Weekend Round Up

So this weekend went by especially fast. I think the fact that I was holed up in bed for most of it helped it go back so speedily. I have come to cherish my weekends and respect them for the peace that they offer from the usual Monday-Friday grind. Especially Fridays. I love my Fridays.

This is how they usually look every morning...

My Fridays start out obnoxiously early: around 6:30. I turn off my alarm and flip on MSNBC (OK, let's be real- MSNBC is already on because I stayed up til some ridiculous hour watching Lock Up). I watch the horrible things that happened in the world while I was sleeping and listen to Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski argue about the appropriateness of Lindsay Lohan's outfit choices. I somehow make it to the shower, manage to properly dress myself (Friday means casual wear at the office which basically means jeans and some shirt that manages to not have some form of spilled beverage or food on it) and head out the door. Work consists of me sitting and trolling Craigslist for funny Missed Connections stories for 8 hours. Then I get to walk home and watch the sun go down. This is my favorite part of my week: the walk home. It's a good 30 minutes and it takes me past the White House where I always get that feeling of "I can't believe this is my commute home". It's really an incredible feeling. It's also usually ruined in about five minutes when a a some gaggle of Asian tourists come crashing down upon the White House in a flurry of Segways. 

Superbowl!

So in my twenty-two years of existence on this earth, I have never- not once- watched the Superbowl. Until last night. And it only took me about three minutes of my entire twenty-two years of existence on earth to know why I had never watched a Superbowl (or football match, for that matter) in my life: the game is idiotic. 

I miss the days of wardrobe malfunctions

It's basically a game of pushing people around until they fall. Yeah, that sounds awesome. And there is absolutely no athleticism required to play this game. And the fact that the game is paused every five seconds drives me absolutely insane. Get on with the damn game!

Anyways, the only reason I actually did watch the game this year was to introduce the wonderful sport of football to our Chilean friends who are studying in DC for the semester. Obviously they do not watch football in Chile. It might be for the lack of obese men in their country or for the fact that Americans are the only people who seem to derive pleasure from watching grown men run literally run into each other and then later slap each other's asses (seriously... why?) Naturally, when watching football- and especially the Superbowl- it is necessary to have a spread of beer, chips, salsa and other fried delicacies. Thanks to my lovely friend Jenn and her slight OCD, we had an amazing spread. There also was a mild chicken genocide in the kitchen, but no biggie. 

I do have to say my favorite part of the night was picking up on the sexual puns with my friend, Brad and reading the Onion tweets about the game. Favorite of the night is definitely "Roethlisberger needs to get it up now!" (Um.. isn't that what got him in trouble the last time?... Too soon?) Favorite tweet of the night is courtesy of OnionSports: "#Steelers: Roethlisberger should do what he does best: take advantage of young, vulnerable defense #SuperBowl" Basically it was a shit on Roethlisberger while sipping out of our Heineken mini keg kind of night.

Obviously the best part of the Superbowl were the commercials. My personal favorite was Groupon. Sure it's all controversial- but they were really the only ones that actually delivered. The rest were... megh. Almost as megh as this blog post. Seriously, I've lost my pizazz. I have a post coming up about the protests in Egypt (I was at a rally outside the Egyptian embassy on Saturday) but until then I'll just bore you with this incredibly dry and mundane entry. 

In other news, however, I found out that the 5k I had registered for is actually a 5 mile run. So I need to really pick up my training on that. And I need to start searching around for some half-marathon races in Boston over the summer- so if anyone has any recommendations post 'em here!

Until my next super exciting entry! Stay classy! 

Breaking the Silence

Last night I ended up at a J-Street sponsored event that highlighted the work and celebrated the book release of an organization in Israel called Breaking the Silence. The organization has collected testimonies from Israeli soldiers since 2004. Their information is open sourced and has been used by a variety of sources- including political platforms. The organization themselves, however, have just recently published their material in a book, in which I also received a copy. The aim of their organization is to offer transparency to the IDF and raise awareness about the reality facing Israeli soldiers in the occupied territories. 

I decided to attend the event rather spontaneously and was glad that I did. I find the organization compelling, especially since I have both known and currently know people serving in the Gaza and the West Bank. 

Reading through the book also reminded me of a conversation that I recently had with a friend who is dating a post-army Israeli. We were discussing the issue of PTSD and how it is so often ignored and undiagnosed in Israeli society. I remember particularly a boy I went out with who had recently finished his service in Gaza and was telling me stories of his day-to-day life. He was re-telling his stories with the distinct purpose of showing off (and let's face it- trying to get into my pants) and I could not help but be completely mortified. Every story he told me had me seriously concerned that I would be one day called as a witness in a war crimes tribunal. The things he had done were so wrong and so strikingly inhumane. 

My Quarter-Life Crisis

This morning started out pretty unremarkable. I had slept a good 14 hours the night before (in my defense, I had been up til 6am the night before dancing and participating in other forms of various debauchery) and when I woke up, I could not shake off a little gloomy feeling that was creeping in on me. After I had managed to shove a poptart down my throat, I began to realize why I was so miserable: I had had another dream of Israel.

Now I never dream. Seriously- when my head hits the pillow, in T minus 5 seconds, I am out and not even WWIII could get me up (I have literally been asleep during missile firings, gunshots and a neighbor's notorious late night sex romps and not missed a minute of sleep). I cannot remember the exact details of the dream, except  I just woke up with an odd sense of nostalgia and sadness. It wasn't until later when I got to work and logged onto Facebook and saw that my ulpan roommate had moved back to complete another ulpan program at our kibbutz that I just got so sad.

