Tuesday, October 5, 2010

....and we're back

Hello friends and family out there in the blogosphere,
After about a month and some change away from my blog, I have returned fueled with new ideas and musings. But first, an update on my life:
August 31st-The Nativers(These are the participants on the program I am staffing) came.
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That long ass ellipses marks the time period between that date and the current date of October. Between those two dates occurred many programs, holidays, late nights, early mornings, tefillot(prayers), complaining, chummus, nasty Beit Nativ food, and most importantly some wonderful kids and friends.
Wooo---deep breath, and now we're back in current time. Life has been really great so far, tiring at all times, but really worthwhile. I've been doing some studying at the Conservative Yeshiva, which has been grand. This time, I think i'll stick it out(:-)) I also have been loving my downtime with the other staff. As a result of said downtime, Aaron, Maya, and I have started another blog about the quest for the perfect chummus in all of the land. Expect that to hit the internet soon. It's going to sweep the nation. Prepare yourselves.
Being in Israel has been great, but i'm really missing the fam more than I remember. Even with the popularity of skype and gchat, I feel like since i'm not distracted like I was when I was a participant, I have more time to think about home. Dare I say it, but I might miss New York a bit. Please don't tell anyone.
Other than that, i've resumed my softball pickup games on Sunday night. Although the game is played on a field paid for by Bob Kraft and I have to run over a New England Patriot logo every time i'm in the field, it is a great group of guys and I get to play under the lights, which is awesome. Plus, unlike the game I play in Riverdale, everyone speaks English here. While I did get to brush up on my Spanish in that game, I felt like I was living in a Telemundo sports sitcom.
In addition to this game and my other weekly sports games with the Nativers, I joined the gym(YMCA). It's a great outlet for me and helps me pass the time a bit(the few free minutes I have, that is). The gym is a truly worldly place, with many different nationalities and religions coexisting peacefully. For that, I think our friends BB and Abu Mazen need to listen up. Here, at the YMCA in Jerusalem, we see strong Palestinians and Israelis((probably steroid-induced) lifting very heavy weights together and resisting the urge to drop said weights on each other. It is truly beautiful. Screw your settlement freezes and acknowledging a Jewish state. All it takes is a little HGH, a few titanium plates, and some sweat. Sounds easy.
Besides that, I have been having a swell time. I just returned from the Visa office where I received my student visa, in what I can easily say was one of the most quintessentially Israeli places I have ever seen. I mean, it was pure chaos. For a country so adept at streamlining technology and military force, its day to day operations are so ridiculously dysfunctional. I mean, create some order in this Middle Eastern oasis. There was a middle-aged religious woman, probably tipping the scales at 350 LB(That's about 159 KG for those of you who are keeping tabs) who was screaming at the top of her already pushed to the limit lungs that it was ridiculous to pay such a price for extending her passport. C'mon lady! You're like 2.5 minutes away from a Coronary. And it's all over about 50 bucks. Now, create some passage in those arteries and sit down. Luckily, a chasidic man came to the rescue and loaned her the money and it shut her up, and no, it was not Sholom Rubashkin and all his dirty money(hey-oh!) I was laughing at the spectacle of it all and thoroughly enjoying the Israeliness of the situation. In the end, I was able to secure my student and now am free of the hounding of the Israeli government(that is, until I leave the country and have to renew the visa...silly rule)
Besides that, Nativ girls football started last night, for which I am the coach. We got some talent and a few athletes and I, at least, hope that we can beat the seminary girls. Because, honestly, if you can't beat girls playing in skirts, then you need to rethink your purpose in life. Seriously though, it should be a great time, and I get to fully my Jewish destiny. Because I was always to short to play organized football(and my mother would have cut of all monetary connection if I chose to play), I now get to pretend like i'm the second coming of Vince Lombardi. Should be a success! Wish me luck.
Hopefully, I will be more punctual in my next update, which should include something about my upcoming trip to Ramallah. WOOOOOOOOOO!
It's T-Shirt time,
Adir