Bruin Camp 2012
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Author Archives: Daniel
Bruin Camp Video Clips
Bruin Camp 2012
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Have to Get Through Us
Huge Heart
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Brotherly Love
Father’s Day
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2013-06-21 20:21:00
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Fathers Day Apology
2013-06-22 03:46:44
2013-06-22 04:24:50
2013-06-22 04:27:32
2013-06-22 04:32:22
2013-06-22 04:42:39
2013-06-22 04:47:11Monthly Annecdotes
Bruin Camp 2012
Happy Father’s Day
We headed out of town on fathers day,
That’s pretty rude of us I’d have to say.
We thought we’d take this time,
To try and make it better.
We’re very glad you came here to see this place,
Putting a smile on every face,
And we’re a hoping for mommy,
That her present was good enough.
Sorry dad we left on fathers day,
Sorry daddy that we went away
Heyyyyy sorry daddy
Sorry dad for leaving you like that
Sorry dad shoulda got you a hat
Heyyyyy love you daddy
My sister said shed take care of that,
So really it’s her fault you didn’t get the hat.
And I assure you the letter was lost by the careless mailman
If you really think about it were not to blame,
Really its the schedule that is kinda lame.
Don’t forget training weekend was on mothers day.
Let’s be real we left to have some fun,
Our degrees don’t matter here to anyone
Heyyyyyy aren’t you proud daddy.
We left you dad to make kibbles and bits,
But if we came late Dylan would have thrown a fit.
Heyyyyyyy Dylan makes the schedule.
Sorry dad we left on fathers day,
Sorry daddy that we went away
Heyyyyy sorry daddy
Sorry for leaving you like that
Sorry dad shoulda got you a hat
Heyyyyy love you daddy
Passover 2012 Give or Take a Month
Delegates of Friendship
Israel is being demonized and a pariah state and Jewish students are experiencing a rise in acts of intimidation and bullying. The cause is the Palestinian issue, the means are based on ignorance, intolerance and stirring of emotions with little regard to the facts. Israeli supporters are being prevented from speaking, while Israel is being portrayed as a racist radical nation. I will be transferring to UCLA in the fall, and would like to do the best I can to bring a different perspective to the campus. Why do I qualify? Why do I think I can bring a credible message? Why would people listen to me?
I was born and raised in the US by Israeli parents. I have deep roots in the US, and strong ties to Israel. My older sisters live there, I have childhood friends who grew up with me in CA and have moved back. I have visited many times; I even spent half my freshman high school year in Israel. I want to share the experiences of my last visit with you, to show you the side of Israel that I think more people need to see and hear about from people who have been there.
I just got back from a month in Israel, where I visited my sisters. One of them asked me to join her for a weekend where she and a group of college students run a house for handicapped children and teenagers. It is called Beit Hagalgalim (the house of wheels). The house is located in Kibutz Urim, between Beer-Sheva and the Gaza Strip. From hearing the news you would think it’s the war zone, but life is completely normal. I have to admit that at first I was surprised to see that the shelter is open to Jewish and Arab children. To them being together is no different than the melting pot that my high school in Sunnyvale California was. Why do our campuses have to be different? We played soccer carrying the children on our backs. Muhamad or Nurit – it did not matter. It did not matter when I helped them feed themselves or when we huddled around the circle, the kids cuddling close to us. Just children, teenagers, Jewish Israelis, Israeli Arabs, Bedouins, so close, so similar, was there any difference worth speaking of? They all needed help getting into their beds at night and getting out of bed in the morning. Their parents expressed the same gratitude, and we felt just as gratified – a child doesn’t seem to have a race – is that so hard to accept? The counselors I worked with are students in Israeli universities. They have served in the military and could be called up to serve at any moment. Does that make them war mongers? They hardly talk about their military service, but its part them, part of serving their country, part of defending themselves, assuring that we have a place we can call home without the risk of prosecution. It is ironical how this wave of blind rage and hatred, which is seething in the campuses could be used to illustrate this point.
During the week I spent my time in my sister’s apartment in Jerusalem. Looking from her porch I could see the southern neighborhoods of Jerusalem which border with the city of Bethlehem, where the church of the Nativity is located. In the evening we would walk down to the pubs along the old railway. The night life is lively, loud and peaceful. There is no sense of danger, except maybe losing your parking space if you are not quick enough to claim it. The restaurants are busy, the food is wonderful, the waiters mind your own business, telling you what you should avoid – not a word about conflict, or war, just life, making the best it can of hot summer night. If anything it’s the calm that unnerving in a way. Doesn’t anyone care about what Israelis call the ‘matzav’ (situation)? This is how Israelis refer to everything that is happening in the Middle East. ‘Sure we care, but how many times can you say that two states are the solution, when you have people like the leader of Iran whose agenda is to annihilate Israel?’ Makes you wonder, how far should a nation go, to put its own citizen at risk for the well being of another people? How far can Israel move back from the Jordan valley before the international airport is within range the simplest mortars and short range missiles? Is there anyway that Israel can allow the West Bank not to be demilitarized? Will Californians living in the Silicon Valley allow a hostile nation put artillery batteries in the Santa Cruz hills? Why should Israel give back the Golan Heights, back to a ruthless dictator who is now slaughtering his own people because they want to be free?
