I'm here! After a fairly smooth flight (as smooth as EasyJet gets), I arrived in Tel Aviv to the welcoming arms of Libby and her fantastic parents.
I have only been here a few hours, but so far:
1) I ate life-changing falafel, smothered in tahini and pickled vegetables. It was heaven, and was, according to Libby, just the first of many earth-shattering culinary experiences I'm to have this week.
2) Israel is beautiful. I've only seen it at night, but it's a fascinating mish-mash of cultures and people. That's true of most cities, but it seems even more pronounced here.
3) All of the street signs are written in English, Hebrew and Arabic.
4) Here in Jerusalem all of the buildings have to be built with Jerusalem stone. It's a lot like limestone, and it cools the homes and gives the whole city a serene, white blanket-y look at night.
5) I have already learned a few words in Hebrew, and have attempted (rather sheepishly) to use them. My favorite, and the most commonly used, is "beseder." It's pronounced more like bessedo, and it just means "okay." But it's used in a reassuring tone, and the pronunciation is really comforting, like someone putting an arm around your shoulder.
6) The Israelis are very aggressive. Not in a scary way. The way Libby describes it is that all Israelis treat each other like family, good or bad. That means they will shower you with warmth and hospitality (definitely my experience so far), but they also don't feel the need for polite pretense. They also don't really use lines. If you want something (whether it's falafel or getting off a plane), you just have to push forward and get it for yourself. I'm putting my game face on for the week ahead!
Libby is shaping up to be the tour guide to beat all tour guides, and tomorrow we have a jam-packed day planned, starting with Indiana Jones-esque exploration of the Old City, including the Wailing Wall.
It's going to be an amazing week!
Hope your week's off to a good start, too!
Love,
Jess
Monday, December 13, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
I predict a riot! Or a flash mob...
I'm cured! It's a Christmas miracle! Or maybe my one-woman anti-scurvy campaign paid off.
Either way, I was feeling good enough today to head to Camden Market with some great girls, where I experienced the first of several bouts of nostalgia--it's Christmas!
side note: "It's Christmas!" is an excuse that Liz and I have adopted as a way to make ourselves feel better about everything from procrastination to extra glasses of wine to gluttonous crepe consumption. I was always subconsciously using this, but it feels good to acknowledge it aloud!
Anyway, we cruised around the stalls for some delicious dinner, and after nearly being swayed by dim sum, curry and churros (not all together), I chose this delicious seafood paella:
Made me nostalgic for the table-sized paella that Margaret, Libby, Genevieve and I consumed when we visited Madrid.
After our delicious meal, I scooted off to meet up with several other former dancers to see the English National Ballet's production of The Nutcracker.
I ate fancy ice cream. In a gorgeous theater. And talked ballet (Did you see that developpe? Look at those cabrioles!) with more great girls. Perfection.
Check out this amazing theater:
This made me nostalgic for Katerina, because she's a beautiful dancer, and for the time we all went to the symphony, because I remember feeling the same (premature?) sense of maturity and class.
The flash mob thing comes in now. Remember yesterday when I made that flash mob reference about how many tissues I bought? If you don't, that means you didn't read my blog yesterday, but don't worry because a) I'll never know b) you can just scroll down and c) it was written in delirium so you're really not missing much at all.
Anyway, some of you inquired as to what a flash mob is. A flash mob, according to the Wizard of Oz (I mean Wikipedia) is "a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual act for a brief time, then disperse."
This is possibly my favorite flash mob of all time.
So now that everyone's on the same page, I'm happy to report that after we left the ballet tonight we saw the remnants of a flash mob!
On our way to the Tube we passed by Leicester Square and overheard these raucous santas, I'm assuming left over from this Santa flash mob that happened in Trafalgar Square earlier today.
Aren't they cute?
Well, these were, but the ones we encountered right outside the ballet were drunk as skunks and fairly crude. Let's just say they made requests that I will not stoop to repeat on this semi-family-friendly blog.
Thankfully, the ones in Leicester Square (though also drunk as skunks) were totally harmless. You'd think they would be singing Christmas carols, but surprisingly they chose Singin' in the Rain as their rallying cry.
No, not the classy Gene Kelly version, but the camp version.
If any of you clicked that link, I apologize for subjecting you to singing almost as tone-deaf as my own.
That song made me miss Girls State, particularly Ellen's fearless song-leading (n.b. she has a wonderful singing voice). Nostalgia trifecta complete!
