Festival

A quick story about our trip to the J'salem Film Festival.  The JFF is taking place this week in J'salem and after many attempts at seeing various movies, Seren and I decided to pick a movie just based on timing.  We ended up seeing a French film at 415 pm yesterday called "La Fille du RER," which is based on a true story.  It tells the tale of a non-Jewish girl who falsely alleges that she was beaten up on a train for being Jewish.  The movie was a French artsy flick, so instead of being plot driven, it was character driven.  I twice asked Seren when the plot would start.  Finally it did.

The things we learned about Israeli cinema.  First, people just show up late without problems.  And old men have a nasty habit of not moving quickly and therefore blocking the sous-titres (subtitles, the flick was in French with English subtitles).  Second, Israeli cinemas have assigned seats.  It eases the hassle of many Israelis fighting over the good seats (I can only imagine the mayhem that occurs in Israel when someone tries to save a seat).  Finally, there's a smoking break because, as Rachel explained, Israelis can't go more than an hour without smoking.  Unfortunately for them, the smoking break isn't long enough for a full cigarette and they come in late.  And then the old man comes in late, and can't find his seat, and blocks the subtitles.  But, it was fine.  Fun experience.

Then we went shopping.

This morning we went to the Temple Mount (the plateau over the Kotel, where the Dome of the Rock sits).  Seren is going to write about it.

Shabbat II - Still Rocking the Eretz Israel

(Eretz Israel is the Hebrew name for Israel)

Greetings from Israel.  Seren and I both had things to say, so we're both writing.  I'll start from Thursday night and elaborate on my short, concise posts about my leg odor.

So we got to Tel Aviv on Thursday afternoon and met our friend Rachel at her hotel.  We then camped out on the beach and watched the sunset over the Mediterranean as we put our feet in.  It was a fast day (the 17th day of Tammuz), so we were chill for a few hours until the time for dinner came.

We walked down the street from Rachel's hotel and found a small hotel with a clean room with water pressure and best of all, a view of the beach.  Bargained for a price, and voila, we had a room.  The room was perfectly fine and comfortable and life was settled.  Did I already mention that we had a view of the beach?  Pictures will eventually follow.  By the way, did I mention the beach thing?

After sunset, we had the deodorant catastrophe and then went to the hippie Indian restaurant where Benjy, Rachel and Adena were waiting (see previous post).  We each had similar veggie dishes and sat on the floor on cushions.  Was tres cool.

From there, we took a cab to central social Tel Aviv where there was a champagne bar.  Basically, there are no open container laws in Israel.  You go into the bar, order a bottle of champagne, get the bottle and glasses and stand on the street drinking.  For numerous reasons, we left the champagne bar and found a wine/meat bar where we enjoyed a bottle of wine.  When we got there, we asked for a kosher bottle of wine, which is harder in Israel than you would think because of the nature of the disagreements between the religious and secular Israelis.  Nonetheless, we shared a very good, kosher bottle of Merlot on the street.

From there, it was time to go home.  We dropped Rachel off at her hotel from a cab, then shared a Magnum ice cream (actually, Seren and Rachel each had a magnum, I had a sandwich - Magnum is the Israeli title/descriptor for the standard Nestle/Good Humor ice cream in every bodega) and then to bed.  It was 1ish or so and the old folks were tired.

We woke up the next morning around 9 and headed for the beach.  We lotioned up, Seren got hit on (a theme in TA) and swam in the Mediterranean for an hour.  The sun was warm, the sand soft as silk and the water delightful.  Good time had by both of us.  We each got a full compliment of Vitamin D and a very safe SPF-good tan.

After showering, we ventured over to a crafts fair and the Tel Aviv shouk.  The TA shouk is a zoo and there's not much to say about it, except we only saw the merchandise half (rather than the food half) and it is very reminiscent of an Arab shouk (which, come to think of it, so is the Jerusalem shouk.  You have to remember that in certain regards, the cultures are very similar).  From there, we went to the crafts market, which is open twice a week.  We walked around a bit, looking at each menorah and mezuzah and thinking about how it would fit in the apartment.  From there, we ventured to a bakery that Benjy recommended.  I had a chocolate mousse frozen pop.  Deliciousness in 1000 calories.  And worth each one.  Seren had a lick.

