We don't wait for Facebook to write on walls!

I never seem to take many pictures when I'm not a tourist, but here are a few to give you a taste of "winter" in Tel Aviv. 

Sunset in HaYarkon Park - reminds me a bit of Amsterdam.

 This is the tree outside of my window - it started blooming last month already! 

Sometimes we see these birds in the tree, but mostly they hang out by the river. 

They're called Rose-Ringed Parakeets and are originally from Africa.

 These are their cousins, Monk Parakeets, who took over a football field in the park one day.
They blended in so well, I almost missed them!

I'm not sure what these guys are, but I thought they were really cool. 

I saw these modern dinosaurs on another trek through HaYarkon park.

From the previous pictures, you may be thinking that I only interact with birds. 

Don't worry, sometimes I see people, too!

An old friend - 

This is Mati, the former madrichah of the Rishon Teaching Fellows (I went on some trips with them last year).
Mati is a tour guide extraordinaire and an all-around awesome person.

A new friend - 

This is Zoya, my new flatmate. She travels the world, speaks three languages, and makes a mean curry!

Running friends - the Tel Aviv marathon was last weekend. They decided to move the marathon to an earlier date since somebody died from heat exhaustion last year. Good idea, Tel Aviv :)

There are more stray cats than I can take pictures of.
This is the first one that I petted and let climb on my lap.
After she'd finished with me, she returned to her pre-warmed seat on a motorcycle.

 A classic example of graffiti found throughout the city. 

Richy says, "We don't wait for Facebook to rig write on walls."

Hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for more pictures of Tel Avivian birds, cats, and maybe even people!

Oh, you made aliyah? But you're from America - Why would you come here?

Shalom, kulam!

I hope you haven't been holding your breath since my last blog post - or maybe you have incredible lung capacity and can hold it for 3 months!

Speaking of lung capacity, I started working with a new voice teacher, and right away, we began intensive breathing exercises to teach my body how to really support my singing. Except for a few times while singing with Alexander Technique teachers, I've always felt tension in my lower back while singing, but I thought it was because I was tensing those muscles unnecessarily. I kept trying to release the tension, but actually what was happening was that my muscles were weak and needed to be engaged! For the first two weeks of working with my new teacher, I wasn't allowed to sing at home and only did breathing exercises. Now I've had 6 lessons and I'm able to sing for an hour in good voice without feeling tension or pain in my back and without my speaking voice being hoarse afterwards. It is so nice to have finally pinpointed what was wrong with my singing and to really have clarity throughout my range. Oh, and my volume has increased meod - a lovely side effect!

In other vocal news, I was accepted to two out of the three German summer programs that I'd applied to, so I'm going to Munich in July to learn how to sprechen Deutsch. And also to work on not one, not two, but three opera scenes! I definitely have my work cut out for me, but it's good to be productive again.

Last week, I finally started my Hebrew classes. I tested into "Kitah Alef Plus," but the class was full, so the secretary advised me to go to the regular Kitah Alef, but to wait until the end of the month while the rest of the class learned the Alef Bet and Hebrew basics. Most of what we're learning is still review for me, but a lot of the verbs are new and we have a lot more speaking practice because the class is 3.5 hours long. Being immersed like that for five days a week makes it seem much more natural to speak Hebrew in the city and I'm understanding a lot more. Our class is like a mini-UN; all but one student are olim chadashim (new immigrants) like me from Russia, France, the UK, Australia, Italy, Uzbekistan, the Netherlands, and of course, the U.S. Our teacher challenges us a lot, but she is very knowledgeable and the classes are really well-structured. She makes sure that everyone gets practice speaking and ends every class with a game. I wish that my English classes with the kids last year could have run as smoothly!

Oh yes, I decided not to teach at the school this year. It was a difficult decision because I was really attached to the kids, but between Ulpan, my voice lessons, and my movement classes, I barely have time to do my homework and practice! I'm also living farther north in the city, so it would take me an hour to get to the school versus the 20-minute trip last year. But I did bring them all the books that I lugged over in December and I hope that they are using and enjoying them.

So, that's my new life in a rather large nutshell. I hope that everyone is well and staying [relatively] warm. Fear not! Spring is around the corner!

