Looking Back at the Classroom

I have been thinking a lot of my students recently. I don't know what prompted it... whether it is being removed from it all or an e-mail I received from a former colleague. I keep thinking- what if I could have done more? What if I took more initiative and tried to connect to my most troubled kids on a deeper level? Would Seric have channeled his aggression towards his abusive step-father in a more productive manner? Would Tariano have realized his full potential and apply himself despite a community culture that often doesn't value book smarts as much as street smarts? Would Toshia have been able to better cope with being a white girl in a majority black and Hispanic school? Within the 70 minute class period, dealing with personal issues was often secondary to learning math and gaining life skills. Maybe I had it all backwards... In a way, it would have been nice to teach elementary school where I could devote all of my attention to my 20 students instead of the 70 in my classes plus the other 150 in the 6th grade. I wonder how my kids are doing in the 7th and 8th grade... I wonder if they take some of the lessons learned in my classroom and apply it to their day-to-day lives... and I wonder if they internalized the reasoning behind showcasing a "College of the Week" each Monday and that they believe in their ability to go to college as much as I do. Unfortunately with the teaching profession you don't always get to see your final results. Yes, you see how much your students progressed academically and often times personally by the end of the school year. But you aren't privy to know if you changed the course of their life even in the slightest.

Maybe it is the A-type personality in me that thinks I should have been better, I should have tried harder. Are A-type personalities condemned to a life of dissatisfaction and discontent?!!! This dissatisfaction makes me feel like I am not done in the classroom... who knows, maybe I will return to teaching one day....

My Week Off, Part II

Lee Anne and I got an amazing Old City Tour from my uncle. We visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (the site of Christ's crucifixion), the Christian Quarter and the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount.
We continued our Holy City adventures at the Shuk... there is nothing like it before its closing on Friday afternoon... In fact, a religious guy went around blowing the shofar to signal the start of the Shabbath. We then made an incredible Friday night dinner at Maya and Liron's house.



We spent Lee Anne's last day in Israel at the old port city of Yafo (Jaffa). This is us with Tel Aviv and the boardwalk in the background. Our last "supper" was at a delicious classic Israeli style restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean Sea... it was breathtaking.
It was so much fun having a good friend visit me all the way in Israel. Very rarely do I get to show Israel's riches to someone who isn't familiar with it already. At each step of our trip, as I saw Lee Anne's amazement with Israel, my excitement for being here this year only grew.

Turkey Day

I wouldn't have even known that it was thanksgiving had it not been for the "Out of Office" automated replies I kept getting when I sent e-mails to the TFA headquarters in NY. How quickly I forget American holidays that defined vacations from school! Nevertheless, I was going to my friends' house, Michael and Noah, for dinner. So I made my mom's infamous carrot ring and brought it to our Americans-only dinner (even their Singaporean roommate wasn't invited!) They went all out to make it a Thanksgiving feast- turkey, mashed potatoes, wine, salad, corn bread and even pecan pie. The Moroccan cigars were a little out of place but nevertheless delicious. Ironically, one of the other guests was a girl I know from GW. The only thing missing was football and family... I get to see the latter in a month and I can forfeit on the pigskin for now. Happy thanksgiving everyone!

My Week Off, Part I

My friend Lee Anne decided, on a semi whim, that she needs a vacation and bought a plane ticket to come visit me. So I worked my butt off the week before so that I don't feel guilty during my week of travel (it didn’t really work so there was definitely more than one night where we pulled out our laptops and got some stuff done… at least we both work for Teach For America and have that same crazy work ethic). So I left Tel Aviv Friday evening with my big back pack and met her at the airport. It was so fun to see a familiar face from Charlotte who was with me during two of the hardest years of my life (I am certain I will still be saying this when I am 65 years old). Since it was Friday night there was no public transportation, so we took a shuttle to my aunt’s house in time for Friday night dinner. My family is not known for skimping on meal sizes, and once again we didn’t. The next day, we woke up to the smell of Liron’s amazing shaksuka (it is semi-boiled eggs in an amazing spicy tomato based sauce). Once again, we didn’t leave hungry. We took a little drive to the promenade in Jerusalem so Lee Anne could see a panoramic perspective of the holy city and get a little explanation of the modern day conflict. Later that day we went to Abu Gosh, an Arab village outside of Jerusalem. They had the common sense to realize that all the non-religious Jews that live in Jerusalem don’t have anywhere to eat their hummus on Saturdays so they opened up restaurants to serve our needs. We had delicious hummus, warm pita, Israeli salads and chicken skewers (I swear this whole blog won’t be about food). That night we went to Emek Refaim in Jerusalem so that Lee Anne could experience the buzz of Jerusalem after Shabbat ends.

