Recent Events

I live right next to a large open market, but sometimes I have the desire to purchase items in a proper supermarket. It is easier to have everything under one roof with one check out in the end, instead of going from stall to stall squeezing fruit and negotiating prices and ending up with lots of plastic bags. For whatever reason, whenever it comes to paying for my purchases there is a problem: the check-out lady goes on break when it's my turn; the customer in front of me has a problem with coupons or at the last minute realizes they forgot something on the opposite side of the store. But last night was a unique experience - the man in front of me was OCD. I didn't realize it until he started putting things on the belt. He waited to place his items until the woman in front him removed all her purchases. He then took things out of his cart, one at a time, and neatly placed them in rows. He had 3 of everything - 3 cucumbers, 3 tomatoes, 3 butters, 3 yogurts. It was fascinating to watch, so I didn't care that it took him forever to fish out the money and pay. The woman behind the register did not wait for him to pack up to start running my items, and when my malawach got near his yogurt he freaked out a little, but it all worked out.

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The strikes aren't over, but the students are back making lots of noise in the hallways and taking up the good spots in the library. It takes 10 minutes to get through security now since the buses to and from campus are so full, but at least they haven't noticed that my student ID is expired. Yesterday, on my way back home, I was listening to a SavageLovecast on my ipod. I noticed that the woman sitting next to me was reading a book in English. I glanced at the page and read something about being "flushed" and then "the top of her bra". Turns out the book was called "the best kiss". Nothing quite like riding through Meah Shea'arim, a very Haredi neighborhood, with our own vices.

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I was building up karma points for a couple days and it paid off. On Saturday I traveled in and out with Bethlehem with 2 friends, one of whom is Israeli, without incident. We saw Banksy's art and more, and were on the Italian news. A good time was had by all.



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Now back to work. I need to get ahead on things. Tomorrow there is a Christmas party in my neighborhood. Wednesday I am going to Aqaba for a few hours for a meeting. Thursday morning is a meeting in Tel Aviv. Then my sister comes to visit on Saturday!
Why won't this cold go away? Happy Holidays.

Today was a good day.

Sitting in a chill bar with my laptop and a shlish of Taybe. I was planning to just sit here and do some work and look at hip people, but there is live music in the other room. I am drawn in, yet don't feel ready to enter this scene. I need to make friends, but my computer isn't helping. Hmmm.

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It's been an interesting day. I went to a recruitment information session at an outsourcing call-center on the outskirts of town, in a new development. I had only seen it a couple of times from the highway, but today I went in. The building was still under construction. The whole development seemed new. This office park could be anywhere in the world, except that 80% of the guys in the cafeteria are wearing kippot. The group I am here to interview with is IDT. They handle companies like Walgreens, Barnes&Noble, AOL, American Greetings, Hess, Office Max, MacAfee, and Western Union. So rest assured you are not always calling India. Behind the security desk are inspirational quotes by Hillel and Herzl, and above the door, in Hebrew and English:

This year in Jerusalem

I sat in a glass atrium with people dressed business causal, but this is not dress-down Friday - just another Tuesday in Jerusalem. In another section of the lobby, out of earshot, there is a flat screen TV streaming news. FOX 'news'. Of course.

How did I get here? Private high school. 4 years of college, at a GOOD college. 1.5 years of graduate courses in the Middle East, in environmental studies and Arabic. A masters degree from a prestigious British University. If I work full time with this company, talking on the phone with America or transcribing, I am looking at an average salary of 6000NIS/month. Approximately $1,500. Wow. How did I get here?

This is Har Hotvim. Not to be confused with Har Hatsofim, which I have been doing for the last few months. My sense of space, place, and location was all wrong. Now I think I have it right, only it doesn't really matter. Timing is everything.

I got 100% on the computer test and did well in the interview. I left with a letter addressed to the Ministry of Interior, which is supposed to help me get a work visa. Now I just need my birth certificate, proof of health insurance, some cash, and a letter from my Rabbi saying that I am Jewish. Does that mean non-Jews aren't allowed to work here? I don't understand. And apparently having an Israeli boyfriend makes the process go faster, alleviates fees, and often gets you an open work visa, instead of being tied to a specific employer. I can think of one person who would probably agree, but am not sure I can ask him to be my "boyfriend" without thinking of the last 3 years of on again, off again wanting him to be my boyfriend.


