You had me at hello.

You had me at hello.

But actually, I didn’t understand anything you said after shalom. That is the story of my Hebrew speaking life, and that is all I will whine about it. It is getting better though. There are only 3 weeks left of Hebrew classes and then I am on to my clinical rotation. J

Moonrise behind a mosque

Everything has been really cool! I meant to share an experience earlier, but I couldn’t find time to write it out. Last Saturday night my roommate and I went to the old city to go to the western wall during Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath). I wore a floor-length skirt and we walked all the way there- there is no public transportation on the Sabbath. Honestly, it was a really thought-provoking experience with so many different religions worshipping at the same time. After we had gone and prayed at the wall, we went up to an overlook where we could see the Western Wall (one of the most important sites of Judaism) and the Dome of the Rock (3^rd most important site in Islam). The sun was going down and a full moon was appearing. While we sat there we heard a group of men singing at a religious service in a nearby synagogue and at the same time, the Muslim call to prayer started. It really hit me how beautiful it is to worship God; it also really made me wonder why all of our religions hate each other. What would the world be like if we all just followed the commandments of our religions?

In all Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) it is a sin to kill, except in very very rare circumstances, like for protection. So why do so many people justify themselves in it? Maybe we are all protecting ourselves from an imaginary threat? People or traditions that are unknown to us? In the end I think it really all comes down to one thing: We are all human, we are all born the same way, we will all die the same way, we all have families, we all love people, and we all like to enjoy ourselves. I know in the places we all live we don’t necessarily have a big religious/ethnic conflict in our hands, but I think we can still apply that lesson to our lives. If we completely understood that about the people in our lives that we don’t like, it would be so much easier to love them. We all have people we can’t stand; colleagues/classmates/acquaintances that aren’t our favorite, but we can still love them and be nice to them. I genuinely think that you can love any human being from any background; you just have to put the effort in. It all starts with one person to make things better. Nobody is born a bigot.

Well, enough of my hippie-love soap box. 

When we left the Jewish quarter we went to the Muslim quarter and looked around.  We stopped at a shop and the shopkeeper started talking to us while we were looking at things to buy. We randomly had a heart to heart conversation. He started talking about how you can really read someone by his or her eyes. The rest of our bodies can act and pretend, but if you want the truth about someone you should look at their eyes. He went on to tell us what he could see in each of us. He started with my roommate. When he got to me he told me that he could tell I am stubborn. My jerk reaction was to be like “No I’m not!!!” which kind of proves that I really am. Haha. He also told me that I have a lot of love for people but that I don’t know how to share it. Getting constructive criticism from strangers is always an adventure.

The Dome of The Rock with the Western Wall below.

outside of the christian quarter

I hope for more adventures soon! Today I am going to the holocaust museum and on Saturday after church I am going to go to the mount of olives.

ישראל

Well, I’m in Jerusalem and it has been pretty neat so far. My program this semesters starts with a 5 week long Hebrew class and then follows with the actual semester where I do clinicals and take an elective course. The Hebrew class is really intensive-we are in class for a five hour-long class, five days a week. My first class was Thursday and to say the least, it was really hard. I’m going to have to study a bundle because having a new alphabet and learning to read from right to left will take a little to get used to. I am really excited though; it will be a good experience.

The view outside my window. If you look hard enough you can see the Dome of The Rock- The gold dome.

During our first class we heard a really loud noise outside of the window. Rothberg (the name of the international school we are at) is having a lot of construction being done. The noise sounded like it really could have been a gunshot of something, but it really was the construction workers chiseling in to the rock wall (There is a building code in Jerusalem that all of the buildings have to be made of Jerusalem rock). When our professor heard it, she just waved her hand towards the window and sarcastically laughed, “For Israel, is normal” as if it was the sound of an explosion or something. Oh boy.

Today is Friday, meaning that Shabbat (Sabbath) starts at sundown. My roommate and I ventured into a market to go grocery shopping-it was CRAZY. Everyone is trying to get enough shopping in to make all the food they need for Shabbat dinner. It was literally packed. The market was amazing though; there were so many fresh things to buy.  There was a lot of produce that I had never even heard of before. It will be really cool to start cooking new things.Today I bought a mini-watermelon. I think that has been my dream since I watched Aladdin when I was like 4 years old. You know, like when Abu breaks open a melon and they share it? I also bought an avocado that was probably bigger than the size of my heart. If only we had really good markets like this in the states.

The market. This picture doesn't give it justice. It was really busy.

