We're now two days after Election day, and the results have come in, about 98% of the votes have been tabulated, and it's pretty clear how things are panning out. Not that anything is actually clear.
The New York Times called the winner of the election "Gridlock."
Basically, the right-wing bloc of the parliament led by Bibi Netanyahu's Likud (remember, we're working with 120 seats; a ruling coalition needs at least 61 seats to govern). has 67 seats; the left bloc, led by Tzipi Livni's Kadima, has 53 seats. However, Kadima is the largest party, with 28 seats to Likud's 27 seats. So Likud and Kadima are virtually tied, but the right bloc is substantially larger.
The next step in the process is the President, Shimon Peres, meets with all the party heads (about 12 parties are in the new Knesset) and they recommend who they think would be the most likely to form a government, and then he makes his decision (based on number of seats to each party, seats to each bloc, and recommendations made). The appointed person (it will either be Livni or Bibi) then has 45 days to form a government. The coalition building process is incredibly complex and difficult, with policy negotiations (what, exactly, does this government stand for by way of child subsidies or the peace process) and doling out of Ministry portfolios to each party.
I've made this process seem far easier than it actually is; we did a mock coalition building exercise yesterday, and we had a very difficult time, and we have no egos or history or bad blood or actual animosity. Many parties detest each other (Shas hates Yisrael Beiteinu; Labor hates Likud; everyone hates the Arab parties) and cannot or will not work together. Until it becomes evident that they'll be left out of the government and then they quickly jump on. Additionally, Israel has never experienced something like this before, when the largest party is from the smaller bloc, making the political guessing game even more exciting.
Coalition negotiations have already started, with Livni and Bibi jockeying for votes and support. They're both courting Lieberman, the head of the ultra-right, secular, fascist Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is our Home) party, mainly made up of Russians and Arab-haters. They have 15 seats, and Lieberman is basically going to be the kingmaker, which is truly a horrible situation, except he, unlike most of the religious parties, is in favor of many secular things I like and he's also very much in favor of establishing a Palestinian state, except by way of population exchange, which has dubious international legality.
In short, it's a mess. I have no idea who will be tapped to form a coalition; hopefully whatever the next government is, it will be either Bibi or Tzipi (my choice, of the two) leading a centrist-right (because the majority of the seats are right, not my choice) coalition, instead of Bibi leading a right-right-right coalition, which is also possible. My guess is Bibi's internal inclination towards pragmatism (over ideology) will lead him to the former - which, from an international relations POV is much better. But it's really anyone's guess at this point. Peres has no great personal love for Bibi (in 1996, Bibi narrowly, narrowly defeated Peres, then head of the Labor party, in a Prime Ministerial election) but I'm not sure how much a role that will play. Whatever way this thing plays out, the formation of the 18th Knesset is going to make for an interesting next few months.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Election Day
Today is Yom B’chirot, or Election Day for the national Israeli Knesset. Yes, Israel has elections too. It is a democracy. For now.
So, government in Israel does not work the same way in the US. First, Israel is a parliamentary system – it works like Britain or Canada – and the ruling party, which does not have a majority of Knesset seats (total of 120 seats; 61 needed for majority), needs to form a coalition of like-minded parties to form a government. No party has ever had a majority; all governments – under Ben-Gurion, Begin, Rabin – have been coalition governments. So, whereas the US system is a two-party system, there are 33 parties standing for elections tonight.
That means, lots of arguing, lots of negotiating, lots of little voices being heard in a way that isn’t heard in the US system. But the campaign, thus far, has been dominated by four voices – three usual, expected voices, and one very unexpected voice:
Tzipi Livni, the leader of Kadima, a centrist party that is currently leading the governing coalition. She replaced Ehud Olmert, the current PM, as leader of Kadima in September after he resigned due to corruption investigation. Kadima is running neck and neck, in an unexpectedly close race with:
Benjamin Netayahu, the leader of Likud, a right of center party; Netayahu as Prime Minister in the late 1990s. He was expected to win by a large margin, but between the Gaza operation and the success of Liberman (see below) he's doing worse than expected.
