Looking through old photos

So, I'm 17 and Joe is 15....I'm not really sure why he's pushing me around. I think we might be setting up for Cotillion.

Jeux d'Enfants

Watch this movie. It's called "Love Me If You Dare" in English. It's about a French boy and girl who start a game of daring each other. The game continues up through adolescence and adulthood until the dares start getting really crazy - and emotion-filled. It's worth reading the subtitles and getting Edith Piaf stuck in your head - I'm now downloading "La Vie en Rose." Just go watch it. Or come over tomorrow as I will be watching it again.

First Two Weeks in NJ- September

So, I've been home for two weeks now. Most of that time has been spent sitting on the couch. I've send my resume out at least 60 times.....it's getting exhausting/frustrating.....ahhhhhhhh

Most of the time I'm not even sure who is getting my resume, and I feel like I'm sending it into cyber oblivion.....

In happier news/Other things I've done since coming home:

Helped my grandma prepare for Rosh Hashana and found wheat-free challah, which was also nut-free (this was a challenge) and tasted nothing like challah....oh well.

Celebrated the baby bro turning 21!!!!

Saw Vermeer's Milkmaid at the MET - it's on special loan for the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's arrival in NYC. It had been a whole two months since the last time I saw this painting!!!

Got an iPhone. I no longer understand how I used to live. I mean, my Spanish phone was a piece of crap.....and a blackberry without a data plan is just silly. Of course, I don't like getting my emails at 5am because I wake up really excited, roll over and see that it's just BN.com or amazon....

Bought running tights because working out in capri leggings and knee socks got old fast.

Had Starbucks only once....and realized that coffee really does make me NUTS.

Went to Yale and got to have lunch at Claire's!!!!! Joe forgot I was coming and ate with Arsi in the dining hall so we didn't have to go to Caseus!!!! I got a wheat-free cupcake at Claire's (the semi-hippie/veggie/gf-friendly cafe)!!!!!!!!!!! - see image above.

Bought black ballet flats to replace the ones I destroyed in Spain. Of course, I don't actually like the new ones so I have to send them back. I'm just really bad at shopping - somethings will never change.

Fell asleep during E.T. - some things will REALLY never change. My friend told me she would have been shocked and somewhat saddened if I had actually managed to stay awake the whole time.

Picked a color for my room, I think - the paint isn't on the walls yet.

Attempted to clean out some of my crap. Attempted being the operative word here....I still own way too much stuff.

Surprised a friend on her birthday. Probably one of the best b-day presents I've given. There's nothing like being able to ring someone's doorbell and say, "Surprise! I just flew 6,000 miles, Happy Birthday, and, yes, I de-friended you on Facebook because I was afraid you'd find out I was here."

Leaving Israel

My apartment.

So, I finally decided to leave Israel. I had been thinking about it for a while. I wasn't happy at my school, ulpan classes weren't great, and I basically realized that I don't want to be a teacher. Maybe at some point I'll teach college or adults, but I really don't want to teach children. It was okay to teach in Spain for a year, because I knew it would be over in May. After some soul-searching/thinking I realized that staying in Israel was, ultimately, a waste of time and I was just procrastinating joining the real world.

I came to this decision after talking to my parents on Sunday night. Then I realized that I would be illegal in Israel as of Thursday because they screwed up when I entered. I was only given a one-month visa because I was expected to get a student visa asap. So, on Sunday I emailed the program directors, Monday morning I bought a ticket for a flight which left at 12:05 am Wednesday morning. I also canceled my bank account and wrote my roommate an email. He was in Russia on vacation. I sent him a note t

o tell him I was leaving (and, therefore, breaking the contract). His English isn't good so he called his former roommate who called me to tell me he got the email.

Monday and Tuesday I packed and got organized. I said good-bye to people and had breakfast with Sam. My meal came on the largest plate I've ever seen. Two large compartments held salad and eggs, which five small ones held cheese, butter, more cheese, eggplant and tuna salad.

Tuesday evening I took a taxi to the train station and a train to the airport. The flight home was pretty uneventful; I was asleep before take-off.

More adventures in baking

So, I tried to re-make the wheat-free challah, and attempt number two was actually worse than the first one. This time the challah got nice and crunchy on top, but practically burned on the bottom. The inside was still raw. Once again, the dough never rose.

Semi-frustrated, I turned to corn bread, a much simpler bread to bake (when you posses all of the ingredients). Problem: I didn't have baking powder. I had baking soda, but not powder. So, I omitted it. The bread was tasty and did resemble corn bread, but it looked kind of strange when I removed it from the oven......

Jerusalem

Sunday morning we took a mini-bus to Jerusalem. There was traffic on the main road so we took a (wayyyyyy toooooooo long) detour through the windy, steep mountain hill roads, arriving an hour late.

We went first to the Tower of David where we looked down on the old city.

From there we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Jesus is supposedly buried. I had been there before, but was happy to return because the building is incredible. There are so many nooks and crannies, all of which are decorated with mosaics and other designs.

Next, we had a lunch break and then walked to the Western Wall.

Dome of the Rock!!!!

Then we went through water tunnels in the City of David, the oldest part of Jerusalem. These weren't that worthwhile. It was interesting to learn about the history, and, yes, it is important that cities have a water source. However, I don't feel the need to walk through shin-deep water for 45 minutes. Even though it was warm outside, we were underground and after a while the water's chilly temperature started to get to me.

Back outside, we climbed back up to the starting area, changed and got ready for dinner, which was at a board member's house in a residential part of the city.

I had talked to her on the phone to discuss foods, so she has some stuff set aside for me: plain chicken and plain potatoes, etc. The food was tasty. During dinner, different board members sat at our tables so they could get a chance to meet us and afterwards, we had to introduce ourselves to the whole group.

By the time we returned back to Tel Aviv, we had been gone more than 12 hours. It was a really long day and I was pretty tired.

Netanya

Friday I met Lisa and Lindsay at the shuk where we shopped for groceries before taking a city bus to the central bus station to catch an inter-city bus to Netanya where we took a sheruit (shared taxi) to Lisa's family's apartment. They had suitcases, so it was quite a process.

We made shabbat dinner: roasted veggies, quinoa and salad. They bought a challah and I made a wheat-free one, which never rose and was somewhat gummy. It was nice to be out of Tel Aviv. We could see the water from Lisa's apartment and there was a breeze on the balcony, where we ate our dinner.

Saturday we sat by the pool, but it was really hot so we went back inside and turned on the A/C. We returned to Tel Aviv late Saturday night to get ready for our field trip to Jerusalem Sunday.

Last Day at Gretz

I think the straw that broke the camel's (my) back was that my school wanted me to call parents and explain to them why their son/daughter should not be in my class. The parents, of course, want their children to be in the "special," native English-speakers class rather than the regular English classes. I didn't think it was my place to call parents, but figured I'd wait to tell the program directors when I saw them in Jerusalem on Sunday. I did call one parent and she told me that she would "be very disappointed" if her seven-year-old wasn't in my second-grade English class. I pointed out to her that her daughter could not read or write in English while the other kids in the class were bored and wanted to read Harry-Potter-level books. She didn't seem to think this was a problem.

2nd grade know-it-alls

Today wasn't so terrible at school. The secretary had neglected to make my photocopies by the time I needed them. Apparently she has to have everything approved by the principal who didn't do it yesterday and is the only person with the key to the photocopier (I think this actually means code, but the secretary doesn't really speak English). She did them quickly, just as the class was starting. So that worked out.

I also had second grade for the first time. They're going to be my challenge class. One kid just got back from the states where IwenttoRosaParksElementaryinBerkleyCaliforniait'sinthebayareanearSanFrancisco(pause for air)ofcourseIknowhowtoreadI'vereadalltheHarryPotterseventhoughI'mseven.........blah blah blah blah blah. He has a partner in crime in the same class. It's going to be hell. When they left class they told me it was soooooo boring because they didn't get to write anything. They're in second grade! The problem is that half their group can't read or write and these two can do everything. There is another girl who can read and write because her parents are British. I'm going to have to come up with activities to keep the crazies busy while I bring the other kids up to speed.

