Aliya, Archaeology, and everything in between

So much is going through my mind right now and I feel like I need to get a few things off my chest. About a week ago I started my aliya application with Nefesh B'Nefesh. For a while I have been thinking about aliya, but I was always a little aprehensive about the commitment. After spending the past 2 and a half months living and working in Israel, I realized that this is the only place for me. I feel so much more at peace here, and the opportunities in my line of work are greater. This evening, as I was giving a friend a tour of the archaeology wing at the museum, I got a call from Nefesh B'Nefesh about my application. I guess this is the first moment where it felt real. It was something tangible and no longer just a dream or desire. I just had one of those moments where you realize the gravity of the decisions you make in life. It is a crazy but awesome feeling.

Yesterday I also had a crazy freak out moment in the gallery. I had been sent upstairs to look at something in the gallery and noticed on display is the ostracon found at Khirbet Qeiyafa. Two years ago, I made the lat minute decision to join the excavation, and have never looked back since then. Aside from the Indiana Jones complex, my desire to go on a dig was to see how objects go from being buried in he ground to being on display in a museum. I was extremely fortunate to be involved with the dig at the time of the discovery of the ostracon. When I finally saw the ostracon on display I had that feeling that things had finally come full circle. I had finally fulfilled that desire to see an object from its finding to its display.

I have been on a personal and professional journey for some time now, and it is great to be able to stop and positively reflect on all that is happening to me.

Keep the adventures coming :)

Touring the Old City of Jerusalem

The Old City of |Jerusalem is a spectacular place to explore. Last sunday a few of us decided to go check some sites we had never visited before. Of course there were so many places on our list that we did not get a chance to see them all, but it is ok since we do not live to far away. The places we did get a chance to see were the Broad Wall, the Burnt House, and Time Elevator.

It all started last saturday night when we went to an amazing light show at the Tower of David in the Old City. It was a history of Jerusalem from the time of King David t o the modern day. This was done with a projection of images on the actual tower and no audio. It was extremely well done. This inspired us to come back the next day and check out some of the other amazing attractions the Old City has to offer.

We started our morning off with the Broad Wall. It was really interesting to see since I had never heard of it before and yet I have been to the Old City countless times. The Broad Wall is from the time of King Hezekiah's reign in the end of the 8th century.

map of Jerusalem at the time of the wall

what is left of the wall

Next we went to check out the Burnt House of Kathros. I have walked past this musem so many times and never had the chance to go in. When I did, I was so surprised at how amazing it was. I was really blown away. The building was built around the archaeological site that was the house of the priestly family of Kathros from the time of the Second Temple. You get a chance to walk around and see the area and some of the findings and then you sit down and watch a movie that describes the family and the time that they loved. It is a great way to add context to the stories that seem so distant.

one of  the rooms of  the house



Table that had the family name on it

After that we left the Old City and walked to downtown Jerusalem where we got a chance to experience the Time Elevator. It really was so cool. Once you enter the room you sit down and get locked in like a roller coaster. I was veery excited when I found out the seats would be moving around like we were actually in an elevator. The movie we were watching was a history of Jerusalem throughout history. What made it amazing was that we were moving and when the elevator crashes you "feel" it or when you "land" in water, water spritzes out at you. It really makes you feel like you are going on this journey as opposed to watching it. I would definately recommend this to anyone coming to visit the city.

There is still so much for me to explore in the Old City, but it will just have to wait for another day!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

It has been about two and a half weeks since I have moved to Jerusalem and I am loving the change of pace. Now that I started working and have gotten into a routine, I feel less and less like a tourist and more and more like I live here. One of the things I love of about living here is the Machane Yehudah market. Being able to go to the market and bargain over the freshest, fruits and vegetables, spices, and everything you could possibly need is truly amazing. The market is loud and busy, but that is what makes it amazing.

Starting work has also been really good. Finally working in the museum of my dreams and I am loving it. Everyday being able to walk around the collections just makes me really happy. I have great co-workers which makes the day go by faster even when I am doing boring computer work.

This past thursday was my birthday and I could not have asked for it to turn out better. The day started off with two of roomates waking up at the crack of dawn to catch me before I left the apartment and sang me happy birthday with a cake and all. It really was such a nice surprise. Then I got picked up to join an archaeological survey of a new site. Being able to spend my birthday doing archaeology was so awesome. We found some really cool things, and it just reminded me how much I really love it. After coming back exhausted from the survey, I cleaned up and went to downtown Jerusalem with my new friends to celebrate. It truly was amazing how many people showed up and I was so honoured. If I had to be away from my closest friends and family on my birthday, this was the only way to do it.  To top it all off, I hosted shabbat for a few of the people who came in from Tel Aviv for my birthday and it was really nice to be able to see people I haven't in a couple of weeks, and we all know how much I love cooking for a crowd :)

Golan/Galilee

There is soooo much to update! the past two weeks have been crazy. We moved from Tel aviv on October 4 in the evening. October 5th at 7am we were boarding a bus to the golan and the galilee. We were in the north for 3 days of hiking and touring and then we left on friday morn with enough time to get back to Jerusalem for shabbat. The first day our whole group went on a hike together. It was challenging but felt so good and the view was spectacular.

