TO ALL NEWCOMERS: this blog is still a few posts shy of being complete, as I have been in the midst of a whirlwind of almost four months of piled up chores; several take-home exams; and many committed efforts to get in some R&R before school resumed.
I still have about 100 pictures to share, and dozens of stories and insights to write about regarding Israel. They are coming! I've made notes, and now just need to type it all out.
Thank you for your interest in my summer. This blog is in reverse chronological order, so . . . go the the last page and start reading from the bottom if you want to see things as they unfolded. If a picture interests you, click on it to see a big ol' version.
Enjoy. And be in touch!
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A few days later . . .
More Israel thoughts, in no particular order:
Theory becomes reality
A guided tour slew my spirit. Seriously, I was having fun exploring Tel Aviv until we took a “cultural” excursion as part of my study abroad program. Out tour guide shared with us many interesting things . I just don’t know who they interested. You know how ordering a pizza “with everything” somehow manages to make it taste like nothing? Same thing with our tour: in an attempt to cover some history, politics, architecture, pop culture, Judaism, and Catholicism all in the same afternoon, our tour managed to bore almost all of the people, all of the time. Forgive me for being so uncharitable. Truly, there were neat tidbit to be learned if you are into that stuff. But my idea of exploring involves an open road, no itinerary, and certainly no intrusion of others’ thoughts on what is interesting about certain 1920’s influence on neighborhood architecture in the Middle East.
That said, our tour did show us something particularly cool. Behold, the world’s first “Kiosk” (yes, as in those things in the hallway at your local shopping mall), invented in Tel Aviv:
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| World Historic Site |
Meat & Milk (& Misery?)
“Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.” So says the book of Exodus. Until I got kicked out of a restaurant, I knew not that this verse, thousands of years old, is alive and well today in Israel. Previously unknown to me, Kosher dietary laws have segregated the sale and consumption of meat and milk products. Apparently, because some Rabbis think that the digestive process that takes place in our stomachs is akin to boiling, many Jews are uncomfortable with consuming meat and dairy products at the same time, or even within up to several hours of each other. Result: in most of Israel, restaurants either serve “Dairy” or “Meat” menus, but not both. Restaurants are either semi-vegetarian (serving eggs as their closest approximation to meat) or dairy-free. Good luck trying to find a cheeseburger in Israel. How interesting to have entire modern menus bookended by ancient religious texts!
As for getting kicked out, all I did was visit some classmates for lunch while sipping a blended frozen coffee drink (with milk) in an open-air restaurant that served beef and chicken. The restaurant staff gave me stern looks and some choice Hebrew words; thankfully my classmates explained that I needed to take my dairy drink outa there, pronto. The next day, I laughed (sort of) when a fellow classmate got booted from the same place for accidentally bringing in an ice cream sandwich. Forgive me for saying this, but it made me sad to think that people allow so many other injustices to go unpunished, but they are on top of their dairy and meat segregation. Especially because it seems like such a stretch from the original text.
Religion. God. Often equated. But are they always deservedly so?
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| Notice anything missing on this burger? |
Tel Vegas Aviv
Not only (as mentioned earlier) does Tel Aviv self-identify as a “city that never sleeps”, it is also surprisingly Vegas. Every day, walking around the town, one sees a large “red light district” influence. One can’t fail to see it: the sidewalks are uniformly littered with thousands of little flyers advertising prostitutes and / or strippers. It’s sad, actually, to have to step on the pictures of all these women, but it’s hard to avoid. Similarly, there are many “red light” style “clubs” in Tel Aviv, guarded with grumpy-looking gatekeepers. It’s very weird. Forgive my naïveté, but I thought before coming that Israel would be a more religious place. It feels, in some parts, like Vegas, and not the amusement ride parts.
Likewise, on Shabbat, Tel Aviv feels curiously open. In Jerusalem, virtually everything shuts down on the Sabbath. Jerusalem is an understandably religious city. Tel Aviv, however, is party time as usual on the Sabbath. With the exception of a store here and there, the city stays open 7 days a week. It’s a very secular place. Friday night in TA feels like Friday night back home. Well, actually, it feels more like Saturday night back home, but I’ve already explored that subject in earlier posts . . .
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| Tel Aviv on a Sabbath evening (note: my apartment is pretty much in the center of this picture, ever so slightly to the left) |
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| Jerusalem, not quite the same. Click to see a close-up of the closest thing they have to a 24/7 store: the sign says "6/24". Such a fascinating cultural observation, but so subtle. |
Consider the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
The foregoing verse is from Proverbs 6:6. Allow me to say: this verse is much more on point in Israel. I have never seen somewhere so adequately supplied by ants. I pity the fool who leaves food out overnight or at a picnic. Everywhere I went, the ants had set up camp before me.
So. They have many ants in Israel. Moving right along then . . .
And with that, I must once again ask your leave to take a moment's respite; I have written more, but it must wait. Soon, soon. Almost there.
Thanks for your patience.
