I don’t know how many of you know about the day that we left Los Angeles, but as we were pulling out of our drive way sobbing, the song “It’s the End of the World as we Know It” was playing on the car radio. It was so perfect for the time, but now that I look back at it, I think that the song should be playing as we leave for the airplane back to America. The trip has been such an amazing experience for our whole family, and there is not one thing that I would change (except for maybe my WaterFALL, and more time in certain places). Not only have I learned a lot about the world, but our family also has gotten much closer. My sister and I don’t fight as much, and we get to spend a lot of quality time with each other as a family. Ever since we arrived in Israel, we have started to see people we know, and just bump into them on the streets of Jerusalem, which is strange, but good since we are going to have to see people soon. As we finish this trip, we are all looking forward to seeing everyone at home, but we are also a little bit sad that this incredible experience is coming to an end; it is very bittersweet. I will never forget when we walked through security at the Israeli airport and I saw tears well up in my mom’s eyes. It was also such a bittersweet moment. The whole time that we were on the plane, I was imagining what it would be like to arrive home; we all had no idea.
When the pilot landed after the seventeen-hour plane ride there was applause from the passengers and then came the most astonishing words (for me, but probably not for anyone else on the plane), which were: “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Los Angeles International Airport.” Of course I knew that we were landing there, but it didn’t feel like it had already been six and a half months. It shouldn’t, it couldn’t be over! I was so surprised. When we walked outside of the airport, it felt so strange to be home after so long. When we finally got our taxi, we started making phone calls and we were all extremely excited to see family and friends again. The first person we saw was our cousin, Kiki. We were all so happy to see her. The next couple of days we saw more and more people. We went to a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday and it was fun to see those old friends again. As we are adjusting a little bit to the changes, we are also packing up to go to camp. Emma and I are really excited to go to camp and see all of our friends, but we are sad that we are not going to see our parents for one month. After spending six and a half months of 24/7 together, now it’s the opposite. When we got home, people started coming to visit, which was enjoyable. As we walk around Los Angeles, it is so weird to hear everyone speaking in English and buying things in English. It is also strange to be able to understand everything that people say. It is good to be home, even if we are sad that this amazing trip is over.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Ulpan Or: Hebrew at the Speed of Light
For a month of our stay in Jerusalem, we did an Ulpan. An Ulpan is an intensive Hebrew class. Every day, (except Friday and Saturday) we went to class for two hours. We got two lessons everyday, each of them private, with a native Israeli Hebrew speaker. While we were with them, we learned new vocabulary and sentence structures, and then we went to speak to people. We are certainly not fluent, but this Ulpan was very good and we enjoyed it. Everyday we went and enjoyed learning and speaking. It was especially fun for me because when they ran out of teachers, the Ulpan director’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Meital, was my teacher. Her English wasn’t that good, so it forced me to speak Hebrew. For that week, I don’t know how much new vocabulary I learned, but I got really comfortable with my old words. When we arrive home, I want to keep studying Hebrew because I feel like it is an important language to know. We keep practicing our Hebrew by talking to each other and emailing our teachers in Hebrew.
My teacher’s name was Noga, and she is very nice. She is a really good teacher, and she forces you to try hard, but not in a mean way-- a useful and encouraging way, which makes it fun. I started the Ulpan already knowing how to read, which was very helpful. Since we’ve been here, I’ve learned how to read and write in script, and I have learned some verbs in the present and past tenses. I have also picked up some adjectives and nouns. I feel like I have improved a lot, but I still have a long way to go. I have found, that I understand a lot more then I can speak.
One thing that came as a little bit of a surprise, was that we had tons of homework everyday, which was a big change from no school at all. As with everything you want, you have to work for it, and we learned that if we work really hard, we can achieve something that we want. It was hard to get used to an hour or more of homework, but it was all for my benefit.
