Hey folks,
So it has been an incredibly eventful week. In the past week, I have taken in a little local culture, gone to a MASA Mega Event, started teaching school, played a few rounds of poker, and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned!
Starting with last Saturday, with no transportation and no shops or movie theatres open, one must try to be innovative when filling the day with activities. Two of my roommates and I decided to take a trip over to Ashdod's Art Museum to check out the exhibit. Entrance was only a few dollars and there were three floors of exhibits to look at. Unfortunately, the majority of the artwork was by one single artist, and her style was not one that appealed to me. In fact, it was a style that I truly disdained and it incited a genuine negative emotional reaction. In this respect, what she does must be considered artwork on some level, able to provoke such an undeniable distaste from me, even if it seemed like her work could be replicated by a 3 year old with anger issues.
 |
| The terrible artist's intepretation of a butterfly, this being one of her best at the exhibit to give you an idea of the caliber of her overall work. |
After the art gallery, we went out for an afternoon beer at one of the only restaurants open in Yud Alef on Shabbat. The overall feeling on Shabbat is one I actually quite enjoy. Everyone is very relaxed and free of anxiety, the stresses of the work week lifted away and deposited in a safe for 24 hours. This is the first time in many months that I fully have my weekend to relax. Despite the fact that my job at Ray-Cam provided me with weekends off, I always had so much to do to prepare for this year that I rarely got time to just hang out at the beach or sit out on a patio with a deck of cards and the universally peaceful crooning of Bob Marley. There are also local free outdoor classes, both in yoga and tai-chi. I was planning on checking out the tai-chi one this morning but couldn't bring myself to wake up early enough (it starts at 8 AM).
On Tuesday, the majority of our group headed to Jerusalem for the night to take in the MASA Mega Event. This was something I was actually pleasantly surprised by last year on Birthright. Then again, it was a much bigger event, it took place outside in Tel-Aviv, and I got the chance to go up on stage in front of thousands of people. This time didn't really compare, and was unfortunately quite a letdown. The night kicked off with speeches from at least 5 people I had never heard of. Many people in the audience cheered loudly when their names were called so it kind of makes me wonder if they know who these prominent philanthropic individuals are or if they are simply reacting to the excitement in the air. This oratory part of the night was brutal. All the speeches were very similar in subject matter and cheesy and preachy in nature. The second act was a collection of choreographed dances, coupled with people playing with fire and acrobats doing tricks on ropes next to the aisles. These dances were introduced by videos created by past participants of programs similar to the one I'm doing. Once again, it came across as very cheesy, and the dances were near-replications of the ones I viewed at last year's event. The main event of the night was a huge band, around 12 people on stage, and they were quite hit and miss. The music was a little melodramatic and not really my style, but the band's energy was undeniable and most of the crowd was loving it. Apparently the band is one of the biggest bands in the country, and at times they reminded me of a Middle-Eastern version of the Vancouver band Five Alarm Funk. All in all, the night was a little disappointing but still worth the trip for the company of my group-mates.
As for school, I started on Sunday and had five days of teaching this week, five hours each day. It has been a very positive experience so far, although not without its challenges and frustrations. Unfortunately, the week was not completely set to routine, mainly because the English teacher we're supposed to work with was sick the entire week and we were stuck with a crazy-ass subsitute. Despite these difficulties with staff, what's important is the kids and they really are very fun and intriguing to work with. Their desire to learn English is quite admirable and impressive, but their behaviour differs greatly from the average North-American elementary school student. These kids get away with murder in the classroom! They talk constantly and it is a never-ending struggle for the teacher to be heard. The kids walk in and out of the classroom as they please, and it is not uncommon to see kids roaming the hallways in the middle of a period (or playing with cards on the floor). I work outside the classroom in the hallway and generally take 3 to 4 kids a period. Some groups are advanced students who speak English quite well and others are the kids who struggle and really need a lot more help learning basic reading and writing skills and pronunciation of their vocabulary. This week, we worked a lot in their books but next week I'm going to take a different approach and simply have conversations with them. Speaking the language is the easiest way to learn and that is generally how I am progressing the fastest with my Hebrew so I figure it will be comparable for my students. I'm actually using Hebrew close to 50% of the time with my students after only two weeks learning the language! Granted, it's a broken version of Hebrew but I can dole out instructions no problem and be understood. My favourite expression to use with the kids is "Ani more ve talmid," meaning "I'm a teacher and a student." This encourages them to pass on important vocabulary to me as well and I have already jumped to the intermediate Ulpan class because of it.
At school, I'm working with one other group member named Boris. He's from Boston, Massachussets and we're getting along quite well and adapting to our surroundings at our new job. We are treated on equal ground with the teachers by the kids, except it's even better because they really do idolize us AND respect us. We'll see how long that lasts... As for the rest of the staff, the majority are between the ages of 35 and 45 and they are ALL women. That's right, not one single male staff. This means that Boris and I are quite popular in the staff room and eye candy for the cougars. There are two female staff in particular that I talk to daily in French and they have taken a shining to me. The female students also are happy to have Boris and I around. They follow us indiscretely and giggle and point. On Wednesday, I brought in the guitar and had a sing-along in the classroom. Never have I had so many adoring fans! They clapped along to the songs, sang loudly during Hey Jude, and even began chanting my name at one point! I must not let it get to my ego too much. Israeli Idol, here I come!
Other than school, I spent my nights this week playing poker a couple of times. Because we have no income here as volunteers, the buy-in is quite small, but enough that I made 110 shekels this week, the equivalent of $30 CDN. It's not much, but it's something! I also spent about 2 hours cleaning yesterday due to a monthly cleaning inspection and the convenient absence of over half my roommates. However, it was actually quite cathartic and a pleasure to see the house the cleanest it has been since my arrival. It was also an excuse to blast Led Zeppelin...
That's it for now everyone but stay tuned for another post next week after my cousin's wedding and a group trip to Jaffo. Hope you're all doing well and as always don't forget to update me on your lives back in good ol' Vancouver or wherever you may be.
Ciao for now,
Max
No comments:
Post a Comment