The things we love

In the midst of living in Israel and medical school I have found it essential to engage in hobbies I enjoy, even on the days I don’t “feel” like it. One of my all-time favorite hobbies is basketball. If you have been following along for a while now, you know a little bit about my basketball saga. The Israeli group I play basketball with is drastically different from any group I have been a part of in the States for multiple reasons. The first and most glaringly obvious is the language difference. A very close second is the commitment level of the group. There are a few faithful mainstays, but practices are regularly cancelled or held with only three or four attendees. It isn’t like the physical demands of practices are ridiculous either. They are scheduled for twice a week and typically only last an hour. There is some running, but nothing compared to what I experienced previously. Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, this phenomenon of poor practice attendance is reflected very clearly in games. They work hard and do their best, but it results in a lot of frustration from both the players and the coach.

As I have stated before, I am not allowed to play in league games because I’m not an Israeli citizen. While I miss getting to compete in games, I think it is probably for the best given my limited time. I enjoy going to practices and the girls are all incredible. Not to pick favorites, but Arina, Chen, Neta, Yaira, Sarita, and Adi have genuinely become great friends outside of basketball too. And Nitzan is incredibly sweet. I have mentioned many of them in previous blog posts and I have no doubt I will reference them in future (: In practice they work hard to include me and translate. When one of my teammates, Daron, translates, I never know which accent I’m going to get haha. Currently in acting school, the way she hears it is the way it comes out. Sometimes I get a Texan drawl, other times an Australian twang, and anything in between. One practice with a near record attendance, we were able to play three-on-three and Neta declared our team would be an English-speaking team haha. It truly is the little moments. Basketball has also been a great source of new Hebrew words. At home games, the girls on the bench are stuck answering my pesky, “what does _______ mean in English?”, but if they mind, they don’t show it.

One evening after basketball practice (or training as they call it), Neta invited me to attend an Israeli professional men’s basketball game with her and her girlfriend Noa. It was a very interesting experience. Be’er Sheva was playing Jerusalem. Because Israel is a small country, regardless of whether it’s a home or away game, neither team’s fans have far to travel. Jerusalem had a loyal following that evenig. Both groups of supporters had big base drums they beat incessantly throughout the game with plenty of vim and vigor. There was a devoted group of middle-aged men who would stand during time outs and pauses in the game chanting, “Be’er Sheva, Be’er Sheva…”, while gesturing for everyone around them to join. If you didn’t make an effort to stand and clap, you promptly received a glare of disapproval. Neta pointed out the few players who were native Israeli, but most were international hoopers. Maybe everyone was having a rough night, but their level of play seemed pretty average to me. Regardless, I had a wonderful experience with even better company.

One of my “guilty” pleasures in the evenings or wee morning hours from November to the March was watching the Sterling College women’s basketball team online. They were so much fun to watch, even though I don’t know the majority of the girls personally, I know who they are from various remaining Sterling connections. They worked hard and played with heart and determination. I loved when they had games on Saturday at 2pm (10pm my time), because it meant I could watch the games live before bed. I actually cried watching their senior night game. I don’t know if I will watch next year, because this was just such a special group. The Israeli professional game wasn’t even close to the same level as the Sterling Women’s team.

Just last month, I finally had the chance to play competitively with my Israeli teammates. There was a three-on-three basketball tournament in Eilat (about 3 hours south of Be’er Sheva), which I was allowed to participate in. The tournament was based on university attendance, not citizenship. I debated if I should attend. The tournament was the week before finals began, starting on Sunday and returning to Be’er Sheva on Wednesday. I would miss almost 4 days of class and put myself at risk of not being prepared for exams. After weighing my options and praying about it, I decided it was now or never. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t stressed about finals, but I was excited, nonetheless.

In the end, I’m really thankful I decided to go. It was more than just a basketball tournament. It was a sports competition with sand volleyball, chess, frisbee, soccer, basketball, biking, and much more. We had to pay 400 shekeleem to attend (about $130), but it covered the bus ride there and back, our hotel stay, and all-inclusive meals. My fellow teammates for the event were Neta, May, and Gal. A fantastic baller squad (: On the trip down, I got to sit by Neta on the bus. She pointed out all the major landmarks along the way and gave me bits of history about each place. I would most certainly give her a 5 star review on Yelp. When we arrived, it was as chaotic as one could expect. We had three big tour buses full of people with nowhere to go. We camped out, tightly packed, in the lobby for at least 45 minutes before we were given our meal/hotel bracelets. The group headed to the lunch buffet just before it closed. The entire time we were in Eilat, the food was fantastic. Essentially anything you could think of (except meat combined with dairy haha) plus traditional Israeli food. Breakfast was the one dairy meal of the day, while lunch and supper were reserved for meat. Since dairy was only served at breakfast, you would see funny things like pizza and cheesecakes. I guess you have to fit in the good dairy sometime.

