My fatigue from only getting four hours of sleep the previous night served me well: Unaware of the time, I dozed in and out of consciousness for what felt like just a few hours. I remember glancing out the window of the plane and seeing city-sized chunks of ice floating in the ocean near Nova Scotia. It didn’t really sink in as to where I was, though, until the pilot announced that we were about to land: I had slept all the way back to Newark!
The plane flew in from the north. I was on the right side of the aircraft, so I didn’t get a view of New York City. No matter, though. I’d have a second chance on my connecting flight.
As soon as the wheels touched down, I thought to myself “I’m back. I’m back in America.”
A bloodhound sniffing for contraband.
Once out of the plane, I got my bags and headed to a security checkpoint. A bloodhound was making the rounds with an official, sniffing bags for contraband or anything dangerous. I’m sure the dog thought the entire thing was a game, with the owner excitedly giving it instructions so it would stay focused. It was cute!
I never thought that guy would become a verb.
While in line at the security checkpoint, I also spotted a sign that I thought Carmel, one of my now-former coordinators, would find amusing. (See right.)
I got through the checkpoint, re-checked my luggage and found my way to the terminal of my connecting flight. At 5AM on a Friday, it was virtually deserted. There, I spotted text I hadn’t seen in five months: The name ‘Minneapolis’.
“Minneapolis.” I hadn’t seen that name in five month.
I was excited, but I was also struck by an emotion I hadn’t expected: sadness. Never before had I looked at the name ‘Minneapolis’ and had sad thoughts, but I had such a wonderful time in Tel Aviv that going back to my old life saddened me a little.
Shaking it off so as to not get into a bad funk, I stopped in the bathroom, where I spotted a ‘Wet Floor’ sign, written in English and Spanish. “Ah yes, Spanish!” I thought to myself. After living in a country where English isn’t the primary language, I’ve realized just how important that second line of text can be. A translation can be a lifesaver. It can instantly change a situation from foreign to familiar; from anxious and unsure to calm and confident. My experience in Israel has given me a whole new appreciation for these translations.
Once aboard my connecting flight, I was fortunate enough to be treated to the beginnings of sunrise over New York:
Port NewarkManhattan. Note the Empire State Building on the far left, and the beautiful new World Trade Center on the right.The sun had been chasing my flights all night. Now, it finally caught up.
After that nice photo opportunity, I took a look around the cabin of my plane. There were only five of us on it!! I guess a 6:30AM flight from Newark to Minneapolis on a Friday isn’t a popular one!
I dozed off, and once again to my surprise, awoke as we were descending toward Minneapolis. This was perfect: I was now well-rested, and my flight was set to touch down at 8:30AM. I had no jet lag!
Out my window was a now-lit winter wonderland. I started searching for landmarks. I spotted what I thought might be White Bear Lake, but that lake is northeast of Minneapolis, and the airport was south. Thinking I had to be mistaken, I did a little geography in my head: “If that’s White Bear Lake, then downtown would be…” I looked across the empty sets to my left, and out the window was downtown Minneapolis, the symbol of my home!
We banked all the way around downtown. I saw the lakes I know so well, currently frozen over: Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles. My lakes!
From top: Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun, and Lake of the Isles.
As we lined up with the runway for our final approach, I took a photo of one of my favorite angles of downtown:
Downtown Minneapolis. My home.
Touchdown.
I was home. My journey was over. With a big sigh, I disembarked, got my luggage, and walked out of the airport. My father was waiting to pick me up right where we agreed. (It was another turn of good fortune: had the airport been busier, he would have had to circle around a few times in his car.)
It felt strange as we drove home, as though I had stepped into a time machine. Nothing here had changed. We went through so much, my adopted family and I. We did so much. Then, suddenly, I’m back and it’s like I never left.
I brought my suitcases into my house, sat down on my bed, and looked out my window. Everything was so familiar, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Did the last five months really happen? Or was it all a dream? A wonderful, beautiful dream?”
From time to time, that thought still crosses my mind. Then I look at my phone: I see photos, videos, posts on Facebook and Snapchat, our WhatsApp conversation (which is still alive and kicking!), and I remember that yes, it was real! It was all real! With tears in my eyes and a grin on my face, I lament that it’s over, but smile that it happened.
It was the most amazing experience of my life.
* * *
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this blog as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. It was a chore at times, but I figured that since my journey was only going to be for five months, I could handle it. I’m going to leave this blog online for the foreseeable future so that others can read and relive these experiences at their leisure.
As for me, my next step is to find a job in the renewable energy sector. The purpose of my internship was to take control of my career and guide it towards that goal. Now, I have experience in the industry, and proof of my commitment: I was willing to quit a good paying job with great benefits and great coworkers, leave a wonderful apartment, and put everything I owned into storage—basically, uproot my entire life–in order to pursue my dream.
Having lived in Tel Aviv also made me much more receptive to relocating. Minneapolis would be ideal, since most of my relatives live here. But I’m no longer quite as attached to it as I once was. This journey has helped me grow.
I’m sure I’ll look back at this blog from time to time, smiling at the photos, reliving the memories, and probably cringing at my writing. Thank you for following along! It’s heartening and humbling to know that there are people out there who care enough about me to follow my rants and recollections. You were my inspiration, and what kept me writing.
Oliver and I awoke around 10AM. We had only four hours of sleep in us, but surprisingly, I wasn’t that groggy. (I can’t speak for Oliver, but he seemed to be okay, too.)
I did my usual morning routine: taking a shower, getting dressed, shaving, eating, and brushing my teeth. That was where the day’s usual activities ended, however. We were scheduled to check out of Lunz at noon. Oliver and I finished packing everything but the flags.
When the time came, we held an impromptu ceremony: “Bottom right corner!” Oliver said. “Bottom right corner,” I responded, as we each removed the tape holding the corner of our flag. “Bottom left corner!” Oliver said. “Bottom left corner,” I acknowledged. “Upper right corner!” The flags drooped. “Upper left corner!” Our country’s flags fell, but we caught them. We looked at each other, and started folding them. Oliver said a few words, something along the lines of “We lay these flags to rest, but know that in our hearts, Lunz still lives on.” I replied with “The UN isn’t a place. It’s a state of mind!” We both laughed, and tucked our flags into our bags.
While the others finished some laundry and packing, I cleared the dish rack and organized the Tupperware, pots, and pans. Around noon, Leah arrived to check us out. Yas had agreed to take the left over food to her parents’ place in Herzliya, but she bit off a little more than she could chew: There was still a lot left that she couldn’t fit in her bags. Fortunately, Leah eagerly volunteered to take the rest! I was pleased that we weren’t going to have to throw any of it out.
While Leah packed up the remaining food, Zach wrote a note on the couch, a little reminder that we were here:
“Destination Israel-128. The Lunch Street fam: Zach P., Oliver R., Daniel V., Aaron G., Rebecca W., Yasmin K. September 2014-February 2015. With love.”
We hung out in the living room, luggage surrounding us, while Leah finished packing the food and taking care of a phone call. None of us really wanted to leave. It was around 1PM when Leah got off the phone and noticed us all sitting in the living room. “You’re all still here…” she said in her usual half-joking manner.
