Haifa, Horses, and Hiking

One of my favorite and most fulfilling days in Israel so far. Kajsa and I started the morning off early(ish) and hopped on the bus to the Baha'i Shrine and gardens... Where we were promptly admonished for our "revealing" clothing and we had to ride back to our hostel and change into something that covered our legs and shoulders. We walked away like,

I mean, I totally understand the respect for the religion, I do. But ugh, the hostel was SOOOO FARRRRR. It ended up being worth it for these beautiful views...

 It honestly felt like being in front of a backdrop. The entire place was aesthetic and peaceful; it exuded the feeling of 'paradise.' So stunning.

We got to go inside the shrine behind me in the above picture; it's the second holiest site for the Baha'i faith, which is the youngest religion in the world.

Exquisite statuary dotted the English-style, orderly, and colorful gardens. So stunning.

From the gardens, we went to the Carmel National Park for our unbelievable, stunning, and VERY long hike.

These pictures were all taken along the red trail, in a little patch called Little Switzerland.

I've never been to Switzerland, but if it's anything like this, count me in!!!

Because I crave/require animal companionship, I spent some time with horses from a random stable we encountered.

Yes I'm allergic to horses, and yes I got hives, but #worthit.

We crossed from the red trail to the black trail, and came across a memorial for the Carmel Fire victims from 2010.

We continued our hike to an ancient Roman quarry--

And bought some unbelievably delicious cheese crepe concoctions from a random stand on the side of the trail.

We hiked to the "year-round spring," which looked like this in July...

Classic.

We ended up getting really lost on this trail--it was supposed to be a 4 hour hike and it'd been a little over 5 hours. So... We hitch hiked.

Hitch hiking is SUPER common and acceptable in Israel, so it wasn't a crazy thing for us to do. Plus, Kajsa and I TOTALLY could've taken the guy.

We were dropped off at a gas station to get some money for a bus ticket, but plot twist, the gas station had no ATM, and DOUBLE PLOT TWIST, ITS FRIDAY AND THERE ARE NO BUSES.

So we trudged about another hour along the street, poor children with no money and sore feet. I only complained a little.... Lol ya right. For a straight hour, I was like--

And Kajsa had to deal with me until we got a taxi.

I took a shower, which was heavenly, but discovered I had a backpack and shorts tan... Not so heavenly.

We got iced coffee and dinner and chatted for about 2 hours, just relaxing after the long day. Tomorrow... Another hike!!

Can't wait to explore this stunning place a little more. I didn't realize until leaving home how necessary nature is to me and my well-being. Living on the edge of a state-protected canyon with abundant wildlife apparently isn't normal... I love how travelling forces you to evaluate what you need in life. And now I know that I will uncompromisingly need a little wild in my life, or at least a car to drive me to a place where I can shed my responsibilities and stress to get in touch with the sun, the air, the world, and God.

Wooo nature!

Lovin life,
Explorer/Tree-Hugger Aubrey

Exploring Haifa

Today began my three-day journey in and around the third largest city in Israel--Haifa! Haifa sits on a Mediterranean bay in northern Israel, carved into the cliffs of the seaside mountains. Over the last 12 hours, it's become my favorite city in all of Israel.

Kajsa and I took the train from Herzliya (the city in which my internship is based) and hopped off at Haifa Port.

After a quick walk up the main street into the German Colony (random, right?), we found our pristine, very homey hostel, Al Yajhour Hostel. This hostel was actually founded by Palestinians, which makes this one of my first real experiences with Israeli Arabs as opposed to Israeli Jews. A little change of pace!

Kajsa and I got some food, then headed up the mountain to see the world-famous Baha'I Gardens and Shrine.

So stunning. Unfortunately, we arrived a little after visiting hours were over, so we will head back to see the entire grounds tomorrow before hiking!

But we still got a sneak peek (:

From the gardens, we went to my favorite place of all... THE ZOO. Yes, I found ANOTHER Israeli zoo to go to, and yes it had the most ridiculous lack of security I've ever seen. One guy was throwing pieces of food to a monkey in an enclosure to watch it catch the food. I was like,

But like, really.

I wanted to pet it, but I didn't. I promise. Seriously, the whole time I was thinkin, where is the

I found some beautiful animals, because duh--

Lions

Tigers

Bears

And one of my favorite Mediterranean views thus far--

Oh my!

A wave of homesickness swelled up in my heart. It was so remniscient of San Diego, or SoCal in general, that it just brought back my love for my state and home. I sure do love California, guys. But still, seeing this stunning green oasis with the sparkling water at the end of the valley filled me with comfort--maybe if I squinted and ignored all the Hebrew, I could pretend I was back in the Golden State. 

