learning where "we" come from

Before I came to Israel I received an e-mail with a flyer inside.

It read:

The Shabbaton, for post-college programs only, will provide an examination of the security reality in Israel from various perspectives, through lectures of senior speakers and academics, interactive group workshops and fascinating tours. On the Shabbaton program you will find: A tour of the security fence around Jerusalem • A background lecture about the Israeli-Arab conflict • A lecture about the Iranian threat • A lecture about Israel and the Hamas • Group workshops dealing with dilemmas and issues in Israeli security • Group workshops dealing with questions of Zionism in the face of the security • situation in Israel and the personal perspectives of participants And more…

Sounds great right? Oranim was paying for us, and we'd be given food and a place to stay. Why not?

I wish I could say I got a lot out of this weekend, but this is the weekend my plague started. So instead of spending the weekend learning, I spent most of it in a daze, on probably one too many Dayquils.

But since I know most of you, yes including you father, are curious about what is really go on around here, I borrowed Jackies notes and with what I remember, will ramble on.

We woke up early Friday morning and ran to make the 8 am bus to Jerusalem. Being the beginning of the weekend here in Israel the busses were filled with Soldiers going home to their families, so it was a tight fit.

Jackie, Erica, Lindsay and I did the Israeli thing and pushed ourselves onto the bus. We could not afford to miss this bus, wait an hour, and arrive in Jerusalem late, we would miss the entire tour.

As we got on we realized Dan was still outside waiting. Lucky us, Dan was the last to get on. After we realized there wouldn't be any stops letting people off till Jerusalem, we sat down to "enjoy" the ride.

An hour and a half later we were on a tour bus. We had two options on which tour to take, and we choose B'Tselem, a civil rights group for West Bank and Gaza.

It was interesting to hear the side of the story from Arabs. Unfortunately, this is when the Dayquil kicked in, and I spent the remaining of the tour asleep on the bus.

We toured the fence, Rachels Tomb, and had lunch on a view of it all. I wish I remembered more, but all I remember is the story of how they leave their land.

It takes up to 8 hours to leave the West Bank, and cars are not allowed to drive from one side to the other. Our tour guide told us of a story of a son and his sick mother who needed to get to a hospital.

He carried her the 8 hour walk along the fence, only for her to die along the way. Ambulances are not allowed to go through out the areas, even though the fence is not completely finished.

Sadly that is about all I got out of the convention, and the best thing about the weekend for me was I got a chance to stay at the new Young Judaea Hostel.

A couple weeks later Oranim send a guide down to Ramla where we all got a tour of the city. There is actually a lot of history here.

Ramla means sand in Arabic, and it is one of the only cities in Israel built completely by Muslims.

There is actually a book, called the Lemon Tree, written about a family in Ramla! And though the city doesn't have much to offer, like a mall, bar, or movie theatre, it does have monuments and underwater wells!

Take a look at Ramlas Wiki Page if you really want to learn more! I've been living here since October and still find new things about Ramla to ramble about!

what a long strange trip its been

I know. I know. It has been a while. But consider that a good thing? Or a bad... But don't you worry, I haven't forgotten about my dear old friends in the states...

I have a list of things that are piling to write about. But instead of draining your eyes on one long-long-long post, I'll write them as planned, and hopefully all this week.

I have been extremely busy, and when I do get a break, I fall straight to sleep. I went to the doctor again today. This time I was smart about it. I brought Nir.

After waiting an hour for the Russian Doc, who was extremely rude, we finally went and saw her. I have to go back tomorrow at 8 in the morning to get blood taken. The worst part? They told me I couldn't eat after 7. It's now 8:17 and I'm about to go to sleep because I am very hungry.

Even though I had to bring Nir with me, my hebrew is getting much better. Since I am the only one from my group in the advanced class, I was worried that once the younger kids leave in January, that my studies would stop.

I had talked about this with Nir, and today my teacher told me that come January, her and I will be meeting once a week for private lessons. I'm bound to be fluent by then.

I would say it's getting colder, but not really. We have some cold days, but mostly it's beautiful. We also get some rain every so often. And because it is Israel, we can't complain. But when the rain comes, it really falls. Our roof was leaking, we got it fixed, and it is already leaking again.

The other week I went with a friend of mine to Rehovot, the town over, because it was absolutely pouring out and we wanted to hide in a mall. We ended up leaving, and heading to Tel-Aviv looking for a particular book. I had already been to about 5 book stores, and still could not find it.