***
On top of heading to Oslo in January, some friends and I decided to take further advantage of Ryanair's super cheap January specials and head to Dublin, too! It's going to be a crazy month!
Tomorrow I have hours of mundane stuff before I fly to Israel to visit Libby on Monday (!!!!!!!!!), but the light at the end of the tunnel is that I'm going to see Somewhere (more trailers!) at Screen on the Green tomorrow night.
Screen on the Green is a local gem of an independent cinema where you get to sit on couches instead of in weird movie theater seats. I'm pumped.
Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!
Love,
Jess
Either way, I was feeling good enough today to head to Camden Market with some great girls, where I experienced the first of several bouts of nostalgia--it's Christmas!
side note: "It's Christmas!" is an excuse that Liz and I have adopted as a way to make ourselves feel better about everything from procrastination to extra glasses of wine to gluttonous crepe consumption. I was always subconsciously using this, but it feels good to acknowledge it aloud!
Anyway, we cruised around the stalls for some delicious dinner, and after nearly being swayed by dim sum, curry and churros (not all together), I chose this delicious seafood paella:
Made me nostalgic for the table-sized paella that Margaret, Libby, Genevieve and I consumed when we visited Madrid.
After our delicious meal, I scooted off to meet up with several other former dancers to see the English National Ballet's production of The Nutcracker.
I ate fancy ice cream. In a gorgeous theater. And talked ballet (Did you see that developpe? Look at those cabrioles!) with more great girls. Perfection.
Check out this amazing theater:
This made me nostalgic for Katerina, because she's a beautiful dancer, and for the time we all went to the symphony, because I remember feeling the same (premature?) sense of maturity and class.
The flash mob thing comes in now. Remember yesterday when I made that flash mob reference about how many tissues I bought? If you don't, that means you didn't read my blog yesterday, but don't worry because a) I'll never know b) you can just scroll down and c) it was written in delirium so you're really not missing much at all.
Anyway, some of you inquired as to what a flash mob is. A flash mob, according to the Wizard of Oz (I mean Wikipedia) is "a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual act for a brief time, then disperse."
This is possibly my favorite flash mob of all time.
So now that everyone's on the same page, I'm happy to report that after we left the ballet tonight we saw the remnants of a flash mob!
On our way to the Tube we passed by Leicester Square and overheard these raucous santas, I'm assuming left over from this Santa flash mob that happened in Trafalgar Square earlier today.
Aren't they cute?
Well, these were, but the ones we encountered right outside the ballet were drunk as skunks and fairly crude. Let's just say they made requests that I will not stoop to repeat on this semi-family-friendly blog.
Thankfully, the ones in Leicester Square (though also drunk as skunks) were totally harmless. You'd think they would be singing Christmas carols, but surprisingly they chose Singin' in the Rain as their rallying cry.
No, not the classy Gene Kelly version, but the camp version.
If any of you clicked that link, I apologize for subjecting you to singing almost as tone-deaf as my own.
That song made me miss Girls State, particularly Ellen's fearless song-leading (n.b. she has a wonderful singing voice). Nostalgia trifecta complete!
***
On top of heading to Oslo in January, some friends and I decided to take further advantage of Ryanair's super cheap January specials and head to Dublin, too! It's going to be a crazy month!
Tomorrow I have hours of mundane stuff before I fly to Israel to visit Libby on Monday (!!!!!!!!!), but the light at the end of the tunnel is that I'm going to see Somewhere (more trailers!) at Screen on the Green tomorrow night.
Screen on the Green is a local gem of an independent cinema where you get to sit on couches instead of in weird movie theater seats. I'm pumped.
Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!
Love,
Jess
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Blurgh, or should I say lurg?
Today I stayed in all day, aside from a trip to Sainsbury's to buy enough tissues to make the clerk think I was planning some avant-garde flash mob.
Still sick, but the benefit of this illness is advancing my fluency in British by adding another local term: lurgy.
Apparently this is the colloquial moniker for the super-cold plaguing myself and several others on my course.
I am in love with this word, namely because it's so phonetically accurate. Indeed, I feel very lurgy.
Noun and adjective? Such versatility!
***
Other exciting things that happened today:
1. I consumed my fifth carton of orange juice in only 2.5 days. For one feverish deranged second, I panicked because I couldn't remember if scurvy is caused by an overdose of vitamin C or a deficiency. I'm an idiot; obviously it's the latter. Thank you, Wikipedia.
