Versus

While my time in Israel has so far followed a similar theme to my time in Central America (volunteering for an extended period/traveling during service work breaks, etc.), there are some poignant differences between life here compared to anywhere and anything I've experienced before.

Israel vs USA

I'll try not to spew the obvious differences (like the fact that Israel is roughly the size of New Jersey or that the official languages don't include English here), but instead delve a bit deeper into dissimilarities.

•Israel is a land of extreme differences, in every way: socially, geographically, politically.  We all know that the US is famed for the multitude of cultures/ethnicities/traditions it combines, yet Israel has all that plus some.  You've got your wealthy citizens living in high rises on the coast, while not even 20 minutes away a Bedouin camp has been erected and the nomads are out taking their goat herds to pasture.  (The juxtaposition of a Bedouin shepherd tending the flock while being immersed in a texting conversation via cellphone gets me every time.)  Then there is the less comical distinction between Israel proper and the West Bank.  The separation (physical or not) of Jews and Arabs.

Land-wise, Israel's small chunk of the world contains mountains, deserts, forests, seas, the lowest point on Earth (the Dead Sea), and both extremely habited and uninhabited land.  An impressive amount of unique ecosystems.

And lastly, the political extremes found here top probably most places in the world.  I'm not even going to get into that.

•Israel is both more forward and more backward than the US.  For example, the amount of solar energy used here far surpasses that of America.  And (though I'm not sure that this proves any sort of higher level of modernity) Israel has the largest per capita use of cellphones in the entire world.  Yet they drive here almost like the only requirement to pass their test was being able to turn on the car. And separation of church and state (a basic foundation of the US) is essentially non-existent here.  Which leads to a bunch of issues, as one can imagine... or hear on the news.

•People are extremely open.  The good kind of openness that moves complete strangers to invite you into their houses for tea or coffee and to tell you about their lives.  And the kind of open that nearly reaches the point of hostility when people discuss their political and social views, and urge you to state your opinions on the matter.

•Religion is paramount.  While levels of religiousness differ, the majority of the population attends some sort of regular services, and on days of rest (be it Friday night-Saturday for Jews or Sunday for Christians) cities and public transport completely shut down. Quite inconvenient for traveling, I'll admit.  Along those same lines, there is no such thing as a civil union here- you must be married in a religious institution (or alternatively flee to Cyprus to elope). And lastly, everyone wants to know what YOU are.  Makes for an awkward situation when I confess to an Arab my mother is Jewish... I generally follow that up by quickly saying my father is Christian and that I personally am non-religious.  Which is hard for some to understand.  (Don't get me wrong- not everyone is biased for or against one religion/nationality.  But in smaller, predominantly Arab cities like Nazareth, it's best to play it safe and not admit Jewdom unless directly questioned.)

•Guns are on display.  I'm still not used to seeing the 18, 19, 20-year olds dressed in military garb casually having their M16's slung across their bodies.  And whenever I'm overtaken by a group of them, I feel very uncomfortable.  Though if I was raised in Israel I'm sure I wouldn't think twice about it.

Israel vs Central America

Certain aspects here are surprisingly reminiscent of my time in Costa Rica/Nicaragua. Like how the guys are pretty aggressive, or how the society is relatively chauvinistic (especially out of the big cities).  And the copious amounts of stray animals (though in Israel it's cats instead of dogs) or trash in the streets.  But being in Israel does provide some novelty.

•Food is waaaayyyyyy better here.  Just look at the local fast foods of choice- hummus, falafel, or shwarma as opposed to McDonald's.  And non-fast foods are inevitably more impressive than the ubiquitous rice and beans.  The Mediterranean-infused cuisine regularly includes cucumber and tomato salads, fresh goat cheese, tabbouleh, omelets, kebabs, and baked eggplant.  And while the selection of fruit in Central America was more impressive, the amount of fresh veggies at any time here is to die for if you're a salad junkie like me.

Don't even get me started on sweets here.  Let's just say it's incredible what they can do with sesame seeds- grind them, spin them with sugar, bake 'em into cookies, the list goes on and on.  Yum.

•The culture is much less risqué here.  In Costa Rica, I literally saw people's grandmothers wearing short shorts and lace-backed tank tops.  Maybe since it was so much warmer there, the culture just moved away from conservative dress out of necessity.  But in Israel (especially the more traditional places), skirts above the knees/without tights, cleavage, and bare shoulders are a no-no.  Here's to hoping I'll get to wear the tank tops and dresses I brought in Europe....

