Jerusalem intro, Hebrew classes and a very odd election result

After a week's holiday in Tel Aviv - sleeping until noon, with the most strenuous activity involving many a shopping bag - our first week in Jerusalem was rather overwhelming. And with around 100 participant names to learn, my brain felt like it had been shoved into a washing machine - 'extra spin' cycle.

As well as playing name games (an example of which being 'say your name and your favourite smell' - you get the picture) the group toured around David's City, the Western Wall tunnels, the Supreme Court and had some lectures about the religious and cultural tensions apparent in Israel. A fairly heated Q&A session in one particular session revealed people's political sympathies, which was rather eye-opening...

I've been asked to pay more specific attention to my food intake, so here are some highlights - and I'm only skimping on detail because I'm concerned I may develop arthritis trying to type out everything I've eaten. So there is the obvious: humous and falafel, humous and falafel and humous and falafel. Meat is basically my raison d'etre, so I've consumed a rather alarming amount of lamb shawarma (and even some 'meat' shawarma... a logic not dissimilar to the 'don't ask, don't tell' US army policy... I didn't ask and they didn't tell), several amazing aubergine, green tahina and egg sandwiches, Israeli popping chocolate, some exceptional crisps called 'triangles' ('meshulashim' in Hebrew), Mandy's aunt's Iraqi cooking (burnt rice included) and more Sharron fruit than you could fill a big box of Sharron fruit with.

We all moved into our dorm/flats last Sunday - King George street which is central, downtown Tel Aviv, and have been doing hardcore Hebrew classes since. Five hours every day, which is intense. I'm in the top class, but am probably one of the 'least capable' (*remedial) students... so I am pretty quiet throughout and avoid eye contact with the teacher in case she picks on me for an exercise. All good so far, and all I've had to do is play noughts and crosses on a white board. Tough but someone has to do it. Did you know that 'x' is pronounced 'icks' in Hebrew? Fascinating stuff.

Speaking of random exercises, the Israeli election results were finally concluded since I last wrote. Despite Kadima leader Tzipi Livni winning 28 seats - one more than Likud (around 30,000 extra votes) President Peres asked Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu to form a government. Bibi successfully secured the support of the right-wing parties and could therefore form a larger, securer coalition. Coming from England, with a first-past-the-post system, this is a very odd scenario. Granted, because of the fairly low turn-out in the UK, election victors very rarely have a mandate from the majority of the population, but in this case the majority of voters elected someone else. This example puts proportional representation into stark perspective. British lobby groups have been fighting for PR for many years, yet the Israeli example is an instance of it being a weak and essentially undemocratic system. However, it's important to remember that The Party List system is just one example of PR at work.

Along the same political vein, I have been trying to exert as much power as possible in the markets around here. I have successfully haggled on no less than six occasions and one of these instances actually took place in a shop, witch real walls. Best buy so far has been a dress (tubed at the top) that falls to the floor. It cost me 20 shekels, which is just over £3. If I die tomorrow, it'll be happily.

This weekend I'm off for a free trip in Jerusalem - hosted by the organisation that sponsors my programme. We had the opportunity to pitch a community-based project to them and they picked a few people to attend some leadership weekends that will hopefully teach us how to see our projects through. Mine is a writing/photography project which would involve me knocking on some random doors around Israel, inviting myself in and finding some interesting stories from each household(illustrating them with photographs of the homes and their owners). These would then be translated into English and Hebrew and hypothetically made into a book that would raise money for charity. Dare to dream, my friends.

Arrival and election day

After some expensive drama at Heathrow airport (£90 for an extra item of luggage, despite the shameless pleading about spending an extended period of time in Israel) and then getting quizzed at Ben Gurion airport about my blue hair (I thought the security woman was going to ask me about my dad - whose birth name is 'messiah' - being born in Afghanistan, but oh no...) we arrived in Israel. We were greeted by an almighty downpour. Yes, lake Kinneret needs more water, but I wasn't planning on feeling so at home that quickly.

Luckily, my friend's cousin collected us (at 5am local time) and he took most of the bashing from the violent drenching. By the time we got back to his flat, he looked like a wet t-shirt finalist from that very tasteful 90s show 'Man Oh Man.' Perhaps you're thinking I should have more pity for him, after all he did get up at an unholy hour to receive us... but forget it. Today is election day, and in Israel that means a national bank holiday - ample time for the country to vote.

But do they? In the last election, the turnout was 63.2 per cent (the UK's stood at 61.3 per cent in 2005) but this year's numbers are expected to take a notable leap - partially due to events happening in Gaza and surrounding southern Israeli towns. Religious parties such as Shas and UTJ (United Torah Judaism) are fearful of a higher voter turnout as the surplus ballots are expected to come from secular citizens in Israel's centre (Tel Aviv, Herziliya and Givatayim all specifically mentioned by a member of Shas.)

Despite it being a 'day off' for Israelis (election day often hailed as a special shopping day due to the huge sales offered to the non-working masses) it's been more of a political 'snow day' due to the unrelenting rain. Instead of going outside to experience an Israeli general election, live, I've remained inside for most of the day, watching an Israeli political satire show called Eretz Nehederet (translated as Wonderful Country) and improving my Hebrew political vocab.

For the benefit of those who could actually leave the house today without fear of being swept into the Mediterranean, here are the highlights for your perusal:
Bechirut - election, to vote - lehatzbiya, kalfi - polling station, symbol - semel, da'ayot - opinions, shechitoot - corruption, mezeg ha'avir chara - crap weather.

Odd thought of the day - whenever a news anchor mentions Tzippi (Livni of the Kadima party) as a prospective Prime Minister, I can't help but envisage Zippy (of Rainbow fame - British reference) in a cabinet meeting, making decisions about security, technological progress and Bungle's bed time.

New country, new blog

As some of you may know, I write a blog about obscure news stories (mbezzle.blogspot.com), but I thought I'd pen another about my 5-6 months in Israel (commencing in three days)... 'owyousay' is a sensitive take on the Israeli accent. But before anyone calls in PC PC and the rest of his uniformed goons, I must explain that I am allowed to poke fun at Israelis because my dad is one and I am therefore half-Israeli (top half). Also, some of my best friends are black. I mean Israeli.

For the first month, I'll be living in Tel Aviv while I complete an intensive Hebrew course, go on trips with the other 80ish people on my internship programme and generally doss about in the manner of a student. Minus Countdown (it didn't quite reach the Med...). Yet another disappointment to befall the Vorderman.

Then after Tel Aviv, I'll be moving to Jerusalem where I start my journalism internship at the Jerusalem Post - a daily national newspaper (written in English). I'll also be doing some freelance commissions back in Blighty and working on my ever-so-slightly-deranged short stories.

Watch this space...