A Casa

I am Home?
      Its kind of surreal really. I mean, I've been home throughout my year off, but this time I'm home for good (except for maybe a little bit of traveling to south east Asia right before school starts). No 2 month trip to look forward to, no interesting adventures to prepare to make, no more 20 hr. flights. Its kind of a bittersweet ending to my year off. On the other hand, people keep asking me, "are you even going to want to go to college next year after all that traveling?" To answer all your questions, YES, yes I am ready for college. You want to know why? Because I have had the most ridiculous, inspiring, and challenging year of my life. I have absolutely no regrets, whatsoever. I've been faced with insane self-discipline (i.e. waking up everyday at 5:30 to look forward to running up mountains, hitting trees with my arms, and meditating for 4 hours everyday), copious amounts of fun (i.e. surfing everyday, speaking Spanish, speaking to Spanish women, and partying with people all over the world), and of course getting in touch with family and my religious side (i.e. learning Hebrew/traveling all over Israel).
      I mean I've also faced some weird/difficult things like getting used to sleeping in an updated 1940's Chinese mental institution, having to deal with being provided only 1 shower for 40 people, no heating during blizzards, eating scorpions, and real Chinese driving (the general population in China has only been able to legally drive for the past 10 years). Also, emergency landings/broken airplane engines, sea urchins, reef cuts, sharks, 12 foot waves, only having running water between 8:30 am and 9:15 am, broken bicycles, and more. And finally, a shower not even fit for a midget, being turned away from clubs because the age was 24 that night, kosher Brazilian BBQ, everything being kosher for that matter, running the Staircase to Hell, and learning to like hummus way too much.
      The best parts of this year are the people I will never forget. All my friends at Kunyu Shan Martial Arts Academy, while we all raced to eat as much boiled cabbage as possible, drink large bottles of Pijiu, run up 15 km mountains and take 4 hr. bus trips just to get a glimpse of satellite television. My friends in Bocas del Toro and at Spanish by the Sea who are crazy dutch people, musical inspirations, surfers, 3 Question game players, private beach campers, shark swimmers, local gangsters, mami chulas, and papi chulos. And finally my friends in Israel who are soldiers, crazy partiers from Miami/Switzerland, students of Seth Rogen, French people who only know me as Jaque Cousteau, and the amazing mind of an MIT engineer that probably rivals that of Albert Einstein, and Albert Einstein's looks too.
      What can I say. Well I could say I wouldn't trade this year for the world. But between all the ups and downs, and all the engine failures, emergency landings, and long travel hours, and all the injuries....well I could say:

和平, Paz, שלום, Peace.

till the next journey begins...

YOYOMA

Soooooo. I have finished my tenure at Ulpan Akiva, and my time in Israel is winding down to an end. I feel I definitely learned a good bunch of Hebrew at Ulpan Akiva, although I probably could have paid a little more attention at times, and not stayed out as late some nights, which in turn would have caused me to learn a lot more Hebrew. C'est la vie. Once again I met a lot of cool people in Israel, and had a great time hanging out with cousins. My Grandfather and Dad are arriving in the next couple of days, and we are traveling around Israel a tad until June 8th. And JUNE 8TH MY FRIENDS IS THE DATE THAT MARKS THE END OF WHAT HAS MORPHED INTO ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING, FUN, AND UNFORGETTABLE YEARS OF MY LIFE. I really feel I've matured as a person, and with that I've met amazing people, my music writing abilities have improved 10 fold, I am at the least able to get by with three languages other than English, and I've been able to have even more fun enjoying this world we live in. I will give a more elaborate conclusion to this quest of sorts in the coming weeks, just wanted to give an update since I've been told on several occasions that I've been slacking with my blog posts. Hasta luego, ולהתראות ,再見

peace, love, and rock n roll.