Jerusalem is old, more than three thousand years. You can see its age in the tunnels beneath the Wailing Wall. All the world sees are the Mosques which were built on top of where the Jewish temples stood, when history that preceded them by more than one thousand years is hidden from site. Yes, Jerusalem is old, very old, so it needs to go to sleep at night. Tel Aviv is another story, known world wide for being a twenty four hour city that never sleeps. Yet somehow people are back to work in the morning building some of the world’s most sophisticated high tech inventions, at Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Google, SAP and many more. Is this the face of a warring nation? People talk about work, curse each other on the road, use only two cell phones simultaneously because the second hand is holding the ice coffee. They take their children to school in the morning, rush home from work to spend some time with them in the evening and somehow find the time to enjoy pubs and nightclubs and museums and theaters and concerts and movies and restaurants or just a midnight stroll on the beach front.
Yes, there are bigger issues. The question of two states for two people – but how many people know that there are peace plans which have worked out the streets and the side of the border where each will reside. Why isn’t the discussion about these plans? There are questions of international law – but most people have no idea that Israel did not conquer the West Bank because it never belonged to Jordan. Few people know that the West Bank is no different from other disputed territories in the world, and should be discussed as such. The dispute does not make Israel a rogue state; it does not nullify its right to exist. Israelis are not a nation of war mongers and Israelis do not hate Arabs. People just want to live and let live. Ignorance is acid eating away at public opinion. There is a lot of work that needs to be done, and I would like to help. I have first hand experiences; I can bring credibility to the table. I want to hold my head up high on campus, and make sure that no Jew or Israeli has to hide because they believe that Israel has a right to exist, and the only genocidal states in the region are the ones calling for Israel’s annihilation.
Italy 2011 אטליה
Nothing Rhymes With Cinque Terre
Roaming in Rome 2011 רומא
Spain – Farewell Salamanca
Things I heard before I came to Salamanca:
- 3 months is not enough time to study abroad, yet anything after 6 months gets difficult.
- Anyone who has heard of Salamanca—only 5 or so people–before told me it was the most amazing city they have ever been to.
- College town
- Beautiful plaza
- Delicious food
- Do not say no to anything, given that the question or invitation was rational and safe.
- Make local friends and immerse yourself in the culture
- You’ll miss home, but take solace in the fact that home misses you more.
- There’s something magical about people around age 20, you’ll see that everyone you meet abroad that’s travelling will have more or less the same attitude as you.
- Go enjoy yourself, party, meet new people, explore the world, oh and learn something too while you’re at it.
- 99% of the book that my dad wrote me before I left.
Before I came here most of these words of wisdom, did not make any sense. I politely smiled and nodded along as people gave me their spiel above what to expect or how to behave. However, it did not take long at all before I realized that although my experience is unique, as is everyone else’s, there are all encompassing recommendations that can apply to everyone much like the ones that have resonated with my that I expressed above. Here is what I have learned and what I advise after going on this trip. This is an addition to the quotes above, not instead of:
- If you are even slightly considering studying abroad, do it.
- Do what you want to do not what you think other people want you to do
- Keep in touch with everyone from home, but do not let it interfere with events abroad. The people who matter will not raise an eyebrow if you do not talk to them for a couple of days.
- Get off Facebook
- Never pass on an opportunity because you are too tired or lazy, it’s a horrible excuse that you will regret
- You always regret what you could have done but did not.
- Travel light, its okay to wear a shirt 3-4 times before you wash it, and yes this is Osmo talking 🙂
- Do not rush from place to place just to be able to say you’ve been there, it is MUCH more enjoyable to experience one place to the fullest.
- Do not take taxis, you will miss out on the aesthetics.
- Write a blog, or a journal, its easy to blur events together and forget the importance of each individual one.
- Take pictures, but not 2394893 of them, its more powerful to just stand and take in the scenery rather than watch it through a lens.
- Pictures will rarely do justice to the scene itself, they are a mere reminder of where you were in order to evoke the emotion you felt at the time of the picture.
- Nothing should be difficult, just have fun.
I’m not saying goodbye yet and I’m leaving this blog open ended just in case I remember any more words of advice. I’m not saying bye mostly because I am not ready but also because I still have a month and a half of travelling to do. This is only goodbye to the academic requirement blogs but say hello to the free will blogs.
P.S. my brother just left and as much as I am excited to see England, Scotland, Italy, Paris, and Israel, I cannot help but also be excited to go home. This is not to say that I am not enjoying myself, this is just a hint of homesickness kicking in.
