Summer Recap

After three months in Israel and a week to reflect on my time, I am ready to face the media's tough questions. First, I would like to deliver a prepared statement.

Summing up my trip in one statement is probably impossible. From the day that I moved into my "dorm room" in Nachlaot, I knew that my summer would be full of once-in-a-lifetime experiences. From Nachlaot to Nahariya, from Tiberias to Tel Aviv, and Ein Gev to Ein Gedi, I tried to take in as much of Israel as possible. Along the way, I did some intersting things and met some great people. When I am at school, I am a mere 40 minutes from home. This was the first time that I was truly independent. It allowed me to grow in many ways and overcome some fears.

Boy that was not a fun introduction, I promise the rest of this post to be much more fun and exciting. Let's open it up.

Doubters: Can you believe that Ian, of all people, did this?

Ian: Yes but then again, I might be biased.

One of the Bobs: Take me through a typical day at your internship.

Ian: I will break this up into a few sections to make it easier to read:

Before work: Well, I would set my alarm for about 8:00, hoping to get a run in before I went to work. I would hit the snooze button a few times before 8:45 showed on the clock and I would have to get out of bed. I spent the next 15 minutes showering, brushing my teeth, taking a squeege, and completing other morning routine activities. By 9:00, I tried to be out the door and on my way to work (which was only a 10 minute walk from my apartment). On the way to work, I would either 1) stop at a bakery by the shuk to pick up bread with zatar on it or 2) stop in the shuk and buy some fruit for breakfast. After picking up breakfast, I would walk 5 minutes up Jaffa Rd. to the Egged Building where the Movement and Academy for Quality Government are located.

At the office:
Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door - that way my boss can't see me, heh - after that I sorta space out for an hour. Yeah, I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch too, I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.

Now seriously. After shmoozing with my fellow employees for a few minutes about the latest news, I would meet with my boss to see what he wanted me to do. These activities included writing essays that the Academy could use when it lobbies the government to adopt certain international treaties, researching how countries, companies, and other municipalities handle corruption, and creating a library of online anti-corruption materials. Normally, I worked until 1:00ish before taking a lunch break. After lunch, I would work until 3-4ish before I left to go volunteer at Alyn Hospital or one of the community gardens.

I would like to insert a quick plug for the Movement for Quality Government. If you are interested in learning more about the Movement, the problem of corruption in Israel, and how to become a member, go to their website.

Sam McKenna: I have a follow-up to that. What did you do for lunch?

Ian:Being centrally located on Jaffa Rd., one of the main thoroughfares in Jerusalem, I had numerous lunch options. At the beginning of my internship, we normally walked two blocks down the street to the Central Bus Station, where we (Ian and my two fellow interns [one from London and one from St. Louis]) would eat in the food court. Since I refuse to eat to Chinese food in a food court and believe that falafel and shawarma should be restricted to street-side locations, I developed an affinity for the omelette sandwich.

After the first few weeks, we started to go to the shuk for lunch (This could also be called: How to eat a meal on less than NIS 3). I would buy three pieces of pita for 1/2 shekel each. Go to a veggie guy and ask how much a single cucumber would cost. I was always prepared to pay whatever price he said but normally he would tell me that I didn't have to pay for one. I would do the same thing with a red pepper, plum, tomato, and nectarine. Once a week, I would buy a container of labene (around NIS 10).

At the end of my stay in Israel, I fell in love with a new type of lunch food, shakshuka. It involves a vegetable stew and eggs on a baguette. According to one of my coworkers, the restaurant next to work, The Milky Way, makes one of the best shakshuka sandwiches in town.

He also told about the picnic tables on the roof of my building. It also happens to be the same place that most of the major TV stations do their broadcasts. During one lunch, I ate my sandwich while watching Jerrold Kessel, the former CNN Jerusalem bureau chief, get interviewed. It was a private lecture about the situation between Israel and Hezbollah.

Frommers (related to the Orthodox travel guide "Frummer's"): Do you have a to-do list for the next trip?

Ian:The one city in Israel that I have not been to yet is Haifa. Many of my friends from home are formerly Haifans (see sidebar) and rave about the city. In fact, one of my friends who studies urban planning calls it one of the best cities in the world. However, constant rocket attacks by Hezbollah prevented me from visiting. Actually, when I was on the train back from Nahariya to Tel Aviv, I slept through the Haifa stations, so I never saw it at all.

Other things that I would have wanted to do include finding a second-hand clothing store in Jerusalem, spendine more time in the north (Galilee and Golan), doing some more hiking in the south, and spending more late nights in Tel Aviv.

I didn't go to Eilat on this trip, and honestly, I don't regret it at all.

Ansel Adams: What are your favorite pictures from your summer portfolio?













The pea beneath my bed: What irked you the most about Israelis?

Ian: Does this mean I have a forum to rant about Israelis? Here we go. They are impolite; they don't believe in lines; they wear tight t-shirts; they are critical of my ability to speak Hebrew; they change the language from Hebrew to English too quickly; and they are impolite.

My shrink:What fears do you still have to overcome?

Ian: Fire.

Pew Research Group: Did your political views change while you were there?

Ian: I still handle issues on a case-by-case basis. I couldn't handle being on one side all of the time. At times, I am to the right. At others, I am to the left. Sometimes, I am down the middle. On some occasions, I am even indifferent.

Walt Disney: What's your favorite "it's a small country, after all" moment?