After the Israeli company I went to Beit Hanina to meet with the water/sanitation coordinator at a large European NGO. Sitting in the office was a fake Christmas tree, which I found a little disorienting, yet refreshing. Our conversation was good, as opposed to our constant miscommunication on the phone over the last week. Each meeting makes me think differently, ask more questions, and opens more doors work-wise, but also (hopefully) socially. I really need to make more friends.


I have good days and bad days. This is normal, no? It's only been about 2.5 weeks. I have been here before so I have some people, but they have their own lives, relationships, work, and school. I am joining in the middle. Maybe the things that brought us together 15 years ago at summer camp or in carpool are not as relevant anymore. Friday night I was feeling very sorry for myself, sitting alone in my apartment, eating onion soup and drinking wine, thinking. I want Shabbat. I want to walk to a friend's house with desert from Marzipan, and enjoy a warm meal with good conversation, and be with Jews. I need to find the balance, but that won't work if every Friday I go out dancing until 2am in East Jerusalem. But I hate inviting myself over. It makes me feel pathetic and needy. I guess I need to suck it up and realize that's what I am, and that it's not the end of the world. This is a temporary phase, but in the interim, I need to ask for help - with my current freelance work projects, and with my life. Want to help me?

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The band has finished their set and my beer is gone. Time to trek back up the hill. While this somehow ended on a depressing note, today really was a good day.

I need to work on this (post #100!)

Harold, everyone has the right to make an ass out of themselves. You can't let the world judge you too much.

Maude, in Harold and Maude

1 Week In

I got here on Sunday. Now it's Saturday night. I have been in Israel 1 week. On the one hand it feels like I just arrived, at the same time its as though I've been here forever. I won't to go to Jordan soon - I want to visit with people, but an argila, eat dajaj mahshi at al quds, hummos at hashem and falafel at alquds cafeteria. But when I came in on Sunday I was detained for a while by the Shabaq - no explanation. Not many questions. But just the fact that I had to go to the waiting area puts me off international travel for a while. At least until I have this whole work/visa thing sorted. Hopefully I won't have any trouble getting in and out of Ramallah tomorrow.

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Today I am in my home away from home away from home where I spent much of last summer - the library at Hebrew University. When I first arrived in April/May the students were striking a potential raise of fees, so the library was very quiet. Now the professors are striking because their salaries are so low, so the library is very quiet. I don't mind. Why are there cats wandering around the cafes? And why do people keep leaving the doors to outside open. Its COLD. And people keep asking me for directions. I guess its good that I blend.

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Hanukkah in the city. There are times when I question this place and they way they do things, but I really like the holiday atmosphere here. No, not Christmas. Our festival of lights. And potatoes fried in oil. And donuts. Growing up in the states we always lit a hanukiah inside and put it in the window. Here people take the rules more seriously and put them outside in glass boxes. Its amazing to ride the bus around religious neighborhoods and see dozens of candelabras sitting outside. I need to wander around my neighborhood and take pictures tonight.


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This weekend was a mix of great and not so great. I chose not to do shabbat,but to network instead. Strange combinations of people - from summer camp and from Jerusalem in 2004 and from Amman and from grad school - all together in the same East Jerusalem bar. Dancing and drinking away the pressure of life here. I've always wanted overlap. This is going to take some time to get used to. Saturday I stayed home and read the paper and slept, not leaving the house until after 7. Coffee at 9om is not a good idea. I kind of wish I hadn't left the house at all.

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Tomorrow I sign a lease until August. I have never signed anything for more than 6 months. Things have not been going according to plan, but I am not so scared to sign tomorrow. I am here. This is happening. I will make new friends. I will find a job. This is just the beginning of something new. It's not out of nowhere - I have been working towards this for some time now. I just need to open myself and be ready.