Ehud Barak, the leader of Labor, a left of center party; Barak was Prime Minister following Netayahu. Labor has historically been the dominant party in Israeli politics but it looks like they're going to relegated to the 4th largest in the Knesset, behind a relatively new party led by:
Avigdor Liberman, the leader of Yisrael Beiteynu, a far, far right (read: almost fascist) party; Lieberman is projected to win an ungodly amount of seats in a rise that’s surprising a lot of people, including myself. But I guess American elected Bush twice, so who am I to judge?
The campaign up ‘til today has been fascinating. Israeli national campaigns start really a few weeks before the election (which was a refreshing change from the recent 18-month battle for the American presidency), so they really didn’t get going in earnest until Cast Lead (the operation in Gaza) ended mid-January. And it’s been a whirlwind. Lots of ad campaigns, lots of smears, lots of putting the other person down instead of running an issue-based campaign. Actually, there really were no issues discussed; it was all about the personas, and a little about security, and a little less about the economy.
Election day itself is an odd duck. Unlike America, Israel takes her election day very seriously. For starters, everyone has the day off. All schools, national institutions (banks, post offices, government offices) are closed. The buses run (so in that respect, it’s not quite like Shabbat). Most people do not go to work. Some restaurants and things are open, but mostly it’s an off day. People vote. They spend time with their family. It was very weird.
We didn’t have official school, because everyone – from teachers to custodial staff to security staff to the people who run the cafeteria – had the day off, but we did have a special Israel Seminar day where we met, voted in our own “Israeli National Elections” (the left-wing bloc won in overwhelming, astounding numbers, totally NOT mirroring the actually Israeli mood) and then divided into small groups and dispersed into the city to engage in surveying real Israelis about their thoughts. Jerusalem is a right-of-center, predominately religious city, and the results reflected that pretty accurately, but it was still a very fascinating anthropological/sociological exercise.
Now I’m at Meredith’s awaiting election returns. Polls close here at 10PM (which is in about an hour and a half) and then we’ll see who the next leader of Israel will be. Probably not, actually. Israeli exit polls are notoriously inaccurate, and since this is going to be a very close race, we probably won’t know anything until tomorrow afternoon.
So, government in Israel does not work the same way in the US. First, Israel is a parliamentary system – it works like Britain or Canada – and the ruling party, which does not have a majority of Knesset seats (total of 120 seats; 61 needed for majority), needs to form a coalition of like-minded parties to form a government. No party has ever had a majority; all governments – under Ben-Gurion, Begin, Rabin – have been coalition governments. So, whereas the US system is a two-party system, there are 33 parties standing for elections tonight.
That means, lots of arguing, lots of negotiating, lots of little voices being heard in a way that isn’t heard in the US system. But the campaign, thus far, has been dominated by four voices – three usual, expected voices, and one very unexpected voice:
Tzipi Livni, the leader of Kadima, a centrist party that is currently leading the governing coalition. She replaced Ehud Olmert, the current PM, as leader of Kadima in September after he resigned due to corruption investigation. Kadima is running neck and neck, in an unexpectedly close race with:
Benjamin Netayahu, the leader of Likud, a right of center party; Netayahu as Prime Minister in the late 1990s. He was expected to win by a large margin, but between the Gaza operation and the success of Liberman (see below) he's doing worse than expected.
Ehud Barak, the leader of Labor, a left of center party; Barak was Prime Minister following Netayahu. Labor has historically been the dominant party in Israeli politics but it looks like they're going to relegated to the 4th largest in the Knesset, behind a relatively new party led by:
Avigdor Liberman, the leader of Yisrael Beiteynu, a far, far right (read: almost fascist) party; Lieberman is projected to win an ungodly amount of seats in a rise that’s surprising a lot of people, including myself. But I guess American elected Bush twice, so who am I to judge?
The campaign up ‘til today has been fascinating. Israeli national campaigns start really a few weeks before the election (which was a refreshing change from the recent 18-month battle for the American presidency), so they really didn’t get going in earnest until Cast Lead (the operation in Gaza) ended mid-January. And it’s been a whirlwind. Lots of ad campaigns, lots of smears, lots of putting the other person down instead of running an issue-based campaign. Actually, there really were no issues discussed; it was all about the personas, and a little about security, and a little less about the economy.