SaBABA

Okay, so this past week was pretty intense for me, and we are going to begin on Tuesday. Wednesday was the remembrance day for fallen Israeli Defense Force soldiers, the bulk of which are teenagers my age so that really put it in perspective. Tuesday night, on the eve of the remembrance day, the Ulpan (the Hebrew School) brought us to a memorial service for them, and it was quite moving. Some parents got up and gave speeches about their children who had passed away. Unfortunately it was all in Hebrew so I couldn't understand the majority of it. Then on Wednesday morning, after classes and another ceremony at the Ulpan, my cousin Ofer picked me up, and I just relaxed at his house for the rest of the day. At night, Ofer brought me to Haifa to watch a huge laser lightshow and a bunch of fireworks commemorating the eve of Israel's Independence Day. Then on Thursday, Israel's Independence Day, we went to an Air Force base and got to watch flight demonstrations of F-16's and some helicopters. Ofer spent a lot of time in the Air Force as a helicopter pilot so I had wonderful time being introduced to all the different types of helicopters, I know a lot about military jets, but not helicopters so it was nice. Okay now let me change the subject to food. On Independence Day, everyone in Israel has barbecues whether it be at home, at the beach, in the park, in the desert etc. So after going to the Air Force base we had a barbecue at Ofer's house with all the family. Oh man, do I love hummus, pita, and kabob. SO GOOD. At that barbecue I met a distant cousin named Ari, who is more so my age, sorry Ofer, and he invited me to hangout with some of his friends in Haifa the following evening. So the next day I went to Ari's apartment. We first met up with some of his friends at an Arabic restaurant known for its ridiculously good hummus. Turns out it was ridiculously good. Then later that evening we went to a bar/club/pub, I haven't really figured out what it is, named Sketch. Let's just say it was very "posh." We got back quite late, and went straight to sleep. Then Avi wakes me up at 9am, and he says, "my father and I have a surprise for you." So I sadly get myself off his surprisingly comfortable couch, and we go outside to meet his dad. I'm told to bring my passport. He drives us to an airport. Turns out his dad is a pilot, and they take me flying above Haifa and the Mediterranean in their private airplane. It was sick. On our first try landing, their was a huge gust of cross-wind and the plane was bouncing on one wheel on and off the runway. So we had to make a second go around. Don't worry, I'm still alive. Anyways, I'm back at the Ulpan, just finished some homework, and am just about finished writing this. Sorry if this was a bit rambling, it was quite a lot to cover, and I've definitely left out a lot, it was a really great couple of days. Well anyways, take care everyone. Keep the Peace.

Manishmah...yo.

Well, I've been in Israel for a week and a half now. I spent 5 days with some family in a city called Zichron Yakov, and now I'm at Ulpan Akiva, in Netanya, to study Hebrew. Classes go from 8am-1pm, and then you have the rest of the day to do anything you want. I've only been here two days of course, but the thing is that the Ulpan is like a compound of sorts, and its 8km out of town in the middle of nowhere. Nonetheless, it's really beautiful and I'm picking up Hebrew pretty fast. Furthermore, the variety of people here is ridiculous. A lot of the people here are new immigrants to Israel, some are travelers like me, some are older people who come here several times a year, and there are even two doctors from the West Bank who are here to learn Hebrew to expand their practice. For one of them it is the first time in his life out of the West Bank, he is from a city called Ramallah, and you have to admit given the tensions between Israel and the West Bank, that that is a pretty brave thing to do. I think it is interesting to see the reaction of older people here who are presented with polite and intelligent Muslim Arabs that they are predisposed to thinking are radical. Of course, there are radical Muslims, just as there are radical Jews, radical Christians, and radical atheists. The important thing is to realize that no matter what group of people you are presented with, and no matter what the general beliefs regarding them are, you must treat every new person you meet without bias, without predispositions, and with kindness. Nonetheless, it goes without saying that not everyone you meet might act the same way in regards to you. In which case you have to learn from that experience and be prepared to encounter such a situation in the future. Anyways, I'm not going to turn this page into Seth Hoffman's opinions regarding the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, other than that even in this day and age, and even into the future, hope is never, and will never, be lost for peace in the Middle East and anywhere in this world we call home, as long as we give it a try. A nice thing that Ulpan Akiva has is a really enthusiastic teacher of Israeli culture, named Ofer, and he has us sing songs and what not, but when he does he likes to have the song being sung translated into every language that the current student body encompasses. And when he translates into Arabic he loves to show how similar Arabic and Hebrew really are. I think that is really nice for people to hear. Okay...that's enough for tonight. Peace and Love and Rock n Roll.

Y'all come back now.

The What in the Hey?

Sooooo, on Monday I'm leaving for Middle of the East, as in Israel. I have a direct flight from Newark, NJ to Tel Aviv, Israel and man is that going to be one long flight. Anyways, I'll keep you all updated. Swallow the Sun and keep the peace for now. Later.

Bienvenidos a Home

Well I've returned to the States after 1.5 ridiculous months in Panama, and should be home for about 2-3 weeks before I leave for somewhere in the Middle East. I truly enjoyed my time in Panama. It was probably the exact opposite of my China experience because for one, while I was in China I was working out all day, every day. While I was in Bocas del Toro I had 4 hrs. of Spanish every day and then I would go to the beach or go surfing, biking, or partying with friends. But it was nice to get an experience from the "other side" and because I have now experienced both inner peace and external chaos I feel, in a way, more balanced. Now I feel ready to go to an area of the world that is in constant imbalance and see/feel what that does to me. Anyways, talk to you all very, very soon.

