Berlin Wall
Hey everyone. Sorry for not writing a blog in a while but to make up for that this one will be really long. So I’m warning you now, you will need several hours to read it, preparate!
Where to start…EUROPE!
BERLIN
From April 10 – 14 I attended the JDC/JSC midyear seminar in Berlin with all the fellows from Rwanda, Israel, Turkey, Argentina, Germany, Russia, Estonia, Ukraine, India and Serbia, our lovely JSC advisors Gila and Natalie and JDC staff representing India, Israel and Turkey. The seminar took place in a synagogue which if memory serves it was the only synagogue not destroyed in Crystal Noch. The seminar was very helpful and informative and my favorite part was meeting all the fellows and sharing stories about our countries and placements. The seminar consisted of several presentations that everyone gave about their countries, Jewish communities and work sights, presentations about how to deal with friendships and colleagues, authority and leadership, how to motivate people and how to motivate yourself and then of course we had “group therapy” where everyone shared their challenges and as a group we collectively brain stormed solutions and strategies to improve the situation. I think I can speak on behalf of everyone and say that we all enjoyed and benefitted from the seminar. Thank you Sarah and Molly for your hard work in planning and organizing the seminar for us in Berlin and thank you Natalie and Gila for making time to speak with each of us :-)
Of course while in Berlin, we did a little bit of sight seeing as well. Some of our sightseeing consisted of visiting several Jewish memorials, the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. Berlin is filled with Jewish memorials, it’s extremely present in the city and you’d have to be blind to not see one. While in Berlin, I couldn’t help thinking, what was I walking on? How many Jews walked on this same street that I’m walking on before being deported and killed? How many Jews did Nazis kill on this street and how many Nazis patrolled this street? Thoughts of the Holocaust and what happened and what could have happened kept racing through my mind subconsciously. Speaking of the Nazis and racism, what’s amazing about Berlin (or at least this is the impression that I got) is that Germany is very ashamed of it’s history yet wants to conserve it (ex: maintaining the concentration camps), just like we always say never never forget, so do they. Berlin especially is a very open and liberal city and you will see throughout the city advertisements and posters that talk about peace, acceptance, liberty and freedom.
TOURING BERLIN
The Berlin Wall was quite spectacular, completely different than how I imagined it would be. I pictured a plain concrete wall crumbling away with some graffiti on it. In reality, the Wall is a magnificent, diverse piece of artwork filled with political statements from artists all over the world, from the US to Europe to Israel. I remember three murals that really stood out to me, one had 3 pictures, one of them being the Great Wall of China, another was a picture that said “everywhere” that consisted of a pretty landscape with lots of trees, hills and animals and the third picture was of Berlin, a big black wall and behind it were colors trying to peak through. Another mural that stood out to me was two men (I think politicians) passionately kissing on the lips. As you walk along the Berlin Wall, the last mural in my opinion is the most striking and the most important. It is done by an Israeli artist and it’s a mural of the German flag and imbedded into it is the Israeli flag (the picture above). To the left of the flag it says “Lead me on my dreams among different time and space. To share hope with nations and believers. To observe with modesty the pure truth. And to reveal prudently the magic and the mystery”.
I wasn’t exactly sure what Checkpoint Charlie would be like but I imagined something very grand; it wasn’t. It’s a little security booth with an explanation of what it was and the original sign that says, “You are leaving the American Sector” also written in Russian, German and French. It wasn’t the most beautiful sight I’ve seen in my life but it was very interesting to see it up close and personal and learn more about the history of what happened there. There is a Checkpoint Charlie museum but due to a shortage of time I didn’t go.
