A clip from my classmate's video blog:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmFWTN99WK4
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
I'm staying away from the pool
Today I finally got to play some pick-up soccer and it was AWESOME. Disgusting. And hot. But awesome.
After 2 hours of playing in god knows how hot weather, we were all pretty drenched in sweat. A few of the boys rung out their shirts because they were so full of sweat. In fact, I took a shot and it brushed one of the guys in the shorts, but his shorts were SO wet that it made a "thud" sound. Yummy. I probably lost about 3 lbs of water - it was insane. Sweating this unbelievably much, I have realized the value of the headband. I need to get me one. Pronto.
Anyways...
After soccer we all decided to go to the pool and jump in and yet again I was approached by someone - this time asking me to join their water polo team. I told them I didn't swim and they didn't seem to believe me, thinking I just didn't want to play on their team.
Maybe there's some unwritten thing about the pool. You go there to find a new teammate, someone for your reality tv show, a date, I don't know what. But I'm staying away from there for at least a few days...
After 2 hours of playing in god knows how hot weather, we were all pretty drenched in sweat. A few of the boys rung out their shirts because they were so full of sweat. In fact, I took a shot and it brushed one of the guys in the shorts, but his shorts were SO wet that it made a "thud" sound. Yummy. I probably lost about 3 lbs of water - it was insane. Sweating this unbelievably much, I have realized the value of the headband. I need to get me one. Pronto.
Anyways...
After soccer we all decided to go to the pool and jump in and yet again I was approached by someone - this time asking me to join their water polo team. I told them I didn't swim and they didn't seem to believe me, thinking I just didn't want to play on their team.
Maybe there's some unwritten thing about the pool. You go there to find a new teammate, someone for your reality tv show, a date, I don't know what. But I'm staying away from there for at least a few days...
Saturday, August 25, 2007
It's getting ridiculous
hahaha. I just went to the gym and was approached by a woman who asked if I wanted to be on an Israeli TV show. We'll see what happens...
Masada/Dead Sea
On Thursday the class took a field trip to Masada - which is about 2hrs. driving from Tel-Aviv. We left the dorms at 1am so that we could watch the sunrise from Masada - I thought leaving at that time was a great idea, although I'm sure my classmates would beg to differ.
Learning about the history of Masada and seeing the site itself was incredible. The story of the place is looooooooong, so I'll give a brief synopsis (let me know if any of this is incorrect): The palace/fortress was built originally by King Herod about 2,000 yrs ago as a vacation home, then during the Roman occupation it became a last stronghold for a group of zealots rebelling against the Romans. It eventually did fall to the Romans, but rather than be forced to become slaves, the people of Masada decided to (sort of) commit mass suicide. Since suicide is not allowed in Judaism, the 10 leaders of the community killed their own families, then they drew names from a pot and 1 person killed the 9 other men and them himself. The story is super interesting so I suggest reading up on it if you so desire. The story has been used as a symbol of Jewish survival and courage, and everyone on the trip seemed to know the saying "Masada shall never fall again."
I think it's impressive that so many Jewish Americans know so much about the history of Israel/Jewish diaspora. Almost everyone knew about the story of Masada, about the stories of King Herod, the different wars Israel has been a part of, etc etc. Not to mention 90% of the class speaks/reads a decent amount of Hebrew - and a good chunk is fluent. I've recently learned about 'birthright,' a sponsored? trip to Israel for Jewish Americans to learn about their people and culture. Man, I wish Chinese people had something like this! I don't know anything about Chinese history. I don't even think I know who the President is - does China have a president? Then again, sending 10000 billion Chinese people around the world back to China to learn about their roots would be chaos.
Anyways, I'm not so eloquent. Here are some pictures of Masada:
Everyone warned me about the 'hike' up. It took 15 min. and I'm pretty sure my old walk to work up Fillmore was harder. But the other path up did look a little more intense.
Learning about the history of Masada and seeing the site itself was incredible. The story of the place is looooooooong, so I'll give a brief synopsis (let me know if any of this is incorrect): The palace/fortress was built originally by King Herod about 2,000 yrs ago as a vacation home, then during the Roman occupation it became a last stronghold for a group of zealots rebelling against the Romans. It eventually did fall to the Romans, but rather than be forced to become slaves, the people of Masada decided to (sort of) commit mass suicide. Since suicide is not allowed in Judaism, the 10 leaders of the community killed their own families, then they drew names from a pot and 1 person killed the 9 other men and them himself. The story is super interesting so I suggest reading up on it if you so desire. The story has been used as a symbol of Jewish survival and courage, and everyone on the trip seemed to know the saying "Masada shall never fall again."