Spain Eighth Week – Morocco
For this weeks blog I want to share with you guys my trip to Morocco. Upon arrival I received an email from my dad who strongly recommended, in fact seemingly demanded for my own benefit, that I write down everything that happened in a little notebook and type it up when I get back. I took this incredible advice and every time we got back to our room in the Riad I jotted down anything memorable that I occurred. In bold is exactly what I wrote down and everything else is an elaboration of the descriptions:
As my dad advised, I took some notes:
Day 1
-Culture Shock, redefined term. – The culture in Morocco, or in the old city of Marrakesh I should say as that is the only place we observed, is like nothing I have ever seen before. In the main square where we spent most of our time, everybody is there trying to sell something or make money off you for any seemingly ordinary move you make. For example, if you take a picture, you will instantly be swarmed by several people telling you that you must pay them for taking a picture of them. I do not mean this in any sort of derogatory way, in fact the people that should be looked down upon are the people that actually pay when harassed for taking a picture or looking in the general direction of a snake charmer. We took it all lightly, and had several laughs, and its hard to talk about the culture without ruining the next bullet points, so hopefully you get a feel for the culture in reading the rest of the blog.
-4 durhim orange juice – In the square there were roughly 30 orange juice stands within an area of about 100 square meters. This orange juice was by far the best orange juice I have ever had. Once you choose which stand to get your beverage from—they are all identical so we just went to the one that was not abrasively yelling at us to get our business—they squeeze fresh oranges right into your glass on the spot. We always went to the same stand in order to avoid uncomfortable tension between the juice tenders, and eventually the man who owned the stand gave us free refills to show his gratitude. Its safe to say that we had at least 30 orange juices each in a matter of 3 days.
-Cheap food à cous cous, kebabs, sugar cane drinks, ORANGE JUICE, tagine, – I have to say my favorite part of Morocco was the food. We planned all our days around what and when we were going to eat. Our first meal every day was made for us at our Riad by the very kind young man or woman depending on when we woke and whose shift it was—I’ll tell you more about this a few bullet points down. As for lunch and dinner, every day we went in into the main square and found a nice local place to eat a lot of food for very cheap. If you do not go to the big franchise-esque places, and you choose somewhere that looks more like a hole in the wall, you can eat like royalty for anywhere between 4 to 7 euros. Every day for dinner the entire square changes entirely as there are 50 different food stands that come set up and make a series of portable restaurants if you will. Around 5 pm they would put up the stand in order to be ready by the 6:30 rush and around 10 pm they would take it back down. Every one of these stands is identical in how they look and what they serve, so we would always eat at the place that offered the most free food. The first night we settled for 1 free drink each, and the last night we each got free drinks with our meal, free mint tea after the meal, free bread/salad, fries, and soup. So really all we ended up paying for were the kebabs we bought.
-Successful bargaining, pretend you are Spanish rather than American, or Israeli but that goes without saying. – I very quickly found that everyone in Morocco speaks 4 or 5 languages, and they have much more respect for Spanish people than Americans. Every time I approached anyone speaking Spanish I was treated with much more respect and got way better prices on counterfeit goods. It was hilarious because out of my group I was the only one that could pass as Spanish, so Eric’s solution was to say he was from Canada, which ultimately just lead to countless blank/confused looks. But no matter where you say you’re from, the person that you are talking to “has a best friend close by.” Another extremely successful trick I learned to get store owners to leave me alone, was to team up with them and try to sell their good to Eric or Jonathan. I would intervene and say things like, “Come on Eric this is a great price you should totally buy it” at which point they left me alone and bombarded him with different prices and unnecessary objects he could buy.
-Dead snakes – In the square there are dozens of snake charmers and people that play with monkeys, if any of these people happen to make it into the corner of your picture, their friend—whose only job is to look for people taking pictures—will come harass you for money. One very creative technique to get money was to sell pictures with a dead snake. Someone would come up and tie a dead snake around your neck, and refuse to take it off until you paid him. Naturally everyone gets terrified because they think it is alive so they pay the man to get the snake the hell off them. However, as Kara was freaking out that there is a snake tied around her neck, I assured her that it looked dead as doornails, which only disgusted her more unfortunately. We learned after this never to get within 30 feet of a snake charmer.
-Dish washing machines à bucket of water. The way Moroccans “cleaned their dishes” was by dipping them very briefly into a bucket of water that we did not see get changed once. When we were at dinner we asked the man for silverware, so he nonchalantly walked to the bucket, dipped some forks in, and handed them to us with his hand on the part of the fork that you use to eat. An interesting thought would be what percent of Morocco would be FDA approved? Which leads to another interesting thought—seeing as how we all left healthy as a herd of oxen, does everything really have to be FDA approved or regulated at all?
-Riad à incredible Moroccan style bed and breakfast – We stayed at a Riad, which is essentially a self owned set of rooms that are set up around a courtyard. The only thing I can think to compare it to is La Finka Que Ama in Costa Rica but much more cozy. There was a man and a woman that took turns working there around the clock, both of whom were incredible kind—the only people in Morocco that were warm to us—and both seemed at most 25 years old. On our last night the kind young man made us our breakfast at 4:30 in the morning, which consisted of coffee, yogurt, butter, jam, crepes, olives, orange juice, and warm bread.
The next few days are very similar, in fact virtually identical to these, so I’ll just tell you about the unique things that happened.