We get off at the main bus station, and get on a sheruit (shared taxi) to get to this mall. The driver lied to us. Dropped us off in the complete wrong area, in the pouring rain. We asked a man in a shop where the mall was, and he said it was far, but walkable.

Since we are broke, we decided to walk. We were already soaked, so why not? We walked about 20 minutes till we found another store, where the man told us it was a bad neighborhood, and that we shouldn't walk there.

So we turned around, walked back to the station, and went back to Ramla.

A trip that started at 10 am, turned into hell returning at 5pm.

Never again.

We also just got the week off for Hanukah, but that is a story for itself. Interesting enough, Israel does not make such a big deal, like we do in the states. In America it is more to compete with Christmas, but not here.

At Harin, one of the Elementary schools that I go to once a week, we had a festival. I sat in a classroom helping kids put together "talking" dreidels. I loved it.

We also get a little "enrichment" every Wednesday. Nir or someone leads us in a little lesson. Last week we had a lecture about Hanukah. Most people listened, but I felt like a child, having been told the story millions of times.

We've also been taught about Israeli music, media, and the social life here. Most of the talks are pretty standard, but every so often you catch yourself learning something.

I thought I would love the music one, having heard many Israeli songs at my time at camp, but it turned to be pointless. What a disappointment.

Erica and Allisabeth are in charge of making an enrichment every so often. They've only made one and we had a pot luck dinner, each passing around a bowl of questions, and picking who we wanted to answer. We all got to learn about each other, even though we had already been living here for so often.

I really am loving living here, and I'm having a great time here, clearly the reason my posts are coming fewer an farther apart. But don't you fret, I'll be writing more, and my rambling will never stop.

Oranim has been taking us on day trips, and along with my pictures for my vacation, I have over 400 images to upload. So get excited and keep checking back for more!

best $300 ever spent...

Coming from America and having zero health insurance, to a country where for 300 dollars a visitor can have the exact same coverage as a local, is a little confusing.

When do I go to a doctor? Do I take advantage of this? Should the common cold have me ending up in a waiting room?

Most of you know me, I am weak, tiny and almost alway sick with something. So it was no shock to me when November came along, the cold weather started showing up more frequently, and I was constantly sneezing, coughing and having trouble swallowing.

Why would I go to a doctor? I am used to the constant echoes of "bless you" running through my ears. But as the days go colder and hotter, with the temperature dropping and rising at a sudden moment, I gave in.

Sure, I'll go to a doctor! It's free, and I can call for an appointment literally moments before I show up. That sounds amazing! And nothing like America.

I wake up at 9 am, dial *3833 on my Israel Phone, and am instantly connected to a call center. I give my medical number, and within seconds they know I am Rebecca Treister, volunteering in Israel and that I will be here for 5 months.

They ask where I am living. WHAT? How is this possible? The call center treats all of Israel?!

By 11 am, the same day, I was already walking to the doctors office.

After I walked up 3 flights of stairs (okay, I took an elevator), I saw a huge waiting room. I had to use the heberw I know to say "I don't remember the name of the doctor I am meeting with." And after 10 minutes of speaking shaking hebrew, they finally understood me and sent me to sit by door 6.

At first I tried to open it, but no, it was locked. I saw the list, all in hebrew, and one single name in english. Treister. 11:25. Okay, its 11:20, I should be going right in...

No. I was wrong. Around 11:45 I began to wonder. I tried to open the door again, thinking maybe it lead to another waiting room and I was just to weak to figure that out the first time, but it didn't. Finally, the door opened, and a women walked out, and just as quickly as she walked out, another had walked in and shut the door.

What? Had she had an appointment? What was going on?

Seeing the look on my face the ladies started to explain that the doctor was always running late, and was only seeing her 10:45 appointment.

So maybe this was a lot like America? Waiting 3 hours for a doctor to see me? Sounds familiar.

By 12:30 I saw that door open, and ran in. Not really knowing if it was my turn or not, but it seemed to work.

My doctor was a Russian women, who barely spoke any english. After 5 minutes of basically doing nothing, she told me I had the common cold, and told me I could leave. Seriously?

Now almost 3 weeks later and I'm still coughing up a lung, barely able to swallow, and shivering in my sleep... Will see how long it lasts before I have to return to the "doctor" again, but for one thing, Nir is absolutely coming with me next time.