Ian: Riding in the train from Bet Shemesh to Tel Aviv, I met my friend Rachel's friend from Bolivia. Here is a transcript of that conversation:

Girl sitting across the aisle: Where are you from?
Ian: Michigan. Where are you from?
Girl sitting across the aisle: Bolivia
Ian: Oh that's funny. Last night, my friend ditched me to hang out with a Bolivian.
Girl sitting across the aisle: What's you friend's name?
Ian: (I said my friend's name)
Girl sitting across the aisle: I am that Bolivian that your friend ditched you for.

You in the back: What was the most fun?

Ian: I spent three months in Israel, and the most fun was a night of Sumo wrestling at the Roman Amphitheater in Caesarea.

Martha Stewart: How can I strengthen my community if I only have a couple bags of horse manure, water, a few bushels of hay, some old Firestones, eucalyptus, and dirt?

Ian: Well Martha, you could make a firepit out of horse manure, hay, and mud; a bench out of tires, mud and hay; or a tent out of eucalyptus branches. What would you do with these materials? Should I expect something in next month's issue of Living?

Martha: No comment.

Shnorer at the Kotel: How many meals would you mooch (not have to pay for) per week?

Ian: Well, I would have to say at least 2-3 meals per week did not come out of my pocket. If you know people or use your charm, you'll come across a free meal.

Martha(to Shnorer): When is the last time you showered?

Shnorer: No comment.

Meal Moocher: List all of your Friday night dinners (more for me than for you [so that I can remember]):

Ian: I would show you the pictures of the delicious challahs, hatzilim salads, and chickens, but God knows that wouldn't be kosher. I would like to thank my Shabbat dinner providers: Jill, Chaim David, Academy, Laurin, Tsafi, Safed, Shirah Chadashah, Keshet Yonatan, Tiberias, Inbal, Yerucham, Communah, and Yavneh Olami.

Sanctuaries in time (aka serenity now): What is the best kabbalat shabbat service you attended?

Ian: I think that the best Friday night service was at Kol Rina Synagogue down the street from my house. It is a very musically inclined orthodox congregation that really gets rocking.

Not-temples in time (aka balagan immediately): Least Shabbat moment?

Ian:After visiting a tish in Mea Sha'arim at 1 a.m, with Peter on my second to last shabbat in Jerusalem, I walked 10 minutes down the road to the Nahalat Shiv'a bar neighborhood so Peter could wet his whistle. The difference in atmosphere made us question whether we were in the same city. Not to mention I was involved in my first "hey mister" moment" (very un-shabbostik).

I have to mention that time when my bus from Tiberias left at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon and got back to Jerusalem before shabbat ended. Before this, I didn't even know that Egged (the bus company) operated on Saturdays before sundown.

Kiruv Koordinator: Did you become more religious? Pais?

Ian: No, I truly believe that I maintained my level of observance. On the subject of pais, I would say that they got lost in my hair. But check out Ari's haircut before the 17th of Tammuz.



LL: What have you been doing to stay out of trouble?

Ian: What if I have been in trouble and you don't know about it. (You'll have to ask me about this one in person.)

Waldo: Who is the last person you expected to see that you saw?

Ian: Three-way tie:

Walking through the Acco shuk on one of my adventures, I ran into my friend Jeff. I knew he was in Israel but expected to see him in Jerusalem. Let's just say that Acco is not Ben Yehuda St.

I shook hands with the mayor of Ashdod when I went to go cover a wrestling press conference for the Jerusalem Post. I also met/heard some Russian wrestlers, but failed to understand.

Two days after I got home from Israel, I went on a family trip to the Canadian Rockies. While waiting in the airport to go to Minneapolis, we saw Flip Saunders Blackberrying—either talking to his wife, Rip Hamilton, or complaining to Dan Munson about how his son should get more playing time.

Joseph Pullitzer: How does Daily Sports compare with JPost Sports?

IanYou have to ask me this one in person

Sej salesman: What is your favorite shuk moment?

Ian: Have you ever witnessed a shuk showdown when two customers are ready to go to fisticuffs and haymakers over an item. It is very exciting.

CEO of HIKE (Common brand of clothing in the shuk): What's your favorite pair of socks that you bought?

Ian: During my last week, I realized that I wouldn't have enough clean socks to wear without having to do laundry. So, I went to the shuk and bought a pack of three socks for NIS 10. They go above my ankles and each pair of socks has a different pattern on the top. I didn't even know that you were 1) a legitimate company or 2) large enough to have a CEO.
[insert picture of socks]

Peddler: Best bargaining experience:

Ian: You have to break this into two categories

1. In terms of most sheqels (acceptable spelling in the Scrabble dictionary) saved, I bargained the cab driver from Jerusalem to Holon on Shabbat down 100 sheks from 250 to 150.
2. In terms of best bargain, my flowing/airy/Safed/1970s Hait-Ashbury shirt at the flea market in Jaffa. I brought the guy from 40 to 25 sheks. My friend said that he bought a very similar shirt in Jerusalem a day earlier for NIS 100.
   
   
   
   Shwarmy Shawarma: What is the best shawarma place?
   
   Ian: For the value, a 15 shekel shawarma in a lafa at Melekh Shwarma on King George is the best in town. I also enjoyed my experience at Masov on Jaffa Rd, by the bus station (if you look closely, you might find pictures of some Shmoozeniks on the wall).
   
   Farklempt Falafel: What is the best falafel place?
   
