21 days in the "Homeland"

Happy Monday everyone!
It is my last day here in Tel Aviv, and it is torturing me to stay by finally being back to 75 and sunny after an entire week of rain. I am spending my last day throwing the shekels I don't have into a few souvenirs and a few last rugelach.
Allow me to reflect for a short moment- Tel Aviv is a very cool city. A hipster paradise full of bars and fast food stops, accompanied by a beach and a small center business district. I haven't explored all of Israel, but from the other parts I have seen and from talking to many Israeli's, Tel Aviv is a liberal bubble amidst the most tense country in the world. It reminds me of Cape Town in manyyyyy ways, and is truly a beautiful and enjoyable place to live.
My experience here has been completely overwhelmed, in a good way, by staying and working at Overstay Hostel. Overstay was the perfect introduction to hostel volunteer work and life- met great, fun, people of both fellow volunteers and some great guests rolled through; had pretty manageable, although often gross maintenance work- yes I did manual labor people- and had a lovely place to call home while very far from my real home for 3 weeks.
Now- to the political shit. I am obviously jewish, was raised celebrating holidays, occasionally attending synagogue when forced and went through the Bat Mitzvah process to get the fun party and gifts. But after that, my judaism was boiled down to my last name, eternally loving challah and celebrating 4-5 holidays a year with my family. For years I have comfortably said I am culturally jewish, a very recognized and accepted term in the states. In Israel, they know this term but its not as accepted. If you're jewish, you're jewish- you can still do whatever you want in terms of whatever food rules, and religious observations you choose to follow, but the most important thing is that you own and are proud of your judaism. Most people say when you go to Israel it brings you closer to being jewish, and I would whole heartedly agree. Not that I ever feel shame to be jewish, but its not always something I go around bragging about, whereas here you want people to know that you're jewish (the curly hair usually does it for me and people guess it), but it just instantly makes Israeli's like you more. You have an immediate connection, a language bridge when there is already a language barrier and a sense of family.
This being said, there is a BIG difference between being Israeli and being Jewish, that I think is commonly misunderstood, especially my people who are neither (aka everyone in my hostel, as I was the only jewish volunteer and then the owners are obviously all Israeli). As jewish, or whatever as I may be, I have no real connection to the land and state of Israel. I understand the history of the nation fully and completely, but have no Israeli relatives and am in no way just pro-Israel, because of the religion my parents passed on to me. When visiting Jerusalem, I was able to see a lot more the divides amongst the arabs and jews, and tried to understand as much as possible the current situation and think about my opinions on a solution to these two ethnicities sharing a land. But again, that is Israeli's and Palestinians sharing a land- when it is referred to as jews and arabs, as I just did, it makes it seem like I am tied to one side, I think that might be where some of my volunteers confusion begins.
Enough about politics, COME HERE AND MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN CONCLUSIONS.
I will be back to Tel Aviv again for sure, it is a dream beach vaca for me, cause I have the option of dining in a fun artsy restaurant after a few hours tanning- what more could a girl ask for.

I will post a bunch of pictures of Jerusalem, and the magical rainbow that rose behind the Western Wall when we visited- talk about a Holy moment. but for now I leave you with one piece, of the thousands of pieces, of graffiti in my neighborhood and a classic On My Way photo (click here if you don't know what I'm referring to)

do it guys- always. 

Holy days and Nights

Good Morning Everyone! Happy Saturday, Shabbat Shalom and a joyous weekend to all.

It is a slightly cool, 72 degree overcast day here in Tel Aviv, Israel. I am enjoying a wonderful breakfast of eggs, avocado and tahini- when in Rome people, when in Rome.

I realize I have left you with nothing for nearly a week now so let me fill you in on my first busy week in a while.

On Tuesday morning we left for what would be the most adventurous and "outdoorsy" night of my life. After a bit of trouble finding the rent a car place, I signed my life and a $1,000 deposit away and hit the streets of Tel Aviv in Betty, our lovely compact Mitsubishi. Drove east towards Dead Sea, passing through Jerusalem, hours after the synagogue bombing of Tuesday morning, but saw no signs of disruption as is usual here in Israel- things can be happening miles away and being reported on around the world, but nothing changes in the day-to-day here. After a quick and unreal 2 hour drive, we were heading south on Rt.90 the coastal drive of the Dead Sea, in awe of the beauty surrounding us. Stopping nearly ever 5km for another indescribable photo op, we made it to the Ein Gedi public beach of the Dead Sea at sunset- most spots along the sea you have to pay to enter. It was amazing. I could have stayed floating in that water for hours- as long as none of that salty, poisonous tasting shit got in my mouth or splashed even close to my lips. We were on a rocky beach so could not enjoy the famous mud bathing, but it was truly spectacular. The sunset, the people, the Russian family who was having a full fledged photoshoot next to us, Jordan in the distance through the sunset. Flawless Dead Sea experience. 

