Episode 05: "The Shepherds" (+)

Had a silly little weekend after my birthday passed. It was another OSA trip, this time to a kind of nature reserve with an emphasis on shepherding sheep.

The reserve itself was beautiful. Green hills, pretty flowers, the usual surprise beauty Israel always seems to have up its sleeve.

Alyssa, Charise and I.

We played a small competitive game in which our two groups had to try to best each other in herding sheep around a small field with the lowest time. It was pretty ridiculous stuff, and a great way to spend a sunny day.




Really not much else to report about it. Great weather, great sights, good times all around.

Shalom,
Eric

Episode 04: "The Perfect Day" (+)

At midnight on my birthday, all four of my new flatmates showed up at my room door with a chocolate cake and sang me "Happy Birthday." The two Amandas, Daniel and Rebecca--people I hardly knew at all so far--had taken the time to buy me a cake and make my birthday special from minute one. I couldn't believe how warm and compassionate they were, and their gesture went such a long way towards making me feel at home with them.

Throughout the day I got e-mails, Facebook messages, and calls from friends and family, everyone wishing me a great birthday. One of the longer calls was from my mom, who patched me through to Grandma and Poppy. It felt so, so good to hear from all of them--especially with what positive things they had to say.

Right after that call, I went to the supermarket to buy food for making dinner. The idea was to do a reversal of the usual birthday shenanigans, expecting and/or hoping my friends would do something nice for me on my day or whatever. Following suit from a friend I had met back in New York, I was looking to use my birthday to show my friends I appreciated having them around to celebrate it with me. So cooking for my buddies was the name of the game.

Val volunteered his place for me to make dinner. He gave me a heads up that his roommate was having four friends over, and was wondering if it was cool for them to join us. I hesitated due to my limited food supply and limited cooking skills, but Val assured me that these new guys would be bringing food of their own, so I gave the green light with some relief.

When I arrived at Val's place, he'd already decorated the room with balloons. And his girlfriend, Avital, came over and helped him put on the finishing touches to everything. All of their effort for my birthday made me feel pretty damn happy.

Avital's special balloon for me.

And it's flip side.

I started hustling on the quesadillas, burning a few as I went. Everyone was pretty gracious about it, though. Threw on some peas, carrots and rice, while Val's roommate Fabiana helped me with pasta. Meanwhile, her friends had arrived, bringing a grand total of two snack food bags as their contribution. As in two bags. Of snack food. Through some miracle though, there was enough real food for everyone. Ridiculous.

My sorry attempt at a quesadilla on the left.
But potential for future meat on the right.

Didn't screw up too bad on this dish, though.

These aren't my hands.

By the time everyone had come, it was about ten people in chilling in the living room, and I was churning out plate after plate. At one point, though, my activity at the stove got stopped cold. Avital turned off the lights and she and Val brought in a chocolate cake with candles on it, singing me a happy birthday. I could not have been more touched.

Genuinely surprised and thankful.

The rest of the party was chill and enjoyable. The new guys were friendly and talkative, everyone was complimenting the food, and people were pretty smiley all around. It was a great time. Here's pretty much everyone who was there, minus Avital and Val.

Full house of cool folks.

Afterward, took the pals out to see the movie Cloverfield. The crew included Daniel (my new roommate in the green shirt up there), Avital, Val, and Jeremy. The movie was everything I was expecting, and a perfect way to make my birthday shine.

Thanks for producing this one, J.J. Abrams.

You somehow transformed terrifying pseudo-9/11
imagery into a birthday gift.

And whaddya know--cooking for my buds and taking them out to a movie felt really good. I guess the only other thing I could compare it to was my Santa-served Christmas. Felt like growing up a little bit. Although no promises on a year-to-year extravaganza or anything when I come home. Being "mature" on my birthday was really expensive.

Anyway. The next day I received holiday packages from friends back home (and later I received cards from family) which put my feel-good factor over the top. The amount of love I received from everyone had me on top of the world.

Thank you all for that.

Shalom,
Eric

Episode 03: "The Turkish Half" (+) [P3]

Arriving in Turkey was a relatively smooth process. After getting a little help from folks, we found our way to the "Metropolis Hostel", which was a cozy place tucked in the touristy corner of Sultanahmet, the hottest district for historical sites in Istanbul. After getting to know the really chill guys at the hostel a bit, Val and I made our way out to the Blue Mosque, the most popular mosque in Istanbul.