2. I'm going to Norway for only 6 GBP! That's about $9. I'm going in January, which is going to be about as cold as Iowa, but I don't care about the temperature because I've been wanting to see the Vigeland sculptures in Frogner Park since the first time I saw a picture several years ago. Thank you, Ryanair!
***
Need a good cry? Not really in the mood to cry but still want to read an incredibly well-told story?
The Washington Post published this story yesterday and it's tragically beautiful. Also a really creative way to merge social media and journalism. If your subject isn't around to tell you her story in her own words, why not turn to networking sites (with permission, of course).
Makes me think about what kind of story each of us is leaving behind.
***
For a happier ending, another video!
Check out this cool series of commercials from MSNBC's rebranding campaign. It's no secret they've always pushed the progressive agenda, but I respect the fact that at least they're being up front about it.
Hope your Friday was lurgy-free!
Love,
Jess
Friday, December 10, 2010
Protests, Pastries and Penguins
Okay, this post actually doesn't have much to do with penguins, but I prefer alliteration in threes and I LOVE penguins.
As for the protests though, yes, they are happening here but I am not involved in them nor am I covering them. I really appreciate all of the e-mails I've been receiving asking if I'm okay, but rest assured that even though students from City are participating, the actual demonstrations are taking place far from my university.
Several of my colleagues have been covering the protests, and aside from a few lost phones, everyone has stayed safe. For excellent coverage, I recommend following my colleague Sarah on Twitter. She does a great job of incorporating multimedia.
London is an interesting place to be right now. To be fair, it always is, but with the student protests and Wikileaks, there's a lot of global news coming out of this city at the moment.
The Frontline Club, the journalism hub where I spent the midterm elections and have attended several interesting debates, issued a statement this week revealing that they have acted as a safe haven for Julian Assange for the last several months.
Though my personal impression of Assange was hardly favorable, the idea of Wikileaks as a form of journalism is now unavoidable, and it will be fascinating to see how it evolves in the face of Assange's arrest and such international backlash.
***
In other news (the kind related to my life and far less consequential than the aforementioned), tonight was another fantastic night. I learned how to make authentic french crepes, and though my first attempt was fairly pathetic, after the second crepe I was flipping with panache. So much fun!
Unfortunately, I only have photographic evidence of the crepe failure, because the rest were so good I got caught up in the moment and ate them.
Crepe fail:
Additionally, Clem (my french crepe guru/friend) has picked up on the fact that I often say "jeepers." She asked Liz what this meant, and Liz sent her a web link to a definition. Apparently she really liked it and is incorporating it into her vocabulary, along with other Americanisms she asked us for like "get it girl" and "good call."
In exchange, I am trying to pick up french slang. So far I'm working on "ca dechire," which Clem says is the french "jeepers" equivalent.
***
Finally, since I blogged/whined earlier today about being sick, things have started looking up, namely because I love sentimental videos. Some of you (you know who you are) have accused me of being incapable of real-life sentiment, but if that's the case then I make up for synthetically-inspired emotion ten-fold.
The one that's really getting me at the moment is Google's recently released Year in Google Searches.
It makes me nostalgic for this one, which legitimately made me well up in the middle of a New York City bar during the Super Bowl.
Which is almost as embarrassing as when I got weepy after watching this British Christmas commercial at Allister's aunt's house.
Finally, I love movie trailers, and am especially excited about this one. It's been out for awhile in the US, but I'm going to have to wait until January to see it here in the UK. Another movie that glamorizes the life of an overworked journalist? I'm in.
Plus I'm a sucker for a montage and Harrison Ford.
***
p.s. I said there wouldn't be penguins but I changed my mind! Last feel-good video of this post goes to Ralph, the bald penguin at Marwell Wildlife Center here in the UK. Apparently he was the alpha penguin until he lost all his hair. The lady penguins were giving him the cold shoulder until Ralph Lauren (yes the Polo guy) designed him a neoprene suit and then voila! he was back on top! My goal is to see him in person this spring. Swoon.
Happy Friday!
Love,
Jess
As for the protests though, yes, they are happening here but I am not involved in them nor am I covering them. I really appreciate all of the e-mails I've been receiving asking if I'm okay, but rest assured that even though students from City are participating, the actual demonstrations are taking place far from my university.
