warm light on a winter's day

I'm not sure where I last left you, O my faithful readers. However, I do know this. I tried to get some videos up before I left for the holiday this week, but I didn't get there. As a result, the next post will have videos for your entertainment, and it should be up shortly after this one.

Classes have wrapped up, really, no more. Khalas. It was a quick end, some of the professors weren't quite aware that it was happening when it was, but it happened. I am left now with two exams (one tomorrow and one the next day) and a paper due sometime this week. The exams are Arabic language, Modern Standard, and the paper is about Islam. I'm thinking about writing about gender roles in Islam and how it is one point of contention between the West and the Muslim World that may never reach a middle ground. At least not blanket, of course in communities it varies, but we're talking about the religious beliefs and the societies that prescribe to them versus the general Western culture in Europe, Australia, North America, and other parts of the world.

Moving on from that, let's discuss some other things. The travel policy changed for our program, not sure if I mentioned that yet. So Ari and I went to Israel for Eid al-Adha. So did a bunch of other people from the program, and they seem to be very impressed with the place, as they should be, it's unreal what they have done with that land. "You know where I lie politically," they would say, "but wow is that place impressive or what!?" I don't really know where they lie politically, but I just went with it. But let's get back to my experience.

I felt a bit uncomfortable at first because I was tired, hungry, and undergoing severe culture-shock. It was the first time I had left Jordan since I first arrived here, and I was blinded by green, wet from the rain, and couldn't figure out what was going on around me. I got over the bad mood, and we spent our first night in a hotel in Metula which neither of us should have afforded.

Metula... There's a small town in the very north of Israel in a tiny little piece of land that sticks right into Lebanon called Metula. In this tiny town there is a place called the Canada Center where Arab and Jewish Israelis flock to try something in which both groups are just not talented--ice skating. It was fascinating. Ari volunteered there for a while during his year living in Israel after high school, so we got in for free--sweet. I enjoyed circling around, and a group of Arabs from a school near Nazareth came in. I ended up talking to just about all of them, in Arabic of course, and teaching some of them some technique cause they asked--ridiculous because Ari is meanwhile flying around the place doing jumps and spins and whatnot, the whole time complaining about how bad he is because he doesn't have his skates and he's not warmed up, but what did he expect? He was a star. Meanwhile there I am showing kids just simply how to move. It was really fun, and a very interesting experience to speak in Arabic in Israel with these kids. They were very impressed that I spoke at all, let alone with some competency, and it made me feel very excited for the opportunities that are coming next semester.

We spent two nights with Ari's cousin and her husband in Ramat Gan, a city right next to Tel Aviv. They are incredibly sweet, and very smart. We had great conversations about everything, and laughed a lot. Our full day in Tel Aviv, we walked the whole city. Walked with our jaws dropped at the big trees, the green everywhere, and made our way to the beach to enjoy the sound of the waves and the breeze off of the water under a nice warm sun. We then walked down to Yaffa, the old port city that Tel Aviv was built next to--you know it, I'm sure. It's so pretty, and we spoke more Arabic. I swear, this experience was totally different because everywhere we went, we could speak the local language. What a concept! Got great falaf, walked around, and watched the sun set from the rocks above the beach by the promenade. It was beautiful. Not to mention the culture in Yaffa! An Arab city with Arab kids making out on the beach, in gardens, with nobody to judge them. It was beautiful. The chances of that happening in public in Amman are just about zero, and it's very interesting to see how quickly the culture changes just after you cross the border. So close, but such a different world.

We got to Jerusalem the next day and met up with Jackie and Nancy, her mom who is in town for a while. It was great to see them and hear their stories about border/security crossings, exploring East Jerusalem and the Old City, and good food. We ate some good food and went to Marzipan to get the best ruggelach in the world. 2 kilos to bring home to Ari's host family and our own indulgence. We dropped them off at the Christian quarter where we took a few pictures, and headed out to Haifa.

It was interesting being at the University. I loved seeing Marnina, Alicia, and Jeff, and I even got to see Miriam for a minute! We took some Brandeis reunion photos. I met a few people who would be there next semester as well, and it was nice. Not sure I am thrilled to hear about the academics, specifically the Arabic program. And the housing situation is a difficult decision. There are really nice dorms and old and less nice ("disgusting") dorms. If I live in the new ones, I will most likely be living with Israeli Jews, which would be wonderful. However, I kind of want to live with Arabs in order to keep up with my colloquial Arabic and get a different perspective on living in Israel. The older dorms have more Arabs, and while I want to live in that setting, the older dorms are also double rooms (lack of privacy). Both options have ridiculous excuses for kitchens, so no huge meals like I'm used to here. I'm going to see if it's possible to live in the newer dorms with Arabs, and if not, I will probably live in the older ones. I mean come on, I've lived in terrible situations at Brandeis, I can handle it. And I'll have places to go if I need to sleep out, insha'allah...

Well, Haifa is beautiful, needless to say, and I got to see my good from Tom, who will not be around for the majority of the time I'll be there next year! He's going to South America, like many post-service Israelis. It's too bad, also, because he lives so close to the university, and he's one of the sweetest guys in the world. I'm really looking forward to having Allie there, though!! It's great because she's like family to me, and I'm really excited that we'll be there for each other in very pivotal points of our lives.

Sum it up? This trip to Israel was more frustrating than enjoyable, I must admit. I was frustrated with my decay in the Hebrew language, but then got into this funk where I didn't even want to try the rest of the week. What?! Me not wanting to try to speak in another language? I spoke much more Arabic this week than Hebrew. I was especially uncomfortable speaking Hebrew with Ari around because I felt that his experience in the language not only took care of whatever I needed or wanted to say, but I just couldn't keep up. When the train started rolling with him on it, I didn't grab on, so I just stayed put. My comprehension was better than I had imagined, but I just couldn't get anything out. It was so incredibly frustrating! On top of that, I also realized that my open-mindedness and exposure to the Arab world is very unique in Israel. Very many people are open-minded, but they may not have the experiences that I have in living among Arabs in the way that I have. My experiences are very strange to them, and that will not change. And that makes me proud. I know that my experience next semester will be extremely unique, and that makes me feel so powerful and capable of digging into the society in unique ways. I feel like I'm going to learn so much, and that's such a beautiful feeling! But still, I need some sort of respite or something, and maybe another trip back there on my own in order to just plant my feet a little.

So here I am back in Amman, cleaned a lot today in order to get ready for our apartment inspection. Place looks good. I haven't studied yet, and I know I need to start to get on that for my test tomorrow. I'm not sure which one will be harder, but I do know that I haven't started my paper either. The next few days will go quickly, and then it's on to Lebanon for me, assuming I get through Syria. Wish me luck!

--Ibrahim or Avraham, and sometimes both.