"Mele Kalikimaka Is The Thing To Say..."

Hey folks,

Just thought I would write to fill you in on my adventures from the past few days as it has been quite exciting and refreshing to have my winter holidays in Israel, a country which does not celebrate Christmas aside from a few select cities (e.g. Jerusalem, Bethlehem). There were no crazy shopping sprees, no tinseled, shiny Christmas trees, no wrapping paper left or right, no stockings hung anywhere in sight, no Christmas carols for my ears to fight... and this was incredibly refreshing and made me realize that none of that stuff is necessary to have a good Christmas. In fact, I had one of the best Christmases I have had in years!

As I mentioned last time, my friend Bianca was here the past few days visiting and I really wanted to give her a good taste of Israel. I wasn't completely sure what someone who isn't Jewish would think of the country, because most of the people I have asked about their excursions within the country have been of the Jewish persuasion and therefore are slightly bias in their appreciation of the homeland. However, I am happy to report that when she left today, she said she had a fantastic time and would definitely return in the future to see some of the spots she missed and return to those she really enjoyed.

We caught up for a few hours upon her arrival on Wednesday night, knocking back a few drinks and discussing life here for me in the program and life for her in Sweden, our conversation sprinkled with stories reminiscing about our time spent living together and all of our crazy experiences living on Angus Drive. On Thursday, we took the bus to Jerusalem with my roommate Dave in order to join in on a free walking tour. Unfortunately, transportation cannot be fully trusted in Jerusalem and we missed the start of the walking tour, making it impossible to find the group and tag along. Fortunately, Dave and I were in Jerusalem a little over a month ago and were able to show Bianca around the Old City, including stops at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Jewish, Christian, and Arab quarters, the Damascus Gate, the Jaffa Gate, and of course, the Western Wall/Wailing Wall. I managed to find us a humous restaurant that a previous tour guide had mentioned to us and we stopped for a delicious mid-afternoon snack before continuing walking around the cobblestone streets of Old Jerusalem. After 4 hours of walking, we decided to call it a day and made our way back to Ashdod. The next day, we relaxed and slept in and I showed Bianca the beach near our house where the 1400 year old Arab ruins lie. We climbed to the top of the ruins to watch the sunset (well, Dave and I did; Bianca has vertigo) and then went out for dinner at a great little restaurant in the northern part of the city. After stuffing our faces, we returned home for a quick catnap before our intense Christmas Day excursion to come!



View of Masada National Park



At 1AM, we woke up and got ready to hit the road. Dave had rented us a car to make a trip to central Israel to visit the sites on our agenda. We drove for a few hours to the foot of Masada, the site of ancient palaces and fortications near the Judean Desert which offers a semi-challenging hike to its peak as well as spectacular views of the Dead Sea and the surrounding plateaux. The story behind Masada is quite interesting: after the first Jewish-Roman War, a siege of the fortress by the Roman Empire's troops led to the mass suicide of the rebels hiding atop Masada. After they had held off the attacks for a long time, and certain defeat and subsequent humiliation and slavery were approaching, the rebels decided the greatest victory they could accomplish would be to kill themselves, robbing the Romans of a victory. The ruins at the top of Masada are well preserved and worth the trip up, as the hike along the Snake Path is not particularly long to the summit (about a 45-minute trek). It is reminiscient of the Grouse Grind outside of Vancouver but the difference is the views along the way and from the peak, some of the best views in Israel in my opinion! We were super early for the hike, arriving at 4AM when the gates for entry didn't open until 530AM, none of us having checked what time the sunrise is on Christmas Day. However, the wait was worth it, the sunrise immaculate and spellbinding (and perhaps eye-damage inducing) from Masada's peak. After heading down, we made a quick drive to Ein Gedi, a nature reserve and national park with fantastic hikes in between its canyons, and filled with nature's treasures, such as springs, waterfalls, caves, and cool little animals called hyrax, looking like a cross between gophers and mini-bears. The hiking was difficult after so little sleep, but very rewarding, as some of the views of the Dead Sea and the canyons below were the best I have witnessed so far from either trip to Israel! Finally, we capped off our excursion by crossing the road to a campsite and rocky beach next to the Dead Sea. For half an hour, we floated carelessly and pleasantly on its super-concentrated salty waves and soaked our skin in its mineral rich waters. At this point in our day, it was only 1PM and we had already climbed a mountain and visited the lowest point in the world! We made our two-hour long drive back to Ashdod and had a quick nap before heading out for Chinese food and to a movie (Tron Legacy), a North American Jewish tradition. All in all, it was a near-perfect Christmas day, aside from lack of family, and one we will all remember for a long time to come.

