Break, Dawgs, and travel–>Istanbul

The intensive Arabic program wrapped up last Thursday, and I am now enjoying a break until the semester begins on September 21.  This past week was very relaxing, as I slept in, went to the beach, read a bit, saw the new Batman movie on the local Imax theater (very good), caught up on world and local Georgia news, and generally rested my mind-a nice change of pace from my first four weeks here.  Since the last update, there were a few notable trips and events.  Following is a synopsis of these:

Trips, etc. update

Akko–On the afternoon of Thursday, August 14, our Arabic class toured the old section of Akko-a city on the opposite side of Haifa Bay boasting a 5,000-year history.  The city’s population is overwhelmingly Arabic, hence the reason for our class taking the afternoon to visit.  Little of the ancient remnants are intact (or at least excavated), but there does exist an amazing complex built by the Crusaders-who used Akko as a base of operation-in the heart of the city.  We walked through thousand-year-old underground Templar’s tunnels that allowed French troops to quickly and safely navigate the different city sections, which were divided based on the country of origin of the settlers.  Also of note was a genuine Turkish bath, with a very interesting history, and a grand Knight’s Hall looking like a scene out of T.H. White’s The Sword in the Stone.  Posted pictures also tell the tale of our visit to Akko.

NOTE ON PICTURES–My photo albums are accessible by clicking on the “Pictures” link to the right.  As you’ll see, I’ve switched from posting my photos directly on this blog to posting via Google’s Picassa software (apparently WordPress is a great blog host, but less media savvy).  Follow the instructions and you will easily navigate to my new Picassa web page.

Galil Villages-The Intensive Arabic program took a break on Tuesday, August 19 from the classroom to visit three different villages in the Galilee.  This proved to be a very enlightening experience.  The Galilee (Galil) is the northern area of Israel surrounding the Sea of Galilee and is predominantly comprised of Arabic peoples.  We met early in the morning with our guide for the day, a man who heads up the Galilee Foundation for Value Education.  The Foundation is actively engaged in working with Israel’s Arabic population in an effort to bring parity to a largely discriminated against segment of the population.  This, of course, is much easier said than done.  At the outset, we were told that this day would not simplify matters by any means, but rather we would gain a bit more knowledge about the incredibly complex relationship between Israeli Jews and Arabs (not to mention that of Gaza and West Bank Arabs).  We met with an Arab woman, recently engaged, who (along with her younger niece) taught herself English by watching T.V. and matching downloaded English songs to their lyrics.  Her English was very good, and her accent was incredibly the best of anyone I’ve encountered whose native tongue was other than English.  We met her at her house, where her and her numerous siblings were raised, and we were allowed to ask pretty much anything-all the while her traditionally Arabic 61-year-old mother, speaking no English, happily fed us fruit, gave us drink, and participated via translator in the discussion.  We talked about the obvious issues such as how she felt as an Arab living in a country defining itself as a “Jewish State”, and she talked at length about her pending engagement and all the associated traditions of limited contact with her to-be husband.  She spoke of how some of her many siblings are very religious (Islam), some are more middle of the road (one of her brothers married a Christian, who converted to Islam but was not as easily accepted by the family and is now adored by her mother), and how some of her sisters do not wear the traditional hijab (scarf covering the head).  I found most interesting her explanation of the hijab, which she has worn since age ten, a few years earlier than the most traditional of Muslim women.  She recalled the time when her sister, a couple years her senior, came to the point where Palestinian Arab women must decide between tradition and the prevalent cultural transformation.  She asked her sister why she decided to cover herself.  Not at all versed in Islamic traditions, I found the response to be more understandable than what I would have otherwise conceived.  Her sister responded that her body was the most precious thing given to her, and as such, she desired only to share it with her future husband and nobody else.  From that day forward, the ten-year-old decided the same.  This issue-involving regions of the world where such customs are forced to the detriment of equality-is greater than I can really comment on, but I nonetheless couldn’t help but to think how the “if you got it, flaunt it” part of our society could just maybe take a little note.  On a much lighter thought, I also couldn’t help but to chuckle at the resemblance of our family story involving my “self-potty-training.”  As the story goes, my 18-month-older brother learned the art relating to diaper graduation, and I enviously and relentlessly proclaimed (in broken country English) that I too wanted “big boy pants.”  Mom, who I don’t doubt had her hands more than full with even a bathroom- broken Andy, finally relented and slapped on a pair of real britches just to quiet me.  From then on, I’ve proudly maneuvered life diaper-free.