   Ian: Melekh Shawarma's falafel is pretty good, especially with the variety of vegetables that you can put on top of it. I also enjoy their napkins that read "If you enjoyed your food, tell your friends. If you didn't, tell us."
   
   Here are some guidelines to the shawarma/falafel food groups. Falafel can only be consumed in pita form, while shawarma should only be sold in lafa., Any other type of sandwich will make you sick (with the pita) or wanting more (shawarma).
   
   To tell you the truth, falafel doesn't really interest me anymore. Maybe I ate too much too fast or I had one negative experience, but I cannot see myself eating falafel anytime in the near future. You go into it expecting this great flavor, but I always get let down. Maybe I will get up the balls to eat falafel at Jerusalem Garden this year, but right now, we need some time away from one another.
   
   Homer Simpson: What ringtone did you choose for your phone? Did it change at any point during the summer?
   
   Ian: Obviously, (as you know, Homer) there is only one choice for the ringtone. Throughout my stay in Israel, I danced, I danced, I danced around my Mexican hat.
   
   "Can you hear me now?" guy: What is the best cell phone feature that they have in Israel that you want on your phone in Ann Arbor?
   
   Ian: As some of you might know, you are not allowed to talk on your cell phone while driving. To remedy this, speaker phone comes standard on all Israeli cell phones. This is not something you get in America. Not only would this allow people to drive with two hands or talk with their hands while talking on the phone, but it would also allow people more freedom when they are using the phone outside of the car.
   
   Bain & Company: How would you improve late-night food in America?
   
   Ian: I have a three-step solution to correcting this injustice. Let me use Ann Arbor as my case study. Currently, the only type of late-night foods available are pizza, Mexican, Jimmy John's, and Pizza House (that, among other items, serves spicy buffalo wings which come with celery that you don't have to eat). My experience in Israel has opened my eyes to three different types of restaurants that would move late-night food beyond the the Hispanic and Italian continuum.
   1. Waffles—In Jerusalem, there are competing waffleries that serve the delectable Belgian treat with a variety of toppings. My mouth is watering just writing this (oops I drooled on my shirt). They have chocolate, vanilla, fruits, carmel, butterscotch, various alcoholic options (this would be a hit at 1 a.m. on a college campus), and many other things to put on top of the waffle. It sells for about six dollars and is worth every penny.
   2. Soup—I propose the introduction of Chill, vegetarian soup bar to attract students from the RC. It would serve a plethora of fresh, homemade soups, jazz, and (of course) beer.
   3. Kosher shawarma and shnitzel—Hey, I can dream.
   
   
   B-school student: What type of healthy, quick food restaurant would you establish?
   
   Ian: I would introduce an omelette restaurant, similar to the one that I ate lunch at the beginning of my internship. It serves a baguette with an omelette in the middle of it, surrounded by an array of vegetables. It would cost about six bucks and is much healthier than other types of quick foods. It would compete against the sub or could be another item at the sub restaurant.
   
   Galgalatz: What is your favorite Israeli band?
   
   Ian: Let's see. I went to the Hadag Nachash concert early in the summer and enjoyed their work. But I didn't really get into the Israeli pop music scene. If I were pressured to choose one favorite it would be Hadag Nachash or this brilliantly awful song by Idan Yaniv that gets played on the pop radio station at least 79 times per day called "Thinking of You" (it falls under the category of "this music is so bad that it's good")
   
   Joan Rivers: How did your wardrobe change?
   
   Ian: As the summer progressed my clothes became more and more stained. Oh, that's not what you meant? Aside from two pairs of underwear that I bought in the shuk, two SPNI t-shirts, and a button-down short-sleeve shirt, most other wardrobe additions are mentioned at other points in this interview.
   
   American living in Israel: If you could've brought one more item from America, what would it have been?
   
   Ian: Rod Allen. The Tigers TV commentator makes some brilliant comments. My favorite one came last week after Brent Clevlen homered out of Fenway Park and Rock said "No, he didn't!" (when obviously, he just did). If I had him following me around all summer and offering his two cents, that would've been pretty sweet.
   
   Israeli living in America: If you could've brought one item home from Israel (in your checked luggage of course), what would it have been?
   
   Ian: Now an 18-and-up drinking age won''t fit in my suitcase, will it? I don't even drink, I just like the fact that I can get into any establishment that I want (except for the Israeli bars that set 22 or 25 as the minimum but those places suck anyway).
   
   This one might be less feasible: the amount of kosher restaurants
   
   Sallah Shabati and his Ashkenizi friend Yehezky Goldstein: What game did you learn to play in Israel?
   
   Ian: Erick, who is very proud of his Ashkenazi heritage, taught me how to play shesh-besh (backgammon), and I have been hooked ever since. However, I have found that kids who grew up in Sephardic families are much better at the game than people from Ashkenazi backgrounds. I can think of two reasons for this 1) they played with their grandparents at home or 2) Sephardic people are more superstitious than others, so their superstitious practices are actually paying off.
   
   Mr. Clean: Did you ever clean your apartment this summer? Bathroom? Change linens?
   
   Ian: We'll make this a choose-your-own ending answer.
   If you want to know the truth, read at the first • .
   If you want to know the real truth, start at the second one.
   If you want to stay in the dark, read the third one.
   
   • I washed the floor of my apartment and bathroom once a month, changed the linens every two weeks, and cleaned my toilet every week. Not to mention other normal hygienic practices like change my underwear and socks every day, bathe regularly, and throw out milk before its expiration date (and refrigerate it).
   
