life in the getz

Have you ever noticed the 4 letters on the dreidel?

נ. ג. ה. ש .It stands for נס גדול היה שם, which translates to "a great miracle happened there." Well, in Israel the dreidel is different. The ש changes to פ for the word פה, which means here. So instead of it being a great miracle happened there, it is a great miracle happened here, but here is Israel, where we are.

So yes, though over a month late, this will be a Hanukkah blog.

We were lucky enough to be given the week off to celebrate the holidays. We had 10 days to do whatever we wanted, with nowhere to be.

Allisabeth spent the week backpacking with her boyfriend down south. Dan, Nicole and Lindsay rented a car and joined Ron up north at his family. And Jackie, Erica, Taylor and I thought long about what we should do.

We could wait last-minute and search cheap deals to places like Greece and Turkey? But we didn't want to take any chance, and we certainly knew that we weren't about to spend our vacation wasting in Ramla.

So we decided to take note from the rest of the group and rent a car. Leaving Ramla on a Sunday we would grab our car up in Tel-Aviv and spend the next four days traveling the country. Sounds great, I mean what could go wrong? It's not like we would be forced to pull over on the side of the road for the cows to pass by.

Sunday comes around and Jackie and I wake up early, the first of many days where we would be rising before 7. We wake up Taylor and Erica, making sure they would be ready when we returned, and headed to Tel-Aviv.

Our first taxi almost crashes and we're stuck with headaches for the next hour from all the beeping and Israeli cussing.

And then we finally see the big BUDGET sign and rent our little getz.

Now the problem is that none of us have ever driven in Israel. So of course I was not the one to be the main driver. (I mean, you guys mostly know how horrible of a driver I am!) But this also means I am stuck reading the map, and navigating where to go.

That should have been our first sign. But we went on. After 3 u-turns and missing our exit on the highway we were finally back in Ramla. We picked up the rest of the girls, packing up the car, and headed up north.

We spent the first day exploring Ceasareas. A small town on the west of the state, about a 2 hour drive from Ramla. A small city that Herod the Great dedicated to Ceasar more than 2000 years ago.

It was a windy day with a beautiful sky. The scene alone was more than enough to forget about the water hitting us from the massive waves or the fact we could barely walk due to the wind. But it was amazing. We spent over 3 hours touring the area, walking in and out of the ruins, climbing the steps of the old theatre, and attempting to get into the gift shop (though it was closed by the time we got there).

The only thing that bothered me was the fact that a lot of it had been "fixed." I understand that it is an amazing place and a land that should never be empty, but really? What is the point of adventuring through an ancient city when it really isn't as ancient as it should be? The theater had bars on it to hold people up, some of the passages were filled with wood chips to keep them up, and everywhere you looked something was new, just trying to improve the old.

How does that make sense? If it is a ancient landmark, let it be ancient. Don't make it into a tourist attraction, that is not what it was meant to be.

Since most things in Israel close around 4, we still had the later half of the afternoon to fill our time. We drove to Haifa where we were planning on finding a hostel and spending the night. But after figuring out the numbers and talking it over, we realized it would make more sense to drive back to Ramla and start again early on Monday.

Monday we were planning to explore Akko and Rosh Hanikra, and we had found the most adorable Tzimmer, called Pivko Village, to spend the night. Tuesday we would spend the morning exploring Tsfat and in the evening head over to the Tiberius Hot Springs, all before setting up camp in an Israeli National Forest. Wednesday we thought to hike some more and spend another night relaxing at a camp ground before heading home Thursday morning after a quick ATV ride around the Golan Heights.

Monday worked fine. After finally arriving in Akko and finding the sacred area we spent the day sight-seeing. I quickly fell in love with the old Akko prison. Besides the fact I could spend all day taking photographs, it was just simple amazing. Something about the feel of the place, with the dark clouds racing above and the coldness to the air made it really feel like a prison.

I quickly lost the rest of the girls and started to explore. Since we were rushed for time I never made it down to the cells, but did explore the sleeping quarters, the guillotine room, and the check-in areas.

Some of the rooms had been turned into Museum areas, displaying information about the old prison, and some were filled with statues of what used to be. My favorite room was the most creepiest, a squeaky-dark room filled with no windows and tons of dust. I actually hated that I had to leave.

We then roamed the quarters to the Mosque. With our shoulders covered and shoes o

ff we sat in the "viewing" area, made for non-Muslims, and watched. About 20 minutes later I realized I was the only one left and turned around to leave. But I could have stayed forever. The place was a photographer's heaven. The way the natural light lit up the room and the symmetry off the designs. I left the entire area of Akko knowing I would be returning soon.