The Blue Mosque

The inside was absolutely amazing. The sanctuary--if that's what I can call it--was huge, lit with low-hanging lights that created a soft ambiance, and of course glowing with the faith of the practicing Muslims in it. Val and I watched a group pray for a little bit, then went outside. The Blue Mosque was just gorgeous inside out--from the intricate tiles on the ceiling to the grandness of the outer courtyard. Simply amazing.

Inside.

The dome.

The next day we tried to hit up the Hagia Sophia, a church set up by one of the Constantines and completed down the line by the emperor Justinian. The architecture, Val told me, was what Turkish mosques like the Blue Mosque were derived from. It was closed that day, so we went to visit the Palace and its museums nearby. Along with setting foot inside of centuries-old buildings of former Sultan royalty, Val and I were able to catch displays of sacred objects. Swords, jewelry, thrones, religious relics, etc. It was a solid romp through Turkish history.

The gate to the palace and its museums.

When we did eventually make it inside the Hagia Sophia, the church did not disappoint. Rich with history that Val illuminated for me, being inside was a pretty special experience. The aged mosaics, the Arabic seals, the tiled crosses, marble jars and more exposed the church's mixed and exciting track record among different cultures. Val and I were probably inside for more than an hour, just trying to take it all in. Great stuff.




Later in the week, we got the opportunity to visit an underground cistern built by Justinian. It was darkly lit, with pathways that let us pass over the water and between pillars in order to get a great look at the site. One interesting part of the architecture was that two Medusa heads, one on its side, and one upside down, formed the foundation of two pillars at the far end of the cistern. The meaning of the heads remains a historical mystery, so it as pretty exciting to check out. Later that day, we went to an archaeology museum, which delved into ancient Mesopotamian goings-on and even the more modern Roman relics shedding light on Turkey's history.

During out last full day there, Val and I took a boat tour on the Bosphorous River, which was awesome. Not so much because of the tour guide (we couldn't hear a thing between his accent and the terrible speakers), but because Val and I had a lot of fun on the boat. The sites we passed by were eye candy, and Val insisted on borrowing boat blankets and using them as props to pass the time. It made for some silly pictures.



The tour ended with a cable-car ride looking over the Golden Horn, a body of water that had its own special history in Turkey, and a ride along Istanbul's ancient Byzantine walls--which were incredible to look at.

In between all the big stuff, Val and I had a great time just chilling as well. We hit some great restaurants (one involving belly and traditional Turkish dancing), met a new friend from Britain who was super interesting, chilled in an underground pub to play chess and which music videos, read books, and just talked. I'm so glad I was able to share such a great trip with such a great friend. Having Val there really made the whole experience worthwhile.


Shalom,
Eric

Episode 02: "The Greek Half" (+) [P2]

A couple of weeks after I left the kibbutz, my buddy Val and I took a two-week trip to Greece and Turkey. Here's where I give a personal shout-out to Mom, who made it possible for me. And now for the Greek half of my trip.

After we found our hostel, the youth-centric "Athens Backpackers", Val and I hit the ground running with the tourist attractions. The first place we found was the famous Acropolis, an ancient site at the center of Athens.

The amphitheater.

The Temple of Athena.

The rock we found that had a beautiful view of Athens.

The weather was warm, and the atmosphere was inviting, so we were sold on Greece the first day through. The next day, we came back to the same area to check out the Agora, or the "place of gathering" back in Ancient Greece's heyday. We were lucky enough to see some cool archaeological ruins, and we made our way through them toward some of the tourist staples around:

Temple Hephaistos.

The museum.

Val walking out of a Byzantine church.

After the Agora, we got directions to Mount Lycabettus, which we had seen from the Acropolis rock the day before. We made a trek through a busy part of the city, up the mount, and made it to the top with an insanely beautiful view as our reward. While there, we were able to check out an awesome white-washed church at the summit.

The view from Lycabettus.

One of the fantastic mural paintings of gospel scenes
in the church we came upon.

The day after, Val and I checked out an even higher mount--the mountain Hymettos. Searching blindly for a path to the top, Val and I eventually came across a path sparsely marked by red spraypaint. Although the climb was great exercise on a sunny day, there was a slight negative edge to the hike--no guide, no working phones, no sense of direction. We made it to the top though, and got a view from so high it felt like it was from space. Afterward, going back down was a little more lighthearted.