Day 2/3:
-Famous Moroccan Singer – When we were eating lunch on our second day, Kara was curious as to where the family behind us got fruit baskets. Once we asked, they continued to give us several fruits so we can try them before we bought any. One question lead to another and the kind man who was talking to us eventually sold his dad out—who was sitting with his back faced to us and the square—by telling us that his dad is a very famous singer in Morocco. We asked to take a picture and as soon as he stood up people from the square recognized him and flooded in making it nearly impossible to take a picture with him. We got an autograph and a picture with him, and an invitation from his son to stay at their house in the capital of Morocco next time we visit.
-Raped by Henna artist – Some lady was trying to convince me to get henna, and she grabbed my hand and made an intricate design in like 12 seconds then tried to get me to pay 20 euro for it. I sent her on her way empty handed after a bit of yelling back and forth J
-Bargain from 1 jacket for 680 to 3 for 450 – We got these Moroccan jackets that originally cost 68 euro for 1 and we ended up paying 45 euro for 3. The guy literally looked at us as if we had just burned his house down, until the next day when we walked by and he greeted us with a s#@$-eating grin.
Spain Seventh Week – Countdown
Countdown until I leave Salamanca
21 – Days until I leave Salamanca
20 – My age during this journey
19 – The amount of minutes it takes me to get to the Plaza Mayor from my apartment, more often than not I make this trip twice a day.
18 – I missed my brother’s 18th birthday being here. I’ll make it up to him when he comes to visit next week.
17 – The amount of hours that stores/shops are closed here during a 24 hour work day.
16 – The total amount of chipotle burritos I would have eaten had I been at home this entire time, this is an underestimation.
15 – The average amount of minutes I spend on homework daily, with the exception of midterm week.
14 – 14th of May is the optional return date home when I part from my travels with friends and head to Israel.
13 – 1 o clock in Europe, takes a few days to adapt.
12 – The amount of games I had to win at beerpong to get first place.
11 – The total number of times I’ve taken a cab since I got here, I’d rather walk.
10 – The amount of shots you get for 5 euro at Gatsby.
9 – The total amount of days that I’ve seen the sun without any clouds. 4 of them were when we were traveling to the south of Spain.
8 – the amount of visitors I will have had when the trip ends. Ima, Bushy, Tal, Dana, Kevin, Lumi, TinTin, and Freddy. In the order of when they came.
7 – The amount of weeks I’ve been away from home, longest time in years.
6 – The cost of the Chinese buffet I eat at for lunch a few times a week, which coined the saying, “When in Spain … Eat like the Chinese.”
5 – The amount of Universities I am waiting to hear back from, and I will hear from them all by the end of the trip.
4 – The number of people that live with me in a petite, cozy apartment, which is clearly not cut out for people over 6’2. It took 4-5 times of hitting my head as I walked through doors before I remembered to duck.
3 – The number of family dinners left.
2 – The amount of homes I now have.
1 – The amount of chances I have to make this experience worthwhile.
Spain Sixth Week – Dos Para Uno
Dos Para Uno
If this week was not the definition of an emotional roller coaster then I do not want to find out what is. It consisted of a clash between Dana leaving and Kevin and Lumi arriving,which all happened in about 47 seconds. Seriously from the time I said bye to Dana to the time I saw Kevin and Lumi was not even enough time for me to take a single deep breath. I was elated to find my best friends waiting for me at the end of what would have been a lonely trip back to meet up with the group. They greeted me with genuine joy and it literally was the moment we have been talking about since this summer, the moment when “we are all in Spain together having the time of our lives.”
It was so weird to think how far I’ve come with these guys, we went from being high school friends thinking we are on top of the world, to laying down in my room in Spain talking about what we want to do with the rest of our lives. I know it has only been roughly 2 years since we graduated high school, but we have grown so much as friends. I will never forget Kevin’s step dad’s words when he told us that our friendship is unlike any he’s ever seen before in his life and as long as we continue to push each other in the right direction we can never give up on it. As much as we’ve changed, I can always take solace in the fact that we are changing together rather than growing apart. I’ll just wrap up the cliche mushy gushy part of this blog by saying that I had the time of my life this week with Kevin and Lumi, friends for life.As for a few new things I’ve done this week, I finally got to see the garden of Salamanca and the famous river. I went to the garden one night last week and it is honestly the most peaceful/beautiful part of Salamanca. From the garden you can see the lit up cathedral both new and old as you enjoy the plethora of flowers/trees. I’ll be sure to take pictures for everyone at home to see my new favorite part of Salamanca.
Also on Thursday when we all finally finished our midterms we got to enjoy the beautiful75 degree weather. I know from California this does not sound like a special occasion, but after being here for over a month and only seeing sun for 3 or 4 days you have to soak up every minute of sun you can. I found it rather humorous how much the weather can actually affect the mood of the group. Being a group that comes from a place that is notorious for its sunny weather almost year round, the nonstop cloudy weather definitely created a seemingly permanent gloominess among us. On Friday we took advantage of the weather and spent most of the day out by the river just relaxing and talking.
A little side note, I am learning to cook, which is something I have always secretly wanted to do so everyone at home be prepared to enjoying or pretending to enjoy the meals I’ll be making
I might be going to Morocco this weekend if everything goes as planned so I look forward to telling you about the trip.