From the zoo, we found a nice view of the city--

Then grabbed some sushi for dinner--

 Found a nice, albeit idiot, cat to spend our meal with--

Then explored the city of Haifa, eventually coming to the shore right after sunset. We watched the lights twinkle across the bay and anchored boats settle in the waves, and we agreed this was the most beautiful city we'd come across thus far.

Upon arrival at our hostel, we found Arab music playing and delicious food being served. The gracious party host/hostel owner offered us all the food we wanted (for free), and I was like--

Into the bread and chicken. I may not have a ton of talents travelling, but I can find a pretty amazing hostel. Stunning rooftop views, free food... I def know how to pick em.

I'm getting to bed so I have energy for our 5 hour hike and hours of exploration tomorrow!

Much love,
Haifa-fanatic Aubs

Goodbyes Abound

The past few days have been full of farewells, to both people and to the first half of summer.

You went so soon...

On Saturday, host father Ronnie left for a week of work in the US, follow on Sunday by Nava (the host daughter closest to me in age), who left for a week-long retreat. Atara (my fellow "Friends" and Harry Potter fanatic) departed for America for summer camp (still jealous about camp, ugh), so it looks like I'll be watching Ross and Rachel reruns all by my lonesome.

It's been sad--like I've said, they've become family, and as they depart, I feel like pieces of my new home leave with them. For now, it's Esther (mom), Orit (youngest daughter), and Michal (oldest daughter, frantically studying for finals--she's still in school!!!) with me in the four-story home in Raanana. Pretty quiet, as I'm sure you can imagine--but Orit still keeps us on our toes.

The first of the interns to depart came into the office for his last day today.

Charlieeeee

From here on out, at least one intern will leave every week. How did the weeks fly by so quickly!?!

All the interns and our director

I can't believe it. I'm exactly halfway through my time in Israel, and I still feel like I have so much to do and see... I'll definitely be making the most of the next few weeks as I travel up, down, and across this beautiful country.

In the meantime, I'm reaching the end of my first paper draft. So much of my conclusion depended upon the outcome of the Iranian nuclear deal, so I spent more time than I'd like to admit sitting at work waiting for the end of negotiations that is two years overdue.

Me to Secretary of State John Kerry

I actually literally tweeted at the White House, not so subtly asking them to get a move on.

"the end of my 30 page paper depends on the Iranian nuclear deal outcome, so if Kerry could wrap this up, I'd appreciate it❤ ily @WhiteHouse

— astod (@Aubrey_Stoddard) July 13, 2015"

Yes I actually tweeted this

This morning, a deal was reached as soon as I walked into work, and I was over the moon--wahoo, I can finish my paper! Then... I remembered that many people around the world--and basically every Israeli--have called this deal "a historic mistake" that could result in global annihilation. At that point, my celebration looked a little more like this.

yay...??

I should be finishing my first draft by next week, which leaves me over a month to edit... By the end, I'll be second-guessing every period and semicolon I included.

One more day of work, then it's the weekend--and that's something worth celebrating.

Cheers,

Aubs

Meeting Michael Oren

After I finished my post last night, I was asked by my host family if I'd like to go attend a talk with Michael Oren. Mr. Oren, a fellow historian, served as Israel's ambassador to America from 2009 to 2013 and now serves in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. He recently released a new book, Ally, discussing the American-Israeli alliance.

Books, wahoo!

The talk was held at my host family's friends' home right down the street. We all sat outside under the stars snacking, drinking, and listening to an unbelievably intelligent Israeli American.

How adorable are these cookies?

The talk with Mr. Oren enlightened and inspired me. He discussed his experiences in America, his ideas on improvement, and current events. I found that I am now invested in Middle Eastern affairs in a way I never was before. I desire to fix the problems, to apply my growing expertise to issues that I could impact. I think this new-found investment comes both from my burgeoning interest in politics and my deepening relationships with and affection for so many Israelis.

Michael Oren speaking

I loved that I could finally listen to in-depth conversation about current events and pertinent politics and I actually understand more than half of what was being said!!! (Huge deal, guys.) Not only am I spending hours a day actually studying the history of the United States' involvement in the Middle East for work, but I'm also travelling to the places that are talked about the news, reading non--fiction books about it, living it. I'm fully immersed. Which is pretty much the coolest experience ever for someone who was always interested in the subject but never an expert. 

Hi there, Mr. Oren

I was so lucky to discuss with Mr. Oren why I'm here and what I'm interested in. He actually taught at Harvard for a few semesters and did a ton of research for his book at the university that hosts my internship! So our lives intersect in a few cool ways.

