“(1) Tel Aviv is a clean, dirty city… (2) It depends on how you look at her.”

 

First, I am going to explain how I interpreted these lines. I did in two ways. One, which is pretty straight forward, is that Tel Aviv looks is so clean when you look at the beach part. I’ve discussed before my feelings about the beach. It’s the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen. Crystal clear water and beautiful restaurants along the sand. But, Tel Aviv is also the biggest city in Israel. Cities cannot always be so clean. Some of the buildings look worn out and old… dirty. This correlates to the next like, “it depends on how you look at her.” When you think of Tel Aviv do you think of the beach, or the city streets? I personally immediately think about the clean, beautiful beach. This directly relates to my life because I am living in Tel Aviv and I do see how the contradiction is valid.

 

(3)“Is Tel Aviv really Tel Aviv?”

 

This line to me reminds me of the days where I feel pretty down and are questioning reality. I interpreted this line as, is this place really the wonderful place that everyone talks about? This like sparked a question that I’ve asked myself before, also about Tel Aviv or abroad in general. The question was, is studying abroad really so different? I came from New York to Tel Aviv thinking life would be so different. But how? We’re all in the same classes with the same type of people we have hung out with all of our lives? Where are the Israelis in my class? Where’s the Israeli boy hat I was supposed to “fall in love with” and make me “want to move here?” Legit everyone I’ve told that I was studying abroad in Tel Aviv tells me this is going to happen. But then, I snap right back into it and really do love this place. This morning I went to my appointment and there was a little coffee shop nearby. It was POURING when I left and deiced to grab an Americano and actually sit there by myself, with no one from Long Island, NY. Waiting for the rain to die down, I observed the people. The aggressive, carefree Israelis. Sometimes I can relate to the line, “is Tel Aviv really Tel Aviv,” and at others I know exactly what Tel Aviv is.

Dylan: Excuse me, can I please order. (English)

Cashier: Uh…What you like?

Dylan: Large Americano please.

Tal: (To Dylan) Hello, I heard you speaking English. Where are you from?

Dylan: Hello. (Attempting her Hebrew) Ani Paige. Ani me America. Ani gara be New York.

Tal: Ah! I didn’t know you were able to speak Hebrew. Why did you order in English?

Dylan: Well, I really only know how to introduce myself. I took Ulpan for 5 weeks and whenever I try to order my coffee in Hebrew, they end up putting tons of milk in it. I like my coffee black.

Tal: They seem to do their coffee different here than in America.

Dylan: Yeah, it’s been one of the bigger struggles living here. Have you been to New York before?

Tal: Actually, I worked in New York doing investment banking for 3 years. I loved and hated it. I decided to come back here.

Dylan: I don’t blame you. If I could move here permanently… I would.

Tal: So, why don’t you?

Dylan: My mother would KILL me. I really do love Tel Aviv though. Everyone is much more relaxed, aggressive, but relaxed. There’s no one type of way to do things. The beach is gorgeous and the vibes are always high. But, I don’t think I could move this far away from my family and friends. I do love em’.

Tal: I get it, it’s hard to move away from home. Definitely a big part of the reason I moved back. And also New Yorkers can be such assholes.

Dylan: Normally I’d be offended, but you are not wrong.

Tal: I never asked, what are you doing here in Tel Aviv?

Dylan: I’m actually studying abroad at Tel Aviv University. First, I was in Ulpan where I became super fluent in Hebrew (sarcasm). And now I just take regular classes at TAU.

Tal: Very cool.

Dylan: What about you? What do you do now that you’re back in Tel Aviv? Do you still do investment banking?
Tal: No, that life wasn’t for me anymore. Too much time indoors at a desk.

Dylan: Oh, so what do you do?

Tal: I work at a restaurant/bar on Dizengoff called Spice Haus. You should really check it out sometime!

Dylan: Oh wait. I’ve actually been there before. They have really cool drinks and appetizers.

Tal: That’s it. You’ll have to swing by soon. I’ll get you some on the house.

Dylan: Works for me! When’s your shift?

Tal: I work basically every night from 6-11. But I’m normally there hanging with my friends anyways.

Dylan: Great, I have to get back for my afternoon class but it’s been really nice talking to you. I’ll definitely be coming by soon.

Tal: Cool! Have a great day.

Dylan: Toda!

 

 

Week 2 Homework: Go to a place you’ve never been before (cafe, library, beach) & write your experience.