Several of my colleagues have been covering the protests, and aside from a few lost phones, everyone has stayed safe. For excellent coverage, I recommend following my colleague Sarah on Twitter. She does a great job of incorporating multimedia.
London is an interesting place to be right now. To be fair, it always is, but with the student protests and Wikileaks, there's a lot of global news coming out of this city at the moment.
The Frontline Club, the journalism hub where I spent the midterm elections and have attended several interesting debates, issued a statement this week revealing that they have acted as a safe haven for Julian Assange for the last several months.
Though my personal impression of Assange was hardly favorable, the idea of Wikileaks as a form of journalism is now unavoidable, and it will be fascinating to see how it evolves in the face of Assange's arrest and such international backlash.
***
In other news (the kind related to my life and far less consequential than the aforementioned), tonight was another fantastic night. I learned how to make authentic french crepes, and though my first attempt was fairly pathetic, after the second crepe I was flipping with panache. So much fun!
Unfortunately, I only have photographic evidence of the crepe failure, because the rest were so good I got caught up in the moment and ate them.
Crepe fail:
Additionally, Clem (my french crepe guru/friend) has picked up on the fact that I often say "jeepers." She asked Liz what this meant, and Liz sent her a web link to a definition. Apparently she really liked it and is incorporating it into her vocabulary, along with other Americanisms she asked us for like "get it girl" and "good call."
In exchange, I am trying to pick up french slang. So far I'm working on "ca dechire," which Clem says is the french "jeepers" equivalent.
***
Finally, since I blogged/whined earlier today about being sick, things have started looking up, namely because I love sentimental videos. Some of you (you know who you are) have accused me of being incapable of real-life sentiment, but if that's the case then I make up for synthetically-inspired emotion ten-fold.
The one that's really getting me at the moment is Google's recently released Year in Google Searches.
It makes me nostalgic for this one, which legitimately made me well up in the middle of a New York City bar during the Super Bowl.
Which is almost as embarrassing as when I got weepy after watching this British Christmas commercial at Allister's aunt's house.
Finally, I love movie trailers, and am especially excited about this one. It's been out for awhile in the US, but I'm going to have to wait until January to see it here in the UK. Another movie that glamorizes the life of an overworked journalist? I'm in.
Plus I'm a sucker for a montage and Harrison Ford.
***
p.s. I said there wouldn't be penguins but I changed my mind! Last feel-good video of this post goes to Ralph, the bald penguin at Marwell Wildlife Center here in the UK. Apparently he was the alpha penguin until he lost all his hair. The lady penguins were giving him the cold shoulder until Ralph Lauren (yes the Polo guy) designed him a neoprene suit and then voila! he was back on top! My goal is to see him in person this spring. Swoon.
Happy Friday!
Love,
Jess
Thursday, December 9, 2010
List!
Life updates in list form (because there aren't many, they're fairly mundane, but I'm trying to keep my promise to blog!)
1. I am sick. This time it's a little more serious than my man-flu circa October 2010 but I'm not dying or anything. Just really disruptive in the library with my honking and hacking. Yes, I'm incredibly attractive and mucus-y right now. Oh, were you eating? I'm sorry!
2. In my endless quest to obtain a British debit card, I went in for my bajillionth round of arguments with Barclays yesterday. Sensing that I was on the brink of utter despair, the teller chose to make a highly unoriginal joke about my last name, something about how funny it was that I have been thus far unABEL to get a debit card. I tried to chuckle through the tears.
3. Some friends and I went to see the band Interpol, which was a fantastic concert!
That was kind of a short list, but aside from that I've mainly just been catching up on work and chugging orange juice.
AMENDMENT: Upon review, I realize that list was 66.6% complaints. Not acceptable. London is chilly but beautiful right now, and I'm in the middle of a very work-hard, play-hard week, so I really shouldn't have any complaints at all! Plus, everything is uber-Christmasy here right now.
Tonight I'm getting together with some girls to watch Gossip Girl and the best Christmas movie ever made, Elf. Margaret, you are going to be sorely missed but I'm sure we'll have a repeat viewing when I'm home (soon!). On top of that, my french friend Clementine is making crepes.
That post may have been 66.6% complaints, but life is 110% great!
(Math was never my forte.)
Love,
Jess
1. I am sick. This time it's a little more serious than my man-flu circa October 2010 but I'm not dying or anything. Just really disruptive in the library with my honking and hacking. Yes, I'm incredibly attractive and mucus-y right now. Oh, were you eating? I'm sorry!