Lunch was at Burger King.  The first Double Whopper I had ever had.  And my first BK experience in, well, a really long time.  Seren had a chicken sandwich.  I must say, we're not missing so much.  Compared to Burgers Bar (which is tonight's dinner), it was well, fast foody, and I don't mean that in the good way.

From there, we met Rachel and Adena to go back to J'salem.  Annie from Cornell and a med student in TA also showed up to see us off.  I'm just giving Annie mention because she biked to us even if our meeting lasted for a whole 15 seconds.

We got to J'salem via Ramat Bet Shemesh, a suburban (?) town outside of TA where we left Adena.  We got back to our apartment around 530 with a plan to meet our classmate Dave at the Kotel (Western Wall) around 645.  Not much time to shower, but we managed to meet Dave at 647.  On our way back, we calculated that gas in Israel costs about $7/gallon.  And you thought White Plains had high gas prices!

The Kotel for Kabbalat Shabbat is a zoo of the best kind.  Towards the front, nearest to the wall, are the more hasidic minyans (services) that do very quintessential composed, quiet praying (davening is the word I'm going to use here on out).  Towards the back are the louder, singing and dancing minyans.  The late 20th century saw the rise of a Carlebachian davening (named after R' Shlomo Carlebach who lived in NYC and sought to introduce more passionate, hippie singing into davening).  These minyans towards the back used many of his songs.  Next to Dave and my minyan was one that seemed to be for a special needs Birthright trip.  The davening was led by a Chabad (black hatter dedicated to outreach.  This will come up for later stops on our voyage) rabbi.  Watching that minyan was a moving experience as they danced and celebrated, even if the minyan took forever.  Basically, the whole kotel plaza was a series of minyans, separated by mere inches and nothing else, of people welcoming in Shabbat.

Friday night, we went to dinner at our teacher's apartment.  Seren spoke about it; I won't.

Saturday morning, I went to shul in the first village built for Jews outside the Jerusalem city walls.  It was built in the 1850s or '60s.  The shul I went to was built for Jews from Turkey in the 1890s and was modeled after the Touro Synagogue of Newport, Rhode Island (the old continuously used synagogue in the USA).  The community stills speaks Hebrew and some Spanish.  After davening, there was a kiddush (light snacks before lunch) of bourekas (almost calzone-y but not quite) and Arak (like Pastis or other fennel-flavored liquor).  Was nice.  I should also mention that the synagogue faced the old city with a great view.  Also, services started at 8 or 830, I got there at 9 as the last latecomer and they were done by 1030.  Sephardi Jews (those under Arab rule during the last hundreds of year) show up on time; Ashkenazi Jews (under European rule) don't.  I only thought there was one shul in the community - Yemim Moshe - but it turns out that there are 3 or 4.  But I enjoyed myself.

I assume Seren wrote about our later Saturday and Saturday night.  If she didn't say this, it bears mentioning (and if she did say it, it bears repeating).  We played Scrabble Saturday night with some friends.  I won.

Yadda yadda yadda.  Now it's Monday afternoon.