 

The place that I decided to visit is my favorite place… the beach. Tel Aviv beaches are seriously paradise. Instead of just writing about the place, I’m going to write about the day because it was all around amazing. Wednesday’s, I only have class until 11:45am which gives me the whole day to enjoy. Eryn, Rachel, Jane, Shira, and I decided to try a new brunch spot. They had real bacon! Great start to the day. We then decided to stay in the city and walk to the beach. I love a good walk, especially if the final destination is the most beautiful beach ever. The first glance of the ocean never gets old. The crystal clear blue water, soft sand, boats, people working out, pretty outdoor restaurants… I love it. We walked down the rocks into the water and it kept getting better. I observed a man taking in the beautiful view. No cell phone or anything-  just taking it all in. We sat and chatted for a while. Every few minutes someone would say “this is so pretty,” “I can’t believe we live here.” It’s really crazy that we actually get to live her for 5 months. It is going by way too quickly. It’s very important to write and reflect like this so we can remember it. The views we had were these other rocks that lead to a green lighthouse. If you look to the right the water goes on and on forever. Next you can turn all the way around and look at the city. Such big beautiful buildings. It’s crazy how different the view can be from simply turning around. If you look to the left, there are many sailboats lined up. I’d like to do that one day. After sitting for a while, we decided to see if we can get to the rooftop of the Carlton (yes, we snuck in). I normally hate breaking the rules but it was soooooo worth it. We felt on top of the world. I couldn’t believe what I could see. No picture can capture this but I have a bunch. My friends and I laid on lounge chairs and couldn’t believe how lucky we were. We stayed up there for about 2-3 hours. We were all so happy and did not want to leave. We stayed for sunset and wow, another amazing view. They agreed to walk back to the dorms with me because I love a nice walk. Overall one of my favorite days here! Looking forward to many more.

Week 2 In-Class Writing

 

Exercise 1

 

My moment of realization/illumination is not about writing. To be honest, I really do not love to write. It’s ironic because I picked this writing course, but I really do like the idea of the blog and reflecting during my time abroad. Anyway, one moment of realization that I’ve had in my life is choosing my career path. When I entered my first year in college my major was education. My mom was a teacher, I worked at camp with kids for many years, and I enjoy working with kids. It all “made sense.” But, I never had a moment of excitement and desire to be a teacher; it just kind of worked. During the first week of being a freshman, a girl a year older than me was nice enough to take me to pick up my football tickets. During our conversation, her major came up. Speech Pathology. I genuinely did not know what it entailed but she told me that she too loves working with kids but also did not want to be a teacher. Sounds like me. I decided to take the Intro to Speech and Hearing Science course offered at OSU. It was DIFFICULT. I’ve always had some anxiety about not being smart enough for any other major. I was very discouraged when I received a C on my first exam. By the next exam I worked up to a B and on the final exam, I pulled off an A+. I proved myself wrong and that I really could do something a little more science-y and challenging. But, I still wasn’t sold on becoming a speech pathologist and working with human patients. Too much pressure. Semester by semester added a course in the speech and hearing science major and my excitement and interest grew more and more.  It wasn’t until second semester of my sophomore year when I decided that this is what I am supposed to be. I took an anatomy of the speech muscles course and weirdly loved it the most. Of course, at first, I was scared to be in an anatomy class. The big words are SCARY. But my professor was absolutely amazing and made those words a little less scary each time. Many students that I thought were smarter and better than me, struggled more than I had. I felt really confident and proud of myself for working hard and doing well. After taking that course, that’s when I knew. I’ve never felt more passionate and excited about something in my life. I’ve gotten involved in my professor’s research which is really the best thing you can do. Forming a relationship with her has given me more experience than any lecture ever will. And that girl a year older who introduced me to this major has become an important mentor in my life.

 

 

Exercise 2

 

