Thanks to the wonders that is T9 and a Nokia phone I an pleased to announce that I can clog on the go.
That said, I’m going to use the next six weeks as an opportunity to see how well I’ll be able to blog when I eventually in on my world backpacking tour 🙂
Right now I’m in Tel Aviv for the night, heading to course in the morning!
Goodnight everyone!
– M
Thanks to the wonders that is T9 and a Nokia phone I an pleased to announce that I can clog on the go.
That said, I’m going to use the next six weeks as an opportunity to see how well I’ll be able to blog when I eventually in on my world backpacking tour 🙂
Right now I’m in Tel Aviv for the night, heading to course in the morning!
Goodnight everyone!
– M
Okay, so this guy friended me on facebook awhile back. I thought he was a bit weird but chalked it up to language differences. He asked to volunteer on my Kibbutz. My Kibbutz hasn’t taken volunteers in years (they can be hard to handle and require lots of patience and usually an ulpan or two).
I checked around and sent him a phone number of the person he could contact if the kibbutz decided to let him volunteer. Apparently this person didn’t answer his phone/respond to him fast enough (…welcome to Israel…). I also didn’t respond to him fast enough (but you know, I have this thing called real life that gets in the way of dealing with psychopaths on facebook).
Anway, he sent me the following message (links to EncyclopediaDramatica are added by me for comedic effect):
matan hi.
if i hear nothing by monday either from you or illan i will go down official channels and be placed at a kibbutz of there choice. this would be a loss to you and ilan both.
as you probably noticed from my profile i have the ear of the father and have many special gifts.
i tend to go were i am needed and were i am wonted. and from ilan s point of view i am not getting that.hope all is in hand.
if i do not come to zikiem then i will conatct you from the other kibbutz i will go to. if your kibbutz turns its back on me i will turn my back on it. that is not good for a living angel to do.
i feel you know this.
speak soon
Now, I’m busy and I only live on the Kibbutz (I’m not a member) which means I can’t help him…and Ilan is a Kibbutznik which means he may or may not answer his phone in between coffee and he’s busy. The guy who wrote the email doesn’t seem to speak a whole lot of English and I doubt he speaks Hebrew. I don’t respond to trolls or to threats and so I promptly deleted him and blocked him (or I thought I did).
I received the following message today:
you delete me YOU !!!!!
i am angry beyond. do you realise i was willing to give you a chance matan. being gay is an abomination to me and the one god. i would of saved you. you take your one chance away. because of your inselonce i will now turn my back on your entire family right back down to existence. you kill them all.
when i come to isreal matan it will be time. DO YOU UNDERSTAND !!!!!!
you jews….my people are a disgrace. you believe you are so much better than all things but in my eyes you are worse. i come to set my house in order. i start with you.
all things end matan and i come to end it…..
you silly little boy….
i will never see you again……
the next time you see my face it will be in the fires of hell……
tell all jews i am coming….( your soul will pass it on its an order )you could of been the one to invite me home….to my land…how does it feel….???
when you read this i am going to drain you of 99 % of your life force. the other .1 % i will do in person.
goodbye matan
The fires of hell…yeah, okay…first he needs to decide if he’s Jesus or Satan or an Angel and then he can get back to me. I reported him on facebook and I’ll send an email to the Jewish Agency to look out for his name in case he starts applying to be on a Kibbutz…oh, and I’d hope that Jesus/Satan/Angel would know how to spell “Israel.” Also, in one of his earlier emails he wanted to know if dialing our number was different than dialing a number in Europe…I’m under the impression that a deity (heaven, hell or otherwise) is supposed to have more brains.
False prophet say what…
Okay, so this guy friended me on facebook awhile back. I thought he was a bit weird but chalked it up to language differences. He asked to volunteer on my Kibbutz. My Kibbutz hasn’t taken volunteers in years (they can be hard to handle and require lots of patience and usually an ulpan or two).
I checked around and sent him a phone number of the person he could contact if the kibbutz decided to let him volunteer. Apparently this person didn’t answer his phone/respond to him fast enough (…welcome to Israel…). I also didn’t respond to him fast enough (but you know, I have this thing called real life that gets in the way of dealing with psychopaths on facebook).
