Travels through the holy land

Ok, I promised a post about Israel. It's long, long overdue but here it is.

Israel is, in a word, amazing. When people talk about Israel these days, the conversation tends to focus around the conflicts. But when I was there, what I saw was beauty, warmth, diversity, and awe-inspiring history.

For the first three days of my trip, we stayed in Haifa, which is a city on the northern coast. From there, we were able to venture out to Akko (aka Acre) and Caesarea. We mostly saw a lot of cool old stuff and gorgeous coastline.

Akko:





Caesarea:



Haifa:



The Baha'i Gardens gave me a sense of tranquillity I have rarely felt before.


On the afternoon of the 3rd day, we returned to my friends' homebase in Jerusalem. My favourite part of Jerusalem (and one of the highlights of my entire trip) was Hezekiah's water tunnel in the City of David.


The story goes that in 8th century BC, Jerusalem was attacked by the Assyrian army. In an effort to protect the city, King Hezekiah ordered a 1750 foot tunnel system be dug through the mountain to divert the water supply. Not only an amazing feat, but a lot of fun to walk through!

Temple Mount--the holiest place on Earth for three different major religions--was pretty amazing too.

The Western wall and the Dome of the Rock.


Women placing their prayers in the Western Wall.


And from there, the view of the Mount of Olives and the rest of Jerusalem was just stunning.



The next day we headed out to the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve.



I got myself positively covered in silt when I tried (and failed) to climb up a hill.


So we went to clean and cool ourselves off in the Dead Sea (another big highlight of the trip).



That same night, if you can believe it, we headed to Tel Aviv for a dance. I'd gone dancing in Jerusalem the night before and had a great time, but the scene in Tel Aviv took me by surprise. It's a lot bigger and the level is a lot higher than I would have guessed. Not to mention, the people were very friendly.

The next day was a quiet one. We wandered through the shops and markets in Jerusalem and prepared ourselves for the Sabbath. I really enjoyed the experience. There's nothing like peace, quiet, and good food shared between good friends at the end of an eventful week.

And then it was time for me to go. I wasn't ready to at all; it felt like I needed at least another week. Don't be surprised if I go back again soon.

But for now... the next trip I have booked is Rome at the start of December. I can't wait for more adventuring.

I love London

By now, you will have heard about (or experienced first-hand) the senseless violence of the UK Riots. You will probably also have heard about the thousands of people who rallied to clean up our communities. We've seen both the worst and the best in people over the last few days.

Here's some more of the best...


I live very close to Peckham. If you heard about the Peckham bus fire, that was within spitting distance of my home. It's a neighbourhood that often gets a bad rap because it's full of folks who are unemployed and--I hate to say it but--black. And yet when I went out for a walk the morning after the riot, the streets had already been cleaned, the vandalised shops were open for business, and there was a good feeling in the air. There was definitely a sense of "keep calm and carry on," but more than that there was a sense of community.

It wasn't long before the "I love Peckham" project sprang up. A couple of girls have taken it upon themselves to spend their days handing out post-it notes and marker pens to the locals and sticking up the community's thoughts for the world to see. When I stopped by yesterday, I saw a man I remembered from photos someone else had taken. He was there to give the girls a bouquet of flowers.

It just goes to show that even when this city is at its lowest point, it's still full of heart. In a city this big, where it's easy to go through each day without any meaningful interaction with those around us, sometimes it takes a tragedy to remind us of that. I love Peckham and I love London. I feel so very lucky to live here.

Waiting, standing, cheering, winning!

I'm long overdue for an update from my Israel trip, and I'll get to that, I promise. But first, I have to talk about yesterday's big adventure.

It's no secret that I love dance. And as a big fan of dance, I've been following the television programme So You Think You Can Dance ever since it first came out in America 8 years ago. When it came out in Canada, I followed that too. And now that I'm here, I'm following it in the UK.

By the time I realised last season that I could have requested to be part of the studio audience, it was too late. And so, with great anticipation, I waited and waited for this year's series to be announced and for tickets to go up for grabs. I checked the site every day for months on end, hoping to get my request in first. But when they were finally released, I found out that it didn't make one bit of difference because it was a lottery system. I was only allowed to apply for two shows. I applied for the first and the last, knowing they would be both the most interesting and the most popular, and resigned myself to not getting tickets this year.

