Souls and other such things that I don't believe in
So I'm told that Shabbat is good for the soul. Interesting. And more useful if I believed in souls...there are a lot of things that I don't believe in here.
Mmm, listening to Wicked and talking about souls.
...
Ok, I seem to have started this in the middle of a thought train, which is admittedly a stupid place to start, since it makes my ramblings even less coherent. So I'll start at the beginning.
I'm in Israel now! The Holy Land (oh how I want to use inverted commas to show tone of voice...but they wouldn't belong there...). You may be able to tell that there is a little bit of obnoxious atheistness leaking out here...It has to go somewhere. I'm being very good really. Though I do think that the game was given up by my facebook, which has ATHEIST in large friendly letters in a few places, and which my aunt was reading over my shoulder.
AAAAARGH. I WAS GOING SO WELL.
Israel has actually been really good so far, though the weather is crappy and hot. I've been in Rehovot, pretty much just hanging around with my aunt and uncle. I'm waiting until after Yom Kippur before I really get into running around, and I'd say that I really needed this quiet time. I'm doing lots of walking around the city, but not much stuff.
Shabbat was actually less painful than it could've been, but that might've been because I slept pretty much the whole day. We'll see if I'm still in the same frame of mind next week. And apparently it was good for my soul that I don't think I have. Well, I guess sleeping is good for my everything, so I can't argue with that. I picked up a quite interesting book (it was recommended by my aunt) about genetics and Judaism. I'm really enjoying it, though I fail to see how it's theistic in the slightest. It's pretty much genetic proof that the line that I come from is ridiculously inbred.
Hooray, inbreeding!
Still, it's a fun read. History and science and anthropology. Good stuff. Not that I came with a shortage of books to read...I couldn't send most of them home, so one bag was pretty much just books. And it weighed 8kgs. I think I went a bit overboard.
But...they're...so...cheap...
I also survived a theology...lecture...over Shabbat. I used two very important tactics in order to do this:
1. Substitute 'I' and 'we' for 'atheists' and 'non believers' (change "I don't believe in God" to "Atheists don't believe in God". Taadaa!)
2. Smile and nod at everything.
I did however make it clear that I'm an evolutionist. It's bruising my pride to hide everything else, but I will not pretend to be a creationist. I never have been one, and I'm not about to start now.
Yesterday I went to hang around in a vet clinic in the afternoon. My cousin gave me a lift there, and I swear, I thought I was going to die in a horrific car accident. Israeli driving is hillariously terrifying. When I got there the vet's reaction was pretty much "get out now". She said that being a vet in Israel is like working in a third world country. And I can see it. I couldn't do what she does. So much of it is soul destroying (and there's that word again)...she said that it's coming up to the kittens-with-hyperthermia season. People don't think of the animals, and even those who bring their animals in to be treated argue about paying.
Well most don't. The last person to come in was an old man (who actually spoke english) with a kitten that he had rescued from the side of the road. She brings his total of pets up to seven cats and four dogs. And he was an animal lover of the highest order...if everyone was like him there would be no problems with strays in Israel. The vet actually had to tell him to go away while she checked the kitten's heart, because she was so happy that she was purring and drowning out her heartbeat.
I got to give her her vaccination, which was awesome. And she kept purring.
Actually the hardest thing for me here is the not-eating-meat-and-milk-within-a-certain-amount-of-time thing. I keep wanting to have a hot chocolate at night, but we've been eating leftovers, which are meat. That and the fact that I seem to be so disgusting to black hat religos that they avoid looking at me and give me a two meter berth when we cross paths in the street.
It's because I'm wearing pants. I'm assuming it's that anyway. Which is stupid, because it's not as if they can see a hell of a lot of skin...I'm wearing a Tshirt and long pants (yes, I'm stupid and stubbourn). Unless of course they are insulted by my toes. That's more logical...they aren't very nice toes.
Anyway I found their reaction to be a bit soul destroying (after the initial amusement and pondering what would happen if I touched one of them). I don't like being squished into such restrictive paradigms. I don't like insulting people (I'm only so openly obnoxious here because I tend to be more open on the internet, where I can't see people's faces, and I apologise profusely if anyone is insulted by my comments here...but let's face it, this is just my train of thought in words) but I don't like giving up the freedoms that I'm used to either. I'd rather a compromise...but there never is one. And that hurts me, right down to my...electrical activity of the brain. So I walk on eggshells, terrified that I'll talk too much about things I ate in Europe, or I'll say something is rubbish...I love my relatives here, and I don't want to fall out of favour with them....
*sighs*
Happy things, happy things. I'm really not that sad over here, I am having a good time so far. My brain is just in a mess and it needs somewhere to go.
And I don't want to vent too much on the Forums (speaking of 'souls'), which I've gone back to considering that I'm not so pressed for internet anymore. Apparently I was missed, which is awesome. I missed the place too.
I'm still missing home a lot, but it's nice to be back to e-home at least.