Now it's back to reality and back to school. The kids had a field-trip today so classes were canceled but tomorrow I have a full lesson plan. My Ulpan classes are dwindling rapidly and today I only had one other companion, making it near-private tutoring for Hebrew due to my continuing diligence. Things in the house could be better, as the electric appliance problems continue (tonight our stove exploded and almost took off someone's face!) but hopefully it will all be resolved soon. After such a great weekend, even a gas explosion can't wipe the smile off my face...

Ciao for now,

Max

"Storm Clouds Are Raging, All Around My Door!"

Hey folks,

Once again, it's been a very busy past two weeks. After my last post, Ashdod was enveloped in one of the worst storms I have witnessed in awhile. The rain wasn't particularly too bad, the occasional torrential downpour for an hour or so, but not constant rain like Vancouver. What was really shocking and terrible was the wind. I have never seen winds of this caliber in a city environment! They were strong enough to extend my walking time to school a full 10 minutes (pushing me back while I walked on the sidewalk) and the wind caused property damage to the villa, knocking down our entire fence outside and destroying a few chairs, not to mention sweeping away any clothes that anyone was silly enough to leave outside on the line (I lost a few socks...). The storm lasted for about three days, and now, thankfully, the weather has returned to normal, albeit a bit cooler. The average day temperature is in the early 20s while the night temperature drops to about 14 or 15 degrees Celsius.



View from the Golan Heights



Last Wednesday, my group made a trip up to the North of Israel to take in some sights and enjoy some relaxing activities. We stopped at a few viewpoints, the first one being on the side of rolling hills on the border of Syria. The fences we stopped at blocked us off from the No Man's Land between the two borders, littered with land mines that no one wants to waste the resources to remove, and only affecting the occassional unfortunate cow! We then stopped at one of the coolest viewpoints in Israel at the Golan Heights. It overlooks surrounding countries, and has a direct Northern view of the mountains. Due to the weather from the storm and the drop in temperature, there was actually snow on the ground at the viewpoint and the mountains across from us looked spectacular, completely blanketed in white powder. I didn't imagine I would be able to throw snowballs in Israel, but I was proved wrong! In the afternoon, we made a relaxing trip to the Hamat Geder hot springs, natural hot springs stemming from the adjacent mountains. They were nice and comforting, a treat for sore joints and muscles from the previous week's army shenanigans, despite the fact that the smell was quite putrid, enveloping me and my companions with inescapable clouds of sulfur. However, I say, "Worth it for the relaxation!" The next morning, we took a trip to a kibbutz on the very Northern tip of Israel, high on a mountain overlooking a small Lebanese town which the Hezballah use as their headquarters from time to time. We had a guest speaker, an American-born man in his late 60s who was quite opinionated and right-wing. However, he was incredibly engaging to listen to, and honest about his outlooks and bias. He made me laugh on numerous occasions, perhaps not from comedy, but sheer shock at his matter-of-fact extreme statements. We then took a hike (when I say hike, I really mean stroll because there was no incline or anything resembling a challenge in the excursion) to the Banias waterfall. This was slightly disappointing for me, because everyone was so excited by their surroundings and the waterfall, but British Columbia offers forest trails and waterfalls that are a hundred times better. Nevertheless, the walk in the morning sun was refreshing and enjoyable.

Yesterday, my program took us on another day excursion to Jerusalem for a somber day of doom and gloom. We spent two and a half hours at Har Herzel, the most famous cemetery in Israel which sits on top of the mountain and is the final resting place of fallen soldiers, past prime-ministers and important figures in Israel's history such as Theodore Herz'l, Yitzhak Rabin, Chana Senesh, and Yonatan Netanyahu. The most interesting story we heard was about Yonatan Netanyahu, the brother of Israel's current prime-minister, Binyamin Netanyahu. He was the commander of a raid called Operation Entebbe/Operation Thunderbolt in 1976 after a flight on Air France from Tel-Aviv was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists and flown to Entebbe in Uganda where the Jewish passengers were held hostage. The IDF flew over 100 commandos to Uganda on a rescue mission, planning ther mission based on reliable intelligence they had received. They found out the exact car that the Ida Amin (the president of Uganda) drove, and replicated it in every way and flew it with them to Uganda. When they got off the plane, they drove right up to the gate of the building where the hostages were being held and weren't stopped the whole way there, due to the fact that the car was so convincing and the terrorists believed it held Ida Amin! This allowed them to to enter the building and rescue the hostages, sustaining very few casualties, except for one IDF casualty, Yonatan Netanyahu. This story seemed very incredible to me and I really enjoyed the other stories we heard in the cemetery, giving me an idea of the lives behind the seemingly endless rows of identical stones arranged on the ground in front of us. Our afternoon consisted of a trip to Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust Museum. Like last year on Birthright, I found this to be very hard to take, however, it was nice to not be part of a guided tour this time so I could go through the museum at my own pace and spend more or less time at different sections based on my preference. The videos displayed, containing first-hand accounts of the atrocities the survivors had endured were particularly hard for me to watch, and yet so captivating that it is hard not to stop and listen for a minute or two. I feel very honoured to be part of the last generation of individuals to meet and hear stories from actual Holocaust survivors and will fulfill my obligation to tell my kids about the Holocaust someday so they can know about and understand a uniquely horrifying segment of human history. There is no doubt for me that the Holocaust will be in the history books for at least the next millennium!

