Welcome to Weirdoland

Aaaah London, what a glamorous town London is! A town where everything’s possible, where dreams come true! Back to reality. So I went to the One World Media “kick-start your foreign correspondent career” event yesterday, and it was great. I mean it. First there was a conversation between the former director of the BBC World Service, Phil Harding, and Alex Crawford, Sky News’ special correspondent who is based in South Africa and flew overnight for the event. Alex was the first reporter to broadcast live from Tripoli’s Green Square as the rebels took over. She’s reported from all over the world, including some very dangerous war zones and has been arrested, abducted, interrogated and shot at. Explaining how one eventually gets to cover war zones Alex said “war zones are like the world cup, you don’t start playing football one day and play the world cup the next, you have to go through the second, first division, everything before you eventually get there. Being a foreign...

I've just spent ten days waking up at 5.30 or 6 am sometimes but rarely later (6.30 or 7) to go on the set of the new film "At the Heart of the Battle" that will be showcased for years to come at the new Napoleonic museum of Belgium. The film, directed by the acclaimed Belgian director Gérard Corbiau, recreates the battle of Waterloo and aims to place, as its title might give away, at the heart of the action, using groundbreaking technology. I had the luck and joy of witnessing the shoot as a member of the press. Other press organisations visited the set during an organised session (I have a couple of hilarious stories about the most ignorant BBC presenter ever, if you're nice I'll tell you a little later). Ten days interviewing interesting people, taking some amazing shots of horse charges, troops marching in the sunset light, a cavalier falling off his horse repeatedly. I must say it was very impressive. Ten days of writing features of different aspects of ...

Yesterday marked my final day  of work, and in five days, I'll be heading home . You cannot imagine how happy I am to have left work!!!! Don't get me wrong, I consider myself to be a hard worker but the conditions under which I have been working in the last three months can be described as bullying, professional harassment, psychological harassment, etc. These words come from my colleagues and there is a consensus, people have left after two, three weeks and another is leaving very soon. But now, on to better things. Today I will visit an NGO , an umbrella group that focuses on helping the Palestinians in the Jerusalem area, because they are often forgotten by the international NGO's which tend to focus more on Gaza and the West Bank, and the Palestinians here are residents but not citizens. I am currently deleting all my files on my old PC so I can give it to them to give to a needy family. This week is Pessach so it will limit me in my previously planned travels ...

My work experience in Israel is getting to a close... Juste a few more days of work left, a couple of free days and boom, back to Brussels. Wow. Has it really been that long? Almost three months have gone by but sometimes it feels like it's just been a couple of weeks. What to say... This experience has been incredibly enriching, eye-opening and a real challenge. Many a time did I want to quit, a couple of times I ended up in tears after a long day of not being treated very well (not to be rude...). But I couldn't give up, not when I was so close to the end. I don't like looking back on things, looking forward is the way! But in the situation that I don't actually know what is to come yet, I guess that gives me the time to look at these three months. I won't bore you with a deep analysis and will rather opt for a short list of points... Work:  Exhausting. I am trying really hard to think of what I have learnt but nothing is coming to my mind... I have m...

10.05am. I just woke up a couple of minutes ago, I'm still half asleep, laying in my bed when suddenly the sirenss go off, I've never heard the rocket attacks alarm but after 20 seconds of listening to the loud thing I'm pretty sure it can only be that. What do I do? What do I do? My brain is panicking to find a solution. I look out the window and people seem very calm about it, no one is running, two guys are on the rooftop of the opposite building, overlooking the streets. I admire these people who can stay very calm with this amazingly loud sirens. Is this really an alert? Should I go find a shelter? Where and how do I find a shelter? Why doesn't anyone tell newbies where the next shelter is? Let's stay very calm in my bed. After 5 minutes the sirens stop, the loudness of busy Jerusalem slowly starts again. I reach for my laptop and google sirens and Jerusalem. Nothing. I alter my search a few times, still nothing. Should this be alarming? I calm down, sta...

Here's my latest human interaction which happened on my way back from the shop (out of grape water!!!). "Hey, are you looking for a job?" "Uhm no, I have a job" "Oh, what do you do?" "I'm a journalist." "What's your name?" "Surya" "Nice to meet you, my name is..." (I forgot his name already damn me) "Nice to meet you too" "You're very pretty, can I take you out sometime?" "Erm thanks but I'm taken" "Of course! If you hadn't been taken, there would be something wrong with the world, you're too pretty." So don't worry, the world is just fine! Ah, Israeli guys... always trying to chat girls up! So many guys wanted to be my best friends...

"What is your name?" is always the first question I get when an official opens my passport in Israel, looking at me with this incredulous look on their face, eyebrows raised, waiting for my confirmation that my name is Surya which to them, pronounced the way my parents call me, sounds like the word for Syria in both Arabic and Hebrew. (What it really is, or the way my parents intended it anyway, is the sun ) Today I also learnt from someone that apparently, I look like what could be interpreted by many Israelis as a left-wing extremist student come to do activism in the country. And I certainly don't look like the typical intern that would walk into the office, which is a good thing. I do agree, I don't like looking like the norm, I like looking like what I want to look like. Anyway, I was in no way offended by this, I found it rather amusing and very insightful. I was told this, and it was later confirmed to me by someone else, as I said I was always detained at...