Election day itself is an odd duck. Unlike America, Israel takes her election day very seriously. For starters, everyone has the day off. All schools, national institutions (banks, post offices, government offices) are closed. The buses run (so in that respect, it’s not quite like Shabbat). Most people do not go to work. Some restaurants and things are open, but mostly it’s an off day. People vote. They spend time with their family. It was very weird.
We didn’t have official school, because everyone – from teachers to custodial staff to security staff to the people who run the cafeteria – had the day off, but we did have a special Israel Seminar day where we met, voted in our own “Israeli National Elections” (the left-wing bloc won in overwhelming, astounding numbers, totally NOT mirroring the actually Israeli mood) and then divided into small groups and dispersed into the city to engage in surveying real Israelis about their thoughts. Jerusalem is a right-of-center, predominately religious city, and the results reflected that pretty accurately, but it was still a very fascinating anthropological/sociological exercise.
Now I’m at Meredith’s awaiting election returns. Polls close here at 10PM (which is in about an hour and a half) and then we’ll see who the next leader of Israel will be. Probably not, actually. Israeli exit polls are notoriously inaccurate, and since this is going to be a very close race, we probably won’t know anything until tomorrow afternoon.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
The 15th of Shevat
Today (and by today I mean the Jewish day starting tonight and going into tomorrow day) is Tu B’shevat, the 15th day of Shevat, which, according to the Mishnah, is the New Year for the Trees. It’s kind of a bullshit holiday, actually, that existed in the Mishnah in the time when the late winter planting started, the first blooming (almond trees) happened, and tree tax was taken. But then the Kabbalists in the 16th century turned it onto a mystical holiday celebrating our natural essence and the effervescent relationship humans have to the natural and supernatural world.
In the Zionist age, the labor movement turned the holiday into a moment to reinforce the connection to the land. Modern, liberal Judaism has turned the holiday into a holiday of environmental awareness and so forth. There are a lot of tree-related songs written by Israeli and Jewish-American folk singers, and most congregations and communities have Tu B’shevat seders, which is like a Passover seder, but based on different types of frut and the seven speicies of the land of Israel and so forth and so forth.
Tonight, at school, we have a Tu B’shevat seder. It was fine. Again, it’s kind of a bullshit holiday and tonight felt like an excuse to get together, sing some songs, and eat a bunch of dried fruits and nuts.
But my ultimate point is we’re experiencing spring in Israel right now. It’s almost glorious (if part of me wasn’t so disappointed winter was over and done with so fast; Israel really is California) The whole country, in this first week of February, is entering the beginnings of springtime. The sun is out, the days reach 65 degrees, there’s a nice breeze, and the almond trees are blooming. Tu B’shevat is here: the birthday of the trees.
In the Zionist age, the labor movement turned the holiday into a moment to reinforce the connection to the land. Modern, liberal Judaism has turned the holiday into a holiday of environmental awareness and so forth. There are a lot of tree-related songs written by Israeli and Jewish-American folk singers, and most congregations and communities have Tu B’shevat seders, which is like a Passover seder, but based on different types of frut and the seven speicies of the land of Israel and so forth and so forth.
Tonight, at school, we have a Tu B’shevat seder. It was fine. Again, it’s kind of a bullshit holiday and tonight felt like an excuse to get together, sing some songs, and eat a bunch of dried fruits and nuts.
But my ultimate point is we’re experiencing spring in Israel right now. It’s almost glorious (if part of me wasn’t so disappointed winter was over and done with so fast; Israel really is California) The whole country, in this first week of February, is entering the beginnings of springtime. The sun is out, the days reach 65 degrees, there’s a nice breeze, and the almond trees are blooming. Tu B’shevat is here: the birthday of the trees.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Amsterdam, was stuck in my head
Well, I've already posted here about Amsterdam, way, way back at the beginning of the blog, even before I got to Israel, but I'll have a few brief words about the end of my European adventure, with Tom and Dana, in Belgium and Amsterdam.
