The more I learn, the less I know

Pick a topic that relates to Israel.

Think about what you know about that topic.

Come to Israel.

Live here for three months.

Ask others how they feel about that topic.

Go to Seminars aimed to broaden your understanding of that topic.

Read news articles on that topic.

Then tell me what you know.

A wise man told me the following joke:

A camel is taking a drink from the river.  A scorpion approaches the camel and asks for a ride across the river, since the scorpion would drown should he attempt it himself.  The camel says, “no, if I let you on my back and swim across the river you will sting me half-way across and we will both drown.”  The scorpion replies, “why would I do that? I want to get across the river.”  The camel thinks about it for a moment, then he agrees to give the scorpion a ride.  Halfway across the river the scorpion stings the camel.  The camel asks, “why?” to which to scorpion responds, “Welcome to the Middle East.”

The one thing I know, that is supported by all I learn, is there is no logic in the Middle East.

You’re never fully dressed

Its been awhile, and I don’t currently have enough time to sit down and catch up on all that has happened, so in the meantime I’ll give you a quick story from an experience last week.

On my way into work I stopped at the store to buy some juice.  I bring the bottle to the guy at the register, put my juice down, smile and say “boker tov” (good morning).

He gives me a funny look and asks, “Hakol Beseder?” (Everything OK?)

I smile and respond, “Ken” (yes).

Then he starts rambling in Hebrew.

“Regah, Regah, Ani medeberet ktsat Ivrit” (Wait, wait, I speak a little hebrew).

He looks at me and in English replies “I asked if everything was okay, I thought there was something in my hair or something was wrong with me”

“Why would you think that?” I asked.

“Well people don’t normally smile and say good morning.”

So I started laughing because it is so Israeli not to smile at strangers and I have been told people know I’m American because of how much I smile.

So he looks at me and goes, “why are you still smiling?”

“I’m a happy person, what you said was funny so I laughed and kept smiling”

He looks me straight in the eyes and in a completely serious tone asks, “Are you on drugs?”

Photo from MASA opening event! Featuring a few banners of yours truly!

 

Fall with No Foliage

Fortunately, I know my circadian rhythm is fine-tuned like a well-oiled machine.  Unfortunately, my sun-soaked room is cause for my physiological clock to wake me up before 6am every morning.   Fortunately, I am a good sleeper and have no problem falling back asleep.  Unfortunately, starting tomorrow I no longer get to sleep in. Fortunately, it is because I start my internship!

Yes, this is a sunset, not a sunrise, but I have so many pictures of sunsets and not enough opportunities to share them with you!

You might want to get a nice glass of wine/ tea/ spiced hot apple cider (it is fall after all!) while reading, a lot has happened since October 7 (my last update).  I’ll try to highlight the important parts, and sorry in advance if I ramble..

For our last day in Ulpan Sarah (who also loves to bake) and I made a Chocolate Stout Cake!  Using 8oz plastic cups as measuring cups and an oven with temperatures ranging 1-6 (no units) – the caked turned out not only edible but actually quite delicious!  The chocolate stout we used added a wonderful flavor and moistness to the cake.  The recipe was huge and made 2 cakes; add cream cheese frosting and sprinkles, and both cakes vanished within 3 days.  It was nice to have the smell of fresh baked goods in the apartment and to be able to share one of my favorite pass-times.  Baking always relaxes me, and having several bellies to share the caloric intake is never a bad thing!

Sukkah for a gelateria!

Sukkah, sukkah, everywhere.  On the streets, alley-ways, balconies, and backyards.

Thursday a few of us (Sarah, Nicole, our Israeli roommate Noa, our friend Aran and his friend Felix) went north to Hertzelia to see Balkan Beat Box in concert, with Berry Sakharof and another band: not sure who they were but I didn’t like them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPjDgGnioAM  It was an awesome concert; great sound, great atmosphere, and great lighting effects.  Every single person (with around 1000 in attendance) was dancing the whole time.  The venue was an outdoor amphitheater, and was landscaped with weeping willows and olive trees which were illuminated with blue and green lights.  My camera isn’t good at night photograpy so my pictures don’t do it justice.  You can look at the venue website for better photos: http://www.ronitfarm.com/en/aboutus.asp

Friday I met up with Orit and her friend Renana (Orit is from my birthright trip).  Dangerous day, they took me shopping in Tel Aviv and out to lunch.  It felt like home to have a shopping day with a couple girlfriends.  I used self-control though and didn’t do too much damage, but did buy myself a birthday present!

