Chanukah

Forget Christmas, I want Chanukah

Here are my reasons

1) Christmas: 1 day. Chanukah: 8 days! By the sheer numerical statistics it's better

2) Latkas are better than turkey and green beans

3) During Chanukah in Israel, you get sufganiyot

Look at how happy Blaise David is. His face alone is a case for Chanukah

But finally, the reason Chanukah beats Christmas is because it's not based on a story of a false messiah, and wrapped up in a modern story about a fat man in a red suit.

This is the World We Live In

My friends Brooke and Levi are coming to Israel. Yay! But they're not coming as tourists, instead as activists. They will be traveling throughout Israel, Asia and Africa over the next year to document those making the bold attempt at changing the world. They will be highlighting a variety of causes including poverty, veganism, environmentalism, human rights and the list goes on...

You can follow their journey at http://thisistheworldwelivein.com/

Yeah, they're kind of bad ass

Friends=Family

Yes, we're all born into a family with a mother, father and in the case of most people (excluding me), there's also brothers and sisters included in the equation. More fascinating than the clan we're born into is the people around us that we choose as friends. I can recall the strong and seemingly undying love and devotion I had for my group of friends in junior high and how that has changed, grown and matured into the relationships I have now.

This post is dedicated to the friends (family) from the past and the close ones I have now.

<3 of Israel

Here's some of the things that I love about Israel:

Pomegranates. I even bought a juicer from the Old City so I could make pomegranate juice at will.


The Temple Mount and everything else in this country that I was only able to read about in books before coming here. I'm so fortunate to be here.



Shabbat dinner. Whether it's in the kfar or at someone's house, it's the best night of the week.



Challah. Plain challah, with hummus or challah french toast. It's all so good.



Friends! I have met the best people who I know I'll be friends with for a long time.

Food in Bags

In Israel you'll find a variety of foods that, in the U.S., are located in boxes or cartons, but here are in bags. Weird? A bit. Fun? Definitely!



My favorite food-in-bag: Choco b'sackeet

Visitor

I'm so excited for my closest friend, Blaise David Lipman Embry, to visit in December. We'll be traveling around Israel, Jordan and Egypt. What a little Hanukkah miracle.

End of Ulpan; beginning of Holiday

Literally 12 hours after I took my final Hebrew exam on September 24th, I was on a plane to Munich! On my two-week trip I visited Munich, Paris, Prague and Berlin.

Paris bike tour

Paris

At the Musée d'Orsay with one of my favorite Manet paintings

Xavier Veilhan's installation at Versailles. In my opinion, the most beautiful piece of art in the entire place.





Prague



Monument to those who lost their lives and sanity because of Communism



Giant metronome

My Prague hostel

One of my favorite place in Prague: the Kampa Museum of Modern Central European Art.

View of the river from the Kampa Museum

Creepy babies

Me and creepy baby

Creepy babies on the TV Tower

Quaint little town outside of Munich

Post-Octoberfest crowd in Munich


Berlin with the best tour guide ever-Zach!



Berlin Wall: 20 year anniversary of its destruction



Jewish Museum in Berlin



Museum Island: my heaven



Seeing the Gates of Bablyon was quite possibly one of the happiest days of my life



Pergamon in Berlin



Favorite Modern Art Museum in Berlin: Berlinische Galerie



Berlinische Galerie



Memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust



Inside the Holocaust memorial

I had an amazing time in Europe visiting museums, monuments and some friends I made at Hebrew University this past summer.

Holiday

Thankfully, Hebrew ulpan is over and now I'm on holiday. I'm actually at the Munich airport right now waiting for my train to Paris. Here's what I'll be up do for the next two weeks:

Friday, September 25-Tel Aviv to Munich
Saturday, September 26-train from Munich to Paris
Saturday, September 26-Thursday, October 1: Paris
Thursday, October 1-Tuesday, October 6: Stockholm, Sweden
Tuesday October 6-Friday, October 9: Berlin, Germany
Friday, October 9-Fly from Berlin to back to Tel Aviv

I'll be sure to post all of my photos and experiences once I'm done.

<3

Facebook

Facebook is a really easy way to see recent pictures and status updates. Even if you don't have an account, you should be able to view my entire profile at facebook.com/suzypanda

Presents...?

Packages make me happy:

Suzanne Smith
Scopus Student Village
2 Lohamei Hagetaot St.
Building 6, Floor 7, Apt. 1, Room 2
97880 Jerusalem, Israel

Nonbeliever

This weekend I went on a self-guided walking tour around East Jerusalem with some friends from ulpan. I went through the most amazing markets, saw slaughtered animals that still had their tails (so glad I'm a vegetarian), and some hard-core monks along the path Jesus supposedly walked before crucifixion. Once we were through the Damascus Gate and averted being ran over by several cars, buses and people, we found ourselves at a garden once deemed the burial site of Jesus' body. So the four Jews, one "non-practicing" Christian, and one atheist quelled our curiosity by touring the place that some people think is where the son of god was buried; no big deal. The issue with this landmark, the Garden Tomb, is that from the mid 19th century people thought it to be the burial site, but has since been debunked by archeologists, as not the actual tomb of Jesus. As our Jerusalem travel book says, "The claims for it as the burial place of Jesus Christ have been dismissed by archeologists, but that does not seem to deter the coachloads of Christian pilgrims who flick here each day..." Clearly, it didn't deter us either.