Chibuk gadol* :)

Daniella

* big hug

Wintry Greetings!

Well, I thought that I'd left the chilly weather back in the States, but when I arrived in Israel on Wednesday, I was greeted with downpours of rain, blustery winds, and chilly temperatures! I emerged from the airport with my 3 suitcases (well under 150 pounds, thank you very much! and about 25 of those pounds are books for the school), tired and jetlagged, but officially an Israeli! It hasn't hit me yet, exactly what I've just done, but I'm sure it will. Right now it feels like I never left, which I suppose is a good feeling.

Israeli buildings on the whole are not built for cold weather (poured concrete doesn't do much in the way of insulation). If you're lucky, your air conditioning unit might have a "hot air" option that warms the air, but not necessarily you. So for three days, I basically hibernated in my room with the only heater in our apartment, very glad that I packed my -1 C sleeping bag and a dozen pairs of SmartWool socks. I never imagined that I would be using them in Tel Aviv!

I'm staying in HaTikvah - a neighborhood on the eastern edge of Tel Aviv. It's a slightly depressed area, but there is a lot of construction on our street, which means that people are snapping up cheap properties and "fixing" them. The people I'm renting from also rent out the top floor of the building (there are about 8 other people also renting rooms here). I've been spending time in the upper common room because they have heat, a working stove, working internet, and a tiny kitten! Her name is Katsi (sp?) and she was rescued from the street by a German guest. She was only a few weeks old when they found her, so she couldn't get any shots and couldn't travel on the plane yet. So she's currently wreaking havoc on the other tenants and resident dog and generally ruling the roost. The dog was suspicious of me at first, but after allowing me to pet her and getting a smoked salmon treat from me, we are best friends. So much that she attacked my door this morning when I failed to emerge at the hour she'd deemed appropriate. Her name is Lala and she's very sweet, but very lonely.

On the practical front, today I met with a few people to look at apartments, I've got some leads for jobs as an English teacher, and I just have to set up a bank account and then I will be all done with my aliyah process and ready to start my new life!

Just a few plugs before I go...
-In case you haven't seen them yet, here is the link for my audition videos again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1olde-_KBQ&feature=share&list=PLGN_pJ5E_VUJdtwcpKsotsv4V-VdL3fvw
-And here's the link for my mom and sister's art & poetry collaboration: http://www.adrianatd.com/forever-calendar/

Hope you're all staying toasty and dry!

Snowflakes and sahlab,

Daniella

Mini-Universes

Ciao, tutti! I apologize for the huuuuge gap in blogs, but I am hoping to get back to writing more regularly. It has been a whirlwind summer and I am still processing everything that has happened and everywhere I've been. St Martin, South Carolina, Colorado, Wisconsin, France, and Ohio in just 4 months! Are you tired yet?

I was just doing some chakra meditation today and had a realization that I wanted to share. I often find it helpful to visualize the color of each chakra to keep my mind more occupied. Today I realized that the colors also correspond to Earth and the universe.

What do you think of when you imagine a cross-section of the earth? In the center (inner/outer core and mantle), red-hot metals gently cooling perhaps some magma forming? What are the colors of the first two chakras? Red and orange! Now, the third chakra is a bit tricky because it is yellow and soil can be many colors, but just stretch your imaginations a bit. I think you'd agree that the land surface could fall under "green" which is just the same as our heart chakra (it can also be pink, but let's not complicate things). The throat is sky blue, which coordinates well with our sky. Then darker indigo and purple (or white) make up our higher chakras, which you could easily imagine as the darkness of outer space and the rest of the universe.

Now, one of my Alexander teachers likes to remind his students of "heaven and earth." That is, to remain grounded down but to also be moving upwards towards heaven - you are neither pulled nor stretched in either direction. I've always found it interesting that Alexander's directions "forward and up" are also the directions for the third eye - the 6th chakra, and perhaps the first stop as we journey outwards from our own atmosphere into the unknown.

All Alexander teachers will speak to you about "freeing your neck," but what does that really mean? Is it just saying "my neck is free?" Is it stretching your neck to release tension? Or is it, as some of my teachers suggest, simply acknowledging where your neck is right now and knowing that it is free to be exactly where it is at this moment.

