How bizarre. I am not sure what to say. Tomorrow my 12 day visit will be over, and I will head back to Iceland. Advah (the friend I am staying with) already went to sleep. Earlier this evening I told her what has been on my mind for the past few days, and perhaps ever since I got here. I told her that normally when I go abroad I become fed up with the place after a few weeks and wish to go back to where I came from. But this time it is different. Going back feels wrong. Going back breaks my heart(despite the fact that my stay here has certainly had its ups and downs).
I wish I could stay.
I suppose all I can do is finish packing, take one last walk through the streets of an Israeli town, and quietly wipe my tears while saying what so many have said before me:
"Next year in Jerusalem".
I have been meaning to blog about this for a few days now, but I haven't had the time. Before I begin, I'd like to say that I have added two new links: Gil Ben Mori and An Unsealed Room.
But anyway, like many of you know, I study social & cultural anthropology at the university of Iceland. The University of Iceland is a small university (obviously) with about 10.000 students, fighting for international recognition. It actually provides students with an excellent education, since the university only hires teachers with degrees from the best universities of Europe and the USA, as well and putting students through a ridiculous amount of work (proven beyond any doubt to be more than at other Scandinavian universities). But "The University of Iceland", nevertheless, just doesn't sound all that impressive to an ignorant outsider. Still, due to what experience has taught, students with a degree from the University of Iceland generally have an easy time getting into good universities abroad, since they have almost without exception done well, and all our study material is in English. So it's reliable, eh?
A few days ago I received (online, naturally) the reading material for a course I had intended to participate in next semester called "Anthropology of the Middle East". I became so angry I spent 2 days considering sending the teacher letters of complaint, or even writing the ministry of education, or at least the university board. The Anthropology of the Middle East is supposed to discuss mainly two issues: Iraq, and the Israel-Arab conflict.
Want to see what our "reading material" was?
-Noam Chomsky (The one living person I detest the most)
-Edward Said (The biggest liar the academia has even seen)
-Some Tamimi something (palestinian, I assume)
-Along with some articles from Al Jazeera, and interviews with palestinians, about their "their experience of suicide bombings". (And where are the Israelis?)
-There are also guest lectures from known anti-Israel individuals (hmm, I wonder what they're gonna talk about?).
Doesn't it sound like something is missing? Such as.. Mein kampf, or The Protocols of the Elders of Zion??
I certainly am neglecting my blog these days! But I know that my lovely & intelligent readers cut me slack due to the fact that I am currently busy touring the Holy Land. I believe it is safe to say that things have been more than a little crazy around here. Crazy my standards that is, although perhaps not so crazy Israeli standards. I returned from spending a few days in Jerusalem today. It is the second time during this trip that I go to Jerusalem (my favorite place in the whole wide world), but this was a longer stay. I had organised my time extremely well, and somehow I figured that everything would go according my schedual. But not quite...
Wednesday was lovely. I took a trip to the center of the center of the world! (Aka the Kotel). I took amazing photos, which I will be posting after I return to the Devil's Island (urghh). Thursday however... Well... During the morning I was on my way to see an old friend. I decided that since I would be walking around Jerusalem the entire day, it would be a good idea to take my backpack with me (which I usually don't do). A packpack of course, clearly identifies a person as a tourist. Within 5-10 minutes I was stopped by the "immigration police". They spent a very long time screaming at me, demanding to know what I was doing in Israel, for how long I was in Israel, where I was from. When I said I was from Iceland they got very suspicious and asked "ma ze, ma ze (what is it?)", since the job of an Israeli police doesn't appear to require minimum knowledge of geography. It wasn't until afterwards that I realised how absurd I had been to try to explain to them that I was outraged by their ill mannered behavior, and that I found their questions to be intrusive and offensive. They just pulled some random woman carrying two large shopping bags from the street, asking her to explain to me the exact same thing they had already told me. They were, apparently, searching for illegal workers from Romania. After a long time they finally decided to let me go. I then waited for my friend for half an hour, and he "never showed up". It later turned out that he had infact gotten stuck in traffic and been 40 minutes late, but since I don't have a mobile phone here (a mistake I'm never making again), he wasn't able to contact me to tell me). I called him from my friend's mobile phone during the evening. He didn't sound angry, but he told me three times: I've had my mobile phone on since 7 am... My problem is that I hate making private calls from payphones. I just hate it. I suppose this is what endless years of owning a phone does to you!
