Eurotrip!!

The American Embassy in Cairo sent out an email last week “warn[ing] U.S. citizens to defer travel to Egypt and U.S. citizens living in Egypt to depart at this time because of the continuing political and social unrest.” 

Jordan was definitely the right call. 

But in the meantime… I got my summer-after-graduation-Eurotrip that I have always dreamed of. Started in Greece then Munich (the airport is sickkkkk), Nice, La Trayas, Madrid, Seville, Cordoba, Bilbao, San Sebastian and… Barcelona. And now I have been in Israel for about two weeks and I’m flying out to Jordan September 1.

I’m going to skip Greece and Munich (it really shouldn’t even be on the list. I’m just trying to make my fb geomap look more impressive.

So… La Trayas. I spent the last days of July out in this small town in the south of France just outside of Cannes with the family of one of my mom’s college roommates, Odette. After reading that my stay in Cairo was to be cut short, and that I was looking for a destination in Europe, Odette emailed my mom telling her I was welcome to join her and her family at their summer home. At first I was hesitant - I was concerned with tainting my carefully cultivated rugged backpacker persona thathas persisted since NOLS and Outward Bound in the summers after eighth and ninth grade. Pshhh, the south of France? Fine, but only if I can sleep on the floor. No pillow. And I am only bringing a small backpack with enough room for Becca Ward’s extra stuff.

But… it would have been rude to decline. I mean, she did say it would be her pleasure… And my mom had mentioned that when she visited one summer there were fresh croissants every morning for breakfast. Needless to say, I emailed Odette to let her know I would love to take her up on the offer. I mean do you see that freaking view?? How could I refuse?

So I arrived in Nice, France where I was met by Denis, a taxi driver whom Odette and her family have befriended over the years and was kindly sent to pick me up and drive me to their house. It was the first time that I wasn’t able to linguistically exploit the cab driver with some sort of conversation about the recent protests in Egypt as the French-English divide proved to be quite strong. I felt very American, as I thought to myself – how annoying that he doesn’t speak English. The drive through these small cities on the southern coast of France was spectacular. Climbing steep, narrow streets up through the hills with an ocean view. Got me second guessing Arabic as my language of study. JKKKK

Nearing the top of the hill, we finally reached Odette’s family’shouse. I should note: I had met Odette a few times over the years and knew her as my mom’s close friend and college roommate, but had few details to fill in the picture. So it turns out that Odette’s parents had built the house about 40+ years ago and had been coming every summer since. Her mother stays for the entire summer and Odette and her sisters come for varying lengths of time to be with their mother and enjoy the tranquility that this town offers. Family comes in and out over the summer, though croissants, fresh fruit and a cup of coffee for breakfast and a sit down home cooked dinner seem to be staples. And the nightly movie seemed to be a rotation of Pride & Prejudice and The Parent Trap. A wonderful 4 days.

From there I took a 12-hour train to Madrid where I met up with my parents and brother, Nadav. We traveled arpund Madrid, Granada, Cordoba, Seville and a bunch of other smaller towns and cities that my parents kept talking about how cute life would be there. I guess it's a certain stage of life. After my parents Nadav and I a few days on kur own before we met up with my grandparents in Barcelona. We decided to travel up to Northwest Spain to Bilboa or “Basque country.” Don’t call it Spain. They get pissed. 

We finally made our way to Barcelona where we met up with my grandparents. Barcelona was nice, no doubt, but what really made that leg of the trip was just being with my grandparents. Full days of walking, doing literally everything Gaudi and late night tapa dinners over a bottle of sangria... and my grandparents set the tone. Closing in on eighty and still livin large. How cool is that? 

After a long three and a half weeks of travel, I finally got back to Jerusalem for a second round of mangals (bbq) and ma'ayans (natural springs). I have been spending a lot of time with friends from maale gilboa who are at a point in their lives where they recently gotten out of the army and are soon going off traveling in Southeast Asia for the next 4-6 mounts which works out really well for me since they have time on their hands. Every time I am back in Jerusalem they take me in so quickly, inviting me to everything and anything that they might be doing. I really lucked out with these guys. Such a quality group. I find that I want to thank them for hanging out with means being such good people, but I'm not really sure how that would come off. Right? It could come off as a little much. One day maybe...

So my summer reflection: these random moments when routine is broken or there is no plan can be frustrating, unsettling and even maddening. But, with a little luck, they might open up a new door or two. There have been so many people this summer who I had thought I wouldn't see for months or even the whole year who suddenly became defining parts of my summer. Important conversations that I would otherwise never have had. Places I would have otherwise never visited. Obviously I can only say this since it seems that everything has worked out, الحمد الله. But still, it is important to embrace the next step instead of dwelling on the last (I know, deep. Take a minute with that gem). So many awesome things in life. 

Off to Amman on Sunday. 

The Holy Land and... Some More Changes

Evacuations are not as bad as they might seem. Not sure how many of you have had the chance, but I would strongly recommend traveling to a soon to be unstable country, purchase some Frontier MEDEX insurance and just wait. Insurance has always been one of those things that I know I need to have, but it kills me that I pay for it and never use it. I finally got my chance. Take that insurance company. They paid for my flight to a "safe haven" - Jerusalem -  and then one more flight - either home or elsewhere. I chose Greece. No biggie. I just spent the past week in Athens and Crete with Solomon Braun, Anna Rubin and Andrea Ucar. Boom. (Whattup BOOM playlist!! You know who you are... Add songs please!)