I’ve been living in these sandals ever since, so great purchase!  I had a great day with Orit and Renana, and my first קפה קר (cold coffee) since being here!

*Travel tip if visiting Israel, ordering an iced coffee will result in a frapuccino; a cold coffee is our equivalent to iced coffee*

Orit and I headed to the bus station to travel back to our respective cities.  When I reached my bus terminal serious confusion set in.  The correct bus was in the terminal, check.  The bus was running on time, check.  There was no mob of people shoving one another fighting to get on the bus, where was everyone? I slowly stepped onto the bus, paid my fare, and took a seat.  This was a first, and I quite enjoyed not having to shove my way onto a bus for a change.

Sunday morning Sarah and I woke up bright and early to meet Aryeh at the car rental.  I volunteered to drive to the Golan since we couldn’t all fit in one car, and to my excitement, I got to drive a silver mazda!  Granted it was a Mazda2, not quite the same power as a Mazda3, but sufficient.  The drive to the Golan was beautiful; through the Jordan Valley filled with date trees, and DJ SSB (Sarah Smith-Benjamin) was a great addition to the ride.  Our first stop was the Golan Brewery, only a year old, very beautiful bar and 4 tasty beers!

Mazda2

Golan Brewery

Artist Colony

There was a short film about the Golan, then moved to a room filled with a topographical map of the Golan where we listened to the history of the Golan, starting with the first Jewish settlement to the current situation.  From there we headed to Aniam, an artist colony, for lunch and browsing.  Sarah and I split delicious ravioli with mushroom sauce and a great salad, along with a loaded waffle for dessert.  Good thing for the walk after for some much needed glucose uptake!  Before sunset we squeezed in a viewing at the Peace Vista, overlooking the Kineret, and a 10 minute hike to a natural spring, in sandals – not a good choice.  From the trail head we watched the sunset over the serene Kineret.  After a quick freshening-up we headed for the Tiberias Warf for dinner and some fun.  We, or should I say Aryeh, started a dance party at an outdoor bar and the staff and many patrons joined in, until the police came to shut our party down  but it was time for sleep anyways.

Monday morning we rafted on the Jordan River.  It’s more like a lazy river than rafting, but the weather on the river was beautiful. Sarah and I shared a raft and seemed to be on the same wave length because we maneuvered the raft seamlessly as we swiftly passed every boat we encountered.  The ride down the river was entirely too short.  We went rafting on birthright in May, as well, and the difference in water level from just after the rainy season to the end of the summer was drastic.  It really impressed on us the importance of a good rainy season in terms of water supply.  We had a quick bite to eat then hiked to a view of the tallest waterfall in Israel.  Having a packed couple of days wiped us out; we all voted to head home after the hike.  On the drive Aryeh convinced us to make a pit stop at the Hamat Gader Hot Springs, and good thing, too!  The baths were extremely relaxing, minus the overwhelming sulfurous odor but just what we needed.

The icing on the cake was our Disney sing-along on the ride home.  Never too old for some Disney.

Welcome Home

I can not write a post today from Israel, without first welcoming home Gilad Shalit!  The country has been mourning his capture by Hamas for the last 5 years, but today Israel celebrates his homecoming.  Across the street in Gan Sacher (a large park) is a festival with food and music, part of of the Jerusalem March, and right on the parade route.  The festivities were planned before the news of Shalit’s release but the city has an added reason to celebrate today.