   • Do you consider wetting a towel and dragging it on the floor as cleaning? No? Then the answer to that question is "no." Doesn't flushing the toilet count as cleaning it?
   
   • I think that it's best for my reputation if you didn't know the answer to these questions.
   
   Mr. Clean: Follow up. What did it involve to clean up for somebody?
   
   Ian: Well, because I had so many visitors, I was always tidying my apartment for the next guest. While a narrative of how I did this would be fun, I think that a before-and-after pictorial would be more effective and concise.
   
   This was taken earlier in the summer before my friend Rachel came over to see my humble abode (no my adobe because those aren't so common in Jerusalem).
   
   
   
   
   
   Cinderella: How many times did you do laundry?
   
   Ian: Probably about five or six. Only once did I decide to save money by washing my white clothes with the dark ones (I know that you have to have to wash whites in warm water and the darks in cool water, but I thought that I'd be able to save some money).
   
   Scrooge McDuck: Did you really live on three sheqels per week? If so, how? If not, what is your best shuk bargain?
   
   Ian: No, I had a slightly higher budget than that. To answer your other question, I would have to say that anything after 4:30 on a Friday afternoon would fall under the category of best bargain because all the vendors are trying to get rid of their goods before Shabbat. Other than that, I bargained a guy down from NIS 25 to NIS 6 for a kippah (skullcap) for my brother.
   
   Eliezer Ben Yehuda: What is your favorite Hebrew word?
   
   Ian: On the Israeli Sesame Street, the Cookie Monster equivalent, Ugifletzet, is possibly the best word in any language, ever. It is a combination of the words "ugah" (cake) and "mifletzet" (monster).
   
   Mike One to the left: When are you going back?
   
   Ian: Hopefully sooner rather than later.
   
   Everybody: SHOULD I EXPECT MORE FROM HEARYONI.BLOGSPOT.COM? OR, IS THIS—THE SUPER RE-CAP—IT?
   
   Ian: I would keep this on your list of normally checked blogs. You should also check out the Shmooze blog, which I contribute to regularly.

Pushing the limits of carry on

I'm back home. I have returned after three months in Israel. Originally, I planned on making this post a recap of the entire summer. That was before British Airways imposed a severe ban on hand luggage (very high on the scale of blogworthiness). (I promise to have a recap post up in the next two days.)

In the wake of Scotland Yard uncovering a massive terror plot to blow up planes over the Atlantic, Britsh Airways banned all types of carry-on luggage except the following items.

• Travel Documents
• Pocket-sized wallets
• Prescribed medicines
• Spectacles and sunglasses (without cases)
• Contact lenses, without bottles of solution
• Baby food, milk and sanitary items
• Keys, but not electrical key fobs)

If they included the following item on the list of acceptable items, I would have been much happier:

• Ian's laptop

After trying to find a loophole in the list that would allow me to take my computer on as carry-on luggage (laptops fall under the "other sanitary items" category, right?) , I realized that I would have to take the ultimate risk (in terms of traveling with a computer) — put it in my checked luggage.

Solution: Scour Ben Yehuda Street asking merchants if I can have some bubble wrap. They understood my problem (or just wanted to get me out of their stores as quick as possible because they knew I wasn't going to buy anything) and gave me ample bubble wrap.

So I covered my computer with three layers of bubble wrap, put it in my computer bag, stuffed my computer bag with newspaper and put the bag in my North Face duffle. Now I am typing this post on my computer, which means one of two things: either my packaging worked or my computer broke because of my shoddy packaging job and I got it fixed in time to write this entry (I will go with the former).




To compensate for the space that my computer and other normally carry-on items occupied in my duffle, I was forced to purchase another piece of luggage. While I wanted to purchase a shuk bag and use it as my primary backpack on campus this year, the top of the shuk bag cannot be sealed. So I bought an Israeli-made backpack instead (I am comforted by the fact that on the website for the company that makes my backback, they list ballistic body armor as their top product).

What did you actually bring on the plane?

Here is a picture of my bag an its contents. Since I was allowed to bring a Ziploc bag, I wanted to bring the biggest Ziploc back that I could find.


Aside from travel documents, the only other item in my bag were wet naps that my mom gave me when I left back in May and never used. Because the wipies were on the list of acceptable items, but only if you are traveling with small children, I wanted to see if they would let me bring the on the plane. The person working the counter at Ben Gurion warned me that they might not let me bring the wet naps on the plane from England, but security in London didn't have a problem with them.

Except for not having any carry-on luggage, my travel was uneventful. I made my Sherut at 3:50 on Sunday monring. Actually, I accidentally dozed off for a few seconds at the gate while waiting for my flight, but someone that I met while waiting in line to check my bags woke me up (After staying awake for 24 straight hours, I probably shouldn't have sat down at the gate with nothing to do 10 minutes before they started boarding). I went through security and made my connection in London without any problem. The person that sat next to me on the plane arrived at the airport at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday for a noon flight and didn't get through security in time. Luckily, I was only making a connection and didn't have to go through intense checks that other passengers had to (It makes you wonder what happens to all of the stuff that got confiscated at security because of the intense security measures. I believe that the workers have a lottery and use the draft format to select which items they want).

By the way, I was not bothered by the lack of carry-on luggage on British Airways becausee their in-flight entertainment is second to none. Every passenger has a personal TV with, either 18 different channels of movies and TV (I had this from Tel Aviv to London) or an On-Demand style setup where you can select from over sixty different movies, TV shows or music channels (I had this from London to Detroit).