Our next stop in the Galilee was at an Arabic high school.  I don’t fully understand the nature of the school’s funding, but it is both recognized and funded within the education sector of the Israeli government (which itself I understood to be divided between Arabic and Jewish) as well as through private and foreign funding sources.  The school was small, but a very nice facility proclaiming to be the finest, most advanced, and selective in the region.  We discussed with the headmaster-who more than once mentioned how he had it all planned out for his next child to be born in the U.S.-a wide range of issues including the memorable, but quite unresolved, difficulty facing their students, who are accustomed to learning in Arabic, when they move on to Israeli colleges and universities which of course instruct in Hebrew; again, culture clash with opaque resolutions.

After eating a tasteful and stuffing lunch of humus and pita, we headed to our last Arabic village in the Galilee.  We met in the house of an adult woman who was forced to move from the nearby Arabic village where she and her husband had built a very comfortable life involving a catering business of her own and a large house that they built themselves.  Through a translator, she explained how she and her sister married two bothers and embarked on a somewhat groundbreaking business venture for two Arab women.  After much success, they were stunned to one night, after an out of town catering event, return to their house and find that they had only minutes to pack up with their children and a few belongings and leave the town for wherever destination they could manage.  Apparently, one of the two brothers’ other ten brothers had killed someone that day.  Although she and her family had nothing to do with the well-documented crime, village custom mandated that they leave everything until the village elders (through the translation I didn’t quite understand what this entailed) had decided upon the appropriate payment of her family (really all 12 families) to the victim’s family.  To date, it has been one year since the tragedy.  This woman, strong and defiant before us, told us of her deep frustrations with what she feels to be a male-dominated and broken system.  She does not know when or if she will be allowed to return to the life that she worked tirelessly to build, and she has now enrolled her questioning children into the local schools.  We asked her why she couldn’t just go home and rely on the police and Israeli government to protect her, and we were told of how these institutions prefer more of a hands-off approach to local issues such as these, else they fear culture clashes relating to substantial difference in the practice of traditional laws and a violent reaction to enforcement otherwise.

The day was a lot to digest, and most questions are still left unanswered.

Nazareth- On Tuesday, August 26, our class took the day to visit and tour the Galilee city of Nazareth, the home of Jesus.  The tour hit the traditional sites of the two churches-the Church of the Annunciation (Catholic) and St. Gabriel’s Church (Greek Orthodox)-respectively built over what is thought to be Mary and Joseph’s dwelling (the Catholic traditional place of the Angel Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary the news of her pregnancy) and the well where Greek Orthodox tradition holds that Gabriel’s revelation took place.  We were also shown some interesting homes displaying the history of Nazareth’s upper class.  Before ending the day with the traditional humus and pita, we went to a gift shop who’s owners happened upon a surprising discovery when digging out their basement-a Roman bathhouse rivaling in size some of the best known discoveries of such to date.  Misidentified by Israeli authorities 15 years ago, we were able to crawl around the lower level where steam heated the various rooms a couple thousand years back to the time when Jesus walked the streets.  Very cool and crazy to even comprehend.  I plan on going back to Nazareth, pretty near Haifa, outside of an organized tour.