Solomon at his finest

Paid vacations are awesome

First class slippers or Toms?

The past week in Greece has been beautiful and relaxing and I highly recommend a visit, but I want to focus more on my time in Jerusalem. I mentioned in my last post that I was staying with my aunt and uncle in Jerusalem, seeing friends, playing basketball... all that continued. It was great. Except for my elbow... I really have been feeling so old.
I love Jerusalem. I don't know why exactly and sometimes I feel like I have to pretend to downplay my affinity for the city. I just don't feel like I have any great reasons. Granted, my experiences in Jerusalem have always been uniquely different from any other place in which I have spent time. I am not working. I am not in school. I am on vacation, living in a house stocked with food. I go and come and do as I please. Who wouldn't enjoy that? That being said, I really do love it and I think it transcends being my ultimate vacation. Walking (gavigiating?) the streets, bumping into old friends and Shabbat dinners with family that are comprised solely of salatim... every day really just feels like such a pleasure. And now that the shuk has a bunch of chill bars where you can grab a beer (or a coffee in my case)... what else could I be looking for? Even my thirst for Arabic is quenched.

Every time I am here I try to get together with some friends from Seeds of Peace. It just so happens that most of the people with whom I stayed in touch are Arab-Israeli and from a city up near Kfar Saba called Taybeh. I have made the trip up a few times to see them, but now most of them are at Hebrew University so my life has gotten much easier. I rarely leave Jerusalem when I am in Israel.

This time around I got the chance to go around the Old City with a good friend of mine, Saeed, and his friend (forgot his name... but a very nice guy). Though I have been studying Arabic for a while, this was the first time I really felt comfortable busting it out with him. It felt so good. Comfortably transitioning between Hebrew, English and Arabic, I felt this tremendous sense of accomplishment. Though my interest in Arabic in recent years has been more in the realm of Islamic law, it really began with my Seeds of Peace experience and wanting to connect and listen.... to the other.  A cliche I have grown found of in many application essays. But in all seriousness, hanging out with Saeed and *friend* that night and a couple of other experiences these past few weeks really has encouraged me to think about what type of work I could see myself doing in the region. I might give SoS Kerry a call. Or apparently Ambassador Kurtzer? Rumors about him helping lead the upcoming round of peace talks... How cool would that be??
What else? Oh, right. A few days ago CASA informed us that given the current security conditions in Egypt, CASA was being suspended for the year in Egypt. They presented us with three options. First, defer the fellowship until next year and automatically be readmitted for the 2014-2015 year. Not even on the table for me. Second, return to Cairo for the year through a program that they will call CASIC. Basically all that CASA has to offer except for the name (I know, CASA has a real ring to it) and that the funding would no longer be through the DOE, but rather AUC. Though tempting, two huge downsides. A) All fellows would have to live in the Zamalek dorms. As riveting as that was my last week in Cairo, I couldn't do that long term. B) You should turn on the news. A lot of very scary and violent rhetoric is being thrown around by both sides, yet when talking to many Egyptian friends (and even teachers!) it doesn't seem to phase them. "It is necessary," they say, or "We are tired of all the noise. It is enough already" (one of my teachers actually said that to me). Meanwhile check this to get a sense of what is going on. Mind you, it's pretty gruesome. As great as Cairo was last month and inshallah will be in the near future, I think it is the wrong choice.

So that leaves me with the third option. I will be studying Arabic for the remainder of the year (starting in September) in... drumroll... Amman, Jordan (I was debating an exclamation mark there, but I realize that might be a little premature since I have no idea what life is really like in Amman). I hear it is a little sleepy, not a ton of night life, so my weekly routine of all nighters to which I have gotten accustomed in Cairo might be coming to an end. Short-lived, but definitely whetted my tongue for some more. Oh yeah.   #Reunions2014

The program will be run through Qasid, an Arabic institute in Amman that I have heard is wonderful and demanding. I have a couple of friends who have been there so I am hoping to get some pointers of how to capitalize on this new start. Beginning a new dialect will be somewhat frustrating, but will open up new doors and opportunities... (something like that). Also, I need to start looking for an apartment, but more importantly, I am going to need a new blog title... Suggestions are welcome. Gavigating the Streets of Amman is lame.

Last two things about Arabic more generally. I learned the word for kal va khomer this week which was freakin awesome ما بالك ب or ناهيك عن. Not a perfect translation, but it works and I loved learning it. Second, I am not sure if I should be embarrassed to share this or not, but I learned a new word in English through Arabic. To calumniate - يشنّع (yushanna3) means to make false statements about (someone) (I am willing to bet that Ben is sitting there, hands crossed, feet up, thinking - obviously I know that). I feel like learning English through Arabic marks a certain stage in my Arabic journey.

Off to Nice for a few days to crash with my mom's college roommate and then Spain for a couple weeks with my family. Summer is shaping up to be just alright.