Final Shabbat

I spent my last erev Shabbat with my family cooking out on Sharon beach in Herzliyah. It was also right after I picked up Dave from the airport for his summer in Jerusalem.



Amira (my sister), and Dad. Amira is making the cup move with her eyes.

Dave, me, and a typical Israeli house in the background.

Amira on phone

Mini beach

Leaving

I took the LSAT at 8:30 AM today at the ZOA House in Tel Aviv (relief). It also happens to be the day I'm leaving. I can tell you one thing, the only redeeming factor about going back to the states is seeing Liat. Hopefully soon I can have my parents and sister, the place I love and the person I'll marry all in one place with me, instead of different countries (and hemispheres).

Until then I'll keep putting up some pictures and things I didn't have time for the last few days.

Final Look

Last view from my apartment in Jerusalem before moving out the other day.

Classmate

So there is this overly open-minded kid from Brown that was in my archaeology class. The only thing he talks about is how much he loves Cairo but hates Egyptian food. He also enjoys his frequent visits to the West Bank. Well, here he is:

"Earlier Saturday, Fatah activists sent a tape to the Reuters News Agency, claiming it showed an Israeli, Benjamin Bright-Fishbein, of Jerusalem. They threatened to kill him if Israel did not free Palestinian prisoners.

Fishbein was snatched by gunmen while having coffee at a Nablus coffeeshop, said Rafa Roagbe, head of Palestinian security in the city."

Bright-Fishbein told Reuters that he had visited Nablus by himself because he had heard it was a beautiful place, but could find nobody else to come with him.

"It was a mistake, a really big mistake," he said, looking drawn after his ordeal.

"Everything is fine. I am in a safe place," he said.


Bright-Fishbein recounted how he had been abducted by a gunman called Ahmed who bumped into him in a coffee shop where the student, who speaks Arabic, had been smoking a water pipe.

"He (Ahmed) had a pistol, a grenade and a machinegun. I didn't want to be in his company, but it seemed I didn't have any choice at that point," Bright-Fishbein said.

For the videotaped statement, Bright-Fishbein was dressed in the skullcap of a religious Jew. Looking into the camera he said "If the prisoners are not released, they will execute me."

Well, I guess he got the adventure he was looking for.


If you look closely he is holding up his Hebrew U student ID card for international students. What a weird guy.

Watch the video and read the feedback at the bottom. It's all really weird and kind of funny.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3261195,00.html

Shavuot at the Moshav

We spent Shavuot with friends at Moshav Lachish near Kiryat Gat. Kiryat Gat has the most land to people ratio in all of Israel. They have around 40,000 dunams of land for 65 families. It's one of the few places in Israel where you can stand on top of a hill and not see people for miles. The reason they have so much land is because back during early settlement of the state this was in the middle of the desert, and basically no one wanted to live there - thus the enormous incentive. This particular moshav has the edible grape (not the ones used for wine) market cornered.

There are always lots of tractors and trucks representing different parts of the harvest for the moshav. This one had its own unique twist. It says Lachish (the name of the moshav) Inside. A take off of "Intel Inside" - I'm guessing a good percentage of the moshavnikim work at the Intel in Kiryat Gat.

This is the Thailandi truck - since most of the people working in the fields now are from Thailand. It was nice to see how comfortable and appreciated they were at this moshav. They get paid a little over minimum wage and are given a place to stay. They make as much in two weeks of working on this moshav as they make in a year in Thailand.
The milk truck.

The cars driving up to the top of the hill for the celebration.

An old moshav truck.

Everyone getting their kites ready to fly.

Kites

Israeli audience watching the Thai game being played.
Two Israeli guys and a Thailandi reading off the rules of the game. They asked him if he knows Hebrew and for how many years he has been working in Israel. His response: "ken, ani mebiin, l'eser sanim."

The game.

Kids dressed as Israeli soldiers.

Line of tractors and trucks.

Some of the organic grapes up close.

Inside the vineyard.

Vineyard from up above.

More and more vineyards.

Shit

Today at the beach in Herzliyah there was a plane flying by with a banner that read:
"!הולכים על חוף כקי" with an image of a man throwing garbage into a trash can.

Which means: "Going to the shit beach!"

Not a bad way to get a message across in this country, especially since today must have been the busiest day at the beach - thanks to Shavuot.