We then were off the Rosh Hanikra, an area I loved seeing last time I was here. Unfortunately, the weather was stormy and most of the areas were closed off. I even managed to slip once or twice, but not before making friends with the fisherman attempting to catch some food!

We spent the afternoon relaxing in our cabin, sitting in the hot tub and enjoying a real bed.

Because of the weather our plans had to change. The mountains we were planning to hi

ke and camp out were closed due to the weather, and we simply couldn't afford a hostel after splurging on our perfect bungalow, so after spending the day at Tsfat we would be forced to head back to Ramla.

Tsfat was great, cute, and amazing. We walked around all over and I fell in love. At one point of the day I lost my hat only to return later to find it. I really should stop losing things, but lucky for me, somehow they manage getting back to me.

After we left Tsfat we headed to Tiberius to enjoy a night swim in the hot-springs. The water smelled and of course with my luck I ended up leaving my Florida I.D at the place. Seriously, why do I carry things?

Tuesday night we were back sleeping in Ramla and Wednesday woke up early to head to the Dead Sea area. Taylor decided to stay in Ramla, so Jackie, Erica and I heading the long route (since we were told not to drive through the westbank) and hiked the beautiful mountain of Ein Gedi, which was amazing place to watch people of all ages hiking. Kids as little as a recent new born was being held by the parents as they hiked away, and a group of 4 70-80 year olds (we asked) were climbing faster than we were!

We hiked for almost 5 hours, seeing beautiful views along the way. What was wonderful is how by looking at the view you could see the hills of Jordan resting by the Dead Sea area.

At the end of it all we headed to the Dead Sea and soaked up the mud! Unfortunately it was freezing, and of course with our luck, beginning to rain in the desert, so I barely managed to stay in for more than 10 minutes before I ran for cover.

By Wednesday night everyone was exhausted. Still having the car for one more day we decided to take advantage of it and go to the grocery store, allowing us to get everything we needed, without having to carry a thing!

Thursday Erica and Jackie decided they wanted to see a movie, so I convinced Corey to spend the day exploring with me. We dropped them off in Rehovot and headed to Beit-Shemesh to see the Sorek Caves, which though the tour was in Hebrew, we still got to feel like we were living in the underworld palace from Little Mermaid. I even attempted to steal some of the droppings, but it was impossible.

By Thursday night I was back in Ramla and exhausted. I think I spent the following weekend sleeping and refusing to get out of bed.

I had such a great time that for my birthday in April I want to go all over again, using the hot weather as a plus and exploring camp sites all over! But don't get to excited, at my rate that blog won't be rambled about till July...

I want to end this Ramble on two words: thanks Emily.

Without my sister and her great idea of buying me a traveling/exploring Israel book, this trip would have been a mess. All of us are extremely thankful for it and it officially looks like it has survived the Titanic.

hello from the future?

Well, technically from the future... If you count the seven hour time difference.

And those seven hours have been a gift lately. You might have noticed my lack of rambling, but no fear, it isn't because I'm one of the few who died in the Negev floods, it is because I am planning on what to do next in life.

I have simply fallen in love with children and the idea of teaching. Over the past week I have written my name over 10 times, my social, my date of graduation and essay after essay (all about the same thing, but of course, with my luck, a little different). I have decided to apply to teaching programs: Teach for America, Americorps, City Year, and a few different city teaching fellows.

They all sound great and as I work on each individual application I think that I have found the one I want the most. I have found myself applying to programs in cities I never thought that I would live in, simply because the program sounds so great.

I was talking to a friend back home and mentioned these plans and the best part -- another friend of mine is trying the same path! What an amazement that would be, both of us doing things together, helping the world!

I've been looking outside of America too. All you have to do is type in "volunteer" into google and thousands of things come up. I even found a site that helps plan a road trip across America volunteering in each area for free stay! Yes, I am planning on doing that too.

These programs all look great and I'd say everyone should look into them, and for most, age doesn't matter!

In one program I'd be teaching special education, which most of you know is something I grew up dealing with. I do not have much experience with children with those type of needs, but I do have one amazing story I'd like to ramble about with you.

I work at an after-school kindergarten program and one of the kids, we'll call him "Joe," cannot walk. He has legs, but sadly, the muscles never grew correctly. Most of the time he sits and colors, and of course, cries, but today was different.