But anyway, I decided I'd take a chill pill and go meet up with Jeffrey in Jerusalem. What I didn't know was that Jeffrey had e-mailed me to let me know he couldn't make it, and again, since I don't have a phone... In other words, I thought I had been stood up twice in one day, and I was not pleased at all. I was supposed to go visit Mr & Mrs Treppenwitz for dinner (I like to call them that), which I had been very much looking forward to doing, but since I was feeling tired and frustrated I figured I'd make lousy company, so I cancelled. I very much regret not seeing them, but I will most likely (G-d willing) be moving to Israel next year, so then I'll have time.
After I had gone through this day (a lot more happened today, a lot of lovely little things, and a lot of irritating little things), I walked from the central busstation to Rehov Haneviim, where my friend Rivka lives. I walked slowly and watched the stars above the Jerusalem sky, and thought to myself that I was experiencing a bad day, which just happened to this time be in Jerusalem herself. I had one of those conversations with G-d (that I tend to have, especially when I'm feeling down), about how despite how things sometimes go wrong, I am certain that they will eventually, one way or another, go right, because I'm certain that me being in Jerusalem (which has always felt very right) can't be something that is just meant to go completely bad.
I then went to Rivka's and we had a lovely chat. She told me how everybody has those days in Israel when everything just gets messed up and you get tired and frustrated, and we talked about it. But what can you do but endure it, if it is a thing you can't live without? Israel is a unique place, but it doesn't float it milk and honey like some may imagine. For when it comes down to it, it is a country, with everything that entails.
Shalom everybody! I don't really have much time to blog, since my life is very much based on traveling or hanging out in Israel, eating various kinds of delicious Israeli foods, but I do want to mention a few things. A lot of interesting things have happened since I last blogged. Before I say anything else, I would like to thank those of you who nominated me for best Israel advocacy blog. Thank you so much! Despite the fact that I read Israellycool's (who is hosting the Jewish and Israeli blog Awards) blog ultra orthodox religiously, I had for some reason not bothered looking into the awards much, until somebody pointed it out to me.
But anyway, something very interesting happened to me yesterday. Yesterday, virtual became actual, as I, for the first time ever, met a fellow blogger in real life. I had been fairly certain that Lisa from On the Face is a nice person, but I had not known that she was as charming, intelligent, funny and in every way adorable as she turned out to be.
I got lost in Tel Aviv. And there you have it. Jerusalem is different. It is as if one can sense where you need to go, and somehow you'll end up in the right place. Tel Aviv is not like that. It's a jungle for a girl like me, who comes from a "city" with a population of a bit over 100.000 people.
Next up is Jerusalem for a few days, before I head back to Iceland next Monday. It feels strange to be planning a trip leading away from Israel, somehow. Is that a silly thought, or is it just me..
Shalom everybody!
I hope everybody is feeling as good as I am. It is simply so wonderful to be surrounded by such amazing friends that I rarely get to see, in a place that I love that I rarely get to visit.
I have just had a lovely Shabbat. Yesterday I spent a large part of the day playing with my friend's 4 year old little daughter, Navah. I have completely fallen in love with her. At first she was very shy and didn't want anything to do with me, but bit by bit she came to and we became very good friends. She is just like my niece Gudrun, only younger, browneyed instead of blueeyed, and speaks Hebrew all the time, instead of Icelandic. The last bit has forced me to speak Hebrew. A child doesn't understand that somebody might not have spoken Hebrew for a long time, or might have limited knowledge or understanding. She constantly asks me questions and demands answers, or she does things that necessitate comments, so I have to speak Hebrew. Last night when I was cuddling with her she said the cutest thing to me. She said: "You are not my mother, but you are like another mom". Then she asked "do you have a little girl?". I said no. Then she said: "Do you have a little girl like me in America?". That was so adoreble! Her mother is originally from America, so she hears us speak English, and I sound just like an American when I talk, so of course the 4 year old child would assume that I come from America. It was just a charming little question "do you have a little girl like me in America". Then she wanted me to read her story books. Matters got complicated when she got children's books in Hebrew. Like most of you probably realise, people who are inexperienced when it comes to Hebrew (such as I am), read Hebrew slowly and with difficulty. But she insisted I'd read it. So I read it! And she was very pleased. She then got a children's book in German (that her mother uses to teach her Yiddish). I don't know any German, so that's harder. The book had photos of all kinds of objects: Food, garden tools, clothes, everything. She kept asking "ma ze, ma ze? (what is it). If I told her I didn't know the word for a particular item, she told it to me. If I made a mistake, she corrected me and quietly moved on. She conscientiously went through the entire book! So I got a Hebrew lesson from an adore little 4 year old Israeli girl. How sweet is that?