I think it's impressive that so many Jewish Americans know so much about the history of Israel/Jewish diaspora. Almost everyone knew about the story of Masada, about the stories of King Herod, the different wars Israel has been a part of, etc etc. Not to mention 90% of the class speaks/reads a decent amount of Hebrew - and a good chunk is fluent. I've recently learned about 'birthright,' a sponsored? trip to Israel for Jewish Americans to learn about their people and culture. Man, I wish Chinese people had something like this! I don't know anything about Chinese history. I don't even think I know who the President is - does China have a president? Then again, sending 10000 billion Chinese people around the world back to China to learn about their roots would be chaos.
Anyways, I'm not so eloquent. Here are some pictures of Masada:
Everyone warned me about the 'hike' up. It took 15 min. and I'm pretty sure my old walk to work up Fillmore was harder. But the other path up did look a little more intense.
Martin was an excellent map of Israel. 
Sunrise over the Dead Sea...and Jordan. How freakin' cool is that!?
The sun is slowly creeping up
View of the Dead Sea and Jordan.
Peeking out...
BAM!
The desert view from Masada:
The remains of the old Roman camps.
Entering a bath house
Our ARMED GUARD.
At the synagoue.
The same day, we also stopped at the Dead Sea. I was a little bummed though because we were only there for 30 minutes which basically meant that I jumped in, twirled around and got out. I'll be back.
Basically sitting upright in the water. I don't think I could drown in this thing if I tried.
Andy in special Dead Sea mud. 
Being me, naturally I have a ton of cuts/scrapes and everyone kept warning me about how painful the salt water would me...eh...it hurt, it wasn't that bad. I don't think I look too upset.
The remains of the old Roman camps.Entering a bath houseOur ARMED GUARD.At the synagoue.The same day, we also stopped at the Dead Sea. I was a little bummed though because we were only there for 30 minutes which basically meant that I jumped in, twirled around and got out. I'll be back.
Basically sitting upright in the water. I don't think I could drown in this thing if I tried.
Andy in special Dead Sea mud. Being me, naturally I have a ton of cuts/scrapes and everyone kept warning me about how painful the salt water would me...eh...it hurt, it wasn't that bad. I don't think I look too upset.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Sackler Orientation
After 15.5 hrs of travel, I finally arrived in Israel last Thursday.
We were really thirsty:
Once everyone dumped their bags at their place the Sackler Orientation (camp) began. That night we went out to a club/bar on the beach in Tel-Aviv that reminded me of South Beach, Miami -- not that I've ever been there, but it's what I'd imagine it to be like...located RIGHT on the beach, topless male bartenders (I think every bar should adopt this policy), go go dancers, foam blowers, blahblahblah. It was great.
The next day we went to campus and checked out the school.
The gym/pools (plural), and the huge lawn area around the pool:
My delicious lunch:
To sum it up: the orientation so far has been a lot of going out with parts of doing something useful. The nightlife here is spectacular - and all the bars could not have better locations (there's one hookah bar were the seating is literally ON the beach. And the sand feels like flour. I was swimming in the Mediterranean within 15 minutes of arriving to the bar)
The flight on El Al was interesting to say the least. I (as well as everyone else) was interrogated before I could receive my boarding pass -- though my interrogation lasted a little longer than others (surprise surprise) and ended with me having to release my bags to the airline in order for them to hand search them (and me). After I was cleared, I was escorted onto the plane by security. Security was tight -- but I can understand why, and ultimately felt very safe.
Julie (a fellow sacklerite) and I about to start our new adventure:
We were really thirsty:
A lot of luggage...
Once everyone dumped their bags at their place the Sackler Orientation (camp) began. That night we went out to a club/bar on the beach in Tel-Aviv that reminded me of South Beach, Miami -- not that I've ever been there, but it's what I'd imagine it to be like...located RIGHT on the beach, topless male bartenders (I think every bar should adopt this policy), go go dancers, foam blowers, blahblahblah. It was great.
The next day we went to campus and checked out the school.
The gym/pools (plural), and the huge lawn area around the pool:
My delicious lunch:
To sum it up: the orientation so far has been a lot of going out with parts of doing something useful. The nightlife here is spectacular - and all the bars could not have better locations (there's one hookah bar were the seating is literally ON the beach. And the sand feels like flour. I was swimming in the Mediterranean within 15 minutes of arriving to the bar)
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