And I finally arrived at home. My parent were very happy to see me. I was very lucky because the London-Detroit flight was the only US-bound flight that I saw was leaving London on Sunday morning.

Hear ye, Hear ye

If you didn't know, I am leaving Israel on Sunday morning, which means that I'm trying to make the most of my final few days here (I have already consumed eight kilos worth of nectarines and plums this week). In the meantime, I am planning on writing a final recap post for my summer. Part of it will include a press conference, that's where you guys come in. Please send me questions, either through e=mail or the comments section, that you would like me to answer in this "comprehensive" review of the summer.

This post will also include some things that have happened in the last week (pretty busy -> no blog time). Expect this final post to be up sometime when I get back to America (I would've wanted to post it before I leave but I need to bubble wrap and put my computer in my checked luggage), I hope.

I've been stomping in my Z1s

After almost three months of wearing my Chaco sandals every day, I think that it is about time to reveal to the blog community the development of my sandal tan (a photo was leaked via e-mail earlier this week). Throughout the summer, I have periodically taken pictures of my feet to track its progress. Instead of the traditional "Ian wriiting a blog entry with words," I have decided to go with the "a picture is worth a thousand words theory" for this post.

A few points before the pictures:

Almost everybody that has seen my sandel tan has marveled at its beauty and overall sweetness, except for the people that I spend the most time with (Ari and Peter are very anti-Ian's sandal tan [and Ari also opposed the blister that developed on my big toe for the first half of the summer before it healed])

If I was asked what body part am I most proud of, the answer, without more than a second's hesitation, would be my sandal tan (Call my superficial if you want).

In previous summers, I would try to mix a multi-level sock tan with the Chaco tan (I play a lot of golf at home) but there is something about the simplicity of the "Z" that makes this year's version that special (I am not allowed to wear sandals at the ballpark, so my tan has also been hampered by that in year's past).

Someday, I plan to write a song called Z1's to parody my favorite hip hop song of all time (You couldn't get this tan pattern if you had a personal genie).

I hope that this is what Michigan punter Zoltan Mesko's foot looks like.

Each of these photos was taken after I took a shower or woke up in the morning because I believe that the tan you exhibit when you return from being outside does not present an accurate pigment.

I have refused the urge to use pigment-enhancing substances (take that Alex Sanchez, Floyd Landis, Justin Gatlin, Tim Montgomery, Matt Lawton, Rafael Palmeiro, Bryan Berard and many more).

Tisha B'Av in Jerusalem: kind of a downer

Yesterday was Tisha B'Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. Many of the saddest events in Jewish history occured on this day: the destruction of the first and second temples, the end of the Bar Kochma Revolt, the declaration of the Crusades in 1095, the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290 and the expulsion from Spain in 1492.

Tisha B'Av is the culmination of a three-week period of semi-mourning. On Tisha B'Av you fast for 24 hours (actually a little bit more than 24) and you don't bath or wear leather.

I kicked offf the day by visiting the Kotel on Wednesday night to hear Ekah (Lamentations), which is the book that you are supposed to read on Tisha B'Av. I expected the Kotel to be much busier than it was. We went to the Southern portion of the Western Wall for the egalitarian service. The reading of the Ekha put me in the right mood, but they sang songs at the end of the service that kind of ruined the somber mood (I always thought that you weren't really supposed to sing on Tisha B'Av).

Yesterday afternoon, I walked over to visit Avery (he also had the afternoon off). It is the last time that I will see him in Israel becuase he goes home on Sunday. We caught up and shmoozed for a while. He gave me a tour of the youth village that he stayed at.

After visiting Avery, I went to Har Herzl for the funeral of Michael Levine, a 21-year old American from Philadelphia who made Aliyah, joined the Paratrooper division of the Israeli Army and was killed in fighting in Lebanon earlier this week. Although I didn't know him personally, I felt like I did by the end of the funeral.






The Jerusalem Post gives a better recap of the funeral than I could. If you click on the link, you will notice that many people have left messages.

"Today on Tisha Be'av here in Jerusalem, the place where our hearts have been breaking throughout Jewish history, they are breaking once again," Rabbi Allen Silverstein said Thursday, speaking to the hundreds of mourners who packed the Mount Herzl military cemetery Thursday evening to honor St-Sgt. Michael Levin.

Levin, 21, was one of three soldiers killed Tuesday in clashes with Hizbullah in the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab. An immigrant from the United States, he had been living in Israel for the last three years.

Silverstein, Levin's uncle, pointed out that his nephew was named for a relative who also fought bravely on behalf of his country, a decorated World War II veteran. Levin also had another link to the war, as his grandfather was a Holocaust survivor.

"We will all miss Michael," he said. "But we will continue to be inspired by his passion and his love of Israel."

That sentiment was reflected in the large crowd, mourners who endured a broiling sun despite fasting in honor of the holiday. Hundreds of American and Israeli friends, family from the United States and fellow soldiers from his paratroopers battalion came to pay Levin their final respects.

Among those present were his parents and two sisters, one older and one his twin, who arrived in Israel earlier on Thursday.

Those who knew Levin through the army praised his family. Tzviki Levi, who works with lone soldiers, said emotionally, "A Jewish family who lives on the other side of the sea, [whose son's life] ends as a soldier and a bearer of the red beret ... I will never, never forget you."

Another soldier, who was fighting alongside Levin at the time of his death, told his blood relatives that their unit will "always [be] Michael's family, and you are, forever, one of us."

