A Trip to the Doctor....

Dr. Shakshuka that is!!

Shakshuka is a Middle Eastern dish made of poached eggs cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, onions, peppers (and whatever other delicious veggies you choose to put in).  It generally has a little kick to it, which is very tasty as well!

Pictured here is our homemade Shakshuka, not from the Dr. but still wanted to give a visual on the dish.

Our whole group (all 120 of us Career Israel-ites) had a guided tour of Jaffa (or Yafo) on Sunday afternoon.  The tour was nice, and although I have been to Jaffa a few times before, I had never seen it at night, and it's so beautiful!  I tried to take some pictures of it illuminated at night, but photos just don't do it justice!  At the conclusion of our tour, we had dinner at the famous Dr. Shakshuka restaurant!  Dining here is always a bit of a CF (cluster f*ck), as you sit at long tables with large groups of people, and the waitstaff just starts loading your table up with plates of food that get passed among everyone.  The warm up round consisted of cabbage salad, regular salad, tahini, some sort of roasted veggie puree with fresh bread.  Then came the big kahuna - the shakshuka, couscous, roasted veggies & baked beans.  All vegetarian, all amazing!  The "crew" and I walked back from Jaffa to Beit Leni (our apartment building), which was much needed after eating so much food!

Historic Jaffa at Night...beautiful!

Speaking of food, which is pretty shocking that I haven't blogged about it yet, I am in LOVE with the food here.  I try to visit the shuk (market) usually once or twice a week to pick up fresh fruits and veggies.  Of course there is lots of hummus and pita eating, and the occasional falafel!  Another local favorite - bourekas, which are a pastry filled with tahini, hard boiled egg, spicy sauce, pickles, and some other mystery sauce.  Sounds strange and probably disgusting, but I can assure you, it's one of the most delicious and sinful meals you can eat here!  Cooking has been pretty interesting, given our limited "kitchen" - which consists of an electric burner, a microwave and a fridge/freezer.

Boureka....despite the appearance...it's amazing!

Some of our dining out ventures have been pretty successful as well, most recently a trip to the Max Brenner Chocolate Bar, where we had some out of this world dessert creations, and Goocha, an amazing seafood spot just a short walk from Beit Leni (I had the mussels...amazing!!).  We also tried the brunch at Benedict's, which although was a touch pricey, had some standout, decadent dishes, and the unlimited bread & Nutella to start your meal was not to be over looked!

Boffla Waffle creation at Max Brenner Chocolate Bar

Better Place

Yesterday, we had the chance to visit Better Place, a company that is focused on producing and integrating fully electric cars into mainstream Israel within the next year. 

Upon arrival, the place itself felt mildly cult-like:  minimalist design, expensive and impressive looking gadgets sprinkled throughout the main lobby,  lots of attractive people in crisp white logo button down shirts, and of course the obligatory free coffee/espresso/hot chocolate vending machine (that clearly our group swarmed...jews, eh!).  First we were ushered into a large video room and seated into recycled car seats (which were way more comfortable and chic than I think they will come across here) to watch a 20 minute video on the need for electric cars, and how the world's dependence on oil is destroying the earth and all livings things that dwell on it.  Let's just say, the marketing people in this company are spot on with drawing in their audiences, as by the end of the video, our group was basically in agreement that the "future is electric" (that one might be a trademark of Better Place, so here is there credit).  Then came the best part....driving the cars!!  In groups of 3 we loaded into the cars and each got to take it for a spin around the track. 

this is how excited I was to drive the car...not so flattering, but gets the point across!

A few of the strange things with electric cars:  No muffler (since there is no fuel, there is no exhaust), and literally no start up noises - all you heard when you "started the engine" were two clicks.  Felt like I was turning a video game car on, and not a real one!  Surprisingly, the thing still had pretty good pick up and speed, and was a real quiet & smooth ride.  Anyways, pretty cool place, and a great idea.  If you are interested, check out their website:   Shalom!

http://www.betterplace.com/

Yom Kippur in TA!

