Busy Bee: Public Singing, Jaffo, Ein Gedi, Dead Sea, Celebs, & More



Public singing





Uncle David at Friends Underground

Time to play catch-up! The beginning of last week was a big ball of fun! Sunday, I had dinner with Sivan and Yael!!! Yael is one of my best friends, whose originally from Israel, but went to Kent State, which is where we met, and now lives in Arizona. Whew. The three of us went to a sushi place for dinner called Moon. Even though Yael was freezing, we walked around and had ice cream outside after dinner. I'm going to see her again in a few days before she goes back. Yay! On Monday night, I had burgers with a few of the people from our group made by chef Aaron, one of the awesome guys in our group. Sivan and I then walked over to a place called Friends Underground in London Ministores, where my uncle David was supposed to sing. We didn't know what to expect. It ended up being "public singing," which is basically karaoke with special guests singing and the entire place can sing along. I have never seen anything quite like it. Uncle David was one of the special guests-- he's well known here in Israel, as he finished in 3rd place on one of the singing talent shows. It was a fun experience. I have a video of it, but no videos will be posted until I'm back in the States or get better internet service.


Brady & I in Jaffo



The next day was one of my favorites so far in Israel. I spent the entire day with Brady, who I mentioned in an earlier post. He was here in Tel Aviv for just over a week through a "cultural experience" program through Oranim. It was his last day here, so we did as much as we could. We got bikes and rode them from Tel Aviv to Jaffo along the beach. I was VERY nervous about it, since I didn't learn how to ride a bike until many years after most kids. I was really surprised that it was an easy ride and how much I enjoyed myself on a bicycle. In Jaffo, we listened in on a tour going on in English, and then had delicious bread that had artichokes baked in. Yum! It felt very European. I also had pomegranate juice that the guy squeezed right in front of me. That was also really good, but quite a shock to the taste buds at first! After we rode our bikes back to Tel Aviv, I interrupted our day of fun by going to ulpan, though ulpan is fun for me.



Bike riding from Tel Aviv to Jaffo

Brady and I ended up having an interesting dinner. We decided to get food near the theater because we were going there afterwards. But, I swear, this is the only area of Tel Aviv that had no food! Eventually we found a convenience store, bought fresh bread, chummus, cucumbers, and water, and had our feast on the side of the road. It was really funny! It ended up being a dinner that I won't soon forget! We then went to a theater where there were two jazz musicians-- a soprano saxophonist and a pianist-- who improvised everything. It was incredible. I've never seen/heard anything quite like it. Think back to movies or television shows where the characters are in these really cool jazz clubs.... it was kind of like that, but even better! We could have stayed there all night, but unfortunately for us, we both had to be up ridiculously early, so back to our apartments we went...

Sunrise, along the way to Ein Gedi



...At 5:45 AM, I was outside, in the pouring rain, with other people from our building waiting for our tour bus. Here comes the bus that reads "Maya Tours." Yep, that seems fitting. Our Oranim group drove south, to Ein Gedi to go hiking. The weather ended up being perfect for the climb. I thought the hike was easy, especially because we kept taking so many looooonnng breaks with the tour guide. Your heart rate goes up and you sweat, but that's one of the reasons why hiking is fun. Unfortunately, quite a few of the people in our group were completely winded. I guess they don't feel the same way about hiking as I do. I'm worried about what's going to happen on all of our other hikes for them. Ein Gedi is one of the easiest that they have planned for us, as far as I know. Anyway, the hike was so refreshing for me. You get to see wildlife, great views of the Dead Sea, and waterfalls. After the hike, the bus took us to the Dead Sea. 



Bari & I at Ein Gedi



Ein Gedi



The Dead Sea is the lowest elevation on Earth's surface on dry land. It is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world, where animals cannot flourish within it, hence the "dead" part. The Dead Sea is so dense, that you float. The salt and minerals in the water and mud work wonders for the skin. Bari, Tammy, and I covered ourselves with mud, let it dry, then floated around. When the mud finally did come off... and believe me, we had scrub!... our skin felt completely smooth. Ahhh. Coming back from the Dead Sea, I thought about how great my last two days were. Then there was a nice surprise for me on Skype. Veronica finally set hers up and we got to talk "face-to-face" for almost an hour! I was so thrilled to see her and talk to her. (I miss you, Veronica!!!) Then, I read my email from Alana about her mother passing away, and those two very high, happy days came crashing down.