That being said, today is also a day of mixed feelings.  ”One Jew, ten opinions” definitely holds true, yet again.  On the one hand, it is amazing that this soldier who has been through so much has a happy ending and is reunited with his family.  On the other hand it releases 1000 terrorists charged with terror acts against Israel back into the Middle East: Egypt, Gaza, and Israel; many of whom were sentenced to life in prison.  It also shows Israel negotiates with terrorists and the price we are willing to pay for one life, something that could be dangerous to other IDF soldiers.  Most Israeli’s I’ve spoken to on the issue have answered my question on how they feel about the situation by saying, “First, I am extremely happy for Gilad and his family.”  Then they go on to discuss the dangers of the situation and why they don’t think it was a great negotiation.

I am neither a politician nor do I know what goes on behind closed doors, but in this instance I am among the many Jews with 10 opinions.

"Good to See You Home"

Wow, I’ll tell you what, Wow

courtesy of Sarah Smith-Benjamin Productions

The title of this post is taken from the character Bartok in the animated movie, Anastasia.  It reflects my past week oh-so-well.

First off, I know I left you all hanging with how the Challah French Toast turned out, and you guessed right: Delicious.  I made two loaves worth, and it was gone by that afternoon (except for the few pieces I made people save so I could have some for the next day).

Monday morning I awoke to find an email from Dr Falk with a link to a Rosh Hashanah YouTube video.  Your welcome roomies for the wake up call!  Of course everyone loved it.  Before Ulpan that morning, Aryeh pulled up the website for our evening activity: The Ein Prat Leadership Academy in Alon to meet with some students and the rabbi there.  During the first break in Ulpan I showed Shelli, our Ulpan instructor, the R.H. video.  She loved it, and asked if that’s why the Ein Prat website was open.  At first I didn’t understand, but then she told me The Ein Prat Fountainheads are the same group of students who made the Rosh Hashanah YouTube video!!!  What a coincidence!  (I bet you all thought that was going to be a Jenna story, with no point, but I fooled you!)  If you’re interested, here’s the link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlcxEDy-lr0

Monday afternoon I took the bus (to the wrong stop, typical) to meet up with Noa from the NGO (national governmental organization) I’ll be volunteering for in my free time.  Noa is fantastic! She was so friendly, and she drove to pick me up since I was lost in Jerusalem… The NGO is called Bema’aglei Tzedek (circle of justice) and fights social injustices on issues such as entry access for people with disabilities, fair wages, and having businesses meet federal regulations by providing healthcare and other benefits.  Check out their website:  http://www.mtzedek.org.il/english/default_en.asp

Tuesday’s Ulpan: Scavenger Hunt on Ben Yehuda! 3 teams of two, racing through shops to claim the title: Scavenger Hunt Victor! and the secret prize. Nicole and I photo documented all our items and rushed back to the meeting place.  While abiding local traffic laws, waiting for the cross walk sign to change, we see Staci and David J-walk and take our victory! Over a week later I’m still bitter, because everyone knows I’m not competative at all…  Breaking the law just to win – but they did share the prize, Oreos.

Underground, ooh lala

After the scavenger hunt I left the group to go to a MASA meeting.  (http://www.masaisrael.org/masa/english/) MASA is an organization that helps bring young adults, including myself, to Israel.  The program I am on, Real Life Israel, is a MASA program.  So, after a selective screening process (just kidding) I was invited, along with 2 other MASA participants from Tel Aviv, to be representatives at their meeting and share my story!  It was a great experience and I got to see a side of the organization I had not been exposed to before, the business/donor side.

From the meeting I rushed to The Kotel to meet back up with the gang for a tour of The Kotel Tunnels!

Western Wall Plaza, weekday

If you’ve been to The Western Wall, you probably agree, its a lot smaller than anticipated. I am a little embarrassed to admit I never took the thought further.  The wall is part of the western wall of the Temple Mount which supported the Second Temple.  Only 187 feet are exposed in the Western Wall Plaza, while the remaining ~1400 feet are underground!  I won’t go into the politics of why its underground … but if you’re interested, I suggest looking it up.  History repeating.

