Tel Aviv
After midterms had ended (and I shouldn’t be complaining, all it included was a Contemporary Israel take-home essay and a Hebrew exam), a few of us decided to go to Tel Aviv for a short day trip Friday morning. We started off the day at Max Brenner, a restaurant known for its chocolate cuisine. I got the most decadent Belgian waffle with ice cream, toffee bananas, and chocolate sauce:
We then walked around Nachalat Binyamin again (the arts fair held every Tuesday and Friday). On our way back to the train station, we saw a May Day demonstration. Here are some interesting things about it:
1. It wasn’t actually May Day. It was April 30. Why wouldn’t the workers hold it on actual May Day?
2. It’s Shabbat. (But don’t socialists not care about religion?) But nobody would see the protest if they went into Tel Aviv on a Saturday.
3. There was a lot of red. Obviously.
4. What exactly were they protesting? I’m not positive. I’ll translate a few of the signs we saw though:
“Workers- Israelis, Palestinians, Foreigners: We are all brothers.”
The parade was complete with a drum corps:
And traffic-blocking:
Here’s another gem I found on the way back to the train station:
I ended up going to services at Or Hadash again that night and was really glad I went.
Lag B’Omer
Lag B’Omer is the 33rd day of the Omer, the time between Passover and Shavuot (giving of the 10 Commandments). For a long time, the holiday had become partially forgotten, but since the establishment of the state had experienced a revival. Lag B’Omer, for many Israelis, doesn’t have much to do with Bar Kokhba or even Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. It’s simply a day to spend with friends and family, and most importantly, to make a giant bonfire.
Dani, Merav, and I were invited to a barbeque on Saturday afternoon at the apartment of some of our Israeli friends. There was so much food! We helped them prepare Kizizot (small hamburgers), chicken wings, chicken kebabs, Israeli salad, and French fries, among other things. After setting up a giant long table outside in the walkway, the ten of us sat down to our delicious feast. After eating we all hung out for awhile and it was a very relaxing way to spend the rest of a Saturday.
Preparing the food!
The next night, I went to the women’s shelter where I intern (more about my job there another time!) to go on a field trip with some of the older kids. We traveled to a “Kfar Yeladim,” or children’s village (from what I understood it’s a sort of orphanage-foster child system) and sat around their medura, or fire circle. We helped the kids make pita bread and roast marshmallows. A surprise came later when fireworks erupted nearby—the little girl I was working with got a bit scared, but eventually enjoyed seeing them! After a cup of tea by the fire it was time to head back, and she fell asleep on my lap: adorable!!
MASA Event
That next Tuesday night I went with a group of International School students to a program by MASA, a foundation that sponsors young people to spend time in Israel. It turned out being a concert by Hadag Nachash—I had seen them perform two years ago at Brandeis, and it was nice to see them again.
The surprise turned out to be the opener for the concert—a speech by Netenyahu, the current Prime Minister of Israel. Though he didn’t really say much (a few lines of “this is your home” and the like), it was really cool to say I was in the same room as he and that I got to hear him speak! Here are a few pictures from the event:
Bibi on the screen:
And onstage:
Hadag Nachash performing:
Here I am with the band in the background:
No comments:
Post a Comment