We woke very early Wednesday morning (maybe because it's so north, but Paris was incredibly dark until about 7:30ish; it was very disorienting) and trained it up from Paris to Amsterdam. The train ride took about 4 hours, and brought us through Belgium and southern Holland. The French, Flemish, and Dutch countrysides were beautiful. I decided that if Israel is California, Western Europe is the Northeast of America - same deciduous trees, brick buildings, smoke stacks, cloud patterns. And it was so relaxing and smooth.
We arrived in Amsterdam and made our way to Tom's uncle Bruce's apartment, which is kind of like the Burrow redux: urban and in a cool old Dutch building on the side of a canal. My remaining 40 hours in Holland was spent dodging the freezing rain and bitter wind, enjoying a great exhibit at the Rijksmuseum, wandering around the streets and canals, and getting overfed by Bruce's luxurious cooking. It was a great way to end the trip.
Now I'm back, doing laundry and seeing (new) old friends. I really missed this place while traveling (I also missed California, but that's a whole different story) and was surprised by how much my life in Jerusalem stayed at the forefront of my mind. I'm really excited now to start my new semester and do many things I didn't get to do in the Fall. I've got a whole 4 months ahead (that's either a very short amount of time or a very long amount of time) to make the most of.
And, I've also got a whole season of LOST to keep me busy. I can hardly wait.
We woke very early Wednesday morning (maybe because it's so north, but Paris was incredibly dark until about 7:30ish; it was very disorienting) and trained it up from Paris to Amsterdam. The train ride took about 4 hours, and brought us through Belgium and southern Holland. The French, Flemish, and Dutch countrysides were beautiful. I decided that if Israel is California, Western Europe is the Northeast of America - same deciduous trees, brick buildings, smoke stacks, cloud patterns. And it was so relaxing and smooth.
We arrived in Amsterdam and made our way to Tom's uncle Bruce's apartment, which is kind of like the Burrow redux: urban and in a cool old Dutch building on the side of a canal. My remaining 40 hours in Holland was spent dodging the freezing rain and bitter wind, enjoying a great exhibit at the Rijksmuseum, wandering around the streets and canals, and getting overfed by Bruce's luxurious cooking. It was a great way to end the trip.
Now I'm back, doing laundry and seeing (new) old friends. I really missed this place while traveling (I also missed California, but that's a whole different story) and was surprised by how much my life in Jerusalem stayed at the forefront of my mind. I'm really excited now to start my new semester and do many things I didn't get to do in the Fall. I've got a whole 4 months ahead (that's either a very short amount of time or a very long amount of time) to make the most of.
And, I've also got a whole season of LOST to keep me busy. I can hardly wait.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Gaudi, Paree, and Barack
Here I am in rainy, gloomy, romantic Paris. I'm staying with my friend Dana, who is in the middle of a PhD in 19th Century French Romanticism at Emory and is here for the year doing research at the French National Archives. Tom (who was visiting me in J'lem) is also here. I arrived late, late Saturday night after yet another tempestuous Ryanair flight from Barcelona.
The last few days in Barcelona were exciting. My estimation of the city as being a tourist trap didn't change much, but I did enjoy the food and architecture. Friday day Jason and I explored the Picasso museum, which was a weird mixture of really early and really late Picassos. But it was really great; lots of blue period and his entire 54-canvas reinterpretation of Velazquez's Las Meninas, which we had seen a few days piror in Madrid. We also went to the Barcelona Chocolate museum (which included chocolate models of many Gaudi buildings) and then tried to go to shabbat services at the progressive synagogue in Barcelona. The synagogue adventure was strange - I'll blog in detail about it when home - but long story short, much to Jason and my frustration, we didn't get to enjoy shabbat the way we wanted to.
Our final day in Spain was spent between a morning in Park Guell - Gaudi's take on public urban space (a new kick of mine) - which features crazy tile sculptures, buildings that look like they're out of "Hansel and Gretel," and the longest park bench in the world. In the afternoon we saw the Olympic Port and accompanying sculptures built for the Olympics in 1992.
