Okay, yeah, I know. For all intents and purposes this blog has been an abject failure. But to be honest, as much as I wanted to blog during my MASA trip, most of the time I 1. didn't feel like writing because I would rather hang out with my friends and 2. didn't really have anything to write about.
My MASA trip was cookie cutter. Everything was taken care of for me and I wasn't settled enough here to have real complex experiences or problems. My daily life consisted of adjusting to a new job, petty mood swings and visiting tourist sites that everyone who reads this blog has likely already seen. So it felt stupid.
I actually forget this blog existed, until today when I had an experience I have kind of been subconsciously waiting for since I got to Israel. Immediately afterwards, it popped into my head that I wanted to share it on my blog, and then I realized a million other things I wanted to share also, so I raced home and immediately started up my computer before the moment could past (inspiration is both fickle and fleeting).
I'm not going to make empty promises to get back on top of blogging, but I'm going to write today, and if anything happens that seems real or important enough to share I will write again.
But first, about today.
I had heard stories of people getting "adopted" when living in foreign countries from people I've met, and I knew that people in Israel had a tendency to want to adopt new olim. People always joke that you can't walk down the street on Shabbat without being invited to dinner, but this had never actually happened to me... until today.
I was biking home from work, and stopped at the middle of the street on a stoplight. There was an old man standing next to me. This morning I accidentally hit a woman's arm with my bike and she yelled at me and I think I was feeling some residual guilt so I smiled at him. And then he smiled back, a huge toothy grin, and said something in Hebrew. I told him I didn't understand and expected that to be the end of it, but it turns out he spoke good English.
He began to talk to me with the usual - who are you, why are you here, etc. Usually these conversations annoy me because I have them so often, but this man seemed so sweet and genuine that I got off my bike to humor him. I got the usual "welcome to Israel, I'm so happy you're here" etc etc, but then he wanted to keep talking. He asked where I was from and what I was doing and proceeded to tell me how brave I was to move to a foreign country alone.
At this point I was still instinctually skeptical and ready to jump on my bike at any moment, but he seemed really sincere. Then he asked me my age and I told him 23.
This same situation happened last week with a man who was at least 50 years old, and following the disclosure of my age he begged me to get a drink with him... yikes. So this was the moment of truth. After I told him he said "Ahhhh! So you call me, and I can introduce you to some good boys." Okay, way more my style. For the record, this man told me his children are in their 40s, so he is probably in his 70s.
He asked if I had time for a quick cup of coffee. At first I said no, but then as we continued to walk he told me that he lived in America for a long time... in Seattle. I took this as a sign and agreed to have coffee with him.
We sat down, I told him about my family, and he told me the story of when he arrived in Seattle all alone with two small children and he didn't speak English at all. He was waiting at a stoplight and a woman smiled at him, and took it upon herself to help welcome him into the city and get settled. We didn't have time for the details of the story, but he said they are still close friends today.
He went on to tell me that he knows how hard it is to be in a new country all alone with no family, and he wants to help me if he can, and that if I need anything then just to call him (he gave me his number, but I did not give him mine). Before we drank our coffee we said a prayer, and he said it was okay that I wasn't religious but that he was going to buy me Shabbas candle holders and I had to promise to light them every Friday and ask God for whatever I want, and he would listen. I said that I would.
He then gave me one Shekel, and explained a concept to me with a Hebrew name that doesn't have an English equivalent, but basically he said I was to keep this one shekel safe, take it with me to visit in America, bring it back to Israel with me and give it to someone poor on the street, and this was a mitzvah. I said I would do this as well.
I don't know what kind of guy this was, if he was a genuine man or a nutjob or if he will even remember me tomorrow, but it was a very sweet and sincere experience that reminded me of why I love Israel, even when sometimes Israeli's drive me out of my mind. This is a country where the majority of people truly want to welcome (Jewish) immigrants and make them feel at home, and it's really nice because I can't imagine this ever happening in America (although apparently 50 years ago it did!).
In other news, I suppose I should explain while I am still in Israel: I made aliyah! Yup, this bitch has dual citizenship. It was a kind of sudden decision where I realized I just really, really didn't want to leave Israel, and 8 weeks and a heap of paperwork later, it's done. I had a weeklong period afterwards where I had a "what-the-hell-did-I-just-do" moment which is why I haven't flaunted my newfound citizenship in case I decided to leave, but I have thrilled to say that has passed and I am so happy to be here.
Work is going great as well. When my internship with Newshound was ending, I felt in a lot of ways like my work was just getting started. I proposed to my amazing boss Paula to stay on an extra three months in the hopes that it might lead to a job afterwards. Everyday was terrifying as I put in my all trying to help the company grow in the hopes it could lead to a job for me. We had starts and stops, I certainly made mistakes, but overall it paid off because Paula offered me a job on Sunday! It's going to be only part time to start, but I think it's highly likely it will be full-time by September.
I love working at Newshound. I am working with an amazing group of people and it's cool to be in such a small company that also has such power. Paula is a journalist for Russia Today, and when I run her Twitter (which is often) my words go out to tens of thousands of people immediately which is really cool and kind of terrifying! We are reporting the news as it happens - Paula see's something in Ukraine, texts me, I tweet it and an hour later it's picked up my mass media. It's amazing.
The role I will have at Newshound is basically to run our web presence. I will be responsible for maintaining our website (which I designed and will launch in the next few weeks), our blog (which I also designed :)) and Paula's personal website. I will also run the Newshound Twitter and supervise Paula's Twitter and the Facebook as well as supervise the social media and marketing efforts of the incoming interns. I don't have an official title yet, because Paula and I haven't picked one... such is working in a small company! But I will have one soon, and it's bound to be super-fancy.
I live in a really cute apartment with a boy from Florida who is in the spokesperson unit of the army, a girl from London and her amazing dog Henry. I bought a bike named Nymeria from a friend who was leaving the country and I have all of a sudden become a biker (albeit the only biker in Tel Aviv with a helmet). I mostly spend my nights watching Australian Top Chef with one of my roommates or having guitar singalongs with the other roommate, although occasionally I do go out.
I have also recently joined some kind of grassroots dog rescue organization, and our meetings consist of brainstorming awesome fundraisers (my idea was dog speed-dating) and letting the pups play together. Pretty much every weekend is spent at the beach with various groups of friends and lately the waves have been massive.
My Hebrew has certainly improved, but it's still very iffy. When I return home from visiting this week, I am going to start ulpan so that hopefully I can fully integrate into Israeli society sooner rather than later. I will also start scouting for a second job unless Paula can promise a transition to full-time within the next 2-3 months, and I'll talk to her about that too when I get back... nothing wrong with enjoying the summer!
The weather here is HOT and apparently everyone in Israel is a size 4, since I haven't for the life of me been able to find shorts that fit, so I've been living in leggings... I'm excited to go shopping at Express and Target when I get home! Not to mention DRIVE MY CAR... I have been daydreaming about backing my car out of the driveway, rolling the windows down, ahhh....
Okay, now I'm just rambling. Anyway, this has been fun. I hope to write again when I have something to say. No promise though.
Come visit! xoxoxo
Jordyn
