Archive for June, 2006
June 23rd, 2006 by elie
I didn’t think weeks could get more stressful than last week. Then again, last week I didn’t think the week before could get anymore stressful. I don’t even know if that makes sense, but the point is, each week has been getting more stressful than the last, despite my thinking it couldn’t get worse. I don’t know if that made sense either.
The worst is that next week was looking so relaxing and now I’m realizing it can get worse and it probably will. Now that classes are over I have schoolwork to catch up on, a huge project at work going on that is just never-ending, (as fun as it is to make a movie!) and of course, that giant party-planning thing I have going on. Leaves little room for reflection or insight into where my life has come, where it is going, or even remembering to take my pills.
So here I am, praying for rockbottom, and I don’t mean the depression kind. Just the bottom of this endless planning-working-studying pit I’m falling deeper and deeper into, waiting for, as my Israeli friend put it: “the light at the end of the kennel.”
June 22nd, 2006 by elie
I don’t mind Ghana beating the Americans in the Mondial today because watching this a coupla days ago was fun:
June 20th, 2006 by elie
No more pencils,
No more books.
No more teachers dirty looks.
Psych!
Today was the last day of classes, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t have 3 papers due “at some point” in the summer and 3 finals two weeks before my wedding. Oh, and preparing my thesis topic.
That’s because there is a major cultural difference between American and Israeli university: lax deadlines.
June 20th, 2006 by elie
Walking across campus today, in a 15 minute span, I heard:
*Hebrew
*English
*French
*Russian
*Arabic
and…
*Sign language
(Ok, didn’t hear that last one…)
June 18th, 2006 by elie
There have been two little ants crawling around my bathroom floor for the last week. I don’t kill them because their existence doesn’t bother me, unlike some creatures. Ok, I’m actually warming up to the smaller yellowish jukim. I’m from New York, for god’s sake. I’ve had a cockroach crawl up my thigh. A New York cockroach, at that.
I’m not a person who is usually ‘afraid’ of tiny critters; I had the same rule in the States that I have here: You stay in your house, I pleasantly observe you. You enter my house, I kill you. Sometimes violently. Unless you’re kind of cute or your existence doesn’t really bother me. Like ants. In my bathroom.
Those two in my bathroom actually give me something to do. But I’ve noticed they’ve become rather un-ant like. They don’t walk in line together. They’re kind of slowing down and probably confused. Lights on, lights off. Lights on, lights off.
On a totally different note, I want to note the irony of the garbage bin falling into the garbage bin just now. In America, everyone has their own personal garbage cans. Cans - more than one, even. Here, everyone shares a huge construction site sized garbage bin thing. So when my dear just went to take out the rubbish, he accidently dropped the bin inside the bigger bin.* Fascinating!
*We got it out, no worries.
June 18th, 2006 by elie
Last week was a long stressful week. So was the week before.
This week is proving to be just as.
But! My last day of Bar Ilan for the year is this week. Rephrase: Last day of classes. I have finals in July. And at some point there are a lot of rather large papers due.
Looking back, I might have done something differently about this degree. Maybe done it somewhere else or been more assertive throughout. It’s not over; next year I’ll be working on my second thesis (I guess I am into S&M on some levels) which should be quite a trip once I decide on a topic. I don’t necessarily have regrets. No matter what, I’m learning something.
But I like studying and I’m going to continue doing it for as long as I can, whether formally or not. Ok, so I already have plans for when I finish this degree. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though.
On another note, I’ve been having college-pangs (and I don’t think that’s pathetic at all!). It could be a mix of my job and the fact that maybe deep down I miss America/my friends. Maybe I underestimated how traumatic it is to leave a place you’ve been for four years with the same people. It could also be that I really really miss the person I was in college.
One thing they don’t tell you about aliyah is how much you won’t recognize yourself after awhile. Is this a new me I’m supposed to get comfortable with? I hope not. I hope so. I dunno.
Well, to tie it all together: Working a full time job, attending full time grad school and full time wedding planning is NOT easy, as I was right to assume back in December when I realized my life was about to get even more complicated than usual. But It’s six months later and I’m still standing, sorta.
Whatever the next few months bring, I’m on it. Maybe not like I used to be back in my college days, but for all my changing, I can still carry the weight.
June 18th, 2006 by elie
Had an interesting Father’s Day exchange; nothing to do with Father’s Day.