We laughed, and finally gathered our bags as Yas ordered a cab to take her to her parents’ place in Herzliya. She was staying in Israel for at least six months, maybe longer, and was going to live in Herzliya until she found her own place. As she gathered her bags, someone mentioned that she came to Lunz with only two bags, but was leaving with six! We joked about it, then helped carry her bags down to the cab. I started to say goodbye to her, but she said she would be back around 4PM. My flight wasn’t until 11PM, so we figured we would probably see each other one more time. Still, I gave her a big hug, just in case.
After she left, the rest of us hauled our bags downstairs. Rebecca was going to go stay at her sister’s place until she got her own apartment–she was staying in Israel, as well–and Daniel was going to his family’s place in Ramat Gan for a while before heading back to the U.S. That meant the two of them were going to turn left out of Lunz. The rest of us were going right. Tears in my eyes, I hugged each of them, and we said goodbye.
Zach, Oliver, Leah, and I took a right onto Rothschild. Oliver was going to stay in a hotel until his flight on the 8th, and he quickly flagged down a cab. We made plans to get dinner that night, so we just waved and said “See you later.”
Zach, Leah, and I then walked down to the ATM near Habima. Leah and I needed some cash, and Zach was staying for a few days at a place in that direction. He was going to travel to Berlin for a week, then return to the U.S. Once we made our withdrawals, I turned to Zach, we shared a quick hug, and he was off.
Leah had to take off right after to go sign out another apartment. I warmly thanked her one last time for all of her efforts.
That left me at Habima. I took a deep breath. I had about 10 hours until my flight. Fortunately, a couple of days ago, Mason generously allowed me to stay at Levinsky for the afternoon, so I caught a cab and headed over there.
The Levinsky table made from a door. (Seriously: it still had the handle on it and everything.)
Levinsky was originally going be allowed to stay in their place for another few days. After everything they had to deal with in that apartment—bedbugs, walls that leaked when it rained, an inadequate kitchen, and other maladies—Destination Israel wasn’t planning on renewing the lease, so there was no need to kick them out on the 5th in preparation for the next group. However, one of the staff at Destination Israel still wanted to use it again–we did have a lot of parties there, after all–so a couple of days ago, he and Leah made a deal: If the Levinsky folks said they liked living there, then they would renew. She had been on the receiving end of their miseries for five months, so she knew this was a slam dunk.
What she didn’t anticipate, however, was the nostalgia factor.
She gathered a few of the Levinsky folks on either the 3rd or the 4th (I’m not quite sure which) and asked their opinions on the place. They were in full-blown rose-colored glasses mode, so despite the problems, they said they would live there again! Leah was not pleased.
As a result, yesterday afternoon Destination Israel decided that they needed to have Levinsky moved out on the 5th–today–so that they could clean and paint the place for the next group. That left Mason, Andrew, Garrett, and Brittney–the last folks still at Levinsky–with one day to pack everything. (One last encounter with Israeli planning! Oh boy!)
Scrambling, Destination Israel figured out that they could put them in the nearby Florentine area, where Karen, Starr, Fjo, Natti, and others had lived, since those guys were all checking out today as well, and their apartments didn’t need as much prep time for next group as Levinsky did.
Thus, when I arrived, Garrett, Mason, Andrew, and Brittney were scrambling to pack. I helped out as much as I could, taking a few nostalgic photos along the way.
A snapchat to the group. I helped bag the bottles for recycling, among other things. They had an impressive collection!
About a half hour after we finished packing, Sonya and Carmel showed up to move everyone to their new digs and sign them out of Levinsky. We took multiple trips back and forth from Levinsky to Florentine, taking all of their belongings, as well as mine, down the elevator, down the street, then up two flights of stairs to Florentine.
On my last round of hauling luggage from Levinsky, I stopped to take one final look around. I never thought I’d be sad to see this place empty. It’s dirty, it’s sloppy, it’s unfinished, and it leaks like a sieve. But it was our HQ, our home base. We had so many great times here: potlucks, pregames, parties. It was a symbol of our time together. Seeing it empty was tremendously saddening. It really hit home that it was over.
I took one final look at the Levinsky deck, gathered the remaining luggage, and left.
Farewell, Levinsky deck!
As soon as we finally had all of our belongings moved into Florentine, it was time for Natti and Fjo had to leave. Natti was making aliyah and was going to live in one of the settlements in the West Bank. Fjo was going to go back to Holland for a week, then was moving to London to be with his girlfriend. I helped Fjo and Natti carry their bags out to the waiting cabs, and with a hug, we said our goodbyes.
With a sigh, I went back up to Florentine. Mason and Andrew were tight on space, so my stuff ended up being put in the room that Brittney and Garrett were sharing. That was fine, though.
We finally had some time to relax, and I had built up a sweat repeatedly carrying hundreds of pounds of stuff up two flights of stairs. I really didn’t want to be that smelly guy on the plane. Thankfully, Garrett and Brittney were kind enough to let me take a quick shower.
Aftewards, I hung out with them for a bit before Oliver texted me. He had wanted to get something to eat around 3PM, but the move from Levinsky took a lot longer than anticipated, so he ended up eating on his own. I hadn’t eaten yet, though, and we still wanted to get together one last time, so we decided to meet at the Arcaffe on Rothschild. (Arcaffe is a chain that serves sandwiches and drinks, kind of like Aroma.)
Australia, Israel, and Brazil.
On my way there, I passed the ‘Discount’ building, in front of which were a few familiar flags. (See right.) I instantly thought of my time with Oliver and Karen at the Max Brenner Chocolate Bar after our night in Herzliya, and sent the picture to them. Karen knew about this place! Apparently, the 30th floor houses the Brazilian embassy.
I arrived at Arcaffe and found Oliver waiting for me at a table. I ordered a sandwich, and he got a drink. We decided to invite Yas as well, but she said over the phone that she had a couple of interviews and housing appointments set up, and probably couldn’t make it. She’s let us know, though.
Oliver and I spent the next hour chatting about our plans. While Oliver didn’t know where he was going to spend his senior year of college, here or in Melbourne, he knew he wanted his senior thesis to revolve around building something on the molecular level, like a machine made out of DNA! We nerded out, discussing the finer points of his idea. A team in the U.S. recently did something similar, and Oliver was looking to build on their work. The prospect of making molecular-scale machines is pretty exciting, and Oliver lit up while talking about it. He is going to make a fine engineer.
As we finished our food and drinks, I gave Yas one last call. She was at Max Brenner, just down the street from us, waiting for a potential employer to show up to interview her. Unfortunately, that person was supposed to show up any minute, so Yas had to decline meeting me one last time. Still, we had a good hug outside of Lunz, so we said our goodbyes over the phone. I told her how she’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met, and wished her well.
Oliver and I said our goodbyes soon after. It was brief, as he spotted his bus coming down the road. But we shared a hug, wished each other well, and agreed to keep in touch.
As I walked back to Florentine, it finally hit me that I would probably never see Oliver, or any of my roommates, again. Tears immediately welled up in my eyes. I texted Oliver, telling him how I just realized that the fatigue from our late night had definitely affected me, because only after he took off did it really hit me that this was goodbye, and that I was now “all waterworks.” He said he knew how I felt, and was glad we didn’t both cry in Arcaffe!