My teacher’s name was Noga, and she is very nice. She is a really good teacher, and she forces you to try hard, but not in a mean way-- a useful and encouraging way, which makes it fun. I started the Ulpan already knowing how to read, which was very helpful. Since we’ve been here, I’ve learned how to read and write in script, and I have learned some verbs in the present and past tenses. I have also picked up some adjectives and nouns. I feel like I have improved a lot, but I still have a long way to go. I have found, that I understand a lot more then I can speak.
One thing that came as a little bit of a surprise, was that we had tons of homework everyday, which was a big change from no school at all. As with everything you want, you have to work for it, and we learned that if we work really hard, we can achieve something that we want. It was hard to get used to an hour or more of homework, but it was all for my benefit.
Tiulim Im Aloni (Trips with Aloni)
Part of the time that we have been here in Israel (other than traveling around) we have been “tiuling” (taking short trips) around with Aloni, the kind friend of my grandmother, who is letting us stay in his house. As well as being an Israeli citizen, his family has also been living in Israel for over 500 years. He is very informational and resourceful for everything. He has served in every war in Israel as a frogman except for the war of independence (which he was five years old for) and this past Lebanese war. He knows every single detail about Israel and it is so interesting to hear. He took us on a variety of tours around Israel, which are described below.
The Tomb of Samuel
One of our adventures with Aloni was to the tomb of the prophet Samuel, which is up in the hills of Jerusalem. It is up on top of a hill with a big Minaret, which is tower that is on mosques and used to call the other Muslims to prayer. On the bottom floor, there is the tomb of Samuel and a synagogue. The next floor has both a place of warship for Christians, and Muslims (which is why there is a Minaret). We walked up the Minaret and we were on the roof of this ancient building. We walked around the roof and Aloni showed us different parts of the area. He pointed out different trees, water cisterns, and ancient houses. It was a beautiful view of all of the villages and farms. Aloni pointed out to us where the land was green and the places where the land was fertile, and where it was not and the land was all desert. It was also interesting how this hill was the last place to get water before the border of the desert.
Ashkelon
The second place that we went was called Ashkelon. Our first stop was at the beach. We didn’t get to swim, but we waded in the water and it was beautiful and refreshing. Our next stop was a national park, which Aloni’s dad had helped landscape. As we drove along we saw beautiful sculptures and greenery and flowers. It was fun to see. In the park, there was a grassy field, with ancient columns. Aloni told us with great detail that the columns were from the time of Samson and Delilah. It was so beautiful to see and I was so amazed to be standing there. After we drove around that, we headed back to Jerusalem
Sobeq
The next adventure that we went on with Aloni was to a cave called Sobeq. One of the things that you have to know about Aloni is that everything is a surprise, so we don’t know anything about the place we are going until we arrived. He told us that this was going to be the most beautiful, and spectacular cave that we had ever seen in our lives, and he was right. After seeing a movie about it for an introduction, we found out that the cave had unbelievable stalagmites and stalactites. Stalagmites are icicle like things that grow out of the ceiling, because of water that gets trapped in the cave. The water drips down and after millions of years, it forms something that looks like an icicle made out of wax. (We didn’t get to touch it, so I don’t know what it feels like.) Stalactites are the same thing, except they grow from the floor, so they grow upwards. After a stalagmite and a stalactite have grown for a very long time, they can meet, to form a barrier like post. After that, they keep growing, and even at some point, it can look like a wall. It was an incredible sight. After the cave, we had to walk up many steps to get back to the car, and periodically, there was a sign saying how many more steps there were, and how many calories we had burned so far. For Instance: 35 more steps; 50 calories; 1 muffin. We were all highly amused by that.
Ramat Rachel
The next place that we went was to a kibbutz in Jerusalem. The kibbutz is called Ramat Rachel; the Kibbutz is very wealthy. They get their wealth mostly from renting out land, but also because of its olive orchard. The hills of their kibbutz over look Beit Lechem (or Bethlehem) and many other Arab villages. In fact, for many, many years, these surrounding villages were attacking them. At the end of the olive orchard, Aloni showed us different pieces of pottery that the people that lived there used. There were old forts and rocks, which once were army bases. It was very cool. The other unique thing about this, was that in the middle of the orchard, there was a statue. The statue had a cement base, with three layers—like stairs, but you have to have REALLY long legs to climb them. There are also three gray pillars that are about thirty feet high. On the top of those, there is a platform with three olive trees growing on it. It was an incredible sight. We went inside the kibbutz and Aloni showed us where the emblem for Israel (the Menorah) came from. It was on a carving that they found on the kibbutz. They picked it as the central symbol, according to Aloni, because you need light to study. I really liked that message.