Anway, he sent me the following message (links to EncyclopediaDramatica are added by me for comedic effect):
matan hi.
if i hear nothing by monday either from you or illan i will go down official channels and be placed at a kibbutz of there choice. this would be a loss to you and ilan both.
as you probably noticed from my profile i have the ear of the father and have many special gifts.
i tend to go were i am needed and were i am wonted. and from ilan s point of view i am not getting that.
hope all is in hand.
if i do not come to zikiem then i will conatct you from the other kibbutz i will go to. if your kibbutz turns its back on me i will turn my back on it. that is not good for a living angel to do.
i feel you know this.
speak soon
Now, I’m busy and I only live on the Kibbutz (I’m not a member) which means I can’t help him…and Ilan is a Kibbutznik which means he may or may not answer his phone in between coffee and he’s busy. The guy who wrote the email doesn’t seem to speak a whole lot of English and I doubt he speaks Hebrew. I don’t respond to trolls or to threats and so I promptly deleted him and blocked him (or I thought I did).
I received the following message today:
you delete me YOU !!!!!
i am angry beyond. do you realise i was willing to give you a chance matan. being gay is an abomination to me and the one god. i would of saved you. you take your one chance away. because of your inselonce i will now turn my back on your entire family right back down to existence. you kill them all.
when i come to isreal matan it will be time. DO YOU UNDERSTAND !!!!!!
you jews….my people are a disgrace. you believe you are so much better than all things but in my eyes you are worse. i come to set my house in order. i start with you.
all things end matan and i come to end it…..
you silly little boy….
i will never see you again……
the next time you see my face it will be in the fires of hell……
tell all jews i am coming….( your soul will pass it on its an order )
you could of been the one to invite me home….to my land…how does it feel….???
when you read this i am going to drain you of 99 % of your life force. the other .1 % i will do in person.
goodbye matan
The fires of hell…yeah, okay…first he needs to decide if he’s Jesus or Satan or an Angel and then he can get back to me. I reported him on facebook and I’ll send an email to the Jewish Agency to look out for his name in case he starts applying to be on a Kibbutz…oh, and I’d hope that Jesus/Satan/Angel would know how to spell “Israel.” Also, in one of his earlier emails he wanted to know if dialing our number was different than dialing a number in Europe…I’m under the impression that a deity (heaven, hell or otherwise) is supposed to have more brains.
False prophet say what…
Hey Everyone,
I’m being sent on a course by the IDF. Because of this I will be unavailable until somewhere around February 20-26, 2010. I will answer email as I’m able to, though most probably not until the end of the course. Expect regular blogging to resume after the course ends.
Best,
Matan
Hey Everyone,
I’m being sent on a course by the IDF. Because of this I will be unavailable until somewhere around February 20-26, 2010. I will answer email as I’m able to, though most probably not until the end of the course. Expect regular blogging to resume after the course ends.
Best,
Matan
Back story (for those just turning in): I’m a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces serving in the IDF Ground Forces Command Foreign Relations Branch.
The Brief Rundown
I received a phone call yesterday from my commander (a Lt. Colonel) at 14:00hrs letting me know that I’m being sent on a six-week army course (starting this Sunday). This is incredible news. I’m being sent to the מש”ק* קש”ח course (Foreign Relations Specialist Course) which is awesome! This is also the course that is required if I want to go to the Officers School for Foreign Relations in the future (instead of something like Human Resources). I’m going to the course with a friend of mine from the branch, which makes it even better.
Right now I’m in the process of packing – as soon as that’s done I hope to be able to write some emails before I head out.
For those of you who were my friends on LJ (and/or in real life) when I was in basic training, you may remember that I had about an hour a day (if that) to use my cell phone to check facebook, email, etc. The same will apply to the course, which in many ways will be more intensive than basic training.
I love getting messages, though it’s very hard for me to respond on my cell phone. For those of you who’d like to stay in touch and keep me updated I’ve re-activated my cell phone email address. [email protected] will forward messages to my cell phone (please try and avoid sending pictures, etc) though quick bits about your day, etc. are always appreciated. My regular email address [email protected] remains the same.
Anyway, lots of work to do. More updates as I have them.
Peace,
M
*The IDF translates “מש”ק” as NCO. However, in reality, it translates more accurately to “Commander Who is Not an Officer”
Back story (for those just turning in): I’m a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces serving in the IDF Ground Forces Command Foreign Relations Branch.
The Brief Rundown
I received a phone call yesterday from my commander (a Lt. Colonel) at 14:00hrs letting me know that I’m being sent on a six-week army course (starting this Sunday). This is incredible news. I’m being sent to the מש”ק* קש”ח course (Foreign Relations Specialist Course) which is awesome! This is also the course that is required if I want to go to the Officers School for Foreign Relations in the future (instead of something like Human Resources). I’m going to the course with a friend of mine from the branch, which makes it even better.
Right now I’m in the process of packing – as soon as that’s done I hope to be able to write some emails before I head out.