Ida and I Floating On                                 The famous salt of the Dead Sea on the seaside rocks

On to the next part of our adventure was meeting the lovely man who ran the snack bar at the top of the Ein Gedi beach stop who answered all of our questions and prayers. He told us where to sleep- right there on the rocky land above the beach with the other backpackers, no tent, no problem. He told us the supermarket was in the Kibbutz 1km away. And then he told us about the Hot Springs which we had all vaguely heard about, but were each given different, vague directions and were unsure how to exactly locate them. He told us to go 6km to the left and park where we saw other cars and ask someone how to walk to them.

So after hitting the supermarket in the Kibbutz, and all realizing we had no clue what a Kibbutz actually was- aka a mini suburban village much like a ski resort village or college campus with a central grocery store with EVERYTHING you could ever want. This was no mom and pop shop, I got Ben and Jerrys ice cream people- and a bottle of wine, sweeeeett livin on the Ein Gedi Kibbutz. We trekked on the 6km and in fact saw one other car pulled over so parked and found a man in a swimsuit and towel and knew we were getting closer! He didn't speak any english, but though pointing and sounds and a lovely map he drew for us we felt sure we could find these glorious springs. We began our night hike, down the rocky covered mountain, in the pitched black with only my iPhone as a flash light in search of the hot pools. It was the most in nature I have ever been- completely 360 degrees surrounded by darkness, mountains, water and desert terrain. It was crazy, quite scary honestly, but there was no time for fear so I just kept walking, scaling 10 ft drops of falling rocks, and hoping we made it out alive. The trustworthy map quickly proved completely inaccurate as the turn drawn for us was no where to be found and the road ended with a gigantic drop at the end of it. Marko, our fearless leader and the most optimistic person I have ever met- he puts me to shame with saying yes to everything, always living life with the glass completely filled to the top with hope and fun 24/7- decided to take the phone leaving us 3 waiting on this cliff edge, in search of these springs he was determined to find. And alas we heard a scream about 20 minutes later that he had found them and he ran back lighting our way to scale another cliff and walk down a long path where we began to hear water trickles, and smell the infamous Dead Sea "rotten egg" smell of the mud and water.

Hot Springs is almost an understatement and sounds soo soo much more glamorous than this was. It was incredible, do not get me wrong, but the smell was distracting and the water is BOILING, unlike any hot tub I have ever entered. Arguably burning skin, I slowly attempted to adjust to the water and lasted nearly 5 minutes floating in the soup under the stars and it was magical. The famous mud lines the floors of all the springs, we found 3- one boiling, one cold, and one medium but too small to float in. It was awesome- worth the life risking hike down and an unforgettable experience. About an hour later, we were alarmed by car lights driving pretty close by and a whole crew of nearly 20 Israelis showed up to party and enjoy the springs, but clearly knowing the right way to get there. We hung with them for a bit, but the water was simply too hot to enjoy any longer. They brought a sweet spread though and tried to convince me to make aliyah and become Israeli- oof. We'll see on that one. After a quick, but equally terrifying and challenging upwards mountain scaling hike out of this secret haven we made it back to the road, guided by truck lights and found our faithful car intact where we left her! 

A quick lie/ sleep in our sleeping bags under the stars on the Ein Gedi beach and it was 6am, the sun was rising and we were off to Masada, just 15 minutes down the road. As you can see, it was a glorious drive and the reward of eating breakfast at the base of Masada watching this blinding sun was the definition of nature's glory. The boys began their 7am hike to the top of Masada, while Ida and I enjoyed the sun and cleaning our hair in a nearby sink before hitching the cable car to the top. Best money I ever spent as it was a blistering 85 degrees. Masada is incredible, everything its cracked up to be and more. A very cool site, with unbelievable views and a crazy history- it is an old fortress used by the Roman army in BC times and then the Israeli army in the past century before becoming a world heritage site and tourist must-see. We explored the fortress all morning, but could have spent all day there, despite the rising temperatures and the boys impending hike down. We drove back to Tel Aviv quickly as we only had the rental car til 1pm, and had to enjoy the pleasure of getting gas in Israel- a stressful and expensive experience. But all in all was an unbelievable trip, and a true bucket list check. 

