I wrote some of this blog entry while sitting next to the Sea of Galilee. It’s getting closer to sunset, and it’s sunny and warm, but breezy. I have to hold on to the pages of my notebook while writing so they don’t fly up and over my hand.

I'm writing quickly so I can get this posted. Please forgive my typos and mistakes!

A couple of random things I forgot to mention before. One thing I noticed in Tel-Aviv that I really liked is that women of all shapes and sizes wore bikinis on the beach, and that seemed perfectly fine here. I didn’t feel any weird competitive vibe between women or that people judged you for how you look at all. That was nice. Also, I’m really into a snack food I found called Bamba. It's like Smart Puffs, only instead of cheese there’s peanut butter instead. They are yummy and filling, not to mention a good source of protein, which I find, surprisingly, I’m lacking here at times.

I really enjoyed visiting Haifa, and I think I liked it even better than Tel-Aviv. It’s smaller with lots of great hills overlooking the ocean. We visited with some NGOs and saw the Bahai Gardens. The gardens are touted as one of the most beautiful in the world, and it really is pretty perfect, and perfectly symmetrical, but I find that kind of perfection too much almost. I like chaotic beauty a whole lot more. Also, they weren't very nice there. It's too bad, since I appreciate the Bahai belief system.

While in Haifa, I also saw friend Jason who made my life ten times better by handing off his digital camera to me. He and his brother and cousin picked me up and took me to dinner at a place where I could have something to eat other than falafel and hummus. I was so happy and will be forever grateful to them for indulging me in delicious food, even though they’d already eaten, and a discussion about religion. I love talking about religion, but I find that not very many people at home want to discuss it much. Here it’s so much a part of life that I notice most people are completely at ease and willing to talk about it. It was fascinating hearing about their beliefs and the culture here from their perspective (they’re Arabs). After dinner we went for a walk on the beach, and it was just fun to spend time with someone from home for a bit.

So, I wanted to talk a little bit about the educational system in Israel, because I find it so interesting. There is no separation between church and state here, and the Israeli government has come up with a core curriculum that is taught in three different school systems: secular, orthodox, and Arab. The basic curriculum is then adapted to a specific community, but there are issues, such as the ultra-orthodox have little interest in learning things like literature. Also, while Hebrew is required of course, my understanding is the Arabic is not so much. I’m sure you can imagine some of the other conflicts that come up with a Jewish-oriented curriculum.

There are 1.5 million K-12 kids and about 53,450 classrooms, which means 35-40 kids in a class. The computer to student ratio is Israel is 1:20 (compare to 1:3 in the US), and less than 2% of classrooms have things like projectors, wireless, and sound systems, although 75% of households in Israel have internet. The majority of textbook production is actually handled by an NGO called the Center for Educational Technology. We met with them and learned about the work they do to make textbooks more accurate and fitting for all the communities they serve. Before a textbook is published, it must go through an approval process with the Ministry of Education. In addition to textbooks, they have created a bunch of really cool online educational tools. For example, they’ve partnered with Google to create applications for Google Earth that add layers of information to the program. One they showed us marks all the places in the world where human rights are being violated. Another program they showed us is psoookim.com, which is actually a Facebook application, too, and users can upload content to the program. As you scroll through biblical text, pictures and links pop up that are related to that particular section. In our demo, we got to see Matt Bar “The Jewish Rapper” do a little rap about the creation story on YouTube. I recommend checking out the CET site.

From a meeting with another NGO, I’m disturbed by the plight of the migrant worker in Israel. There are over 100,000 illegal and 80,000 legal migrants in the state. Their situation isn’t very good. Often, they pay a hefty fee to an employment agency to come to Israel to work, and some agencies trick them by taking their money and then claiming that they never showed up etc, etc, when actually they did show up and are now here illegally due to that claim. Because of Israel’s concern with demographics, the government doesn’t want the migrant worker settling here permanently. They have very few rights and are often not informed of the rights they do have. If a woman shows up here pregnant or with children, she has to leave. If an employee decides to quit his/her job due to mistreatment, he/she immediately becomes an illegal and will be deported. At times the government will simultaneously issue orders to deport thousands of migrants and grant permits to bring in thousands more. They don’t want the migrants settling here, but they like the cheap labor and money-making opportunities they provide.

Essentially, the migrant workers are “invisible” here. Typically they earn way below minimum wage and maybe receive basic health care. They don’t know what rights they do have when they arrive, so often they are clueless about even minor ways to make their situation better. As part of our visit with the NGO we toured their neighborhood near the old bus station around 9-10pm. It was interesting because this is also the prostitution district in Tel-Aviv, so we walked by brothel after sex shop after brothel to get to the area where the migrant workers live. They didn’t like us being there, and doors and shades would close as we walked by. In spots, the streets smelled strongly of urine, and we passed a woman smoking crack in a doorway. Also, we saw men coming out of those and heading off to their nice cars or motorcycles, and the whole thing was a bit, well, sickening to me.

In the migrant’s areas it was a different story. It was an obviously poor area, but it still felt very bustling and alive in its own way. At the end there was a large city park with bright lights and a children’s playing area in the middle. At 10pm the grass was full of groups, mostly men, sitting and talking, and the children’s play area was packed with kids and parents. Kids were laughing and shouting from the jungle gym and swings. It was a very memorable experience, and I know I won’t ever forget it. But, it’s tough in the way that once you know something you can’t un-know it. Ultimately this is a good thing, but now I feel some social responsibility and like I want to do something to help make it better, even if that is in the States.

OK, I have tons more to say, but this post is already way too long, and it’s time for bed. In my next installment (har har), I want to talk religion, which, as I mentioned above, is one of my favorite topics. I have a lot to say about my experience here so far and how my feelings about religion have been affected by this visit. I shall return with more soon.

Today we move on to Jerusalem.