yahel has begun! the first few days have seen quite a bit of action to share...
the whole group met on sunday at a train station in tel aviv, where we awkwardly learned each other's names and took an awkward beginning-of-program picture. it reminded me strongly of the first day of college; somehow, the knowledge that you will be spending a significant portion of your life with a total stranger creates the kind of determined friendliness that both expands and challenges your optimism for the upcoming year. and it's all up from here!
shortly thereafter, we bussed to a youth village in beit shaman, where we were welcomed for lunch and took the afternoon to get to know each other and the program. a note on youth villages: they are specific to israel, and emerged out of the kibbutz movement of the country's early years. on the kibbutz, children were raised and schooled communally, and left their parents' home at a very early age to live with caretakers and each other. although it is no longer attached to a kibbutz, like many others of its kind this youth village has a specific emphasis on agricultural production. and unlike other youth villages, beit shaman houses orphans and at-risk children at a particularly high rate. unfortunately, i was unable to take any pictures, but it was a beautiful compound that seems to provide a great home to children in need.
after our introduction, it was time to move in to our housing! the sixteen participants are split into two city groups: 9 in Rishon LeZion, and 7 (my group) in Lod. As we found out, our apartment is newly renovated and is absolutely gorgeous. We even have a wraparound balcony, a welcome change from college housing in Ann Arbor (but don't get me wrong, I miss the collapsing staircases and grimy floors as much as anyone). Here are a few pictures of the new digs:
the last few days have been spent settling in and getting to know the city. we have taken several walking tours with our city coordinator, Linoy, who is from Lod, and now can get around our neighborhood without much trouble. to celebrate, my group and I walked to get falafel on our first night on our own. this might not seem like much, but Lod is an especially intimidating city because, unlike many larger cities in Israel, the majority of its inhabitants speak little or no English. just ordering your falafel sandwich is an agonizing process of verbal miscues and constant questions of "ma??" ("what?"). but as we know, nothing stands between Becca and falafel, so by pure virtue of desire much of my hebrew training is coming back and i am learning quickly.
one of the highlights of the past few days was an archaeological tour of Lod with Elon, a renowned Israeli archaeologist who is working to establish Lod as a respected international archaeological site. Lod is special because, after being settled 8,000 years ago in the Neolithic period, it has maintained its population throughout each historical period and is the only ancient city in the world to have done so. upon a tour of the city's ancient ruins, one soon finds out why. we first toured St. George's Basilica, a Greek Orthodox church built on the ruins of the crusaders. The church is flanked by an ancient mosque, whose spired dome one can see from miles away. Then we checked out the ruins of an old oil press and Khan Khilu, an ancient town square and market.
the most striking thing about these ruins was their surroundings: whereas in Rome or Egypt, one might see ancient buildings preserved in a nationally protected area, the ruins of Lod are surrounded by graffiti-covered buildings and dilapidated public housing projects, the dusty ground replete with stray cats and piles of trash. This is the ultimate paradox of Lod: a city with a remarkably rich history that is stifled by poverty, crime, and blight. Fortunately, people like Elon are working hard to preserve Lod's heritage and use its value to bring visitors and opportunity to the city. As a Detroiter, I was deeply moved by this plight... but more about that later.
today is yom kippur, so my roommates and i are staying in and fasting. the holiest day of the Jewish calendar has been quite an experience here- stay tuned for another post later today!