•I'd love to say public transportation here far exceeds that of Central America, but alas I would be lying.  I guess the nicer thing is that here they have shared taxis called sheruts as an alternative to the bus system: large vans you can take to places that cost as little as the buses and don't take as long.

Israel vs Nazareth

You may be wondering about this comparison, as Nazareth is a part of Israel.  Let me explain.

•Nazareth is unlike the majority of Israeli towns.  It is a predominantly Arab city, and parts of it appear (at least to my uncultured eyes) almost indistinguishable from the West Bank.  The city doesn't shut down for Shabbat (instead, nothing is open on Sunday), Muslim call-to-prayers are heard in time with the tolling of the church bells, and the most common language spoken is Arabic (so much for my "Hebrew for Dummies" book).  You're much more likely to see a woman in a burka than a man wearing a yarmulke here.  A bit different from the rest of Israel, I'd say....

Nazareth vs Atenas

The two towns I've had as home bases are quite different, leading to very different experiences and relationships with each.

•Nazareth is a much larger city, with acclaimed restaurants, bars (sort of), a huge shopping mall, and pretty much any knick-knack you could think of.  We were able to find a guitar and a capo in one of the jumbled shops.  That would've been left for a shopping trip to San Jose in Costa Rica.

Plus, as there's more to do in town, it leads to staying out/getting to bed later, and it's harder to force yourself to get out of town.  Sort of.

•While Nazareth is no tourist hot spot akin to Jerusalem, it certainly draws more foreigners than the sleepy town of Atenas did.  So not only do you meet more travelers in day-to-day activities (working in a hostel helps that, too...), but the majority of the locals speak English.

•Nazareth's layout is way more confusing than that of Atenas.  After one day of exploration (and yes, getting lost) in Atenas, I had the geography of the town down pat.  Here, not only are the Old City streets super twisty and confusing, but once I get a bit away from the Old City I'm completely in unknown territory.  I really only venture through the Old City, the restaurant district, the path to the top of Mount of Precipice, and the part of the Jesus Trail that doubles as my running route... anything outside of that sphere, and I could be on Mars. A Mars with atmosphere and civilization....

Hostel Work vs Orphanage

I've come to the conclusion that I much prefer the volunteer work I'm doing here in the hostel in Nazareth to helping out in the children's home in Palmares.

•As the local staff I'm interacting with are adults, not only am I making new friends I can talk with, but I'm also meeting people who I can go out with, or who can introduce me to more of the local community of Nazareth.  Kids are cute, but their social lives are pretty bland.

•Along that same vein, I'm meeting just more people in general, as one of the main jobs of working in a hostel is talking with the guests.  Some you just exchange pleasantries with and answer questions, while other you find yourself talking to for hours and going out with after shifts.  I love that!  (Originally I was apprehensive about working in a hostel, as I don't immediately label myself a social butterfly.  But either my self-perception is really off, or traveling/working at the Fauzi has stretched my social ease.  I've found it pleasingly fun and easy to get into conversations with total strangers.  I feel the sociable persona is half a type of act and half genuine until you get to know someone and it's all genuine.  A major plus of this increased comfort in initiating conversations with strangers is I think I've essentially become immune to feeling socially awkward.  It's become so commonplace it barely phases me anymore, haha.)  This work is certainly doing more for my Facebook friends list ;)

Major Differences in this Trip vs the First Four Months of my Gap Year

Just some general other differences I'm too lazy to try and categorize.

•I don't at all speak the national language(s) of Israel.  The Spanish I started out with might have been basic, but it did allow for communication beyond "hello" and "thank you" (the extent of my Arabic... but I'm working on it!).

•I'm supposed to provide all my own food (though we get free breakfast, fruit, cake, and leftovers from the Fauzi, so...) instead of being provided with three home-cooked meals a day.

•There's a much more extreme time difference between the States and Israel than the US and Costa Rica.  Like, eight hours vs one.  Which makes it more difficult to communicate with people back home.

•My schedule changes daily.  No set weekly routines of knowing exactly when I'll be working and when I'll be free.  I guess for all the inconvenience that gives, it also inspires me to be more active in taking day trips and researching locations to visit.

•I'm sharing a room with the other volunteers instead of doing a home-stay.  First extended dorm room experience?

