irony

just for fun, here is an incredibly ironic clip i ran across of ex-press secretary dana perino (accidently) admitting how limited democracy is in america. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mon4KvPYjng&NR=1

 

very telling.

pics of la catedral de cadiz

i took pictures inside of the cathedral in cadiz, spain where i am staying. 

you may access them here.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jeff.meigs/CadizCathedral#

enjoy!

arrival in the european union

so im officially blogging again.  the reason for my absence has been

1.  i was not doing anything very exciting for about a month.

2.  my computer broke (i will explain in a bit) and so i have been out of commission.

on august 19th, i flew to paris, to meet my girlfriend maria.  immediately after, we went to lyon, the second largest city in france to the southeast of paris.  this is where maria is spending her semester.  i stayed there for a few days, saw some sites, took lots of pictures, ate some amazing food, and enjoyed the lyonnaise thunder storms.  we were kind of scrambling to find her an apartment for the semester, which she had to find upon arriving.  It’s a pretty complicated process, especially in a new place.  Sadly, after a few days i had to leave, but on the bright side, I got to finally enter a country in which i speak the language (more or less).  I arrived in Madrid, in the late afternoon, only to leave the next morning.  After taking the metro to my hostel, I took to the town (Old Madrid) to see a few sites before I had to head out the next morning.  I saw the Plaza Mayor, where I witnessed my first flamenco experience (awesome) and also I visited the cathedral and the Palacio Real (from the outside due to it being late, but beautiful lighting none the less).  I absolutely loved my less than 24 hour visit to Madrid, and am excited to go back for a weekend soon.  I met some cool guys in the hostel (roomed with 5 random people) that I talked to about Andalucia.  The next morning I was back at the airport.  I ran into some people on the metro from UW doing the same program as me and taking te same flight to Jerez.  Upon arriving in Jerez de la Frontera from Madrid, I took a bus to my final destination (for now), Cadiz.  This is where I will be (most of the time) until mid december.  Upon arriving, I met my host mom, Paqui, whom i walked with to her house.  There I met my host Dad Neno (whom she calls El Gordo ((the fat guy))) and their son Jose and his girlfriend Carmen.  They also have three daughters.  I have been here in Cadiz since the 29th of August. 

To learn a thing or two about cadiz, or see a few pics, check out the wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadiz

Since arriving, I have been enjoying some great home cooked spanish food in my house (lots of fish, lots of seafood, lots of ham), exploring las calles (streets), going to la playa (beach), enjoying cafe cortado (espresso with splash of milk), going to orientation for school, visiting some pubs, enjoying a glass of tinto de verano (literally means summer wine, mixture of red wine and lemon soda), getting to know my family, meeting new friends both Gaditano (from Cadiz) and American (UW), eating chucherrias (world’s best candy), reading, visiting churches and the cathedral and much much more.  Cadiz is a beautful, isolated, beach town, with more history than it knows what to do with, and a unique charm and character unlike any other city I have been to.  I like the contrast from the feel of a major city, even though technically there is less to do. 

when i flew into madrid, i took my computer out only to find a sizeable dent.  In fear I opened the lid to find a large fissure stretching across the length of my mac.  gotta love checked baggage.  I turned it on, somewhat optimistic in the fact that about 3/4 of my screen worked.  After a day, it receded to one half, soon to be engulfed by the abyss of blackness and rainbow stripes.  I arrived in english-less Cadiz with no contact to the outside, and no possible of replacement or repair.  I was actually fortunate to talk to my parents, and they sent me my mom’s laptop, which goes relatively unused.  And it is with this that I am blogging with now. 

I have taken lots of pictures, which I will try and get up soon.  I have been adjusting pretty well, just missing Maria a lot, and the familiarity of family friends, seattle coffee, and my guitar.  The Gaditano accent is pretty rough.  They slur their speach, and don’t say the last syllable of any words.  My family just so happens to be the most difficult to understand that i have met, but i think it will help me in the long run.  I have met a good portion of their extended family, and in fact I am about to eat a large lunch with some of the kids, my mom’s brother and others. 

Side note:  after getting here i finished Amy/David Goodman’s book Standing Up to the Madness:  Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times, which I had signed by her at Seattle’s Green Fest.  I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in issues of dissent, activism, community organizing, and unrecognized heroes. 