Eilat is located at the southern tip of Israel. Because it is a tax-free city, many people make big purchases in Eilat, like cell phones. Venders even keep track when someone purchases a phone in order to limit people to one per visit. Neta did a fair amount of searching for various items friends asked her to purchase, successfully securing all the requests. The weather which greeted us was pretty uncharacteristic of Eilat. Typically one of the hottest places in Israel, a strong brisk wind gusted through the coast almost the entirety of our stay. We didn’t let it stop us from catching a sunset on the beach, watching sand volleyball, cheering on Yaira’s ultimate frisbee team, or going for a morning swim. Well, Neta went for a morning swim haha. When she whipped out her goggles, I knew she was serious. Wading in, she declared it was too cold, but proceeded nonetheless. I opted to sit on the beach and study. I don’t know if either were optimal choices, but I was happy to be dry and warm when we walked back to the hotel.

And of course, there is the real reason most people came to the sports tournament. The parties. You may have expected me to say sports, trust me that’s what I expected me to say, but we both would be wrong. Every night there was booming music on an outdoor stage, with hundreds of students gathered, dancing and grooving. All drinks were included in the hotel stay, so no one was lacking good spirits either. I went down and said hello to my friends the first night before retiring to my room to study and sleep. Of all Israel’s strange and frustrating laws and rules, the one requiring loud music to end at 11pm is my absolute favorite haha. I got up around 6am in the mornings to study/take quizzes, and by 11pm I would be wiped out. One of the most exhausting parts each day was all the Hebrew. Out of my 3 teammates, Neta was really the only one comfortable speaking in English. She was extremely generous in her willingness to translate and in the process, taught me many new phrases and words. However, eventually I found myself drained after trying to listen and catching only few words. While I knew Neta would translate if I requested, I also was weary from constantly asking for translation. Whether it’s true or not, eventually I began to feel a little burdensome. After 3.5 days in Eilat surrounded by Hebrew, I have no doubt I would be much more proficient in the language if I was around Hebrew speakers constantly. It’s a little unrealistic in combination with medical school, but I want to more intentional surrounding myself with Hebrew.

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Now for the genuine reason I went to Eilat. Basketball. Playing three-on-three was a unique experience and it came with its own set of rules. It’s played half court style with games lasting 10 minutes. The points are counted as 1s and 2s instead of 2s and 3s. There are no personal fouls, only team fouls. If you watched me play in high school, you know I was grinning with glee at this rule. I promise I’m not a violent player, I have just always had problems with fouls. With only one court used for the games, teams battled on both sides almost the entire time. There were two very Israeli things about the basketball experience. First, there was no obvious playing schedule available to us (as far as I could tell). Second, there was no toilet paper at the basketball venue haha. I should have seen this one coming, but thankfully we managed to find enough to get by the first day, making sure to bring our own supply for day two.

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I was extremely nervous before our first match up. There were a lot of factors involved, but after winning our first game, I loosened up. The first day we finished with 3 wins and 2 loses, but I was satisfied and had the time of my life. One of the teams was from a university where all the majors are related to sports. They had cheerleaders, a fan section with the characteristic loud and annoying base drum, and even a coach. On the second day of competition, we played 4 games and won all of them but 1. The first two teams we played were the sorest loser I have seen, especially at my age. One group had players storm off, kick trash cans, and slap our hands as hard as they could, if they “high-fived” us at all. I guess they take such things pretty seriously? My team was just happy to be there, especially me. I’m not sure how we finished in the end, our best guestimation is 5th or 6th out of 20 teams? The team from Tel Aviv finished in first place after a grueling battle against the girls from the Israeli National basketball team.

Wednesday was solely reserved for travel. The school’s buses would leave at 10:30 and 12:30. However, I needed to be back in Be’er Sheva by 12:45 for a final class presentation and neither of those options would get me there in time. One of my classmates, Sam, was also at the sports tournament on the tennis team. Remarkably they secured the championship in their competitions. I was thankful to have a classmate there because it took a lot of the stress out of figuring out transport on my own. It’s a blessing to have another person who is in it with you, regardless of what “it” happens to be. To my relief, transportation workout in the best possible way. My friend Yaira, played on the frisbee team (they also took first place!!) and happened to drive to Eilat. She had two open seats and planned to leave around 9:15 in the morning, perfect timing for Sam and I. We enjoyed a nice ride back and made it just in time for our class presentations. What a blessing (:

Despite the loss of study time and missed classes, I am so glad I went to Eilat. Sometimes we need to take a few risks for the things we love. It was more than worth it to me. I simply love basketball. I love the sweat, the floor burns, the competition, the teamwork, and the mental toughness it requires. If we truly love something or someone, we will make time for it. The time will be well spent because it brings joy to our souls and joy to the people around us.

Ecclesiastes 3:12-13

“I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live, also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil – this is God’s gift to man.”

Strangely enough, I experienced much better and more regular sleep in Eilat than I had recently in Be’er Sheva. This was a huge answer to prayer and the beginning of getting back on track with my sleep schedule. Missing a few days of class reminded me of how thankful I am for each classmate and how much I enjoy everyone. It was also a huge relief to be around English again. The feeling I experienced upon return is hard to describe, but it felt like I belonged. It feels like I am truly beginning to know my classmates and be known by them deeper than the surface level. While this may sound like a simple and expected phenomenon, it always takes a lot of work and effort for me to reach that moment. There have been countless moments and days I haven’t felt this way. I praise the Lord for his goodness and faithfulness through those moments and through the growth I have experienced. I know He will continue to be faithful, regardless of the circumstances.

Philippians 4:4

“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.”