Paris, so far, has been great. Walking around the city, I can see why people fall in love with it, fall in love here, etc. Springtime, Summer, Fall, Winter, there's something totally iconic about it. It's like living in history (in a similar way to Jerusalem). It's very cliched - looking from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre to Notre Dame - it's like being in a movie. Or being on a huge movie set. I keep looking for the cameras.
Dana has been a great host, speaking flawless French (while Tom and I purposefully have been butchering it), and touring us around the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, Tulieres, the left bank and so on. We've also been eating pretty well. Today, Tom and I reconnected with our bohemian sides as we meandered around Montmartre and the area around the old Moulin Rogue. And now, we returned to Dana's apartment to watch the Inauguration (What a speech! What ambition! Not a campaign speech at all, but something marking the dawn of a new political and social reality. Who's excited?) and CNN's continuing coverage. Currently, Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper are commenting on the lunch being eaten by the dignitaries in the Capitol Hill rotunda.
Tomorrow, we're off to Amsterdam to visit Tom's uncle Bruce and his partner Roland, and then on Friday I return to Israel.
The last few days in Barcelona were exciting. My estimation of the city as being a tourist trap didn't change much, but I did enjoy the food and architecture. Friday day Jason and I explored the Picasso museum, which was a weird mixture of really early and really late Picassos. But it was really great; lots of blue period and his entire 54-canvas reinterpretation of Velazquez's Las Meninas, which we had seen a few days piror in Madrid. We also went to the Barcelona Chocolate museum (which included chocolate models of many Gaudi buildings) and then tried to go to shabbat services at the progressive synagogue in Barcelona. The synagogue adventure was strange - I'll blog in detail about it when home - but long story short, much to Jason and my frustration, we didn't get to enjoy shabbat the way we wanted to.
Our final day in Spain was spent between a morning in Park Guell - Gaudi's take on public urban space (a new kick of mine) - which features crazy tile sculptures, buildings that look like they're out of "Hansel and Gretel," and the longest park bench in the world. In the afternoon we saw the Olympic Port and accompanying sculptures built for the Olympics in 1992.
Paris, so far, has been great. Walking around the city, I can see why people fall in love with it, fall in love here, etc. Springtime, Summer, Fall, Winter, there's something totally iconic about it. It's like living in history (in a similar way to Jerusalem). It's very cliched - looking from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre to Notre Dame - it's like being in a movie. Or being on a huge movie set. I keep looking for the cameras.
Dana has been a great host, speaking flawless French (while Tom and I purposefully have been butchering it), and touring us around the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, Tulieres, the left bank and so on. We've also been eating pretty well. Today, Tom and I reconnected with our bohemian sides as we meandered around Montmartre and the area around the old Moulin Rogue. And now, we returned to Dana's apartment to watch the Inauguration (What a speech! What ambition! Not a campaign speech at all, but something marking the dawn of a new political and social reality. Who's excited?) and CNN's continuing coverage. Currently, Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper are commenting on the lunch being eaten by the dignitaries in the Capitol Hill rotunda.
Tomorrow, we're off to Amsterdam to visit Tom's uncle Bruce and his partner Roland, and then on Friday I return to Israel.
Friday, January 16, 2009
¡Buenos Dias de Barcelona!
I´m writing this from a slightly danky Internet/business office place in Barcelona, down the block from our hotel. It´s a lovely day in this city, cloudy but warm (warm certainly by standards that were set in Madrid, and even compared to Jerusalem).
The trip, now in its 5th day and almost at its halfway point, continues to be exciting and fantastic. Spain is a great country. It´s beautiful, to start. And it feels so European, which, I´m slightly ashamed to say, was a bit surprising. I guess I expected something more Mediterranean. And Spaniards are incredibly nice and attractive. It must be something in the sun and wine. My Spanish really isn´t coming back, drips here and there, but when I hear people speaking Spanish and need to respond, my brains default foreign language is Hebrew, and that´s just been flowing out left and right. I guess that´s good for my Hebrew learning.