Women of Israel... If you know them personally and have even the slightest relationship with them, they are truly awesome, the nation of Jewish mums. They will make sure you're fine all the time, worry for you ten times more than you if you have the slightest problem, they would send you to the doctor and force you to stay in bed if you coughed just once. But. If you encounter them at work when they have to provide a service for you, forget it, you instantly become the most annoying creature on the planet. It starts at the airport ID check when you arrive in Tel Aviv. If you are a woman (yes because I've never experienced any of these things as a man, I can't speak from that point of view, sorry) and you have an option, try to choose a man, they'll be nicer to you. The last time a guy sent me to the "waiting room" he apologised. But the women, they hate you, you're here to have some fun aren't you? Well I hate you, I'm not going to s...

Shabbat is in the air! It's Friday, it's 4pm and I need to rush to my friends' flat if I want to make it in time to cook for Shabbat. I get out of my shoebox (I finally moved in) which is near the Old City, and start my 30-minute-long walk. The streets are packed, everyone is in their best attire, walking towards the Old Jerusalem to pray at the Western Wall. Orthodox, young and old, men wear their best looking hat over their yarmulkas, their leather shoes are as shiny as ever. More moderate people are still wearing their best clothes. I'm not though, I was rushing and now I feel a little out of place, going to schul in sneakers is not the best idea I've ever had. But they're the most comfortable shoes to walk in, shouldn't that count on Shabbat? Everyone looks serene, happy. The roads are packed too, everyone is commuting to where they need to be before Shabbat starts (Approximately 4.30pm). I'm out of the centre, walking by the parks. For once, ...

There's one thing everyone should have a right to have at least once in their life, it's just so amazing that's it's a crime not to share! It's something I long for every time I'm away from Israel, it comes back in my dreams on a regular basis, it makes me salivate. It's almost orgasmic, I'm telling you. I don't know what my life would be without it, probably very sad. I'm of course talking about the grape juice (Of the Prigat brand) and the grape flavoured water (any brand), which is slightly healthier and less sweet than the juice. I mean,what else? I drink on average a litre of the stuff a day. Near work it's 12.90 shekels for 3 litres, a reasonable price. Seriously though, to me, it tastes like Israel, every time I know I'm going there, it's on my mind. It's just so good. Do yourself a favour and order a gallon online! If you pity me you can send your donations to the office. - On a more serious note, my spirits are up!...

I found a shoebox, wait, I mean a studio to live in! Woop, woop! It's so small I wonder if people in China have bigger space. It's probably kif-kif, but without the pollution. The good thing is that I'm literally five minutes away from the Old City, that's going to be quite cool. I don't think this outweighs the bad things (small, small, small, did I mention small?) but it's just for sleeping, I'm working all day and it might encourage me to get out more. I signed and paid anyway so there's no going back though I only paid for a month, if I lose my sanity I can always move after that. We'll see. Smile, everything will be fine! I really don't know what else to write about tonight. Truth is I'm not at my happiest. Living in the same room as my editor has proven a nightmare and I think it made me rush towards that shoebox. Not the end of the world, not the end of the world, not the end of the world... I'll find a better place ne...

I currently live in the German Colony of Jerusalem, it's south-east of the city. Right now the numerous muezzins are calling for prayer "Allaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah w'Akbar!", it feels very unreal sometimes. Sometimes it feels like thousands of people are crying at the same time, desperate. Sometimes it feels serene, calm, hopeful and peaceful. In the part of the neighbourhood I am in, most people find it invasive. They believe Arabs do it on purpose to bother them. That's what people have told me how they feel about it anyway. Down the streets begin the Arab part of the city, all the way to the wall. That famous separation wall I can see from my bedroom window. I stare at it. My bedroom window view. When the weather allows it you can see the mountains in the background. It's not rare to hear gunshots. And on Fridays, there are usually weddings, fireworks, it makes me want to go party with them. I think I might go crash a wedding in the next three mo...

The day is not over yet, but that's okay, I can always update you later if anything amazing happens! I woke up naturally at 9.26am, I was so happy, you can not fathom how happy I was. A little newsreading, a before we're off to the supermarket. After a long walk in the sun which was not too bad, we get to the supermarket. No one checked my bag at the entrance! Not when I went to the chemist, not when I went to the bank and not at the supermarket! So weird! Anyway, we're in, it's the rush, everybody's pushing their trolley in eachother's legs, Not time to call "slicha!" (pardon) because the shabbos is coming, you just gotta push, get your stuff and go home to prepare everything. At the same time, the staff is pre-"cleaning", pushing everyone because they have to close in time, which is 2pm. It's mayhem, everybody's on edge. The fact that Israelis can't be in a line is a well-known fact but this situation gets even worse before the...

