10/26/2016 7 Comments Finally in JerusalemThanks for checking out my kivublog! I'm gonna try to update this blog every so often and definitely after every international trip. I'm with a group of 43 18 year-old living in one of the most important cities in history for the year. Since getting off the plane on a Friday morning two weeks ago, I've done a lot (Orientation). We went straight to Midreshet Ben Gurion on that Friday, which is in the Negev (desert) near David Ben Gurion's grave. We hiked through the Negev and met so many people who lived so differently than us. We met a Bedouin woman named Magdalena, who lives with her husband and daughter in the middle of the desert. She brought us into her home and made us lafa, which is like a thicker, Middle Eastern burrito. She told us in a mixture of Hebrew and Arabic that anyone who comes into her home, she is like a mother to them, no matter their race, ethnicity or religion. In a country filled with so much turmoil, it was inspiring to meet a person who could be angry at her situation but instead chose to be happy and embrace it with all her heart.
Aside from Magdalena, we met one of the first Bedouin women PhDs ever, as well as a Bedouin woman who fought against her arranged marriage and instead opened her own cosmetics company that uses solely ingredients that are permitted within the Islamic customs and laws. The PhD is a lawyer attempting to fight polygamy in the Bedouin culture, while the cosmetics owner, who recently married a man whom she chose, set her goals of the year at making $250K and having her first kids. Both of these women were so inspiring and showed that we are not a slave to the situation in which we are born, but can do a lot to make significant change in both our lives and others alike. We also stayed at a Bedouin man's tent, which wasn't one of the tourist attractions that many programs stay with during the course of their Israel experience, but was actually where this guy slept. We slept on the ground in the very same tent his family slept in. He showed us his 200+ sheep and goats and even planted trees for us in honor of our staying with him. He lives in an unrecognized Bedouin village, and yet despite not being required to join Israel's IDF, he signed up anyways. He is another person who could be angry and upset with how the government treats him, and yet he is proud to live where he does and live his life the way he does. Besides the incredible views of the hikes, we have been learning about ancient, ancient history, like 40,000 years ago cave art, while being challenged to think about how and why we ask the questions that we do. I went on runs with one of our teachers and a few other kids every morning, where we explored the canyon our hostel overlooked. This teacher is also a world champion in Jujitsu, so after every run, we would have a mini-lesson on a move or two and the science behind it. We celebrated the holidays at a Sephardi shul on the kibbutz we were on, meeting the Israelies who lived there and prayed there. We also met our peers in Israel who are taking a year before the army to gain experience and knowledge to better prepare themselves for the army. Meeting fellow 18 year-olds who are getting ready to enlist, while we all go to college next year, really gave some perspective on how fortunate we are, but also on how different Israeli culture is to ours. Almost every 18 year-old in Israel knows that they will be spending time in the IDF, risking their lives for their country, a truth that is not the same in America. Overall, everyone who we have met has shown me how different my idea of a happy life is to theirs. While it might be hard for me to live in the desert all my life, so many of these people do it lovingly and happily, forcing me to look at what I consider is a happy life. The kids have been amazing, smart and thoughtful, and we all couldn't wait to get to Jerusalem after climbing Masada and swimming in the Dead Sea almost 2 weeks after arriving in Israel. With everyone's laundry and clean clothing running low, we all loved getting clean clothes and finally settling into Beit Shmuel, where we will be staying for the year. We are (finally) back in civilization, though we will be returning to the very same place we stayed for Orientation at the end of the year. Formal classes start on Monday, where I will be taking Hebrew, Arabic, a class about Jews in the countries we will be traveling to, as well as a history of Israel and Zionism. Can't wait to get settled into a schedule! We have our first free weekend this weekend, I'll be chilling by the beach in Tel-Aviv. It's been an incredible start to what will be a memorable year to say the least. We leave for our first international trip to Greece in a little less than a month.
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AuthorDan Rosenzweig-Ziff Archives
June 2017
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