On the Roof

Yesterday (like most days) was incredible in its own sort of way. We all went to the shuk, which if you read the link, is a giant marketplace, with no plausible comparison in the states. I think corporations stateside ruined any opportunity for small vendors to operate the way they do in Israel. We bought: a couple kilos of chicken—30 sheks, a kilo of avacado, red peppers, onion, green peppers, and a few cloves of garlic—20 sheks, 36 eggs—26 sheks, etc. For reference, one US dollar is 3.6 shekels. Food prices here are incredibly cheap. So Ari and I made a massive dinner to feed most of the apartment complex (about 12 people ate). We made both chicken fried rice and beef fried rice (with all the aforementioned veggies), as well as french fries and fried Jerusalem artichoke.

Shuk on a busy day

After dinner, we (a pronoun I'll address in a bit) all went out to try to find the Yellow Submarine bar, where there was free jazz night. Trust me, I spent a solid hour and a half trying to find this place, but Jerusalem is laid out the same way a 5 year old draws squiggles on a sheet of printer paper. Nothing makes any sense, and I'm usually pretty good at navigating. It also doesn't help that everything is in Hebrew, and I still haven't picked up any of the language. Thank god I have my first day of Ulpan (intensive Hebrew class) today. The other classes I'm taking are Genesis Parables, basically a continuation of my Torah study that I've done the last nine years of my life, and Hasidim: a study of Jewish mysticism. As fate would have it, the mysticism class is offered in the same time slot as the Israeli polysci course, and the bulk of people are taking that one. So there's three of us, and when describing the course, the Madrichim went on and on about how great of a teacher this guy is. Needless to say, I'm excited to be back in a classroom with an engaging teacher, with a subject I'm really interested in, with a class size of three. Ahh!

I got my first choice for volunteering too: working at an archaeological dig. According to Paula, the Madrichim, this is not just any dig, it's the dig. The man in charge of the dig is one of the most prolific figures in the excavation community, so needless to say, this is going to be fantastic experience if I ever decide to become an archaeologist (hey, why not?). We're excavating a parking lot right in the Old City of Jerusalem. Of course there are pros and cons. The best part is that we only meet twice a week, where the other volunteers meet four times, so we get two days to sleep in and relax (as is the case this morning). The other side of the coin (ancient coin?) is that the man in charge is no-nonsense, and I am almost too nonsensical for myself to handle. But it'll be a fair amount of physical labor, and I've been doing a great job of getting in shape so far; this will only help.

We. I'm not sure if I like all the "we" that's been happening. There's a sort of herd mentality from the group here at Aardvark. I understand it's completely natural for people to congregate, but I'd much rather be out exploring the city either alone or one or two other people, not a group of eleven, as was the number that set out to find the jazz night last night. I feel awkward in such a large group, and I've never, ever been able to relate to that many people at the same time. If I'm to be engaged in producing a decent conversation, or providing decent company, I need an intimate group. Otherwise, I clam up and just stay locked inside my head. That being said, there are some incredibly interesting people on this trip, and I'm excited to get to know them.

As always, I feel like I'm the odd one out (look towards the trees). Not necessarily a bad thing, though. Swag has been maxed out.

All 42 Aardvark students

Well I have a lot on my plate this morning so I must be off. The apartment has gotten too messy, and my overdrive (otherwise known as methylphenidate—a topic for another day) is about to kick in full steam. Oh, and I might get a small tattoo of the Hebrew word תמשל, roughly translated to "thou mayest", as described in detail in East of Eden. Essentially, the word's usage in the Torah establishes the idea of free will, that we are in charge of our fates. Further Reading.


Measuring Cups - Andrew Bird