Madrid, where Jason and I started out Monday morning, is a fantastic city. It´s old and yet feels fresh and relevant. It´s huge and sprawling, yet feels at times, intimate and very non-alienating. Jason put it best, I think, when he said it was not overwhelming, but still feels full of life. I think that was a very apt description. It´s a real city - one filled with history and culture - but not one consumed with a "touristy" feeling. At the same time, in the three days we were there, I never felt bored; there was always something to do and I could have stayed for another week and explored more and more.
We focused our visit on the two main art museums - the Reina Sofia on the first day and El Prado on the second. I really enjoyed them both; the Reina Sofia focused more on modern and contemporary Spanish artists, really the 20th century. The contemporary stuff was fine and weird - there was this fascinating photo exhibit of an apparently famous photographer who autobiographically showed the rebellious life in a post-Franco era 1980s. The surrealism and cubism was great; Guernica, I think, was the highlight for both Jason and myself. As great a museum the Reina Sofia was, El Prado, which we saw on our second day, was fantastic. It was a huge, huge building filled with art from the Renaissance to the mid 19th century. The Spanish collection - Las Meninas, Zubaron´s still lifes (thank you art history class), El Greco, Goya (I never was a fan of his until this week) - was fantastic. And all the rest. The museum seemed to be greatly curated - but it´s all in Spanish - so we did the audio guide, which really enhanced the experience.
Barcelona, as a city, seems a lot more touristy. It´s only been a day +, so I can´t say for sure, but I´m not as impressed with it as Madrid. It feels much more intense and active, less like a city, and the people don´t seem as friendly. The architecture, however, is amazing. The whole Moderisme kick, with the Gaudi and Co., really makes the city stand out. Yesterday we went to the Sagrada Familia, which may been one of the most amazing buildings I´ve ever seen. It was incredible - all of the stone and the sculpture and the stylized decorations. I would definitely come back to Barcelona when it´s finished, in like 30+ years.
And then, of course, there´s the food. Our firs day in Madrid we ate really well - a delicious fixed lunch menu which is all over the country; for me I had fiedgua (Paella with noodles instead of rice) and rabbit - and then a big paella dinner. Our last morning in Madrid we indulged in churros y chocolate, hot churros that come with a cup of rich, hot dipping chocolate. The wine, as well, is fantastic. Even cheap, house wine, is really tasty. We also had some great tapas here and there, especially dinner last night at a hard core tapas bar in Barcelona´s old city - the bar is covered with 2-3 bite canapes, from fish to meat to cheese to sweets, each one with a skewer. You help yourself and at the end pay by skewres. Talk about finger food. Not eating pork is hard, really hard, but I think I´m doing all right for myself.
The biggest highlight of the trip so far (sorry museums) was seeing my friends Stephanie and Michelle. They were friends in LA, who moved to Madrid in the spring to teach English indefinitely (Steph is also and EU citizen, and Michelle, well, avoids the immigration officials), and Jason and I met up with Stephanie Tuesday night, and she brought us to a hangout with some of her and Michelle´s friends. Wednesday evening, before we went to Barcelona, we met up with Steph for a walk and cider & tapas as well.
Now we´re off to the Picasso museum, and then a stroll around the old city, and then the Barcelona Chocolate museum, and then tonight we´re going to try and find the Progressive community in Barcelona for services (it being Friday and all). tomorrow is our last day, and I´m trying to convince Jason to go to the Barcelona Sex/Erotics museum - a kitschy delight! - but he´s not having any of it. Probably see some more moderisme buildings and the Olympic Park. And then, I´m off to Paris, where I meet up with Tom and Dana. I´m super pumped for that leg, more new cities, new art to see, and new foods to eat.
The trip, now in its 5th day and almost at its halfway point, continues to be exciting and fantastic. Spain is a great country. It´s beautiful, to start. And it feels so European, which, I´m slightly ashamed to say, was a bit surprising. I guess I expected something more Mediterranean. And Spaniards are incredibly nice and attractive. It must be something in the sun and wine. My Spanish really isn´t coming back, drips here and there, but when I hear people speaking Spanish and need to respond, my brains default foreign language is Hebrew, and that´s just been flowing out left and right. I guess that´s good for my Hebrew learning.