I have actually had several funny incidents with Hebrew already. My Hebrew is FAR from what it used to be, but it's very easy to learn a language that you have once known. For instance, I might not remember the word for something, but if somebody says it to me, I'll understand, and then I'll remember it again. The other day for example, I got into a conversation with a female security guard in Jerusalem. She was going through my things and she saw I had bought a book with Hebrew verb tables. I'm nervous to speak Hebrew, so I addressed her in English. She saw my book, smiled and said: "Ahh, ba'ulpan at lomedet?" (You study at ulpan?). So I think to myself: What the heck, I might as well speak Hebrew... I've had similar experiences when people ask me questions. My first reaction is to get nervous and think that perhaps I should just say that I don't speak Hebrew. Then I realise that I know exactly what they're saying, and what to answer, so I might as well answer. If the conversation were to get long and complex I would end up having problems though, since my Hebrew is limited.
Next week is quite booked. Tomorrow I intend to take a trip to the north, to visit the city of Tzfat. If anybody reading this has not been to Tzfat, I definitely recommend it. It is absolutely amazing. Monday is Tel Aviv day, and after that Jerusalem for several days.
Happppy! Yes I am! I know that this is neither an articulate, nor a refined statement, but it is certainly a sincere one. I must admit that life in Iceland, or Scandinavia generally, doesn't particularly (as Jane Austen would put it) "agree with me". I had thought that childlike, intense happiness like what I am going through now was not part of my persona. But apparently, it all depends..
I had an amazing day in Jerusalem today. I walked, walked and walked, and went to the Old City. The only unpleasant part about the whole experience were the intrusive Arab salesmen in the Old City, but what's new? I met a lovely old friend of mine, Rivka, for lunch, and we sat for a few hours over a meal with hummus catching up (hummus! ohh! Unbelievable how the taste of hummus brings back memories. I can't think of a single thing that tastes better, not even halvaspread).
After walking for hours, shopping like a maniac, and trying not to smile to much in order to avoid being perceived as retarded, I decided to go to the central busstation and go home. I know that there are always strict rules about security in Israel, but the entrance of the central busstation of Jerusalem was mindblowing. At first we went through the "normal" procedures. There was a guy who took my hangbag and other bags and went through them briefly. Then he searched me with a metal detector, and made me empty my pockets. Then he asked me "do you have a weapon?" (They never asked me that before. If I were a palestinian homicide bomber I don't think I would say "well as a matter of fact, I do"). Well none of this surprised me. What surprised me was that after this prodecure, all the people continued to another line. That was a line when we had to put all our things through an X-ray machine. In order to enter a busstation (also a shopping mall)! The place looked stricter than an airport. The Keflavik airport security (in Iceland) is a joke compared to the Jerusalem Central Busstation!
Not all my feelings here have been positive though. I admit I have been feeling bitter about certain things. Since I got here I have spent a lot of time walking, looking at things around, contemplating Israeli society, and it fills me with feelings of intense anger that the people of this country, that have managed to create a society so structured, beautiful and unique, have to suffer death and horror on a daily basis (and indeed it IS daily, because there are people mourning the dead, or suffering from their injuries at this very moment), for no reason other than the pointless hatred of other human beings. I took a few buses today. I ate at a restaurant, I shopped at Ben Yehuda. I was surrounded by regular human beings, that work, love, fear, cry, laugh, think, sleep. I thought about it, I really did. But I don't understand how it's possible to hate them, and to rejoice in sheding the blood of their babies. So I suppose I am experiencing a mixture of contradictive feelings all at once. Feeling so happy, yet in tears that things have to be like this, along with the feeling of anger that sometimes hits me towards the offenders, and when I think of why things are how they are.