The next morning we took the bus to the Dead Sea. We stayed on a kibbutz called Ein Gedi, which literally is an oasis in the middle of the desert. There are beautiful bushes, cacti and palm trees there, not to mention an amazing pool. The contrast of the pool and the greenery compared to the desert mountains is unreal. We spent the afternoon at the natural spa that the kibbutz operates. It contains sulfur pools which are great for lowering blood pressure and fixing ailments, although not so great on my silver jewelry. We then floated in the Dead Sea and conducted science experiments with the salt water (Lee Anne taught chemistry in Charlotte). It was when we were floating in the Dead Sea that Lee Anne finally realized that she is in Israel. We then finished our lovely day at the spa by rubbing down in mineral mud. Although we were tempted to mud wrestle, we were afraid to offend the religious Jew next to us… oh well, next time!

The next day we caught our bus to Eilat. Another example of crazy Israeli culture: Days before this trip I booked seats for us on the bus from the Dead Sea to Eilat. However, when we got on the bus, it was so full that people were standing and some were sitting on the stairs. While technically we could have kicked the people out of our reserved seats, I would feel awful if some 50 year old would have to sit on the floor for the three hour ride. So instead we roughed it and plopped on the floor by the bus driver. It ended up being fine, and numerous people kept referring to us as “sweethearts” for being so easy going about the whole thing. Anyway, we stayed at a beautiful hotel in Eilat, called Agamim (lakes). The hotel is built around the pool. All the rooms on the first floor have private entrance into the pool… it is unbelievably beautiful. We were so captured by the pool and the hotel that we didn’t even go snorkeling in the end, like we had originally planned. The sea was anyway a little too cold for my wimpy self. My sister called to tell me that while we are tanning in 80 degree weather, it was pouring rain in Tel Aviv and that they had three power outages already.

To make things even better, I managed to score two FREE massages. The hotel was really empty because it was the middle of the week so the spa was giving free five minute back massages at the pool. Mine quickly turned into a twenty minute rub down since there was no one else waiting! The next day, I made friends with a French 60-year-old guy who wanted to play me in sheshbesh (backgammon). We communicated in a random mix of Hebrew, English, French and Spanish. I managed to learn the numbers 1 through 6 in French as after each roll he would say “ahhh quatre et deux”. He was a riot. One of the spa workers was watching us play so when I beat the French guy, he offered to put a little wager on it: If I beat him he would give me a free foot massage but if he won I would have to buy him some treatment at the spa. Needless to say, I won five-to-one and managed to remind him of that as he was pressing on the pressure points in my foot.

On our last night, Lee Anne and I treated ourselves to a $7 bottle of wine (it tasted much more expensive) and drank it on the beach. With the sound of classic-rock-turned-techno in the background, we enjoyed our last night in Eilat. The highlight was when a 65 year man, who clearly had a little too much to drink, decided to go skinny dipping by himself. The lifeguards in us got a little nervous and were glad to see him finally coming out of the water. He continued to walk along the beach butt naked all the way to the public showers before he finally got dressed. We knew that nothing could top that off, so finally headed back to our hotel.

Now I am on my way back to Tel Aviv, as I have a meeting tomorrow morning. Lee Anne stayed in Eilat with her friend from the recruitment team at TFA so that they can go to Petra, Jordan tomorrow.

Its a Small World After All...

I am always blown away by how small Israel is- not physically but more socially and interconnectedly (I just made that into word... you will soon be hearing Hillary Clinton using it during presidential debates). Two examples from this past week:

1) Last Sunday was the 12th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination and there was a big commemoration at the square where he was murdered. I was on my way to go out with my friend Noah, and still not knowing the bus routes well, got on a bus that leads right to the square. As I stepped onto the overstuffed bus (once again reminiscent of Cuba), the person in the front seat excitedly screams my name... It was my Israeli friend Yuval who spent three summers on staff at Herzl Camp. He doesn't even live in Tel Aviv, but here I am running into him on line 25.... Who would have thought that out of the 150,000 people at the square, I would run into one of the maybe 15 people I know in this city :). We ended up getting off the bus and walking the rest of the way until we met up with his friends. It was quite moving to hear people like Simon Peres speak about Rabin and his quest to put Israel on track towards peace. I finally left Yuval, as I was already about an hour late to meet my friend (how quickly I pick up the Israeli trend of tardiness!) but continued to listen to the songs and speeches that represented the mood. As I walked away, I thought to myself, for the 47th time since getting here, "only in Israel..."