Limor's solution is to ditch the slower kids and send them back to regular English classes. She's on a bit of a rampage. I'm not sure I'll have any students left by the end of the week. One of our conversations today went like this:

Limor: Who did you see from alef (1st grade).

Me: A girl named Ohr from alef 2.

Limor: Who is she?

Me: You talked to her parents in the hallway about being in native speakers. The other morning (look at Limor questioningly).

Limor: How does she compare?

Me: Well she's in class with the 2nd grade Belgian girl who went to the English school in France, so Ohr was a bit behind.

Limor: Oh, kick her out of native speakers. Why was she there anyway?

Me: I don't know. You talked to her parents.

Limor: They're Israeli? What did they say?

Me: I don't know. You talked to them the other day.

Limor: But they're not from an English-speaking country. Why is she in native speakers?

Me: I don't know. You talked to her parents and told me to take her.

Limor: Good, get her out of your class.

(The poor little girl is only five years old. She will be pretty confused.)

I also have to kick out a 6th grader, a 3rd grader and a few 2nd graders.

Limor also had me write a letter to the parents of the native speakers. She actually wrote the thing (or tried to) in English, but she's not too good with a computer. So, I polished it and printed it up. Basically it explains that I'm here to teach their kids English, they have to get their kids a binder for my classes and there will eventually be a book to purchase. It also announces my after school English club, for which I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. (The letter says I'll be doing fun and games!)

Yesterday, my principal

wore converse sneakers to school. Seriously. White. Low-tops.

My Day at School

Here's how some of my conversations at school went:

Limor: You need to build your schedule. Talk to the first grade teachers and figure out when you can take their kids out for English. Also, take third grade out from music because it doesn't really matter that much. Okay? Go, do that.

Tzipi (principal): I've finished the master schedule for the school. You and I should sit down with Limor and figure out your schedule. You can't take kids out from music! We should sit down at 12 with Limor.

Limor: Tzipi wants to talk to us? Shouldn't you be in a class now? Have you picked a book?

Me: No, Limor, I haven't even met half the kids yet.

Limor: Well, you need to pick a book. The sooner, the better. But you can't pick a book until after the holidays. But you should pick a book now.

Me: I want to meet the kids first.

Limor: Okay, just pick a book quickly.

later on.....

Tzipi: I think we should start an English club after school.

Me: Okay, that sounds fine. I could play games, show movies and do fun projects. What are your goals for this club?

Tzipi: Goals? I don't know, but you should write a letter to the parents explaining what you are doing.

Me: Umm, okay....(thinking - what????? In what language and I supposed to write this letter - hello?? I don't speak Hebrew).

All in all, it was a pretty good day. I have a schedule. It involves me teaching 5th grade and running the English club for first and second grade at the same time, which probably won't work, but we'll deal with that later.

Yogurt in Tel Aviv

Frozen Yogurt here is amazing. I went to a place on Ben Yehuda and Gordon. The shop actually had swings hanging from the ceiling for customers to sit in. The yogurt was natural flavor - like that of 40 Carrots - although, Joe, I swear this was better. You could then add nearly as many toppings as your heart desired. The limit is basically the cup - once it's full, it's full. After that you can add sauces: whiskey, hazelnut, rose petal, honey, honey/date, maple syrup, and a few berry flavors.

To mine I added: craisins, raisins, coconut, cantaloupe, banana, honey and maple syrup. Sam got a totally different assortment of fruits, nuts, granola and sauces.

We both agreed we'll definitely be going back.

First Shabbat in the New Apartment

Fridays are insane here in Tel Aviv. 1/2 the city has the day off from work and the other half is working in the shops and restaurants that are open until Shabbat begins, which has been around 6:30 the past few weeks.

Yesterday, I went to the big market to buy some fruits and veggies for the week and stuff to prepare dinner for Lindsay and I. We had invited other people, but they were going to family things. I made roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes as well as my version of Cafenetto's Arabic Salad (tomato, cucumber, lemon, mint, coriander, and parsley).

First, I went to Dizzengoff to buy a pan for the veggies and other items. I was on the hunt for xanthum gum because I'm going to attempt to make wheat free challah. I went to the huge grocery store there. The lines were insane. I only had two items, but there were easily 30 people on the express lines. I went to a regular line and got behind a woman who had already started checking out. She was having her stuff delivered, so the checkout woman had to bag and box it all according to refrigeration needs. The shopper, who was a little older, was completely useless and just stood there watching. No one helped bag and the woman behind me was complaining about how useless the rest of the staff was. It took nearly 15 minutes to ring up the 1000 shekels ($250US) grocery order. I wasn't so angered by that because I was amazed at how much stuff this woman was buying.

Next I went to the outdoor market where I bought fruits and veggies for the week. I also got tons of fresh herbs and a 5 kilo bag of rice!

Our dinner was delicious, but I think next week I'll try to make the challah. Instead of xanthum gum, I think I can use gelatin. Alternatively, I might be able to order the gum online. I've already found the flours I need. Those are available around the corner at the Natural Market. I go there everyday and drive the women nuts. I ask questions and most of the time they tell me they don't speak English. So, instead I have them read soy yogurt labels to ensure they're wheat-free. I was able to communicate tapioca starch - it's the same word in Hebrew! Next time I'm going in there with a better prepared list (in Hebrew) because they don't get good wifi and I can't translate while in the store.

Tufts.... intimidating boys all over the world

I've got to blog about this because it finally happened.

I was out at a bar/club in Tel Aviv. It was located in the namal, which means port. Basically Tel Aviv used to use this port, but then another - bigger - one was built and this one was turned into restaurants, shops and nightlife. Everything faces the water and I was with some friends at an outdoor bar. The place was crawling with Americans which was really annoying. Anyway, Tel Aviv University runs an English-language medical school which draws on the Jewish I-want-to-go-to-med-school-and-still-have-a-social-life crowd. I base this on the now-many sleezy guys I met from this program. I haven't actually met or heard of any girls in the program. So, at the bar some guys were talking to us. One was actually chatting with my friend Lindsay. His friend came up to us and asked us where we were from, what we were doing in TA, etc. He was from Boston - Brookline. I said I knew the area because I went to school up there. He asked me where. When I told him I had gone to Tufts, he stopped and stared. "Wow. Tufts. Wow. So you're really smart then," was all he could manage. Then he told me how his sister was trying to get in, but it was really hard.

He walked away, went and got a friend, brought him back and told him how I went to Tufts. The friend stared at me for a bit before they started talking to my friend Stacey. They never asked what school she went to, nor did they share where they did their undergrad.

Please, everyone out there: check where your doctors went to school. If it was TAU, find a new guy. No one should be that shocked about a person going to Tufts. Yes, it's a good school, but in med-school, shouldn't you have people who come from places like Tufts?

Day Two of School

I was told by Limor, the more experienced of the two English teachers, to arrive at school at 9 am. I got there and Sahar (it's her first year teaching - she just came back to Israel from university in NYC) asked me to come to 6th grade with her. Limor had wanted to talk to me about a schedule instead, but then decided I could go to 6th grade and instead of shadowing Sahar take the 6th grade dovre anglit kids out. Basically I got there at 8:55 and was thrown into a classroom by 9:05 even though I hadn't been told I was teaching today. Okay, fine. I could deal with that.

Apparently last year they had a man, Marvin, volunteering at the school. He's in his 60s and retired to Israel from Chicago. He isn't going to be around after October because he and his wife are moving back to the states. He didn't so much teach the kids as read Shel Silversteen poetry to them. He came to school today and was told to sit-in on my classes. Obviously he can tell me a lot about the kids because he's taught them in the past. So I met with the 6th grade kids. Then I had to do the same with 4th grade. I had nothing prepared because I was told to come today and we'd work out a schedule. I wasn't told I'd be teaching. Instead I asked the kids a lot of questions and got to know them.