I know we’ll keep in touch, though. I’m excited to hear where he decides to spend his final year of college, in Israel or in Melbourne, and I want to know how his senior project goes, and where he ends up afterwards! He was interested in knowing where I ended up, too. I’m sure we’ll hear from each other again.
As the sun set, I arrived back in Florentine and hung out with Andrew, Garrett, Brittney, and Mason. We were all pretty beat from the move, and from staying up so late the previous night, so it was very low key. We just enjoyed each other’s company.
While we relaxed, we kept in contact with everyone via our phones. Jess’ flight had been delayed that morning, so he ended up chilling at Ben Gurion Airport for a few hours. Morgan shared her new digs via Snapchat. It’s a very nice place close to Motskin (but without mold)! She, Starr, and Yael were hanging out there. Zach was chilling with the Sarahs and Tanya in their new digs. The Sarahs were going to have to go back to the U.S. for a bit, but were coming back to Israel to live together with Tanya in a place they leased a few days prior. Adina helped Amy move into a place in Ramat Gan, and was going to travel to Europe for a week with Deborah before heading back to L.A.
While checking Snapchat I also saw a video Garrett made earlier of him walking through the now-empty Levinsky. Emotions welled up in me. “Aw, jeez, Garrett!!” I said to him while I laughed and cried at the same time.
Karen texted me, as well. She knew I was leaving today, and was curious how it was going. I told her how everyone had to leave their apartments today, and that Levinsky was staying in her old building in Florentine. I also sent her a picture:
Mason, his friend Ethan, Andrew, and Brittney relaxing in Florentine. (Garrett was sitting to my right.)
After an hour or so of melancholy relaxation, it was time for me to leave.
Hanging out with Levinsky all day kind of felt like a long goodbye. Just like with Oliver, my fatigue made me feel a little numb to the whole thing, so there were no tears. (Lord knows there would have been, otherwise!!) I still knew it was goodbye, though. I hugged everyone, wishing them well: Garrett. Brittney. Andrew. Mason’s friend, Ethan. Mason went to take a nap, but after getting the okay from his roommates that it would be fine to wake him, I walked over to his room, and said goodbye to him as well. I walked back to Brittney and Garrett’s room one last time, got my luggage, and walked out the door. Turning around to close the door behind me, Garrett and I warmly shared one final goodbye.
I caught a cab to the nearby train station which would take me to the airport. After paying the cab driver and buying my train ticket, I was amused to see I had exactly one of every shekel coin in my wallet: 1, 2, 5, and 10. It was good luck! I was hoping to have a little Israeli money on me as a memento.
The date was displayed on the train I took to the airport. It’s a date I had known was coming for five months. Looking at it, it still didn’t feel real.
As I took the train to the airport, I reflected on my time here. When I set off on this trip, I didn’t have any expectations for my social life, good or bad. I knew I would be living with other people, and that there were about 40 people on the trip. But my expectations were all about my work. After all, I came here to advance my career. While I think I succeeded in that, I had no idea just how important the social aspect of this journey would be. These people, they were so much more to me than fellow participants. I had grown closer to them than most people I’ve known in my life. We laughed together, cried together, traveled together, ate together.
We lived as a family.
We were a family.
We are a family.
I walked into Ben Gurion Airport, and immediately recalled when I first arrived here with Jess and Sarah. I saw the ATM where we first withdrew Israel’s multicolored “monopoly money”, as I called it. I remembered taking the train with Jess into Tel Aviv, and looking up what stops we needed using my new laptop.
It’s funny, thinking back to my first impression of those two–the only first impressions I can recall–and how our relationship grew. Sarah is a kind woman with a wonderfully dry sense of humor. Jess is a man of few words, with a laid back attitude and a great sense of humor. I had no idea who they were when I was last in this airport. I’m honored to have had the opportunity to find out.
I made my way through the usual rigmaroles of the airport. Though unlike in some places, the security personnel here serve a vital function, protecting this tiny country from the very real threats it faces. As a result, they take their jobs very seriously, as they should. With a full understanding of why they have to do what they do, they briefly interrogated me, and I warmly answered their questions. I even struck up a small conversation with one of them.
About half way through the layers of security, I spoke a little Hebrew with one employee, asking if I was in the right spot. He gave me a response in Hebrew—which I didn’t understand, of course—and after I said my usual line in Hebrew of “Sorry, I don’t speak a lot of Hebrew,” he said one of my favorite things an Israeli has ever said to me: “Ah, sorry. You looked like you did.”
Midwest white boy status: defeated.
As my plane took off, I was glued to the window. We were flying over Tel Aviv at night—a gorgeous site. I could see the Azrieli Towers, Rothschild, Habima, the Discount building, Gordon Beach, the overlook in Yafo. And I quietly started crying. Sobbing. A woman sitting behind me asked if I was alright, and how my time was in Israel. Failing to hold back tears, I simply said “…Words fail…It was wonderful.”
It’s not the places that made me cry. It’s the people I left behind.
For five months our suitcases were stacked on top of each other in the living room, standing by while we enjoyed our time here. Now, we had to take them down and begin packing.
It was slightly depressing, but we stayed in good spirits. Oliver and I decided to keep our flags on our walls until tomorrow. They were our only wall art, and the room would look terribly empty without them. Plus, they were kind of a symbol of our habitance here, so we figured they should be the last thing to go.
After I finished packing what I could (I still needed some things for tomorrow, after all), I did a deep clean of the living room, finding money and various Apple adapters in the process. “Oh, I was looking for that!” was a common exclamation of my roommates.
I also dealt more with the logistics of how to deactivate my phone with Golan Telecom, part of which included taking a little trip to Dizengoff Center, where I came across this cute little piece of art:
Very appropriate.
That night, Oliver, Daniel, Rebecca, and I went out to dinner at a very nice restaurant near Rabin Plaza called Brasserie. (Yas would have come, but she wasn’t feeling well.) We had a nice, though slightly melancholy conversation about our plans following the program, and some of our favorite memories and parties. I recalled Danny’s goodbye party at Levinsky, and when Oliver, Rebecca, and I first walked to Gordon beach while coming up with animals that represented everyone in Lunz. One of Oliver’s favorite memories was jamming with Yas and Danny on Rothschild, and earning 80 shekels in the process! Rebecca enjoyed all the time spent laughing with Oliver and the rest of us. Daniel wasn’t sure what his favorite memory was—there were so many!
After dinner, we got some ice cream at a place that Daniel, Myriam, and I went a few weeks prior. We sat in Rabin Plaza to eat it while enjoying this city together for one final night. The three of them then went off to do their own thing (I don’t recall what), while I took a bus to Yafo to do something I’ve been meaning to do since I discovered the place during a date: take an HDR photo of Tel Aviv from a hill near the beach. The result:
Tel Aviv at night.
Following my little photo excursion, I headed back to Lunz for a bit. Lilah and Jess had flights tomorrow morning at 5 and 8AM, respectively, and Oliver and I wanted to go say goodbye. Conveniently, Lilah was spending her last few hours in the city at Levinsky, along with Morgan and Yael who accompanied her from Motskin.
When we arrived, the Levinsky crew was taking photos in custom-made shirts!
The Levinsky crew……now in matching jerseys!
(Ruth, who was also a member of Levinsky, left Tel Aviv a few days prior–while I was still in my flu-induced coma–so the group isn’t quite complete in these photos, but it has most of them.)