Spain Fifth Week – Road Trip
This last weekend I went on a road trip with Dana, Eric, Chad, and Jonathan, and I can safely say it was one of the most if not the most amazing weekend of my life. We rented a car and saw Sevilla, Malaga, Granada, and Cordoba in 5 wonderful days. Usually on this trip when I have traveled over the weekends I was able to pick out a specific part of the trip that I enjoyed the most. Whereas this weekend was all a blur of BROmantic banter. It was a combination of the carefree attitude and the urge to explore every tiny detail of each city that allowed us to live this weekend to the fullest—pardon the cliché.
Allow me to give you a quick overview of each city in the order that we went there for future travel references or dispute settlements. Sevilla is gorgeous and has a sort of magic to it, its like Eric pointed out, “this whole city looks and feels like downtown Disney.” We stayed there for 2 nights, and then decided to head to Malaga for the day—spur of the moment idea by Chad—in order to see the beach. The weather in Malaga was perfect, we were able to sit on the beach and eat our five-person seafood paella, which is notorious for being the best in Spain. After about three or four hours of sunbathing and eating we decided it was time to leave our mark on this topless beach in Malaga with a nude picture by the Mediterranean sea. Dana and Eric wanted nothing to do with this idea so they walked about 100 feet away from us and turned their backs, while Chad was kind enough to take the picture of Jonathan and me (don’t worry mom this picture is not fully nude and its going no where but my computer).
From Malaga we headed to Granada, which is where we would spend the next few days. Granada in itself was nothing out of the ordinary like Sevilla or Barcelona, yet at the same time I do not regret going. In Granada I could easily pick my two favorite parts: the Alhambra and the Shawarma restaurant that was next door to our hotel where we ate five times during our two night stay. We thought the one employee that worked there behind the counter would start thanking us for supporting half his daily income, but he actually seemed rather disgusted at the fact that we could eat there so many times in so little time. As for Cordoba we only went to see La Mezquita on the way home, which is a mosque that has a Cathedral engulfing it.
I’m sorry for the short posting but I am in a huge rush so if you are reading this make sure you are on my case about posting more about this weekend. Seriously time of my life and I love the friends I have made to death and I wish Dana could stay longer. This makes me look forward to my future travelling adventures with the boys even more, and I want to utilize this next month and a half with them as much as possible. Love you guys.
And my best friends are coming in like 10 hours so I’m going to be a host for 1 more week 
Spain Forth Week – Barcelona
In this blog I present to you, my weekend in Barcelona with most of my wonderful family. It started with an organized school trip to El Escorial and Avila and ended with me taking a train back to Salamanca from Barcelona. On Thursday, my mom and sister came to Salamanca and were waiting impatiently for me while I finished my classes. My Spanish teacher noticed how antsy I was waiting during class and she let me out early because she said that she does not want to be the reason why I do not see my family, what a sweet heart. I ran out of class with barely enough time to thank my teacher for letting me out early, and ran to the clock in the plaza where we originally planned to meet. Finally after what seemed like years I saw two people that looked like my mom and sister walking through the Plaza Mayor yet I could not seem to register that they were actually there. After the much needed bombarding of hugs and kisses we had just enough time to get some dinner and see a bit of Salamanca.
The next day I went on the school tour to El Escorial and Avila, where my parents and sister would pick me up to go to Barcelona—yes overnight my dad also joined the banter. El Escorial from what I understood was a summer home for the king and queen, seems like a pretty good time-share. The only thing I did not like about the palace was that I did not fit through any of the doors, but I managed to make it out with no major head injuries. As for Avila, the rain stopped just in time for us to get up to the walls and see the incredible walls of Avila. They reminded me of the Great Wall of China except they were in a circle around the center of the city. We were able to walk around on the walls and take terrifying pictures standing on the edge, and that’s when all of a sudden I hear my mom screaming my name from the bottom of the wall. They somehow found me in the middle of Avila with no phone or sense of direction, but I guess my mom was right, moms do know everything. We went down from the walls when my parents got to meet my friends and finally put a personality behind the pictures they have been seeing and I was relieved but not surprised that my parents loved them all. It was weird/sad saying bye to my friends because it was my first time away from any of them in a month of being here but at the same time I was extremely excited to go to Barcelona with my family.
Finally I was off with my parents and sister on the way to see the famous Barcelona. It was so refreshing to be around my family again, and enjoy the company of people that I knew before the trip. Yet at the same time I could not stop thinking about how I missed my friends and how hard it would be to leave them after the trip. It was a melancholy thought that I pushed to the back of my head so that I can enjoy the weekend with my family. On the drive to Barcelona the weather and time zone were not on our side. Both my parents were completely jet lagged and fighting sleep with every ounce of power they had, and the rain was coming down mercilessly. After my mom fell asleep at the wheel for a moment we realized it was in our best interest to stop in Zaragoza, get some rest, and continue on to Barcelona early the next day. Zaragoza was gorgeous and it’s a shame that we did not get to enjoy it for more than 12 hours. That night, Tal—my sister who from now on has a name on this blog—and I went out for a drink and some tapas and had a lovely time. We sat down at a nice place and sat there and talked until we were kicked out when the bar closed.