Then Limor and I tried to work out a schedule. Sahar had told me I could go to 5th grade and watch her teach, which I did. At this point they both told me to go to talk to the principal because there was no one to teach 1st grade and they wanted to see if we could work something out. I went down to talk to her, but she asked me to come back because her English isn't that good. Sahar came to translate. Basically the school needs another teacher for 1st and 2nd grade because Sahar (who is replacing the teacher who taught those grades) won't do it because she's too busy. They want me to teach both grades based on a curriculum/book/puppet/CD that they have. The homeroom teacher would be in the classroom "to translate" if necessary and there are tons of activities in the book so "I wouldn't have to do much" (according to the other English teachers....). At one point the principal mentioned trying to hire another teacher to do this job. I think that idea got scrapped somewhere along the translated conversation. I'm not really sure I'd get a trial period, I think they basically want me to teach for the whole year. I also wouldn't be able to split the class easily except in 2nd grade where the dovre anglit kids would get some additional assignments during the second half of the class.

I'm supposed to go Monday at 8am to find out what my schedule is - I'll probably have to start teaching right away (?). After this meeting Limor asked me if the ministry was going to pay me more and that I should double check with the principal about that. Then she said I was done for the day and could leave (it was about 1pm).

Some students get out at 12, some leave at 1, and others have school until 2:30. I left at 1 and went to the grocery store. While I was there, Sahar called to ask where I was and to tell me that the 5th graders were waiting for me. I rushed back to school and had a 1.5 hour class with them. Limor hadn't told me anything about teaching this group and had only given me morning classes. I felt like an idiot because the kids were waiting around in the hallway for me. They asked me about what book they should get and they seemed to really want this class, which is exciting for me.

The Matrimony of an Ikea Bed and a Free Couch

Lindsay moved up to the big city (from Yafo) today. I went to her apartment to help her get set up. Yesterday, she had chosen a bed at Ikea and it was scheduled to arrive today. Of course Ikea was supposed to call between 7 and 9 to let her know what time they would be arriving. And, of course, they did not call. Why would they call? That would have been too considerate. They arrived at 11, which worked out because we had a TASP meeting at 12.

On the way to Lindsay's place in the morning I had walked by a couch that someone was throwing out. It was slightly broken, but fixable and in otherwise good condition. On the way back from our TASP meeting we went to see if it was still there. Luckily we had Daniel with us because the couch was still on the curb! The three of us hauled it across Dizzengoff Square and down Pinsker to Lindsay's apartment. Getting it inside was a bit of a challenge, but we managed.

Then we ran to Dizzengoff Center to get stuff for both of our new rooms. Lindsay needed sheets and I needed hangers and a garbage pail. Daniel got some lunch/dinner and a planner.

By 6, Lindsay and I began to tackle the bed. We didn't have a screw driver and Ikea failed to mention that one would be necessary. We tried using a butter knife, but couldn't get the screws in tightly enough. We found one at a hardware store on Hamelekh George and headed back to build the bed. It took two college-graduates an hour and a half to decipher the pictorial instructions. Some of the screws required the stupid Ikea screwdriver - an S-shaped metal thing that really hurt our fingers. It was quite a challenge to actually get that thing together, but in the end, Lindsay has a new bed and sheets and a great room!!!

First Day of School and Ikea

Today was my first day at Gretz Elementary. When I arrived there were sixth-grade girls on crosswalk duty. They had long stick which they used to block the road so people could cross. When no one was crossing, the sticks blocked the crosswalk. They never had to move at all. School was buzzing. I said hi to the secretary and went to the teachers' room where I found the other English teachers. We went up to the English room and I arranged books by level.

There was a ceremony out in the courtyard to welcome the first graders. They marched around as a group. Then, sixth grade had prepared skits and dances for the younger students. Some students sung, others read things and teachers made speeches welcoming everyone back.

After the ceremony I finished organizing the books. Then I was asked to print some things, so I went to the computer lab. The computer woman doesn't really speak English, but she was able to set me up on a machine. Now, I'm really computer-savvy, but Microsoft Word in Hebrew is quite a challenge. I finally manage to put together the word art Limor wanted. Then I had to print some clip art for Sahar. I managed to find some pictures in the clip art catalogue. I had to go through it clicking on every tab, but I did it. I needed more, so I tried to use the internet, which sort-of worked. Google kept getting confused and wanting to go to Hebrew; it also stopped working several times. Even with these problems, I still managed to get the images, format them and prepare them to print.

Even though I was the only person in the room, stuff was spewing out of the printer like crazy. Some of it was in Hebrew, but there were also French worksheets about the Holocaust. Even so, the computer I was using had not been hooked up to the printer, meaning I couldn't get my stuff. The computer woman tried to save it to a network and pull it up on her computer, but that wasn't working either. I might try again on Thursday if it's super important to Sahar and Limor, otherwise, I'm staying away from those computers.

There was a mid-morning break. Everyone went to the teachers' room where teachers and parents had prepared tons of baked goods and snacks. I couldn't eat any of it, of course. Limor and Tzipi, the principal, wanted me to eat stuff, but I told them I was allergic to wheat. Tzipi introduced me to everyone, so at least all the other teachers know who I am. One teacher had asked earlier if I was a student who had somehow snuck into the room.

After the break, Limor and I went around to the classes so I could introduce myself and try to figure out who the native speakers were. Many kids were confused by the concept because some of their Israeli parents speak English to them at home. She is only going to let kids who were born abroad or whose parents are American, English, South African, etc. be in my class. The school day ended early and I went home for lunch.

This morning, I was worried about what to wear for the first day. I tried on several options before deciding on a denim skirt and teal shirt. When I got to school, Limor was wearing denim walking shorts with a bright plaid button down v-neck sleeveless shirt. I'm no longer going to worry about what I wear.

This afternoon Lindsay and I went to Ikea. We walked to the sheruit (a shared taxi that runs on a fixed route) and got off around the corner from Ikea - on the side of the highway. We walked around for a bit figuring out what we wanted to buy. I got a night table, lamp and blanket; Lindsay bought a bed. The sheruit back doesn't stop near Ikea. We were waiting for a bus when an Isareli told us his friend advised him to go to the other side of the highway to catch the sheruit. I was carrying my night table and a bag of stuff; he had a plant. Lindsay took the table from me and we crossed a bridge. The sheruits some times make stops on the highway, so we directed us down the on-ramp, but there was no stop down there. Instead we walked along side the highway underneath the over pass we had just crossed. We saw our sheruit enter at the other on-ramp, so we walked up that one. The sheruit couldn't stop on the ramp, so we had to walk all the way up it until we got to a place that was wider. We finally got on and rode back to Tel Aviv. It was a surreal experience - cars were honking at us from all sides.

Tonight I cleaned my closet and drawers before putting my clothes away. I built my night table and put my room together. I wanted to wash my sleeping bag, but when I loaded it (and soap) into the machine I couldn't figure out how to get the door shut. The spring is broken, so you have to use a screwdriver as a lever to close and open the door. I was proud of myself for figuring that out, but even more proud that I remembered to turn on the hot water before I showered! Now, I'm all moved in: I still need some more things, but I'm home. My roommate isn't here and won't be for nearly three weeks. It's somewhat strange living alone knowing that he's coming back. I can't move things around too much, but I've begun buying kitchen stuff and I'm certainly using the apartment as I please.

Birthday!

I woke up early and packed up all my stuff. Lindsay came over and Yonni called a cab to take us and my stuff to Tel Aviv. By 12:30 all my stuff was in my new apartment. We then went down to Dizzengoff to buy sheets and stuff. I got bright green sheets and a green and blue duvet at Benetton (they were on sale!). Then we dragged all the stuff back to my apartment, stopping at the grocery store on the way.