Blue Birthday Drink

Tuesday night we went out for Staci’s birthday.  We started at a really cool bar/pub with great beers on tap, Road Runner cartoons playing on screen, and excellent classic rock music.  We met a few Israeli’s who were home for the weekend from the IDF, and had an Israeli celebrity sighting, although we never would have known if they hadn’t told us.  We moved on to a dance club since we were all in the mood to dance, and closed the club at 4am (I am not as young as I once used to be).

Wednesday Sarah came with me to replace my keys.  I lost my keys the week before, AND I lost my phone a couple days ago.  Both these things upset me because I have never lost either my keys or my phone, EVER.  The keys are somewhere in Tel Aviv and the phone I blame on … well that will come up later in the blog.  After replacing my keys, we decided the weather was nice and its Erev Rosh Hashanah, why not have an adventure, and thus began our mini walking tour of Jerusalem.  We walked through side streets until we came upon a bench covered with books.  Curiously we started flipping through the books, all in Hebrew, some were quite old and interesting.  A few feet up the sidewalk was another bench with more books.  There, on the second bench, patiently waiting, sat a book titled “הריאות והנשימה” (lungs and breathing).  Puzzled, we looked around and noticed we were in front of a building called The Artist House.  We thought this could be an exhibit but as it is common habit in Israel to leave things you no longer want on the street for others to take, and the corner of the book was chewed by some creature, we decided the book now belonged to us.

Being in front of The Artist House we decided to have a peak inside.  Its a very beautiful building with an enclosed garden/courtyard.  During the week there is a cafe with a somewhat large indoor seating area or the option of the patio.  Upstairs were two exhibits, both oil paints.  One collection was rather odd and reflected the artist’s (teacher turned artist) frustration with the current education system, expressing the children as unaware and naive.  Part of the exhibit was a room with the Israeli National Anthem playing, a table with children’s busts, and a few paintings.  I refuse to pay the $60 to be able to upload videos to my blog but I did just upload the sub-par video to Facebook.  The other exhibit was more my style.  Sunnier disposition, still life, pleasing colors.  I plan on returning to see what other interesting exhibits are displayed.

Taken through my "rose colored" sunglasses, so you can see what I see - Rosh Hashanah sunset

After competing our walk we started getting ready for our first R.H. meal.  The what-should-have-been-20-minute-walk turned into over an hour.  Between the poor set of directions we were following and the extremely poorly labeled Israeli streets, me missed our turn by about 20 minutes a couple times… We finally made it and had a wonderful meal!  Exhausted, we walked the 20 minutes home and crashed.  Thursday I woke up and got ready for R.H. lunch in the old city with my birthright tour guide at his friend’s home with ~20 other guests.  Lunch was delicious and the atmosphere was wonderful, especially with Daniel’s 6 month old baby  Lunch let out around 5:30, just enough time for me to walk home, relax for 20 minutes, then head to Eleanor’s for dinner (my mom’s friend from high school).  This dinner most resembled what I’d have at home, and again, the food and company were wonderful.  Friday meant lunch at Yoni’s!  Yoni and his wife Natalie made us, yet another, great meal, and I made a new best friend, Lia – Yoni’s 2 year old daughter.  I am happy to say, I have not put on any weight, even with the days of eating!

After lunch a few of us headed to the Sherut’s to Tel Aviv. (Sherut’s are shared taxi’s that can fit 8-10 people, are less expensive than taxis, and slightly more expensive than taking a bus.)  Since no buses run on the holidays, we had to take a Sherut to Tel Aviv, where I parted with my friends to join Alon in Haifa for the weekend!  Alon is the best friend of Nir, the boyfriend of my best friend, Jenny.  Also, an all around good person.  We relaxed for a little at his apartment then grabbed dinner and a drink at his friend’s new bar.  Around midnight my exhaustion, and sore throat, from the non-stop week set in.  Saturday we woke up, sore throat a bit worse, and still exhausted, but headed to the beach.  We spent a while in the water riding the waves, some time with Alon’s friends Dani and Shlomit and their 4 month old Jack Russell, Harley.  I fell asleep for a few hours, sure I was getting sick.  We took it easy the rest of the day, and went to watch the sunset over the Haifa coast.  Then Alon kindly took me to the bus station where I fought my way on for a seat and my journey back to Jerusalem.