Another thing that I saw that I never knew existed was that throughout Europe, there are little gold squares (the size of coasters) located outside of apartment buildings. The squares were done by an Israeli (or German artist, I can’t remember) artist and they are outside the homes where Jews lived. Each square says the name of the person, birthday, when they were deported and to which camp, date of death or liberation. These squares are very controversial for two reasons: 1) The families/people in general think it’s a sign of disrespect, as people are constantly walking on the squares. 2) Perhaps where the squares were put is not where the Jewish person actually lived, rather it was where they were hiding. I saw many of these squares in Berlin and in Amsterdam.
STOCKHOLM
After the seminar, I traveled with Zara (Argentina), Laura (Israel), Helene (Israel) and Orly (Israel) to Stockholm. The city completely blew me away, being stunningly beautiful, very cosmopolitan, very neat, clean and in order and EVERYONE spoke English, even the garbage man. Stockholm I believe consists of 17 islands, very unique and beautiful architecture, gorgeous delicate looking people (everyone had blonde hair, blue eyes and had pale skin) and delicious food (Swedish balls, my new favorite dessert! We also found this adorable restaurant that had the BEST bruchetta salad and homemade bread with Greek yogurt). We spent the day roaming around the city, visiting government buildings, the modern art museum (Niki De Saint Phalle), old town, the historical district and the commercial shopping district. We were only in Stockholm for a day and a half but I definitely could have spent more time there. I’ve been thinking for a while which European city is my favorite and I think I’d have to say Stockholm.
TALLINN
After saying goodbye to Stockholm, we took a 16-hour overnight ferryboat from Stockholm to Tallinn, Estonia. The ferryboat is like Buque Bus (the boat that goes from Argentina to Uruguay) on steroids. The boat consisted of a spa (with massages, facials, sauna and Jacuzzis), numerous bars and nightclubs, sundeck, many restaurants and buffets, casino, game room and more. The boat also had a theme to it, “Latino Carnaval”. I guess they knew that Zara and I (las Argentinas) were coming and wanted to make us feel at home. To keep up with the theme, one of the restaurants had a Cuban buffet and there were salsa and cha cha cha classes taught by Cubans, which of course we participated in. After the classes Zara and I talked to the Cubans in Spanish and everyone got a big kick out of it, who would have thought that the theme of a boat in Scandinavia would be Carnaval and that their would be Latinos giving dance classes?!
We arrived in Tallinn in the morning and were welcomed by Esther, the JSC fellow working there. She gave us a tour of the city, which consisted of old town and new town, and she took us to her favorite pancake restaurant, amazing amazing food! While Esther was giving the tour, I kept looking around and I felt like I was in Disneyland. The architecture of Tallinn is so medieval that I felt like at any moment I was going to see the Space Mountain ride and take a picture with Mickey and Minnie. One of the main government buildings looks like a castle and has a dragon coming out of it. Parliament is a pink building and in the middle of the city there are people dressed up in capes and crowns doing archery and selling nuts made from a medieval recipe (which are delicious by the way). We went to the shul (the only shul), which is small but gorgeous (Tallinn has a Jewish community of around 2,000-3,000, the biggest in Estonia). Although the community members are not religious, the shul is orthodox and the rabbi is Chabad. We watched the rabbi and community members standing outside of the shul burning chumitz for Passover. Esther also took us to the Jewish Community Center where she spends a lot of time working with the madrichim and inside the community center is the Jewish Museum of Estonia. The museum to me was very interesting because ever since I was a kid and learned about the Holocaust, the Holocaust in my mind mainly took place in Germany, Poland, Western Europe and bits and pieces of Eastern Europe (Romania). Never ever did I think that Estonia was affected by Nazi Germany! Estonia had a completely different spin and attitude towards Germany. Unlike most of Europe during that time, Estonia feared the Russians and many times the Nazis were viewed as heroes for killing and defeating them, although also in Estonia there were many concentration camps and massive killings headed by the Nazis. It was very interesting for me to learn about this different viewpoint of the Holocaust and it was so interesting to really be in Estonia and talk to people that lived during that time and how they felt that their country was trapped between the Germans and Russians.