Jerusalem- My host Rotary club, the Carmel Rotary Club, went on a member-wide trip to Jerusalem on Friday, August 29.  I was invited to tag along on the trip that skipped the more known landmarks such as the Wailing Wall and Dome of the Rock (temple mount) in favor of the also impressive if less famous City of David.  Just outside of the current old city of Jerusalem is a huge excavation project that uncovers the original ancient city, as built by King David.  By far the neatest and most surprising portion of this tour was walking through King Hezekiah’s underground aqueduct system.  Wanting to protect the city’s water supply from being cut off by enemies, this seemingly impossible engineering feet (for 2500 years ago) today tunnels more than 500 yards through solid rock.  Flashlight in hand (or electric torch as my British translator said), we sloshed through what at times was knee-high flowing water along the winding tunnel.  To the amusement of the little woman behind me, I bumped my head probably 45 times over the half hour walk.  In the way only a younger brother can, wished I could hear could hear Andy, my six foot, seven inch brother, gripe and moan about the blatant height discrimination the ancients practiced.

The rest of the day was spent at a museum commemorating the life of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, a very influential man in the history of this state, then at a couple of less-prominent Christian churches just outside of downtown Jerusalem, and finally at a kibbutz (communal living compound) that maintains a cemetery for an Israeli military unit that suffered a tragically high casualty rate in the War for Independence.  We ate dinner at the kibbutz, and it was probably the tastiest meal I’ve had in Israel!

Speaking of Rotary

The Carmel Rotary Club, with my host counselor Dr. Shotland leading the way, has so far received me better than I could have ever hoped.  I attend pretty regularly their weekly Monday night meetings at a hotel in Carmel Center, about 15 minutes from campus.  Aside from the free dinner, I enjoy mingling with adult Israeli’s who are pretty willing to share with me their experiences.  At one meeting in particular, an older Jewish painter addressed the club and spoke of his experience in the Auschwitz concentration camp as a young boy and how he was face to face with the notorious Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele, known for deciding who died right away, who was to labor in the camp, and who he identified as candidates for his perverted human experiments.  It was a heavier meeting than normal, but one that will stick in my mind despite the significant language barrier.

Three weeks ago, Dr. Shotland invited me to attend a pre-season game to the Macabee-Haifa professional futbol (ahem, soccer) game.  It was a good time, especially watching what he and his doctor friends referred to as the “monkeys” sitting on the other side of the field.  This is the rabidly wild and crazy younger crowd (like a student section) who really do make the game a lot of fun with their chants and cheers throughout.  Alas, though, as the sport does allow, the game ended in a 1-1 tie.  Nevertheless, it was a great time viewing one aspect of Israeli life that brings together people of all races and religions-futbol!!!

In addition to the soccer game, a couple weekends ago, Dr. Shotland and his wife took me to the local gym where they are members.  It was nicer than any gym that I’ve ever belonged to, and it was refreshing to go for a jog, work out a bit, steam and shower, and swim some laps in the indoor pool built into the mountainside.  I then went back to their house where Dr. Shotland’s wife fed me a great dinner, and I passed out on their couch watching the coverage of Biden being announced as Obama’s running mate (wasn’t too exciting at that stage, plus I was exhausted, and I ate pizza next to him at Armand’s in DC at about this time one year ago when he was still hoping to beat Barack).

This and That

From here on out I plan on giving much shorter but more frequent updates.  I’ve got two more weeks until the semester starts, and today I’m actually heading to Istanbul, Turkey for five days-details to come.  Also, I can’t leave without mentioning a few items:  1) The Dawgs looked promising in their destruction of GA Southern last week and then Central Michigan just last night.  I have no love for the dang ball coach in Columbia, and we better take it to the Gamecocks next week; 2) Chris Stelling, my great friend and roommate of three years, got engaged two weeks ago, the first big development I’ve learned of since leaving the states, so a big congrats to them; 3) Sam Haygood, my good high school buddy (who I still claim even though he’s a Tiger/Plainsman/WarEagle) will be getting hitched next week-my first big event (outside of Sanford Stadium) to miss since I’ve left-so certainly a big congrats to them and prayers for the union of their families and the creation of a new one.