The next morning we headed to Barcelona, which is completely different from any city in Spain or any city in the world that I have ever seen. When people ask if it’s the best city in Spain I tell them that its not even comparable its just on a whole new level. Its not necessarily better than any other city in Spain, it is just special in a unique way, which it is largely due to Antoni Gaudi’s architecture. I was literally enchanted by the buildings that Gaudi designed. They were all inspired by various aspects of nature and he somehow managed to make a wall made out of tile look like a wavy ocean. He was an architectural mastermind who completely deviated from the norm in building style and you have to see the inside of the Sagrada Familia to understand just how dream like his architecture is. Last but certainly not least we saw the Parque Guel, which is where Gaudi lived and designed, which is also a place I like to call pickpocket-ville. When and if you go there do not be too distracted by the incredibly aesthetics and make sure you watch your pockets.
The weekend ended way too quickly and I did not spend nearly as much time as I would have liked to with my family. We crammed as much as we could into the short time we had together yet I still feel like we only scratched the surface. It seems like they were only here for 10 minutes and they left as quickly as they came. I’m writing this blog a week after our Barcelona trip and my parents left two days ago and I’m just realizing I wont see them until June 7th. This is the longest stretch of time I have gone without seeing my parents in my whole life and I hope it will be the last. I have never been one to not appreciate his parents, yet somehow this trip managed to make me appreciate them even more for giving me this opportunity and opening my mind to a whole new world and giving me a completely new perspective on life. And for that they have my undying gratitude, love, and respect. As for seeing Tal, every time I see her it takes a second for me to fully comprehend that she’s actually there, and with being in a foreign city for such a short period of time, I feel like we were robbed of a true sibling bromance. Sure it was amazing seeing her and we made each other laugh like we always do with our awkward unique humor that most people don’t understand, but 3 days is simply not long enough for a reunion. Don’t take this the wrong way all I’m saying is that with a sibling that lives across the world, seeing them for a weekend for the first time since summer simply does not suffice. Love you Tal and I cannot wait to see you again in Israel a month and a half from now 🙂
I guess that’s all for this blog I’m actually in Granada right now with Dana and the boys, but don’t worry you will hear all about this road trip in the next blog. We went to Sevilla, Malaga, Granada, and tomorrow Cordoba so I figure I’ll write about it when it actually ends.
So my mom, dad, and sister have come and gone, my girlfriend is here right now, and next week my best friend is coming. Just letting you know about the stuff that you can expect to hear about 🙂
Spain Third Week – Weekend in Portugal
It looks like the main topic for this blog is going to be my trip to Portugal last weekend, but we’ll see I might be able to squeeze in the class trip to El Escorial and Avila, and maybe if we’re REALLY lucky I’ll be able to touch on the fact that I am currently with my mom, dad, and sister in Barcelona. The problem is that my mom and dad are sleeping in the hotel room—jet lag—and my sister and I are trying to rest a little bit before we go out. So we’ll see how much I can get written down in the next our or so. At any rate, here is what happened in Portugal.
It all started on Friday morning when we had to meet at the bus station at 7 am, which means we had to wake up at 6. This normally would not be too much of a problem yet Eric, Jonathan, and I had an idea– that seemed flawless at the time—to try to stay up as late as possible so that way we would be able to sleep on the bus. This plan failed miserably as we all went to sleep at 5:30 and could not fall asleep on the bus making the entire first day extremely difficult. We got to the city of Coimbra at around 10 or 11 am and we stopped to explore for a few hours. Eric, Jonathan, Sinjun, and I decided to walk around and see as much as possible in the 3 hours of free time that we were allotted. As magnificent as the city was, it was nothing special in comparison to Lisbon. But if someone were to step off a plane from the states and see Coimbra before they saw Lisbon they would be blown away. We saw pretty views, mostly of housing or the beautiful river that runs through the city, and ate at a quaint Indian/Portuguese restaurant for lunch. At 1:30 everyone that was signed up for the trip went back on the bus and went on a guided tour of Coimbra and that left my friend Chayan and I to do some more exploring of the city on our own. We walked around for about an hour and showed each other some things that we found in the previous free time we had, but they best part was when we decided to go to the grocery store and get food and have a picnic by the river. Eventually it came time for us to wrap up our relaxing picnic and get back on the bus and head to Lisbon with the rest of the group.
We got to Lisbon around 7 or 8 I believe, and Eric, Jonathan, and I were still exhausted from the previous nights debauchery. We ended up just going out to see the nightlife a little bit and grab a bite to eat but we made sure we were in bed before 1 am so that we would be rejuvenated for the guided tour of Lisbon the next day. We woke up leisurely the next morning and got on the tour bus before 10 am. The tour guide showed us several different landmarks such as; the famous cathedral, the “white house” of Portugal—which happens to be pink, the dock that Vasco De Gama left from on his expedition, a castle looking land mark that serves some sort of purpose that remains a mystery to me, a museum that had famous pictures by Monet, Manet, and several others, and my personal favorite the castle de Jorge. Before I talk about the castle de Jorge I have to tell you about these pastries that we ate. There are these pastries in Portugal that are ubiquitous yet I cannot remember their name for the life of me but they are little cups that have some warm cinnamon-y custard, and they are to die for. If you are ever in Portugal I hope that my vague description will guide you to these delicious treats.