After our amazing city tour, we went back to Esther’s apartment to clean and to cook for Passover (yes even I cooked, well I cut up vegetables but still I was working in the kitchen!). The menu consisted of matza, charoset, flourless chocolate cake (my favorite) numerous salads (beets with goat cheese, carrots and veggies, Martha Stewart salads), veggies and more that I can’t even remember. Esther invited some of the madrichim (teenagers) to the seder and it was great to talk to them and learn more about young Jewish life in Estonia and the Baltics. What I found interesting was that for many of these teens, it was their first seder. After suffering from the Holocaust and after being under Soviet rule for so many years (practicing Judaism was illegal), many Jewish traditions were lost and forgotten in Estonia. Taking this into account, Esther wanted to make their first seder special and meaningful, something that they would remember and could relate to. We used the JDC Haggadah but Esther tailored the seder so that the madrichim could really participate and understand the concept of Passover. For example, before singing Dayeinu, she asked the madrichim, what does freedom mean to you? Do you feel free living in Estonia? What are some challenges that you face that make you feel like a slave to something and how do you overcome that? When we were dipping the veggies into the salt water she asked the madrichim, what makes you sad and why? It was just so cool how she really made the seder relatable for them, how it wasn’t just a long boring Jewish dinner where we read for hours from an ancient Jewish book. I really felt like the madrichim learned a lot, had a lot of self reflection and learned a little bit more of their lost heritage and religion. Way to go Esther, the seder was amazing! The following day everyone got up early because Esther, Laura, Zara, Helene and Orly went to Helsinki and I went to Amsterdam
AMSTERDAM
I arrived in Amsterdam at 8AM and straight away started touring. I went to the Van Gogh Museum that is by far the most packed and crowded museum I’ve ever been to. The line was literally at least 5 blocks (I bought my ticket at the hostel and saved myself billions of hours waiting in line) and there was no room to stand, breath or see the paintings in the museum so I didn’t stay very long.
I did a bit of exploring by myself and saw Voldel Park, the Central park of Amsterdam filled with bike riders, families picnicking and tons and tons of people smoking marijuana because it’s legal in Amsterdam. Then I went to the Anne Frank House, the main reason why I wanted to go to Amsterdam. To be honest, I wasn’t very impressed with the museum. Although I think that her story is fascinating, there was so much updating and renovation done on the house that it felt more like a modern museum than where Anne Frank was hiding from the Nazis. It was hard for me to picture her living there, especially under the conditions that she described meanwhile I was walking through a very modern and luminous building. It was cool to see her original diary and at the end of the museum there is an exhibit that displays modern cases about racism (such as mistreatment of Mexicans in the US, Armenian and Rwandan genocide) and how it’s wrong. After Anna Franks house I met up with my Dutch friend (I met him in Buenos Aires last year) and he showed me downtown, the red light district (there are actually red lights and everything you have seen/heard about the red light district is true…), the royal palace, the canals, showed me where the queen buys stroupwaffles (the most amazing dessert ever, it really is a little piece of heaven) and of course I bought some…ok I bought a lot. It was so great to see him and awesome to see Amsterdam from a local. I was only in Amsterdam for the day and would LOVE to go back, hopefully soon because I ate all my stroupwaffles!
MADRID
My next and last stop was Madrid. I was only in Madrid for two and a half days but everything that I saw I loved. It has the same vibe as Buenos Aires, but the city is much bigger and cleaner. I started off on the right foot in Madrid because upon arriving at my hostel, the guy that was working there was Argentine, from the province of Buenos Aires and we immediately bonded. I went to the Prado Museum (the 2nd biggest and important art museum in Europe), every government building you can think of I have a pictures of them, Retiro Park and more. I went to a Flamenco show set up by the hostel and it was so great! I definitely want to see another show, the dancing is so beautiful and I loved the music. I took a city tour done by the hostel and went to Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace (the biggest in Europe, has over 100 rooms), saw the theater in Puerta del Sol (its one of the 3 best theaters in Europe along with London and Paris), stood on the exact point that marks the center of Spain and more. The tour was really great and I took millions of pictures. What I really enjoyed about being in Madrid was that finally I was in a country where I spoke the native language. In fact, many of the Spaniards thought I was Argentine, which I took as a huge complement. Although I was praised for my excellent Spanish and accent, I had some trouble understanding because the Spanish dialect is completely different than the Argentine in every way possible (the accent too is so different!). I absolutely LOVED Madrid and if I had European citizenship, Madrid would definitely be a city that I could see myself living in. I loved the culture, the city, and the “kilombo” of the public transportation.