For those of you who were my friends on LJ (and/or in real life) when I was in basic training, you may remember that I had about an hour a day (if that) to use my cell phone to check facebook, email, etc. The same will apply to the course, which in many ways will be more intensive than basic training.
I love getting messages, though it’s very hard for me to respond on my cell phone. For those of you who’d like to stay in touch and keep me updated I’ve re-activated my cell phone email address. [email protected] will forward messages to my cell phone (please try and avoid sending pictures, etc) though quick bits about your day, etc. are always appreciated. My regular email address [email protected] remains the same.
Anyway, lots of work to do. More updates as I have them.
Peace,
M
*The IDF translates “מש”ק” as NCO. However, in reality, it translates more accurately to “Commander Who is Not an Officer”
My profile has been updated (though in all reality it’s going to go through a lot more revisions in the near future). There are also a few new pictures in my photo gallery.
My To Do List, Multi-Year Planning, and Philosophy pages are in the process of being updated over the next few days and will be up and running in full by Thursday of next week.
Thursday:
Work (0625hrs-1645hrs, maybe 1530hrs).
Heading to Tel Aviv (using my gift card at H&O)
Ethiopian Food with Shirah (
stoicdaydreamer)
Sleep
Friday:
Sleep
Sleep
Sleep
Shopping with Shirah (stoicdaydreamer)
Shirah’s Birthday Bash!
Saturday:
Sleep
Sunday:
Guard Duty
Monday:
Guard Duty (continued from Sunday) until 1200hrs.
Possibly seeing Heather, her Mother, Sister & Brother in Jerusalem at night.
Tuesday:
Guard Duty
Wednesday:
Guard Duty (continued from Tuesday).
Thursday:
Work from 0625-1645hrs
Efrat’s Birthday Party
Friday:
Sleep
Saturday:
Sleep
I’ve set aside three hours tomorrow morning to blog and go through emails while waking up with my coffee…so I’ll catch everyone in the morning.
Peace!
Happy Birthday munchkinqueen54!!! Thank you for giving birth to me!!! I think that was super awesome!!! I love you!!!
So today I had a Yom Siddurim which I used to go take care of some things in Jerusalem (which is where I have all of my accounts, my Tik Aliyah (my immigration file), etc. I also really happen to enjoy getting to go to Jerusalem so I’ve never found cause enough to move my things elsewhere (…I also know that the moment I ask for anything to be moved, all paperwork will immediately be lost and I will pop out of existence…so it serves as a survival strategy, in a way).
I took the 08:10 bus out of Ashkelon which meant I was up and out the door only an hour later than I usually am. I met up with Shirah (stoicdaydreamer) and a friend of hers who just finished Taglit-Birthright Israel (I don’t recall his name at the moment…he was very quiet because he just finished a whirlwind trip in Israel and was shell-shocked).
After a quick bite to eat we made our way to our first stop…
The banking system in Israel was actually designed by…actually, that’s a lie…there is very little architecture to the banking system in Israel…it’s more like a three year old was given paint and a piece of paper, told to do as he see fits…someone walked by a few hours later, took three shots of whiskey, tilted his head left and said “hey, this can work.” This ‘system’ was later improved upon by the Knesset (who are the only group of people on Earth who can possibly do something worse than anything the Republicans and Democrats can come up with when they choose to work together).
This eventually was worked on once again by sadists who attempted to pick up where the Knesset left off. However, after seeing the bang up job that the Knesset did they decided to just add a little bit more paperwork and call it a day.
Speculation still exists as to whether or not the sadists were actually sadists, or if they were really our grandmothers masquerading as sadists creating more paperwork in an attempt to create a situation that would further prolong our conversations at the bank – and by which – increase the opportunity for them to show complete strangers pictures of their grandchildren.
Suffice it to say after completing what I needed to complete there in five minutes – and only having to sign two forms – I should have known something was up. I came home to find that none of the codes or passwords they gave me worked (since in Israel you don’t get to create your own pin code…the bank goes to great lengths to protect you from yourself).
This means that I am still (or maybe once again) locked out of my account.
I did contact Bank Leumi to see if they’d like to comment on the issue and the only spokesperson I could reach was quoted as saying “your call is very important to us…please continue to hold…” over, and over, and over again – I like to think that it means he’s from Shas.
I get to go back next month and try again (this time, however, I’ll be bringing my laptop and wireless internet connection with me to check on the spot what the story is).
After I ‘finished’ at the bank, Shirah, her friend (who’s name I can’t quite recall) and I started the trek down to the Kotel…stopping for a slice of Pizza on the way. I love the Old City of Jerusalem. I love the markets, the stone, the smells of spices and even the crisp air in the winter.