Yom Kippur in Israel is like something I've never experienced before.  Everything in the city of Tel Aviv shut down around 1:30pm on Friday - and I mean everything.  In the states, even on the most religious of holidays, one could surely find plenty of shops and restaurants open.  But not here - it's apparently against the law for any place of business to be open on this day.  As a result, as nighttime fell on TA, the streets grew eerily quiet - no vendors calling out to customers, no cars or buses whizzing by, no music belting from storefront windows.  Then, new sounds brewed in the streets.  People were walking, biking, sitting, gathering.  It was like pedestrians taking back the land that they have coveted all this time, and Yom Kippur gave them the chance to be out and about like cars never took over.  I guess it doesn't sound all that exciting, but it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  A few of the gals and I took a stroll to Rabin Square to catch the action, or rather, lack thereof.  Granted, this was not the first time I've experienced pedestrian take over of the streets - clearly concerts, 5K's, special events, etc. have often been a cause for restricted driving and walking with abandon in places not usually allowed.  But this was very different.  People were hanging around in the streets, sitting on curbs, medians, intersections...and the biggest difference?  There was no direct "event" to pull them from their homes on a warm September evening.  No amplified music, no speech to hear, no food vendors, no art to be seen...just people.  The sound of people chattering away, some praying, many gossiping filled the streets, punctuated with playful laughter of children as they chased each other around on bikes.  Many donned the traditional white dress, which symbolizes our purity, in hopes that God will inscribe us into the aforementioned Book of Life when he passes his judgement onto us.  Me, I wore green, guess I hadn't really thought about the white garb.  Perhaps Saturday, while attempting to fast (it never really seems to go well for me...) I'll pull an old white standby out of the closet, and hope for the best. 

Addition:  so fasting for me went as it usually does...not well.  But on the plus side, I went for a leisurely stroll around the city and ended up at the beach, where I spent a good 2 hours sitting, listening, reading & writing.  It was glorious!  Later in the evening, my usual crew and I prepared an amazing break the fast feast (for those that actually fasted, and for others, like myself, that just enjoy cooking/eating/socializing!)  Thanks to Lynne, I have a crock pot and made my first successful meal in it!  Basically threw in lots of fresh veggies, spices & lentils and let it do it's thing...and of course it came out amazing :)  Thanks Lynne!  On a related note..if you have any crock pot recipes, send them my way!  First Hebrew test is in the morning...so the rest of my Sunday will be spent doing some much needed studying...

By the way, this is the A3 room as we refer to it...home of Annie, Alee & Anna - my room is shockingly similar to this one, but next door.  Perhaps a future post will highlight my humble abode...but I need to do some decorating first!

Back in the big city...

Well, it has been just about a week since my last post, and I have tons to report on!  My last entry was on Rosh Hashana, which I was lucky enough to spend with the Halamish family!  Many thanks for their hospitality, and most importantly, for making me feel like I have a real home while I'm here in Israel :)

Thursday night of last week, I drove with Shachar and her friend Galya up to the Golan Heights (in the nothern most part of Israel).  The drive was beautiful, as this part of the country is very open, mountainous, lush, with lots to see along the way...including the Sea of Galilee (where Jesus walked on water, as the story goes...)  There we camped under the stars in preparation for our hike early the next morning.  It was a beautiful night, there aren't so many times we can spot a sky full of stars in Chicago...even if it was a bit rocky beneath my sleeping bag.  Flash forward to 6:15 am the next morning...the ladies are waking me with promises of coffee and breakfast sandwiches.  I'm tired and feel as though I slept on a pile of rocks...probably because I did.  The particular trail we are braving is the Yehudia Trail...(which unbenownst to me until after the hike, is recommended for experienced hikers only...hmmm).  We hit the trail around 7:30am and let me tell you one thing- any previous "hiking" experience I have had did not prepare me for what we encountered.  Boulders, swimming, cliff hanging (well, for me it was anyways..), hot hot Israeli sun....and of course, I had one somewhat minor fall, but it lead to some pretty nasty looking bruises.  8 hours, yes 8 hours later we made it out in one piece...and I must say, trying as it was, I feel pretty damned accomplished!  Shachar, being the experienced hiker she is, managed to bring along a camera and took some pretty sweet shots, so I'll add some when I get a chance.  I proceeded to pass out the second we got in the car...and was woken up when we were the only acceptable place for a post hike refuel- McDonald's.  (Sidenote about McD's, the non-dairy koser mcflurry tastes suspiciously like the real thing...hmmmm).