This pic will probs end up in my future memoirs, if I can figure out a way to photoshop my frizz

Sarah Stark (she's wearing black in the above picture) is basically one of the best people I've met here in Israel and is also one of the members of "The Bachelorette" Viewing Clique that gathers in the Morris household every Tuesday (we're very worldly). She bought me one of the books as a gift, and Mr. Oren signed it! It read, "To Aubrey: A future leader of America and Israel's historic alliance with America. Michael Oren"

Like, are you kidding me? That's pretty much the coolest thing ever. I was like, omg me, what, no, really?

Anyways, I left the talk feeling so inspired and so excited to contribute in my small way to such an important cause. I got to work, continued writing my paper--and realized that one of my sources for my paper is by Michael Oren! Ugh, so cool.

My experiences here in Israel get more amazing every single day. I am just so lucky!

Signed,

A future leader of America (;

A Few Days of Family

It's been a great two days!

Yesterday, I travelled with the family about two hours up north along the coast to visit Akiva, their son, at sleep-away camp.

Orit looking cool as a cucumber

All the way up to the campground, the girls were talking about all the fun they'd had at camp and all the activities they'd done when they were younger--and it sounded SO FUN. I just sat there, thinking about my camp-less summers as a child like--

I WANT CAMP.

So then, I was like, well mayyyybe I could go to camp NOW! Then everybody laughed at me and said camp was only for kids and that I could possibly be a counselor. I looked like this.

DON'T WANT RESPONSIBILITY, JUST WANNA DO CRAFTS.

I started to get over my jealousy a little bit. Then, I got to the beautiful campground, and everybody was singing and dancing and playing. UGH I wanted camp. I mean, I got some amazing opportunities--I got to play softball, and water polo, and I went to the beach. But the camp atmosphere was definitely pretty amazing.

Anyways, spent a wonderful day with the family--look how cute we are!

I almost fit in, right!?

We then drove about fifteen minutes up the road to Rosh Haniqra, a beautiful Mediterranean town on the Lebanese border.

Beautiful!

And I got some cute pics of myself too.

Hi guys!

We then walked right up the border, which was prettyyy cool!

205 kilometers to Jerusalem, 120 to Beirut

This experience was especially relevant, because I'm reading a book called From Beirut to Jerusalem--cool, right?

Today was Shabbat, and I was lucky enough to spend the day not only with my family but also with my fellow intern and friend, Kajsa! She ate lunch with us, and we got to discuss Judaism and Harvard with my host family. It was exciting--she had quite a few questions about the Shabbat customs and about the religion--and I knew how to answer about them! Isn't that cool!?! 

It's been a relaxing and fun two days, and I head back to work tomorrow... after five days off. Oops. Should be a great time!

Signing off,

Aubs

Yerushalaim

After our heavy start at Yad Veshem, we made our way to the Herzl Museum, which educates on the life and vision of Theodore Herzl, writer of The Jewish State and the man who first imagined the creation of a modern-day Israel. 

wee!

I definitely learned a lot at this museum--not just about Herzl but also about ideology. The museum was a little bit propagandistic and simplistic--but not at all in a false, bad, or misleading way. It was the presenting of history with a nationalistic pride. I found that because of my lack of very personal investment in Israel--as in, I don't live here full-time and I'm not a citizen--I felt like I was able to remain skeptical and evaluate the presented facts and stories from an unbiased, appraisatory perspective. I was able to accept and reject certain ideas in an intellectual way (as I'm sure numerous Israelis do as well). What the experience really did, though, was prompt me to examine how I evaluate American videos and facts. I realized I should be more critical of my own country. Not in a negative or dismissive way per se. I should simply detach myself from the blind patriotism and forgive-all that I know I can be capable of in order to accept the mistakes America has made and the faults it has in order to allow myself the creativity and determination to fix them.

Golda Meir's grave, former Prime Minister of Israel

Interesting fact: when you pass by a grave, you're supposed to leave a pebble or stone on it.

We then went to Yemin Moshe, an artist colony right outside the Old City of Jerusalem. It was stunning! Very interesting-- there are many homes that face the Old City walls. A few decades ago, there were no entrances or exits on that side of Yemin Moshe, because the citizens were in danger of being shot by soldiers on the wall! Since then, though, there's been a little bit of peacekeeping--just a tiny bit--so doors on all sides of buildings are permitted.

That's the Old City in the background

So many flowers, so beautiful

Seriously out of a painting!

A windmill!

#tokencanine of the trip

Just couldn't stop taking pictures!

