Hey everyone,
After a rocky start, I am finally starting to settle in here in Tel-Aviv and have gotten over all jet-lag, although I really didn't experience it too much to start with. After a 26 hour commute, including a 9 hour layover in Berlin's airport which is one of the worst airports I've ever been to, I arrived in Ben-Gurion Airport, Tel-Aviv only to be placed in a dark room by myself for half an hour by Passport Control. Finally, at 3AM, they released me and told me that I need to get a proper visa if I intend to stay here for 6 months, something my program supervisors neglected to mention. When arriving at luggage claim, I discovered that my main luggage had not arrived and that I could not reach my contact who was picking me up by phone. At 4AM, I finally went through customs after filling out several forms at lost and found, and thankfully, my host Chen, sweetheart that she is, was waiting for me outside, not terribly pleased at having waited for 2 hours in the middle of the night, but understanding and sympathetic nonetheless. Despite this initial debacle, I have now received all of my luggage and am able to enjoy me next two weeks of vacation before my program start date, sans stress.
This country's beauty still does not cease to amaze me! On my first day here, it was Yom Kippur, which for Jews means a day of atonement and self-punishment in which you cannot eat or drink anything, watch TV, listen to the radio, drive your car, or do anything you normally would do to enjoy yourself. Thankfully, my host is not a typical Jew and I was able to go to her friend's house for a swim in her pool and some delicious food. So far, despite warnings from Chen and others that Israelis are rude and lacking in the disgusting amount of politeness us Canadians have to offer, I have found the opposite, with every one of Chen's relatives and friends having been very accommodating and constantly offering me food and drinks. After some food and a swim, I had the fantastic experience of going on a bike ride on Yom Kippur. We biked along the highway into the city for an hour and half each way, and there was only two cars on the main highway the entire time, both of which were police cars! I don't think there is a single other place in the world where you can see something like that!
Today, I enjoyed some time on my own at the beach, five hours of lounging on the sand, reading, eating good food, and swimming in the warm Mediterranean Sea, which by my standards feels like pool water. I delighted at being tossed around like a top by the enormous waves and undertow and sweating like a pig on the beach in the welcomed plus 30 degree weather. It was nice to have a day to myself just to relax and contemplate the next year ahead of me, isolation being something I haven't completely experienced and enjoyed in the past few months of my life.
I leave you all with some funny observations I've noticed in my first few days in Israel:
Israel is a place where...
...you can look down a highway on a holiday and not see a single car
...you can find several 1 litre bottles of Coke Zero on a nicely decorated holiday dinner table instead of the usual bottle of wine
...you can order beer by the half-litre (this is something we should adopt in Canada!)
...going to bed before 1 in the morning is not an option when you're my age, even if you have work the next day
...even if you have worked on a tan all summer in Vancouver, you are still considered ghostly pale by Israeli standards
...the booty call line "Are you awake?" is replaced by "Are you fasting?"
...the beach is empty on what would be considered the hottest day of the summer in Vancouver
...the sea water is warmer than most pools in Vancouver
...the term "Eh?" is not fully understood, appreciated, or well received
That's all for now folks, but stay tuned for more when I actually begin my program in Ashdod and settle into my life for the next 6 months!
Ciao for now,
Max
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