And still... I'm just happy to be in Israel.
Hello from Israel!
As I suspected I will blog from time to time while in Israel, at least while I am here in Rehovot. At least if I can figure out how to use this computer. Even the clock is on the 'wrong' side (it took me ages to locate the ' key, since I only know how to type with an Icelandic keyboard).
I can't even begin to describe what it's like to be here! Israel looks and feels the same. The same smell in the air, people screaming their guts out at each other in traffic, and wherever I go I hear Hebrew spoken with different accents, which I find really unique.
Israel decided to greet me with a thunder storm! Indeed, it has been raining cats and dogs. I still went out and walked all over. It felt so surreal. I just walked slowly, listened, watched, smelled, observed. It is wet and quite cold, but I felt happier than ever.
I still haven't quite figured out my schedual, but I know I will be at least be in Jerusalem for a few days next week. I will make more plans tomorrow. Oh an apparently, the electricity here is different, so I can't use my mobile phone. So in case somebody wants to contact me, I must be e-mailed.
A welcome break from...
A photo from the West fjords. That's where my mom comes from. People there have been asked to leave their homes due to danger of avalanches. A few years ago an avalanche struck the town my mother was born and raised in, killing 10% of the inhabitants (not that we're talking about high numbers here, but it's still a disaster).
That's terrible I know, but boy am I glad I'm leaving today!
So cya folks, off to Israel for 2 weeks, and I promise to bring back hundreds of photos. I am certain I will blog a few times in Israel since I'll have internet access, so please stay tuned.
I wanted to tell you about something quite unusual that happened to me today. It may be a small, simple event, but it really, truly touched me.
This is what happened:
The weather today was terrible. I don't mean in the sense that it was that particularly cold, but the ground is covered with thick layers of snow that has been soaked by rain, and the wind keeps blowing wind and snow in one's face. I broke through the wind and piles of snow, and entered the building where I work. I was greeted by the store manager (not the boss, but the manager of the store). A middle aged lady, that I don't really know that well. We've chatted a bit the few times we've worked together, but that's pretty much it.
I tell her that I have come to buy some souvenirs, since I'm going abroad tomorrow. She asks where I'm going, and I say Israel. When hearing I am going to Israel (or that I have been to Israel, not to mention that I volunteered in the Israeli army), most Icelandic people will look horrified and ask if I'm gonna get blown up.
But not this woman. When I said "Israel", this middle aged Icelandic woman said: Ohh, my country my country.... With a nostalgic look on her face.
I thought she was just kidding or something. Then she tells me that she went to Israel many years ago, and she loved it. She then said something quite interesting:
"Everybody, the travel agency and everybody, told us to be careful. They said that Israel wasn't safe. But I didn't get that. There were armed guards everywhere! I felt very safe! I felt far less safe when I was in London and we had a bomb threat incident at our hotel".
Then her co worker left, and became more honest, and she said:
I had a religious experience in Israel. I just felt just like I was coming home. I went all over, to Jerusalem, Masada, everywhere. There is just something about that country that other countries don't have. I've always wanted to go back.
So I pointed out to her that Israel really isn't as dangerous as people think, and we started talking about media, palestinians, etc. And she said "there is just so much propaganda". She said that she has always "worshipped" that country (Israel). I was so happy to hear somebody say that in Icelandic, for a change. Some one else than myself.
She told me about her tour guide who was a holocaust survivor from Auschwitz, and she said she's disgusted by people who deny or belittle the holocaust.
I asked if I could bring her back anything from Israel, and she said she'd love a stone. Just a stone from Israel.
When I left she kissed me and said she sends her very best regards to everybody in Israel.
This little incident really put a smile on my face, and in my heart. The fact that I am not the only one here in the middle of the cold and wet snow on a remote island, who actually loves Israel.