Well, heading to Istanbul-technically (if only partially) in Europe-my first trip to the continent.

TAB

Welcom y’all / Shalom/ Salam Alaikum

August 2008-June 2009

This online journal will chronicle my year as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar studying Arabic language and Middle Eastern Affairs at the University of Haifa in Israel.  Feel free to send the link out to anyone who for whatever reason might be interested in what the heck I’m up to over here.

Arrival

On Thursday night, July 31, I said goodbye to Georgia and the U.S. for a year and boarded the 11.5-hour flight to Israel, landing in Tel Aviv on Friday night (seven hours ahead of EST). Thankfully, I flew Delta direct from Atlanta to Tel Aviv, and I can’t go on without giving a big shout out to Lindsay and her mom, Linda, for making that possible. I actually met a guy here from South Carolina who soldiered through the 40-hour extravaganza via Polish Airways LOT, changing planes in Chicago and Warsaw before arriving in the Holy Land—which was my original plan. He wasn’t seen for a couple days post-arrival. I’ve been in Israel for about 12 days and am only now having a bit of downtime.  The following is a rehash of sorts of the last several days.

Life on Campus

I arrived on campus at the University of Haifa on Sunday, August 3. The first few days were packed with administrative/orientation sessions and moving into my dorm room. The campus is on top of Mt. Carmel (location of Elijah’s cave) and overlooks the city of Haifa and the Mediterranean Sea as it meets Haifa Bay.

Haifa is comprised of three levels that ascend the side of Mt. Carmel: the lower level containing the industrial and business sectors; the middle level known as “Carmel Center” with numerous hotels, shops, restaurants, and bars; and the upper level, housing more of the upper class and, of course, the University. The amazing views from all of campus are every bit as refreshing as the continuous Mediterranean breeze. That said, it does get quite hot here during the day, and I’ll welcome the cooling of the coming months and giving up the 80-degree nights in bed.

The dorms are built into the side of the mountain, and I live in what’s called the Talia Dorms, meaning I have my own room and bathroom, while sharing a kitchen and common space with five roommates. Two of my roommates are Israeli and are nearing the end of their degree programs. They’ve been busy with finals until just now (classes were delayed for three months because of a professor strike), and have proven to be great sources for figuring out how to get around the city, where to pick up wireless signals, and other helpful local information. I’m looking forward to learning more about Israeli culture through them.

The student body is around 20 percent ethnic Arabs, so there is certainly an interesting mix of views and perspectives represented on campus. Haifa itself contains a similar proportion of Jews to Arabs, and is by many people’s accounts the model for coexistence where people with strongly opposing opinions peacefully live and work together. I’m sure I’ll learn more about that in the months to come.

Arabic Class

It’s pretty safe to say that the class I’m in right now is the most challenging academic experience of my young life. As a complete newcomer to Arabic, I’m climbing a steep learning curve and studying my tail off…no seriously, I don’t even have a tail anymore—please, hold your applause, I’m here for like three more pages. For now, I’m learning Modern Standard Written Arabic. I am enrolled in an intensive Arabic language program lasting four weeks. Class is Sunday-Thursday, five hours per day with about three hours homework each night. Class began last Monday and has occupied the vast majority of my time. The language itself is a doozie for sure, reading right to left, written in cursive script, and differing greatly in written and spoken forms. The whole “intensive” thing is the real challenging part. Let me put it this way—we are learning in four weeks what a native Hebrew speaker, also a Semitic language, would normally be taught in one and a half years. That’s like taking a Chinese speaker, with zero knowledge of English, and cramming three semesters of U.S. Spanish courses into four weeks. Yeah.  On rare occasions, I am amazed at how much your brain can do when really applied. But most of the time, I’m just baffled mine has yet to physically explode. I did pretty well on our first test, which was last week, and our midterm is tomorrow. I can already make out many road signs along the highways (Hebrew and Arabic are technically both official languages here), and two weeks from now I should be able to at least sound out anything, though likely not understand the meaning of the words. Progress. Slow, but still progress. Hutchasay? Cain’t learn to bullride ‘til you straddle ole Sam!