Then something amazing happened... I checked my email on Thursday and found an update on my SYTYCD tickets for the 11th of June (the final!). What tickets?! I searched my inbox, nothing. I called their ticket hotline, they confirmed they'd sent them to me but couldn't resend and I'd just have to bring photo ID. I finally found them in my deleted folder, on the brink of being permanently deleted. I obviously need to be more careful with what I'm deleting. (250 000 people applied for tickets to the final. I'd say about 300 of us actually made it in. I've never felt so lucky.)

I recruited someone who was equally excited about this adventure and off we went. To ensure a full audience, they give out more tickets than they actually have, so we wanted to get there early to be sure we'd get in/get a good spot. Since gate time was 2:45, we aimed for 10 and I arrived at 9:24. Nobody was there. We went for coffee and came back. Nobody was there. We went shopping and came back. People were there. We plunked ourselves down in line and began the long wait.

I can't even tell you how worth it it was. Getting there early meant we got to go in first and were in the front row (standing room only... the seats go to friends/family and those who are unable to stand). When we finally got in the studio around 4:30, there was a bunch of pre-recording to be done. Including--wait for it--a performance by J.Lo. I've never had strong feelings one way or the other about J.Lo, but I have to admit it was awesome seeing her up close. She has so much star quality, it's ridiculous. And baby not only got back, she got THIGHS! It's a good thing to see amongst such a skin-and-bones-obsessed celebrity culture.

The show finally went live at 7:15. By this time, we were more than a little tired of standing (and screaming -- "We need you to go bananas in 5, 4, 3, 2...!") but the excitement of what was about to happen kept us going. All 4 finalists were superb. Their skill, professionalism, versatility, strength, and endurance astound me. They had to perform a group number, a solo, and a partner routine with each of the other contestants (for a total of 5 routines, not to mention the top 20 group number in the results show). And then there was nothing else that they could do but wait.

After a short pee break, we were called back into the studio for some more pre-recording. The top 20 did their big group number (floating Ascot hats, yay!). Funnily enough, any time we had to do pre-recording, there were always technical glitches that meant having to do it more than once... and yet somehow they seem to manage during the live show. After 5 hours of it, standing and screaming were excruciating.

Finally, the live results show. There's no other way to describe it than emotionally intense. More than one of the contestants' recaps made me cry. And of course, there were the tense moments of revealing who was next to be cut from the race. The final moment came. "Britain's favourite dancer and the winner of £50,000 and the chance to dance in Hollywood is..." I clenched every muscle in my body. I heard a voice from behind me say the name I'd been thinking and hoping for, and then Cat Deeley repeated the same name several moments later. Elation! I won't reveal the winner in case you're still planning to watch it (and if you do, look out for me... I'm on there!). But this person totally deserved it.

I've always said that a little bit of pain makes everything else feel more worthwhile. And it's true. The long wait and the excessive standing and cheering were all part of the experience, and part of what made it one of the most exciting days of my life. But the next time I go, I'm faking an injury and scoring one of those plush-looking chairs!

Disappointment

It's a very sad day in Canada. Dear beloved, progressive nation with its free-thinking, rational people... where have you gone? What has become of you?

A cheeky grin

I've been neglectful of this blog, I know. My second last post was about half-term break and already we've arrived at end of term. All I can say is that life has been hectic (in a good way) and I just haven't had the time. I'm looking forward to these two weeks off to get some stuff done.

I finally met my mentee yesterday. R is an 11 year old boy with a cheeky grin and a sharp sense of humour. His confidence is low but he's sweet and full of energy, and likes a lot of the same things I do (like acting and art and sailing and rock climbing). I met mum too; a single mother with 6 kids. I can't even imagine how difficult it must be, but it's clear they have a good relationship.

This has been such a long time coming, I don't fully believe it's actually happening.

Printemps!

