Sof Chag Sameach

I've been on vacation for a week and a half, and amazingly, I haven't found any time to post to this site. I only wish I could say it's because I've been keeping busy, but that sadly isn't true. There have been quite a few highlights since my last post, though.
1. I found the PR Troopers CD. As noted in Ari's comment to previous post, it is sitting in my cousin's DVD player in Herzliya. I haven't listened to it yet.
2. I went to a Gidi Gov concert. He played Inyan Shel Zman. I sang along. No one heard me.
3. I went to a Genders concert. The lead singer wants to read my thesis. I still haven't sent it to him.
4. I finally emailed Yoav Kutner (director of Channel 24) my thesis. If he responds, I'll ask him for a job.
5. I got searched by the police. My crime? Standing next to someone who called them fucking pigs without realizing that their car windows were down.
6. I cooked. And did a pretty good job.
7. I found an amazing mixtape by DJ Juvi. It's got two songs by the Hasid. Not related to me.
In the spirit of Sukkot being a 7 day holiday (that's right Diaspora, we have calendars now, we don't need to keep adding extra days), I'll keep it to those 7 highlights. But aside from those, this vacation has been a great time for me to think about my life, both how I am spending it now and what I might want in my future. I'm finding it really tough for me to be observant in Israel, mostly because Judaism is so tied to community for me, and the observant Jewish community just doesn't do it for me here. That said, there are also times where no other community does it for me here either. It's amazing how often I feel out of place here, but for whatever reason, I still like living in Israel. I don't know if I'll want to live in Jerusalem forever, or even next year. I don't know if I'll want to be a Jewish educator. I can't tell if it bothers me or not how much my observance is tied to who I want to spend time with, but I guess only time will tell. Beintayim, as long as I don't choose based on who has the most attractive women, I don't think it's too problematic.

Addiction

I definitely have a problem. Today I bought two hip hop CDs not because I wanted to listen to them, but because I felt that I had to own them. So now I own Israel's original hip hop duo, "Is Hop," with their breakthrough hit "1,2,3, Yesh Li Mesiba." That is 30 shekels I will never get back. In the meantime, all this time I've spent looking for the PR Troopers, I still haven't found their CDs, but they do exist. So give me time, and I'll have that as well.
On another note, after much thought, I've decided it's stupid for me to be shomer negiya. That is all.

Return of GAL?

Recently heard from a friend:

chill628: good news, jessica really wants to get you in on the seminary chick scene... she'll work her contacts in the frum community.... good things are on the way for the hackit

Wow.

I Watch Too Much Music Television

Let me start this by saying that I am currently watching Arutz 24 as I write this. At the moment, being the hip hop editor (a position that definitely doesn't exist and doesn't need to exist) for this channel would be my dream job. Of course, I haven't even bothered to thank the director of the station for his help with my thesis, let alone send him a resume (ie my thesis). That said, I pretty much watch this channel every moment that I am in my apartment that isn't Shabbas, yom tov, or an Eagles game.
So why is this news now? I just got back from Istanbul on Sunday, and I think in some ways the highlight of my trip was watching Turkish and French hip hop music videos. And no, the videos were not that good. Zot omeret, neither was my trip to Istanbul.
Here are a few things I learned about myself on this trip:
1) I don't think it's fair to expect people in foreign countries to speak English.
2) I think it's necessary to at least make an effort to learn the names of major tourist attractions in their native language.
3) I don't think it's cute to think of every piece of traditional garb of a foreign country as a prospective Purim costume.
4) I have too much ADD to stop and take a picture of every random English misspelling or wait for my friends while they do the same.
5) I prefer not to walk around wearing a big sign that says, "Rip me off, I'm a tourist."
6) I don't feel the need to advertise my Judaism every waking moment of my life, especially in cities not used to seeing such outward expressions of Judaism.
7) I can't bring myself to break Shabbat or kashrut, no matter how frustrated I get with observance.
But don't let me imply that the trip was a total bust. It was still Istanbul after all. I can understand why my entire family left, but I can also understand why they all still go back to visit every now and then. I would definitely recommend it, even for clueless vuzvuzim.
Shannah tovah!