Enjoy some more pictures below and I recommend this experience to everyone.

Me and Masada

$$$ THE CREWW $$$

can't beat this view

view from passengers window

a Holy drive- til next time rt. 90

Say a little prayer for me

As with any attempt at me camping, I need all of your prayers.
Today, in 10 minutes, I am renting a car with 3 other guests and driving through the desert, Palestine, and across Israel to the famous Dead Sea and Masada.
There I will swim in the holy waters, attempt hiking, sleep on a beach and see lots of beauty.
Very excited to see other parts of Israel.
much love and god speed. SHALOM

Holy Update

so sorry for the hiatus. Just been adjusting, exploring, settling and CHILLIN OUT.
I have never had so much free time to do whatever I want, whenever I want so its just an adjustment, no complaints obviously, but just adjusting.
Here are my thoughts thus far on Israel/ Tel Aviv-
1. SHOCKINGLY expensive. Equal if not more than NYC. Attempted to buy groceries and spent 100 shekels ($30) on hummus, pita, milk, cereal and yogurt. WHAT.HOW.WHY.
2. the beach is everything you need and its 80 degrees everyday.
3. Tel Aviv is super chill about all political shit, and I have felt very unprepared (as I had no intention or plans of coming to Israel) about my knowledge and opinions of the current situation so have been trying to talk to as many Israeli's and other volunteers who have been here a while about the war this summer and other happenings and am still very confused, but have gathered that no one here really changes their way of life for the chance of a bomb or shooting. People don't live in fear basically. I do hear its vastly different in Jerusalem, and that there are parts of the city for different religions, so I am looking forward to seeing that.
4.  The people- picture this place- I hope you all checked the website- it has like 20 dorm rooms, some 6 bed, some private and so there is a bunch of space for guests, but its not full right now. There are about 14 volunteers and probably less guests so the volunteers are kinda a small family, very reminiscent of my group in Cape Town, just a bunch of random people thrown together in a common place. The way it works is that you work 5 hrs a day/ 5 days a week for your stay and get free breakfast and the location is ideal- 10 min to beach and Jaffa, the hip neighborhood. AND THE ROOF- if anything this place is known for its roof, it is 2covered in 20 couches and a bar and speakers and just where everyone is 99% of the time- I am terrified for when it rains, but apparently you can't say that cause there is a drought and no water in Israel.
Ok so the people! Where should i begin? probably Randi- she is just so cool. She's been here a month, she is 30, the oldest volunteer, SAILED HERE from the Bahamas to Amsterdam, then worked in Turkey for the summer then came down to Israel cause her EU visa expired and is working at an american bar here. Her background: from upstate NY (woo! the only other american), lived in Portland, OR the past 9 years making art, working hair and makeup for photoshoots, and selling portraits of rappers on instagram I KNOW. COULD SHE BE COOLER. She's obsessed with the sea, so she has fish tattoos all over herself. oh yea, everyone here is covered in tattoos, im like the baby of the group with my modest 2. So, yes, Randi is my idol and were going on a mural tour of the Florentine "artist neighborhood" this week. The others are a mix, but all just cool true backpacking, world travelling, 22 year olds much like myself, but from all over- 5 Danish people, all blonde, nice and love to drink. One cool guy from England who is my adventure buddy cause we both get sick of sitting around all day and like to wander the streets and take pics. A few other girls who are like fine, but nothing stellar- nice and normal but I could never like spend all my time with. Then there is Inci- from Turkey, but has lived in the US for about 5 years. What I love about her, besides her amazing dreds and style, is that she treats money with no worries. I feel like to travel like this you really have to have money and am constantly stressed about it, but she is sooooo not. She literally went to NYC with $10 in her pocket and just found friends and people to take her in, feed her, toughed out some nights sleeping on the street and made her way to Cali to work at a tattoo shop in San Diego for a year and then moved to New Orleans where she worked at a hostel for 3 years and fell in love with the city and wants to go back but doesn't have a visa. Just has a beautiful attitude towards new people and experiences and is a true example of good karma.
Then there are the guests- they are constantly changing, but some are long-term. 2 gay dudes from Switzerland who I hit the beach with most days. AND THEN there are these 2 dudes who are OPERA SINGERS FROM JOBERG. They are slightly older, but we talk Cape Town and South Africa shit all the time and they both randomnly love the OC so it was best friendship at first sight and there accents just kill me and bring me right back.
SO YES ALL IS WELL FINALLY.
And from here I am going to Paris for a week, then Morocco for 2 weeks before heading back to Italy for Christmas. Not a bad way to spend 2 months- we'll see how long I can keep up this lifestyle for.