While watching them pose, I did a double-take when I noticed Daniel standing next to me—I thought he was sleeping at Lunz! We had a good laugh, then commented on the shirt idea, wishing we’d thought of it for our place.
We all hung out together for a couple of hours, laughing about this and that, discussing our plans going forward, and reminiscing.
Then a surprising first goodbye came: Lindsey had a flight around midnight, and needed to get to the airport around 10PM.
I never really got to know Lindsey that well. The most I talked with her was back at ulpan. But I learned that she has a great sense of humor, often delivering great one-liners at the perfect time. This evening I also learned that she is a very loyal friend, someone you can always count on to have your back, or if you need to talk.
Her sense of humor showed during our goodbye, with her making witty remarks to most of us as she went around in a circle hugging us. A few people starting getting teary-eyed, including me. Starr and a few others escorted her into the elevator to help take her bags to the cab. The door to the elevator closed, and just like that, she was gone.
We took a moment to collect ourselves, then slowly returned to the Levinsky couches to continue enjoying what precious time we had left together.
Garret, Yael, and a friend of Mason’s named Ethan.
Midnight came and went. 1AM. 2AM. Oliver started falling asleep in a chair leaning against the refrigerator. He slowly listed to one side, and all of us turned to watch what would happen when he finally fell. The room grew quiet with anticipation, which Oliver apparently noticed, as he opened his eyes to find us all staring at him! After a good round of laughter, he went to take a nap in Garrett’s bed, asking us to wake him before Lilah leaves.
Then 3AM came. Lilah’s flight was around 5AM, so she had to get to the airport. She was anxious, smiling nervously and stating how she didn’t want to leave. She was only going to be gone for a month though; she was going to make aliyah! But leaving for any period of time made her stomach sink.
To cheer her up, we had the idea that she should jump on Oliver’s bed to wake him up. Unfortunately, the guy was already awake when we went into the room. We came back out, and reluctantly, people starting saying goodbye to Lilah, tears welling up in our eyes.
Andrew. Daniel. Jess. Garrett. Brittney. Mason. Me. Oliver. Most were staying in Israel, but Oliver hadn’t decided whether he would join them. Lilah really liked Oliver, so saying goodbye to him was very, very hard.
Then came her roommates at Motskin.
“Oh no…” I recall her saying through tears as she looked at Yael and Morgan.
Morgan is coming back to Israel just like Lilah, so they’ll surely see each other again. However, Yael is not. She’s going back to California for a time, then moving to Miami.
They held each other, crying that this time was ending, but overjoyed that they had the chance to meet each other and live together for five wonderful months.
As they embraced, only a sniffle or sigh penetrated the silence…Then it was time for Lilah to go. Oliver and I helped take her bags downstairs. A cab she called earlier pulled up, we loaded her stuff, and had one final goodbye hug. The last I saw of her in person was of her waving at us, red faced and in tears, but smiling. Oliver and I looked the same.
As the cab drove away, Oliver and I looked at each other. “This sucks,” Oliver said to me. “Yea,” I responded. We didn’t need any more words.
We took the elevator back upstairs, and stayed at Levinsky until around 5AM. Garrett mentioned that the morning Muslim prayers should be happening soon. Oliver and I hadn’t heard them before. Curious, we stuck around.
The timing of the prayers are dictated by the sun, and unfortunately, it was coming up later now than it used to. By 5:15AM, Oliver and I couldn’t wait anymore. We needed to get some sleep—we had a big day ahead of us, as we had to be out of Lunz by noon.
Before leaving, we said our goodbyes to Jess, who had a flight around 8AM. Jess was the first guy I met on this trip, way back at Newark. I gave him a hug, saying “It’s been a pleasure, bud. Take care of yourself.” I meant every word.
Oliver and I walked back to Lunz, talking about this amazing journey, and how it felt to be saying goodbye. We were sad, of course, but also thrilled that we had the privilege of being a part of it.
As we turned from Rothschild onto Lunz one last time, I paused as I noticed something I hadn’t seen before: a light in the east.
Today was a chill day at Lunz. Nothing special, I spent it doing laundry, working on this blog, and looking into some technicalities with getting my phone provider switched upon my return to the U.S.
That evening, however, was something very special: a graduation ceremony put on jointly by our coordinators and some of us. Going into it, I knew a few of the things were going to see: Zach’s slideshow, the awards that he and Roden spearheaded, and the song Oliver had been writing. (I was only privy to any of this because I I was lucky enough to have lived at Lunz. Most people had no idea.) I didn’t know what else to expect though, and I was looking forward to it!
Dressed up for the occasion, we gathered in the same building as the Israel Advocacy enrichment, but this time went upstairs instead of downstairs. Leah gave a few opening remarks, then handed out something I had forgotten about: Letters we wrote to ourselves way back during our first meeting together, at Habima on September 9th. The letters listed our goals for the trip. They’re private (which is probably why I didn’t mention it in my blog until now), but I will say that I met my primary goal, and didn’t meet my secondary one. (I knew the second one was a long shot, though.)
After that little remembrance, Lilah surprised us with a song! Standing in front of all of us, she became very nervous, but she gathered her courage and treated us to her voice. She choose to sing “Feels Like Home”, by Chantal Kreviazuk. I hadn’t heard it before, but was deeply touched as Lilah started singing:
“Somethin’ in your eyes, makes me wanna lose myself Makes me wanna lose myself, in your arms There’s somethin’ in your voice, makes my heart beat fast Hope this feeling lasts, the rest of my life
If you knew how lonely my life has been And how long I’ve been so alone And if you knew how I wanted someone to come along And change my life the way you’ve done…”
Her voice trembling, she had to stop a few times—she was crying!
Lilah often puts up a warm, but strong façade, so seeing her cry really hit me hard. While I knew that this trip was coming to an end, this was first time that I got tears in my eyes. Not just for me, but for Lilah: She had really fallen in love with Israel, and with this group of people (as had I). She was going to make aliyah, but first she had to go back to Philadelphia for a month.
However, even if we had all stayed, the end of this program would still be worthy of tears. It wouldn’t be the same afterwards. It couldn’t be. This program brought us together in ways nothing else could. We shared trips, meals, homes, and hardships. Through it all, we became more than friends. We became a family.
With tears streaming down her face, Lilah finished her song:
“...It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me It feels like I’m all the way the back where I come from It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me It feels like I’m all the way back where I belong It feels like I’m all the way back where I belong”
The room broke out in tremendous applause!!
Lilah sat down, apologizing for the quality of her singing! I gave her a hug, telling her there was no need to apologize; her song was beautiful.
Next was Oliver. He had been working on a piece with a piano accompaniment over the last week. Unlike other songs he’s written (I once told him he’s “so full of music”, an observation he enjoys), he wanted this one to be more of a roast, with a verse for each person in the program. It was a daunting task–there are 38 of us–but with a little help from a few of us on a couple of versus, he pulled it off!
The jokes were all in good spirit, often poking fun at various things that happened to people on the program, or funny personality traits. He started out extremely raunchy, setting the tone for the song and bringing tremendous laughter to the room!! You can watch the beginning of it here. (I’ll post the full version whenever Garrett gets it to me.)
