Passover Exile

In the spirit of the Jewish holiday of Passover, where we celebrate our freedom from the ancient Egyptians as well as the acting skills of Charlton Heston, I embarked on a 10-day adventure that was one the most incredible mini-vacations I have ever been on.

In the interest of time and my sleep-deprived body, I'll sum this up as quickly and tightly as humanly possible. Good 'ol Hebrew University gave us two weeks off for Passover so me and most of my friends decided to emulate the ancient Hebrews by wandering around as much of Israel as we could.

3/29/07 'till 4/1/07: Yam l'Yam

A yearly rite of passage for many Israelis is the gorgeous springtime hike in northern Israel called Yam l'Yam, or Sea to Sea, because it starts on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and ends in Tiberias on the Kinneret (or Sea of Galilee...where the New Testament says Jesus walked on water). We did the 55 km-hike, which was a combination of difficult and stunningly beautiful, in about three days. Not bad. My legs, of course, were a mess by the end. But camping out, sleeping in tents, playing guitar by the fire, and eating canned tuna was well worth it.


6 a.m. wake up call for the first day of the hike


The necessary equipment


First stop: the shores of the Mediterranean in northern Israel


Me and Naty


The Yam l'Yam Gang


Mapping out the 4-day hike


...and we're off. Jason being a tourist.


Ancient Crusader castle in the background


Same castle...closer view


Jessica, Naty, and me


This is most beautiful time of year in Israel


Rest stop...this water was NOT warm


Naty flexing on Zack...who happens to be in the U.S. Army.
Those steroids are clearly really helping Naty.


Naty (btw, how French does he look in that buttoned shirt???),
Adam, me, Jason, Dan.


Sunset over Galilee


Sharing a tent with Naty. I won't tell you how I woke
up the next morning to find Naty snuggling in my armpit. Weird kid.


Nice view on Day 2 of the hike. Mt. Hermon is in the distance


Naty being "rugged"


Scenic stuff


The Francophiles: Swiss Gabriel, French Naty, Franco-American Erik


The Jordan River


Jordan River Valley


Fields of gold


I love this picture...even though that tree looked so lonely.


Finally...after three days of hiking...the shores of the Kinneret!



4/4/07 'till 4/8/07 - Eilat and Petra, Jordan

After being virtually as far north in Israel as possible, Naty and I decided that it only made sense to go as far south as possible. So after a brief two-day pit stop in Bersheva to visit my family for the Passover "seder" (or festive meal...more on that in a coming post), we decided to head to Israel's version of Las Vegas...Eilat.

Now I've been to Eilat a few times already, so there wasn't much to surprise me there. It's basically a resort town on the Red Sea where all the Israeli THs come to get hit on by "arsim" (Israel's version of the "guido"). The cool thing about Eilat, though, is that you can see Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia from the same beach. I went to Eilat back in the fall in order to go to Egypt on my scuba diving safari. This time we decided to cross the border to Jordan and go on a day trip through the desert to Petra. Very wise decision.

Petra is a 2,200 year old city which really should be one of the seven wonders of the world. The Nabataeans who built the joint chose not to build free-standing buildings. Instead, they built their fortresses INTO the sandstone mountains. Amazing. Seriously, it's one of the most unreal things I've ever seen. This is where they shot Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Next time you're in Jordan, you MUST check it out.

What? You weren't planning on making any trips to Jordan in the near future? Fine...here are some pictures to tide you over.




At the Aqaba border crossing


King Abdullah and his old man King Hussein were ALL over the place


Picture time in the Jordanian desert


Jordanian schoolchildren walking into Petra


The entrance to the series of canyons that lead into Petra


You can either walk through the canyon or hitch a ride...


The end of the main canyon eventually leads to...


Al-Khazneh (the Treasury)...simply stunning



That's a biiiiig door


The funny thing about this Jordanian royal guard is that
he has a ton of bullets...but no gun.


Camels are just funny-looking aren't they?


Bedouin man smokin' a heat stick


Me on the Street of Facades


Me and Naty. He wants everyone to know that he really
IS this tall in real life


Solitary tree from high above a valley


Stunning shot of the Petra valley


Another ancient palace dug into the mountain


Bedouin children who live in Petra


Yes, it's gum. No, I don't want your's


Doesn't it look like this donkey should be riding ME?


Ancient Roman-style amphitheatre...I'm in between the two pillars


Later, Jordan


God welcoming us back? Happy to be back home...