In my opinion, the throat chakra is your personal piece of sky. It is what separates and also connects your body, your emotions, to your higher self and the rest of the universe. Yehuda spoke to me about the neck being there to keep the head from floating off into space. The head wants to move forward and up, but we tend to get in the way of it. (Watch a small child playing or a cat or dog running after a toy - you'll understand what I mean).

The throat (5th), heart (4th), and "splenic" (2nd) chakras are intrinsically connected for me (and I imagine for many others, as well) because without their openness, I cannot sing well. This past year, I've been paying more attention to these areas in my daily life. As you might imagine, the heart chakra is linked to our emotions and if it is not open, then we cannot truly communicate our emotions or truly connect with anyone else. Now imagine what a closed heart chakra would do to a singer! Singing is melodic expression of emotion and simply painting on facial expressions or gestures will not really engage an audience. Singing from your emotions can. You are opening your chakras in order to express something genuine and that is how you can share it with others. You are connecting with heaven and earth within AND without you.

To date, the most comfortable I've felt singing in front of others has been at campfires or sitting with them in a small room. I think that being outside in nature or in the comfort of a friend's home, I don't feel that I need to "act," I can just sing songs that I connect with and my connection to them invites my listeners to also connect. It's a beautiful feeling and I think that soon I will be able to transfer this to a bigger stage and connect to wider audiences, including them in my own small universe.

Snail friend near Monet's house in Giverny, France

In other news, I finally got my official approval to make aliyah, so I am heading back to Israel in December. I had hoped to be back in October, but life and paperwork happened. This month, I'm preparing audition recordings for a couple summer programs in Germany (time to learn some Deutsch). I figured I might as well get all the recording business done over here, eat some turkey and latkes and then tackle finding a job and place to live in Tel Aviv.

I hope that you are all well and adjusting to the chillier fall temperatures. Trick-or-treating was delayed a day here due to wind and rain - it was a truly spooky Halloween evening! 

Crepes et marrons,

Daniella :)

College for All

Finally, some pictures of my kids!

On the last day, we got a giant sheet of paper and asked everyone to write one thing that they thought improved with their English. Sadly, we didn't get any pictures with the 8th graders, but we did get some of the 7th grade (this is only about a third of them).

They were mostly interested in drawing pictures.
This was the most diligent they were all year :)

Yogev wrote "Thank you Daniella for the English lessons" :)

There are only 3 non-Jews in this picture, see if you can guess who they are.
 sitting down l-r, Patrick, Alex, Afek
Yogev is kneeling and being silly in the front

standing l-r: Miriam (my teaching partner in crime), Mor, Naviu, Tasphoon, Moudi, Amanda, Pninat, Diana, me

standing in the back l-r: Kesem giving everyone rabbit ears, Shelly and Lior

Did you get it right? Moudi and Patrick are Muslim and Alex is Christian.
That's right, everyone else is Jewish. How's this for diversity!

Spring in Israel

Hi, all! Here is an assortment of pictures from my Spring adventures so far...

This was taken in Sderot, Gaza City is in the background (separated from Sderot by two walls). We weren't sure if it was appropriate to smile, but we did anyway.... (me, Louise and Alana, l-r)

 The "Path to Peace" wall - a "do it yourself" mosaic project started by a resident of Sderot.

 We put our pieces in the "lahmed" because we all have an "l" in our names :)

Pasting one of my pieces onto the wall

Mine is the tiny green piece by the fish.

Walking along the beach promenade one day, we saw this monstrosity/pirate vessel. We couldn't tell if they were protesting something or just like pirate decor.

Whimsical sculpture at the Diaspora Museum, Tel Aviv

It's spring and the rain shower trees are in full bloom!
(as are everyone's allergies)

Time for Pride Parade!

 Some people decided to use the bus shelters as observation platforms.
I thought the "Danger of Death!" signs were particularly relevant here.

I'm sure Adam and Eve wore even less than this.

Enjoying our "grandmother's hair" at the parade - I like Israeli cotton candy, it's not as teeth-numbingly sweet as American cotton candy. I think there must be extra sweeteners in the coloring that we use.

"Yeah, I'm at the Pride Parade. I'm not bovvered."

Sea of people at the sea.