Baily (and her awesome hat) and I during the hike

After the hike we went to a site called Rosh Hanikra. Again the view and the sunset were spectacular.The really cool thing about this place is that you are right on the border of Lebanon. There is an Israeli army base, a UN base, and then you are in Lebanon. It really makes you understand the complex issues of middle eastern politics when you are the centre of it. At the border there is a sign that shows you are only 120km from Beirut and 205km from Jerusalem.

amazing sunset

Day 2 was our break from hiking, but no less eventful than day 1. We started off the day going to a city called misgav am which is really almost at the very tippy top of Israel, again on the border of Lebanon. There were heard a lecture from an american who moved to Israel and has lived in the city for 30 years or so. He was helping us understand who was sending rockets into Israel from Lebanon, why, and what exactly we were looking at across the border. Essentially we were looking at a Hezballah run city. It was intersting to learn that all of south Lebanon is controlled by the Hezballah which are not only a terrorist organization, but they are also the government. Again you start to feel like the politics you read in the newspapers are a lot more realy, and start to hit closer to home. After Misgav am I was in a group that went to an Arab-Israeli high school to interact with Arab-Israeli`s as part of a co-existence. It was a really eye opening and unique experience. As if that were not a long enough day, we went to tour Tzfat after that. We toured the area and then had some free time to get some dinner. Once we got back to the hostel (Tel Hai) we had an optional excursion to the open photography museum, which of course I went to.



The other side of the fence is Lebanon

Day 3 was just as packed as the first 2 days. This was the day we had a choice of the hikes we wanted to do. I chose the Jilabun hike which was considered to be the medium hike. It was amazing! Instead of bordering Lebanon, this time we were bordering Syria, but we were hiking thorugh pre - 1967 Syria. We started at the top where there used to be a Syrian army base. You can see the remnants of all the destroyed buildings. Interesting enough, the only building that is left fully intact is the mosque. This is because Israel will not bomb or destroy religious buildings.I just thought it was a really interesting cultural fact. We hiked down the mountain until we reached a stunning waterfall and we were able to go swimming at the bottom. After the hike was over, we stopped in a druze village to try some food and just relax a little bit. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped at the Naot factory... and no, I did not buy a pair.

The trip was truly amazing. Saw some spectacular views and had a chance to understand the complex political siutation in Israel a little bit more. It was a unique experience to be able to share with such amazing new friends I have made :)

Update

Wow it has been a while since I have updated here. Soooo much has been going on since Rosh Hashana. Every other day has been a holiday so it has been really hard to settle into a routine, but I am still having a blast with my new friends.

The program itself is still going well. We have had some amazing speakers. I didnt always agree with everything they were saying, since a lot of it was politial, it was still really important to have the chance to hear speakers from radically different perspectives. One example was an Arab-Israeli who came in to speak to us about what life is like for Arabs living in Israel. It was quite a controversial lecture based on what he was saying,but to me that was not the important part. what was important was that we were getting to hear his perspective, whether we agreed with it or not.

It is getting to the point that we are finishing ulpan. We move to Jerusalem next week, go on a hike in the Golan and then finally start to work. I cannot wait to start working and find out what exactly I will be doing. It should an amazing experience :) I will keep everyone posted

Rosh Hashana

I cannot believe I have been in Israel for almost 3 weeks. The time seems to be flying by. This past week/end was Rosh Hashana. I had an amazing time visiting with family and friends. Every day on my way to synogogue I passed a tent full of people supporting the return of Gilad Shalit. As on most weekdays, Gilad's parents were sitting in the tent. Many people were walking up to them and wishing them shana tova (a happy new year). As much as I wanted to, I just couldn`t face them and hope that their year will be good. It made me think about my own life and how I should be happy with everything. It could always be worse and we all need to appreciate what we have.

Aside from that, ulpan is going great and my Hebrew is really improving. The holidays definately make me feel a little homesick, but it truly is an amazing feeling to be in Jerusalem. I hope everything continues to go as well as it already is.

Orientation

Wow! what an incredible whirlwind since starting Career Israel. Today was the last day of orientation and then we moved into our apartments in Tel Aviv. Since I will be doing my internship in Jerusalem, I am only in Tel Aviv for 3 weeks for Ulpan (which is a Hebrew language intensive course). Since the program started on wednesday, I have had the opportunity to make 120 new friends. Does that sound overwhelming to you? Well it was! But by putting myself out there and pushing myself to be social, I have already met some amazing people.
 I am really enjoying everything so far. I finally took the kotel tunnel tours and my mind was blown. Being able to touch the western wall as it was built by King Herod and walk on the ancent street with the columns from the market is pretty incredible. In fact, all of the tours we have done so far have been so good. I cannot wait for more :)

I cannot wait for Ulpan to start and me to improve my hebrew.