•The hostel work (while in no way difficult) is stuff I've never done before, whereas I felt pretty confident I knew how to entertain children.

•This time abroad I'll be spending equal time volunteering and actively traveling. Instead of just tacking on the traveling at the end (besides weekend trips).

•Since Israel is a bit further from Minnesota, I won't get to see my family at all for these four months. Sadface.

•Going out, getting connections through the hostel and local staff, and being a bit more into exploring the town has led me to be much more immersed in the local community of Nazareth. Which is incredibly fun.

I've loved everything I've done so far, and every place I've traveled.  This "gap year" just keeps getting better and better.

Now I'm off to learn the "Cooking by the Book" remix by Lil Jon.  A farewell request from the lovely Mike Chong.  Parental advisory suggested.

xoxo, Cleome

Atenas- Intro and General Life

I guess it´s about time I posted about the second part of my time {of service} in Costa Rica- I have been here for two weeks (since October 5th) now....

Atenas
So alrighty, I´m now stationed in the small, mountain community of Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica.  The town is one hour west of the capital (San Jose), meaning it´s located nicely in the very center of the country.  The town itself is pretty sleepy and uneventful- there´s exactly one {unpopular} sports bar, one church, one "mercado," and one bus station.  Although if you were looking for shoe stores or dental clinics, Atenas is the place to be.  But I didn´t realize exactly how small it was until I set out my first day here to explore the place, and ended up walking down every street in town in less than two hours.  Definitely a change from the Twin Cities.

While the lack of activity and excitement at first made me hesitant about whether or not I was going to like it here, I´ve decided that the comfort of a small town is a much better place for a home base than some large, crazy city.  Especially after a fun-filled weekend of traveling (<-- more on this later), having a safe, quiet town to return to {and recover in} is quite welcome.  And it´s nice to be able to walk around at night (though, yes, usually with at least one other person), and not feel like I´m going to be molested by every guy I see.  {However, while the guys´ manners here are better than on the beach, or in San Jose, walking around is still always accompanied by whistling/hissing/honking- men in Atenas just don´t feel the need to enter your personal space as much.}

Familia Nueva
So what exactly is my home base like?  Well, I live with Arelis Rodriguez (my "mom" while I´m here) and her two boys, Alejandro (17) and Fernando (almost 16).  They´re a middle-class family who have a house only five minutes from the center of town.  I´ve also gotten acquainted with the grandparents, aunts, cousins, etc., since staying connected with {extended} family is a big thing here.  And interestingly enough, no one in the family really speaks English.  They´ve been having {primarily American} volunteers living with them for at least five years now, but from what it sounds like, there´s always been some communication issues, since most of the volunteers haven´t spoken much Spanish.  They were happily surprised that I could hold at least basic conversations.*  And my Spanish has definitely improved since being here.  I just need to work on verb conjugations and some vocab, and I´m golden.

*Funny story: the first night at dinner, I was sitting at the table alone (having been served first).  The younger brother grabbed his plate and sat down awkwardly next to me, and then looked up and asked in Spanish if anyone else was going to come sit at the table.  When his mom asked why, he replied "So I won´t have to eat alone."  I looked at him pointedly, and said in {halting} Spanish, "You are not alone.  I´m here."  It caught him so off-guard, and everyone started laughing.  He mumbled a sorry to me while looking down at his plate, cheeks red.  He confided to me later that he had no idea I could understand what they were saying.

From speaking with other volunteers about their families- and specifically their host moms- I´ve realized there are two general types: those where the host mom babies the volunteer, and those where the host mom doesn´t.  I´m experiencing the latter; it´s a good thing.  I´ve just come from 18 years of having a mom {I swear, nothing negative is implied here, Mom}, and it´s a nice change (plus what I´m sort of looking for in my year off) to be an essentially independent being.  Arelis is nice and I like her a lot (and she´s a good mom to her boys), but besides cooking and changing my sheets, she lets me take care of my own shit, sola.  Which is just how I want it.   I mean, I´ll soon be traveling entirely alone in Europe, and it´d be a lot harder to visualize taking care of myself  if I´d been under motherly care up until that point.  {I think the reason she´s not a babier is because she´s pretty young (about to turn 33), and still has kids at home, so I in no way represent a chance to have a child living at home again- she´s currently got two.} 

I have my own room upstairs to sleep in, but when I´m at home I generally spend time downstairs in the living room- reading, talking, using the computer, or watching dubbed American movies/over-the-top dramatic Spanish soaps on the TV {which is almost always on}.  Besides the first few days, I haven´t spent too much time at the house.  Generally I´m out volunteering, at the community center through which the volunteer program is run, taking dance/exercise classes, running, or hanging out with the two other volunteers currently living here.