This is the point where Louise and I left the parade...

Now that it's nicer weather, the Hare Krishnas serenade us every Erev Shabbat :)

Another rain shower tree :)

Guess what I mished for...

Dailectivities

Pride Parade, White Night in Tel Aviv, talking to Birthright groups, finding an amazing tapas restaurant in Tel Aviv.....these are just a few of the things that have happened since my last post.

It has been a crazy last month, and this will probably be my last blog post during my program. I finished teaching at the school a few weeks ago, and though I enjoy the extra free time for practicing and exploring, I miss seeing my kids. I went back for a few one-on-one tutoring sessions this week and Lior, my newest tutoring challenge, was really disappointed that I was leaving for the summer. I introduced the game "Hangman" to him and now it is his favorite thing to do. He has taken it upon himself to beat me at the game but is always surprised when I can guess the words that he comes up with. I was a little stumped with "FC - Barcelona"...I don't think acronyms are allowed in Hangman, but I don't want to have to explain what an acronym is to introduce this rule.

Last month I did a lot of museum exploring with my friend Louise - we went to the Diaspora Museum (or "Museum of Jewish Peoples" as it's called here) here in Tel Aviv and enjoyed peering at the reconstructions of synagogues from around the world and learning about the Bukharan Jews. We also went to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, which just had an overwhelming amount of artifacts, but was a delight to wander through. It was really cool to see mosaics with Hebrew on them, I usually only think of Greek and Latin as "ancient cultures." Louise and I amused ourselves by spotting all the cat (and lion and tiger) figurines of various sizes. Our piece de resistance of the day was going to the Eucalyptus restaurant in Jerusalem - a restaurant that specializes in making foods native to Israel. We ordered a "King David Feast," which was basically a 7-course meal of vegetables, meat, soups, and dessert, of course. It was one of the best meals that I've had in Israel and inspired me to make more hot meals for myself.

Back in Tel Aviv, we went to Eretz Israel Museum, but our tour was mostly just us wandering around deserted museum grounds looking for entrances into things. It was a bit of a letdown after the amazing museum in Jerusalem, but we consoled ourselves by looking at the lovely items in the museum shop and eating some really tasty (and not overpriced) food at their cafe.

Last month also marked the start of a new kind of bodywork for me called the Grinberg Method. It was created by an Israeli and is kind of a combination of reflexology, therapy, and deep tissue massage. I met my practitioner by chance in the park next to my apartment building and have been having weekly sessions ever since. We unlocked some things that I had only started to scratch the surface of with my counseling and Alexander Technique and I really enjoy my sessions. I also went to a few movement classes (an offshoot of Grinberg) which were invigorating and stimulating. I plan to take regular classes when I come back in the fall.

Which brings me to the question on all of your lips - What is Daniella doing this fall? Fear not, I will tell you. My audition for the music school is on Sunday (yes, one day from now!) and it couldn't come a moment too soon. I am excited to present my pieces and also excited to then move on to new pieces. I am coming back to Tel Aviv in October and hopefully will start school at the end of the month.

In the meantime, my program ends on Tuesday, I am flying home on Wednesday, and then it's a summer of unpacking, traveling, and repacking...not necessarily in that order. I am looking forward to many things: having a full kitchen with a decent stove (and oven!!!), not having to squeegee my bathroom floor every time I shower, sleeping in a real bed without being awoken by people shouting joyously/drunkenly to each other at 3 AM, not living above a bus stop.... Mostly though, I am looking forward to seeing my cat again. This will have been the longest that I have ever been away from home, and the longest that I've stayed in one spot since high school! I never thought it would happen in Israel :)

I will post more pictures tomorrow (well, later today for most of you).


Mangoes and chrysanthemums,

Daniella

Oh, p.s. dialectivities is an example of the challenges of teaching English to kids who don't regularly use vowels when reading/writing their language. Mor, a 7th grader, was working with Georgie one day and was arguing with her about one of the answers on his homework. It was a fill in the blank sheet and the question was about television and computers. The answer they were looking for was "forms of communication," but Mor insisted that it was "dialectivities." Of course, neither Georgie nor I knew what he was talking about, so I asked him to show it to me in his book...."daily activities."