Transponder48 again

I am slowly moving over to the transponder48.blogspot.com Blog and mostly post my meanings there. I hope you don't mind!

Transponder48

Dear Reader,

I am sorry to say, that I am having some problems in catching up with my blog every week.

The biggest event this week was a workshop from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Mishkenot Sheananim.
Go to transponder48.blogspot.com to read about it!

Then on Saturday I went to the Yad Kennedy Memorial in Jerusalem. It lies on top of a mountain* and one can enjoy an amazing view of the sourrounding valleys. The almond trees were in bloom and where shining in white and purple. Very nice experience and definitly something to remember and a must, if you are in Israel during the spring-time.

I did not do much else during this week and I have decided to more or less gradually move over to the transponder48 blog, to keep a focus on one of them, so check both for full coverage.

So long.

Nature Within

Last Weekend I went to Haifa.
When I first asked my friends if I could sleep at their flat for the weekend, it looked like I would have a nice and quiet weekend. When I went to the busstation in Jerusalem, which is about 30 minutes from my house, I ended up meeting three other volunteers, who also wanted to go to Haifa! And when we arrived in Haifa, we found out that one of the volunteers in the appartment where we stayed had his family over for the week, so we ended up beeing eleven people in this 3 bedroom appartment. It was crowded but cossy. Friday, we decided to go to the infamous beach in Haifa. The volunteers in Haifa live on top of the Carmel Mountains, about 60 minutes by foot down to the beachside. The group splits: Three of us took the bus, while the other three (me included) went down and hicked through the beautifull valley that leads down to the beach. The way was more interesting then expected. Who would think that within Haifa lies one of the most interesting naturesides I have seen so far. The spring has arrived in Haifa and everything was starting to bloom. We walked along a small river that was slowing making its way down to the mediteranean ocean.

First we ran into a very strange building of some sort, it looked like a bunker or something, without doors. After a few attempts, we managed to climb on top of the concret construction. Looking down into the building, we still could not really explain, what it was. A water cystern maybe from the Carmel North Plan. Everywhere around the "thing"
there were bones from all the cows or something like that. It was a very interesting experience. Just 2 minutes from a lively neighborhood in Haifa and still somehow far, far away.
Our journey continues along the slooping path that leads us down to the sea. Then suddenly on our right side we see something lying in the gras. First we don't realise. Emy, on of my follow volunteers doesn't notice. When she just runs of. There lies the rotting corps of a cow. Nobody seemed to care about it enough to actually remove the remains from this walking path. And probably there are not so many people walking here anyway.


We managed to calm down Emy and kept walking through this Valley of Mystery and finaly ended up overlooking Haifas Beacharea, with the Maccabee Haifa Stadium rising nicely behind the nature we just left.



All in all a very exciting experience. A single walk through the city of Haifa, but still, I felt like Alice in the Otherworld.

Nutrition in Israel

Good Morning my dear Readers,
Some of you have asked me about my nutrition in Israel. I usually start the day with a mixture of cornflakes and milk. As the day keeps going and we get closer to noon I sometimes grab a bite of Hummus and Pita, which is the national dish of Israel. If I am not happy enough to be invited for Dinner in the evening, then I sometimes prepare myself something to out.
I found that making hamburgers is very easy and tasty. So I went to the supermarket and bought this pack of 10 burgers to save some money. I usually fry them and then put them in between two slices of bread. Taim Meod.
Last week, when I was sitting with an Israeli friend of mine in my livingroom, I decided that it was time for my favorit dish again. I started preparing the burger and showed my friend the great deal, that I had made. It was first when she started laughing, that I realised, that something was wrong.
She eventually told me, that these were not hamburgers, but vegie-burgers.
While she was laughing out load, rolling on the floor, I felt like an idiot. It is not really the fact, that I did buy the wrong burgers, but more that I had been eating vegie-burgers the last 3 times, without noticing the difference. They tasted a little different, I agree, but still. Ohh well...
The lesson learned is: Learn more hebrew and beware the new kind of vegie-burger that looks and tastes just like the meaty version.
If in doubt about your homemade burger, rather go to Ewo Meat Burger down on Hillel street in DT Jerusalem, they serve good and tastfull, full unkosher cheese-burger with bacon! Beteavon!

New Blog

Hello Dear Readers,

As you might have noticed, my name has changed. There is a reason to this!

I have made a joined-venture with my good friend Benjamin, who is also a volunteer in Israel. Together we are writing on the same blog now, called Transponder48. To all the people, who are interested in what I am doing, I am still going to continue keeping you updated on my travels and my stay in Israel. Political thoughts and comments will from now on be posted in the other blog, where Benjamin and me can combine our ideas and share a common audience.

Hope this is not all too inconvenient.

Regular Update

Back from a busy week. This weekend I went to Jaffo and Tel Aviv, with a Friend. We saw the old city of Jaffo, which is really nice and then we saw the new city of Jaffo, which is really ugly. By the way, the guy on the photo is Misha Hagadol, the big Michael, he is also a volunteer of Ot Hakapara, in the background you can see the oldest building in Jaffo, dating back 4000 years, during the Egyptian reign.
On Friday it was a nice 30 degrees and sunshine and we were running around in t-shirts. Then on Saturday it suddenly started to rain, and not a little. Streets in Tel Aviv were flooded and we barely managed to get into the Central Bus Station without drowning. Then on the bus back from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, we had to discover, that the roof of the bus was leaking and water was dripping down everywhere. A hilarious picture, to see all the people riding on the bus, looking for new methods on how to sit, so that the water does not drip down their necks. We got to Jerusalem where it was even worse. The storm that had come, had torn down lots of street-signs and trees were flying around everywhere. I would have loved to take a picture, but did not want to risk my camera in the rain.
The next surprise came, when I got back to my house and found that the power was gone in the neighborhood. The fact, that I couldn’t turn on the light and not heat any food, did not bother me so much, it was more over the fact that my house is heated with electricity and I had to shiver under my blanket the whole night. And no, Israeli houses are not insulated.
Today at the Beit Franforter a man, who said I looked like the Intifada, greeted me. I have to admit that my beard has grown a little over the last couple of days, but did not expect that to be a problem for anyone.

Why could it not always be so easy?

On my trip through Israel two weeks ago, I once again made a great discovery, that explains a lot about the situation here.
Me and my girlfriend from Norway were sitting in the bus from Jerusalem to Ein Gedi (at the Dead Sea!). When suddenly she receives a Short Message on her Cellphone.
Mahaba, sweet olives and luck on your way. Welcome to Jawwal in Palestine, your Palestinian mobil phone provider.
Half an hour later, we arrive in Ein Gedi, when she receives a new message.
Welcome to Jordan Net!
So she has been to Israel with her Norwegian cell phone. The cell phone manages to link up with the Israeli Orange Network, later the same day with a Palestinian Network and later with a Jordan network, all without showing her passport once.
Why cannot all international politics be so easy? What do they tell us about the cultural differences? I say: When we can communicate, we should connect! How come the mobile phones, are able to travel this world without boundaries!
The only problem is just, my israeli mobile, has a Orange Contract in Israel and of course the Orange network covers all of the West Bank, so for me, it is not really important to switch to the Palestinian Provider. Israeli Mobil Providers, even though they don’t have a license, still cover all of the West Bank and the Gaza strip. In fact a report by the Arab Advisors Group from Septermber 2004, indicates that the West Bank is the zone that has the highest competition of mobile phone providers in the Arabic world. So it is not a question of being unable to communicate, it is a matter of wanting to communicate. Hmm… Yeah… is it not interesting, how international politics can be explained with something as simple as a cell phone…