It is cool to be surrounded by so many different types of people. My program has people from all over the world. Albeit that most of them are Jewish, they are still from everywhere. I never knew there was such a large population of Jews in Australia, or that there is a dialect of Hebrew that is a mixture of Spanish and Hebrew like Yiddish is a mixture of Hebrew and German. I also love being able to hear the Muslim prayers in the morning. I hope to learn a lot more about other religions while I am here. It is interesting because talking to people about religion here is really natural and normal. People here aren’t surprised if someone is religious to any extent. It might be a faulty perception I have, but it always seems like people are surprised that I actually believe in God, that I really enjoy going to church, or that I choose not to drink alcohol because of my religion. Most people I have talked to here aren’t really surprised at all.

I am sure that there will be a multitude of adventures to come. Next week all of our classes are out by 1 P.M., which gives plenty of time to get around the city.

רק מאוחר יותר!

Madrid Again. Do Do Do Do Do. Madrid Again. Do Do Do Do.

Well, I’m at the airport again and I am on my way to Israel. I planned my trip so that I could visit Madrid again to visit friends and hang out for a couple of days on the way to Jerusalem (the price was almost exactly the same with the extra stop).  So I am going to Madrid->Amsterdam->Tel Aviv.  This winter break has be soooooo good. Now for real classes to start on Thursday.

One thing I really miss about Spain is cheek kisses. When you say hello/are introduced to someone/say goodbye you kiss once on each cheek. It’s pretty universal. It doesn’t matter if the person it super old, the opposite gender, or really smelly- you kiss them anyways. When I came back to the U.S. last time I think I came back a really affectionate person. I kept trying to kiss people on the cheek to say hello, until it was finally engraved in my head that it is not really acceptable in American culture (depending on who you are with). There is something about being able to give a complete stranger a kiss on the cheek to say hello. It’s warm and welcoming. I had a really good conversation with my friend Laila about how interesting it is that a lot of countries in warm climates are really affectionate and their music is really upbeat and happy, while in cold countries people are kind of isolated and not very close to each other. Or maybe it based on if a romance language is spoken.This is definitely a generalization, but from the countries that I have been to and the countries Laila has been too, it seems kind of true.

I think it is also hilarious when you are with a group of people who do kiss on the cheeks but you are being introduced to someone who is from a culture that doesn’t. Meeting Americans in Spain is kind of uncomfortably funny. What do you do? Kiss them anyways? If you were both meeting each other in the states, you most likely wouldn’t kiss them on the cheek. It’s a funny dilemma.

Anyways, I got in on Saturday night and I stayed with Laila. We really just hung out and talked on Saturday night. It was good to catch up. I have started to love being around Spanish speakers who don’t speak English, it makes me practice my Spanish so much more. I am starting to feel a lot better about my Spanish; I need to figure out a way to keep practicing because I am not taking any more Spanish in college. I am perplexed by new phrases all of the time.

On Sunday, Laila and I went to church in the morning. One thing I love about church is that it is done in the exactly the same no matter where you go-except what language it is in. I loved how the sacrament is given in the exact same way and the lesson in Relief Society is the exact same lesson I would have been getting in Philadelphia. Being so exact and uniform makes it hard for things to change because of the opinions of local leaders. Making doctrine stay doctrine. People are also super nice. Laila’s ward is really cool/fun.

            After church I went to play games with some people from my old ward in Madrid like Angel and Cami. It is funny how the exact same games exist in other cultures and I for some reason think only my friends know how to play them, or that I invented them. I remember being a little kid and thinking I invented wall-ball, when somehow it seems like everyone knows how to play wall-ball, it’s like it is inherently learned or something. Anyways, we played an animal noise game, which was almost exactly same as a game I play with my friends in the states. Someone is blindfolded and when they touch someone who is hidden they call out an animal name that the hidden person needs to impersonate. People make weird noises and it is hilarious in any language. We all had a lot of fun.

snacking with Angel!

A picture that actually wasn't an exaggeration at all. The wind was really blowing that hard.

It turns out I talk a lot in my sleep, which isn’t a big surprise to me. It is just funny cause Laila can’t understand English and I was talking up a storm. To bad she couldn’t understand it.

Monday I got to go for a nice run and then I went into the City with Laila and Yamil. We watched Les Mis and then got hot chocolate and churros. It was a good way to finish my time in Madrid.

Bigotes con Laila.

I am really excited to get to Jerusalem!!!!!