Getting into the swing of things...

Although it hasn´t been long since I got to Israel and started my internship, there is so much to do. At the office I am involved in a few different projects. First off, we are all doing our own research on a particular topic related to terrorism. I have been doing some reading, but I am having a bit of a problem narrowing down my research topic, but hopefully I´ll figure that out soon.
Outside of the office I have spent a lot of my time looking for a place to live. I am currently staying with family, but I do need to find a place of my own. I have also been able to do some fun things with the people from the office and have met new people as well.

On Monday all of the interns and staff played basketball together. I don´t think I have ever played a full game in my life, but I still decided to participate. We were 10 in total, 8 guys and two girls. It was a bit intimidating since everybody else was actually good and most of them are really tall even so, I was able to score six or seven baskets so I was happy.

We also had a barbecue of Wednesday at the house of the US representative at the ICT. We had a great time and really interesting conversations around immigration, safe spaces and political correctness on campus, and just a lot of funny stories.

Some of us at the barbecue :)

On Thursday all the interns got together, since one of the guys was leaving. We all went for dinner at an amazing burger place in Tel Aviv and then played Risk. I had never played Risk before, and I have to say I never want to again :P I was so stressed out during the entire thing that once I got home I couldn´t fall asleep! Even so it was tons of fun and I have a feeling there will be a repeat of that night.

Finally, on Friday  I took a day trip to Jerusalem with the university. It was an organized geopolitical tour of the city. As you may know until 1967, the city was divided into the Eastern Jordanian controlled part of the city and the Western Israeli controlled part. In May of the same year Gamel Abdel Nasser, the president of Egypt at the time announced the the Straight of Tiran would be blocked to Israeli commerce, a direct act of war towards Israel. Egypt then mobilized its forces along its border with Israel, which it claimed to be a defensive measure, and on 5 June Israel launched a series of preemptive airstrikes against Egyptian airfields.
The attack nearly wiped out Egypt's air capability. However, Nasser convinced Syria and Jordan to attack Israel by taking advantage of the initial confusion to claim that Egypt had defeated the Israeli air strike. Israeli counterattacks resulted in the capture of East Jerusalem and the West Bank from the Jordanian, and Israel´s defense against Syria in the north allowed it to push Syrian forces out of the Golan Heights. Since then Jerusalem has remained under Israeli control although people from all different religions still live there side by side.
It was an interesting tour and I was happy I was able to meet many other students from around the world.

The Old City in the background

Coop Part Two: Israel

I hit the second part of my Coop running. I started my internship at the International Institute for Counter Terrorism (ICT), the same day I landed in Israel. So as I wrap up my first week, I am excited to write my first post from Israel.

So I know this is a bit confusing, but let me explain. During my Coop Application process, I interviewed for both the NATO Defense College and the ICT. Although I heard back from the NDC first and I took the job, I was also interested in the ICT. This is why when they got back to me, I asked them if it would be a possibility to start my internship in May instead of January. They agreed, and since the Coop at NATO was only three months long, I was able to fit these two experiences into one Coop period.

I am currently staying with my grandmother´s cousin. I had never met her before coming here, but she is lovely and I have really enjoyed hearing all of her stories. Even so, I will only be staying here temporarily while a find a place to stay.

The internship has been great. The funny thing is that out of the seven interns here, I am the only girl…again. Even so, they are all great. There are 2 other students from Northeastern who will be wrapping up their Coops in the next month, two Italians, a Dutch guy and an Australian. They are all really great, and they have really helped me get into the hang of things.

Although I´m new, I am already involved in a few projects and it has been really amazing. The crazy thing is that in a month, all of the interns will have left, and new ones will replace them This means that I will be the experienced one in the team. This is why I am making sure I learn as much as possible from them, so that I am able to do everything that is needed later on.
Outside of the internship I have just been trying to settle in. I have yet to get a phone as there are only a few companies that are available for international students. I am looking forward to this weekend to finally catch my breath and get everything done.

Even so, I am happy. It is nice to be back in Israel and to stay with family. Furthermore, I know that I will gain a lot from this internship. For now, I´m looking forward to arranging everything to get myself into the hang of things and start getting to know the city and people better.

"Roma non basta una vita"

There is a saying in Rome that says "Roma non basta una vita" meaning that for Rome a lifetime is not enough. Yet just like that, my time in Rome has come to an end. As I embark on the second part of my Co-op I leave with a lot of mixed feelings. Living in Rome, was a challenge in many ways. I came here not knowing anybody or what to expect. It was the first time I lived completely on my own, without being part of an academic program, and having to really leave my confort zone in order to settle into my new life. It was also a challenging work environment that constantly had me second guessing myself. Finally, as a city, Rome is a hard place to live in. There is a lot of traffic, people can be quite unwelcoming to strangers and living far from the center made me spend a lot of time on the metro.
However, this experience has also been wonderful. Although the cancellation of the NRCC (NATO Regional Cooperation Course) had a big effect on what my work at the NATO Defense College looked like, I feel as though I was able to contribute to my team and I leave having learned so much about the current international security environment.
My Co-op in Rome also allowed me to meet amazing people that have taught me so much. I have had amazing conversations and adventures with individuals from all over the world and I have been inspired to continue working towards my goals.

I have already talked about what working in a predominantly male military environment was like, but in short, being a young civilian women in this environment had certain individuals questioning the reason for me being there. If I learned something from this situation it is that your work ethic and the products you deliver speak for themselves. Instead of focusing on proving yourself, you just need to continue working hard and doing your job. By the end, I believe that the people that had doubts about me were proven wrong. Not only was I able to show that I was capable of the things I was doing, but I also got to interact with them more, getting to know them and sharing more about myself. I even became pretty close with some of them by the end.