As the sun began to fade, a second member of Levin's battalion ended his remarks with a final word to his fallen comrade: "In the end, all that is left is the light - the light that is as bright as the sun, and the happiness that you brought to everyone with its rays. All of this will stay in our hearts forever, and will help us to carry on. Thank you, Mike, for being who you were."

After the funeral, I had a little more than an hour before than end of the fast. I decided to walk home from the cemetery to pass the time. I broke fast with a mango, some bread, labene and olive oil.

And my third decade begins

Some of you knew that I had a birthday this week. Others of you just found out (It was on the 30th).

I'm not one to make a big deal about birthdays but, nonetheless, I wanted to tell you how I spent it.

As I recall, the birthday is a 24-hour affair, so we must start at midnight. At 12:00, I was sitting in a pub in Jerusalem with Peter watching CNN on one screen and Mars Attacks on another screen, while recalling our daytrips from earlier in the day (I went to Tel Aviv and Peter went to the Dead Sea).

At about 12:15, we left the bar and went our separate ways.

I woke up at about 8:00 to help build another bench at a community garden, this one was in the courtyard of a school for kids with special needs. I left there at about 12:30 to go to work. I slaved over the Penske File until about 5:30 (Arthur Penske thinks I'm Penske material).

After work, I met Ari, Peter and Hy in Kikar Zion to walk to a restuarant by my apartment called Al Dente. It was a very nice Italian Restaurant. I ordered the pumpkin ravioli and was satisfied.

No offense to Mars Attacks (and its all-star cast and Jack Nicholson puts in an Oscar-caliber performance), the delicious meal or the bench building, but I would have to say that I capped off my birthday in the best way possible, watching my first Tigers game since I left the US.

From the restaurant, we went to my apartment to pick up my computer so that we could watch the Tigers-Twins game on mlb.tv using the free wireless on Ben Yehuda Street.


Win or lose, it was a special experience. We camped out on the benches in front of Moshiko Falafel and Shwarma (where you don't buy the falafel, the falafel buys you) and watched the game. Things looked great for the Tigers through seven+ innings. Brent Clevlen (I apologize but he doesn't have detroittigers.com profile yet) turned in a stellar debut, including a brilliant one-hopper from center to get Luis Castillo trying to tag home in the first that set the tone for the game. In the eighth, things didn't go so well for the Tigers, but I was too happy to be watching a Tigers game to have the result change my feelings Just a side note, the Tigers didn't lose their lead until 12:02 on July 31 (Coincidence. I think not).

By the end of the game, my computer's battery had run out, so we had to plug it in at Moshiko to watch the end of the game. Here I am paying for the electicity that I used.


If I would have been in Ann Arbor for my birthday, I would've gotten a free t-shirt, ice cream, car wash and dinner. In Jerusalem, I found no birthday discounts.

I thought single ply was out of style

I'm a messy eater. I'll admit it. In terms of the food on the fork to food that reaches the mouth ratio, I have one of the lowest numbers of people I know. It's no surprise that I rely heavily on the napkin and other absorbant paper goods when I eat.

Normally, I consider the napkin a standard request at restaurants. As in, if I buy a five-dollar sandwich, I feel entitled to as many napkins that I feel necessary, within reason, to ensure that the food stays off my clothes. Some restaurants even leave napkins out in the open so that people can take as many as the wish without disrupting the employees. Well, at least I'm used to those luxuries in napkin-rich America.

In Israel, it's a whole different story. Restaurants often provide few to no napkins, and the chances of a napkin dispenser are lower than Marty Morningweg's reputation as an NFL head coach (zing!). It's no wonder that I have ruined several pairs of pants and shorts with food stains that could've easily been avoided with ample napkin supply.


Even when they do give napkins, it's never more than two or three of the really light, single-ply (do I need a dash on single-ply?) paper ones that can handle about as much water as I can beer (zing again!). If I am eating a normal meal, no matter what I am actually eating, I require at least five to six of those.

A few anecdtoes:

I was eating lunch in the Central Bus Station food court a couple of weeks ago. While waiting for my food, the person ahead of me in line asked for a couple of napkins. The employee behind the counter took two napkins from a small pile that is well out of the reach of the customer. As he was about to hand them to the customer, he took one of the napkins away and only gave one napkin.

After I got my food, I realized that they didn't give me any napkins (no big surprise). So I decided to ask for a few napkins. The person behind the counter gives me two of those thin napkins that are best compared to doily. When I ask for a couple more napkins, the employee takes my request as a personal offense. He gave me one more.

(Hands on shoulders, let's take a 20-second timeout)

Does my 18 shekels for a sandwich not give me the right to as many napkins as I think that I require? Do I have to pay more to get a napkin? How did we become so frugal with napkins that we can't afford to provide customers with a satisfactory amount? Are the profit margins that slim that the company afford another box of napkins? Or am I crazy for having such radical ideas?

One of the best burger joints in town, Burger's Bar, is equally as frugal about napkins, which is weird coming from a restaurant that serves such napkin-intensive foods like burgers and fries. The napkins at Burger's Bar are all behind the counter, which means that you have to get the attention of an employee in order to get something to wipe that kethcup off you cheek with.

Last night I had my first Burger Ranch experience of the summer I'm not much of a fast food guy but I figured that it would be a shame to go through the summer in Israel, home of countless kosher fast food places, and not eat a burger at one of them. My "S" (I think it stood for "small") Meal inclluded a burger, small fries, medium pop and one single-ply napkin. (What the hell?)