The next few days were much more somber, where the rain seemed to fit my mood perfectly. I did have a long talk with Rafael (some of you from home know him as Paul), and that made me feel better just by hearing his very familiar voice. I decided to stick with the people I know from home and went out with Jake for awhile on Thursday night. Aaron and Bari came with. Those two are really feeling like "home" for me. When I am with them, I feel like I'm hanging out with my buddies in Cleveland, but with better weather. On Friday, I didn't do much. I hung around the apartment building, mostly in Michael's place and we watched the Discovery channel. But Friday night I was very happy again to be at Ilan and Efrat's place with Gal, Doron, Roey, Meital, Michal, Mika, & Daniel. Not only was it great to be with my family, but to also have one hell of a meal. Efrat can really cook! It's also good for me to listen to the Hebrew. I may not say much, but it's good for me to just listen sometimes. After returning to the apartment, some of my friends from this building went to 223 for a drink. Inside of it, I met Evan Starkman from MTV's Read World/Road Rules Challenges. He's staying in Tel Aviv for a few months. You see? Even in Israel, I meet the "celebrities." I would not have known who he was if it wasn't for this girl, Sharon, who was pretty much freaking out about him. It was hilarious! 

Saturday was just another day I took it easy. Saturday night, Tamir picked me up and we went to the old train station, which is just before Jaffo. It's not a train station anymore. They made it into a neat place with restaurants, boutiques, and galleries. We ate at a tapas restaurant, which had excellent fish and a dish of plums marinated in wine and covered in blue cheese that was delicious. We also went to a bar that he promised to take me to--- one where cigarette smoking is not allowed! Yes! I think it was called Hamoes. It was on King George, near the theater on Rothschild. It was so refreshing to come back to the apartment not reeking like smoke.

Tamir and I had a very interesting conversation about his family. His grandfather had been recruited into the Red Army during WWII, which ended up saving his life. He sent a letter home and received no reply. So he sent another letter home, and still no reply. He sent a letter to the next village, and received a reply saying that all the Jews are dead. Imagine that. All of his 10 brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents... everybody was dead and that's how he found out. The Holocaust effected so many people for generations. In Cleveland, I have heard a few Holocaust survivors tell their stories. I have gone to the museum in Washington, DC, and to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Israel. But to actually be in Israel, sitting at a bar, hearing someone's story about how the Holocaust changed their family in such a non-chalant way... now that feels different. So many people here are descendants of Holocaust survivors. Hearing about the Holocaust always makes me angry, sad, and even hopeful for a better tomorrow. To be able to be open about your history and your beliefs with no judgment, with no anti-semitism is beautiful. That's what Israel is... beautiful.    

The next day I had two interviews at Tel Aviv University for different internships. (I already had an interview last Sunday with the nicest people. They want me to do fundraising for them). The first one of the day was a bust, where they didn't even have me written in on the schedule and it took me 45 minutes to even find the building that the interview was in because the secretary kept telling me it was in the Goodman building, but that building does not exist. Eventually, I realized that she never told me the name in Hebrew, she finally did and it was nothing like "Goodman"!!!! It started with an M!!! Ugh. Annoying. The second interview was great! It was definitely more of me interviewing them than the other way around. They-- Yael and Kayla-- want me to run a group called Buddies, where I would work with all of the international students that go to the university and plan events for them on and off-campus, along with Israeli students to help the international students feel more acclimated into Israeli society. I love everything about the program that I heard about. So this will definitely be the internship for me! I start next Sunday. 

Yesterday afternoon, I ended up watching the Manchester United v Liverpool game at Mash with my British neighbor, Rich. Right after the game was over, Orly (the city coordinator), called me and told me that there was a new short term program person living on my floor. I went back to the apartment to meet Rose. I already like this girl! Rose, Rich, Tommy, and I all went out to dinner, walked around the port, then had a movie night in Rich's room, watching "Salt." Rose has already showed up at my door tonight asking where we're off to tonight. Also, my friend, Andy Miller, from Alaska, who used to work for Kent Hillel, will be in town this week. I am so pumped! I haven't seen him in years. Something tells me that this week is going to be a memorable one!!