So I plan on writing a entry soon about some of this past weeks awesome happenings, including a local wine festival and the awesome life I am living, but it seemed important to write about this week's more notorious happenings.
After a weekend in the Galili on a retreat with most of the ITF groups we returned to Be'er Sheva around 1 am and ready to sleep. Unfortunately, that peaceful rest before another long day of training was interrupted by the local missile warning sirens. Luckily my roommate Alex heard the alarm and woke me up. We sprung into action, trying to rally the rest of the floor to the bomb shelter but with little success. A measly 8 of 26 people made it to the shelter before the "dangerous time" ended, making our emergency response a complete fail although nobody was injured.
Yesterday we found out that the rockets were launched from southern Gaza by a non-Hamas Jihad group, most likely in retaliation to some anti-militant action taken by the Israeli military. One rocket landed on a house in Netivot and the other in Be'er Sheva open space with no deaths, merely injuries primarily from shock. There has since been a constant flow of helicopters over our building in a Northwestern direction toward Gaza (on is literally flying overhead as I write this) and Israel retaliated against the civilian-targeting rocket attack. Hopefully the violence will stop at that, but life has no certainties in this country, but I assure you I am completely safe.
The attack served as a reminder that we live in a place with a calm demeanor on the surface and tense readiness brooding underneath. In the days since the attack I have been living my life much as before, yet in a way I 'm glad it happened--without experiencing the uncertainty personally it is impossible to understand the Israeli psyche.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Old City of Be'er Sheva
(This post should precede the one about the school visit , but I forgot about it until now)
After two days of training we had a day off to explore the city of Be'er Sheva a bit more. Maor first brought us to get our bus passes (I finally have unlimited travel within the city!) down by the central bus station before taking us on a tour of the old city of Be'er Sheva. The old city fans out from a very odd looking cement building that resembles something out of Firefly--although that happens more often than you would imagine around here--and is reminiscent of San Francisco's Chinatown. Tiny shops line the street and peddlers sell their wares any way they see an opportunity.
The tour's highlight was our meeting with a notorious local do-gooder named Shalom Segev. This man must have been in his late 70's at the earliest and had been working to help the Be'er Sheva community for over 30 years. To put this man's influence into perspective, look at the picture posted below and count the plaques representing a few of his many gifts in thanks of his support (Segel is the older man with a kippah on the right side). Using his experience and connections as a social worker he collects goods and distributes baskets to the poor in the area twice a week, and extra baskets during the holidays. Since many of the poor are too proud to ask for help, Shalom does all of this in secret and ensures the family's pride remains intact. Later in the month we will have the opportunity to volunteer with him, assembling and delivering holiday baskets to help the community celebrate the new year without worry of hunger.
Later that night a few (about 15) of us swung by our friend Dror's place for a BBQ. He was manning the grill with charisma as we strolled in and we were welcomed warmly by the group. The smell of kebab, skewered meats, and grilled vegetables filled the air--it did not take long for us to become comfortable. I eventually even tried a grilled chicken liver which I was not too fond of, and missed out on the passing chicken heart kebabs, but I'm assuming there will be more opportunities to come. I spent the next few hours shmoozing with Dror's friends, most of whom were chemists and engineers at Ben Gurion University down the road, practicing my Hebrew and inquiring after local nightlife tips.
After two days of training we had a day off to explore the city of Be'er Sheva a bit more. Maor first brought us to get our bus passes (I finally have unlimited travel within the city!) down by the central bus station before taking us on a tour of the old city of Be'er Sheva. The old city fans out from a very odd looking cement building that resembles something out of Firefly--although that happens more often than you would imagine around here--and is reminiscent of San Francisco's Chinatown. Tiny shops line the street and peddlers sell their wares any way they see an opportunity.
The tour's highlight was our meeting with a notorious local do-gooder named Shalom Segev. This man must have been in his late 70's at the earliest and had been working to help the Be'er Sheva community for over 30 years. To put this man's influence into perspective, look at the picture posted below and count the plaques representing a few of his many gifts in thanks of his support (Segel is the older man with a kippah on the right side). Using his experience and connections as a social worker he collects goods and distributes baskets to the poor in the area twice a week, and extra baskets during the holidays. Since many of the poor are too proud to ask for help, Shalom does all of this in secret and ensures the family's pride remains intact. Later in the month we will have the opportunity to volunteer with him, assembling and delivering holiday baskets to help the community celebrate the new year without worry of hunger.