See you all next time,

Love,

Craig

The NON Birthright experience

Craig and I both went on Birthright trips to Israel (separately, about four years apart), and Craig also went on March of the Living in 1998. All three Israel experiences were whirlwind tours. I'm sure you know what I mean: we travel between places on luxury buses and every minute of the trip is planned (every minute of the too-short trip, that is). It's like a buffet of a tour- we see samples of a number of cities in Israel. Well, our Israel experience now is the exact opposite. We are getting a taste of what it would be like to live in Israel as residents, not tourists (not that we have any intention of moving overseas, Mom-- don't worry). We live in an apartment, not a hotel, where we cook and prepare food and make our beds (:) ) and clean and such. We learned where the stores are, where to buy what, and how much items should cost. We have a new appreciation for the size of the cities (and the whole country, really) because we are responsible for our own travel. We are really NOT tourists during this visit to Israel. Rather we are students, and more like residents. On that note, we are trying to squeeze in some tours while we're here. For example, as Craig wrote, we visited Tel Aviv for a night to see friends and get a taste of another city. It was a great trip! We enjoyed the GORGEOUS beach, dined (and drank) well, and shopped at the crafts market that comes through twice a week. Tel Aviv has a very different (more European?) vibe. It was fun for a night, but it made us appreciate that the city in which we're living for three weeks is Jerusalem. We returned to Jerusalem for Shabbat. We visited the Old City on Friday evening with Pardes friends and were part of Shabbat evening services at the Kotel/Western Wall. What a treat! Funny, though, that I ran into a White Plains High School student there ("Ms. Cepler?!" is NOT what I expected to hear while singing the Kabbalat Shabbat psalms). We enjoyed a most delicious and fun Shabbat dinner Friday night at the home of our Talmud teacher. She is AMAZING and we had so much fun talking, learning, talking, laughing, and talking through the meal and after! Somehow we didn't return home from dinner until nearly 3am. Pardes hosted a lovely community Shabbat lunch, and we spent Shabbat afternoon with friends.

Shabbat in Jerusalem is how I remember Christmas in Avon, CT. Open stores are few and far between, there are significantly fewer cars on the road, and it just feels like a holiday. Unlike Christmas in Avon, I am a part of what makes the day special here :)

In other tourist news, yesterday we visited the Old City and took a tour of the tunnel between the Western Wall and the rest of the city (it used to be a road in Herod's time, but the City has been built up such that the road is now a tunnel). It was wonderful walking to, from, and around the Old City. All else is well! We are enjoying our courses and our new friends and we feel great! love, seren

Exodus the Musical

Seren's in the shower after returning from the beach. I put on the tv here and sought an English channel. I thought I found aida the b'way musical (which I saw with my mom). Instead I found what seems to be exodus the musical, featuring the hit song "back in Egypt" ("where the streets
are paved with gold").

Time to start our day.

Fun night in Tel Aviv with Benjy and Rachel...

Why Craig Smells Like Women's Deodorant

So tonight we showered after checking out the Tel Aviv beach and before dinner with Rachel, Benjy (a Cornell friend who lives in TA) and Rachel's friend Adena. After showering, I went to put on deodorant and it broke apart. No worries, I thought, I would just buy some. We found an AM/PM which is like an Israeli 7/11 and went to work. One was too big, one too small and found a just right one. It, naturally, was behind some others. As we reached to grab the just right one (Men's Speed Stick), we knocked a few off the shelf. One canister (?) fell on the ground and cracked open, exploding liquid women's deodorant all over, including my legs. Despite paper towelling clean, my legs smell like women's deodorant and slightly sting. I can't say it's the best I've ever smelled, but I do now smell like it. I can't wait to shower again.

We're just finishing dinner at a hippie Indian restaurant in TA. Delicious.

Finally, we're looking at the same full moon as everyone else. And it's beautiful (granted the full moon was really a couple of days ago. Tonight is the 18th day of the Jewish month of Tammuz. The full moon is the 14th or 15th of the month). Thanks Grandma Ann.

Pictures

Sorry that we don't have pictures on this blog. We're working on it. We don't have our own computer here. Rather, we use one at Pardes (there's one provided and we sometimes borrow our nice classmate's, but we can't do that too long because we don't want to hog computer) or post shorter messages from the Ipod. Either way, we can't upload pics. The Ipod doesn't have a camera and we don't want to upload our pics to someone else's camera. I'll see what I can do next time and maybe post a little pic of the smiling travelers.

Hi from tel aviv

We got a hotel room facing the beach. Time to go watch the sunset. I'm debating whether to put on my bathing suit.

I know... Tough life.

Off to Tel Aviv

It's Thursday afternoon and the weekend is starting.  We're off to Tel Aviv for the night to visit friends, hit up the beach and just experience Euro-chic Israeli life.  We'll be back in Jerusalem for Shabbat, though our specific plans are up in the air.