At 5 we had a picnic for TASP. It was in Yarkon Park, which is right near my apartment. Sam came as my guest. There were second-years there and lots of alumni. Everybody brought food and I ate wayyyyyy too much. There was also tons of wine. After the picnic, Lindsay and I came back to the apartment and Anton was here was his friends. I got to meet his best friend Sasha who brought a girl from Brazil. We had a great time chatting on the porch. To finish up the night, Stacey, Lindsay and I went to a wine bar/Italian restaurant in my new neighborhood. My apartment was the best present ever!

Getting an apartment!

So, I had picked up the contract on Friday for the apartment with the two young Israelis. It was located a block off Shenkin which is the trendy, shopping street in Tel Aviv. The contract was nine pages long! I took photographs of the pages and photoshopped then PDFed them into an email-sized document. I sent it to two Israeli friends and to my cousin in St. Louis. She passed it along to an Israeli lawyer she's friends with. One of my friends had his co-worker's mom, also a lawyer, read it. She said not to sign it because of some really strange clauses.

I had already been told about the 4500 NIS deposit in cash and the three month's notice if the owners wanted to do any remodeling. I wasn't happy about the deposit, but I knew about it. The first lawyer response was that there were a lot of clauses that weren't at all clear, like the amount of the rent. All it said in the contract was that the rent was 4500 NIS. My part of the rent was supposed to be 1600 NIS, but that figure didn't appear anywhere.

Friday night I was pretty bummed, but my friend picked me up and we went with two of his friends to a bar/lounge near Yafo. I wasn't able to make any progress on Saturday because of Shabbat. Instead, Sam, Lindsay and I walked to watch Israeli folk dancing on the beach. Yonni met us on his bike and then we met up with Daniel and walked around a bit. Lindsay and I were worried about not be able to take the bus back to Yafo. We didn't want to ditch Daniel, so he came with us. We hung out on the roof of Sam's apartment chatting for a little while.

Sunday morning my cousin's friend the lawyer called me from the states. She had stayed up until midnight to call, which was really nice of her to do. She said the rental agreement wasn't great, but it wasn't the worst one she'd ever seen. I could sign it, but there were a lot of clauses to protect the landlord and blame the tenants for as much as possible. So, Sunday I started collecting listings again. I called people and tried to arrange meetings. In the morning I went to the bank. Then, Lindsay and I met up for lunch. After our salads, I called Anton, the Ukranian (mis-identified as Russian last week) guy from the apartment I had really liked. He said he'd call after 6, which I was a bit confused about. He hadn't said no, but he hadn't really wanted to talk to me on the phone.

I figured I needed to keep looking at places, so I called some more. Then Lindsay and I walked around the shuk and went to the beach for a bit. She had to go, so I went to Dizzengoff to use wifi and find more apartment listings. Anton still hadn't called me back and I was convinced I was going to be homeless on my birthday. At 7, Anton's former roommate, Vicki, called my cell. She said, "Anton told you, right? You're the new roommate." I was shocked and excited. She told me to come by in an hour. In the meantime, Daniel was on the other side of Dizzengoff; we met up and went to see a place on Ben Gurion. The place was on the ground floor and looking for a female, so it didn't work for either of us. I went to Anton's and talked to him and Vicki. I signed the lease (a 2.5 page document!) by 9pm and was immediately given a key!

Then I went for some gluten-free pizza with Daniel. It was the first time since finding out I'm allergic to wheat that I've had pizza. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fabulous either. I met up with Sam to get the key before heading back to Yafo to get some sleep.

Second Shabbat

Friday Sam and I went to Super Shuk, but earlier this time. We learned our lesson. On our way there Shahar (apartment one from the previous day) called me to tell me I could have the apartment!! After our errands, we went into Tel Aviv to have lunch with a girl from Tufts. We went to an Asian restaurant that has a wheat free menu. I had pad thai (with out peanuts), which was delicious. Then Sam and I ran some errands, got iced coffees and went to see the apartment again. Amir gave me a copy of the contract and I took pictures of it and emailed them to people I know who read Hebrew well enough to understand all that gobbly-gook. I’m still waiting for responses, but consensus so far is that I should not sign this contract because there are illegal clauses in it. It also seems like each tenant must pay 4500 shekels a month (instead of the 1600 I was told). There’s another clause that says that if the owners want to remodel the place they can make us pay for it. I’m waiting to hear back from some other lawyers about this stuff, but I’m not sure what I’m going to do about the place. I don’t have to let them know anything until tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll know more by then. Friday night we had Shabbat dinner at Sam’s apartment. One of Yonni’s friends was here visiting. We made shakshuka (eggs), roasted potatoes, yams and carrots, had some cheese and tuna along with other veggies. We ate on the roof looking out at the sea while listening to the Muslim call to prayer. Then, I went out with an Israeli friend I had met while traveling in South America. He picked me up and we went to a hooka longue/bar with his friends. They were nice, and spoke some English, but the place was pretty smoky and I was really tired.

Week Two

On Sunday I had more TASP stuff. Then Lindsay and I spent the day going to see apartments. At this point I had practically secured the apartment with Edi (the guy from day two). All I had to do was meet the other roommate. Lindsay still needed a place to live. We saw five places that day, many of which were awful. The first place was pretty much two dorm rooms. It was really clean, but there was no communal living space and the rooms had little kitchenettes in them. There was A/C and a really nice bathroom, but you had to walk through one room to get to the other one. Apartment number two was a room in the home of a 40-something security guard. He had come to Israel 18 years ago (not sure where he was from) to play basketball. The place was nice, but it would have been a lonely experience because he was pretty quiet and didn’t really have friends over ever. The next place we saw was in a basement. Not only is that not safe, because of potential break-ins, but it felt really dark and somewhat claustrophobic. The kitchen was pretty crappy, but the guy was awesome. He was our age and worked at a sushi restaurant. Apartment four had been broken into twice in the past four years – once through the balcony of the available room. Not only that, but the two other roommates were both smoking when we arrived and the place stunk. Number five is going to be Lindsay’s place. An Israeli guy named Oren lives there. He’s an acting student and was really nice. The apartment was adequate and in a good location. I could have chosen to take the other available room, but Lindsay and I really don’t want to live together because we’ll already be spending so much time together and we want to live with Israelis to practice Hebrew. Lastly, we went to Edi’s apartment to meet, Ana, the third roommate. She’s from Argentina and was pretty cool. We discussed switching rooms and she said she’d give me the mattress that came with the apartment because she wanted a new one (different firmness). We both told Edi that it would work and Lindsay and I went back to Yafo (she’s subletting here).

Monday was a TASP field trip to some ruins and a cave. We saw the spot where David killed Goliath. Some of the second-years came on the trip and it was nice to hear about their experiences and apartments. One of them had gone to Cornell with a friend of mine from HP. They had actually roomed together which was hilarious when we figured that out. After our outdoor activities, we went to a winery for a tasting. The wines were delicious; I even liked the white one. Monday was a pretty tiring day, but afterwards I managed to run some errands, purchasing a cell phone and apartment hunting with a guy on our program.

After orientation on Tuesday, Lindsay and I walked all over the city in search of face wash for me. Based on the lack of supply and selection, I have come to conclude that people here don’t wash their face often.

Wednesday we had a walking tour of southern Tel Aviv with TASP. We started in Yafo and made our way up, following the pattern of the formation of Tel Aviv. For lunch, we stopped and had falafel. The guide made sure there was no wheat in it, so I finally got to try it. I’ve determined that it’s pretty over rated. The tour was good, but repeated some of the stuff I had already heard about from birthright. That evening Yonni and I biked up to Tel Aviv to go sign the lease at Edi’s apartment. Edi said he would email it to me so I could translate it and come back on Thursday to sign when I had a better understanding of what it said. I thought this was a fine plan and went back to Yafo.