Oh one other thing, had a religious photography experience yesterday and have just starting busting out the cameras and building this so called portfolio. Yesterday I went on a solo mission to The Photohouse- it is the oldest and only left in Israel. It holds all the archives from this photographer Rudi Weissenstein, who photographed the day Israel declared Independence in 1948 and a famous Israeli photographer throughout the 50's and 60's. They sell prints, postcards, books, and have all of his neagtives organized in old wooden storage cabinets around the store and are working on digitalizing everything slowly but surely. The woman who was working yesterday and I talked for 3 hours about photography, New York and Israel and it was truly heartwarming. She was explaining how she has stopped reading stuff because the media is so one sided and only reports disasters and tragedy in Israel, but never the beauty and wonderful things happening everyday. We went back and forth talking for a while and got stuck on why people choose to come visit Israel over so many other countries at war. I was telling her how many people I know who visit Israel or want to, yes I know a lot of jews so of course that is a connection, but still it is a very popular travel destination, unlike Syria, Afghanistan, even Palestine and so many African countries. Israel is much more westernized, especially central Tel Aviv and does have beaches, but still often has bombs going off and is constantly in threat of another war outbreak. It was an awesome talk and a very very cool store- I will be back.

Enjoy some shitty Iphone pics- good ones to come when the cameras are charged and working!

view from Jaffa of the beach up to central Tel Aviv

yep

1 shekel each

my nightly routine- 4:48pm. Tel Aviv beach.

THE ROOF

Overstaying

So Saturday afternoon I made my escape from the Pink Prison- I mean Palace.
Here was my last 36 hours:
Saturday:
4-8pm explored Corfu town, quite beautiful and a nice end to a horrible week
8pm-10pm- ferry to mainland Greece
10pm- 5am bus to Athens (just as bad as it sounds)
6am-10am Athens airport nap and drop bag off
10am-6pm explored Athens, great city- beautiful day.
back to airport
1030- fly to Tel Aviv, Israel
1am- arrive at Overstay Hostel in Jaffa, Tel Aviv. My home for the next month.

Basically spent the massive amounts of free time I had last week emailing everyone in sight about other hostel jobs and found this sick sounding place in Tel Aviv, so without much else, booked a ticket and am now here!
It is so so so cool already and hot and funky and I'm very happy to be here! AND THERE ARE PEOPLE! 14 TO BE EXACT. Other volunteers that is and then guest and the owners.
check out their website overstaytlv.com

xoxoxoxoxo Israel LETS GO!

no sleep tonight

yes the puppy cried every 30 minutes all night.
no I did not sleep a wink.
Yes I am planning my escape.
(and yes I gave the puppy back)

UPDATE: PUPPY

I HAVE NOW BEEN GIVEN THE PUPPY. I REPEAT- I OWN A GREEK PUPPY.
HIS NAME IS OUZO AND I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT
SEND ANY HELP MY WAY
ITS SQUEALING, AND KEEPS BITING EVERYTHING.
WHERE SHOULD IT SLEEP???? WILL IT PEE EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME??