Last night, Craig went to a maariv minyan at basically a minyan factory (Maariv is the evening service; a minyan factory is lots of room with services that start every 10 minutes).  It was fun because there was a diversity of people there from Israeli soldiers to Americans, to hasids (black hatters), to Israeli Euro-chicers to the whole gamut.  I love the beauty of the mixed multitude.

The computer is being taken from me right now so Shabbat Shalom.  Until next time.

Craig

Torah Yoga

Craig and I are each enrolled in three classes. We're taking the Talmud class together, which is great! The teacher is a lawyer by education, but has a passion for teaching. She is enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable, and the class is interesting, challenging, and rewarding.

I am also taking a course on personalizing prayer, and a third class on Shabbat. The Shabbat class meets only twice a week (though for a whopping 2 1/2 hours at a time). It is both practical and theoretical. We read and discuss the texts on which the practices are based. I am ready to tackle any and all questions about Friday night candle lighting and Kiddush! By the end of the summer course, I'll be a Shabbat expert :)

The personalizing prayer class is taught by a wonderfully enlightened woman. We go through the prayer book and discuss each prayer in an effort to understand why it is part of the canon, and how we can connect to the words. TODAY in this personalizing prayer class, we experienced Torah Yoga.

Now, as some of you know, I am allergic to yoga. I concluded that I have an allergy to yoga after I woke up the morning after trying a yoga class with my mother with a fever that I battled for three days. Anyway, I'll try anything, so I participated in 90 minutes of Torah Yoga with the woman pioneering this practice.

Based on my limited experience, I surmised that Torah Yoga is about three things:

1. Yoga (we enjoyed creating the Hebrew letter Aleph when we made Triangle Pose)

2. Relating to the text of the prayers through movement (fully creating the Mountain Pose while saying the prayer for waking up/standing up/straightening up).

3. Being aware. And here, to me, is the essence of prayer, or at least spirituality. The Torah Yoga pioneer, and our instructor for our 90-minute session, said that yoga is about many things: stretching and strengthing and balance and relaxation. However, at its essence, Yoga is really about awareness. This came up when someone noted how challenging it to think about tucking your butt while lifting your pelvis while turning your foot and raising your chin and breathing just so. The instructor said that it is all about being aware of your body.

Well, isn't religion all about awareness? When we say prayers of appreciation, we are recognizing that we are aware of everything for which we are grateful ("thank you for the Earth" shows an awareness of the beauty of the Earth, and/or an awareness that the Earth came from somewhere). When we say a prayer atoning for sin, we demonstrate that we are aware of our imperfections and our transgressions. When we discuss the history of our people during a holiday, we are making ourselves aware that we are a product of our forefathers. In this way, all religions (this is certainly not specific to Judaism) are ultimately about being aware.

For more info on Torah Yoga, check out this webpage:

http://torahyoga.com/

I suppose that I don't actually have an allergy to yoga, as I feel just fine now (7 hours after the yoga experience), but I don't intend to pursue the pratice (I am way too fidgety). Still, I appreciated the experience, and I enjoyed my revelation that religion, like yoga, is about awareness.

Cars are for babies

We arrived in Israel on Monday, June 29 at 5:30am and took a cab (a Sherut) from the airport to our apartment in Jerusalem. It's now Wednesday, July 8 and I have not yet been in a motorized vehicle. I am really enjoying walking everywhere! Despite the hills and the confusing streets that wind and change names, I am loving walking to the market and friends' homes and, well, everywhere!

Speaking of friends' homes..... The people at Pardes are great. I noted the diversity among my fellow participants in a previous post, but I've really come to appreciate how this diversity of background adds to our discussions. Everyone brings something interesting to the table, people ask fantastic questions, and we all have fun together.

Hope everyone is doing well :)

Our Israel Life in a Map

Click for link

What Craig Learned Today

The text of the Shma addressed below:

HEAR, O ISRAEL: THE HaShem (aka God) OUR GOD, THE HaShem IS ONE. And thou shalt love HaShem thy G-d with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.