Thursday morning I had a meeting at my school. The principal kept the Danks and I waiting for nearly 40 minutes. We sat with her for 15 minutes before going up to the English room. There are two English teachers at the school. Limor is in her 40s and has been there for a few years. Sahar just returned to Israel after graduating from Hunter College and spending the last six years in New York City. She’s never taught before, but will be teaching most of the grades at the school. Limor is teaching the upper grades (4^th, 5^th, and 6^th). I’m going to be teaching the native speakers and gifted students. Native speakers are kids who were either born in an English-speaking country or whose parents speak English at home. The gifted kids are bused in from all parts of the city. I’ll have small groups and I’m pretty sure I’ll be the only English-instruction for these kids. Limor was shocked that I had not come prepared with a book I prefer to use. I told her that I didn’t know I was teaching elementary school until last week and found out two days ago that I would be at this school. She told me that she’d get me the phone number of a publisher and I could start thinking about what kind of book I wanted. She’s a pretty strong/harsh person and also told me that shadowing her would be useless because I’m not going to have to teach 35 kids at once, like she does. People at school were nice enough, and it will be interesting to see what it’s like once the kids arrive.

I whipped out my iPod just outside school so I could check my email. A message from Edi was in my inbox. It told me that things had changed and I wasn’t getting the apartment because a former roommate wanted to come back in October and was willing to pay for the September rent also. I came back to Yafo and immediately started looking for an apartment again. I wrote down some listings and went to see five more places that evening. The first one is a bit further south than I had originally wanted, but two Israelis live there: Shahar is 22 and in the army. She dances and does yoga. Amir studies computer science and philosophy at Tel Aviv University and he’s 25ish. The apartment is kind of dingy, but they’re really nice. The second place I saw was in a great location. Two Israeli girls live there. One is a nurse and the other is an officer in the army. The apartment was on a busy-ish street and the room faced the street. The third apartment I saw is a two-room. A Russian guy who just finished architecture school lives there. It was really homey – he had tons of art books and old cameras decorating the place. The kitchen was clean and there was a porch which is used like a living room. The roommate is leaving to move in with her boyfriend. She’s selling her bed and there are other pieces of furniture that come with the room. Anton, the Russian guy, speaks some English, but I’m not sure exactly how much. I loved the apartment and the location is pretty far north, but it’s quiet and near good grocery stores. The fourth apartment was the worst. It was a room in a two-room (no living room) with a 40-something statistician. He was pretty creepy and I left without even asking him all of my apartment questions. The fifth one was pretty bad also. It came with furniture and was in a decent location, but the 28-year-old Russian kibutznick plays piano for 3-4 hours a day, which would drive me nuts. His English was great and he didn’t smoke, but his best friend is always over and smokes like a chimney. The friend and others were actually there – it was a sort of group interview. They asked me a million questions and I just wanted to get out of there because I was tired and knew I would not be living in that apartment.

First Shabbat

Friday was the first day I didn’t have to do anything. I didn’t go to Tel Aviv (except to take a sheruit, which is a sort of mini-bus that runs all the time, even on Shabbat), but spent the day in Yafo. Sam and I went to Super Shuk, a two-part supermarket. I was in the produce market, paying, which she went back to the regular market to get the ingredients we had forgotten. The woman in front of me was purchasing enough veggies to feed an army. It’s Ramadan and people have large family gatherings to break the fast. A man came around her (from the outside!?!?) and got in front of me. He said something and motioned to her. I couldn’t respond, but the woman behind me started yelling at him. There was a shouting match for a while, and the cashier didn’t really know what to do. She started to ring the man up because he was getting on everyone’s nerves. The purse of the woman buying the whole store was touching the scale and he went off on the casher for ringing him up because it was effecting the weight/price of his veggies. After he finished, I paid for my stuff and got out of there. We realized we should have gone shopping earlier in the day. We had waited until three and everyone was out shopping before Shabbat started and the stores closed down.

For Shabbat we went to an apartment in Ramat Gan. A girl from Tufts, Jackie, lives there with five other people. The six of them work for a Zionist movement. They run programs for kids and other educational events. Everything in their apartment is communal and they’ve made aliyah (they’ve become Israeli citizens). Our dinner was delicious. They had made roasted potatoes and beets, squash soup, an eggplant pastry (I didn’t eat that), grape leaves and challah. Sam and I made a salad of tomatoes, watermelon, basil and balsamic vinegar with feta cheese on top. After dinner, Sam and I went to meet up with her Israeli friend and his friends. They were hanging out at one guy’s house. His mom is Yemenite and he made us the best hummus we’d ever eaten. There were so many spices on it. The family keeps Shabbat, which was really interesting. There was a hot-water dispenser (like for tea at a catered event) in the kitchen and the hall lights were left on. The bathroom lights were not on and could not actually be turned on. We spent the rest of Shabbat (Saturday) by sleeping late and going to the beach. The beaches here are nice, but they allow dogs to run around on them, which is annoying. The dogs run around in packs getting wet and shaking water everywhere. I got stepped on at least two times and had sand thrown at me from all angles.

Beginning of Orientation/Apartment Searching

On the first day of orientation I saw two apartments. One was on the ground floor, so I pretty much ruled that out. Two American girls were moving out and there were two Aussie guys staying. The rental period was only for two months with the possibility of extending. One of the girls was actually taking the stove and the guys were way too much of partiers for my taste. After that I saw a place where a 40 year-old Russian woman was the roommate staying (a 20-something was moving out to study in Jerusalem). She seemed nice, but we would have had nothing in common and it would have been a pretty lonely experience. I had trouble finding the bus back to Yafo because apparently the 25 had stopped running. After a full day of apartment hunting, I was beginning to feel nauseous. I had purchased a single-serving of hummus, but had no way of eating it. I tried using the cereal bar I had in my bag, but that was gross and the bar fell apart. Finally I wound up going into a 24-hour market and picking up a bag of potato chips, which was disgusting, but potato chips only have three ingredients (potatoes, oil and salt), so I knew that they would be safe for me. I ate the hummus and threw out the rest of the disgusting chips as I got onto the number 18 bus.

Day two I saw another apartment, which I really liked. The guy was kind of quiet, but the place was awesome. The kitchen had everything I could want, there was air conditioning and internet. Later on, I was sitting on a bench reading from my Kindle and a woman started talking to me in Hebrew. I smiled and said (in English) that I didn’t understand Hebrew. She was older, walking with a nurse/aid, and wanted to know how the Kindle didn’t hurt my eyes. She wound up to be American; her children live in New Jersey. Those first few nights, I slept on the roof of Sam’s apartment (there are mattresses up there). I really only lasted two or three nights because the squeaking noises from the bats finally drove me nuts. I was afraid they were going to attack me or something, so I started sleeping inside on the couch, which is leather and really sticky from the heat.

On Thursday I saw another apartment near Dizzengoff center, which is a very central location. The roommates seemed like they could be cool people, but there was no a/c or washer, it was on a busy street and they had a dog. That night I met Sam and her roommate, Yonni, at pushpeshuk, a nighttime street festival in Yafo. There’s a market (shuk – hence the name) and lots of live music. I had a “fruit shake” for dinner and watched the bands perform. Sam went out, so Yonni and I walked back to the apartment and he made shakshuka, which is essentially scrambled eggs with veggies and tomato sauce. We went up to the roof to eat it and the shakshuka fell off the edge of the roof! It was hilarious and convenient because I wasn’t that hungry and he was adamant about feeding me.

Arriving in Israel

My flight to Israel left Sunday afternoon. I few Czech Air and thought I would be one of the only people flying through Prague to Tel Aviv. Boy, was I wrong. My flight was full of orthodox Jews, both Israeli and American. Every other person was carrying a hatbox, many were also wearing tallit. Our flight arrived in Prague at 6 am local time. To fly to Isarel you have to pass through special security at the gate, which was not yet open. So I sat around as all the other Jews prayed, washed their hands and ate their kosher snacks from New York.