So that's it for now. As of last night, my friend Bianca from Vancouver is here and I am taking her all over the country over the next few days to give her a taste of Israel. I will fill you all in on our adventures sometime next week. Hope you're all doing great and happy holidays! It's weird to not be experiencing the onslaught of Christmas decorations, songs, and shoppers over here!

Ciao for now,

Max

Sar-El

Hey folks,


My sweet action movie picture



So it's been an exciting week. I had the opportunity to go volunteer on an army base from Sunday to Thursday at a place called Rosh Ha-Niqra and it was a really cool experience and a nice break from volunteering at the school in Ashdod. I went with a bunch of people from my program (15 of us in total) and we slept in barracks, kind of reminiscient of my days as a camper at Elphinstone, with bunk beds and a common area we shared for lots of card games. The food was surprisingly good and all of the soldiers at the base were very nice and friendly. The two soldiers that were in charge of our program for the week, Bar and Ruthie, were especially kind and went above and beyond their duties to make us comfortable and even went to another base in order to make us diskiot, which are equivelent to American or Canadian dog tags for the army. I now have my own dog tag with my name inscribed in Hebrew and it's pretty cool.

As far as the actual volunteering went, it was hard manual labour but I was grateful we were doing something that was helpful for the army and not just busy work. We were responsible for moving sand bags and filling up boxes as protection at an outpost on the Lebanese border. The boxes sit all along the very outside of the outpost and provide shelter for soldiers who are surveying the border from behind them. We transported over 1000 sandbags over the course of three days, each one weighing in at 40 lbs. My arms, pecs, and back were all pretty sore by Thursday but there was a great sense of accomplishment in the task we had completed. On Wednesday, we took the last half of the day to go on an excursion as well and it was one of the highlights of the week. Our chaperones took us to the spot where Israeli soldiers were captured by the Hezballah in 2006 and where a small shrine has been set up in their honour. A superior combat officer told us the story of the attack and their abduction, and how they had been caught off guard because they were heading home the next day and had lowered their alert level. The Hezballah hid in the mountain and used a strategy unfamiliar to the IDF by coming out of holes they had dug in the mountain. Their communications office across the border had all of the soldiers' phones bugged and so they had discovered the soldiers were about to head home and would probably be surprised by an attack. They attacked hard and killed over 10 Israeli soldiers, and so caused the start of the Lebanon war. Within 24 hours, a full war was raging and many Northern Israeli settlements had gone completely underground. It was quite an amazing story to hear firsthand from the officer and I have to admit I was a little uneasy hearing it at that spot, as he told us that Hezballah were probably in the mountains adjacent to us at that very moment, and we all had to take the batteries out of our phones in order to remain untracked.

All in all, it was a very interesting and unique experience this week, and a nice change of pace from the somewhat predictable life in Ashdod I have grown accustomed to. In other news, I have officially booked my flight to Thailand along with two others from my program and right now, there is a huge storm brewing outside that could last for days. That's all for now but hope you're all happy and healthy back home and as always, don't forget to check in!

Ciao for now,

Max

"I Am A Fire, And I Must Burn Today"

Hey folks,

So it's been a great week of celebration, new developments, and lots and lots of eating! First with the celebration...

