Museums, Museums, Museums

This week was [supposed to be] my first week of art classes at Bezalel. Unfortunately it’s been a bit of a balagan. Balagan is an imperative word to know in Israel, because it means, “a mess,” and it seems that anything that could require any sort of organization here ends up being more of a balagan than anything actually organized. Everything has very slowly been sorting itself out, so I am sure by the end of the week (tomorrow) that things will finally be in order, so I’ll leave my full report on classes for the next blog post, and I’ll focus on last week right now.

Last week I had most of my days free as ulpan was over and Bezalel classes had yet to start. On Saturday I went with a couple friends to the Islamic Art Museum. The options of what to do in Jerusalem on Shabbat are few and far between, but this is one of the available open options. Also, interesting note for those who have never been here- busses and public transit also does not operate on Shabbat (a point of contention for the secular population living here). Though more expensive than taking a bus, cabs here are plentiful (and are available on Shabbat- either driven by less religious Jews, or most often Arabs), and when going with a group of friends the cost is not so bad. We went first to a photo exhibit on Yemen, which I found to be pretty fascinating and gained some interesting insight about the country. Also to our surprise there was a very cool pocket watch exhibit (most notably housing several watches by Abraham Louis Breguet, maker of the “Marie Antoinette”). This collection is not Islamic at all, but the founder of the museum used to collect them. While the watches themselves were all pretty fascinating, the way they were displayed was almost equally as fascinating and elevated the viewing experience- the room was pitch black except for a spotlight on each watch which had been elegantly suspended in the air.

Beautiful tile that I liked

Also, Saturday was the day everyone claimed it was going to snow in Jerusalem. The debate is still up in the air. It seemed more like a hail-ish type snow to me. The weather since had been quite beautiful, except starting today we are having another cold/rainy/windy period.

On Monday I took myself to Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem is “Israel’s official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.” I had been here before on Birthright, but wanted to go again because I felt I would be able to have a different approach to it being alone as opposed to with a group. The museum is very beautifully done and very moving in so many ways. Videos of survivors telling their stories are placed throughout, which I found to be both what I was most interested in as well as a very emotional experience.

And finally this past Saturday I went to yet another one of the available things open on Saturday, which is the Israel Museum. This place is amazing. And huge. I will definitely be back. Not only does it house the Dead Sea Scrolls but it also has a nice sculpture garden, vast modern art exhibit, as well as plenty of historical art.

Robert Indiana's "Ahava." (Ahava means love)

Sculpture by Anish Kapoor

One of my favorite pieces in the show by Julius Popp. This article gives a better explanation (and picture) but it's basically an electronically programmed device that creates words in the water droplets one at a time as the water is shot down.

Since I haven’t mentioned food yet in this post, here we go: Persimmons. This is a food I was sure I must have tried before, but don’t believe I actually had. There are several things in the states that are persimmon scented, or colors called persimmon, but I’d never seen and eaten a real one before- they are delicious. Fairly mild, kind of flowerly tasting, hard skin that you can eat, but delicious juicy inside.

They look quite like tomatoes, but I assure you they are not

And now for more food pictures:

The best waffle I have ever tasted. They're from a tiny little hole-in-the-wall joint called Babette and served on tiny pieces of cardboard. This is considered one waffle, but you can choose two different toppings. Half is drenched in butterscotch, the other half with cream cheese and cinnamon.

Popular method of bread transportation. I'm glad that's not my job.

View of sunset from my roommate's window. My window unfortunately faces the next door building, but at least I can steal glances from hers.

Weekend in Haifa

Last weekend I went to Haifa with Becka and a few of her classmates from HUC (Hebrew Union College) and had a wonderful time. We left Thursday after class and headed north. On our way up, we stopped for a brief moment to check out the ruins of Caesarea- a port town built by Herod.

View from inside Caesarea

We had been expecting light rain on Friday, though we were surprised with a heavy rainstorm Thursday night. This was particularly noteworthy as our room started flooding during the night. Nothing spells fun quite like seeing water seeping into the room from the bathroom. The bathroom had a door to a balcony… and the door, let’s just say… was not sealed and had about an inch opening at the bottom. Luckily we were all still awake and didn’t have to wake up to sopping clothes. It also meant that the rain predicted for Friday was mostly gone. (*Side note- the hostel was otherwise very pleasant and clean and I would definitely stay there again… and just hope it doesn’t rain).

Though it was not raining, our plans for touring the Bahai Gardens had to be switched to the next day since they had preemptively closed the gardens due to the predicted rain. So we headed even more north (to the border of Lebanon to be exact) and spent a lovely afternoon at Rosh Hanikra. Rosh Hanikra is a beautiful seaside spot with lots of grottos and caves that you can walk through and enjoy the beauty.

Me and Becka at Rosh Hanikra

At the Lebanese border

Heading down to the Rosh Hanikra grottos in the tram

Beautiful, huh?