Saturday I returned to Tel Aviv, and was ridiculously sore from the hike.  Despite that, I agreed to head out to dinner with some of the girls, and was SOO glad that I did.  Annie from New York lead us to this Indian restaurant which turned out to be a restaurant + hostel + rooftop bar....great food, good prices and lots of places to lay/lounge complete with pillows.  Basically, amazing!  Ulpan (Hebrew class) picked up again on Sunday, and I actually felt like I was making a bit of progress!  I guess spending 4 days around people mostly speaking Hebrew is good practice!  Had a bit of a headache most of the day, and was generally exhausted from the weekend....no good but luckily had a bit of cheering up on Sunday, but I'll keep that part a bit of a mystery :)

As I write this, I'm sitting at Dizi, a pretty swanky laundry mat/restaurant/bar/coffee shop a few minutes walk from my apartment.  Not a bad combo, I'm finding out!  I'm off to study some vocab words before heading to bed...I'll post some more pictures soon!  Love to all back home and everywhere...

La'Chaim!

some Jewish humor on a holiday morning....

Understanding the Jews

A video compliments of Lynne & Shachar Halamish...

Shana Tova!

Rosh Hashana is upon us...which is the Jewish New Year.  It also begins a 10 day preparation for Yom Kippur, which is the day of atonement.  Basically, you have 10 days between now and next Friday to get in the Book of Life, or you are inscribed in the Book of Death forever.  Whoa...I'd better do some reflecting.  (Just a note, in the states I have always said L'Shana Tova, but apparently that is not correct.  Simply Shana Tova will suffice.)

I thought I would take this holiday to reflect on this current time in Israel compared to my last...On Friday in Jerusalem, we went to the market, which on Fridays is crazy busy with people buying what they need in preparation for Shabbat.  Last time in Israel, I took tons of photos here at the market, and the one that caught my eye the most was this:

Now, here I am, back in Israel a year and a half later, and in the very same spot, it now reads this:

I'm not quite sure why this struck me the way that it did.  Maybe because when I last saw that wall, the phrase "war is forever" seemed to epitomize life here in Israel.  I was here as an outsider, a tourist, spending only a few days here to try and understand how life really works.  And now, as I begin my 5 month journey to truly experience Israel, the phrase "love is forever" represents to me, the struggle of Israelis to enjoy life and love, despite their constant political battles.  I prefer this view of Israel - optimistic, hopeful, and above all - loving.  On this note, I say adieu, and wish everyone near and far Shana Tova, and hope that this new year brings you happiness, love, and success in all that you do.

random update

On my lunch break from Ulpan (Hebrew lessons) and thought I would make a list of random thoughts since my arrival in Tel Aviv:

1.  running on the beach, although torturous in terms of its difficulty, is AMAZING!
2.  Israelis are not nearly as excited to hear my attempts at Hebrew as I am to speak it
3.  apparently my passport number is required to obtain a grocery store discount card....i tried giving the dominick's number i generally use (brigitte's mom's house..) to no avail...no discount club for me!
4.  the dezengoff mall puts woodfield to shame when comparing the size...and i hate the crowds and overpriced shops that I can't possibly afford just as much.
5.  Ulpan does rock....yesterday I generally knew the alphabet, but not in script- which is how it appears everywhere in this country.  Today, I know how to read and write script surprisingly well- guess they have the format down!!  OK...back to class - lunch break is only 35 minutes...also...Happy Birthday Brigitte!!

