David In Israel . דוד בישראל . داوود في اسرائيل 

As some of you know, I got so-called dreadlocks in Sacramento before I went to Israel this time, but unfortunately, they started getting really bad last week... SO... I had to choose... chop them off and give up or get them redone.  So I chose the latter... I just couldn't part with the dream.  I'm only 24 once.  So... I went to Dredy in Tel Aviv... The only good dreading place in Israel... it took 5 hours and it hurt really bad!  I'm still in pain.  But, I think/I hope it's worth it!

I was invited by the Hillel organization to be a representative for their Tel Aviv University chapter at this year's General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities in Jerusalem.  4000 delegates, lay-people and donors from around the world (especially North America) were there along with some very important people in Israel!  I had to wake up at 4:45 in the morning on Sunday to make it to Jerusalem in time for the festivities.  We spent some time at Yad vaShem (the Holocaust museum) and Ammunition Hill, and then we continued to the conference.  There were over 300 students represented from the 10 major universities in Israel.  
We had several rallies and seminars.  At each rally, we had the opportunity to hear many of the wonderful performing arts groups in Israel and also hear from various Jewish leaders in the world and many of the heads of state in Israel, including: Sir Shimon Peres - the 9th President of the State of Israel who was officially knighted by the Queen of England last week after the conference, Ehud Olmert - the current Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak - the former Prime Minister and Current Minister of Defense, Nachman Shai - the former spokesperson of the Israeli Defense Forces, Sherry Arison - Carnival Cruise Line heiress and the richest person in Israel, David Horovitz - the editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, among others!
I don't exactly know how it happened, but I was able to meet/have pictures with all of the bolded names!  
I was able to meet several wonderful people... Overall it was a rewarding experience.

Shakshuka is an Israeli dish with many variations; this one comes by way of Israel and is vegetarian-friendly.


Yield: six servings

2 pounds fresh tomatoes, unpeeled and cut in quarters, or one 28-ounce can tomatoes

6 cloves garlic, roughly diced

2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon sweet paprika or cayanne pepper

2 teaspoons tomato paste

1/4 cup vegetable oil

6 large eggs

 

1. Place the tomatoes, garlic, salt, paprika, tomato paste, and vegetable oil in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, over low heat until thick, for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

2. Ladle the tomato sauce into a greased 12-inch frying pan. Bring to a sim mer and break the eggs over the tomatoes. Gently break the yolks with a fork. Cover and continue to cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, until the eggs are set. Bring the frying pan directly to the table. Set it on a trivet and spoon out the shakshuka.

 

NOTE: Alternatively, you can make individual portions, as they do at Doktor Shakshuka, by ladling some of the sauce into a very small pan and poaching one egg in it.

OK, I've been adjusted to life in Israel, but I have never lived with a Sabra until yesterday... My roommate Sachii arrived yesterday, and it has been interesting learning to live in such close proximity with a Sabra (a native Israeli)... Omer is the other roommate and he is Israeli/Latin-American, but Sachii is the poster-child for a native Israeli.  He is a very nice guy.  He even asked me to join him and his girlfriend for dinner.  We were getting along fine, until he informed me, out of the blue, that I am not to flush toilet paper... that there is a waste basket beside the toilet.  "MAH (WHAT)!?!!" I proclaimed in Hebrew!  I explained to him that toilet paper is designed for flushing and that, as an American, there were some things I wouldn't be able to adjust to doing.  THAT IS ONE OF THEM!!!! I don't want to go into detail, but I have used the toilet and flushed paper with NO problems, thus far.  I still don't get why he thinks this would be a problem.  I understand the physics of overloading a toilet... anyway!  Needless to say, I won!  I won't be using the waste basket for toilet paper. 

The LOT flight from Warsaw to Tel Aviv wasn't bad for being so late... I met some young/wide-eyed Christian pilgrims of Indian/Pakistani descent who live in London.  They were so excited to hear about my experiences in Israel, and I was happy to answer many of their questions.  They were also very intrigued by my heritage and faith. 
Within a few hours, I arrived to a rainy Israel early Monday morning and paid alot of money to take a taxi to my apartment in Ramat Gan.  I am very thankful that we have an elevator, because I had to pay fees to the airline for having heavy bags, and I certainly didn't want to schlep those heavy bags up the stairs!  My roommate Omer was kind enough to let me in at 5 in the morning.  Sleep wasn't an option able to sleep because my Hebrew class was in less than 4 hours... But, I was very thankful to be back... back in Israel... my second home!