Anyway the castle de Jorge is known for its incredible view specifically at sunset as it overlooks all of Lisbon from the top of a hill. Most of the group was too tired to go but my friends Oscar and Jonathan agreed to go with me only so that when people tell them about a beautiful sunset they saw we would be able to say “oh really? That’s cool, I saw a sunset from a castle on top of a mountain in the capital of Portugal,” and instantly make any other sunset seem inferior. When we got up to the top of the castle and saw the view/sunset, it was even more beautiful than people made it sound. I was elated that I gave up the 3 hours of napping in order to see this view because it was like nothing I have ever seen before. Definitely the most stunning view I have seen on the trip thus far and I’ll be sure to let you know if there is anything that comes close. After the sunset we went back to nap for a few hours in order to rest up for the supposedly insane Portuguese nightlife.
After a well-deserved two-hour nap it was time to gear up and go see the nightlife for ourselves. We went to this part of town called Barrio Alto, which is basically a very condensed area that is littered with bars and young inebriated people. Literally every 4 feet there is another bar and the drunk folk in the street are shoulder to shoulder trying to get from bar to bar. The only thing I can compare it to is Isla Vista in Santa Barbara on Halloween, except every weekend. Once we were done there headed to the pier to see a concert that my friend Eric was adamant about attending. It was a dubstep concert, and normally you would not find me listening to dubstep even if you paid me. However, I decided to go for the experience and the other club we wanted to go to said it costs us 240 euro a person to get in, and no that’s not a typo. I probably stayed at the concert for a total of 30 minutes before I decided I have had enough and headed back so I can get some sleep.
Overall it was an amazing trip and I am so grateful that I was able to go on it. In fact I am going back to Porto, Portugal in a few weeks, so the Portuguese have not seen the last of me.
I have a 7 hour trip back to Salamanca tomorrow from Barcelona so I’ll tell you about El Escorial, Avila, and my Family trip. I found a valid excuse for not blogging about my family weekend, and it is because I still have one more day with them and I do not want to leave it out of the blog. So stay tuned and hear about it in the next few days J
p.s. I forgot to mention that Lisbon looks a lot like San Francisco, it even has a golden gate bridge. This is not just me being a tiny bit homesick its actually known to resemble SF, you can look it up for yourself 🙂
Spain Second Week – Toledo and Tapas
So here I am on the bus back to Salamanca from Lisbon, Portugal hoping to write this blog before I get too carsick. As promised I will tell you about the Toledo trip even though millions of new things have happened since. It was about a week and a half ago at this point when we woke up at 7am to get on a bus to Toledo, which was said to be one of the 3 most beautiful cities in Spain along with Salamanca and Granada. Seeing as how I have only been to 3 Spanish cities, I can safely say that Toledo is one of the top 3 cities I have been to. The city itself is not very big as we were able to tour most of it on foot. We spent the day walking around looking at monuments on a guided tour, and the history behind the city is remarkable.
Toledo is a city where three religions used to coexist; Catholics, Jews, and Muslims. For me it was most exciting when we visited the Jewish square, no offense to the other religious monuments, I just felt a personal connection to the 500 year old synagogue. It was a foreign feeling that I could not wrap my head around when the tour guide explained to me that it was a place of worship for Jewish people from around 1180 until 1492, and today what is left of it is exhibited in a museum. We got to the synagogue itself towards the end of the tour, and my friends could somehow tell that I was antsy to see it. The first thing the tour guide asked in front of the synagogue was if any of us were Jewish, which immediately narrowed our group of 55 to my friend Kim and I. She asked a few trivial questions about Judaism in general, like how to say Spanish in Hebrew or what you would call a Jewish person of Spanish descent etc… But when we finally got inside I was overcome by several emotions for a reason that I am yet to grasp. I was engulfed by a combination of a sense of pride, connection to the Jewish people, and a feeling of being at home. I was wondering how I could feel at home if I am so far away from both places I have ever lived, and I was surrounded by people that I have only known for a week or so. The answer is up in the air but I like to believe it has to do with an unspoken and undying bond to Judaism and what it stands for.
As I was standing at the altar (I apologize if its not called an altar but you get the point J) I was trying to read the inscriptions on the wall, and imagine what it may have been like to be at a service 500 years ago. I imagine it would be very similar to an orthodox service today, but I would love to hear from anybody if they know a difference. My friend snapped a photo of me at the alter because he is incredibly into photography and he said that out of the thousands of pictures he has taken on this trip he believed this was the most powerful moment he captured. I’ll be sure to post it as soon as I get it from him. The rest of the synagogue outside of the main room where people prayed, was turned into a museum that held several artifacts that were preserved from the synagogue. They had old books, menorahs, and the one thing I was most enthralled by was the torah. The cover of the torah, which is always beautiful from what I’ve seen, was incredible. Not just because it was exquisite in itself, but because it is more than half a millennium years old.
