The last week of our program has been pretty exhausting. We have continued our training in Judo, Krav Maga, and Karate, along with out Hebrew lessons, on a fairly strict regime. So far I think I am enjoying my Judo lessons the most. The reason for this is twofold: 1) there are things within the sport that are applicable to every day scenarios and are also a great way to impress girls, and 2) I find the sport incredibly therapeutic and feel at peace after a session of Judo. I get a good sweat in, but I just feel so relaxed that nothing can bother me.
I am also enjoying Krav Maga, but in a different way. Much of what we learn in Krav Maga is how to kick a man in his balls. Seriously, if you as the instructor a question about a technique or a "what if this happens...", the answer is very likely to be "kick to the balls". You would be amazed at how many ways one can kick a man in his balls. The Krav Maga sessions are by far the most intense. It is all about speed and intensity. Whenever we are practicing a kick or a punch or another technique, our instructor, Chalacho (I hope you watched the video from my last blog post, if you didn't, stop reading this, go back to my last post, copy the link, and watch the video at the 9 minute mark) is always screaming at us to be faster, stronger, and more intense. I think his incredibly thick accent makes his workouts seem even more badass. Whenever we aren't as intense as Chalacho wants us to be, he stops us, screams at us, and makes us do it all over again. Then, when we meet the muster of his required intensity, he screams in his intense accent, "yes, we are working now". Its pretty sweet, something out of an old school martial arts movie if you ask me. Unlike Judo, after Krav Maga I kind of feel like going out and kicking someone in the balls or putting an elbow in someones face. I know it sounds bad, but I just can't help it. When you practice something like that over and over again, all you want to do is use it in a real-life scenario. Don't hate me, you would feel the same way if you were me.
Our Purim celebration was pretty anti-climatic. It's supposed to be the time when drunken debauchory is the norm, but the rain was so intense that it was pretty morbid. We went to a huge parade in Holon, and it literally rained on the parade (pun).
On Tuesday we went to Masada, this archeological site that is thousands of years old. It was basically a bunch of ruins from the first century C.E. The story behind it is basically that it was the last stand that Jewish rebels made against the might Roman Empire. These rebels held their own in Masada for months (or even years, not sure) as the held off the Roman advances. Eventually they realized that they couldn't hold off the Romans anymore. Instead of facing slavery and death, they all decided to commit suicide. Pretty morbid stuff. The ruins themselves are, in my opinion, pretty anti-climatic. It is basically just a bunch of rocks and old ruins that you could see in a National Geographic magazine and get the same amount of enrichment from (again, this is in my opinion only). However, it is a place that every tourist MUST see when they come to Israel. Not for the aesthetics, but for the symbolism. In 73 C.E. (pretty sure, but don't quote me on the date) at Masada, Jewish rebels made their last stand. This was truly the last time Jews had complete soveirgnty until 1948 when Israel declared independence. After the fall of Masada, Jews were forced into diaspora and were scattered all over the world. Coming to Masada shows how far the Jewish people and what the meaning of Jewish soverignty have come and how long it took. Again, the aesthetics ain't that great, but truly amazing how far we have come.
We also went to the Dead Sea after Masada. For those of you who don't know, the Dead Sea is located between Israel and Jordan and is incredibly dense in salt. It is so dense that you literally float on top of the water. It is pretty much impossible to sink. You have to tie yourself to an anchor if you wanted to drown yourself in the Dead Sea. Then again, if you were stupid enough to try to drown yourself in the Dead Sea, then you are probably too dumb to find an anchor big enough to drown you. One of the sheik things to do at the Dead Sea is to cover yourself in the mud from the sea. It is known for its nutrient-rich content that is good for your skin. I will put it this way: after covering myself in the mud and laying in the sun, my skin was as smooth as a baby's bottom.
On Friday I went to Jerusalem to stay the night with my friend Greg Schek at his apartment. Greg Scheck and I went to Ithaca College together and he made Aliyah in 2007. He served in the army and was even in Gaza during the Gaza war last year (pretty intense stuff). It was awesome seeing him, and we even met up with another friend of ours from Ithaca, Jonathan (Yachiel, the guy whose Kibbutz I visited a couple of weeks ago). I was expecting for it to be a fairly quite night but I couldn't have been more wrong. I was under the impression that everything is closed on friday night (shabbat), but we ended up going out and not getting back till 4 in the morning. I met two of Greg's close friends from the Netherlands who also served with him and made Aliyah in 2007. The next afternoon we woke up and walked around Jerusalem. It was amazing being back again (I was there briefly in 2007). We went to the Western Wall and walked around the Old City. While there we walked into the Christian Quarter and even joined in on a Christian Tour (they didn't seem to mind). We even walked the very path that Jesus walked as he carried the cross to the hill where he was crucified. It was an amazing experience. Christian or not, the significance of this site is so immense that it transcends religious and cultural boundaries. For practicing Christians who have the means, I highly recommend making the trek. After walking around the Arab, Armenian, and Jewish quarter of the Old City, I was on my way back to Hod Hasharon (my home base).
Overall a great week. I am sorry for the lack of fluency and punctuation errors in this post. While writing this I am watching "Daybreakers" (starring Ethan Hawke, Willam Dafoe, and the paleontologist from Jurassic Park) so please excuse me... the movie isn't good.
-MG
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