-Papi Chulo Seth

Viva Bocas

Me and a couple friends decided to go to a baseball game last Wednesday. It was actually a really important playoff game between Bocas del Toro and Chiriqui Provinces. We took a 40 min. boat ride to the mainland, and then a 15min. taxi ride. We arrived at the baseball game at around 5:30 pm. The stadium was built to fit more or less 2,000 people but within half an hour there were probably between 5,000-7,000 people there, and we were the only 5 gringos in that entire crowd. The locals were so happy to see foreigners coming to they're baseball game, which was also a big deal because Chiriqui is the top ranked baseball team in Panama, and because Bocas gets very little attention from the government, even though they probably provide the country with the most tourism, if they won so many people would be really happy. The game lasted for 7hrs.! 16 innings after we got there, thousands of drunk Panamanians later, several riot control police ordered in, some people getting arrested, and after many new friends made Bocas won 3-2. You have no idea what 5,000 happy Panamanian locals sound like. The whole game itself was just a giant party, and then the party made it to the streets while police tried to control everyone, making for a scene out of a war movie or something. We had to wait for a taxi for about a half hour, which turned out to be the smallest taxi in the world capable of holding 5 gringos and a driver. The driver was amazing and scary at the same time. We were flying down the road at 55-70 mph, passing 18 wheelers around hair pin turns, and he was actually drifting this little crappy car around really, really sharp turns (which is really ridiculous if you know what drifting is). After that half hour drive we arrived at the docks. I bought myself a nice chocolate milk and then we got on the boat. What we were doing was actually illegal because the boat had over max capacity of riders, and had no running lights (we could have been seen as drug smugglers), so we were basically going blind and overweight into the sea. We couldn't well stay in Changinola (where the game was) so there was no option. The boat ride turned into one of the most beautiful rides of my entire life, with just barely enough moonlight, on the cloudy night, to see the left mangrove bank, but on the right side you couldn't see anything. Then 20 min. into the boat ride the boat ran out of gas...Which turned into the funniest 45 min. of waiting in my life. All the locals were laughing it up (they were all really, really wasted), while the driver was half-trying to call someone to pick us up. One of the guys who came with us to the baseball game thought we were all going to drown or sharks were going to eat us, haha. Other than him it was muy tranquilo y comico. Eventually a boat came to give us more gas, and we arrived home at around 3:30 a.m. and I had classes at 8 a.m. I also found out later from another friend that in the two months he's been here in Bocas 2 or 3 people have actually died returning on those night boat taxis because they are drunk and fall out of the boat, and without any light nobody can ever find them. That came as a little shock, but I don't care, I still had one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Tonight, two friends and I are going to try and go camping on a really deserted beach about 30 min. away. It should be awesome. Talk to you all, Peace to the Fishing Village.

El Arrecife

Today I had my first formal run in with the reef. It was a relatively small day (wavewise) about 3-5 ft. and I got some waves, but I found myself inside the break (basically where I don't want to be) and got slightly ragdolled across the reef. I got a gash on my right side, and a couple cuts on my legs. I was so close to the shore that I decided I just wanted to get out, but realized too late that from where I was to the shore (no more than 10ft.) was littered with thousands of sea urchins. I was able to avoid 99% of them but got a couple spines in one of my toes and in my heel. It sucked but its not so bad. I spent 1.5 relatively painful hrs. at my friend's apartment, who had a first aid kit, rinsing my wounds, pulling out spines, etc. Then I went to the pharmacy , but I was stopped on the way by the police because you cannot walk around topless in Bocas and I only had boardshorts on, but explained that I was cut up and only quickly going to the pharmacy. I bought some hydrogen peroxide, some gauze, and some antibacterial soap. I also talked to my older brother and he recommended soaking my feet in white vinegar which helps to degrade the leftover spines. Then I took a shower and that brings me to now, and you know yea it sucks to get super cut up, but you know I was so terrified of hitting the reef before, that now I'm actually slightly relieved. Oh and they are some sweet battle wounds, haha. Looks like my friend Mike is gonna come down to visit for a week on the 13th and then my family will be coming down on the 22nd to surf some, should be great. Until next time, me voy.

Surfing is Fun

So I mentioned in late November that I had gone surfing in Hong Kong, and yea that was cool for the experience and being able to say that yea I have surfed in Hong Kong, but Hong Kong has got nothing on Bocas del Toro. This past weekend a 6-7 foot swell came in and me and a couple friends went surfing at a reef break called Paunch. It was EPIC. The waves were perfect, and even though it took me basically a day to get back into the groove of surfing, picking waves, etc. it was still fun. There are a lot of really amazing surfers out here too and most of them are pretty cool. The waves are dying down this week, but hopefully another swell comes in next weekend. Spanish classes are going good, and Bocas is a pretty fun town and I'm making a lot of friends. Until next time. Keep the Peace.