Madrid, where Jason and I started out Monday morning, is a fantastic city. It´s old and yet feels fresh and relevant. It´s huge and sprawling, yet feels at times, intimate and very non-alienating. Jason put it best, I think, when he said it was not overwhelming, but still feels full of life. I think that was a very apt description. It´s a real city - one filled with history and culture - but not one consumed with a "touristy" feeling. At the same time, in the three days we were there, I never felt bored; there was always something to do and I could have stayed for another week and explored more and more.
We focused our visit on the two main art museums - the Reina Sofia on the first day and El Prado on the second. I really enjoyed them both; the Reina Sofia focused more on modern and contemporary Spanish artists, really the 20th century. The contemporary stuff was fine and weird - there was this fascinating photo exhibit of an apparently famous photographer who autobiographically showed the rebellious life in a post-Franco era 1980s. The surrealism and cubism was great; Guernica, I think, was the highlight for both Jason and myself. As great a museum the Reina Sofia was, El Prado, which we saw on our second day, was fantastic. It was a huge, huge building filled with art from the Renaissance to the mid 19th century. The Spanish collection - Las Meninas, Zubaron´s still lifes (thank you art history class), El Greco, Goya (I never was a fan of his until this week) - was fantastic. And all the rest. The museum seemed to be greatly curated - but it´s all in Spanish - so we did the audio guide, which really enhanced the experience.
Barcelona, as a city, seems a lot more touristy. It´s only been a day +, so I can´t say for sure, but I´m not as impressed with it as Madrid. It feels much more intense and active, less like a city, and the people don´t seem as friendly. The architecture, however, is amazing. The whole Moderisme kick, with the Gaudi and Co., really makes the city stand out. Yesterday we went to the Sagrada Familia, which may been one of the most amazing buildings I´ve ever seen. It was incredible - all of the stone and the sculpture and the stylized decorations. I would definitely come back to Barcelona when it´s finished, in like 30+ years.
And then, of course, there´s the food. Our firs day in Madrid we ate really well - a delicious fixed lunch menu which is all over the country; for me I had fiedgua (Paella with noodles instead of rice) and rabbit - and then a big paella dinner. Our last morning in Madrid we indulged in churros y chocolate, hot churros that come with a cup of rich, hot dipping chocolate. The wine, as well, is fantastic. Even cheap, house wine, is really tasty. We also had some great tapas here and there, especially dinner last night at a hard core tapas bar in Barcelona´s old city - the bar is covered with 2-3 bite canapes, from fish to meat to cheese to sweets, each one with a skewer. You help yourself and at the end pay by skewres. Talk about finger food. Not eating pork is hard, really hard, but I think I´m doing all right for myself.
The biggest highlight of the trip so far (sorry museums) was seeing my friends Stephanie and Michelle. They were friends in LA, who moved to Madrid in the spring to teach English indefinitely (Steph is also and EU citizen, and Michelle, well, avoids the immigration officials), and Jason and I met up with Stephanie Tuesday night, and she brought us to a hangout with some of her and Michelle´s friends. Wednesday evening, before we went to Barcelona, we met up with Steph for a walk and cider & tapas as well.
Now we´re off to the Picasso museum, and then a stroll around the old city, and then the Barcelona Chocolate museum, and then tonight we´re going to try and find the Progressive community in Barcelona for services (it being Friday and all). tomorrow is our last day, and I´m trying to convince Jason to go to the Barcelona Sex/Erotics museum - a kitschy delight! - but he´s not having any of it. Probably see some more moderisme buildings and the Olympic Park. And then, I´m off to Paris, where I meet up with Tom and Dana. I´m super pumped for that leg, more new cities, new art to see, and new foods to eat.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Finally finally done
So.
This past week was my first final week of graduate school. One down, five to go.
It was a pretty intense period. The week prior to finals, the last week of December, I had a huge Ed presentation (on the "Challenges and Opportunities" of Jewish summer camping) as well as my Bible final - it was a ten-minute reading exam where we sat alone with the professor and read for him and then translated into modern Hebrew. And then he asked us questions about the text. It was actually kinda fun.