In terms of the job itself, I think that the NDC is a great institution and the work being done to promote understanding and cooperation between Course Members from many different countries is important in creating a more effective international organization that can make the important decisions. Although I enjoyed my work, more than one day coming back as staff or faculty, I would love to come back as a Course Member. I thoroughly enjoyed every opportunity I had to attend the lectures, the discussions and to interact with the Course Members, which gave me a great insight into what being a Course Member is like.

The people I have met within the NDC as well as through dance, my roommate and other experiences really made my time in Rome very special. I got to meet people really from all over and I have created friendships that I hopefully take with me for the rest of my life. I have been inspired by many of them and I look forward to staying in touch.

As a city, I have conflicting opinions about Rome. It is a beautiful city to visit and it is true that for Rome, a lifetime is not long enough to see everything there is to see. However, living here was definitely a challenge. All in all I enjoyed my time a lot, however, I am also looking forward to this new chapter.

On my last day at the NDC, we had a Pakistani delegation come visit, which was a great to wrap up my time there (on one of my first days we had a Saudi Arabian delegation visit the college). However, the nicest thing was after. The whole Middle East Faculty, as well as many other people from the college took me to lunch. It was really amazing to see all the people that wanted to join me for my last day and I am touched they all came. I also received a diploma for my time at the college.

All in all, I am very glad this whole experience happened. I have learned so much about the world and about myself and I leave more motivated than ever to continue to work hard. I am also very sad to leave the amazing people I have met. Even so, a new experience awaits me in about 12 hrs to be exact (I´m writing this from the airport as I am on my way to Israel). At 11:00 a.m. tomorrow (yes it´s a Sunday, but that is how the work week in Israel is organized) I begin my first day at the International Institute for Counter Terrorism. Everything is going by so quickly, but I am excited to meet new people and to continue learning more in order to better understand the world we live in.

So goodbye Rome, it has been great and I hope to see you soon, and next week I will hopefully be writing with great new stories for this new chapter :)

Meeting the Pope!!!

Never in my life would I have thought that one day I would meet the Pope, but today I had the amazing opportunity to meet him, talk to him and even take a selfie with him! If it is a must to take a selfie with President Aoun during our time at Northeastern, I knew that this was my golden, once in a lifetime opportunity to get a selfie with the Pope. So before you all think I´m crazy and I am making this up, the proof is in the pudding. So here is my selfie with the Pope :)

Pretty cool huh! I can´t believe it myself and I am still shaking after having shook his hand and talked to him. But before I tell you more about this crazy experience, I should back track and tell you how this happened. To make the story really short, my aunt has super crazy wish granting powers and thanks to her and a few other amazing people who worked tirelessly I was able to meet him during one of my lasts days in Rome. I am so thankful to them!

The Golden Ticket

So what happened...

Today as every Wednesday, Pope Francis was having the Papal Audience which consists of small teachings and readings mainly in Italian but also in English, French, German, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese and sometimes other languages depending on groups visiting. The Pope greets everybody in each language and shares his insight with everybody present. If you are ever in Rome on a Wednesday, you can go to the Vatican and see him as it s free of charge. However, I was given a special place to sit at that was on one of the sides of the stage where the Pope gives his blessings. Furthermore, at the end of the event he comes around to greet and talk to everybody.

The whole experience was crazy, I was greeted by Monsignore Murray, the personal secretary to H.E. the Cardinal Pietro Parolin. He took me through the Vatican (areas you really can´t visit when you are just touring the museums) and then led me to my seat. The whole ceremony was very interesting to watch and I really enjoyed listening to the Pope talk about his visit to Egypt after the terrible attacks that took place there a couple weeks ago. But what amazed me the most is how kind the Pope was. He did not just walk around to say hi or shake people´s hands but he truly listened to everybody.
I was extremely nervous as he approached me but we talked in Spanish and he was just wonderful. I also wrote a letter for him. They told me to bring a copy and give one to Monsignore Murphy to make sure the Pope received it which I did, and I kept the other one in my hand throughout the entire ceremony. The funny thing is that when I finally met the Pope I was so nervous I forgot to give it to him, which is why I am so glad I rewrote the letter and gave the copy to Monsignore Murphy.

I know you may all be wondering why I wanted to meet the Pope so much since I am Jewish. I think that this may be best explained by a part of the letter I wrote to him. So here it is:

"Like you, I come from a family of immigrants. My great grandparents from my mom´s side where forced to leave Europe during the Second World War because of their faith. They left to find a place where it would be possible to have a life with freedoms and the ability to practice their religion without risk. Destiny brought them to Mexico giving me a new community I now belong to. On my dad´s side, religious persecution in Iraq forced my grandparents and my six month old dad to escape to Canada.
 Although my life has a complicated origin, my purpose in life is simple: our obligation as human beings is to not be witnesses to the whims of history, but active architects of a better world for all.

This is why in my twenty-one years I have done everything I can to find myself in a position where I can make a difference that will have a positive impact on my community, my country and if possible on the world.

Your Holiness has showed me that this is possible and that it is important to fight for our principles and for the need to create a more just society for all; a place where socio-economic, gender and circumstantial inequality does  not exist.You have taught me that although we come from different places, or we have different ideas, opinions and even faiths, solidarity and fraternity between people must be the basic principle that guides political, economic and social decision making in our countries and in our lives."

So all in all, today has been a day I will never forget. Without making this post too long, here are some more pictures.