Happy Birthday, Israel!

It's Israel's 60th birthday on the Christian calendar, though they celebrated their official day last week on the 7th (based off the Hebrew calendar). Nice to see Bush was here to share the day with a speech to the Knesset which, for some inexplicable reason, he used to attack Barack. Well, it's obvious he was trying to swing the American Jewish vote to the Republicans, but it's a little strange to be making that point here...the taxi drivers who don't speak much English know he's here though, as they have plenty to say to us when they see we're Americans. The funny thing is, a lot of those things are nice. The professor commented today that Israel was the only place left, including America, that Bush gets a warm reception upon arriving- if that doesn't show you that something's wrong with the Bush-Israel policies, what does?

Also, if you heard about the rocket attack on Ashkelon, don't worry, we're nowhere near there and I don't plan on getting anywhere near the Gaza Strip. The people receiving Bush made statements suggesting that there might be a major incursion in there sometime soon to weaken Hamas, so don't be worried if you hear news about fighting- we aren't anywhere near there and are completely safe.

Been a busy few days here in Israel- we started the classes at the IDC (Interdisciplinary Center), which is the first private university in Israel. We've had 11 lectures in 3 days on topics from the Arab-Israeli Conflict (specific, I know) to the demographic problems of Arab-Israelis (very interesting lecture) to domestic politics in Israel and the many internal divisions in the country that are barely held together by the common outside threat. Today's last lecture on human rights and the war on terror was a bit aggravating to even the most staunch Israel supporters in class though- besides the fact that the professor essentially read legal briefs off of a power point, the extremely one-sided view given included false and exaggerated indictments of the American legal system without a criticism of Israel's. When she did feel free enough to diverge from the typed words and offer her own thoughts, she chastised the American media for overglorifying Palestinian deaths in their pursuit of "selling a product" and essentially said that the Israel-Palestine conflict deserves none of this attention because more people are dying in Darfur and the Congo.

That may be true- but practically, the US can't be running everywhere in the world to stop crises. We rightly focus on areas that have a strategic interest to us (read: the effect the conflict has on the entire Middle East), which is no fault of the media. So there's my rant for today- but the whole thing has been interesting and surprisingly two-sided overall, so I can truly say I've enjoyed it (besides the fact that today's lectures went 7 and a half hours).

Otherwise, I've been enjoying the local scene and fare. We took a trip to Tel Aviv for a night tour Tuesday- kinda interesting, but it was a big group and we eventually broke off to head to a chocolate bar where our leader all bought us hot chocolate. Being a big fan of German food, I love the availability of Schnitzel here. It's nice and cheap at the cafeteria at the IDC (on a pita with onions, hummus, spices, and french fries) for 15 shekels (just under 5 dollars). We've also hit a few Israeli places (more schnitzel, schwarma, and, my favorite, tuna fish pizza) and a Turkish place last night- good, but expensive. I've found that for cheap food, you really have to stay by the schwarma/falafel places by the beach- not trouble for me, since I've been doing my best to find cheap food, as always, and stick with water out of a water bottle as much as possible so I have money for more fun things.

Tomorrow starts a string of really cool trips. We have a free day, so we managed to find a day trip up to Caeseria (an old Roman town) for about 40 bucks- should be a fun day, I promise I'll start taking some interesting pictures there and get them up here (not many interesting pictures in Herzliyya and the parts of Tel Aviv I've been). Saturday includes a trip up to the sea of Galilee and Tiberius before heading up to the scenic Golan Heights. Finally, Sunday is a day in Jerusalem letting us hit up the major sights around the city- don't worry, I promise to be safe.

Next Friday we're thinking of taking a trip over to the fortress of Massada and the Dead Sea, but that is contingent on price. I'm hoping to still make it to Petra and Jordan that weekend, but that has the same sticking point. The best way may be finding a youth hostel in the south and taking a bus there for 5 hours from here- but youth hostels are hard to find there, so we may have to rely on the flight, which is always an expensive way to travel- more on those travels as plans get made.

As always, I'm missing everyone at home and hope you're all doing well. Shalom!

Back in Business- if, by business, you mean Israel

Got to Israel at about 11 yesterday after a obscenely long trip- 15 minutes on the metro, an hour on the MARC train 11 hours overnight in BWI, 2 hours on the tiniest plane I've ever flown on (read: propellers), 9 hours in Toronto's airport (which, nicely, provided me with $5 worth of Tim Horton's donuts in return for taking a survey on my airport experience), 11 1/2 hours on the Israel flight (2 meals provided, as well as movies- I made it through Jumper, Cloverfield, I Am Legend, and, as a last resort, the Golden Compass), and finally, at noon local time Sunday after a crazy cab ride, I made it to the hotel. Needless to say, got plenty of reading done on the trip (and for anyone interested in the distorted Arab-US perceptions of each other, take a look at Lawrence Pintak's "Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens"- very interesting and informative book by the man who is leading the Egypt/Qatar program next month).

Nice place here- internet, pool, AC, great food- I took a nice hot shower first before taking a nice 4 hour nap. Afterwards, I awoke to find out that my group's plane was 2 hours late, much to my hungry stomach's chagrin. Nevertheless, they made it and I met everyone, nice group. We ate dinner at the hotel- Hoummus, assorted appetizers, rice, beef, chicken- the waiter complemented my "strong appetite" and said I was like Arnold Schwarzenegger in that respect:) Afterwards, we explored the beach and town a bit at night- very warm and nice place, I think we'll enjoy it. I was able to get in touch and skype with the folks back home when I got back before bed.

This morning involved a good breakfast (apparently, a pepper-laced tuna salad is breakfast here- very tasty:)) and a long trip to the beach. I avoided burns (barely) and got some reading done. Water was beautiful. Lunch was at a small restaurant near there- got a great Schawarma on a pita- hummus, chicken, onions, tabbouleh, and french fries. right now, we're headed out to do some walking around the town in the day. More updates to come as classes and trips around the region start- hope everyone's well, leave comments here if you have any messages for me. Shalom!