 Sunday I woke up and could barely move.  Long story short, Sunday-Tuesday was spent sleeping, interrupted by a doctor’s visit to confirm I had strep throat.  Downside 1: sick in bed for 3 days, downside 2: being a space shot and losing my phone, Super Upside: finishing The Hunger Games trilogy!  Wednesday and Thursday I finally made it back to Ulpan, and am feeling much better.

This shabbat is also Yom Kippur, so the city will shut down in a few hours.  I’m heading to the weekly craft fair up the street and possibly to the Shuk for some food.  Thanks for sticking with me through this long post!

מסיבה במרפסת (Mirpeset Party)

I think I’ve mentioned the mirpeset at least once in every blog.  Yes we are obsessed with our mirpeset.  And I know you’re all asking yourselves, “its been over 2 weeks, and there is this gdolah, yoffah mirpeset (big beautiful porch) – yet there has been no mention of a dance party!” Well, rest assured – the mirpeset dance party happened last night!  We had a family pseudo-shabbat dinner (Jenna M grilled kebabs and we made our own version of kebabs with lentil salad, pita, and hummus), followed by a DANCE PARTY!!!  The only thing we really need are good speakers.  And our awesome Israeli roomate, Or, just brought some over – so we’re about to have our very own disco

Jenna M, the grillin' machine

We just had our first rain shower It poured for about 3 minutes.  Just enough time for two of us to lunge out of bed, run outside, grab anything important, get soaked, run back in, and have the rain stop … Everything is now soaked and the need to buy rainboots has gone from number 30 on my list to number 2 or 3.  Everywhere you go in Jerusalem, things (sidewalks, stairs, buildings, mirpesets …) are made out of Jerusalem stone – which is absolutely beautiful but also has zero traction.  Its slippery enough when its hot and sunny out, I can not imagine trying to trek through the city when everything is slick, and the rainy season is approaching.

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  Jenna M and I sat outside the laundromat (closed on Saturday for Shabbat) enjoying the weather.  We were listening to music and exchanging Iphone games, when the luscious aroma hit us.  We looked at each other.  Shabbat was obviously on its way.  The smells from our neighborhood swirled through the air.  I closed my eyes, took a deep breath in, and smiled.  A little while later, after transferring our clothes to they dryer, the owner of the laundromat who lives next door came over and, without speaking a word of english, invited us into his apartment to eat.  I politely declined – but there is no polite decline of food in Jerusalem on Shabbat, and boy am I glad!  I’m still not sure what it was called, since although I know more hebrew than he did english it was still not enough to communicate effectively, but the food was fantastic!  Something that resembled a meat knish, in a stew-like broth made of beets and beet greens.  I really could have eaten the whole pot and severely regretted not knowing the word for recipe.  Luckily we just learned fruits and vegetables in Ulpan Thursday morning, and I had asked how to say beet (selek) so I could understand when he said “beet greens”.  He opened his fridge and showed us about 12 yellow peppers (pilpil tsahov), and a huge bag of bread crumbs.  He invited us back at chamesh (5pm) to have some stuffed peppers!  Really, where else in the world, would a neighbor, who is a stranger, invite you into their home and share their shabbat (or any meal) with you!  The people of this country truly are amazing.

I promised the roomies I’d make challah french toast this morning, so I’ll wrap up with a picture of last night’s sunset.  Shabbat Shalom!

sunset over the Kineset

Sand and the Mediterranean

Welcome Back Chavarim (friends)!!!

Friday morning had a more delayed start than planned, but not completely unexpected.  We walked the 10 minutes to the Jerusalem central bus station and boarded the next bus to Tel Aviv!  The ride was beautiful and less than an hour long – and only cost 34 Shekels roundtrip (around $9).  Jenna M and I jammed out to some good tunes and before we knew it had arrived in TA.  We hopped a local bus to our hostel, one block from the beach – quickly unpacked and headed out for a bite to eat.