So today in our Talmud class we discussed whether it is better to say the Sh'ma (the most important Jewish prayer recited twice a day. It is prescribed in the Torah itself; Talmud is commentary on Torah. Torah is the Five Books of Moses) in the original Hebrew or in the vernacular when people do not understand Hebrew. There are two schools of thought on this issue. The first, by Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi (lived around year 2000 CE) was that when text says "these words," it means the original Hebrew. The alternative view proposed by the "other rabbis" (not quite a Greek chorus, but similar) is that "hear" means you have to understand therefore it should be in the vernacular. The larger question from this debate is whether prayer and text are meant to be faithful to the original language (in Judaism, Hebrew is often called the "holy tongue" and considered holy even when not understood. It has only recently been considered the Jewish vernacular (last hundred years)) or be understand by the people.

All this is a long way to say, and this did not come up in class, that for a certain population of people, this is entirely kosher (ok).

Sh'ma or generally the whole http://www.lolcatbible.com:

4 Heer I, Izrail. Ceiling Cat is teh Ceiling Cat, Ceiling Cat alone!5 Thuhs, u can lovez Ceiling Cat, wit ur hole bodies. An sool, an hart. An tale. An mussles! Srsly.6 Put dis stuffz in ur harts, k?7 Also can haz drillz, use them on yur littr. Allwayz be takion bout it, wethr visit or not, wethr nap or eatin.8 Nayl em into ur rist, as sine. Can also haz pendants on hed.9 Useing paynt, draw it on ur littr box, an sofas an stuffz. Srsly.

Love, Craig

(and you thought this would be serious)

A few days in Israel

Having not written since Thursday afternoon, it's time for a big update as we're approaching the Israeli hump day - Tuesday. 

Thursday night, we decided to have a quiet night, so we walked to Ben Yehuda Street (a pedestrian mall mostly for tourists).  We walked around, checked out some shops and decided to have sushi and ice cream.  As we ate our Israeli sushi, a Pardes friend walked by and we chatted.  We went to Max Brenner for ice cream.  I had Snicker and Oreo flavor (2 flavors).  It was good.

Then, with our friend, we walked to meet some more Pardesers.  They were going to do karoake.  How could we say no?  So we went along with maybe 10 of our classmates to Capricorn, a karoake bar where we each had 3/4 liters of beer (go us) and Seren led a rousing rendition of Faith by George Michael.  Israelis take their karoake seriously andalthough seren was fantastic and the best, the israelis really sing their karoake well.

Next stop on our Thursday night of fun - the dance club.  We got stamped on our wrists and danced the night away.  We left the club around 215/230 and walked home, getting lost in central J'salem on the way home.  We ended up getting to bed around 3.  go us!

Friday morning we woke up around 1130 and got ready to go to Mahane Yehuda, toherwise known as the shouk (souq is an arabic word that you may remember from our Morocco journal) otherwise known as the market.  There isa  1/4 mile stretch filled with fruit/veggie stands, bakers, olive/pickle stands and other fun fundries.  we were shopping for shabbat lunch because we were having company.  we picked up some fruits and veggies (cheap and fresh and delicious) as well as some israeli olives (just cheap and delicious -- you don't buy fresh olives, they have ot be cured first) and challah and rugelach.  we also got "thrown out" of a tomato stand when we asked for a little less than a regular box.  it was almost a "no soup for you moment," but a little nicer and a little more israeli (though the actor who played the soup nazi was israeli).  after that, we walked home while it was hot as heck, stopping for pizza.  it was getting late (around 2) and jersulaem on friday closes at 3 for the most part.

our shabbat lunch menu was going ot be watermelon soup (thanks rachel k.; recipe is watermelon, mint, cucumber plus a drop of salt and lemon juice.  handblend them.  deliciousness ensues and its great on a hot day.  need not add water.  it tastes better on the following days as the flavors meld), corn/bean salad, pasta salad and salmon (purchased at israeli supersol supermarket, not related to nyc supersol supermarket, as far as we know). 

anyway, we got back tot he apt, made lunch, showered and got ready for shabbat.  we were going to eat dinner at pardes as well as attend services there fri pm (hebrew/yiddish lesson: to "daven" means to pray).  on our walk to pardes we walked by a shul (aka synagogue) that our friend Debbie Yunker (thanks debbie) had recommended - kol neshamah.  it is almost a conservative Reform synagogue with an Israeli and expat population.  They have a musical service, almost like bnai jeshurun light (i'm sorry if you are missing the references.  someone else is getting htem and you'll catch on when the topic changes).  because it was our frist shabbat in israel, I was looking for something a little more spirited, so I left KN to go to pardes.  Seren remained with a team of our pardes friends.