The other funny thing about the flight was the number of kosher meals served. I had ordered a gluten-free meal. The flight attendants came around with the “special meal” lists and kept trying to serve me a kosher meal. I had to keep correcting them and request my gluten-free meal. They figured it out, but it took a while. When they cleaned up, the kosher meals had to be collected separately which meant other passengers were really confused as to why their meal trays were still on their tables. I understood what was going on, and chuckled to myself.

When I arrived, the airport was insanely busy. I took a train to Tel Aviv and then a taxi to Sam’s apartment. The taxi drivers were trying to convince me to pay them a flat-fee instead of using the meter, which Sam had explicitly told me to do. I fought the taxi drivers and wound up walking to another area to take a taxi with a meter.

Sam showed me around her amazing apartment, which has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room/dining room/kitchen area, a covered patio, balcony and rooftop balcony. She lives with two Israeli guys: Yonni, who is 21 and just got out of the army, and Shay, who is in his late 20s-early 30s and works at a restaurant at night. The apartment is in Jaffa (Yafo in Hebrew) which is considered a southern part of Tel Aviv and is much older than Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv was founded by people who moved out of Yafo.

Sam and I walked up to Tel Aviv to the beach. Her friend Daniela came and met us there. She took us back to here apartment which she’s leaving. It’s a one room place – practically a dorm room – on the ground floor. It had a kitchenette and bathroom, but I didn’t think the door was very secure and I don’t really want to live by myself. Then Sam and I went for hummus, which was delicious. Here you can eat hummus with a pita (not for me!) or people dip onion in it.

Last days at home

After Cape Cod, I went home for a few days, one of which was spent in the city. I saw Jess for the first time after our Euro-trip. I also went to the Museum of Natural History and saw the big whale and the dinosaurs. I hadn’t actually been to the museum since I was seven years old and I was surprised at how nice some of the sections were. The tired diorama cases hadn’t changed much, but the newer space and animal exhibitions were modern. Joe and I went out for sushi and then back to NJ.

Cape Cod

I had to get up to Cape Cod while I was home: after having spent last summer there, I missed it terribly. Steve drove down from where he lives with his family (north of Boston). I was glad he was able to come because it was the only time I got to see him.

I had already gone to the beach before he arrived. We went to another beach for a while and then went to dinner at Squire. I hadn’t realized that Steve had never tasted raw oysters or clams, so we ordered some. He determined he liked the oyster better, but I don’t think he’ll be ordering either one soon.

The next day we went on a walk up in Eastham. It had looked cloudy, so we weren’t going to do it, but the sun stayed out for our entire, two-mile walk. Our destination was Coast Guard Beach. On the way, we were eaten alive by bugs. They weren’t mosquitoes, rather triangular-shaped giant, biting flies. It got to be so annoying that we wound up walking the bike path where there were far fewer bugs. The beach was really crowded, but we managed to find a space to hang out for a while.

Our last day on the cape, we went on a walk through the nature reserve. I had been there with my mom, but we had never walked the entire path. It’s not actually a long path and it cuts through the wooded/marshy area. Steve and I missed that turn-off and wound up walking around the entire mini-peninsula. When we realized we were way off the course of the path, we tried to take another path, but that one led up to someone’s house. Instead, we had to cross the dune area. We finally made it back to the marked path, nearly two hours after we set out. As we were walking back up the beach to get to the parking area, Steve, who was barefooted, stubbed his toe on a rock. We went back to the house, he iced and taped it, but it had swelled pretty badly. He went to the doctor’s when he got home and it was broken. The doctor told him to ice it, tape it and rest, which was the same treatment I had prescribed!

I’m really glad I went to the cape because I got to see people from last year. It was nice to go back to the beaches I had hung out at last year. I also went on a run/walk along my old route. Chatham is probably my favorite place on earth.

High Line

As soon as I connect my dad's digital camera to my computer, I'll upload the pictures, but yesterday he and I went to the High Line in NYC. Let me say this: I'm quite impressed by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. This is a very cool space.

For those of you not from NY...or those who missed out on the exhibits about this space at the New York Architectural Center/Museum down by Washington Square Park, the High Line is a park on the old el tracks. The tracks have been "hanging out" (aka rusting away) downtown for many years. My dad said he was on them before he could drive - so back in the stone age.

So the city decided to do something about them, and that something was to turn it into a public space. There are tons of flower growing wildly in these strange cement planter-like things.

Gozo

On Malta, I stayed with Jessica, her brother Ben who is 20, her parents, whom I had met separately on previous occasions, and their friends, Susan and John. We spent Friday lounging by the pool. At night we went to Sannat to see the Santa Margarita festival. We ate dinner at a pizza place on the main street and then got ice cream. We didn’t stay long enough to see the midnight procession or fireworks (there weren’t actually that many). The town was decorated with banners and lights. Statues of Santa Margarita, with pliers, a book, and other objects, were displayed around the square.

On Saturday we went into Victoria, the biggest city on the island. Jess, her mom, brother and I climbed up a hill to the citadel. We went to the cathedral which had a tromp l’oeil dome. It was flat, but painted to look like a dome when the viewer stands in the nave of the church. From other angles, it looks really strange. From the citadel walls we could see almost the entire island. Afterwards, we walked through a market, went to the grocery store and then came back to the villa for the afternoon. We ate risotto and barbeque for dinner.

Sunday morning we drove down to Xlendi (pronounced Shlendie), a small town built on a cove. There was almost no beach down there, so we grabbed some tables at a café. Jess and her parents stayed at the tables while Susan, John, Ben and I rented a paddleboat with a slide. We paddled around the cove, Ben and I taking turns sliding into the salty water below. It was strange to slide into salt water because I had always associated pool slides with chlorinated water. I had to remember to keep my mouth shut as I slid down. The water here seems to have a higher salt content than the water off of Cape Cod (aka what I’m used to). Even after I had dried, I noticed that my hair had tons of salt in it.

Monday we went to see the temples at Ggantija. They’re actually the world’s oldest free-standing structures, built between 3800 and 2500 BC. We couldn’t really see much because there was some scaffolding up. The view from the air would actually have been much better (I saw it on a postcard). After the temple, we went to Calypso’s Cave, where we checked out a nice viewpoint rather than climbing around the hill and into the cave below us. Then we had lunch at Xlendi where the restaurant had gluten-free pasta and pizzas!!!! I had a pasta dish with fruitti di mare (mixed shellfish), which was delicious. They even served me brusceta on gluten-free toast instead of normal bread. It was the first time a restaurant was well-stocked and educated in this manner. I was impressed for such a small island.

After lunch we had to take turns getting back to the house because the car can’t make it up the hill with everyone in it. I stayed behind with Jess’s dad and John because I wanted to climb up the cliff which runs along the side of the cove at Xlendi. It actually goes up and then down and around into a cavern in the rock. From the top I had great views of the cove/bay and inside the cavern there were nice views as well.

Tuesday we took a boat around the island. From the boat we could see different rock formations, and the cliffs which surround the island. We took the boat into some inlets and a few caves to see what the water had done to the rocks (and coral) over time. We could also see fish and jelly fish. The boat stopped at a few places so people could get off, or jump from the top deck, and swim. I stayed on board because I didn’t feel like being wet. I’m really glad we got to see the island from the water because it is really pretty. The towns aren’t that nice because they’re a bit run-down and they’re island towns. For lunch we stopped in a blue lagoon on Comino, a small island between Gozo and Malta. There were tons of tourists there, and we didn’t stay long because we couldn’t swim (too many jelly fish).

Final Day in Venice and four hours to go 30 km in Malta

On the last full day of our trip, Wednesday, we saw more of the Biennale. We started the day by visiting the Ireland – all videos – and Northern Ireland – much more interesting – pavilions. In the Northern Ireland pavilion one artist had taken a short text in English and translated it to every language on google translator in alphabetical order until it got back to English. By the time it was back in English, the text had changed quite a bit. The piece was meant to represent what is “lost in translation.” Around the corner we went into the Moroccan pavilion. There was a giant, two-sided sculpture of a mouth with teeth and a tongue. There were also really large bugs. This exhibit was housed in a church on a quay where all the tourist boats docked which meant it was crowded with people who didn’t really know what the Venice Biennale was all about.