At every meal that I eat, I find myself examining napkin availibility, which means that there is a clear napkin problem in this country. In fact, I have found myself doing exactly what the restaurant protect against: hording napkins when availible. When I eat a restaurant with a public napkin dispenser, I horde the napkins and put them in my bag so that I have them for future meals (What have I become?).

If you have any ideas on how to solve this problem, please let me know so that we can make Israel a more customer friendly (don't even get me started on customer service) to live and visit, one ply at a time.

I think it was the black and white cookie

This is a post that I never planned on writing, but things happen. If you're not into reading about throw up streaks, please don't continue.

(from The Dinner Party
JERRY: I feel like I'm going to throw up.

ELAINE: Hey, what about your vomit streak?

JERRY: I know, I haven't thrown up since June 29th, 1980. . . Fourteen years down the drain.

Now, I don't recall the last time that I threw up, which means it has been a long time (Right now, my best guess would be over 3300 days ago). The streak is not as long as Jerry's was, but I consider it impressive nonetheless.

Using my current estimate for the last time it happened, I have surpassed the Ironman himself by near 700 days. Cal Ripken played for 2632 straight games, but he got to take 200 days off per year. My stomach can't take days off. It has to go to work all the time.

Ironically, I mentioned my vomit streak in a conversation with a friend (it would be weird if it came up in coversation with a stranger) a few days ago. But I don't consider that a jinx because when the subject of vomit streaks arises, I don't hesitate to discuss my feat (I can get witnesses if you want).

So we start anew with the infamous day of July 25, 2006 (Should I add a "days since I last threw up" counter on the side of my blog? Probably not).

Oh yeah, I am feeling fine, no need to worry (I volunteered yesterday afternoon, worked at night [I took the morning off to allow my digestive system to reset] and went out after that). It must've been something that I ate (I can think of about five possible culprits that I ate in the 24 hours leading up to the moment that might have caused it).

Coming up for air

Before I write this post, I want to give you an update on my security situation. While the northern part of Israel is under bombardment from Hezbollah rockets, life in the center of the country is continuing almost as normal. Aside from the eastern Negev, I would consider Jerusalem to be one of the safest places in the country right now. Besides paying more attention to the news than normally and not riding buses, my life is not much different than before.

Now on to the most massive post of the summer (hey, I have to recap two weeks)

The last week has been hectic to say the least. Follow this equation:

Current situation in the north + Ian's busy schedule + no internet in my room on Wednesday or Thursday = limited time for blogging

Another possible to that solution is that I have plenty to write about. So let's get started.

We last left off (aside from an expose on the shuk bag phenomena) with the first meeting of the exotic fruit tasting society, which means that more than a week has passed since I updated you on what I am doing.

Let me take you back in time nearly two weeks to the Israel Track and Field Championships, which I covered for the Post. These were two exciting nights at Hadar Yosef Stadium in Tel Aviv. I wrote two articles for the paper. If you click on these links, you will find evidence of my work here, here and not here. Having covered the Michigan track team for two years, you get spoiled with following world-class athletes on a regular basis. In Israel, there are two track and field athletes that are competitive on an international level. So, it's a change of pace (literally).

A week from Thursday, I volunteered with the maintenance staff at Alyn Hospital again (Did I even mention the first time?). This time I painted the door to the generator room. Here is my mindset: I am happy to paint the door because people who would paint it otherwise have more important things to do and can't be bothered with this type of minutia.

The next day, Avery arrived for his weekend off. He took a cab from the youth village to my apartment to drop off his bags. We picked up another cab and went to go see Pirates of the Caribbean (for those that remember an earlier post of mine, I ranked this as one of the most highly anticipated movies of the summer). I don't think it lived up to the hype, but then again, how many sequels aside from D2 actually do?

After the movie, which was in the industrial neighborhood of Talpiyot on the other side of town from my apartment, I decided that a pleasant stroll through the city would give us the forum to shmooze for a while and allow Avery to see the city. After the trek, I took him to the four shekel falafel place before we went to the shuk.


For those that don't know, Avery is an expert when it comes to the kitchen. He knows his way around the kitchen almost as well as my dad knows his way around Detroit, which made this excursion to the shuk one of the most highly anticipated shuk visits of the summer (There were posters up and down Agrippas announcing Avery's arrival right next to the Shneersin Messiah posters). Avery was in heaven and the only way that he could have had a better time in the shuk would've been if there wasn't a language barrier. Nonetheless, let me recap what we purchased:

Half watermelon, three kilos red grapes, mangos, dried apricots, prickly pineapple, little pear, hummus, labane, pita, and probably something else (hey, it's been two weeks). This was also the site of Ian taking pictures for the shuk bag feature.

After the shuk, we went to Shabbat services at Shirah Chaddashah, a cutting-edge orthodox synagogue in the German Colony. We followed that up with the Shabbat dinner with some friends at their hotel (thank you very much, once again). Avery and I both reached the state of food coma.

We went back to my apartment after dinner and convened the second meeting of the exotic fruit tasting society. Ian and Ari tasted dragon fruit, little pear, and prickly pineapple. In conclusion. the prickly pineapple is the best pineapple we have every eaten. The other two weren't so great. Sorry about the lack of pictures from this event, we didn't want to ruin the spirit of Shabbat. After the dessert tasting, we went to a tish in Mea Sha'arim, which is one of the most interesting things you will every see. Sorry about the lack of pictures, I didn't want to lose my life by snapping a closeup of the rebbe.