(Of course, between the last week of classes and finals was New Years. Amy, in her infinite amazingness, organized the HUC Prom. She rented out a kareoke bar neat campus, and for a cover it was semi-open bar, dancing, snacks, kareoke, party hats. Lots of fun.)
Finals week was a doozy. I had four exams, a paper, and a Hebrew Literature take home exam, all due within three days. Nuts. But all in all, I spent the weekend prior preparing and writing my paper (which was entitled "Constructing the White City: Tel Aviv as Physical and Sacred Space in Israeli Collective Memory." How's that for academic mumbo-jumbo? In actuality, it came out really well. I was very proud of my work and the ideas in the paper. It was fun, as well, to write a real academic paper again. I haven't done that in a while) and so the week flowed really well. I got to relax, spend time with friends and classmates before break, and enjoy some time in Jerusalem.
Then, Wednesday night, Tom and Emma came! They were just off a Birthright trip, and here to stay with me for the weekend! It was really great to see them and we had an awesome time. Thursday was touring Joel's Greatest Hits of Jerusalem - seeing sights off the beaten path, like Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Israel Museum, Tmol Shilshon, Babette's Waffles. Friday we went to the Carmel for the weekend, and toured a bit around Haifa, went to some artist's colonies, Ceasaria, Tel Aviv. It was a lovely weekend. Emma left last night for home, Tom this afternoon for Paris.
And in a few hours I'm off to Europe as well. I leave early Monday morning (my time) to Madrid, with my friend Jason. We're in Madrid three days, and then head off to Barcelona for another three days. Then I go to Paris where I meet up with Tom and Dana (who's working on his PhD in Paris for the year), and we're there four days. Then we visit Tom's uncle Bruce and his partner Roland in Amsterdam for two days, and then I fly back to Tel Aviv. After a few days, Tom and Dana come visit me. The party never ends.
This past week was my first final week of graduate school. One down, five to go.
It was a pretty intense period. The week prior to finals, the last week of December, I had a huge Ed presentation (on the "Challenges and Opportunities" of Jewish summer camping) as well as my Bible final - it was a ten-minute reading exam where we sat alone with the professor and read for him and then translated into modern Hebrew. And then he asked us questions about the text. It was actually kinda fun.
(Of course, between the last week of classes and finals was New Years. Amy, in her infinite amazingness, organized the HUC Prom. She rented out a kareoke bar neat campus, and for a cover it was semi-open bar, dancing, snacks, kareoke, party hats. Lots of fun.)
Finals week was a doozy. I had four exams, a paper, and a Hebrew Literature take home exam, all due within three days. Nuts. But all in all, I spent the weekend prior preparing and writing my paper (which was entitled "Constructing the White City: Tel Aviv as Physical and Sacred Space in Israeli Collective Memory." How's that for academic mumbo-jumbo? In actuality, it came out really well. I was very proud of my work and the ideas in the paper. It was fun, as well, to write a real academic paper again. I haven't done that in a while) and so the week flowed really well. I got to relax, spend time with friends and classmates before break, and enjoy some time in Jerusalem.
Then, Wednesday night, Tom and Emma came! They were just off a Birthright trip, and here to stay with me for the weekend! It was really great to see them and we had an awesome time. Thursday was touring Joel's Greatest Hits of Jerusalem - seeing sights off the beaten path, like Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Israel Museum, Tmol Shilshon, Babette's Waffles. Friday we went to the Carmel for the weekend, and toured a bit around Haifa, went to some artist's colonies, Ceasaria, Tel Aviv. It was a lovely weekend. Emma left last night for home, Tom this afternoon for Paris.
And in a few hours I'm off to Europe as well. I leave early Monday morning (my time) to Madrid, with my friend Jason. We're in Madrid three days, and then head off to Barcelona for another three days. Then I go to Paris where I meet up with Tom and Dana (who's working on his PhD in Paris for the year), and we're there four days. Then we visit Tom's uncle Bruce and his partner Roland in Amsterdam for two days, and then I fly back to Tel Aviv. After a few days, Tom and Dana come visit me. The party never ends.
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