Davening/prayer at Pardes was on the roof of the building.  I thoroughly enjoyed welcoming shabbat on the roof, with the setting sun behind us and the wind blowing around us.  After davening, my darling wife was there and we had a wonderful shabbat dinner with our classmates.  Dinner started around 8 and we "could stay as long as we want."  They kicked us out at midnight, full of spirit, food, fun, bonding and melon vodka (nasty).

saturday morning, we woke up and went to services at Shira Hadasha, a liberal, weirdly-egalitarian shul near our apartment.  we often go to a descendant of SH in nyc.  This was a wonderful singing minyan (aka service).  IT was filled with many israelis and perfect english-speakers.  Lots of other pardesers joined us as well (coincidence, not planned).  after services, we socialized with our classmates at the kiddush (when they feed you after services) in a shaded courtyard.  Then we went home to prepare for lunch.

We had volunteered to host 8 classmates who joined us at 1230.  We had a wonderful afternoon of eating and talking, telling jokes and bonding, with everyone clearing out around 5.  seren and i napped for a little bit, then met more classmates at 8pm for havdalah (the service that ends shabbat).  we walked to an overlook over the old city of jerusalem (taliot near baka) and sang havdalah in a circle that reminded seren and i of our days of jewish camp (little side note, neither seren nor I went to jewish camp).

from there, it was dinner time.  we went to burgers bar - almost like a BRGR or Shake Shack type burgers.  Lamb burger was delicious.  Thank you debbie yunker and rachel k. for the suggestions.  then i went out for a beer with a couple of classmates, while seren returned home for an obvious reason.

the weekend in israel is friday and saturday.  sunday is a work day.  sunday morning we woke up and went back to class.  After class, we met our friend Rachel K. (of the previous Rachel K. mentions) for a tour of the Israel Museum.  we got plenty lost on our way there (rachel did too, coming from the other side), but eventually we found it near the Knesset.  We saw a scale model of J'salem circa year 0, the dead sea scrolls and a sculpture garden that includes the "AHAVA" sculpture (AHAVA in hebrew means love and is spelled with 4 letters.  The sculpture resembles the "LOVE" and "HOPE" sculptures sometimes seen in the states.  "LOVE" is at the corner of 59th and Park near Kaye Scholer). 

We left Rachel a little after 5 with plans to serve her some dinner (she did inspire the soup, she had to eat it).  Rachel came over later, we ate dinner.  Then the lawyer came by and we signed our lease.  And then we went to bed and now its Tuesday.

I think we're off to a "one-shekel" concert.  it costs one shekel (about 25 cents).  I'll let you know how it is.

sorry for not proofreading.  There is a queue for the computer (its a canadian and a brit, so its a queue, not a line).  sorry also for Its and it's, but i'm typing quickly).

love,
Craig

Little Silver Shop!

Here I am in Israel and I meet a nice woman who happens to teach second grade at a public school in New Rochelle, NY. As we talk, I notice that she is wearing a button bracelet (LSS's signature design) on her wrist. I inquire...
Sure enough, her sister lives in Farmington. CT and buys button bracelets from the Little Silver Shop for all of the women in her life!

It's the little things, like button bracelets, that make me feel closer to home when I'm thousands of miles away...

Hope all is well!

love, seren

Koreans in Israel!