Aaaaaand I can't think of anything else to say. No doubt I'll come up with more later, but this'll do as a journal-of-mixed-moods.
Mmm, listening to Wicked and talking about souls.
...
Ok, I seem to have started this in the middle of a thought train, which is admittedly a stupid place to start, since it makes my ramblings even less coherent. So I'll start at the beginning.
I'm in Israel now! The Holy Land (oh how I want to use inverted commas to show tone of voice...but they wouldn't belong there...). You may be able to tell that there is a little bit of obnoxious atheistness leaking out here...It has to go somewhere. I'm being very good really. Though I do think that the game was given up by my facebook, which has ATHEIST in large friendly letters in a few places, and which my aunt was reading over my shoulder.
AAAAARGH. I WAS GOING SO WELL.
Israel has actually been really good so far, though the weather is crappy and hot. I've been in Rehovot, pretty much just hanging around with my aunt and uncle. I'm waiting until after Yom Kippur before I really get into running around, and I'd say that I really needed this quiet time. I'm doing lots of walking around the city, but not much stuff.
Shabbat was actually less painful than it could've been, but that might've been because I slept pretty much the whole day. We'll see if I'm still in the same frame of mind next week. And apparently it was good for my soul that I don't think I have. Well, I guess sleeping is good for my everything, so I can't argue with that. I picked up a quite interesting book (it was recommended by my aunt) about genetics and Judaism. I'm really enjoying it, though I fail to see how it's theistic in the slightest. It's pretty much genetic proof that the line that I come from is ridiculously inbred.
Hooray, inbreeding!
Still, it's a fun read. History and science and anthropology. Good stuff. Not that I came with a shortage of books to read...I couldn't send most of them home, so one bag was pretty much just books. And it weighed 8kgs. I think I went a bit overboard.
But...they're...so...cheap...
I also survived a theology...lecture...over Shabbat. I used two very important tactics in order to do this:
1. Substitute 'I' and 'we' for 'atheists' and 'non believers' (change "I don't believe in God" to "Atheists don't believe in God". Taadaa!)
2. Smile and nod at everything.
I did however make it clear that I'm an evolutionist. It's bruising my pride to hide everything else, but I will not pretend to be a creationist. I never have been one, and I'm not about to start now.
Yesterday I went to hang around in a vet clinic in the afternoon. My cousin gave me a lift there, and I swear, I thought I was going to die in a horrific car accident. Israeli driving is hillariously terrifying. When I got there the vet's reaction was pretty much "get out now". She said that being a vet in Israel is like working in a third world country. And I can see it. I couldn't do what she does. So much of it is soul destroying (and there's that word again)...she said that it's coming up to the kittens-with-hyperthermia season. People don't think of the animals, and even those who bring their animals in to be treated argue about paying.
Well most don't. The last person to come in was an old man (who actually spoke english) with a kitten that he had rescued from the side of the road. She brings his total of pets up to seven cats and four dogs. And he was an animal lover of the highest order...if everyone was like him there would be no problems with strays in Israel. The vet actually had to tell him to go away while she checked the kitten's heart, because she was so happy that she was purring and drowning out her heartbeat.
I got to give her her vaccination, which was awesome. And she kept purring.
Actually the hardest thing for me here is the not-eating-meat-and-milk-within-a-certain-amount-of-time thing. I keep wanting to have a hot chocolate at night, but we've been eating leftovers, which are meat. That and the fact that I seem to be so disgusting to black hat religos that they avoid looking at me and give me a two meter berth when we cross paths in the street.
It's because I'm wearing pants. I'm assuming it's that anyway. Which is stupid, because it's not as if they can see a hell of a lot of skin...I'm wearing a Tshirt and long pants (yes, I'm stupid and stubbourn). Unless of course they are insulted by my toes. That's more logical...they aren't very nice toes.
Anyway I found their reaction to be a bit soul destroying (after the initial amusement and pondering what would happen if I touched one of them). I don't like being squished into such restrictive paradigms. I don't like insulting people (I'm only so openly obnoxious here because I tend to be more open on the internet, where I can't see people's faces, and I apologise profusely if anyone is insulted by my comments here...but let's face it, this is just my train of thought in words) but I don't like giving up the freedoms that I'm used to either. I'd rather a compromise...but there never is one. And that hurts me, right down to my...electrical activity of the brain. So I walk on eggshells, terrified that I'll talk too much about things I ate in Europe, or I'll say something is rubbish...I love my relatives here, and I don't want to fall out of favour with them....
*sighs*
Happy things, happy things. I'm really not that sad over here, I am having a good time so far. My brain is just in a mess and it needs somewhere to go.
And I don't want to vent too much on the Forums (speaking of 'souls'), which I've gone back to considering that I'm not so pressed for internet anymore. Apparently I was missed, which is awesome. I missed the place too.
I'm still missing home a lot, but it's nice to be back to e-home at least.
Aaaaaand I can't think of anything else to say. No doubt I'll come up with more later, but this'll do as a journal-of-mixed-moods.