Today concluded my being in the Holy Land for a week and my first week at work (I do Sunday-Thursday). I SURVIVED!!! When life gives you lemons.  ↑  On my way to work. Change of plans, on Sunday I won't be an unpaid intern, I'll be an underpaid, but paid nonetheless, trainee translator/editor (But shhhhhhhhh! It's a secret!). I flipped. In my head. Because I couldn't shout in joy when my office is next to my editor's. It will be just under my rent! :D Yeah because today I may have found my accommodation! This is too much happiness for me to handle! Someone send me a depressing news story! All in all today was a good day. Today we also got an AFP subscription for us to have plenty more content for the website! ↑  Also on my way to work. I'm dead tired, tomorrow morning I will sleep until I wake up NATURALLY!! After being woken up at 6.30am by my editor's alarm clock every morning when I go to work at 9am, I think I deserve it

We still have a lot to do until the launch of the website but we're getting organised and I think work is getting easier on me, I just have to find my rhythm, got an interview done today (Champagne woo!!). What a pleasure walking to work in the warming sun, going outside to get lunch in the SUN!!! SUN SUN SUN!!! Yes, I said it, because I can and I feel like I deserve it after three years in rainy Preston. I haven't yet gone crazy, don't worry. I'm afraid I don't have much to say about today apart from the fact that I made a new friend, which is always nice. Laters!

A three month internship in Jerusalem at the Times of Israel. Great, I'm overjoyed! Stressing out a little because it's far, I'm not used to writing in French but still really really happy. The last couple of days are extremely hard on me emotionally in Brussels as the moment when I am going to leave everyone I love far behind me. But it's only three months, it's not the end of the world, it's everything I had hoped for, a big adventure! At the airport I act blasé although deep down I want to let myself cry all the tears I have in me. I can't though, I'm with my mum, in public, I hold everything in. My eyes are already puffy from crying really hard the night before anyway. Time to say goodbye at the ID check, I give in, let a few tears out but quickly gain back control of myself and stop. I wait in the lounge, I'm okay, online chatting.  We board, I'm still good, I read, watch Hatufim, eat. Then my episode is over and I realise I forgot to downl...

The sun is slowly going down, Shabbat is coming. The candles have been lit, the TV is running in the background. The kettle is on, everything is peaceful. If I compare it to home it'd be one these Sundays when you stay in your pyjamas all day just wandering about, reading, watching tv, drinking tea but not doing anything productive. The atmosphere is very still. It's raining. Not like the Indian monsoon but like a heavy rainy day in Britain or Brittany. "I can't remember the last time I was stuck at home because of the rain! We haven't had rain like this in ten years! This is very good for Israel!" I have been put under house arrest by the Jewish Mother Police. I only have Converse AllStars with me and a pair of crocs and I don't have a good enough raincoat. It doesn't matter that the world is ending and that it is our last chance to go out ever, I'm not going out because my feet would get wet and cold. There is no arguing with a Jewish mothe...

20/12/12, Sderot Yerushalayim, Jaffa. I'm walking in the street, on my way to buy a SIM card and like a two-year-old, I miss a step and fall on my knees (they still hurt today), I make a whole in my trousers, I'm on my hands and knees. Opposite me a lady who sees the whole scene: "haaa! (Shock) HaKol Beseder? Looooooo!" she smiles and leaves. ("Everything okay? Noooooooo!) LOL. This is a perfect reflection of the Israeli mind (No offence any Israeli readers).

After many hours of travelling, I finally arrived in Tel Aviv this morning. Yesterday I left my family behind to embark on this hopefully productive journey that will be my trip to Israel. I flew to Zurich Airport where I waited for about 4 hours before getting on their intra-airport underground train after they finally announced my terminal. The airport is just that big. So after that train ride I get to the end of terminal E where I undergo the El Al security questioning which went quite well, far better and shorter than last year. Maybe I look better. Then of course I get taken to a room where I empty my entire cabin luggage and it gets checked for trace of [explosives? I really have no clue]. Then my shoes. And my passport. Then I am released from the room where my bag has to stay until boarding, in case I was planning to go get that bomb I'd hidden in the toilets. FAIL. On board are a large group school kids going back home after a cultural exchange in Switzerland (from w...

I think it is safe to say by now that I have found my call. This might shock some people who think I have no secrets to them, when I was applying to university I was seriously considering the army path in my head it was always the army or journalism. In the end I chose the "safe" path (note the quotation marks as my aim is to become a war reporter). Studying is great, I love it. In fact I wanna do some more after I graduate (hopefully) next summer. And when I say studying, it is a tricky subject for me because yes I study international journalism but not much actual studying is done on my part (I still get excellent grades so I will not change my methods). I feel university has taught me many things but has failed to teach me other things I wished it would have or more like it failed to force me change my methodology when it comes to actual work. I love what I do and I honestly think I am better at what I do now than I was two and a half years ago thanks to my "stu...