Later that night a few (about 15) of us swung by our friend Dror's place for a BBQ. He was manning the grill with charisma as we strolled in and we were welcomed warmly by the group. The smell of kebab, skewered meats, and grilled vegetables filled the air--it did not take long for us to become comfortable. I eventually even tried a grilled chicken liver which I was not too fond of, and missed out on the passing chicken heart kebabs, but I'm assuming there will be more opportunities to come. I spent the next few hours shmoozing with Dror's friends, most of whom were chemists and engineers at Ben Gurion University down the road, practicing my Hebrew and inquiring after local nightlife tips.
So this is the Israeli education system...
Today we marked a momentous occasion--our first hands on experience in an Israeli school! In groups of 5 we divided among a few of the schools participating in the ITF program to gain some insight into our role as educators. Over the past few weeks all I was able to glean of the Israeli school system was that it was "different" from that of the United States in virtually every aspect. Although differences certainly existed, primarily in rowdiness, it did not appear as unique as originally hinted.
Arriving around 9 am, the school's English teachers Nira and ____ led us around the campus. It was certainly not nice by American standards, possessing few visually appealing elements and little play equipment; it is important to note that we live in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Be'er Sheva. A group of five children with some English skills were chosen to be our tour guides and led us around the schoolyard from the basketball court to the game room, even their new garden. The children swarmed us, quickly rambling off questions in an attempt to meet us before their friends and immediately inducted us into their game of hide and seek. I opted to tag along with Simon, a precocious fifth grader with clear leadership talent, but the entire thing was quite overwhelming.
After recess we attended Nira's fifth grade English class. A rambunctious group anxious to learn about the mysterious onlookers in their school, we eventually worked with some of the kids on basic reading comprehension. Admittedly I found it difficult to focus on a workbook instead of interacting more freely with the students, and to my enjoyment the lesson soon digressed to just that. We bonded over Spongebob, Angry Birds, and various other favorites of American youth as well. One girl showed me her collection of drawings (mostly of Spongebob and Tinkerbell, although they were quite good) and demanded I draw a picture for her.
The next hour was spent with a 6th grade special education class. Together with the children we worked on basic phonics, sounding out words like "cat" and 'bin" before identifying those objects in picture form. Unlike the 5th graders, these students spoke no English and was glad I knew enough Hebrew to note simple things and affirm their guesses.
By the time class had ended I was disappointed to leave and the children were anxious to spend more time with us. Although it was only a few hours, I learned more than in all of the training days to date and picked up invaluable notes on how to be successful in the classroom. I also am committed to returning to that school to visit the children, even if I am placed at a different location, because it is merely ten minutes walking from the apartment. I look forward to seeing more schools in the next few weeks and have already begun thinking of ways to contribute to these schools beyond the program--creating after school programs, painting murals, and the like.
More to come soon...
Arriving around 9 am, the school's English teachers Nira and ____ led us around the campus. It was certainly not nice by American standards, possessing few visually appealing elements and little play equipment; it is important to note that we live in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Be'er Sheva. A group of five children with some English skills were chosen to be our tour guides and led us around the schoolyard from the basketball court to the game room, even their new garden. The children swarmed us, quickly rambling off questions in an attempt to meet us before their friends and immediately inducted us into their game of hide and seek. I opted to tag along with Simon, a precocious fifth grader with clear leadership talent, but the entire thing was quite overwhelming.
After recess we attended Nira's fifth grade English class. A rambunctious group anxious to learn about the mysterious onlookers in their school, we eventually worked with some of the kids on basic reading comprehension. Admittedly I found it difficult to focus on a workbook instead of interacting more freely with the students, and to my enjoyment the lesson soon digressed to just that. We bonded over Spongebob, Angry Birds, and various other favorites of American youth as well. One girl showed me her collection of drawings (mostly of Spongebob and Tinkerbell, although they were quite good) and demanded I draw a picture for her.
The next hour was spent with a 6th grade special education class. Together with the children we worked on basic phonics, sounding out words like "cat" and 'bin" before identifying those objects in picture form. Unlike the 5th graders, these students spoke no English and was glad I knew enough Hebrew to note simple things and affirm their guesses.
By the time class had ended I was disappointed to leave and the children were anxious to spend more time with us. Although it was only a few hours, I learned more than in all of the training days to date and picked up invaluable notes on how to be successful in the classroom. I also am committed to returning to that school to visit the children, even if I am placed at a different location, because it is merely ten minutes walking from the apartment. I look forward to seeing more schools in the next few weeks and have already begun thinking of ways to contribute to these schools beyond the program--creating after school programs, painting murals, and the like.
More to come soon...
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
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