La Vida Bocas

I started Spanish classes yesterday, and even though I'm not going to say that 5 years of IB Spanish wasn't helpful, they definitely were and I wouldn't be at the level of Spanish I am now without them, but being immersed in Spanish, with people learning Spanish who have just as much desire to not speak English or try not to, is about a million times better. The exponential amount my confidence and Spanish speaking skills have improved in the past four days is ridiculous. All the teachers are really nice and helpful, and I couldn't ask for more. In other news, a friend and I rented really old and crappy bikes, and proceeded to bike to a surf spot called Paunch, which also happens to be near where another one of our friends is buying a house to start a little hotel. Well, what would have been a 10 minute boat ride turned out to be a 1.5 hr bike ride through knee-waist deep mud. My friend lost one sandal and discovered another one in the process, and we decided that it was probably not a good idea to disregard the fact that the lady who is buying that house told us that it was impossible to get there by bike. Nonetheless, we got there and it was definitely worth it. After marinating for only about 10min. we started the journey back, and rewarded ourselves with the treat of the gods, Trits, and if you don't know what those are you've either never been to Costa Rica and/or Panama, or your just damn ignorant. I'm currently watching some cooking channel from Spain on TV, and after that I'm going to relax in a hammock and watch the sunset. haHa. Hasta Luego, peace.

Bocas del Toro

Well, well, well. How to begin? First of all, Bocas del Toro, meaning the mouths of the bull, was named by Christopher Columbus who arrived at nightfall to the islands and at the time decided the loud surf sounded like a bull snorting or something like that. Anyways, Bocas del Toro is beautiful. I don't think you understand, Bocas del Toro is really, really, really BEAUTIFUL. The weather is perfect and everybody is so kind and friendly. I'm studying at a Spanish school, and I'll begin my first lesson tomorrow. There were no rooms at the school when I arrived so I'm staying at an old lady's house about ten minutes down the road. I've got a nice, small private room and she cooks me breakfast in the morning. It is even better because she does not speak English and so I'm forced to speak Spanish. The only problem is that the running water in Bocas del Toro stops working at around 10-11am. So, I've been taking showers literally out of a bucket. As in , earlier in the day the old lady fills a big bucket, and when I get back home in the evening I get in the shower and use a bucket and a little cup to take my shower. And you have to be super careful because the water in the bucket is all you got. But I seriously don't mind it because the cold water is really refreshing and it'll just make me appreciate a nice shower when I get back home that much more. On another note, the surfing is awesome here and I'm going to a reef break called Paunch in about an hour. Alright, well I'm peacin out so I'll talk to you all LATER.

Never a Dull Moment

Guess what? I can now officially check emergency landing off my list of things to do before I die. That was fun. Twenty minutes into my flight from Dulles International Airport our left engine stopped working. Being the oblivious person that I am, I had no clue. I was in the exit row overlooking the left wing, reading a surfing mag, when all of a sudden the stewardess comes up to the people in the exit row and starts giving us all these intricate directions. Now usually when you sit in the exit row all they ask is if you are willing and able to help if an emergency occurs. However, this time she was telling us if such and such happens open the left door, and if not open the right door, and you get to do this before you open the door, etc. I am just sitting there thinking to myself, this has got to be the craziest airline stewardess in the world. Turns out I was the crazy one. After she left I asked the guy next to me what was going on, and he said the engine was out and how did it look out my window. I just kind of laughed and thought to myself, this couldn't get any better, but it did. When we landed, the pilot stopped the plan to a screeching halt, and a bunch of ambulances and fire trucks sped over to the plane to make sure we didn't blow up or something. After the whole ordeal I had to wait an hour in a line of over 100 people to get rebooked on a flight that would arrive in Atlanta in time for me to run like hell to my flight for Panama. I made it A-Ok, but where would the fun have been if all that hadn't just happened to me in a span of just several hours?

At the moment I am staying with some family friends in Panama City and then at 3pm today I fly to Bocas del Toro where the true adventure begins. Until then, paz, amor, and rock n roll.

I''m Gone

Leaving in about 1.5 hrs. for the airport, and by 10pm tonight I will have gone from 30 degrees and wintery to 78 degrees and tropical. There's no time difference between Maryland and Panama, so that's good. Talk to you all later. Peace, love, and don't hurt chickens.

Where You at Son?

Alright people. I'm finally announcing where the journey will be taking me next. I am going to be checking in at a Spanish school located in the town of Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast of Panama, which is rumored to have really good surf this time of year. I am leaving on the 19th of February and will be returning for a brief stay at the beginning of April. I will update once things are slightly more solidified. Peace to the East, Later.

Well...

So, I haven't posted for awhile, mainly because I am at home, but I'm going to leave soon. Like really, really soon. I don't know what country, I don't know what program, and I definitely don't have a plane ticket, but I'm going to leave within a week and a half for somewhere in Central or South America. Blogger will probably be the 17th person to know. Peace to the East. One Love.