I think I will be reading a lot here since on sundays most things are closed.  I found a book store that actually had a decently sized english section, most of which were not up my alley, but I found Dickens’ Hard Times.  I will be reading that to occupy myself for the next few sundays. 

 

I will try and post at least once per week with the week’s happenings, pictures, side adventures, etc. 

as for now,

hasta luego!

words

Two days ago we started at the foreign ministry, and got a lecture from the director of Israeli/US relations.  It was pretty interesting, but I basically disagreed with every word he said, so there you go.  His best argument for why the US should support Israel was a quote from Truman, which basically amounted to, “when something is right, you just know it”.  He claimed that the relationship between the US and Israel is not against anyone, and does not hurt anyone.  I think the Gazans killed in the last siege might disagree.  He also claimed that the Holocaust had no part in the formation of Israel.  This seems pretty blatantly untrue, given the amount of immigration to Israel before and during the Holocaust, and the use of the Holocaust by the Zionist movement as one the rationales for statehood.  Basically, it was a governmental voice, and for a diplomat, fairly unimpressive. 

 

The second lecture was a man who specializes in branding of Israel.  Basically (in my opinion), it is how to advertise a country to make the government look favorable.  It was kind of shocking how planned and detailed this process is.  It was structured identically like business advertising.  In fact, it was so blatantly skewed that he showed a picture of a Palestinian boy next to an Israeli tank, and asked what the image represented, and one of the guys in the group said it made Israel look bad basically and he was trying to skew it so the tank was the victim (wow).  He came up with a set of terms that he thought would be beneficial for Israel’s image, and did a goal for the next five years, and the next ten years and achieving this image.  Some of the kids in the group did not seem absolutely appalled by it, as I did, viewing it as blatant propaganda.  The basic goal is to inform the rest of the world of everything besides the conflict.  I was not sure exactly what to ask during the Q & A, so I just asked something like this: “Since you have shown how much public opinion changes based on country branding, is there within your campaign any ethical question about what is appropriate vs. blatant manipulation of opinion?”  His response was, “you can’t fool people”, therefore they would see through any manipulation that might or might not exist.  This, of course, raises the question of, if that is true, why would there be any need for country branding to begin with?  If you can’t fool people, they would naturally see the “real” Israel without tons of money and energy put into branding.  His response was essentially that through this campaign the population would receive more information, not less.  When in reality, “more information” is just imagery, slogans, and other substance less B.S. 

 

Moving on….we had lunch in the Foreign Ministry, and then went into the Old City of Jerusalem.  Our first stop was an Ethiopian Christian Church, which is one of the oldest churches in the world.  Ethiopian monks watch over it, and it was incredible. We then walked around an ultra orthodox Jewish neighborhood.  It was a very strange experience.  Everywhere there are signs in Hebrew/Yiddish that demand that women wear appropriate clothes in the neighborhood, groups do not walk through the neighborhood, and other dramatic announcements about the evils of the state.  The ultra orthodox, by the way, are anti-Zionist because according to the Torah, the state of Israel is illegitimate.  They are all extremely poor, because the men don’t work (they just study the Torah), and the women have to take care of the children and work.  It is a bit like going back in time.  I don’t mean that necessarily in a derogatory way, but literally.  The dress is very traditional, and the social life is very suppressed, and stern.  It is jewry in Eastern Europe in the 1700s, basically.  Often times they hold violence protests and throw stones.  It was an interesting walk.

 

Then we walked through the Arab quarter, went through a market, and then entered the church of the Holy Sepulcher.  Wow.  This was probably the most amazing part of the trip so far.  We saw where Jesus was crucified, saw the tomb where Jesus was buried, and the Holy Sepulcher.  Every square inch of the church breathed antiquity, ambiguity, majesty, and awe-inspiring art.  It is absolutely incredible.  Also I was able to do some shopping in the market, and get some haggling practice in. 

 

Yesterday we went to the Yad Vashem, which is the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.  It was very powerful, as one would imagine.  There was so much to see, so it is kind of hard to judge it.  We were there for two and a half hours, but we could have stayed all day and not seen everything.  Almost as depressing as looking back at this tragedy was the fact that merciless killing still persists. 

 

Then we went to the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament.  We saw parliament in session, including Netanyahu and other gov’t people.  They were voting on the budget, and it was very vocal inside so it was quite interesting. 