For once, the London branch of Mother Nature Inc has delivered... just in time for the official start of spring. We've had gloriously warm, sunny days all week. Birds and flowers abound. I have to say, I think I prefer this version of spring to the Canadian slow thaw.

And because the weather already has me on the bragging cart, I must also announce (with a big lag from Facebook, as usual) my next exciting holiday destination: Israel. Some Canadian friends are living in Jerusalem for a few months and invited me to stay with them. I've always heard good things and I couldn't resist the lure of a city with so much history, so there you have it. It won't be until the end of May/start of June, but I'm already counting down the days. The only question is: when am I going to start actually exploring Europe?!

No rest for the wicked

Whew! It's been a busy few weeks. You'd think being on holiday would have brought me a bit of respite, but no... lately my life has been all go go go.

My favourite part of my half-term break was painting murals for Kids Company. A day of physical labour can go by surprisingly quickly. I didn't want it to end.


Of course, before half term was Dubai, and I still haven't talked much about that. Dubai is full of steel and concrete; big fancy towers and shopping malls and resorts and 14 lane highways and every single brand name you can imagine. Even Canadian brands!


It's all very luxurious, I suppose, if you're into that sort of thing. I personally found it a bit sickening.

For me, Dubai had one single saving grace (apart from the sunshine): The Creek.


The Creek is the heart of Old Dubai and is where most of the traditional souks (markets) are concentrated. I had a brilliant time browsing and haggling my way through the labyrinths. It reminded me of India (though it smelled much more delicious), and I wound up getting some rather impressive deals.


It's also where I finally found some local food (shockingly difficult to acquire in Dubai!) and for a great price. This shawarma is about a fifth of the size of the ones they sell in Ottawa, but it was just the right amount of food and packed loads of flavour. The accompanying avocado juice was about the most amazing blended drink I've ever tasted. The total for both came to 11 dirhams (£1.84). I'm emphasising prices because they're so different from the rest of Dubai. My other lunches cost me between 60 and 110 dirhams (£10-18) and weren't nearly as nice.


Most people who live there will tell you there are too many Indians, but I think the high concentration of Indian expats was a big part of what made it appeal to me. Sights like these stirred up my memories of dusty, chaotic, magical India and made it seem like a real place where real people live and work, rather than a Wall-E wasteland.



I'll admit, I wasn't immune to the appeal of some of the nicer touristy spots...


And the dune bashing safari was a riot, if overpriced...


But if I were to return to Dubai, I'd definitely stay near the Creek and spend most, if not all, of my time there.

Next up: March 11-13 in Paris.

Catching up

Most of you who blog are familiar with having so much to write about, it's difficult to write anything at all. That's where I am right now.

In a few minutes, I'm off to my second and last mentor training session with Kids Company. I first mentioned them in this blog in September. The process has been long, but after this training, I just have to send in a match up form and hopefully I'll have my very own mentee in no time. I'm a bit apprehensive... this is definitely going to be an experience that will challenge and stretch me. But for that same reason, I am incredibly excited.

In a very quick nutshell (because I have to run off to catch my bus in 5 minutes), I'll be matched up with a child who, for whatever reason, has a challenging home life. My role will be to hang out with them on a regular basis, be their friend, and be the reliable adult figure they may not have at home. Kind of like Big Brother/Big Sister. Kids Company is so much more than that too, though. They provide a complete wrap-around service for these children and their families. On Thursday, I'll be going to paint murals for one of their centres.

Alright, off I run.

Spicy

I have a lot to say about Dubai, but for now, I'll leave it at this:

- Saffron
- Vanilla pods
- Dried lemons
- Red peppercorns
- Arabian masala curry
- Dates

I can't wait to get home and cook!

The unexpected holiday

I'm pretty excited. In a little over one week, I'll be in...


As always, tips and suggestions are welcome.

A quick hello

I know, I haven't written in ages and many of you have been on my back about it. There've been a few things I've wanted to write but just haven't had the energy or the inspiration. Still don't. So I just thought I'd check in to say that life's pretty good and not much has changed. And hopefully I'll soon be motivated enough to write about what I really want to write about: the power of mindset.

Until then, take care, y'all.