Sh’fayim, Ein Gedi (the Dead Sea), and Masada
When friends of our family arrived in Israel, we (Aloni wasn’t there) did a little bit of traveling. We started at a kibbutz near Tel Aviv called Sh’fayim. It is a wealthy kibbutz right on the Mediterranean Sea. They have a beautiful beach and a water park. The water park reminded me of Disneyland, with water. Tons of long lines and crazy people, but the slides were tons of fun. We met up with some friends from LA while we were there. We went to the beach and swam in gorgeous, clean, water and we enjoyed splashing in the waves. After our stay at Sh’fayim, we drove down to Ein Gedi, which is another kibbutz right near the Dead Sea and Masada. When we arrived, we were all very hot, so we went for a swim in their beautiful pool overlooking the desert and the Dead Sea. The next morning, we woke up bright and early (5:30am) to go on our Masada climb. When we arrived at the base, we bought our tickets and we were on our way up. We took the snake path, which is a path with switchbacks. The hike was hard, but not impossible. We took about an hour to get up (it took a LITTLE bit longer than usual because Emma was not in the mood for hiking—you can hear more about that on my parents’ blog). When we got to the top, we had our breakfast while we waited for Aloni, my grandmother, and their friends, who were taking the cable car, which opened at 8:00am. When they arrived, Aloni gave us a tour of Masada. He showed us King Herod’s palace, the water cisterns, the mikveh, the school and, of course, the synagogue. The synagogue is said to be the world’s first synagogue, and it was an interesting experience to sit in it. We saw the other path up Masada (which was a ramp built by the Romans) and other glorious sights. After learning more information then I can remember, we went down the mountain by way of the cable car because we thought that they had closed the path due to heat. At the bottom, we got lunch and then we went back to Ein Gedi. While we were there, we floated in the Dead Sea, which was really fun, but really strange at the same time. You can actually sit there and read a newspaper. It stings a lot, but it is worth it. After that, we went to the hotel spa, which is free for guests, and we went in the sulfur pools and covered our selves in special mud, which was a cool experience. Overall, the Ein Gedi area was a very interesting place to be.
The Tomb of Samuel
One of our adventures with Aloni was to the tomb of the prophet Samuel, which is up in the hills of Jerusalem. It is up on top of a hill with a big Minaret, which is tower that is on mosques and used to call the other Muslims to prayer. On the bottom floor, there is the tomb of Samuel and a synagogue. The next floor has both a place of warship for Christians, and Muslims (which is why there is a Minaret). We walked up the Minaret and we were on the roof of this ancient building. We walked around the roof and Aloni showed us different parts of the area. He pointed out different trees, water cisterns, and ancient houses. It was a beautiful view of all of the villages and farms. Aloni pointed out to us where the land was green and the places where the land was fertile, and where it was not and the land was all desert. It was also interesting how this hill was the last place to get water before the border of the desert.