After that hilarity, it was appropriate to hand out the superlatives that Zach and Sarah R. made. Everyone got at least one, and all were met with laughter. As a nice jab at this blog, my award was “Most likely to film his future wife giving birth.” I absolutely love it!!
Next, we watched Zach’s slideshow, which was full of photos we had submitted to him, along with ones he parsed from Facebook. It was in chronological order, which made it a great way to relive the whole program. His song choices were solid, too, the first being “Pop Culture” by Madeon.
It was a touching slideshow, full of great moments, and a lot of photos I hadn’t seen before! (This was a little surprising because the group has a couple of shared albums on Facebook where we uploaded a lot of our photos throughout the program.) As Zach held back tears, we applauded his hard work.
Next, we decided to show Karen’s video to those who hadn’t seen it yet. I linked to that video in my last blog, but you can watch it again here. It’s very touching!
Finally, Sonya and Carmel handed out certificates to each of us for attending the program, along with a little personal note.
Before adjourning, our coordinators reminded us of the very last thing they had planned for us: a gathering at 9:30PM at a place called Dola Bar, near Motskin. As a well-earned “Thank you” to Zach for taking on a sort of coordinator position among the group, Leah said she would be buying all of his drinks! His efforts also added so much to the program that Leah announced that Destination Israel would ask all future groups for a volunteer to take on the role Zach created for himself!! Well done, Zach.
The graduation ceremony wrapped at 6:30PM, and Dola Bar wasn’t scheduled until 9:30PM, so we had some time to kill. Oliver, Lilah, Yael, Sharon, Jess, Andrew, Morgan, and I decided to go get dinner together. We wandered around a bit, settling on a pizza place nearby.
Lilah was depressed about the program ending (though I think all of us were), and had a hankering for some ice cream, so while we waited for our orders, I walked her to a nearby AM:PM (a convenience store chain here) to buy some.
We arrived back at the pizza place to some good food–and a stray cat. White and orange fur, the thing was very affectionate, brushing up against people’s legs and meowing. Lilah promptly befriended it, of course. It also had a snaggletooth sticking out the front of its mouth like a grain of rice! It looked ridiculous, though it also made the cat more endearing…to some of us. Yael, Sharon, Morgan, and Andrew were not amused when the thing brushed up against their legs! They jumped in their seats, then froze, waiting for it to go away! Good times.
After dinner, we still had a couple of hours to kill before meeting at Dola Bar, so we decided to hold a pregame at Motskin–or as we had come to call it at this point, Mold-skin.
That place was originally the best apartment of the program, freshly renovated and complete with a working dishwasher (something very rare in Israel), but it quickly deteriorated. Over the course of the season, mold started appearing on parts of the walls and ceiling as it rained, and Yael developed a bad cough because of mold in the ductwork! (Oh, and the dishwasher broke after the first month and was never properly repaired.) The ducts were cleaned a couple months ago and Yael’s cough went away, but they couldn’t do anything about the walls until after the residents moved out at the end of the program.
I don’t understand how Israelis can be on the cutting edge of innovation, yet can’t figure out how to properly renovate an apartment. Regardless, we only had a couple days left in the program, so it didn’t really matter anymore.
Yael and Garrett at our final gathering at Motskin
After dropping my Destination Israel certificate off at Lunz, I joined my friends at Motskin one last time. We had fun pregaming, and Lilah sang her song again for us “the way it was supposed to sound,” according to her.
We left for Dola Bar at around 10:30PM. Right outside of the apartment we crossed paths with someone who said “Excuse me” in English as he passed. “Hey, English!” I said. The guy stopped, and we struck up a conversation. Turns out, he was an American who lived in the same building as the Motskin folks. He said he’d seen them a few times, though Lilah, Morgan, and Yael didn’t have any recollection. We invited him to come to Dola Bar with us, but he had to turn us down, as he had work in the morning. He seemed like a nice guy. It was too bad we met him so close to the end of our time here.
A short walk later, we arrived at Dola Bar to find most of our group and a good portion of the October session. I was still recovering from the flu, so I only had water, but I still had fun conversations with Yas, Natti, Adina, and others.
The place had a knock-off version of Connect Four (of all things) sitting at some tables, so German Daniel and I played a few games while people watched. (He’s good! We stalemated once and he beat me once! I think the only person to beat me at Connect Four was my older brother when we were kids.) I also played a few games with Adina, Starr, and a couple of the people on the October session, Aaron and Loca.
Me and Loca, with Loca holding her picture of her and Natalie Portman. (You’re going to have to trust me that it’s her.)
Loca is Russian, and has some connection (details of which I don’t recall) with the Jewish Museum in Moscow, which led to an interesting encounter: While living in Tel Aviv, she was given a paid ticket back to Moscow in order to escort actor Natalie Portman and her family through the museum! She said she spent about 40 minutes chatting with her after the tour, and that she’s a very nice woman!
That means I’m one degree of separation from Natalie Portman! Sweet.
Anyway, we still had a couple of days until the end, so this didn’t really feel like a goodbye party. However, with graduation still fresh in my mind, I savored every moment.
I didn’t take my temperature to confirm it, but I’m pretty sure I woke up with a fever today. I also had chills and was achy all over. It was pure misery. As you might imagine, I couldn’t do much of anything the entire day.
That evening, however, Lunz hosted our final potluck dinner! I couldn’t cook anything for it, obviously, but I did manage to come out of my cave for a little while and try to be social. (Though really, I just spent most of the evening inside my own head while sitting on the couch.) Still, it was better than having the potluck somewhere else and me not being able to attend at all!
Our final potluck dinner.Starr being Starr, with Oliver be creepin’ in da back.Starr made a lovely braid for Sarah R.
February 1st:
My flu symptoms changed dramatically today, with my aches and fever replaced with a runny nose. Definitely an improvement, though kind of a sideways one. Perhaps I am recovering?
I still spent most of the day in bed. However, my energy level was a little higher than yesterday, so I managed to go through some emails. At least the day wasn’t a total waste.
February 2nd:
I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel: I woke up today feeling weak from my ordeal, but other than that, had no symptoms. Hallelujah!!
It was just in time, too: There was an optional enrichment activity scheduled for today called Dialogue in the Dark. It’s an exhibition meant “to facilitate social inclusion of marginalized people on a global basis by reversing the roles of blind and sighted people within the exhibition.” You can learn more about Dialogue in the Dark here: http://www.dialogue-in-the-dark.com/
It sounded interesting, so I signed up. It was located in Holon, a city just south of Yafo. We would meet at a bus stop just north of Dizengoff Square to take the 172 bus down there.
After getting the warm and fuzzies from Karen’s video, we took off for the meeting place. Oliver and Rebecca hoofed it, but Daniel and I took the bus: I was still weak, and Daniel had unfortunately come down with something, as well. (On the way, Daniel and I were pondering who would get to the meeting place first when we spotted Oliver and Rebecca as our bus went by! We win.)
We arrived at the bus stop and chatted with people while waiting for the 172. I was even happier than usual to see them, having just watched Karen’s video. People kindly asked how I was feeling, and I was able to give them a relief-filled answer.
The 172 finally arrived, and after a 45 minute bus ride followed by a short walk through a park, we arrived at the entrance to a small campus. On a pillar listing various exhibits was the one we were looking for:
“Invitation to silence” sounds like a nice way to say “Shut the hell up.”