 

Then we went to a Yeshiva, which is a school that teaches Judaism.  We went to a National Religious Orthodox community.  It was kind of nuts.  The man we talked to had been working and studying there for 20 years.  Their belief is that the land of Israel is for the Jews and only the Jews, it extends far beyond the current borders of Israel.  So basically the Arabs should leave and say thank you for their 60 years under Israeli rule (I’m not exaggerating).  There were many statements like this.  One thing we discussed was that a woman as Prime Minister was in violation of the Torah.  I asked him where in the Torah it says a woman can’t be a Prime Minister.  He mentioned a quote about a king, and therefore not a queen.  Another guy in our group said, “A Prime Minister is not a queen”.  I thought that was pretty funny, haha.  He basically said the whole Knesset is a problem, so whatcha gonna do!  It is these kinds of perspectives that make me pessimistic of peace in the region. 

 

Today we checked out of our hotel in Jerusalem, and went to the High Court of Justice.  We saw a couple courtrooms, including the Chief Justice and other Justices deliberating cases (in Hebrew).  That was quite interesting.  We saw a museum in the Court with landmark cases, which was very cool.  They included cases on women’s rights, homosexual rights, and rights for Arab Palestinians.  I hope the court can use the law to undo some of the actions of the Knesset, which is highly nationalistic (duh). 

 

Then we drove out of Jerusalem, sad, and headed toward the south.  It is a desert in the south, and it was 112 degrees today (apparently a cold day).  We went in the Dead Sea, which was AWESOME.  It is impossible not to float, because it has 60 times more salt than a normal sea, and is the lowest point on earth.  Also there is mud that is actually really good for your skin, so I got it all over myself and some people took some funny pictures that I will hopefully be able to post when I get them.  Now we are in a Kibbutz, in the middle of the desert.

jerusalem days photos

 

i think you know

 

wailing wall

 

ultra orthodox neighborhood

 

inside the church of the holy sepulcher, sorry for bad quality

 

wow, the church

 

the tomb

 

where Jesus was crucified

jerusalem

we got into jerusalem today.  first we went to the jordan river where jesus was baptized, and some people in the group got baptized.  it was very informal, but they got to wear robes and totally submerge in the river.  

when we got into jerusalem we first went to a viewing spot on a hill in a palestinian village.  got some amazing shots!, which i will post soon.  we then drove into old town and went to the tomb of king david, followed by a visit to where (they think) the last supper was, which is almost directly next to the tomb of king david.  then we explored the jewish quarter of old jerusalem (east jerusalem) and were surrounded by ultra orthodox.  most of the ultra orthodox population in israel are in jerusalem.  then we went to the western wall, which was pretty amazing.  i went up to the wall, and stuck a wish note in the wall, as is the custom.  i also took a couple short videos in the indoor part of the western wall where a lot of the ultra orthodox are praying, which was a totally unique experience.  

 

then we went to the museum of israel adjacent to the supreme court, government offices, and the knesset.  at the museum we looked at a very large model of jerusalem 2000 years ago, where, instead of the dome of the rock, the second temple is standing.  we proceeded to a room with ancient pottery and other artifacts from about 2000 years ago.  finally we saw the dead sea scrolls, which was quite a trip.  makes me wish i read hebrew.  

 

i will post photos soon.

today

today was a very fun day.  a little less intellectual today, but it was nice to kind of give the brain a break.

 

first we explored the golan heights and went to a location near where the 1973 war took place, and watched a short film.  we went to a couple of hilltops with panoramic views and went in a bunker, which was interesting.  we crossed over the jordan river, and drove to the sea of galilee.  we first had a hilltop view, then we went down, ate lunch, and swam in the galilee for a few hours.  that was really fun, and the water was extremely warm, up to probably 95 in some parts.  pretty crazy for fresh water.

 

also, i forgot to mention, 3 days ago i got a really bad jellyfish sting in the mediterranean in haifa.  it hurt really bad that whole day, and so i took a vicadin from my tooth surgery (good thing i brought them), but it made me sick to my stomach.  so that night basically sucked.  the next day it felt like my foot was broken, and it was hard to get in my shoe, but it was fine.  and today it just looks like a have a really bad scar.  pretty sweet overall.  

 

sweet