Ashkelon
The second place that we went was called Ashkelon. Our first stop was at the beach. We didn’t get to swim, but we waded in the water and it was beautiful and refreshing. Our next stop was a national park, which Aloni’s dad had helped landscape. As we drove along we saw beautiful sculptures and greenery and flowers. It was fun to see. In the park, there was a grassy field, with ancient columns. Aloni told us with great detail that the columns were from the time of Samson and Delilah. It was so beautiful to see and I was so amazed to be standing there. After we drove around that, we headed back to Jerusalem
Sobeq
The next adventure that we went on with Aloni was to a cave called Sobeq. One of the things that you have to know about Aloni is that everything is a surprise, so we don’t know anything about the place we are going until we arrived. He told us that this was going to be the most beautiful, and spectacular cave that we had ever seen in our lives, and he was right. After seeing a movie about it for an introduction, we found out that the cave had unbelievable stalagmites and stalactites. Stalagmites are icicle like things that grow out of the ceiling, because of water that gets trapped in the cave. The water drips down and after millions of years, it forms something that looks like an icicle made out of wax. (We didn’t get to touch it, so I don’t know what it feels like.) Stalactites are the same thing, except they grow from the floor, so they grow upwards. After a stalagmite and a stalactite have grown for a very long time, they can meet, to form a barrier like post. After that, they keep growing, and even at some point, it can look like a wall. It was an incredible sight. After the cave, we had to walk up many steps to get back to the car, and periodically, there was a sign saying how many more steps there were, and how many calories we had burned so far. For Instance: 35 more steps; 50 calories; 1 muffin. We were all highly amused by that.
Ramat Rachel
The next place that we went was to a kibbutz in Jerusalem. The kibbutz is called Ramat Rachel; the Kibbutz is very wealthy. They get their wealth mostly from renting out land, but also because of its olive orchard. The hills of their kibbutz over look Beit Lechem (or Bethlehem) and many other Arab villages. In fact, for many, many years, these surrounding villages were attacking them. At the end of the olive orchard, Aloni showed us different pieces of pottery that the people that lived there used. There were old forts and rocks, which once were army bases. It was very cool. The other unique thing about this, was that in the middle of the orchard, there was a statue. The statue had a cement base, with three layers—like stairs, but you have to have REALLY long legs to climb them. There are also three gray pillars that are about thirty feet high. On the top of those, there is a platform with three olive trees growing on it. It was an incredible sight. We went inside the kibbutz and Aloni showed us where the emblem for Israel (the Menorah) came from. It was on a carving that they found on the kibbutz. They picked it as the central symbol, according to Aloni, because you need light to study. I really liked that message.
Sh’fayim, Ein Gedi (the Dead Sea), and Masada
When friends of our family arrived in Israel, we (Aloni wasn’t there) did a little bit of traveling. We started at a kibbutz near Tel Aviv called Sh’fayim. It is a wealthy kibbutz right on the Mediterranean Sea. They have a beautiful beach and a water park. The water park reminded me of Disneyland, with water. Tons of long lines and crazy people, but the slides were tons of fun. We met up with some friends from LA while we were there. We went to the beach and swam in gorgeous, clean, water and we enjoyed splashing in the waves. After our stay at Sh’fayim, we drove down to Ein Gedi, which is another kibbutz right near the Dead Sea and Masada. When we arrived, we were all very hot, so we went for a swim in their beautiful pool overlooking the desert and the Dead Sea. The next morning, we woke up bright and early (5:30am) to go on our Masada climb. When we arrived at the base, we bought our tickets and we were on our way up. We took the snake path, which is a path with switchbacks. The hike was hard, but not impossible. We took about an hour to get up (it took a LITTLE bit longer than usual because Emma was not in the mood for hiking—you can hear more about that on my parents’ blog). When we got to the top, we had our breakfast while we waited for Aloni, my grandmother, and their friends, who were taking the cable car, which opened at 8:00am. When they arrived, Aloni gave us a tour of Masada. He showed us King Herod’s palace, the water cisterns, the mikveh, the school and, of course, the synagogue. The synagogue is said to be the world’s first synagogue, and it was an interesting experience to sit in it. We saw the other path up Masada (which was a ramp built by the Romans) and other glorious sights. After learning more information then I can remember, we went down the mountain by way of the cable car because we thought that they had closed the path due to heat. At the bottom, we got lunch and then we went back to Ein Gedi. While we were there, we floated in the Dead Sea, which was really fun, but really strange at the same time. You can actually sit there and read a newspaper. It stings a lot, but it is worth it. After that, we went to the hotel spa, which is free for guests, and we went in the sulfur pools and covered our selves in special mud, which was a cool experience. Overall, the Ein Gedi area was a very interesting place to be.
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