Inside, we were led by a blind person through a series of completely dark rooms, each one mimicking a different environment. First was a forest, with gravel under our feet, branches we had to duck to avoid, and the sounds of crickets and running water.
Next, we were led over a small wooden bridge and onto a “boat”, which gently swayed back and forth as a motor revved and a fine sea spray tickled our skin.
We then filed through a simulated shuk, where various goods were shoved into our hands. Somehow, I ended up with three vegetables. I think one was an eggplant, and another was a potato. I don’t remember what the third was.
After our guide relieved us of the vegetables, we sat in a carpeted room and listened to various genres of music: rock, swing, classical. I was struck by the clarity of the classical music. The instruments in the other genres tended to blend together into a musical soup, but with the orchestral pieces, I could hear each individual instrument. Perhaps it was just the clarity of the recording, or perhaps its the reason why orchestral music is sometimes considered the pinnacle of musical achievement. I don’t know, but the observation stuck with me.
Finally, we were led into a small cafeteria, where we had the option of buying various snacks. Instead of looking at our coins and bills, we had to feel them in order to know how much we were paying. Of course, the blind man leading us through the exhibit knew exactly what each coin and bill felt like, so we could be sure we were paying the right amount. I paid for some peanuts using one of Israel’s newly minted 50 shekel bills, which I recognized by the paper’s smooth texture.
After buying some food, we sat in a rectangular booth with one long, padded seat that wrapped around it. (We had to scoot down it in order to make room for everyone, and after I rounded a corner, I figured out the thing’s general shape. Once we were all seated, by listening to where people spoke from, I could make out the general size of the table.)
As we ate, the man asked us our thoughts regarding the exhibit, and answered questions about what its like to be blind. A few of us mentioned how unnerving it was whenever we had to let go of the wall during the exhibit. (We held onto a wall for a good portion of the tour in order to keep from getting lost.) Others asked logistical questions, like whether he was born blind (he was), and how he did various tasks. I learned, much to my surprise, that the man can use a computer! His has audio software that says the name of whatever the mouse is hovering over (the name of a program on the desktop, for example, or various buttons on an internet browser), and reads aloud the text on the screen.
After we finished eating, we walked through a hallway into a dimly lit room–we were finally able to see again!–in order to give our eyes time to adjust before leaving. I have always found sight to be my most valuable sense, and this tour gave me a whole new appreciation for it.
Back at Lunz later that evening, Zach and Sarah R. were hard at work on a slideshow and some joke awards to be shown and given out at a “graduation” ceremony Destination Israel was putting on for us tomorrow. Each superlative was going to be tailored to the person receiving it. However, Zach and Sarah needed some help with a few people, so Rebecca, Yas, and I, and later Daniel and Sarah S., helped them come up with a few good ones. We also uniquely decorated each award with drawings using markers, as though we were back in elementary school. It was a very fun, laughter-filled evening!
After we finished, Rebecca, Oliver, Yas, the Sarahs, and I joined a bunch of other people for a little night hangout at the beach; our last one! On the way there, we stopped at a little pastry shop that the Motskin folks recommended. An employee apologized and told us that they were closing, but then very generously gave us each a small pastry!! Surprised, we thanked him profusely. (If I weren’t leaving so soon, I would make sure to come back here at some point.)
Then, totally out of left field, Oliver asked if he could get some more! Our group was incredulous, and jokingly yelled at him while I shoved him out the door. Oliver tried to vindicate himself by explaining how the pastries would just be thrown out, otherwise. It made sense, but it was still ridiculous of him! (I joked that we were now even for that time I yelled at a deaf guy.)
Once at the beach, we reminisced, told stories, and just goofed about. Oliver, Sarah S., Rebecca, and I had a pretty deep conversation surrounding Sarah’s personal life, while others smoked a hookah and played some music.
I took a mental step back and took in the scene: The waves gently crashing onto the shore in front of us; the hotels towering behind us like sentinels standing guard; the cool sand beneath our feet; the stars twinkling above us; Yafo shining in the distance; and laughter surrounding us. I sighed, looked over at Mason, and quietly said “I’m gonna miss this place.”
He agreed. A lot of us came here almost every day after work to hang out in the warm sun. Now, it was cold, dark, and windy. It was a fitting way to say goodbye to the beach.
I didn’t anticipate being needed in the office much today. All I had left to do was transfer the files from my laptop onto the company server. Roy wasn’t in the office yet, Maxim was taking the day off, and Inna was out of the country, so it was just me and Andrei. I finished getting the last of the files in order and transferring them by around 10AM. I shook Andrei’s hand and wished him well.
Before leaving, I also told him I would be more than happy to go out to lunch with him and Roy this afternoon. However, Roy doesn’t have a set eating schedule, he only eats when he has the chance, so I figured it would be a long shot. They gave me a call around 2:30PM, but only to ask for the location of the summary document I had been writing for them. That was it. Out like a lamb, I guess.
I wish them well!
The experience I gained while working there is something for which I’m eternally grateful to Inna, my coworkers, and especially Leah from Destination Israel: she worked very hard to find me that internship. I now have a position in renewable energy listed on my resume, something I can use to (hopefully) land a full-time job in the field in which I’m most passionate!!
After I got back from work, I went straight to bed. I was still sick, after all. A party was planned for that evening for a member of the October session, but since I was still fighting my mystery illness, I decided to sit it out.
January 30th:
Over the last few days, I had been suffering from fatigue and achiness, and it was getting worse. Today I settled on a diagnosis:
The flu. Again.
The symptoms fit, though the timing was crazy. Before coming here, I hadn’t had the flu since 2006 (and don’t even remember having it before then). Now, I get it twice in the span of one month?! Jeez.
I did, however, go to dinner with Oliver, Rebecca, and Daniel. Being in one’s own head when sick tends to make the symptoms feel worse than they are. Plus, I wasn’t particularly contagious–I didn’t have a running nose, and wasn’t coughing or sneezing–so I figured it would be safe to join them. I think I made the right choice! Getting out definitely helped a bit, at least for the evening.
Decorations in the lobby of Levinsky
Tonight was also a “prom” that Levinsky was putting on in the basement of their building. (“They have a basement?” I remember thinking.) In anticipation, people had been posting their high school prom photos on the WhatsApp thread throughout the day. Adorable!
I wasn’t planning on going due to my illness, but my energy level fluctuated throughout the day, and during a high point, I learned that Adina and Amy were going together and invited me to join! I figured this event might be similar to Secret Shlomo in that it might be a good bonding experience, so I dressed up nicely, gave my flu the finger, took an Advil, and rode the bus to Levinsky with Yas. (The others would join us separately.)
Once at Levinsky, we took the elevator downstairs—the prom was on the -5 floor! The elevator doors opened, and we were greeted by a candle-lit hallway. Very romantic! We followed the candles to a parking garage adorned with the Levinsky Christmas lights, chairs, and a couple of odd decorative items the Levinsky folks have picked up over these five months–an old poster and a pair of mannequin legs. (I said they were odd, didn’t I?)
