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This will be a short post, but as we are sharing our final thoughts on this trip, I realize that no one has mentioned the heat yet. The weather here has been surprisingly tolerable (for the most part), and the nights continue to be chilly. In the past week, however, the temperature has spiked up […] Last night, which was my last night in Jerusalem, I was walking towards Ben Yehuda, on a mission to get one last fruit shake from the little stand at the top of the street. I walked down Yaffo street and turned onto Ben Yehuda, where I encountered a huge wave of protesters swarming down. One […] I have always known that the Smith alumna community is vast and with many resources for current students, and once I graduate, as an alum myself. Yet, something very interesting I have encountered since being in the Northampton/Amherst area is that a nearby school—Hampshire—has quite a history in the Jewish world for disillusioned Jews coming […] As I mentioned in my earlier blog post, Bess and I went to Tsfat a few weeks ago on an impromptu vacation. We thought we would be able to stay at this hostel that provides meals and everything for Shabbat, but that fell through right as we were about to leave. Therefore, we had very […] On Thursday, I caught a glimpse of the 2011 Jerusalem Pride Parade. Held at Gan HaPaamon (Liberty Bell Park), the parade was secured by policeman, security guards, and several Magen David Adom ambulances lined up on the curb. The crowd was much smaller than it was at Tel Aviv Pride last month. Walking down Agron […] Last night, the Lone Soldier Center held its final shabbat dinner for the month of July. Sitting at our table were many familiar faces from the first dinner. I had a very nice time talking, singing, and laughing with volunteers and soldiers I’d worked with these past two months. Although it was my final dinner […] Yesterday was my final day of work. My last time getting up early (though actually, yesterday, not too early) while the rest of my apartment sleepily lounges in bed. The last time wondering if the rest of them are noshing on challah French toast and caviar blinis while I’m typing out reports. The last time… […] One of my friends is an intern at Al-Qaws: For Sexual and Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society; last night, the organization hosted a big dance party in a club. As someone commented, the atmosphere really could have been taken from any gay club worldwide (okay, so maybe excluding Divas): lots of gay men, loud music […] I’ll preface this post with admitting that I really don’t know that much about UN relief agencies overseas or general stereotypes about the work the UN does. However, I’ve always thought that, while it has its flaws, it’s generally a good organization that does meaningful work in really difficult places. Yesterday morning I met up […] On Thursday, the Lone Soldier Center sponsored a night of stand-up comedy to raise money for the center. Held at King Babar’s on Shamai St., the show featured Benji Lovitt, Joel Chasnoff, and Michael Danziger. My favorite part of the show was Joel Chasnoff’s routine, who is a former lone soldier and author of The […] |