Lunch was terrible.  I was so annoyed with our waitress.  I wanted to order a small Israeli salad and an appetizer, but the waitress told me the small salad was really small and talked me into getting the large salad and an appetizer.  When my meal arrived, there was enough Israeli salad to feed 5 people, plus my falafel appetizer came with enough Israeli salad to appease anyone.  So, I ate enough salad to last me a week, grumpily paid my excessive bill, and headed with the crew to the beach.  We luckily found a vacant cabana, and set up camp in a little bit of shade.  It was around 3pm so the sun wasn’t too strong and we stayed at the beach until sunset.

oooh, aaah

We headed back to the hostel and cleaned up for dinner.  When I got out of the shower we had new friends hanging out on our Mirpeset (of course we have a mirpeset wherever we go)    One friend from LA, the other all the way from Mexico City! They’re studying at Yeshiva in Jerusalem and were really cool – plus I got to practice my Spanish and was amazed by how much I remember and could conjugate correctly.  The six of us with LA and MC in tow went out for sushi dinner, thank you Iphone for guiding us.  The sushi was sub-par, nothing compared to my “last supper” before flying to Israel but the company was fantastic and we had a great time.

Hayarkon 48 had an awesome roof deck where we met even more people after dinner.  Some more Americans and a couple Aussies!  A big group of us went out to a bar called Deli.  When you walk into the bar its just a deli, sandwiches, etc – but there is a bouncer sitting at an inconspicuous door that leads to an awesome, but extremely smoky, dance club.  We had fun dancing to some hot techno beats under what I believe to be a Chihuly original  The smoke finally starting getting to everyone so we parted, stopped into a couple other clubs on the way home, but around 3am I decided to call it a night…

Chihuly?

10 am wake up call to check out of the Hostel began a wonderful day at the beach.  The weather was beautiful and hot and again we luckily found a cabana.  Making sure I was adequately ‘sunscreened’ I took a little snooze with the Mediterranean to lull me to sleep.  Lunch was at an Irish Pub called Mike’s Place.  The world cup rugby games were playing so the inside was packed. We continued to brave the heat and sat outside, while getting the slowest service in the world.  The rest of the day flew by and before we knew it were heading back to the Tel Aviv bus station.

Getting on the bus was no easy feat.  Since buses don’t run on Shabbat, we had to wait until 7:45 for the first bus.  Right, simple?  No way.  Everyone and their mother were trying to get on the bus, and in case you don’t know, lines DO NOT EXIST in Israel.  Everyone pushes and pushes until they bust through.  While the first bus was loading a second one pulled up so the crowd shifted to the next bus.  Fortunately, Nicole got on the bus and saved us all seats in the back.  David and I got on and assumed our seats amongst the 10 other empty seats, as the bus pulled away without our friends.  Matt, an Aussie from Perth, was sitting with Nicole, so we all started chatting.  He’s just visiting Israel out of interest and we got to chatting about the country, Australia, and other things.  The bus pulled into the station 40 minutes later and I happily headed back to my bed.  Very full weekend, good scenery, not so good food, but lots of new friends!

Sunday and back to Ulpan.  Jenna, Sarah, and I headed to the shuk after for some food, groceries, and cleaning supplies.  We are still unable to find counter/ surface cleaner.  There is ample bathroom cleaner, oven cleaner, floor cleaner, but no kitchen cleaner … if you know what I should be buying – please let me know!  I headed home to update my blog but got distracted reading the news … quite depressing, so I lost my innate wittiness and postponed the update.  Sunday means Sunday Night Football, so we went back to the Lion’s Den where we met our friends from last weekend and our new friends from this weekend.

[a couple recent creations/purchases]

Purple cabbage, beet, and yellow pepper salad

The biggest Mango I've ever seen, pomegranate, and figs figs figs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today flew by.  After Ulpan, Aryeh joined me at Hadassah hospital to meet my intern advisor!  He, and all the other doctors, seemed very welcoming and I’m very excited to start.  I was surprised, but shouldn’t have been, at how many of the doctors had heard of, or knew, Dr Falk.  Guess I’ll have to live up to some high expectations.  The department uses all GE machines, so I’m already familiar with how to use them and learned the Vivid I (a portable echocardiography machine) was developed at Hadassah!  Just another amazing product developed in Israel.