No one else was down there yet, though, so we took the elevator up to Levinsky proper, and found everyone dressed up and in good spirits! My dates were also there:
We hung out in Levinsky for around a half hour before Mason herded us downstairs. (Good thing, too, as I think most would have otherwise been content to stay upstairs! Levinsky’s thinking: “This was going to be a special party, dammit! Not just another gathering at Levinsky!”)
Levinsky Prom 2015
We continued the party in the basement, with more people slowly trickling in. There were a few mixers, but I only had the non-alcoholic parts, since alcohol is pretty much the opposite of a flu remedy. A decent number of the October session folks joined us as well, and we had a great time talking and taking prom photos:
Most of the dates for Levinsky Prom 2015.
My energy level dropped pretty quickly around an hour in, so I had to say goodbye to my dates, catch a cab back to Lunz, and go to bed. Still, it was worth it!
About half way through work today, I started feeling fatigued and a little sickly. I feared I might be coming down with another cold! Still, I managed to get through work okay. However, as the evening wore on, my symptoms hung around. (Crap.) On the plus side, at least whatever this was held off until after Eilat.
Since this was our last week, Zach was in overdrive mode playing Camp Councilor and planning things for us to do each night for the rest of the trip. (This is a role he assigned himself early on in the program, and the activities he’s organized has helped bring the group much closer together. While I haven’t said it enough, I really, really appreciate his efforts!) I didn’t want to miss out, so I decided I would take the day off from work tomorrow in order to rest up and kick this thing’s butt as quickly as possible.
Despite my final week potentially being ruined, I was glad we still had one more week: not only was I loving this trip, but the forecast for New England–which is where my connecting flight is–was looking crazy, with a huge winter storm forecast to hit the region:
The forecast for the US
January 28th:
Unfortunately, my symptoms were still around this morning, so as planned, I stayed home. I spent most of the day in bed so my body could focus on fighting whatever I had, allowing me to get over it as soon as possible. I only got up to eat and do my morning chores. I also spent a little time finishing up some work for my internship. (My last day was tomorrow, after all!)
That evening, however, was our weekly enrichment. This one was about Israel advocacy. It was located near my office, in same place as the prep meeting for the Negev back on the 4th. While I was allowed to miss up to two enrichments, I wanted to go to this, so I summoned what energy I had and took a cab to it with Yas.
The enrichment itself was interesting. There were two speakers: an eloquent young woman from The States, and a former Israeli soldier, both of whom were members of Stand With Us, an Israel advocacy organization.
A good portion of the talk was spent explaining the need for Israel advocacy (something of which I was already painfully aware), followed by a discussion of who the target audience is; which people would be willing to listen. The people staging dramatic anti-Israel protests on college campuses? Not so much. The ardent Zionists who feel Israel can do no wrong? Surprisingly, no. Those people are also part of the problem. Israel is not a perfect country by any means, and people who whitewash its problems only damage their own credibility.
This was a point that was reiterated many times: Israel is not a perfect country. The fact that our group has lived here and learned this through experience is our greatest asset for advocacy. We’ve seen the good and the bad of Israel, and know that it’s not the bad guy in this conflict, but recognize that it’s not perfect, either.
Our target audience is the folks in the middle. The people who don’t know much about the conflict, or do but don’t know who to support. The people who are open to learning more about the complexity of the conflict and the fact that it’s not black and white. Those are the people we need to reach. We then dived into tactics we can use when speaking with such people before opening the floor to questions.
One person from a community that is full of anti-Israel hatred asked how they can be an advocate while remaining safe. The answer given was that, unfortunately, sometimes you can’t. However, this was qualified by saying that they weren’t asking us to put ourselves in harm’s way. If we felt we were under threat of harm for speaking the truth, then we should exercise our own judgement before acting. That said, advocacy organizations like Stand With Us would be there to support them if they needed help. We aren’t in this alone.
Following the enrichment, I thanked the female speaker for her time. Her speaking style really clicked with me: She didn’t shy away from cursing or being blunt, but was also very clear and concise. She said she figured as much after noticing how closely I was paying attention. I took the business card of the Israeli speaker (unfortunately, the woman didn’t have one on her), and departed.
Back at Lunz, Mason stopped by to do some laundry and to deliver Yas’ birthday video! Yas absolutely lit up when Rebecca and Mason told her about the video, and went to watch it immediately!
Rebecca came up with the idea back on the 18th, and a lot of us had recorded messages for her, including me. (Her birthday happened while we were in Eilat, but the tardiness of the video wasn’t Mason’s fault. Some people were late in getting him their videos. Still, better late than never!) It was for her alone to watch, so I haven’t seen it. But I heard that Mason put a globe in it, pointing out how the birthday wishes came from people from all over the world. Pretty cool!
After watching it, Yas came out of her room and gave each of us a big hug. Happy birthday, Yas!
Big thanks to Mason for putting the video together, and to Rebecca for coming up with such a nice idea!
Today, Oliver started writing a song to be presented at a ‘graduation’ ceremony planned for next week. He wanted to write something that had a verse in it for each us. At 38 people, it was a daunting task!! I was looking forward to seeing what he came up with.
That night was Karen’s final night in Tel Aviv—she was leaving tomorrow to go back to school in Sao Paulo. To celebrate and say goodbye, the group had dinner at a burger joint near her place, just down the road from Levinsky. It was a cool place with a fun staff and a bit of an old 50’s diner vibe to it.
The burger joint
The Lunz apartment arrived a little late, with Levinsky and other folks from the area where Karen lives already present and chatting away. They were also writing goodbye messages to Karen on an Israeli flag to give to her—a great idea! After giving Karen a hug, I wrote my message.
While eating our burgers (which were delicious), I chatted a bit with Mason and Fjo about photography. Fjo still uses film, a rare thing these days, and was discussing some of the finer points with Mason.
Once we finished eating, we headed to Cofix for some drinks. Cofix is kind of like Israel’s Starbucks, though in a few locations it has additional amenities that make it more like a bar or a restaurant. This was one of the bar locations. Cofix also has an interesting gimmick in that everything on their menu is 5 shekels. (About $1.35) A coffee, pastry, or drink all cost the same amount.
Some people grabbed a beer, while others got coffee. I saw something I’d never seen before, and couldn’t resist trying it: bubble gum-flavored vodka. (When it comes to drinks, my man card has long since been revoked. Besides, at 5 shekels, how could I not try it?) It definitely smelled like bubble gum! It tasted a little less so, but overall it wasn’t bad! That was all I had for the evening, though. I had work the next day.
We hung around for another 45 minutes, chatting and slowly saying goodbye to Karen one by one. As people said their goodbyes, I chatted with Adina, then the Sarahs, Brittney, and Ingrid. Finally, it was time to say adeus to my always-smiling friend. With a big hug, I wished Karen well, and took off for Lunz.
Today marks the beginning of my final week of work. To prepare for my departure, I started making a document that describes everything that I’ve done so far–all design progress and calculations–as well as everything mechanical that remains to be done on the project on which I’ve been working.
Following work, Daniel, Rebecca, Oliver, and I met Karen for dinner at a restaurant near the Carmel shuk. Karen was leaving Israel in two days because she had to resume school back in Sao Paulo.
Yas was not pleased at how late she was staying at work to finish her portfolio.
