A full kitchen and living room had all of us shocked and quite pleasantly surprised. It's a shock to the system to move from a dorm style building with 38 Americans to the much quieter existence of an apartment with two roommates (not to imply that we can't still hear every word each other says because with the way noise carries here, its as is we're always all in the same room). But before talking about Yokneam, a quick summary of my last month:
I was in Istanbul for about a week with a friend from Otzma and we had a wonderful time. Going to Turkey was something we planned incredibly last minute (two weeks before we left, maybe?) and somehow everything just magically fell into place. We were friendly before the trip but ended up traveling really well together and enjoying each others company.
We luckily found most of the same things fascinating and I'm a little embarrassed to admit we would get so excited at each new site (while simultaneously reading our individual copies of Lonely Planet: Istanbul) that we'd make notes on scrap paper and go back to our hostel to look up our homework online later in the night. I was exposed to a whole new culture that I previously knew hardly anything about. I was so shocked (probably a big reflection of my own ignorance) how much amazing history there was to find in Istanbul itself. I had never been to a Muslim country and found the stunning mosques absolutely fascinating. And since the Bosphorus River, which runs right through the city, separates both the city and country into part Europe and part Asia...I went to Europe over break!
We decided one evening to try and find one of the few synagogues in the country which represent the very small Jewish community in Istanbul. As we happened upon the building and decided to take a picture of the exterior (we wanted to record how understated and really hidden the building seemed) a man in a suit ran at us yelling to stop taking pictures. He can only be described as secret service as he was in a suit and spoke into a tiny microphone in the lapel of his jacket. He watched us delete our pictures and after swearing up and down that we are Jewish he explained to us that in order to get a tour of the synagogue we would have to contact the Chief Rabbi of Turkey to receive permission. We walked away stunned but on a mission.
On the last day of our trip we were able to visit two synagogues and a Jewish museum. Both shuls were hidden and extremely difficult to spot unless you are explicitly seeking them out. But then as you enter they somehow open up into these big beautiful establishments.
Neve Shalom, where we were encountered the security guard, we found out was the victim of two attacks in the past couple decades. Gunmen entered the synagogue during Shabbat services in the 80s and just a few years ago there was a car bombing. Amazingly Neve Shalom is still beautiful and active.After returning to Israel I was in Jerusalem, studying at Pardes for two weeks. It was a really interesting experience and overall I really enjoyed the text study. Being in Jerusalem I expected to get back into being forced to use my Hebrew but since I had never before lived in Jerusalem I now realize, that was just not true. I hardly spoke a word of Hebrew over those two weeks since everyone's English was far and away better than my Hebrew. And that's really an understatement since I felt surrounded by Americans almost the entire time, and when I was around Israeli's they were all pretty much fluent in English. I was relieved honestly to get out of the city so that I could feel like I wasn't trapped in an American bubble and I could be around Israelis again.
A week and a half in Yokneam and I already have improved my Hebrew more than I ever would surrounded by English speakers. We've been working in an elementary school for three days and being with children makes is extremely necessary to improve, quickly! The teachers communicate with us in English and there are even a few kids who know the language but for most of the day, Hebrew is really essential. It's a situation I've really managed to avoid amazingly enough over the past four months because I've been terrified to use the language. Now that it's unavoidable it's putting a lot of pressure on me to get better fast! And really in three days I'm already utilizing a lot more of what I know than I have been. I definitely still sound absolutely ridiculous when I speak, but I understand a lot more and I'm just hoping someday I'll get to a point when I don't sound absolutely ridiculous.
Yokneam itself is a beautiful city with a real small town feel. There is one large shopping center and I have yet to go there without recognizing someone (and we only moved here last week!). It's located in the mountains so its hilly and offers a great view from almost anywhere. Because it's the partnership city to St. Louis when I tell people where I'm from they get really excited (not something you'll find ANYWHERE ELSE in Israel where they usually say "I've never heard of that place"). The Partnership 2000 coordinators, people associated with federation in St. Louis, have really taken care of us here and are still helping us to figure out the logistics for all of our volunteering while in Yokneam.
Last night we volunteered at the youth center for the first time and just spent time hanging out with the kids who were there doing mostly nothing with friends. I played a couple games of foozeball and ping pong. Fun fact: the direct translation of foozeball in from Hebrew to English is "table soccer" (from cador regell shulchan). We had a really fun night hanging out with some of the high schoolers there, trying to communicate in the Hebrew I could speak, and the little bit of English they could contribute too.
So far its been a pretty smooth transition to living up here. Even though I see the importance of taking Ulpan in Ashkelon and I did volunteer a few days a week there, I often felt frustrated that I wasn't doing what I came here to do this year, which is to volunteer full time. Now that I've moved to Yokneam and the second track of Otzma has begun I know that I'm finally getting that opportunity. I'll be happy to share as those unfold! (picture: Max, me, and Tali with a view of Yokneam in the background)
Yom Tov!