2) My friend Eyal (another former staff member at Herzl) and I went out one night to a bar that one of his friends owns. We had a great time catching up and hanging out with some of his friends, including a special character named Omri. Eyal called me a few days later to go celebrate Omri's birthday but I bailed in order to be a good pupil and study my Arabic (I told you I am a nerd!). Fast forward to the next day- I am sitting in class with my new friend Eran. He was bummed that our class was canceled because he had been out until 4 am celebrating. So I causally asked him, already having a gut feeling, "Oh, what were you celebrating?" and he responds with, "A friend's birthday." My gut feeling is confirmed as I say, "Let me guess, Omri's!" I was right!!! Turns out Eran and Omri have known eachother since they were 14... Eran has since become friends with Eyal and they are all a part of one extended group of friends. We were both invited to one-of-the-15-people-I-know-in-Tel-Aviv's birthday party. Its a small world after all.

Arabic

Today I signed up for something I have wanted to do for a long time... an Arabic class. I am taking it at Tel Aviv University for three main reasons: first, I feel like knowing Arabic could be really helpful later on in life and I have wanted to learn it for a while. Second, I need a little structure in my day. While the freedom and flexibility of my job is a great perk for week long getaways, I think I would go crazy if I had phone conferences in pajamas every day. And lastly, I figured that it is a great way to meet other people... in fact I have already made a friend with this guy who bought my book when we realized that you actually have to be a registered student to buy books. The book, mind you, was $7... I don't think coffee is that cheap at GW!

Anyway, so here I am sitting in my Arabic class of 15 people in which the teacher is an Israeli Arab. He is speaking in Hebrew, but every so often chimes in with words in English because sometimes he blanks out on the Hebrew word. I am translating his Hebrew in my head and taking notes in a combination of English and Arabic. And then he decides to reference Spanish which put us on a long tangent about how many Arabic words have made their way into Spanish.. turns out something like 3,000. My mind was on language overload! But I had a great time being in an academic environment and learning a new language. I am so excited to go buy my school supplies... yes, I am a nerd and I love it!

Pomegranates

I have eaten so many pomegranates since arriving to Israel because I know that their season is coming to an end. Pomegranates make me happy. It brings back memories of my childhood on the kibbutz. There used to be a pomegranate tree outside the mesek chai, where all the animals were kept but to me it was an oasis where I could ride ponies, pet rabbits, feed hamsters or watch the flamingos. I distinctly remember one day at the beginning of the new year, the high season for rimonim, when my brother and I rode our bikes to the tree and each picked our very own. We sat outside the pool of the kibbutz and giggled as we ate our pomegranates. We didn't care that our faces were covered in its juice or that we had stained yet another shirt, we were just so happy and carefree.

The other day a girl no older than 8 rode her bike past me- one hand on the handlebars, the other holding her cell phone. What a different world we live in now.

"Who does this donkey belong to?"

I decided to spend this week in Jerusalem. Side note: one of the perks of my job is that I can do my work from anywhere as long as I have access to the internet... be it Tel Aviv or the middle of the desert. I love my job!

So back to my story: My cousin Maya, her boyfriend Liron and I decided we need a little vacation at the Dead Sea. So along with two friends, we packed the car full of water and food to make al a esh (which literally translates to "on the fire" but is really just a better version of the American B-B-Q). Within 30 minutes we were already there. One of the best aspects of Israel is that even though it is a tiny country, roughly the size of New Jersey, there is so much variation with respect to the landscape and topography. In the north there is a mountain called Mount Hermon where people actually ski (I didn't ski in Minnesota so why would I ski in Israel?!), in the south a desert and the resort town of Eilat, the Dead Sea (the lowest point on earth) is in the East and the Mediterranean Sea is on the West. And a whole lot of historical places in the middle. Imagine if there was that much to do in New Jersey?!

Anyway, we decided to rough it and so rather than going to an actual beach, we went down the side of the mountain to get to the water. I was surprised to see other people there and even a donkey tied to a tree. Some lady felt bad for this donkey and kept asking, "Shel me a chamor?" (meaning "who does this donkey belong to?") because she wanted to give it water. I couldn't stop laughing that this was a legitimate question that you would only hear it in the Middle East.... America felt so far away at that moment :)

So at 1,378 feet below sea level, the Dead Sea is a salt deposit, nine times saltier than the ocean. You can leave the air mattress at home, because the concentration of salt makes you float naturally, even if you aren't trying. Besides the stinging sensation in every cut and orifice, it is so relaxing! People usually rub the mineral-filled mud all over their bodies but since there weren't any showers in our makeshift beach, we skipped the mud this time. We then made our delicious meal.... topped off with black coffee and biscuits.