Yas couldn’t join us because she was staying late at work to finish a portfolio she was making. She ended up staying past midnight, and went…a little loopy. (Around 11PM, she posted a video that demonstrated her slow descent into madness, set to the music of Cat Stevens’ Wild World.)
Anyway, Oliver, Rebecca, and I took a cab to the shuk, and Daniel and Karen met us there. It was a swanky roof-top place that Daniel visited recently. The stairwell had a crazy mural at the top of it, and a cool light fixture:
I don’t recall what I ordered, but it was good. What I do remember were heartfelt conversations between Karen and the rest of us, lots of questions about what we were going to do next, and time spent reminiscing about this amazing adventure.
I also recall a very gutsy cat. This thing had the balls to not only come inside the building, but climb a flight of stairs to reach the roof! I spotted him earlier, begging at the tables, before jumping onto a bar stool and surveying the place for a while.
While we were talking, it jumped off the stool and walked towards us. To everyone’s surprise, the thing jumped right onto the table, right next to Daniel! In a panic, Daniel tossed a napkin at it. It glanced at the napkin, then at Daniel, as though to say “Really? Is that all you got?” A waiter quickly shooed it away.
We laughed hysterically at the chutzpah of that cat, as well as Daniel’s ridiculous reaction. It was one more great memory to add this amazing journey.
Good times. From left: Rebecca, Daniel, Oliver, me, and Karen.
I woke up around 9AM today for the free breakfast offered by the hostel, then went back to bed for a while. Today was Saturday–Shabbat–so there was nothing mandatory planned, in case anyone was extremely observant.
This is a hotel. Crazy.
There were a few optional activities, but I wanted to do what everyone else was doing, and not many people in my group signed up for the activities. Instead, most were just chilling at the beach. Around noon, I took off solo to meet up with them, snapping a few photos of the Red Sea along the way.
Half way there, I learned that the group was going to go snorkeling at the Eilat Coral Reserve. That was the same place I went snorkeling when I was here 12 years ago! I started walking towards the place, passing a cool mural along the way:
The mural in Eilat.Part of the mural.
The mural was huge, extending maybe an eighth a mile, and full of images of sea life and desert life.
Near the end of the mural, I came across the entrance to a small navy base, and snapped a photo of the flags and military boat beyond the gate.
The naval base in Eilat.
After taking the photo, I was summoned by someone to my right. Thinking I was in trouble for taking the picture, I looked over expecting to see a military officer. Instead, my eyes were met by a mother and her two children. They were standing next to a silver minivan with a flat tire, and requested my help changing it. With my limited Hebrew, I showed them where to place the jack under the car and helped them take off the old tire. The woman’s husband arrived just as I got the tire off. She thanked me for my help, and with a warm smile, I said ‘You’re welcome’ and continued on my way.
After another 15 minutes of walking, I was starting to run out of water. I took another look at the map on my phone. It would easily be another half hour of walking, if not more–the reserve was half way to Egypt!! I had marooned myself.
I found a roundabout with a bunch of statues of people playing musical instruments, and waited for a taxi to come by. It took me the rest of the way to the reserve.
I was dropped off in a big commercial area with lots of different activities–kite surfing, scuba diving, surfing, snorkeling–so it was nearly impossible to find my group. I called Morgan, Andrew, and Yael, but they didn’t answer. I figured they must already be in the water.
Finally, I called Mason to ask where they were. “Um…I didn’t say anything about going to the reserve,” he said. Turns out, only Yael, Morgan, and Andrew went there. The rest of the group was still chilling at the beach I passed 20 minutes ago!
It was my fault. I misinterpreted the WhatsApp chatter as meaning that everyone was going there. I should have checked to make sure. Since I didn’t know exactly where Morgan, Andrew, and Yael were, I just decided to head back to the beach where the others were. It wasn’t a total waste, though. I helped that family with their tire, and the walk was pleasant. Plus, seeing a bit of the reef where I snorkeled 12 years ago was pretty cool–snorkeling in Eilat was my second favorite memory of my time with Alexander Muss. (My favorite was climbing Masada at dawn.)
I caught another cab, which took me back to the beach. On the way, I struck up a conversation with the driver, who was quite a character: he was a former defense freelancer, who’s been all over the world protecting ships from various threats. Nice guy!
He dropped me off in front of the beach, and I quickly found my group. They were sunbathing–something I was hoping to do, as my tan from our beach days in Tel Aviv was fading.
My family. Photo courtesy of Morgan.Ouch.
I pulled up a chair next to Jess, and noticed that his left foot was in a small bucket of water. “What’s with your foot?” I asked.
He had stepped on a sea urchin.
I was concerned, but he was in good spirits, so we just relaxed on the beach for the next couple of hours. I had a nice conversation with Ruth, who was going to leave the program a little early, just after we got back from Eilat. She’s an aspiring actor and model, and after her internship didn’t go the way she needed it to, she was eager to continue on her journey.
Garrett and me.
We packed up as the sun started to go down, and decided to head to a restaurant for a quick dinner before the bus ride back to Tel Aviv. It was going to be long–three and a half hours–so we needed to leave early, around 6PM.
However, Sharon and Jess had such a great time that they planned on staying in Eilat an extra day, and just taking Sunday off from work.
We walked together along the road I took from the hostel, passing the mural. Someone spotted a fish with spikes on it and pointed, saying “Look, Jess! It’s what you stepped on!”
Just outside of the restaurant, I found the most elaborate swing I’ve ever seen
A half hour later, we arrived at a nice restaurant on the beach that sold sushi, stir fry, and other dishes. The 15 or so of us relaxed together as the sun started to set. I was absolutely content.
The food was amazing. Natti and I got each got a stir fry, and most of the others shared sushi. Once our food arrived, a couple of stray cats decided to come beg for scraps. I fed them a couple small pieces of meat, and after I finished, let them lick my chopsticks.
We hurried back to the hostel to pack, but not before Brittney and I took a few photos of the sunset.
The Red Sea.
After we finished packing, we all gathered in the lobby of the hostel for a quick Havdalah service–the ceremony that marks the end of Shabbat. Lilah volunteered to sing the prayer; her voice recovered from the previous night.
After that, it was onto the buses to head back to our respective cities. We were pooped!
This was our last big trip, but damn, was it good!! The hikes were incredible, the views were breathtaking, Eilat was gorgeous, and my new family and I bonded even more. It was everything I had hoped it would be, and more.
I'm interning with a renewable energy company in Israel and experiencing everything this country has to offer! Come follow along!
Shaking it off so as to not get into a bad funk, I stopped in the bathroom, where I spotted a ‘Wet Floor’ sign, written in English and Spanish. “Ah yes, Spanish!” I thought to myself. After living in a country where English isn’t the primary language, I’ve realized just how important that second line of text can be. A translation can be a lifesaver. It can instantly change a situation from foreign to familiar; from anxious and unsure to calm and confident. My experience in Israel has given me a whole new appreciation for these translations.
Out my window was a now-lit winter wonderland. I started searching for landmarks. I spotted what I thought might be White Bear Lake, but that lake is northeast of Minneapolis, and the airport was south. Thinking I had to be mistaken, I did a little geography in my head: “If that’s White Bear Lake, then downtown would be…” I looked across the empty sets to my left, and out the window was downtown Minneapolis, the symbol of my home!
Aaron In Israel 