Some highlights from the last week:

-Wine Time: Walking into bars all over Israel and seeing almost the entire clientel drinking wine. Why wine? Cause beer, like bread, is not kosher for passover. I can't tell you all how cool that is to see. In the last few weeks, I went to a bunch of bars and clubs, and a lot of them weren't even serving beer. And people didn't mind. No apologizing or explanations needed. That's standard operating procedure in Israel. May we all be so proud when going out in NYC or LA or wherever.

-Israel Is Still Israel: Of course, this is far from the most kosher country in the world. I was watching the news on TV and this woman was being interviewed while she was eating shrimp (clearly not kosher) in a restaurant in Tel Aviv. The reporter asked her why she wasn't eating bread with her shrimp. Her answer: "cause it's Passover." Amazing.

-Hi Egypt, Have a Nice F'n Day: One of the shorter yet most powerful moments while I was in Eilat: Going to the Egyptian border and giving the country the "finger." No pictures to document this - don't wanna disturb the fragile peace - but as we celebrated our emancipation from Egyptian slavery, I couldn't help but think: the Pharaohs tried to keep us as slaves and now they're extinct. And we Jews now have our own country right where they used to whip us and keep us in chains. To be in Israel, looking into Egypt, on Passover...pretty deep stuff for me.

Anyways, that's been the last week or so. Pretty average I guess.

-E

Super Bowl 2K7

I know I'm about a month and a half late, but I would just like take a moment to thank Greg and A-Train Alexander for hosting my face at this year's annual Super Bowl @ The Ale House Sh*t Show. For obvious reasons, I was not able to attend this year's event in Miami, but my semblance did. And it apparently made quite a splash on the eclectic clientele at the Ale House. Next year...no excuses. Write it down: Super Bowl 2K8: The Return of Tommy.

*Thanks also to Ryan, Prince, Joe, and the rest of the Miami crew for being so disturbingly weird and making me feel like I was missed!



Who in the BLUE hell are these two guys?



The Fabulous GA. Feeding me. Weird.



Disturbing to the point of tears.

THIS is child abuse

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=24792_Death_Cult_Family_Moments_from_Hamas_TV&only

Next time you hear about how Israel "violates" human rights and tramples on the lives of Palestinians and how Israeli political leaders are "war criminals," keep this video in mind.

People who know me and read this blog regularly know that I'm a pretty happy-go lucky guy and tend to enjoy the brighter elements of life. But after seeing this this video, I was ashamed to be a human being. THIS is child abuse. These poor kids made me cry. They have no future, no goals, and they dream only of death...because of what their own people are telling them and teaching them.

Next time ANYONE dares tell you that Israel is to blame for robbing Palestinian children of their future...send them this link. It's a horrid, despicable, vile example of what Palestinian leaders are doing to their own people. And I've never been so proud to be in Israel...a country where children are celebrated and cherished, not manipulated and abused for political gain by f'n cowards.

-E

Purim 2K7

There aren't many places in the world where getting "out-of-your-mind, where exactly was I last night" drunk is considered a mitzvah, or "good deed." But then again, there aren't a lot places in the world like Israel. The holiday of Purim came and went this past weekend, and from what I remember, it was off the chain. I'm not gonna get into the actual story of Purim, except to say that it follows the predictable pattern of most Jewish holidays: "They tried to kill us, we whooped their asses instead...let's eat." (Editor's note: For Purim, replace the word "eat" with "drink alcohol.")

Of course I'm oversimplifying, but for non-religious Jews in Israel (which means most Israelis), Purim is basically a four-day long costume party where drinking...lots of drinking...is encouraged. The idea is to drink enough so that you can't tell the difference between the "good guy" and the "bad guy." Imagine a sort of Jewish Mardi-Gras.

So, knowing the general interests and tendencies of this blog's audience, I will recount only the beer-fueled festivities from the last week.

First, the Kfar HaStudentim (or Student Village, the apartment/dorm complex where I live), organized a huge party, complete with a costume contest, free booze, and dancing. The irony of the situation is that I had to wait until Senior Celebration to get a free glass of wine from Syracuse University. At Hebrew University, they're requesting I get drunk on their shekel. What a country!



Pink definitely works on you. And you too, Ms. Playboy Bunny.



Capacity crowd on hand to see...



The Return of Ron Jeremy! Or, that may be my friend Tony.
I'm not quite sure.



