Ah, the big city!

I just realized that in my last 3 updates I've neglected to mentioned that I moved to Tel Aviv two weeks ago. In all my haste to catch up my blog, I forgot that you might all care what I'm doing NOW. On June 27 I packed up, left the kibbutz, and moved to Tel Aviv, where I will stay until Sept 22, my return home. Well... I'm taking a week with my mom and a couple relatives in Bulgaria in August, but Tel Aviv will be home base.

Sadly, in the two weeks that I've been here, I spent a full week of it sick. A couple times I tried to venture out into the world, and my body responded with an upset stomach, extreme fatigue, hot/cold flashes, and general begging for bed. I somehow managed to sleep 15-18 hours a day... 4 days straight. The few hours that I was awake was spent watching movies, reading, or watching the World Cup. A few friends from the kibbutz came to visit here and there, but I didn't provide much entertainment...

While I don't have much new insight to the city as a result, I did manage to secure a job, thanks to mom's connections. I'll be waitressing at Comme Il Faut, a well known and respected French restaurant on the Tel Aviv boardwalk. Flew halfway around the world to go back into serving tables... and here I was thinking I was supposed to advance my life :-P

In all seriousness, I'm very happy where I am right now. Though I had originally planned to take the summer to travel Southeast Asia, life took me in a different direction, and I'm really excited to continue settling into my roots and experiencing this culture that my parents raised me in - a culture that up until a few months ago had been contained to my house and summer vacations. I currently only have 2 friends my age in Tel Aviv (a number that will hopefully increase at work), but am surrounded by relatives and family friends who treat me as family. Just yesterday Anita, my moms best friend, "yelled" at me for not telling her I was sick, while her grown daughters (with children of their own) backed her up in saying that she has magic chicken soup. Now I know, for (the hopefully nonexistent) next time.

I have few pictures because 1) I was sick, and not very active 2) my camera has decided that it no longer cares to focus. I'll instead write a few notes of things "only in Israel." Or, at least, drastic differences between Israel and Boston - but only in Israel has a better ring to it.

I actually began thinking of this list when I was talking to my dear Sarah Keller and mentioned to her that there was recently a march from Ma'agan Michael (the kibbutz I was living on, about 30 km south of Haifa) to Jerusalem, in honor of Gilad Shalit, a soldier that has been in Hamas captivity for 4 years now. His parents and supporters plan to sit in Jerusalem until his release - their plea to force negotiations. Many people in the country joined for parts or all the march, and even more want to go to Jerusalem and speak to his parents to show support. As I was telling Sarah this, she said "things seem so different there!" to which I replied, no, things are pretty much the same, but then we have war, and bomb drills, and demonstrations constantly in the background. But then again, Israelis are definitely a unique breed of people, so, without further delay, some of the funny differences...

-Only in Israel can you walk into a convenience store, befriend the owner and cashier, and find yourself predrinking their vodka behind the counter, grabbing mixers off the shelf, while customers are still walking in and out... and no one bats an eye or questions it.
-Only in Israel can you walk onto a bus, pay without exact change, and the bus driver will give you change.
-Only in Israel are there sheruts - a cross between a taxi and a bus... picks you up when you wave it down and drops you off as you please, but has about 10 seats, costs the same as a bus, and follows bus routes.
- Only in Israel can you take a seat on the sherut, pass your money up to the driver via other passengers, and have your change passed back to you in a similar manner
- Only in Israel can you sit at a beach restaurant in the sand, put your trash into a sand pail, give it to the waiter, and ask him to just bring the pail back when he comes back with the coffee... and not have him give you any sort of questioning glare.
- Only in Israel do the trans-urban buses have stops along the highway - and will literally drop you off in what seems like the middle of nowhere.
- Only in Israel is hitch hiking called Tramping.
- Only in Israel will you see a mom holding up a 4 year old girl by the torso and legs so that she can pee on a tree... in the middle of a city.

I suppose that's a good introduction to the differences... there are many more, of course.

Miss you all, and would love to hear back! Sorry this post got so long - I'm not so sure how that happened...