I miss those days so much. I miss Israel. It breaks my heart to think about how sad I am missing it. I think about Israel every single day. I surround myself with Hebrew, listen to Israeli music, feel a bright surge of pride when I see falafel stands and boast proudly (and obnoxiously, I'm sure) whenever I spot Natalie Portman on the cover of a magazine. I dread looking at my friend's Facebook profiles and seeing the pictures of them all together and just feeling so isolated. I literally feel myself longing to return. I miss the thick air, the grime of the Tel Aviv streets and the constant noise of obnoxious and whiny Mizrahi music. Even my frustration at the bus schedule and annoyance with trying to get the simplest things accomplished are sorely missed. 

And the most tense and stressful moment in my life is happening now. I am at a crossroads and need to make a decision: the most important one that I have made in awhile. Whenever I was faced with other challenging moments, my security blanket was Israel. When I took a semester off of university to decompress after a chaotic Freshman year, I chose Israel. When I was faced with the decision to study abroad, I had dozens of options but I chose Israel. And when I was looking at working or getting an internship over the summer, I threw caution to the wind (and literally all my finances) and chose Israel. And now that I am about to graduate from university and am facing another great crossroads, I am again torn. Is it Israel for me again?

I am young, I want to experience more. I want to hitchhike in Africa, salsa in Argentina and drink a pint in Ireland. And yet, as I sift through the various options of where I want to go in the coming year, I cannot help but wonder: what about Israel? And yes, I know that Israel will always be there (actually that is not entirely definite, but for the sake of this entry let's just go with it) but I cannot help but feel a sense of... something that makes me feel like I am missing out. Like I am the neighbor who didn't get invited to the party so I have to watch it from my window. I know it sounds irrational, but I can't help but feel that way. And I have a weird panic that if I don't get there soon, I will miss out on everything. I just am not entirely sure what "everything" is. 

Peace Out Mubarak

I woke up this morning at 6:00 am. Took a shower, brushed my teeth, shoved a banana in my mouth as I ran out the door to catch the metro to work. I logged into my computer, checked my e-mail messages and Facebook profile and prepared to suffer through the mundane 9-5 after which I would have some dinner, watch some TV and call it a night. Little did I know that during my day I would have the rare opportunity to watch a revolution unfold 6,800 miles away in Egypt.

Thanks to Twitter, we have an unparalleled and truly historic look into the events unfolding in Egypt at this very moment. This is simply mind-blowing to me. With the click of the "Refresh" button on my browser, I can, in real time, view the collapse of a regime and the toppling of an inept and corrupt Mubarak. Each time I click that refresh button, I am quite literally viewing history as it happens- in 140 characters or less. 25 minutes ago, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported on the death of one woman killed in the clashes in Egypt. Nic Roberston details the "black smoke" hovering over Alexandria and Sherine Tadros of Al-Jazeera chronicles the spray of tear gas and rubber bullets. 

Multiple news sources, including Al-Jazeera, CNN and the Huffington Post are offering live footage of the scene in Egypt: the amassing of police troops, the quiet huddles of protesters that are quickly brewing into dynamic and chaotic throngs of angry Egyptians. The whole event in itself is amazing and inspiring. 

[source]

Even with internet outages and cell phone lines cut off, Egyptians on the ground are still finding ways to stay connected to the outside world. CNN reported of protesters without internet phoning in updates of the situation and having those updates posted online. The spirit of revolution is one that seemingly will not be quelled by rubber bullets, tear gas or police intimidation. 

The spillover from Tunisia marks an incredible shift in Middle East politics and one that is sure to hold the attention of the West. As Nathan Brown, a professor at my university said "I think what the events in Tunisia did was take that sense that nothing could ever change and lead a few people to question it." Although the events in Tunisia did inspire the current demonstrations and protests in Egypt, the same outcome will not be so readily attainable for the Egyptian people. 

And this is what I think will be the most important result of the protests in Egypt: the new spirit and dialogue of Arab politics. This fear of the regime in power is something that has held back Arab nations from truly uniting and becoming a serious force in international politics. But that is jumping far ahead. For now, all I can really do is sit in my little island cubicle and keep refreshing Twitter, hoping to glimpse a small fragment of history in action.

Update: I found this great graphic on the Huffington Post website showing the internet blackout in Egypt.

Staying in on Saturday Nights

Reason number 38 why I love staying in on Saturday nights: Watching Law & Order: SVU while trolling the internet for cute animal videos. Enjoy.

Week in Review

So folks, I have (almost) officially ended my first week of my last semester of university. It was surprisingly awesome. Monday I headed off to work at the job which I love. I'm basically a glorified switchboard operator, but everyone that I work with is so amazing and kind. There's the mailroom guys who I can always joke around with and who call me "Kardashian" and mock me because I when they were talking about the Jets I had assumed they were enthusing over West Side Story and not a football team. There's Mikey who is always down for a spontaneous duet of anything by Whitney Houston and of course there's an endless slew of awkwardness and office politics that makes me determined to never have a career in which I would be confined to a cubicle and the only highlight of my day is when the pie truck comes around. (Seriously the sight of grown women grabbing their purses and running to each other in high-pitched squeals about blueberry pie makes me contemplate divorcing myself from the human race).