Chanuka is not really much different from back in Canada, but that's not such a bad thing. After all, lighting the candles, playing with dreidels, and eating lots of delicious food is good no matter where you are. I went to Tel-Aviv and Haifa for the weekend to spend some time with family and I really have to focus a little bit on the unbelievable food I sampled (or rather, gorged on) this weekend. On Friday, I slept in and then went for a walk with my cousin Shira and her husband Omer around the crafts market and the shuk. Omer is a man who knows good food and wine and he didn't disappoint. We went to a restaurant that needs no name (there is actually no sign or name outside); it survives on reputation and just plain good food. All of the ingredients are taken directly from the shuk and are completely fresh. They serve many strange items on their menu such as beef testicles, brain on toast, and one I have already tried in Israel, cow tongue. However, we stuck to more well known dishes and each one was better than the last... tasty fried cauliflower with a garnish of fresh herbs and tomato and onion... a dijon glazed raw beef on toast that was surprisingly delectable... corn polenta with some sort of old cheese and mushrooms sauteed to perfection... a "butcher's cut" of steak with potatoes and arugula (this particular cut of beef is the diaphragm and named after the fact that the butchers often will save this cut for themselves)... but the best dish by far was the one I expected to be the most plain. You see when I heard Omer order, all I heard was the word "bureka" and the rest were words I didn't understand in Hebrew. Burekas are cheap pastries you can purchase at any bakery and usually contain potato, cheese, mushrooms, or some sort of fish or other vegetable. They are good, but generally something I buy when I'm in a rush and stay away from because of their high fat content. However, this bureka was unlike anything I have ever tasted. It was 3 times the size of a regular bureka and teaming with hot melted cheese sauce and fresh crab. Every bite was a little taste of heaven and it was probably the best thing I have had yet in Israel. It reminded me of home because the outside bit tasted like my mom's homemade tourtiere pastry but it had the decadence and sophistication of a five-star restaurant with its mouth-watering crab and French cheese flavours (no offense Mom!). It will be the bureka to which I measure all other burekas in the future, and sadly no other bureka will probably ever measure up. A return visit to the *insert name here* restaurant is in order before I leave! Other great meals included a spicy, spicy green chicken curry dinner with my cousin Yoni and his wife Ayelet at their place on Friday night and a day full of eating at my aunt and uncle's in Haifa. In Haifa, I got the chance to eat amazing latkes with applesauce as well as mushroom and onion quiches, fresh guacamole, some of the best pickles I have ever had (garnished with coriander and cinnamon among other things) and homemade soup that would be ideal for most winters, although it was a cool 28 degrees today. That brings me to my next, and less happy news to share with you.

This weekend, starting on Thursday, the Northern region of Israel, specifically near Mt. Carmel, was devastated by a horrible fire that has burned through 20% of the forest and was spreading uncontrollably until today when other countries aided Israel with better planes to combat the blaze. Unfortunately, despite the often hot conditions in Israel (especially this winter), there are not enough firefighters (one brigade per 7,000 citizens compared to the usual one brigade per 1,000 citizens in many countries) or a lot of water to fight the flames. One tragic consequence of this fire has been the death of over forty soldiers when a bus tried to turn around from the fire and tipped over, trapping most of the passengers in the overwhelming takeover of the flames. This was very sad news to receive amongst the Chanukah celebrations and many Israeli citizens have been glued to their TV sets this weekend, watching the events unfold and witnessing this tragedy and the excuses of the government, unprepared for a fire of this magnitude. Tonight, on my way home from Haifa, we actually ended up a few feet behind the bus while it was being transported elsewhere. It was like a funeral procession, police cars clearing the road both in front of and behind the bus, and traffic slowed down to honour those who lost their lives on Thursday. There was only a skeleton of the bus left behind, hard to believe from the reports of the incident and how fast it had unfolded. The only glimmer of hope stemming from these events is that this country has had its share of tragedy and is well equipped to deal with it. People will grow stronger and will learn from this disaster to prepare for any fire in the future.

On a different, more optimistic note, other new developments have arisen and have gotten me super excited for the future. First off, my good friend Bianca will be making her first trip to Israel in just a few weeks! I will be taking some time off school and we will be visiting all the hots spots: the Dead Sea, climbing Masada to watch the sunrise, Ein Geti and its wonderous waterfalls, and a trip to Jerusalem where we are free to explore on our own (something I have anticipated for awhile). I am super excited for her and all the fun we'll have in just a few short weeks! At the top of my list, however (sorry Bianca!), is the fact that I have found two people from my program to travel Thailand with! This means that my first month in South East Asia will no longer be spent alone. Because I now have two people relying on me to have things figured out, I have started to plan and look into activities and tours and it has reinvigorated my excitement in the traveling I'm doing after the program ends in Israel. Ziplining in Chiang Mai... scuba diving in Koh Tao... full moon party in Koh Phangan... rock-climbing in Krabi... river-rafting under the Bridge Over River Kwai in Kanchanaburi... kayaking from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi to see Maya Bay (where "The Beach" was filmed)... climbing crags in the middle of the sea off the island of Koh Yao Noi... and so much more! It is going to be the trip of a lifetime and I am now counting down days till I will be gracing Thailand's beaches. That's not including the rest of my trip to Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia. But I'll figure that out later...

I'm off to have a great new experience this week with the program, but I'll leave that as a surprise for now and fill you in when I get back. Hope you're all doing well and not suffering too much in the cold. Enjoy the weeks leading up to Christmas and don't forget to check in. I love to hear about your adventures in Vancouver!

Ciao for now,

Max

P.S. As always, if you know the title of the song from which my blog title is derived, feel free to post!