From Yemin Moshe, we went to Me'a Shea'rim, a Hasidic Jewish neighborhood. You know Hasids--the black hats and the suits and the curls. The curls are because in the Torah, it orders that men never cut their sideburns. Hasids spend their days studying and debating the Torah--amazing, right? They literally dedicate their lives to learning. Sure, they may not make a ton of money... But still a pretty incredible thing to spend your time doing, right? We visited the largest hashiva, or Torah-learning center, in the world, and walked through the neighborhood. Did you know that some Hasidic men refuse to even look at any women besides their wives? WOAH amirite? They will avert their eyes--and sometimes even cover their face!

A falafel ball dressed up with a kippah and curls--literally the most Israeli thing I've ever seen

"Please do not pass through our neighborhood in immodest clothes."

We had a mini fiasco in which we lost the car (woopsies!) and almost crashed like fifteen times on the one-way-sized streets that are actually two-way--but then we got to dinner at Mamilla, an outdoor mall that is basically an Israeli Fashion Island. I had a loaf of bread for dinner (classic me) and it was delicious. It's now 1 AM, and I wake up tomorrow at 6 AM to start getting ready for my trip up north with the family for a picnic!

With love from Israel,

Aubrey and the Morrises

The Holocaust Museum

I felt that my experiences at this specific museum today deserved their own post. The feelings evoked, the lessons learned, and the morality pondered will stay with me forever.

I have been to a Holocaust museum before in DC. I was 13 and immature and wrapped up in the drama of eighth grade. I was sad, sure, but it's different now. I've studied history, especially the World Wars, for five years now. I've been exposed to multiple perspectives on Judaism, Christianity, race, war, and evil. And, perhaps most importantly, I've lived for a month in a Jewish state.

When you walk into Yad Vashem, the museum in Jerusalem, Israel, you are assaulted by harsh concrete and soaring walls of grey. It is built in a manner in which you cannot skip a single room--you must go through the entire museum to get to the exit. You wind your way through about twenty or so large exhibits about the rise of Nazism, the painful process of ghettoization and internment in concentration camps, and the progression of World War II.

I think one of the things that impacted me most was the visual and verbal explanations of Nazism's spread throughout Europe and Africa. It was EVERYWHERE. Greece, Belgium, Tunisia, France, Bulgaria, Poland... the German Reich spanned almost all of Europe. Not to mention--the countries that had escaped Germany's power-hungry rampage closed their borders and their states to desperately fleeing Jews (all except the Dominican Republic and China were closed until 1943). How hopeless it must have seemed. As a Jew, you could hop from country to country, refuge to refuge, attempting to outrun the threat of death--but it was nearly impossible. So the scope of the movement really touched me.

I was sobered and saddened and educated by the two hours I spent in the museum. But I did not cry until I reached the final room. A video of an older woman who had survived the Holocaust was describing her final days on the Death March she was forced to undergo by the fleeing, losing Nazis. She began to describe how she had to literally carry her sister through the harsh conditions, starving and exhausted, in order for her to survive. And then, they reached the hospital, the last destination, and her sister passed away calling out her name. I broke down in that instant. Imagining losing Sierra or Miranda, or having to watch them waste away, or being told that one of them had cried out for me on her deathbed while I was busy recovering from the murder attempts of an entire nation.... I could not bear it. The thought made the entire atrocity very real and very personal.

Then we walked through the Children's Memorial. The tears continued to flow. You walk into a tall, cool, dark hall that has no lights except for six candles whose light is refracted by a plethora of mirrors to create six million points of light. It was like being suspended in the night sky. A looming voice chanted the names and ages of every single child that died in the Holocaust. And while I used to be able to tell myself, "well, at least they will be remembered," a place in memorium seemed to matter so little in that moment. What is the intonation of a few syllables that make up one's name every few hours in a dark room when one's life has been stolen?

Five years old, sixteen years old, seven years old... Each individual lost, a potential scientist, or writer, or leader; every one a friend, a daughter or son; never to be a mother or a father or a wife or a husband. It broke my heart.  And while it made me question how? why?; it seemed to give my own life meaning. It is only by the grace of God or by fate or by luck that I am alive on this earth. I have security, I have love, I have joy. Who am I to squander the gifts I have been given when so many have lost everything? I may not know exactly what I will do with my life, but I know that it will have meaning, and I know it will have an impact. Even if I die tomorrow, I know I'll leave behind friends I made laugh, family I loved, words I've written down, and hearts I've touched. And while I hope and pray that I may be given an extra day, or year, or decade, I can only do my best with every hour given to me. I strive to make the most of them--and sometimes the best way to do that is to write a blog every once in a while.

With many thoughts,
Aubrey Noelle