Arrival
Right now, I´ve completely settled into a good routine here, and am really happy with how everything is going- but it wasn´t always like this.  The first three days I was in Atenas, I was miserable.  I felt homesick, awkward, unhappy, uncomfortable, bored, etc.  It was just not a good point in my trip- but I´ve found that´s pretty common of {my} transition periods.

I think I was feeling so down because I´d just come from the turtle project, where I´d gotten familiar with the routine, I had met some great people, and I was having a lot of fun.  Instead, I found myself in a small, boring town {with no beach} where I didn´t know anyone, was living in a home full of strangers who spoke only a foreign language, and {since my time at the orphanage didn´t start until Tuesday, and I arrived Friday afternoon} I had essentially nothing to do all day.  I found myself doubting my decision to stay in one place for a whole two months- a lifetime, considering I´d only done a little over two weeks at the turtle place.  Plus, I could finally make contact with my family (and friends) through email, facebook, and Skype, and I suddenly felt an overwhelming need to speak with my family, and hear their voices.  

But luckily, literally the day after I Skyped with the fam for my first time ever {a horrendous ordeal... long story short, bad internet connection + confusion about whether or not to press the microphone button on the headset when speaking = major frustration/possible tears}, it all changed for the better.  I had my orientation with the volunteer coordinator, was given a mini tour of the town, met both Lindsay and Dean {which was an amazing experience, considering just learning of their existence filled me with joy, aha}, had my first Spanish class, and went out that night to the sports bar where I ordered my first "legal" beer.  A life-changing day, let me tell you.  And from then on, I´ve been in an extremely positive state of mind.  It´s amazing the difference one day can make {<-- a thought I´ll be storing for later use in Europe}.


{Week}Day in the Life {of an Orphanage Volunteer Living in Atenas, Costa Rica}
This is my general schedule Monday-Friday morning:
5:30am- wake up {usually naturally- it gets light/loud outside early}
6:00- run
7:00- shower, eat breakfast, fill up my water and grab a snack for later
7:45- meet Lindsay {more on her later} and walk to the bus station
8:00- get on the bus to Palmares {where the kids´ home is located}
9:20- arrive at the childrens´ place after a 20 min. walk from the bus stop
9:30-11:40- play with kids!
12:15pm- catch the bus back to Atenas, eat aforementioned snack
1:20- arrive home for lunch, write emails/blog posts, read
2:30- head to the community center Su Espacio with Lindsay for Spanish classes (the first week)/ independent-study (now)
4:30- Spanish studying ends, leave either for home or to the town center {if I need to buy something}
After 4:30- dinner happens sometime between 6 and 7, and some nights I´ll go out to dance/spinning classes, to the sports bar, or out to hang with Lindsay and/or Dean,  Otherwise it´s more writing/reading/relaxing.
8:00-10:00pm- bedtime occurs within this window, on average around 9:00 or 9:30, but last night it was 7:30, and the night before it wasn´t until 11:00 {since I was watching the Costa Rica vs Guyana "futbol" game- veerrryyyy important; luckily they won}
Repeat

The weekends are when the schedule goes out the window, and craziness ensues.  I´ll have to go over those in a different post, haha.

Other {Important} People
Not sure how surprising this is, but I may actually interact more with the two other volunteers stationed here right now than my host family.

Lindsay and Dean are the two other volunteers in Atenas right now, and with whom I´ve been spending lots of time with (especially {as Dean likes to point out, in a total show of FOMO, aka fear of missing out} Lindsay).  They´re both American, in their early 20´s, and pretty cool.  Lindsay is not only volunteering for almost the exact same period of time as me (she´ll be leaving only one week earlier), but she´s also working at the childrens´ home- we´re together a lot.  Dean is teaching English in the community center, and actually only has about 1 1/2 weeks left here in Atenas.  But Lindsay and I traveled with him last weekend, and I´m pretty sure we´ll be doing so again this coming one, so I´ve definitely gotten to know him.  It´s fun having the three of us together- we´ve got a good dynamic going: Dean meets people, who then invite Lindsay and I to go do stuff, and we bring him along.  It´s also become a thing to make fun of him, so Lindsay and I are a little worried about how we´re going to pass the time once he´s gone....