2. In my endless quest to obtain a British debit card, I went in for my bajillionth round of arguments with Barclays yesterday. Sensing that I was on the brink of utter despair, the teller chose to make a highly unoriginal joke about my last name, something about how funny it was that I have been thus far unABEL to get a debit card. I tried to chuckle through the tears.
3. Some friends and I went to see the band Interpol, which was a fantastic concert!
That was kind of a short list, but aside from that I've mainly just been catching up on work and chugging orange juice.
AMENDMENT: Upon review, I realize that list was 66.6% complaints. Not acceptable. London is chilly but beautiful right now, and I'm in the middle of a very work-hard, play-hard week, so I really shouldn't have any complaints at all! Plus, everything is uber-Christmasy here right now.
Tonight I'm getting together with some girls to watch Gossip Girl and the best Christmas movie ever made, Elf. Margaret, you are going to be sorely missed but I'm sure we'll have a repeat viewing when I'm home (soon!). On top of that, my french friend Clementine is making crepes.
That post may have been 66.6% complaints, but life is 110% great!
(Math was never my forte.)
Love,
Jess
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Christmas Party!
My course had a Christmas party tonight, and I am blogging at 12:30 a.m. This is how committed I am to this pre-New Years resolution!
Tonight was actually one of the best nights ever. No exaggeration. My colleagues are amazing. I can only hope that you had a night that was just as wonderful.
So much love from London. I am so lucky.
Love,
Jess
Tonight was actually one of the best nights ever. No exaggeration. My colleagues are amazing. I can only hope that you had a night that was just as wonderful.
So much love from London. I am so lucky.
Love,
Jess
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sigh of relief--now Christmas!
You know how some people have blogs and every post starts with an apology for the inexcusable time lapse between posts?
This has become one of those blogs.
But not for long! Because my pre-New Years resolution is to never ever let such a lag happen again!
(In case you were wondering, I plan to resolve to do something else (life?) better on actual New Years. Some of us just need more than one resolution.)
Because I am such a slacker, I hardly know where to begin with what happened over the past week. Mostly I was engulfed in schoolwork, since our term ended Friday.
However, OUR TERM ENDED FRIDAY!!!!!
So I managed to do some fun things in between. Here is a sample in photos!
Visiting the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park--full of delicious German food, ice skating, creepy Santa statues and an animatronic moose that speaks German and sings George Michael tunes.
(thanks for the photo, Niall!)
Presenting to the Barking Rotary club--a lovely group (as all Rotarians are!)
Cupcakes from Hummingbird Bakery while Christmas shopping on Portobello Road. Many of you have astutely pointed out that I mainly blog about food. Are you surprised?
Oooh! Another food picture! This was my first kebab. A momentous occasion. Clearly I hated it :)
That is just a little tiny morsel of the chaos that was my life for the past ten days or so, but I promise I will be a more devoted blogger from here on out! (To be fair, I warned you about my commitment issues from the outset).
I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and is gearing up for a wonderful holiday season!
Love,
Jess
This has become one of those blogs.
But not for long! Because my pre-New Years resolution is to never ever let such a lag happen again!
(In case you were wondering, I plan to resolve to do something else (life?) better on actual New Years. Some of us just need more than one resolution.)
Because I am such a slacker, I hardly know where to begin with what happened over the past week. Mostly I was engulfed in schoolwork, since our term ended Friday.
However, OUR TERM ENDED FRIDAY!!!!!
So I managed to do some fun things in between. Here is a sample in photos!
Visiting the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park--full of delicious German food, ice skating, creepy Santa statues and an animatronic moose that speaks German and sings George Michael tunes.
(thanks for the photo, Niall!)
Presenting to the Barking Rotary club--a lovely group (as all Rotarians are!)
Cupcakes from Hummingbird Bakery while Christmas shopping on Portobello Road. Many of you have astutely pointed out that I mainly blog about food. Are you surprised?
Oooh! Another food picture! This was my first kebab. A momentous occasion. Clearly I hated it :)
That is just a little tiny morsel of the chaos that was my life for the past ten days or so, but I promise I will be a more devoted blogger from here on out! (To be fair, I warned you about my commitment issues from the outset).
I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and is gearing up for a wonderful holiday season!
Love,
Jess
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)