I could write hundreds more pages about my fairytale Euro trip, especially because it was my first time there. If anyone is interested in hearing more about my trip or seeing more photos (I took over 500), please let me know.
I got back to Argentina April 22nd and this is what has been going on since then….
Passover, Social Welfare Center, Córdoba
Yom Hashoa, Macabi Noar, Córdoba
At Macabi after youth activities ended for the day there was a ceremony for Yom Hashoa. I’d say it was a typical ceremony, the heads of the community lit candles, texts written by Elie Weisel and David Ben Gurion related to the Holocaust were read and at the end kadish was recited. What was really cool and unique was instead of having a minute of silence, Macabi passed out sheets of paper, with the names of the 6 million Jews that died and in one minute, everyone recited the names instead of being silent.
Yom Hashoa, San Martín Theater, Córdoba
In the center of town there was an “acto” for Yom Hashoa. Heads of the Jewish community, the governor of Córdoba and other Córdoba governmental officials gave speeches about how we should never forget, and how the Holocaust should never happen again. The event was mostly attended by Jews (about 1,000 came) however most of the speakers were not Jewish, which I thought was really interesting. In my experiences it seems that Argentina is quite anti-American, anti-Israel and anti-Semitic, or certainly more than the US. I thought it was truly amazing how most of the speakers were not Jewish yet had the same values that us Jews have, such as peace and equality. Not only that, I specifically remember the governor saying that he wanted to add a Holocaust class in the general curriculum of every public school in Córdoba to teach how hate starts, how its wrong and how to end it.
Yom Ha'atzmaut, Plaza San Martín, Córdoba
In Plaza San Martín, the main square in Córdoba, there was a public ceremony celebrating Israel’s birthday. The event was smack in the middle of the city attended by all. To be honest I have no idea what was said or what the ceremony was like because many thoughts were running through my head at the same time. I kept thinking, who would have thought that in Córdoba, Argentina, in the center of the city, in public there would be a celebration for Israel? During the ceremony I was thinking about the other JSC fellows and how they were celebrating Yom Ha'atzmaut. My thoughts further wondered and I kept thinking how lucky I am to be in a country where legally and socially a celebration for Israel is permitted, meanwhile some JSC fellows are living in countries where doing anything Israel related in public is dangerous and frowned upon.
Yom Ha'atzmaut, Macabi Noar Córdoba
On April 15th there was a celebration at Macabi for Yom Ha'atzmaut. The rabbi recited a prayer for Israel and the national anthems for Argentina (it was the first time I heard the Argentine national anthem) and Israel were sung by all. Later on, each grade from the San Martín Jewish day school sang an Israeli song, read a text or did Israeli dancing. A few of the rikudim, “Israeli dancing” groups from Macabi also performed some dances which I really enjoyed. I loved the choreography, makeup, costumes and of course the music. One thing I was surprised and to be honest a bit disappointed was that there was no Israeli food. I was expecting and tenia muchas ganas to eat falafel, shwarma and “fizzy bubla” but I didn’t find anything :-(
I just came back from Mar del Plata, a coastal town in Argentina doing community service with Tufts University. We got to Buenos Aires late last night and Tufts will be here until wednesday. I'll write a blog all about that at some point during this week.