Edward Scissorhands. This was a big crowd-pleaser.



My roommate Ilan, as some kind of Greco-Roman geek,
acknowledging his "subjects."



Me and Big Eddy. He didn't need a bottle opener.



Ilan, blowing a kiss to our friend Yoann. He was really into the whole
"Roman bathhouse" motif.



Bryce, Ariel, Cammie, and me. We dressed up ourselves.



Two days, and one hangover, later...we were back at it again. This time we went to a huge soiree at a kibbutz called Ramat Rachel. Tons of costumes, lots of smoke, too much drinking, and way too many Israelis trying to rap along with Nas and Biggie. Still, a great time. Although I have to admit that by about 2:30, the music had shifted to house/trans which meant Levis had to exit stage left.



Smoke machines are fun.



Barney meets The Incredible Hulk. Or something.



Ilan, getting groped by Zoro.



My friend Rose, her boyfriend, and me. I went as a soccer player.
Stupid costume, I know. I definitely dropped the ball this year with my selection.
Fortunately, since I was a soccer player for the night, I quickly picked up
that ball and scored a goal and was deemed Hero of Purim!



Best costumes of the night. Imagine the potential
lines these dudes could have used: "So...wanna ride my ostrich?"



Me, Ilan and our Korean friend Moshe. Yea, that's right, his name
is Moshe. As in "Moses" in Hebrew. That's just how he rolls.



Good times.

So that pretty much sums up Purim 2K7. If you need me, I'll be the one in line at the local liver transplant center.

-E

Back (from the U.S./the dead/sabbatical)

So...yea. Anyone who reads this pathetic excuse for an "on-going" blog has probably noticed that I haven't exactly kept my end of the bargain lately. Last post: January 4th. Ooops. Ok, in my defense a lot has been going on. Namely, end of semester final exams and term papers, the local internet company completely screwing us with access in our apartment, and general day-to-day inconveniences. For those who have chastised me for my lack of postings, thanks for keeping me on my toes (that means you, Leora). It's actually nice to know that someone is actually reading this thing!

Ok on to business. Some of you may know that I was actually back home in the States for three weeks in February. It was great seeing everyone I managed to see, and I suck for not being able to catch up with the people I didn't see. See what I mean? To recap: For two weeks I gorged myself on my mom's cooking, took a one-day road trip to Philly, and went to more basketball games than any human being should be able to attend. And I have the pics to prove it:


The Levis Clan at a Wizards game.


Ariel, me, and our friend Jaime at a Maryland game. I'm wearing
a headband cause headbands are cool. Right?



Me and Ariel in Philly at the Temple/UMass game. Ariel, you might
recall that the Minutemen got blown out of the building that day.
Just a thought. Anyways, this game was particularly notable because of this...






Hooter (love the name), one of the two Temple mascots, was celebrating
his birthday the day of the Temple/UMass game. So, at halftime, he
had a b-day party and invited basically every professional,
semi-professional, amateur, and boys and girls club mascot in Philly.
The result was the most bizarre spectacle I have ever seen.
A "basketball" game broke out where the "players" were
giant pigs, ducks, some kind of superhero-ish freak, and everything else
a disturbed human mind can create. Ariel and I just kinda watched
the whole thing unfold, hoping we were on crack....cause that was one WEIRD scene.


After two weeks in Maryland, I rolled to New York for a quick visit. As promised I made two visits to Dinosaur BBQ in a five day span, which is nothing short of revolting. But it was a promise to myself I needed to keep. I subsequently put on approximately 45 pounds and I now bleed bbq sauce. Whatever it was worth it. FYI...the garlic-chipotle bbq wings are great hang-over remedies. Just ask Gideon.



I got pride.



Sunday brunch/weight gaining session at the 'Saur.



Craig and Kenny making me proud. Amazingly, Craig actually
finished everything on his plate. And everything on Kenny's.


Hangover, out. Garlic chipotle, in.


Ariel talking sh*t to his plate.

So thanks to everyone who showed up and hung out in NY...good times. Those few days really made me realize how much I miss the City. I am definitely having a blast in Israel, but it's a great feeling to know you can come back home and not miss a beat. Anyways, I'll leave it at that 'cause this blog, after all, is not about New York. I'm back in Jerusalem now and our second semester is officially underway. So thanks for being patient with the lack of entries and stay tuned for an update on Purim...4 of the wackiest days you're liable to be a part of in Israel!

-E