As I walked in, Liam, another kid, came running to me saying "look what 'Joe' can do!!!" And there in the corner of my eye was "Joe" WALKING. Of course he had to use things to lean on, but he had the biggest smile on his face. It was beautiful to see! At the end of the day, when his driver came to get me, I felt his happiness as he held my hand and walked by himself.

It was a wonderful burst of sunshine since the rest of the day included me getting bitten by Liam "because he was hungry," seeing all the children with new "new haircuts" (shaved heads because they apparently all had lice), and having Eli, the devil child, throw his liquid cheese snack all over me.

Yes, anything you've read is true. The children in Israel have no respect.

Though, it is easy to make them happy. Earlier this morning I was at the elementary school that I volunteer at and was cleaning my wallet out. I came across some quarters and figured why not give them out! I started given some out to the kids and wow they loved it! I had one American dollar too so I gave that to my favorite. I told him it was special and later that day saw him showing it to EVERYONE.

I guess all these events would make today a pretty great day, but it is even better than it seems! I found out something I've been wondering about for awhile...

YES! THEY DO HAVE SHECKEL STORES.

Just like the Dollar stores in America, I can buy endless amounts of crap for one sheckel (the equivalent of $.33)

So next time you're wondering why I'm not rambling it's because I'm playing with my new "racket ball"!

everyone needs a little smile...

guess people do listen to me...

So, the people over at Oranim are setting up a new website! Lucky me, I was asked to write a testimony for the new site...

You can find what I wrote at their site, but since we're all lazy, here's a quick look.

Dentist, needles, scolding hot soup, leaving your life at home and moving to Israel for five months. These all seem like scary things, but if they are seen as part of your life's journey, you will emerge with smiles...and in some cases even a lollipop.

Take me. I'm a 23-year-old Miami native who left the South Beach sun to spend four years in the snow-covered corn fields of Bloomington, Indiana. By graduation, I, like many of my friends, had no idea of what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. OneI year into graduate school, I decided I took the wrong path. Through a friend I learned about Oranim's Israel program and within months I had landed in Ramla. At first, I was apprehensive. I had heard mixed things about Ramla, but after driving down the main street that first day, I realized it was just like most towns in Israel. A gym, a great shuk (including a wonderful Arab shuk only on Wednesdays), a 6-shekel Falafel stand, and apparently, the best hummus in Israel. No, there is not a decent mall, or a beach, or even a movie theater, but who comes to a foreign country for that reason? Besides, Tel-Aviv is only a short ride away, and there are plenty of neighboring towns with all the things lacking in Ramla. But what Ramla does come equipped with is easy walking because it is a cozy, small city full of amazing sights, sounds and experiences.

And, with the diverse participants that Oranim selected for my group, even hanging out in our house is fun (as I write this, I am sitting with my roommates watching movies, drinking wine, and playing games)! My group, Ramla 25, also got lucky, because as we came to Ramla another Oranim group was already half-way finished with their program, and eager to show us the ropes. We all quickly became friends, and some of us even found romance!

Since all of us is different, we clearly have different interests in our choice of volunteer activities. While people in my program spend their time working at the local high-schools helping to teach English, or in the Arab Kadima (an after-school program to keep kids off the street), the senior-center, the soup kitchen, and even the animal shelter, I am one of the very few that gets to spend my time with younger children. Three to four days a week I work at an after-school kindergarden, and in the morning I help out at an elementary school in the English classes. My fifth day is spent at the daycare center, dealing with children as young as 10 months. Don't get me wrong -- not all of the participants are as happy as I am, but as I think about it, you get out of it what you put into it. Sometimes, you are not needed, and it is your decision to leave your activity...or you find some other way to help.

Knowing some Hebrew is helpful (even though I am nowhere near fluent), because few people in Ramla speak English. Although on the plus side anyone who does know English ALWAYS wants to speak it so they can improve. Our group started with a two-week intensive Ulpan, where we quickly learned enough to manage our way, and as soon as we started our volunteer work, we continued to meet twice a week to learn the Hebrew languagae. I can honestly say I've learned a lot, but I am also one of the ones who has tried, attempted to go to all my classes and bring in completed homework.

No, not everyone gets along, and no, not everyone is happy with their volunteering, but we, Ramla 25, are lucky to have a wonderful coordinator who is there for our every need and doing anything he can to turn find a solution to any problem we have, and most of all, he makes sure we are always smiling. If by the last day I'm not smiling, at least I will pray for a Spiderman lollipop!

Hope you enjoy! I'm about to spend the day uploading images and catching up on my rambles!

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.