At the Kotel I went to wash my hands (there’s a special way to ritually wash them before prayer) and started to make my way down to the Kotel itself. I put on my beret, since I was in uniform and didn’t have my kippa on me (it’s currently in my hiking bag).
On my way down one person working at the Chabad booth called me over to wrap tefillin. As he was wrapping it on my arm I asked him the same question I ask any Chabadnik which is “Do you know Rabbi Gurary” to which they go “Rabbi Avraham Gurary from Buffalo!?” and I go “Yes!” and they go “OF COURSE I KNOW RABBI AVRAHAM GURARY FROM BUFFALO!” so after we finished the .0002 seconds of playing Jewish Geography I prayed and then finished and handed back the tefillin. He then asked me (in an incredibly thick, Brooklyn-Chabad accent) “SO WHEN ARE YOU COMING OVER FOR SHABBAT DINNER!?!” to which I said “the next time I can…” my Shabbats are filling up man…I still owe Heritage House one but it’s been a busy couple of months and I end the week sleep deprived and exhausted.
Anyway, I have his name and number…and a pamphlet on wrapping tefillin. From there I finally approached the wall to pray. For those who haven’t been, it’s an incredibly solitary experience (for me, anyway). You’re surrounded by droves of people but it’s just you and the big guy. After I prayed I placed a few notes in the wall (some people asked me to place notes for them, some people I place notes in for every time I go, some notes were for me).
After we all finished we made our way out of the Old City and headed to Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus to have coffee and lunch with Shirah’s Mother who was kind enough to feed us.
Shirah’s Mom is a teacher. This is incredibly important because I’m currently in the research phase of operation “GET MY TEACHING LICENSE.” As it turns out it’s going to take at least seven courses (held in the evenings) over the period of a year (if all things go as they should…I know…I started laughing too). In theory, I won’t have to pay for these courses (I know…I started laughing too).
However, before operation “GET MY TEACHING LICENSE” is operation “GET OUT OF DEBT INCURRED BY SERVING IN THE ARMY.”
ariehzimmerman mentioned the possibility of working/renting on Kibbutz Zikim (which is something I’ve had in my backup plan for awhile). Other hopes are getting employed immediately in my field somewhere in Israel the day after I finish my army service. This is not totally impossible, just highly improbable, which means it is likely to occur almost immediately after I leave the army.
After we got off the bus at the top of Ben-Yehuda Street we made our way to the shuk. I was happy to see that the produce was ridiculously good looking:
(Taken by nomadmatan on 2010-01-04 at Shuk Mahne Yehuda in Jerusalem)
I picked up two kilos (well, a little over two kilos) of popcorn seeds and two kilos of oatmeal (it’s cheaper to buy in the shuk, and it’s much cheaper to buy in bulk). Next month I’m doing my bean and spice shopping.
I also picked up some halva for Shula and ariehzimmerman.
Since teaching is combined with my entrance to graduate school both become intertwined with my finances.
Fortunately, I’m happy with the decisions I’ve made. I’m happy with how things are going. I’m happy with where I am (if I wasn’t happy, I wouldn’t be here). However, I refuse to do another eight to ten years of higher education (masters and doctoral degrees) while I’m poor. Right now my primary concern after the army is working to pay rent at the lowest possible rate, feed myself with the most nutritionally healthy items for the lowest possible rate, and save the most amount of money that I can.
I’m completely okay with entering a Ph.D. program at the age of 35 (which is when I promised my mentor, Scott Paauw, that I would start graduate school at the latest…he knows me too well). Working at Kibbutz Zikim (providing the pay rate is at or higher than minimum wage and the rent is cheap enough that it lets me pay my rent, pay off my debt, and then start to accumulate savings) is certainly a viable option. It will certainly also let me work while continuing to study both Hebrew and Arabic (not to mention other areas of Linguistics that I’ve wanted to do self study in for awhile before entering graduate school).
I also think that parlaying my sewing skills into some kind of legitimate side business will have life-long, long term benefits (asides from de-stressing myself it has a large ratio between how much it costs me to get supplies and how much I can sell a finished product for…and that’s with my prices at reasonable rates).
To that end I’m in the process of making my little black book of fabric stores, bead stores, ribbon and lace stores, etc. throughout Israel so I can start networking (which reminds me, I need to send an email to pats_animation about business cards) and getting this thing (whatever it’s going to morph into) off the ground.
While we were in Jerusalem today, Shirah pointed out some of the craft stores she knows (and I made mental notes throughout the day of all the fabric stores I saw). I’m excited. If Scott Paauw could open and run a Deli/Internet Café while he was doing his language work in Indonesia I can do my language studies and be a tailor in Israel.
moocowinthecity 