My next update will be more current events focused, since tomorrow could have an impact on my surroundings.

Thanks for reading!

are you ready for some Football?

I have been in Israel for 8 days.  8 days of a new city, new friends, Hebrew lessons, falafel/ shwarma/ hummus/ pita, 1.5 liter water bottles that disappear like there’s no tomorrow, our mirpeset (porch), hookah bars galore, new local beers, my first experience blogging, a slight tan (!), and … its only been 8 days.

Sunday was the first day of Ulpan, starting with the basics, we learned the “alef-bet” (just a little Jenna humor).  I remembered a few things from Hebrew School but most of its been all new for me.  The language is actually coming along easier than I’d anticipated and I find I’m understanding tid-bits of conversations I overhear.

 

Sunday night the “Family” headed to The Lion’s Den, an American sports bar near Ben Yehuda street.  Jenna M was determined to watch the Steelers – so we agreed to support her, just this one time.  Six different states = 6 different football teams…  The bar had an odd entrance off the street and we couldn’t find it at first. Then we heard the american cheers and knew we were in the right place.  The bar had lots of good sports paraphernalia – Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics – and almost all my teams were represented!  I showed my New England pride by ordering a Sam Adams Boston Lager.

 

Monday after Ulpan Jenna and I did our homework in the park across the street and then visited the bird sanctuary for some meditation.  There weren’t many birds out in the early evening but its a nice place to sit and relax.

We made a quick stop in the apartment then headed to the Shuk to get some shwarma.  My first shwarma bishimoney yamim. (in eight days) – and it will not be the last!  After a tov meod (very good) dinner, I dove back into the Hunger Games.  This book is addictive, even though the plot is slightly horrific, its definitely a page turner and if you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend.

Jenna, Staci, and I tried a local coffee shop after class on Tuesday.  I ordered an “iced chocolate”.  The coffee shop had a sticker that I liked, so I took a picture so I could share it with all of you!

Tuesday I met up with a new friend and his coworker for happy hour and dinner; one from DC, the other from West Germany.  It is so wonderful to be able to sit outside for hours in the evening.  The temperature has been so comfortable at night, I’m savoring it before the rain starts – slightly regretting not packing my rain boots, especially since I had to pay an overweight fee for my luggage.  Later in the night we met up with the rest of my female roomates at a local bar.

Wednesday Ulpan was switched to the afternoon so I had the morning free.  I had a craving for the Hunger Games [ ], and kept popping outside for short periods to enjoy the sunshine without getting a sunburn.  The sun is H-O-T during the day, especially Wednesday.  I had fresh pita and hummus for lunch, with some leftover quinoa/pomegranate/mint salad.  Dinner had more of an italian feel – pasta with garlic, olive oil, and sauteed peppers but was quite delicious with the fresh local ingredients I bought.  A couple of the roomies and I bopped into a local market, and look what they have for sale!

All the way from Framingham, MA!

Today was not so exciting, Ulpan in the morning then a stop on Jaffa street for a little last minute shopping before Tel Aviv!  Tomorrow we head to the beach.  I’m sure I will have a much more exciting entry after the weekend, so stay tuned!

Layla Tov! (good night)

 

First Weekend/ First Shabbat

We all slept in Thursday, then headed to the office where our Ulpan (hebrew lessons) will be.  Spent a short while being overwhelmed by someone trying to teach us hebrew while only speaking in hebrew, grabbed a quick bite in the cafeteria, then headed back to the apartment with Yoni (one of the Real Life Israel Staff/ all around awesome person).  We ate dinner on our Mirpeset (balcony/porch) before heading to the Yellow Submarine to see Ariel “Can’t-remember-his-last-name-and-can’t-find-it-on-the-internet”, the winner of Season Three of Israeli’s equivalent of American Idol.  The concert was a lot of fun, great music venue,on the smaller side with a personal feel without being too crowded.