Next we headed to the Danger Museum exhibition. Located in an old palazzo, it was a collection of well-known paintings, redone in a humorous manner with cameras in the center of each piece to record the viewers’ reactions. Unfortunately the screening room was not turned on and we couldn’t watch the videos because I’m sure they would have been hilarious. One painting showed Obama on a horse while another depicted the Mona Lisa as the doctor in Rembrandt’s Anatomy Lesson. After this good exhibition, we saw a not-so-great one. We had begun to draw a connection between small, rich countries and decent exhibits. Monaco did not fit the pattern. Their show was a solo artist’s three “paintings” which were actually done with colored mud.

We continued down the quay, stopping to see the inside of Macedonia b (they had two parts of pavilions) which was about the sun. Further down the quay, we finally arrived at the Giardini. Once inside we went to the Swiss pavilion which was somewhat of a let down. All the money Switzerland has and they were showing an artist who had done loose, watercolor-like black lines on white paper. Venezuela was showing several artists – too many for the space. One took maps, cut them into strips and then glued them on top of each other so you could see two maps at once. Another collected the dust from his room, put it in a frame with the time and date labeled and hung them in a row. Next door, the Russian pavilion was much better. One room had a series of landscapes of what the world will look like in the future. There was a bridge, shaped like a star, in Perú and all sorts of houses and events from the year 4092, etc. The dark room was lit with black light. Upstairs, another artist used black light with special paint. He did a mural of people in a crowd setting. The accompanying audio increased in volume until, at its loudest, the lights in the room came on and suddenly the painting vanished. Then it repeated.

Across the walkway, the Scandinavian countries had a two-pavilion show, which we saw backwards. One part was a house for sale. Parts of the house, like some stairs in the library, were falling apart, while the dining room table had been split down the middle. A bunch of signs hung in frames on the wall in the dining room. They were cardboard signs homeless people hold on city streets. Each was appropriately labeled. The exhibit was entitled “The Collectionists.” Part two was another “house.” The first one, where Family A used to live, was for sale. Next door, Mr. B’s house was furnished for a bachelor and decorated with homoerotic art.

Up the path, we went to the Japanese pavilion which contained five black and white, full body portraits of primitively dressed women with fake breasts (attached by bras) that sagged limply about 12 inches lower than normal breasts. The portraits were probably 12 feet tall and each was framed in a free-standing picture frame. In one corner a black tent housed a screen which showed video of the women dancing in the desert.

Next door, a Korean artist had done an installation using window blinds which moved when fans went off. The German pavilion housed an installation by Liam Gillick whose work we had seen in Barcelona. Here, Gillick built his kitchen counter into the five rooms of the gallery. A cat sat on top of a cabinet and “talked” to visitors. The cabinets ran right through the doorways without stopping. The Canadian pavilion contained four videos, none of which we paid too much attention to. In the French pavilion, we were inside jail bars. On the other side, the walls were painted a bright, shimmery silver and there were three black flags in the dark rooms at the sides and back of the cross-shaped exhibition space. The Czechoslovakian pavilion was basically a garden. I’m not sure if it was done by a Czech artist, a Slovak artist, or Mother Nature. Australia’s exhibit was about road travel. A video showed trucks moving cross-country. Downstairs a three part exhibit showed a man making spray paintings on the side of the road. One part was the actual paintings, done on 12x12” squares. Another part was a video showing him at work, while the third area displayed the objects he used in his paintings (different sized circles he spray painted). Here, the American pavilion was the best air-conditioned. It housed more of Nauman’s work, including a series of 16 pairs of sculpted hands and a piece which shot water all over the place. One thing about Nauman: his work is fun to look at. The Israeli pavilion was also showing a retrospective, this time of an artist who had passed away in 2007.

Part of the Giardini continued across a canal. Brazil showed a photographer, Luiz Braga, whose work I had seen before, and an artist, Delson Uchoa, who made brightly colored two-dimensional works using resin and acrylic. The Austrian exhibit contained a video along with graffiti-inspired paintings all over the walls. Next to it, the Serbian pavilion had a video of an amature chorus trying to learn a song in English. Another video showed a woman trying to say the Serbian artist’s name (it had a dz in it, which is one of the hardest letter combinations in Serbo-Croat). In another part of the exhibit, an artist made felt out of human hair, showing how humans can provide their own warmth. Stacks of felt were all around the exhibit and people were touching it. Egypt’s exhibit wasn’t that interesting. It was sculptures made out of what appeared to be palm. There was one pavilion for Venice (Italy had a pavilion in the Arsenale, but this one was just for Venetian artists). Its them was glass. All the pieces had some glass element to them: glass animals, bowls, multicolored glass flowers, a dark room with glass sculptures and lights. Poland’s pavilion was about the experience of the newly arrived immigrant. “Windows,” video screens around the room, showed silhouettes of people. Headphones provided the audio which talked about coming to a new land. Romania had a series of videos shown in a wooden structure. You had to walk through it from room to room. It was hot inside, and none of the videos was worth watching. Part of Greece’s exhibit was having technical difficulties. The parts we could see seemed fragmented: one was a mirrored sculpture, another was a head made of beads, and a third area showed photographs of New York City streets.

Crossing back to the main space, we went to Hungary’s pavilion which was all about portraits. Some of the portraits were of war prisoners and others were variations on what a typical portrait photograph could look like. The Finland pavilion contained a “mini-museum” on firefighting and firemen. The Netherlands pavilion showed three videos. One was actually a series of still life paintings and portraits which looked like paintings, but were actually movies. Belgium had an exhibit about nature in the city. In the center room, the artist had arranged photographs of plants found in New York, Moscow, Brussels and a city in France. Each photo of the plant matter had an accompanying photo of a street sign to show where the plant was found. In the side rooms, the artist placed a text about plants in the city. Each side room had the text in a different language. The final country pavilion we visited inside the Giardini was that of Spain. They were doing a retrospective of Catalan artist Miquel Barcelló, who took clay and used it to paint large-scale works.

Inside the exhibition space, I really enjoyed the colorful sticks by Andre Cadere. They were in the corners of many of the galleries and each time it was like “Where’s Waldo.” We had to look all around the room to spot the stick. Other highlights include a series of black bungee cords which were arranged like a mini-galaxy. We could climb trough them and people were crawling around taking pictures. There was also a dark room with a clay garden. The sculptures were large and there were erotic clay-mation videos on display. There was also a humorous video of an American artist who painted himself into a room (a different color each day). Some Japanese artists had taken huge plastic tubes, filled them with colored liquid and strung them across the room in the air. They also put light bulbs in a sand box and had a wooden crate people were suppose to try to listen to (I couldn’t hear anything). We also saw an exhibit by an artist we had seen in Istanbul; he suspends books from the ceiling. In Istanbul, the books were about the bridging of East and West. At the Biennale, the books were dictionaries: some monolingual and some bilingual. The bookstore and café were works by artists as well. The bookstore had an attached reading room and more Alexandra Mir postcards. The café was a mix of bright colors and striped walls.

After the leaving the exhibition space, we went to the Great Britain pavilion where a Steve McQueen movie was being screened. He used two screens to show what the Giardini looks like in the winter. He put greyhounds inside the grounds and filmed them, church bells and the rain. During the screening, many people actually go up and walked out of the pavilion, muttering about how bad it was.

On our way towards the Scotland show, we stuck our head into Montenegro, which didn’t even merit a picture. Their pavilion, however, was actually held in the same palazzo where the UNESCO office is housed. Scotland’s pavilion was on the top floor of an old palazzo. Jessica and I had both seen work done by the artist, Martin Boyce. His metal sculptures included what looked like slanted garbage pails and a series of stepping-stones through a sea of paper leaves.

