I have finally downloaded, cleaned up, and sorted over 400 photos from my recent trip to Israel. As you can imagine it was an absolute blast (the trip, not sorting the photos out). Keep on reading to see the album and for more…

Continue reading Israel trip photos →

This one’s bothered me for years and it came up again yesterday while chilling at the beach:

In Hebrew, turkey (the animal) is hodu/הודו. However, Hodu/הודו is also the name for India (the country), while in English Turkey refers to a different country known in Hebrew as Turkia/טורקיה. To make matters worse, the animal does not come from either country: it is native to North America (and was called huexolotl in nahuatl). It wasn’t even introduced in the area until the 16th century!

Chew on that for a minute.

Went out to a big club in Tel Aviv on Monday. Absolutely packed, huge line, hard to go in. Everything else at the port was also full. On a Monday.

Got back to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem last night at 3 AM. Coffee shops and bars everywhere were open. People walking the streets. Stores open. On a Thursday morning, at 3 AM.

Walking around town today at about 4 PM. There’s people everywhere. Restaurants packed. People walking the street. Malls full.

Does anyone ever work in this city? Or are they just sitting around in coffee shops at all hours?

I’m in Jerusalem right now. The first part of my trip is almost over (the part with the group).
On Monday morning we are officially done after we drop everyone off at the airport. What I’ll be doing the next week is not yet totally decided but I have many ideas. I should have better access to the Internet then and I will try to upload some photos.

It’s now time to dust off my old yet considerable skills as a madrich as I’ll be leading a Birthright trip to Israel, organized by Israel Outdoors.

The trip is 10 days long and hits all major landmarks after which I’ll stay in order to visit friends and family. It will be the longest vacation I’ve taken since I started working, and it will be weird being away for so long.

I won’t be taking my laptop, but I will try to post something now and then if I have a chance from a borrowed computer or from a tiny multi-touch on-screen keyboard with no tactile feedback.

If you are in Israel and want to meet up, do let me know. If you want me to eat a shawarma in your name, please deposit NIS 15 in my PayPal or bank account and I will gladly do so.

Just for kicks, here’s an old photo of Bielas, Nedvedovich and myself building a Mifkad Esh (fire sign) to celebrate a previous Yom Ha’atzmaut back in Monterrey. I’m the one with the pony tail.

My brother Jacobo was wondering about Latin American members of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament). We knew of only one. So we looked it up. Being such a young country with a high level of immigration, a high percentage of the population was born in the Diaspora, so it’s only natural that it reflects in the government.

As far as we could tell, there have been only three:

1. Eliezer Ronnen (Mexico, 8th Knesset)
2. Benny Temkin (Mexico, 13th Knesset)
3. Yehuda Gilad (Brazil, 15th Knesset)

Let’s put things into perspective:

Argentina is the Latin American country with the largest Jewish population (about five times as much as Mexico) yet no Argentinians have been in the Knesset.

The United States has the largest Jewish population in the Diaspora (twelve times as many as Mexico!) yet only three members of the Knesset were born there (although former Primer Minister Golda Meir grew up in the U.S.).

Another interesting fact is that Benny Temkin was not only born in Mexico, but more specifically in Monterrey (my hometown). This is noteworthy (and a source of pride) because Monterrey has one of the smallest Jewish communities in the world (under 500). I’ve met Benny several times. He and his wife would take us out to lunch a few times while I lived in Israel (and he was in the Knesset and ruling coalition) and at parties back home.