After the show, Yoni got us backstage for a minute to grab a picture:

“sometimes playing the American card will get you cool stuff, sometimes it just gets you ripped off”

This seems like a great place to introduce you to the group.  From left to right: David: TX, Nicole: NY, Yours Truly, Staci: CA, Jenna: PA (the other one), and Sarah: VA.

Yoni parted ways, and the 6 of us headed to Ben Yehuda street to go out.  Here I tried my very first Hookah, cherry flavored.  Ben Yehuda street was insanely packed with people, you could barely get through.  I am quickly learning that its OK to nudge people out of your way here…

Friday, the first day of the weekend, we headed to the Shuk to get some last minute things before shabbat (challah, wine, pastries – you know, the important stuff).  The Shuk is bustling on Friday’s.  Staci, Jenna, David and I grabbed lunch at Aroma.  Roasted portobello sandwich with arugula, tomatoes, and pesto with a fresh carrot juice, if your mouth isn’t watering you might want to get that checked out…

        

Aryeh met us later in the afternoon to walk us to the old city for shabbat.  We had a tour of the old city, followed by davening at the Kotel (Western Wall).  We were hosted for shabbat dinner by a generous family in Jerusalem.  Total there were about 18 adults and 10 children at dinner.  I must have missed when they mentioned a fish course and a meat course, because by the time the first course was over you could have popped me.  The food was so good, though, so I kept on going.  There was a lot of food, wine, and singing.  We left around midnight, only to wake up this morning to go to a shabbat lunch.  Oh the food, oh the food.  We split up three and three for lunch.  I was hosted by a woman who moved to Israel 3 years ago who lives three blocks away.  We had a lovely lunch; my favorite dish: a quinoa, pomegranate, mint salad, will become a staple for me while living here.  At least while pomegranates are in season.  When she told me the recipe usually has pine nuts, I was sold.  After lunch she walked us to the wild bird sanctuary 5 minutes from my apartment!  It is so peaceful, they have an area to sit and just watch the birds and turtles around a small brook with a pond.  Since it was shabbat, I didn’t take a picture – but you can guarantee I’ll be there frequently and will have a picture up here eventually.

Sounds like the roomies are starting to prepare dinner (food again?!) So I’m going to bid you adieu for now, or rather Lehitraot (see you later).

Judean Desert

If you’re thinking to yourself “this is a green screen”, you are not correct.

If you’re thinking to yourself “there is no way in hell Jenna drove this thing”, you are correct!

This afternoon we trekked to the Judean Desert to go off-roading!  At first I had terrible flashbacks to Mykonos, but then I stepped up to the challenge and overcame my fear, and successfully survived the experience (as a passenger, of course).  The setting was amazing, sand dune after sand dune: the smallest natural desert in the world, 1 of 2 in a rain shadow.  We drove by some goats, bedouin tents, and a donkey.

The tour guide told us he was about to leave for New Zealand – so of course I had to suggest a few places to stop, and spent 15 minutes being extremely jealous of his trip, but lets get real, I’m embarking on my own so how jealous can I really be?

We then stopped at the Judean springs.  A nice relief after the ridiculously dusty desert ride.  Lets just say my black leggings turned gray.  The springs are cyclical, set off by water running down the Jordan river at different times of the day.  The water flows down the mountain, then through a natural vacuum and into the spring.  The water was a bit chilly but I was one of the brave ones who went for a little swim (with some encouragement).  Nicole was the first one in, if you can see the expression on her face you can get an idea of the water temperature …

We dried off for a little, then headed to Aryeh’s house (our program leader) for a BBQ dinner, but first stopped at a lookout in the West Bank overlooking the desert.  The scenery today was just spectacular.  Today was a great day, two things I’ve never done before, and learned a few more hebrew words

(Had my first Israeli injury today: scraped my knee getting out of the backseat of the van, and then again climbing back in.  You can take the girl out of NH…)

Pretty soon this will all be in Hebrew, so get your dictionaries out!