Thursday morning we did some last-minute food shopping before heading towards the train station. We bought tickets for the cheaper train to Verona and had to wait about 45 minutes. The train was sitting there, so we got on and read while we waited for it to depart. When we got to Verona, we took a bus to the airport. The flight to Malta was just over two hours, but they fed us a snack (ham and cheese sandwich). It was strange to be flying a proper airline with an in-flight movie (a documentary) and free food! In Malta, we failed to book a shuttle bus to the Gozo ferry terminal which we were supposed to have done inside baggage claim. Once outside our only options were to take two city buses for 1.10 euro each or a taxi for 34 euro total. We chose the buses. We took one into Valetta where we were brought to a traffic circle/plaza with dozens of yellow and orange buses from the 70s. We had some trouble finding ours, so we asked a bus driver for help. He pointed us in the right direction and told us the bus might be leaving soon, so we should run. We jogged through the sea of yellow and orange only to wait 20 minutes. The bus ride took an hour and we had to wait 30 minutes for the 20-minute ferry ride. Even though our flight had arrived at 5:30, we didn’t reach Gozo, and Jess’s family, until 9:30.

Giotto in Padova/Padua

We took a biennale break on Tuesday, leaving Venice and heading to Padua/Padova. I had been here in December, but had not gotten a chance to see the Cappella degli Scrovegni. Giotto painted it in 1304-6 and it is considered the earliest work of the Italian Renaissance. One of the panels, especially, represents the first use of emotion in this kind of religious painting. The figures weeping over the body of the dead Christ as not as stiff as people had previously been depicted: they show their emotion. In art history class, the pictures I had seen led me to belive that the chapel was much smaller than it really was. I was surprised by the height of the ceilings nad the amount of craning my neck had to withstand. Only one side of the chapel had windows and Giotto didn’t really care about painting the other side evenly: he allowed for a difference in panel size.

After seeing the chapel, and skipping the uninteresting archeological museum attached to it, we walked down the quiet streets towards the Prado, a large green oval surrounded by a small river which is lined with statues. I had wanted to see the park, but it was too foggy in December. Next, we went to the Basilica di Sant’Antonio. My mother and I had been there, but I wanted to show it to Jess. Inside there are some more Giotto frescoes. There is also St. Antonio’s tomb and relics – his tongue and voice box, as well as his lower jaw. Outside the basilica, we checked out Donatello’s Gatamelata (Honeyed Cat) statue, which Jess had studied and was surprised to see. Then we went to a bakery where I got a meringue the size of my head and she got a rum-soaked cake and a cornmeal cookie. Exhausted, we headed back to Venice.

Venice: Day Two

We continued our Biennale adventure on Monday. Finding the Arsenale was much more challenging than we had imagined it would be. It took us a while before we got in the vicinity. On the way, we stopped into the Georgia pavilion which was showing two video installations that weren’t exactly stellar. Once we had directions, we tried to find the Macedonia B (they had two) pavilion. We found the small cube on a quay. It was covered entirely with mirrors, which made for some fun photographs. It was, however, closed.

At the Arsenale, we wandered through the different art exhibits. I really liked how the first piece was practically in the dark. It was a series of golden threads which ran from the ceiling to a platform in the center of the room. They looked somewhat like beams of light or rays from the sun, but the room was almost completely dark. I thought this was a successful start to the exhibit because it forced the visitor to take himself out of Venice and enter this other world. Many of the pieces I liked most were ones which dealt with social issues. There was a series of watercolor paintings about the aftermath of the Balkan wars and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Another exhibit was an installation meant to represent a village in Africa. Many artists had chosen video installation and other multimedia pieces. There were very few paintings and entirely two-dimensional exhibitions. I also enjoyed a kiosk with canisters, each represnting a different commodity. When you lifted the lid, a short sound clip of an interview with a person working in that industry played.

One of the more humorous pieces was by Aleksandra Mir who had boxes of free postcards for people to take. All of them said “Venice,” but on closer inspection, it was obvious that none of the photographs were actually of Venice. Some were of London and other identifiable cities, but most were of vacation scenes like flamingoes and people water skiing. Another installation I liked was a dark room filled with little blinking lights. On closer inspection, each light was an electronic device: television, computer, air conditioning unit, etc. The space was meant to represent the modern home and our dependency on electronics.

The Arsenale ended in the Latin American pavilion, where the works weren’t that interesting. Then we entered the Chilean pavilion. This was the first year that Chile had its own space (Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela are the only other Latin American nations with their own pavilions). Chile chose to highlight artist Iván Navarro whose works included a video pieces and light installations. The video piece was done in New York City; it showed a man riding through the city on a bike with neon lights. Jess had actually seen some of his neon pieces at a museum in Massachusetts, but I had never heard of him. The final exhibition in the actual Arsenale building (there were more on the property) was the UAE pavilion. It was their first time at the Biennale and they chose to make their pavilion about their country. There was an accompanying audio guide which was quite funny. It pointed out how the Biennale had become really big in the art world and all the countries involved were playing along with the game. The UAE did not want to play along any long and stated that in their audio guide. Jess was bothered by this because their pavilion did not contain any actual art.

After this, we saw some chandeliers made out of bird seed. Then we went to the Italian pavilion which was mostly two-dimensional pieces (a lot of paintings), and not that interesting. There was an exhibit in the water. It was lifeboats, covered with orange tarps, with accompanying audio – people being rescued. The Chinese pavilion wasn’t that interesting, neither were the sculptures associated with it. I did, however, like the “ara pacis” which was depicted as a stone battering ram (two stones with a stone suspended in the middle that you could pull back and release to break down the castle door). Another series of sculptures was about people taking pictures: there was a pedestal that talked about a daughter being the best daughter in the world. Another one – meant for two people – had a saying about how the people don’t actually know each other, but are smiling and hugging anyway. In another part of the outdoor exhibits, we found a shack with rings suspended from the ceiling. People were trying to cross the room by moving from ring to ring: it was quite challenging, especially because mosquitoes infested the building. In on exhibit, another video installation, an artist put together a video where a man changed from a motorcycle to a horse and back to a man. After the outdoor mini-exhibits (one of which was a man-made swamp) we went into the Turkish pavilion which was a model of buildings other than the Twin Towers which had succumbed to terror attacks from the 1990s to 2008. Before I read the description I didn’t know why there was a random collection of buildings in this display. The first one I recognized was the Sarajevo library.

After seeing these exhibits, we went across some water (it’s Venice) to the rest of the Arsenale’s exhibits. The first we saw was Jan Fabre: From the Feet to the Brain. One room held a bunch of glass bones arranged in a rectangular prism. Another, much larger space, was a sculpture of a man digging a shovel into an enormous human head while the man was standing on top of the head, which was on its side. In another part of the exhibit, a sculpture of a man was laying on what wound up being the ceiling (we were looking down at the ceiling). The next exhibit we saw was about art in Abu Dhabi; it was called ADACH: Platform for Venice. The exhibit was mostly video pieces, with a small installation and a few drawings. It wasn’t great, but the Abu Dhabi culture ministry had paid for the boat which took us across the water, so they were granted exhibition space. The final exhibitions in the Arsenale were The Fear Society: Pabellón de la Urgencia and Unconditional Love. They were connected by a room of large wooden rings. Fear Society had a series of mannequins in the shape of a cupid arrow. The mannequins had “I heart NY” shirts on. Each shirt had something related to the economic crisis written on it. Next to the mannequins was a large heart made out of lipstick tubes. The Unconditional Love exhibit had a video shown on three screens. The actors were real people, but the background was a digitally constructed paradise. Just outside the Arsenale, we walked into the Hong Kong: Making (Perfect) World exhibit, but didn’t stay long because it wasn’t that interesting and we were way too tired. We left the Arsenale, exhausted, and walked back via the grocery store, where we stocked up on stuff for dinner. The grocery store near our hostel was almost always crowded with tourists and the lines were unbearably long.