On Saturday, we slept in until 12:15. I guess we needed the sleep or something. For lunch, we went to some other friends' hotel (thank you very much) and again achieved the state of food coma. In the afternoon, we went for a walk to the kotel.

On Saturday night, we went to get some good hummus, saw the satire Thank You for Smoking at the last night of the Jerusalem Film Festival and went to the Marakiah (a soup restaurant that doubles as a bar). We (Ian, Ari and Peter) had been searching for this ever-elusive establishment for a couple weeks, which made finding it that much sweeter. (Let's just say that since that first night, we have been back there twice and plan to go again tonight)


Avery went back to his group on Sunday morning. On Sunday night, I covered another

On Tuesday my friend Hy, who staffed the Detroit Teen Mission before it ended prematurely becuase of the current situation, spent the night on my floor. Hy is better known at the former bat boy for Groves High School baseball and one of the most talented cowbell musicians in the world. After I volunteered at Alyn again, we went out to dinner with Erick and his family (thank you very much).

Wedenday morning, Hy and I volunteered at one of the community gardens that I have been working at all summer long. We worked with a group of 40 kids from a neighborhood day camp to make a bench out of rubber tires and mud. Despite Hy's aversion to getting dirty, we had a great time (except when the kids decided to throw stones at Hy).




On Thursday, I woke up early to catch a bus to Ben Gurion Airport to welcome a Nefesh b'Nefesh flight of Americans making Aliyah. I was supposed to meet the bus at 6:45, but some alarm issues arose and I didn't get out of bed until 6:55. I sprinted to the entrance to the city and caught the bus before it got on the highway.

The welcoming ceremony was under a canopy in the middle of the runway at Ben Gurion. After the passengers deplaned, they came to the site of the ceremony where they hugged and kissed family who came to meet them. It was a very emotional experience, especailly considered the current situation. Bibi Netanyahu addressed the new Olim and stressed the importance of Aliyah.




That night, I went to dinner at Luigi's with the rest of the Jewish Academy (my high school) contingent in Israel. The food was good, the company was even better (which says a lot considereing the quality of the food).


It wasn't that late of a night, though. I had to catch a 7:15 bus to the south, where I spent shabbat. We did a brief tiyyul at Ein Ovdat (next to Sde Boker [site of David Ben Gurion's grave and house]). Check out this sweet sign on the trail.


Afterwards, we went to Beer Sheva for lunch and to hear a speaker talk to use about how Ethiopian Jews maintian aspects of their culture, instead of completely adopting Israeli culture.

For Shabbat, we stayed a hostel in Yerucham, a development town directly in the middle of nowhere (it's about 15 minutes from Dimona and 40 from Beer Sheva). Yerucham is known as one of the poorer devleopment towns in Israel and has a very large immigrant population. On Saturday afternoon, we went for a walk around the town in which our tour guide explained to us different strategies the city has employed to vitalize. (A brief aside: The Shabbat food was not very spectacular, maybe even worse than Fayetteville, Ark where they had trouble comprehending the term "vegetarian")

On Saturday night, we got back to Jerusalem at about 11:30. I went to Zion Square to drink tea and people watch with Peter.

Yesterday, I had a track meet to cover in Tel Aviv. After the meet, I went out with Peter and Erick (who went home this morning) to a really cool bar called D1. It was as if the owners just took an abadnoned building, threw in chairs, tables, a bar, and some record covers on the wall. Erick taught me and Peter how to play Shesh Besh (backgammon).


Boy, this post turned boring for the final five or six days. I promise to blog more often. By now, I just want to use this post as a reference to remember what I did during these last two weeks. In the next week, I promise a post about movies that I have seen, an explanation about what I do at work and another expose about a troubling part of Israeli society.

The latest in open-air market fashion

Some things never go out of style in Israel.

Black tefillin, wrinkled white shirts, black hats, obscene English t-shirts, talking politics, and..... plaid shuk carts?

If there is one staple in Israeli society it is the Al Borland-style bag to wheel around your shuk purchases.










Every time you enter that wonderland of Mahane Yehuda, you are greeted by a few things; the smells of the spices, the shopkeepers yelling out their best deals, the stench of dead fish (no it's freedom, no it's fish), and the customers walking through the crowded alleys dragging around a plaid-patterned cart.

Let's be honest. None of the shuk bag patterns actually look good. They are hideous. If a fashion designer really wanted to hit it big in Israel, he or she woluld open up a designer shuk bag outlet at shuk prices to compete against this guy.




I guess that the shuk bag is a once-in-a-lifetime purchase, along the lines of a stroimel or sabra fruit. But the funny thing is that there are only about six different patterns for shuk bag that you see in the market. They are also the only ones that they sell in the outlet store (it's located near the Agrippas entrace on the main drag).

It also raises the question of how the plaid Shuk bag took off like Beanie Babies a few years back but has the staying power of Corn Flakes.

In our investigation, we did discover that some people have boycotted patters all together, preferring to go with the cage instead. But, let's remember that things fall out of holes, no matter what size. If someone's liche falls out of their cage bag, I can't be held responsible.


Check out this person. They are trying to think outside the box by thinking inside the cage. Bottom line: There is still plaid.


That is why we are proposing that a revolution in Shuk fashion. What about striped? Spotted? Plain-color? Berbery? Famous paintings? Pictures of shuk bags on shuk bags? Anything but plaid.

Viva la revolucion.