Apparently what I had been thinking but hadn’t said yet:
“After what I’ve seen so far, it [marriage] seems like a very complex thing, so there are two ways to go about it: Be very cautious and end up questioning everything you do, or do the best you can and jump in for the ride… I can’t dance around this complex thing forever, and I dont want to die from stressing over it forever. I’m jumping in because I found someone with the same values and ideals and he treats me great, etc etc. I love who he is and what I hope we’ll build. I am hoping to go the route of this philosophy: With time grows mutual strength and sharing and love and unity, as it has for some couples I’ve known. It’s a route taken when you don’t come from a Hollywood kind of romantic love, as in, love grows up with time instead of starting out head over heels infatuated, with no place to go but down. That’s how people like [charedis] do it. That’s why they can hang out for a month and realize a potential partner and still love them when they’re 50. Because they started out with the basics and worked their way up with time, experience and openness. They build something together instead of coming into it with everything already laid out. That’s the model I’m going for. I’ve realized that it’s an asset to be 23 and young and fairly inexperienced when going into a marriage because you have more to build, less to look back on.”
June 15th, 2006 by elie
There’s a condition you’ll develop if you’re a sandle-wearer and a city dweller here.
You’ll get home, kick off your shoes, and - What the hell? How did my feet get so black?
I wouldn’t post photos because I’m nice.
Way #286 that you know you’re in Jerusalem in the summer?
Before you get into bed, you need to wash your feet.
June 14th, 2006 by elie
My wedding dress is done as of today, which is quicker than I expected. Maybe that was the first case of Israelis rushing to get something done early (instead of on-time).
June 12th, 2006 by elie
Mutuality and religion dialogue: From personal experience
While the class was discussing models of Arab-Israeli dialogue based on religious similarities, I couldn’t help but remember two instances in the last three years when I myself attempted such dialogue and learned a valuable lesson. Both occurred while I was studying in England at a university known for its religious dialogue and tolerance center.
The first time, I was part of an attempt at a Muslim-Jewish dialogue located on campus, supported by both the Jewish and Muslim student unions on campus. We were split into pairs, each pair consisting of a Jewish member and a Muslim member. My partner was a 24-year-old engineering student from Saudi Arabia (his name escapes me). We began the discussion awkwardly, introducing ourselves and our backgrounds. There was some candy at the meeting, and I offered him some, to which he replied by requesting to see the packet. He quickly scanned the ingredients and then asked if the candy was kosher. Taken aback, I said yes, and he finally allowed himself some. He saw my face and responded that if food is kosher, it generally means that it is ‘kosher’ enough for halal-observing Muslims as well. From there, both of us eating the candy together, we embarked on a path comparing the tiniest religious dietary laws we observed to see how many were similar. Indeed, we had so much in common concerning eating milk and meat, the way we slaughter our meat, the dishes we use, and more. This was the beginning of a real eye-opening experience for both of us, and we continued the game of mutuality into other fields of religious observance.
After discussing an array of topics, we both stopped and I think we both realized what was left to discuss at the same time. We hadn’t yet touched the issue of Jerusalem, where we knew we’d both remain at a standstill. He finally came forward and said the obvious: Jerusalem is also important to both of us, but we’d probably never agree when it came to our modern-day problems surrounding Jerusalem and Israel. I agreed, and the conversation became awkward, reverting back to our studies in England and then awkward silence.
The second instance occurred with a girl named Fatima from Pakistan who was living in England. We met and I asked her to join me for lunch for some conversation that might settle my then-curiosity to learn more about Islam. The conversation came easily since both of us experienced the same thing when ordering lunch at a non-kosher and non-halal fast food joint on campus, where we both opted for vegetarian meals. This kicked off a conversation about how we both dealt with being practicing participants in our respective religions and the challenges that presented for both of us in the greater secular worlds we found ourselves living in. Again, as in with my former conversation, the path led to the topic of Israel. Fatima was more vocal, and did express her anger and support of the Palestinian cause and her problems and even loathing for Israel and the people supporting that cause. As the food had long been finished, and the conversation was getting heated (far-removed from the initial intent), we both decided it was lovely to have met and that now would be the time to move on.
I don’t want to be skeptical of religious-based mutuality dialogue; those were two experiences a few years ago and perhaps there are different ways to approach the conversation I haven’t been exposed to. However, the conversation-killer called ‘Israel’ does present a problem for these types of meetings. A way must be developed to handle the inevitable halt that comes when trying to bridge a gap that is only widening nowadays because of the issues of Israel and the modern-day conflict.