Inside one of the grottos

On our way back down to Haifa we stopped in Akko. Mostly just going to check out the Old City and see what we could see, we were very pleasantly surprised with, what I think has been the best meal of my trip so far. We were all pretty hungry so we just barely started walking in to this little snack shop looking place to grab some falafel or something, when the owner of the shop says, “no no, follow me to my other place.” So we follow him down the street where he has to unlock his “other restaurant,” and turn on the lights. We’re seated in an empty room with several more tables and chairs. We didn’t receive any menus, but like magic, food just started appearing. Item after delicious item was brought to us. All the typical Middle Eastern cuisine- olives, salads, hummus, pita, falafel, chicken, lamb patties, and more. It was so delicious we all walked out of there about to pop.

The feast. This isn't even all of it.

A very ominous looking Akko

That night we went to a progressive temple for Shabbat services, and had what I can only describe as being the most enjoyable service I may have ever been at. The term “progressive” in Israel sort of encompasses varying degrees of Reconstructionist/Reform/Conservative styles. We were all crammed in to a somewhat small room (~45 people), and the happiness and energy that filled the room were all wonderful. There were several musicians- guitar, violin, hand drum, flute, and everyone else sang with such ruach (spirit) that you just got a wonderful feeling of how happy everyone was to be there. I knew a few of the songs, but those that I didn’t I was generally able to sing along to by the end.

Saturday we went on the tour of the Bahai Gardens, which is a very sacred place for the Bahai religion and also a very beautiful place- if you’re ever in Haifa, you must go. The gardens ascend up the mountains and have various levels that you can sit in, look at the view, and otherwise enjoy.

View of Bahai Gardens

View of Haifa from the top of the gardens

View of a portion of the gardens looking down

Yesterday was my last day of Ulpan. I am both happy and sad. Happy to know I’ll be starting my art classes soon, but sad to know that my formal Hebrew classes have ended (and now I’ll have to try extra hard to learn Hebrew), as well as to say bye to my very wonderful Ulpan teacher.

Two more weeks left of Ulpan. In general I really enjoy being in Ulpan because I really want to work on my Hebrew. However our last 2 weeks of class have an additional hour in order to fit in everything they need to teach us. This last hour is pretty hard to get through, as we’re all ready to think about something other than new vocabulary words and verb conjugation by the end of the class. Luckily today and yesterday they supplemented our class time with something different to give us a break. Yesterday we did some games in Hebrew to make us think quickly even if it was basic, and today we learned some famous Israeli songs. I wish I were able to continue in a Hebrew class after Ulpan ends, but with my art schedule, I won’t have the credits available. I’ll just have to figure out how to independently continue my Hebrew Studies.

My Ulpan class had a tour of the Hebrew U campus in Hebrew (basic) to put our small knowledge of vocabulary to work. I also had a tour of the Bezalel building yesterday, which was exciting to see where my art classes will be held. The facilities are quite nice. The building itself is pretty maze-like but the view from almost anywhere is gorgeous.

View from Hebrew U

Last week I also went to the Kotel (Western Wall) with some of my new friends. This was my 2^nd time there (1^st time this trip). While there, it always makes me think. It’s hard to have this object that your whole life you’ve heard how religiously important it is, and then when you get there not try to think about how it relates to you and your life and what it means to you.

From L to R- Liz, Me, Rachel at the Kotel

I also finding it continually annoying that the women are smushed in to a section that is maybe 25% of the wall, and the men get to spread out throughout the other 75%. If you have never experienced this, pretty much if you want to be up at the wall as a woman you have to wait your turn until people are done praying to slowly move up… and hope no one elbows you out of the way first. On the men’s side there was plenty of open room for any man to just walk right up and be at the wall with no problem.

Last week I also enjoyed a lovely dinner of Schnitzel with Becka and then went for some ice cream at Max Brenner.

A variety of chocolate flavors to enjoy

A couple of my roommates and I also hosted a very lovely Shabbat dinner potluck. We had chicken, cous cous, salad, hummus, tabouli, and I made a soup that I cannot wait to make again. It was a sweet potato, carrot, apple soup that my mom had recommended to me. If you think this sounds appealing, click here for the recipe (Alterations I made: Did not have chili powder, and I didn’t use yogurt as this was a “meat” meal. I also did not puree it).

Shabbat dinner at our apartment with new friends

And of course no week would be complete without a visit to the shuk to get groceries. Enjoy a few drool-worthy photos of food.

Interesting looking variety of breads

Variety of seeds and nuts

The Halva King's selection of halva! I have a very large portion of black sesame because there were only so many times I could tell him in my horrible Hebrew that I wanted a smaller piece.

Tubs and tubs of olives. I tried some that had lemon and hot pepper chunks in the mix. Can't wait to try more.