Travel in Israel

Most of the students enrolled at the International School are here for what is called Ulpan. My Arabic program is actually in its first year, as it is a spin-off of the Ulpan, which is simply an intensive four-week Hebrew course. Ulpan has an extensive history in Israel, as Jews (and others) from all over the world come here for an intense month of language immersion. Out of the several hundred international students here on campus for the intensive programs, only 17 of us are studying Arabic. The great thing about my program running alongside the Ulpan is that the University does a tremendous job of structuring the four weeks to pack in as much language training and as much planned traveling as humanly possible. Everything in this region seems to be close together (maybe one reason for the conflict) and Israel itself pretty tiny—I’m only 25 miles from Lebanon, 30 from Syria, and about 225 from Iraq—but that means day trips are a great way to travel. Below are my ventures to this point. Feel free to check out the related photo album with the link to the right.

Last Wednesday afternoon, we went on a hike down Mt. Carmel and into a park with a couple hanging pedestrian bridges (see pictures). Last Friday was an all day excursion, traveling in coaches up through Tiberius, around the Sea of Galilee, and into the Golan Heights. We hiked a pretty awesome trail where we descended a steep canyon and trekked along a river, climbing down ladders into natural pools and swimming across at some points. If you ever find yourself in the Golan, I def recommend this trail.

On Saturday, we toured the Baha’i Gardens here in Haifa. Baha’i is a relatively young religion that considers Haifa its home. There are about six million followers worldwide, and the faith, as I understood it, pretty much centers around the idea of equality—that all of the world’s major religions had prophets who were sent from God and that equality among humans should be the goal we seek. Curiously, Israeli citizens are not allowed to become Baha’i. The gardens here, completed in 2001 at a cost of $250 million, are an unbelievable display of landscape architecture. They symmetrically climb 18 terraces along Mt. Carmel’s steep slope. The center terrace is the oldest, and houses a shrine wherein the remains of the Baab—one of the mid-18^th century founders of the faith—lie entombed. It’s a pretty neat place and has recently become a predominant representational image of Haifa (just google Haifa images and you’ll see it).

More trips already you ask? Yep. Yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, we bussed down to the nearby Mediterranean town of Caesarea. King Herod built this ancient city at the height of the Roman Empire in tribute to then emperor Augustus Caesar. The city was a monumental engineering achievement due to its man-made harbor, which at the time jutted out into the sea, lacking the usual port protections of a natural bay, and established itself as one of the largest harbors in all of the Mediterranean. As went the history of the region, so went Caesarea, changing dramatically from the fall of the Roman Empire, through the rise of the Byzantine’s, the influx and rule of the Crusaders, their subsequent defeat by the Muslims, eventually leading up to the 1948 establishment of Israel. Over the past few decades, Caesarea has been a playground for archaeologists unearthing, among other things, a Roman style theatre (which is still used today for concerts, there was a sound check going on while we toured), a very large bathhouse, the wharf of the old harbor, Herod’s palace with his indoor swimming pool, and a huge hippodrome track where horses and gladiators entertained the ancient crowds. Now, Caesarea is a memorable tourist destination marked by a unique combination of beaches, restaurants, and live entertainment amidst the relics of an ancient, Roman city. After the tour, we had about an hour to chill on the beach. I enjoyed a Corona and took my mind off the hours of awaiting homework.

That’s all the travels for now, but tomorrow I’m headed to the nearby (and also ancient, like everything around here) town of Akko. Over the next two weeks I’ll tour Jerusalem with the Ulpan folks and Galilee and Nazareth as part of the Arabic program.

Who are Israelis?