We were lucky enough to be given a tour by a British volunteer, who was sure to mention that Jesus Christ is his lord and savior. Thanks Roy, thanks a lot. Upon finding out that we were "nonbelievers" (non-Christians), Roy became excited to show us the illegitimate birthplace of his messiah and hope that we would "feel" something upon entering the tomb. From then on, the tour was punctuated with remarks of religious intolerance and ignorance from our tour guide, making me nearly vomit in tomb of Roy's "lord and savior." This experience reminded me that I was in fact in Jerusalem, one of the most holy places in the entire world, that also comes with the most insane people. As to be expected, the tiny stone tomb that has been delegitimized as the tomb of Jesus Christ, our lord and savior, did nothing for me and I'm still an atheist. Phew.

From there, we visited a beautiful cathedral, another church where we accidentally witnessed someone's funeral, and then the former headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, which is now being used by the United Nations. We have yet to complete the walking tour, so hopefully next weekend we can pick up where we left off, sans proselytizatoin.


Damascus Gate


Damascus Gate



Israeli Wal-Mart

Excuse the lack of personal pictures. I should be able to start putting more up soon, once I get a new battery charger for my camera that I seemed to have left in DC.

<3 Music; <3 DJ AM

For the past three years, I have been lucky enough to live in the best city in the world. In Los Angeles I found my best of friends and had the best of memories. I have been exposed to art, music and information that would have never been available to me elsewhere, and for this I am forever thankful. Of the most important elements of my daily life was music. Falling in love with electro music as a dancing 18 year-old at the crappiest club on Hollywood Blvd. was a life changing event. From then on I went to every club possible, spent hours each day on music blogs, and even got a radio show on UCLAradio.com.

Going out nearly every night and seeing countless talented DJs who made me smile bigger and dance harder: life couldn't be more perfect.

With all of the unbelievably happy times had dancing to the beats of prophetic DJs, yesterday was by far one of the most tragic days, with the death of DJ AM. I've seen DJ AM spin countless times in Los Angeles clubs and at huge music events: Banana Split, Coachella, EDC and Spin the Bottle. I knew that no matter what lame performer Dim Mak scheduled for Banana Split Sundays, AM would be there to start everyone dancing or to shut down the club at 2:30 am with everyone demanding more. He was an amazing artist who could make anyone dance, and I am so fortunate that I had the opportunity to witness his talent. My condolences go out to his family, friends, Los Angeles and the world who will truly miss this unique DJ.

Thank you AM, for making me dance.

Please, listen to his mash-ups; I can guarantee you'll like, even love it:
http://www.myspace.com/djamone

Suzy is so pissed

Here's a video I took while at a restaurant in Tel Aviv with my friend Brianna. I hope you can hear the dialogue over my incessant laughing.

This Week...

Lots has happened in the past seven days. Last weekend (Thursday) I went to Tel Aviv right after Ulpan Hebrew class. I spent some time doing research at the Tel Aviv University library and then explored the city.


One of the many outdoor art installations at Tel Aviv University.


The most amazing breakfast of eggs, cucumber salad, camembert and homemade cherry jam from a restaurant called David in Tel Aviv

It was nice to be in a place where there's not millions of orthodox Jews making you feel like the ultimate sinner. The following day I spent on the beach in Tel Aviv which is definitely one of the most beautiful places on earth. The water is 90 degrees and everyone is in speedos.



On Friday I returned to Jerusalem in time to wash the sand out of my hair and go out with my friends in Jerusalem. It had been 12 days since I had been to a dance club, so it felt particularly good to go out.


Some of my wonderful friends from school!

Other things I've done this week:

1. Salsa dancing with 150 Israelis and instructors who speak only Hebrew-fun!

2. Not completely failing Hebrew, which is some sort of miracle.

3. Utilizing public transportation several times, in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. I'm so pleased I was able to learn the Tel Aviv bus routes all by myself!


A few of the many bus tickets from my various trips.

4. Registering for fall classes: Hebrew (not my choice; I'm forced to take it), Cultural Identity in the Arab-Israeli conflict, Palestinian Culture, and hopefully, if I'm accepted, a research internship at the Truman Institute in Jerusalem. The Truman Institute is a private think tank working toward the advancement of peace, focusing primarily on the Middle East. I would be working on one of their many projects ranging from international studies, like the Obama administration's approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict, or domestic issues such as the role of women in the Palestinian community. I am sooooo excited about the opportunity to work with the Truman Institute, and it's something that wouldn't be possible had I not come to study in Israel.
Here's a link to their website if you want to find out more about the organization: http://truman.huji.ac.il/about.asp

5. And finally, tonight I went to a yoga class with one of my friends from Hebrew Ulpan. There's a gym near the campus that has a reasonably-priced membership plan, but we wanted something other than a treadmill. It took us a while to figure out where exactly the studio was located, and once we arrived, we realized it wasn't actually a "studio" but a Jerusalem community center with only five people in the yoga class. Let's just say the overhead lighting, wreaking yoga mats and pedestrians yelling outside wasn't the most chakra-pleasing atmosphere. Next week we're on to another studio!