I´m so glad there are those two to hang out with here, because like I learned at the turtle project, it´s the people who really help make an experience.

So yeah, that´s my situation for the past few weeks now.  I´ve officially been in Costa Rica/away from home for more than a month, and I honestly couldn´t tell you whether it feels like I´ve been away for shorter or longer.  My perception of time has gotten so screwed up here.  But however long it´s been, I´m not ready for it to end anytime soon.

Off to a spin class with Lindsay {Dean, feel the FOMO}.

xoxo, Cleome

The Deets: Costa Rica

Pretty much all of my time spent in Costa Rica will involve volunteering.

I chose to volunteer for the first portion of my gap year, because I felt like 
1) I wanted to spend some significant time giving back (but in a really fun way, which is why I decided on a gorgeous location)
2) volunteering in a foreign country is a great way to begin meeting other travelers 
3) you can't aid sea turtle conservation too late into the year, since the turtles aren't physically present at that point, and 
4) by volunteering through a program, I won't be completely left to my own devices just yet (so it'll be a great way to ease into independent traveling).

I'll be volunteering through a program called Institute of Field Research and Expedition (IFRE).

IFRE is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization based in Dallas, Texas, USA. We founded IFRE’s volunteer abroad program in 2005 after realizing the need for safe and affordable volunteer abroad programs. So far, nearly 3000 volunteers have participated in our meaningful volunteer programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

(Source) 

I chose IFRE for a few reasons.  Most importantly, they offered programs that fit my criteria- looked interesting, involved traveling, had a language component (either French or Spanish, since those are the two foreign languages I sort of know), were long term, and didn't cost a fortune to do.  Additionally, when I looked up reviews of different programs, it became apparent that some organizations were pretty sketchy/scam-like.  Luckily, IFRE's reviews sounded legit.  And when I contacted them, they've been very good about prompt communication and personalization of programs.  There of course were tons of other similar options, but I've been happy so far with how accommodating and helpful IFRE has been. 

Here is a closer look at what I'll be doing through IFRE in Costa Rica:
-I'll arrive in the middle of September, and take a boat to Pacuare Beach (on the Northeastern, Caribbean side) to work in sea turtle conservation for about one month.  At the time of my stay, Hawksbill and Green turtles will be the kinds I'll encounter.  

Yeah, Pacuare's the circled area.  

The living situation sounds sort of intense.  It's a pretty remote beach (you have to take a 30 min boat ride to get there, and that only comes twice a week), with sketchy electricity and no running water.  Apparently (hopefully) 10-15 other volunteers will be there at that point, so I'll have potential friends.  We'll be bunking together in rustic cabins with outdoor toilets, yay.  

Besides chatting it up with fellow travelers, volunteers work between four and eight hours each day.  The types of activities I'll be doing include: night patrols on the beach (mainly to keep poachers/predators away?), egg collection, releasing turtles, working in the rescue center, and other manual labor-type stuff that goes along with living on a remote beach.  Oh, and maybe I'll fit some relaxing into that schedule somewhere.  It is a beach after all....

-Then I'll move from saving turtles on the coast to a more centralized, inland location (Atenas, in the Alajuela region) to work in an orphanage for the remaining few months.

I'll be somewhere within that circle.

This time, I'll be living with a Costa Rican host family (!).  I get stuck with to have a few little brothers in my family there, so I probably won't miss my biological sibling too much- just kidding, Ash.  I won't lie, I'm a bit nervous about living with a family that's not my own.  But I'm excited as well; it'll be a great way to throw myself into the culture, language, and (hopefully) make some lasting connections.

Unlike the turtle project, I'll have a good amount of free time for those two months.  I'll be volunteering at the orphanage for only four hours a day, from 8:00-12:00 Monday through Friday.  I guess some time will be taken up by transportation (since the orphanage I'll be volunteering at is actually located in a neighboring village- a 40 min bus ride + a 20 min walk every day).  And I'm hoping to take some Spanish classes.  But otherwise I get the rest of the day to myself... right now I'm hoping I make some good friends that I can hang out with.  Plus I can always read and write and explore the town.

Right.  Now you know roughly as much about the first few months of my walkabout as I do.

xoxo, Cleome