Val.

And Me. In outer space.

The next day, we made a ferry voyage to the island of Santorini, explained to us as one of the most beautiful places in all of Greece. Hot springs, beaches, beautiful buildings, great night life, and there was even a hot tub at our hostel. Unfortunately, all those possibilities were cut off by the winter season. When we got to the island, everything was dead, gray and rainy. We experienced exactly zero of the famed attractions. I think this next picture of Val in Santorini sums it all up:

Miserable.

We made a friend named Hye-Kyoong at our hostel during our last night there, and played charades to pass the time. Charades. Meeting Hye-Kyoong was cool, but it wasn't nearly enough to redeem the black hole that was Santorini. Never again.

We got out of there a day early and managed to catch more of the rainstorm on the mainland, which closed down the museum we wanted to hit up. Val and I improvised and made our way to the Olympic stadium (the one built for the games in 2004), and caught a European basketball game. Our time there wasn't bad at all.


We went to the movies that night and caught an early flight to Istanbul the next morning. Aside from that misstep into the Santorini Manhole, we'd done all right for ourselves. And I was definitely looking forward to what Turkey had to offer next.

Shalom,
Eric

Episode 01: "The Judge" (+) [P1]

A short time before I left Kibbutz Samar, I was fortunate enough to make a trip to the ancient city of Petra, in Jordan. Petra is known for its exceptional rock carvings formed by the ancient Nabateans, a pre-Islamic Arab people. During a weekday, I hitched a morning ride from one of the kibbutz vans. Thanks to the help of one of the wonderful women inside, Batya, I was dropped off as close to the Jordan border as possible.

The road to Jordan.

This would be my second time in an Arabic-speaking country, and my time in Egypt was definitely at the forefront of my mind. But without my two other "judges" with me--Eric and Gaby, from last semester--I was going to have to brave all the nuances of Arabic culture on my own, whatever they might be.

Getting through the border was fine, and I found a cab driver named Mohammad soon after I crossed over. I tried negotiating a price, keeping my Egypt performance with that in mind, but a faulty start on my part kind of sealed the deal before I could wrestle any shining bargains out of the guy. Guess it's gonna a few more tries to nail down this "being assertive" thing.

Fortunately, Mohammad was exceptionally nice and actually seemed genuine. He bought me food on the way to Petra, talked with me and gave me some helpful advice about the weather: a mounting storm would be putting a lot of snow on the ground, so I couldn't stay in Petra too long--or I might get stuck in Jordan for the night. He dropped me off, arranged a meeting time with me, and sent me on my way. This was one of the first structures I saw:

This kind of thing is commonplace in Petra.

I walked through a long rock corridor, which was made naturally by water, but improved and finished by the Nabateans for my viewing pleasure.

Soon I was at the famous Treasury, the monolith of a building that this place is known for. It was ridiculously large and clearly made with skill and care. I chilled at that spot for a while to take it in.

After the treasury, I came across a gorgeous amphitheater. My roommate Brian had told me about it before, and it was a great site to see up close. I also passed by a few other incredible structures as the road stretched on.


I made an impulsive detour and found myself completely alone, exploring one of the hundreds of offshoots that led to higher ground. Climbing the stairs to the top was kind of thrilling to do on my own, and finally seeing the top view was rewarding. I took it all in at the summit, aware that I wouldn't be able to see everything with the short amount of time I had, but glad I had made the most of it.

The beginning of the climb.

At the summit.

And on a side note, compared to the horde of tourist-predators I'd met in Egypt, Petra hadn't been that bad at all. A little girl in Petra had offered me a beautiful rock, and asked me for something in return. When I told her I didn't have anything for her, she told me to keep the rock anyway. Later, a bedouin woman had asked me to buy something, and when I said no, she still invited me for tea. And driving home, Mohammed bought me a pretty big lunch, free of charge. It was a nice, refreshing reality check: Just because I'd made mistakes in Egypt didn't mean everyone was out to get me.

Mohammed got me home okay and gave me his card in case I wanted to come back to Petra. As beautiful as the city was the first time, there was plenty more to see. I'm planning on making it back there, soon.

Shalom,
Eric

P.S. - [P] is for "photos" from now on, if I have an album to attach to the entry. You can find the photos under the "production stills" sidebar.