The rest of the Toledo trip was also magnificent I just chose to write about my personal favorite part subjectively. If I were to set my bias aside I would say that aesthetically the cathedral itself is a must see and just the city in general. My friends and I found a view point—which was kind of dangerous to get to and we got a scolding from the tour guide—that I will also post pictures of as it was a view that is to die for. I have tons of pictures from Toledo I’ll probably post them on facebook so don’t worry you will see exactly what I’m talking about.
As for the classroom aspect of this blog, this weeks culture class revolved around the food of the Spanish people. We had a very interesting two hour lecture by a man named Augustine that basically told us the Spanish eat pork, wine, and cheese. He showed us their food pyramid and I wish I got a picture of it because it was quite comical. They have a whole section of the food pyramid for wine—a rather big one—as well as a whole section for pork and a separate one for fish. I did however write down the different combination of cheeses and wines that go together so my friends and I could try it out. So far we have tried Manchego cheese on baguettes with Rioja wine and it was indeed delicious.
However, the most interesting thing about Spanish food culture is not what they eat it is their eating style. It seems that the Spanish look at their meals from a social aspect rather than a survival aspect as when they sit down to eat it can take hours. A typical lunch—which is usually the largest meal of the day—consists of several courses that are served over an hour or so. This allows for families to eat together and create closer family bonds as well as stronger friendships. I realize that is kind of bold to say but I honestly believe its true. Another thing that I found interesting was that the Spanish people rarely invite people over for dinner. Augustine told us that this was because it seems illogical to invite people over when you can just go out for drinks and tapas at a restaurant. His exact words were “why would anyone want to do dishes for 14 people that just does not make sense.” Unfortunately his logic does not have merit in the states because people like to invite people to see their homes, as they are reflections of who we are. Where here the homes are merely a place to sleep and everything else is done in the city.
On that note I’ll post soon about the Portugal trip I just got back from I hope you guys enjoy this entry 🙂
And my parents are coming with my sister this weekend and I cannot wait to see them I miss them tons!! See you soon Ima, Bushy, and Tal you have no idea how much you’ll love it here.
Spain – Salamance Cathedral and Settling in
Hey guys,
Let me start off by apologizing in advance, as my words will not do justice to my experience so far. It feels like I have been here for a lifetime, as cliché as that sounds, and the friends I made have already managed to become among my best. We have gone out to the clubs/bars every night with the exception of one night when the sleep deprivation got the best of us. This lifestyle is foreign to me as I’m usually the kind of person that enjoys a mellow night with an occasional party every few weeks, yet here the drive to explore and learn everything always gets the best of me.
When I first got here to Madrid I did not fully wrap my mind around the fact that I was not in Sunnyvale anymore. Over night I went from being a substitute preschool teacher in Palo Alto to a tourist in the center of Europe. I saw famous paintings by Diego Velasquez and Francisco De Goya in the Prado museum in addition to getting a tour of the Royal Palace. If I were to delineate the palace for you, I would say imagine the most beautiful, enormous, fancy, and important castle you have ever seen in a movie, multiply that by 1000 and you would maybe be able to understand what it was like. Keep in mind this tour was on Saturday and I only slept one hour since I left San Francisco on Thursday, yet somehow I was not shaken by the sleep deprivation. As for the party scene in Madrid it was loads of fun but it was nothing that exceeded my expectations.
After the tours on Saturday we finally got on a bus with Salamanca being our finally destination. I was hoping to add a few hours to my sleep log but the excitement of seeing my new home smashed any shred of exhaustion out of me. The 2.5 hour bus ride that seemed to take several days finally ended and I was taken into my apartment where I settled into my own room with a giant bed—I got last pick on the room yet somehow managed to get the best one. The first few days were hectic as I was trying to settle in while still trying to figure out where everything is. My roommate and I went to get groceries and it took us 5 minutes to get the market and an hour and a half to get back—Just to give you an idea of how new this place is.
At the one week mark though I can safely say that I feel at home. I’ve made a solid group of friends and I’m excited to begin our travels around Spain. Every night they continue to surprise me with how awesome they are and I can already say I’ve made friends for life. We go out every night even if its just for a drink or two and we always manage to have a blast. For example my friend Eric and I entered a beer pong tournament and placed in third out of 100+ teams. All formalities aside, every night is full of exciting and safe shenanigans that cannot be relived back in the states. I wont attempt to recap a weeks worth of partying into this blog post but every time something notable happens I’ll post it up for you guys to hear about.
That’s all my computer battery is allowing me to tell you guys for now but I’ll be posting more hopefully daily so stay tuned.
P.S. This blog was started for homework purposes and I believe I am supposed to write about my experience during the tour of the Cathedral in Salamanca. Basically comparing this cathedral to a place of worship in the states is like comparing a puddle to the Great Barrier Reef. The architecture is so precise down to every square centimeter of the enormity that is the cathedral. The art work is breathtaking, not only the aesthetics of it but also the concepts—by this I mean how long it must have taken the artists to pain the roof of the cathedral as they were not allowed to make mistakes. As for the religious aspect of it, I was told to take off my hat because apparently it is disrespectful to wear a hat in a cathedral. I relieved the tension by assuring them that in my place of worship we are encouraged to wear hats on our head 
That’s it for now my next post will most likely be tomorrow before class I want to tell you guys about the excursion to Toledo.