As the sun was setting, the Dead Sea looked pink and the view into Jordan was beautiful. I couldn't help but think maybe there is someone sitting on the other side wondering what Israel is like... but I will skip politics for now. We stayed late enough to see the stars come out and I have to say that there is nothing like star-gazing in the desert. The lack of light pollution makes them shine even brighter... Laying on the ground and staring up, I felt sheer bliss at being back in the desert.

My new title ... Aunt

At 4:57 am, my niece Gal was born. I think my sister would disown me if I got into the details of the labor but it was an incredible experience to be in the room with her when she was giving birth. I was flooded with emotions when I first laid eyes on this beautiful little girl, but suffice it to say that I was just so glad that both Maayan and Gal were healthy and that the labor passed relatively easily. I am so excited to be an aunt... I already told Maayan that I will spoil her child, but that's what aunts are good for. That and to be super nanny. My brother-in-law already has visions of me changing diapers in return for my free room and board in their apartment.... I think I got the better end of the deal!



Name: Gal Engel
Gal means "wave" in hebrew... like the waves in an ocean
Date/Time of Birth: October 18, 2007
4:57 am
Weight: 3.920 kilos (the biggest baby on the block)

Getting my Israeli Identity- the cell phone!

When it comes to efficiency, Israel falls happily between America and Cuba.... not as bad as a communist nation with few incentives to be productive and never quite meeting American standards of customer service.

I had the pleasure of spending three hours in misrad hapnim (ministry of interior) in order to get my teudat zeut (identity card). Truthfully, I didn't care to have a teudat zeut since I anyway have an Israeli passport but it turns out that in order have an Israeli cell phone, you need to have an Israeli bank account and in order to open up a bank account, you have to have a teudat zeut. It was quite the process just to get the one thing I wanted- a cell phone... the Israeli lifeline.

I didn't think that it could get worse then the ministry of interior where two 65-year-old men got into a screaming match about who was next in line (that's right... welcome to Israel!). But then I had the pleasure of opening my bank account at Bank Leumi. It is unimaginable for anyone that has ever lived in the U.S. that a bank could operate like the shuk (Explanation: the shuk is an open air market in every major Israeli city that sells fruit, vegetables, meat, nuts, olives, spices, and household odds and ends. It is always utter chaos, especially on Friday morning when everyone is trying to get ready for Shabbat. A successful trip to the shuk is when you managed to convince the vendor to cut the price in half!). The bank, a national institution, was the exact same!!! It was full of commotion, hooting and hollering, and major bartering. My dad was negotiating for lower rates on transactions, higher interest rates, a better exchange rate for the dollar, a free credit card, etc. etc. I honestly thought he was going to ask them to throw in a puppy before we sign on the dotted line!

After spending two hours in the bank and another two hours negotiating with the Orange representative, who swore that I would never find a better cell phone deal , plus the three hours in misrad hapanim, I finally got my brand new phone... a measly seven hours of inefficiency. My memories of Cuba are quickly coming back to me :)

I will e-mail my cell phone number later!

Why?

Since I will be in Israel this year, I realize that the best means of communication with those across the Atlantic is via the new, well at least to me, phenomenon of blogs. I am not usually the most forthcoming person when it comes to divulging my personal life, but I do want my loved ones to share in my experience as I take on this role.

I took on the Teach For Israel Country Manager position for a few reasons. I always (I am not trying to make myself sound older than I am) thought that my career would take me down the international affairs route. I figured I would be in diplomacy or work for an international NGO. However after my two year experience with Teach For America I felt compelled to continue my work within the domestic realm. I was much more interested in improving the education system or working to get universal health care in America than what was going on in Pakistan or better yet Djibouti. I knew that I should hold off on grad school as I was being pulled towards American public policy for the first time. However, I also realized that I wouldn't have many opportunities to return to Israel, as I didn't see myself leading my adult life there. The timing seemed perfect- I was anyway in transition and additionally my sister was pregnant. Working for a respected program from Israel and continuing to fight for improving public education seemed to fit perfectly... To be honest, I have no idea how this position will unfold. A lot of it will come as problems arise and as we blaze a trail for Teach For Israel to develop... I will keep you posted.

Much love,
Yamit