meet Ouzo

the first 24

Yassas everyone!
It is 4pm here in Corfu, Greece- writing to you from Room 2, bed 3 (out of 6) at the Pink Palace Hostel.
Yesterday I arrived to the beautiful island of Corfu at 2pm to be retrieved at the airport by Magdalena. She was sweet, but in a very sad mood because another volunteer named Maria left yesterday who she was very close to. We proceeded to drive around doing errands, visiting her friends, and picking up her two children from their schools before heading to the house. As we drove up and through the winding roads, the beach suddenly appeared out of the passengers window, and it was everything I imagined. A literal postcard in front of my eyes- the cliffs, the blue water, the houses built into the hills, so so so Greece.
Also I should mention before I go on the children- super adorable, extra small and cute. A 3 girl year old girl named Evie (pronounced Eh-ve) and a feisty, but equally cute 5 year old boy named Spiros. They are very energetic, speak english and greek and love me lots already.
Now- after arriving, settling into my room, meeting the only other volunteer still here- her name is Angie, shes probs late 20's, german, nice but classic cold German- I attempted to see what there is to do around here. Just up the staircase from our room is the entrance to Magda's house where she lives with her kids, husband- who is traveling- and 81 year old father. I watched TV with the grandpa and kids, and then helped Magda organizing her bed as there were clothes EVERYWHERE. You people think I have a lot of clothes, this woman is another level. We then checked all the email accounts for the hostel, of which there were none because they clothes next week and it is the offseason.
Now, before coming here I knew it was the off-season and that November was quiet as Magda emailed me about it. But quiet and desolate are two different things. Maria, the other volunteer- are you keeping up?- has told me the only supermarket within walking distance is closing next week as well. And since the hostel is closing as well, there will be no more meals there so food is a mystery to me as of now.
Anywho- back to last night. After folding clothes and emails- I went over to the hostel reception area across the street to get some of this delicious wifi I have now, and meet the other people. There were 2 others- one guy from Australia, one from Canada, both worked at reception all summer, your average party boys, both leaving tomorrow. They were confused why I decided to come to Greece in November, as am I now. We ate some mediocre rice, meat and greek salad- talked about our travel plans a bit and I went back to my chambers for an attempt at sleep in a child size cot, that I fell out of at one point.
Now- if you have not been listening START NOW. Because today has been out of this world.
People say I exaggerate so I am simply going to list facts and you can add opinions as you wish.
Today started at 9am when I awoke, walked to the reception to get some coffee (instant), and hopefully breakfast. I searched in the abandoned kitchen and found some corn flakes, no milk, so ate them dry. Next went back across the street to Magda's where she asked Angie and I to clean the living room that the kids had made a mess of. Vacuumed, picked up toys, swept, etc. Next another email check. Then she told us we were going to her other property to clean up a bit- Angie told me she did this a few days back and was left there for 4 hours with a different volunteer, no food or anything. So me, Madga, Angie, and the kids all piled in the car to go over- oh yes! why are the kids home on a wednesday, I agree, so I asked- "schools on strike today", I asked no more questions.
On the drive over we casually pulled over at a house on the side of the road, honked and a woman came out and gave us a 2 month old, white, soft, adorable puppy. We then drove on. Back to that later.
We arrived at "Villa Magdalena", a large hotel with a pool in the front and a big house behind. Entered the dining room to see the remains of an abandoned hotel that needed a serious cleaning. We were asked to wipe the 20 tables, put the chairs on top and sweep the floor. Oh forgot to mention that at this Villa Magdalena, Magda has a house sitter living there. 29 year old, Finnish man who was quiet and is staying there alone til March to "avoid winter in Finland". Magda then left, me, Angie, the kids and the puppy there while she went to town to do errands.
The mess: the tables were messy with left over food stains, cobwebs on everychair, dust everywhere, but the pounds of rat poop essentially lining the floor of this banquet room was the real kicker. The kitchen have rotting food in the fridges and garbage bins and look they it was left in the middle of a night of cooking for 100 people.
We began wiping the tables with rags, put all the chairs on top, and then began the awful sweeping task. Every brush of the broom brought a cups worth of dust, dirt and poop with it.
All the while, the kids and puppy in the corner. The puppy was shaking with fear and so hungry- we fed it some of the older dogs food but its teeth could barely break it down. The kids were so bored- thank god I always carry a notebook and sharpies cause that entertained them for a good 2 hours.
After 3 and a half hours in this place- we had cleaned as much as we could bare and were just hungry and wanted to leave. The kids were so cranky and I stupidly fed them a mento each and then was badgered the rest of the day for more. The puppy was peeing and pooping wherever it pleased, and we eventually fed it a raw chicken bone to gnaw on cause it was so hungry.
Magda arrived soon after with gyros from the supermarket- ok quality, questionable meat, but I feed mine to the puppy and enjoyed the rest. It was quite an experience.
Now I am happily showered, on the deck looking at the ocean waves crash and planning my escape soon.
It can literally only get better.

my current view