Love to all...

First morning in Tel Aviv!

As I write this, I am sipping on a coffee and sitting outside on Hamelekh George (King George Street) in the heart of Tel Aviv!  The location of our apartments couldn't be any better...walk out the front door and you are on a bustling street, with everything just a few minutes away...coffee shops, restaurants, TA Mall, shuk (outdoor market/shops) and probably loads more that I haven't discovered yet.  So as I haven't been able to get online the last few days, there's a lot to catch up on, seen so much already!

Yesterday (Sunday) was a pretty hectic day - I knew right off the bat that at some time we would be moving out of Jerusalem and into our Tel Aviv housing, and there was a lecture about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (always a joy, oy).  Breakfast was pretty early compared to the usual schedule, but I had to savor it, as this would be our last day with meals provided for us....so I pretty much went to town on the buffet, which always has lots of fresh veggie salads, fruit, cheeses, etc.  After breakfast and loading our bags onto the buses, we settled into the affectionately dubbed "vault" room, although i prefer to call it by its actual name - bomb shelter.  Now, I don't have a very political wired brain, so generally during these types of discussions I tend to check out...which I feel badly about, but I think I am getting a basic gist of the situation here.,...albeit from a skewed perspective.  After the talk, we loaded onto the buses to take a driving tour around Jerusalem to see some of the areas of separation, as well as neighborhoods that have been affected by the conflict during the last boundary shift.  It was pretty profound to be driving next to one of the secure borders between Israel and Palestine territories...and to see the signs, barbed wire, police, etc that are preventing Israeli & Palestinian people to cross freely through the border.  Surreal to see a neighborhood that once was united, but now is divided by the seam line, which refers to the new boundary around Israeli territory set by the 1967 resolution. To see the wall that the Israeli police are constructing (and reconstructing) between Israeli territory and the West Bank - which by the way, doesn't look like a war torn wasteland...rather just another neighborhood about 200 yards from where I was standing.

Again, took some interesting photos, and clearly left my camera back in my room, so I promise to post photos later, hopefully our internet in the apartment building gets fixed and is working properly today!  Heading to our first class of Ulpan (Hebrew) lessons now....wish me luck....after the placement exam last week, I'm going to need it!

Love to all!

Holler from the Holy Land!

Sorry to anyone who did not receive the carrier pigeon message that I arrived safely, that damn bird couldn't follow directions!

Anywho, after a LONG day of traveling, I have finally arrived in Jerusalem!  Well, actually arrived yesterday, but the internet at the local gas station was suprisingly unreliable... It's completely surreal to be back in this place, but I can't describe in words how good it is!  Yesterday was check-in and basic orientation, and yes it was as exciting as it sounds.  Actually mustered the energy to join a few ladies out for a beer off Ben Yehuda Street - found a pretty cool outdoor cafe, and enjoyed our Goldstar's to the sound of some live music!

Today was pretty packed, but a highlight for me was a guided tour through the Old City.  I had visited before on Birthright, but this was a much more in depth tour, and included stories of the 3 main religions (Christianity, Judaism & Muslim) and their ties to Jerusalem.  It's easy to forget that although the Jews call Israel their homeland, that the Old City is a holy place to so many other people of different faiths.  So many different people have been coming to this place for so long to worship and to remember the basis of their faith - I'm not a very religious person, but it's tough to be in a place as sacred as the Wall and to not reflect on your own faith, and how, if at all, it relates to your own life.  More on that later, I'm sure...Snapped some cool shots of one of the Oldest Churches in existence, once I get a more reliable internet source I'll try to upload some photos.

Moral of the story...I'm here, happy, and can't wait to soak it all in.  Stay posted for updates, hopefully a bit more put together when I'm not sharing a 2 hour internet pass with 3 people...