The several hundred students comprising the Ulpan is a pretty diverse group of mostly undergrads from literally all over the world. Many are Jews seeking to better their Hebrew, but people wanting to understand the region by way of learning the native languages also represent numerous races and religious faiths.  Of course, political views collide daily, which I find particularly interesting. I’m learning a lot by hearing people’s passionately different views on regional issues that inevitably make their way into daily conversation. While I certainly have my own opinions that I don’t mind testing from time to time, I’m far from understanding well enough the thousands-year-old cultures and historical events, which play so fundamentally in shaping today’s debate, to act like I can speak with any authority on such topics. In pursuit of retaining the moments of understanding that I do gain, I’ve found it quite beneficial to both record events on here and to more thoroughly vet my reactions and thoughts through my private journal.

So far, most of my conversations are with international students in the Ulpan or my Arabic class. Once Ulpan concludes and the semester begins, I imagine that I’ll naturally get to know many more native Israelis, both Arabic and Jewish. The few that I’ve had much contact with so far include my two Israeli roommates that I mentioned before and my Rotary host counselor, Dr. Shotland.  Dr. Shotland is a practicing Urologist here in Haifa, and has been unbelievably helpful. Before I even left the U.S., he arranged for me a great bang-for-you-buck hotel to stay in my first two nights, presented me with a huge picture book displaying the sights of Israel, and even took me out to a Western-style steakhouse on Sunday night (delicious steak and potatoes made Israeli-style with humus appetizers). He’s been a member of the Carmel Rotary Club, my host club, for ten years. I’m looking forward to first attending their weekly meetings on Monday and speaking to them on what it’s like being a Bulldawg from Oconee County (sounds funny, but that’s in many ways what we’re supposed to do as “Ambassadors”—convey to them where we come from and what our lives are like back home. If you know me well at all, you know that Knowshon and co. are major players in my weekly conversation/mood come ball season).

Of course, I also have daily interaction with my Arabic teacher, who is an Israeli Jew, fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, and English. She spent five years in Israeli Intelligence before becoming a teacher. She still startles at sudden sounds from the war with Lebanon two years ago—which caused the evacuation of the University of Haifa and the relocation of the Ulpan to Tel Aviv—when many Haifa residents lived in bomb shelters. Because of their experiences, it’s impossible for anyone to view the region’s conflicts objectively. However, she is obviously good-hearted and seems to want peace as much as anyone here, mentioning her grief and that of the majority of Israel at the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by ultra conservatives upset with his signing of the Oslo Accords (think U.S. reactions to J & RFK assassinations). In addition, she told me my first Israeli joke, which I think contains a good bit of truth (of course, the real joke is in Hebrew):

Q: In one word, describe the country of Israel.

A: Good.

Q: Now, in two words, describe the country of Israel.

A: Not good.

Speaking of jokes, I heard a few “good” ones from some Israeli’s at a beach party that I went to Saturday night. The beaches in Haifa are pretty good, and apparently young adults often drive out to them at night to build a fire and, shall we say, fraternize (a mini Native Weekend if you will, for those of you who have rolled in the purple machine). Anyway, a local friend of a friend of a friend invited the most former friend and friends out to his party on the beach, and it was a rockin’ good time. Several of the people I met are in film/acting/producing school in Israel. Of course, they’ve all been through the military (all women two years minimum, men three), and so most college students are at least my age, usually older. Two of the guys—Tal and Avishai—met as medics in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). Let me tell you, they were hilarious. When they found out I’m from the South, I became their favorite guest. What accent do they most love to do? Yep, that of me and my kinfolk—the glorious country/red-neck/hillbilly twang. I really can’t express what it was like to hear this Hebrew accented Israeli come out with “I shot your dawwg” with spot on Andy Griffith vocals. Back to the jokes…some of them aren’t for the kids, so you can ask me about them later. Here’s my favorite PG-13 one:

“America really is the land of opportunity. I mean, anything can be done there. Where else in the world could a poor, black kid grow up to be a rich, white woman, idolized by millions? Michael Jackson is the American dream.”

Ok, getting late and got a test in the morning.  I promise not to always end on MJ jokes.

TAB

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