We ran into a group of Korean tourists on Ben Yehuda Street this
evening. Seren enjoyed speaking to them in Korean and learning that
they are with a tour from Busan. Seren told them about our upcoming
trip to Korea. this was a highlight of the evening for Seren:)

Our first visit to the Kotel

Craig and I visited the Kotel the other evening. We arrived just as a ceremony involving many Israeli soldiers was ending. We caught the tail end, which included the soldiers singing Hatikva (the Israeli national anthem) while facing the Kotel. It was quite moving. The magnitude of what we saw was enhanced when we learned what was going on: I asked a 19 years old soldier. He explained that he and his fellow soldiers (male and female) were being honoroed for having just returned from a 7+ month tour of service in Gaza (ie, these were the soldiers defending Israel during the conflict last winter). The young man explained that, after this break, he is off to Golan for another tour of service. There will be another tour after that until his three years of service to his country is complete.

It was really a moving (and serendipitous) experience to have stumbled upon this ceremony and to see these soldiers be honoroed and engage in prayer at the Kotel.

Pardes overview

I am also writing on a Brit's laptop, so excuse my typing errors. Just to give people a sense of Pardes-- it's like a NFTY/BBYO/USY/NCSY convention for adults. There is great diversity among the participants (people are from the US, the UK, Poland, Moscow, and other places....we range in age from college student through the man who was a child when Israel became a state in 1948, and nearly every age and stage of life in between). Though we are diverse in background, we are like-minded in interest in learning. The classes reach us all, though we range from Reform rabbi through Orthodox rabbinical student, and (again) everything in between. There is also, of course, a social aspect (last night, we enojoyed a wine and cheese social gathering, and then joined a group of new friends for falafel on Emek Refaim Street), which we love.

Bottom line- we are having a great time, learning heaps, and enjoying being in Israel together.

Class Time

I'm writing this on a British friend's laptop.  The keys are similar, but the e and r keys are backwards.  it's a joke (see theatre v. theater)

\yesterday was o ur first day of classes.  seren is taking a class on public prayer (reading the commentaries on the book of ester - the book read on purim - to discuss the nature of public prayer in jewish law) as well as on personalized prayer and on shabbat.  i'm taking classes on public prayer (same class), modern history of israel and modern jewish philosophers representing each of the modern movements - ortho, cons and ref.

my classes were very interesting.  as i previously wrote, we study in small groups - 2s and 3s.  in my first class, seren, i and a third discussed how you fulfill the obligation of reading the story of purim - and whether there is such an obligation.  in my second class, we discussed modern origins of zionism.  its more of a history class where we read the primoary sources.  the last class we discussed the philosphy of abraham joshua heschel.  he's the leading modern rabbi of the conservative movement and lived a majority of his life in nyc.  he was named after the school.  the article we read argued taht the most important part of religion is wonder and amazement, not necessary belief.  interseting perspective.

after class, we walked around emek refaim and had falafel for the first time.  then, a classmate invited us to a david broza concert (he's an israeli-spanish guitarist).  the concert was in a park under a windmill overlooking the old city of jerusalem.  it was a beautiful scene and i really enjoyed myself.  seren took a rain check and tried to sleep.  i din't know how successful she was in that endeavour (brit computer).

today was day 2 of class.  and we're done early because we're not taking ulpan (intensive hebrew learning).  instead, we're going to shop for some food for shabbat.  we're hosting sat. lunch.  so we're looking to pick some stuff up.  tonight, we may go to a shakespeare presentation.  tomorrow, maybe to the jeruslaem philharmonic does bway showtunes.  never a dull moment.  alternatively, his afternoon, we're going to the thurs veggie market.  crazy times as usual.

a word about our classmates.  the estimate is that there are about 60 of us ranging in age from college age to retirees.  i am one of the few people under the age of 40 who is not in education or a student.  our classmates come mostly from the us, with a fair number of brits and canadians.  there is also a frenchie, a brazilian (who lives in poland), a russian, a gibralatorite (who nows lives in israel).  a few people live in israel.  they are very nice.  very smart.  so much of this program relies on teh quality of our fellow students.  after 2 days, i'm thoroughly pleased and impressed.  until next time.

Canada Day and Independence Day

Are july 1 and july 4 both offensive to the british?  like the anti-victoria day?