1. I believe that the narrator means when he says,” The writer is neither saint nor tzaddik nor prophet standing at the gate, is that the writer is neutral. What the writer is sharing with the audience isn’t about the writer’s personal views, but more just stating what he/she observes as human being. This relates back to when Keret says, “The writer didn’t create it, but he’s here to say what needs to be said.” Writers just tell it how it is, it doesn’t mean that it’s their personal opinions.
2. The quote that I believe relates to the theme(s) of the story is when he says, “If the writer were an angel, the abyss that separates him from us would be so great that his writing couldn’t get close enough to touch us. But because he’s here, at our side, buried up to his neck in mud and filth, he’s the one who, more than anyone else, can share with us everything that’s going on his mind, in the lit-up areas and especially in the dark recesses (106).” I believe that this also relates to the given quote in #1. The writer cannot be a saint who thinks that he’s better than the listeners or else the listeners would not be able to relate to the story. The writer should be just as guilty as the readers when it comes to killing bugs.
3. I think the narrator has learned that he too isn’t above anyone else. At the beginning of the passage it seems like he thinks that he is better than the other two writers. He says that they have not published anything so he let them speak before him. I’m guessing he did this so they weren’t intimidated by the narrator. But after listening to the woman before him he cannot stop thinking about her writing. During his reading, he said, “her story was reverberating through my mind.” He shouldn’t have prejudged the other writers. Even at night, although the croaking woke him up, it was the woman’s reading that got him up and encouraged him to keep writing.
4. I believe that the theme that I am picking up on is a very important lesson. We shouldn’t approach life and other people thinking we are better or worse than them. We shouldn’t make those prejudgments because you never know what you can learn from others. We are all the same, we are all humans with different stories. “…he’s just another sinner who has a somewhat sharper awareness and uses slightly more precise language to describe the inconceivable reality of our world.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear dad,

 

Thank you for giving me the world. Thank you for this image that I am fortunate enough to look at whenever I want. Right now, I am writing you this letter and taking in the most beautiful view of Tel Aviv from Yafo. When I look out the first thing that I admire is the color of the water. It starts as a dark midnight blue and different, lighter shades arise as you move towards the shore. The shore reminds me of the best times in Tel Aviv. Sitting on the beach with my friends on a nice day. Picking up food and drinks to enjoy, and reading a great book on the kindle that you gave me. As I go on one of my beach walks by the ocean I immediately think of all the people playing Kadema. It’s funny because I love how many people play and how intense it is, but I also fear getting smacked by one of the flying balls. This place is awesome because everyone seems to be happy. I mean, how could you not be happy on the beach of Tel Aviv with the most fun people? You and mom would LOVE it! The next thing I can see is all of the big buildings. What’s cool about Tel Aviv is that not only does it have the best beach, they’re also known for the number of start-ups here. You’d fit right in with your love for business. Now after writing about it, this is the perfect place for you! I’m upset that I thought I would be traveling all of my second break and that you and Drew cannot come with mom and Carly. It would’ve been really special if we were all here together. We will one day we will all be in this beautiful place together.

My friend who I interviewed has some similar responses to me and some different. One thing we had in common was our feelings on finding dinner on Shabbat. We have struggled together going to Oh Mama and it being closed when new wanted to have a nice dinner in the dorms. Next, we both went to Sarona Market and the only thing open was very weird tasting chicken. It’s all a learning experience. One thing that we different in was our favorite song. She enjoys more rap music while I enjoy slower, prettier songs.

I decided to go to Tel Aviv for multiple reasons. To start off, I identify myself as a very relaxed person. So, sitting on the beach with my friends, a book, a glass or wine, and/or music is very ideal. Next, I find Israel to be very safe and comforting. My third reason is that I’ve always wanted to live in Israel and see how my religious is practiced here. I really see this during Shabbat. Lastly, I wanted to study abroad with my home friends because we usually are all at different schools.

My relationship with Tel Aviv right now is a little distance because I’ve been traveling throughout Europe for the past 10 days. But prior to that, it’s been weird. I say weird because I feel like I’m living a totally different life. Different friends and in Israel!

So far, my favorite place in Tel Aviv is the beach. The beach is seriously breath taking. My friends and I like to walk there from the dorms when we don’t want to go to the gym. The first steps when you see the water is really amazing. You cannot capture it in a picture.

I don’t want to say this is my least favorite thing because I do really love the concept of Shabbat, I’m just not so use to it. Finding dinner on Shabbat has not been the easiest thing. I love Shabbat and was lucky enough to attend a Shabbat dinner one night at my friend’s home and it was lovely. But, some nights my friends and I really struggle to find anything we want.

My favorite Israeli coin is the 1 shekel. It’s honestly just really cute. I also love when I have the exact amount of chance when buying something and the 1 shekel really comes in handy. It’s also worth more than 1 cent which is more significant.

“Is that Alright” by Lady Gaga. I’m obsessed with the Star is Born soundtrack. Everyone loves “Shallow” which I do as well but since it’s everyone’s favorite, it can get really overplayed. “Is That Alright” is seriously the most beautiful song and I have a new appreciation for Lady Gaga.

I hope to go back home and feel like I really took in everything Israel has to offer. I say Israel as a whole because I’ve realized that Tel Aviv isn’t just what I want my experience to be. I want to revisit places I went to on Birthright and learn even more. I always remember more the second time exposed. I also home to learn more about my family who lives here.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton