I finally made it back to the US! It was looking doubtful for a while there because traveling out of Israel is always a challenge.
It started when Miriam, who had a morning flight yesterday, texted me this: "Houston, we may have a problem." She went on to tell me that there was some labor dispute at the airport and she was waiting on the runway. She was concerned that all the flights would be canceled for the day. (Mine was supposed to leave later that night.) But after a couple of hours the labor dispute was over and they were on their way.
I got to the airport 3 hours before my flight. After the security people took everything out of my large suitcase and shoved it back in, I got chosen to go through the "special security line," which was the same line I had to go through on my way to Istanbul. In this line they take everything out of your carry-on bags and wipe the items down with a cloth that they then run through some machine to make sure there are no strange substances detected. Everything was fine in this special line until the girl in front of me was suddenly surrounded by four security guards with earpieces in and everything. It turns out she had a bullet in her bag that an IDF soldier had given to her. Fail.
To make a long story short, I barely made my flight even though I got to the airport 3 hours early.
Always an adventure!
So, I am sitting in Philadelphia now waiting for my connecting flight to Nashville. I stopped off at Au Bon Pain and got myself some good old American Poland Spring water and a sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich on an asiago cheese bagel. Yummy to my tummy.
As I'm eating I'm chatting on gchat with Miriam, who is also back in the US for a couple of weeks, and we are talking about the little things we miss about living in the US. She said this: "dude. i just had raspberries on my cereal while reading the target ad. remember target?" I laughed out loud in the middle of the airport when I read this. I told her I am definitely going to make some target runs and in between these I am going to eat an insane amount of steak.
Ah, home sweet home. :)
What's so cool about being back in the US though is that at the end of my stay here I'm pretty sure I'll be homesick for Tel Aviv. That's a really good thing.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
On the Road Again.
I am coming home for a visit in five days, and there are several things that I intend to do while I am there. Here are the top 10.
1) Eat a big juicy steak at least 5 times in the 3 weeks I am home
2) Buy Aussie hairspray for a reasonable price
3) Get more Proactiv
4) Drive a car
5) Soak in good customer service
6) Go 3 weeks without seeing a wild cat
7) Eat an ungodly amount of American candy
8) Eat at Chipotle
9) Enjoy the fact that people in Nashville are friendly
10) Spend loads of time with my friends and family :)
I absolutely LOVE Tel Aviv, but it is such an adjustment moving from one culture to another. America definitely has more conveniences than Israel but there are several things I enjoy here that can't be enjoyed at home. For example, I can go to a restaurant and sit for hours and the servers don't care one bit. It's not like the US, where before you've even finished your entree the check is on the table. I've always hated that.
Here are some other things I'll miss about Tel Aviv:
1) The weather
2) My awesome friends
3) The busyness of the city
4) Trying to read the Hebrew signs
5) The excellent coffee
But these things will be here when I get back. And I have a feeling I am going to miss them while I'm gone. I think that's a good thing.
1) Eat a big juicy steak at least 5 times in the 3 weeks I am home
2) Buy Aussie hairspray for a reasonable price
3) Get more Proactiv
4) Drive a car
5) Soak in good customer service
6) Go 3 weeks without seeing a wild cat
7) Eat an ungodly amount of American candy
8) Eat at Chipotle
9) Enjoy the fact that people in Nashville are friendly
10) Spend loads of time with my friends and family :)
I absolutely LOVE Tel Aviv, but it is such an adjustment moving from one culture to another. America definitely has more conveniences than Israel but there are several things I enjoy here that can't be enjoyed at home. For example, I can go to a restaurant and sit for hours and the servers don't care one bit. It's not like the US, where before you've even finished your entree the check is on the table. I've always hated that.
Here are some other things I'll miss about Tel Aviv:
1) The weather
2) My awesome friends
3) The busyness of the city
4) Trying to read the Hebrew signs
5) The excellent coffee
But these things will be here when I get back. And I have a feeling I am going to miss them while I'm gone. I think that's a good thing.
Monday, September 12, 2011
The Unidentified Backpack
A funny thing just happened...
I am sitting in a coffee shop with 2 of my friends at the moment. It's this great little Bohemian place on Sheinken St., which is one of the most popluar streets in Tel Aviv because of the shops and restaurants.
Anyways, we are sitting on the patio outside with 15 other people and someone spots a backpack under one of the empty tables. A man starts asking whose backpack it is. It's pretty quiet at first, but then once everyone realizes that it doesn't belong to anyone in the shop, panic breaks out. But it's in a comical way.
One woman runs into the coffee shop to find the owner. I just see her left hand, the one with the cigarette in it, flailing about. When she comes out everyone starts yelling, in Hebrew of course.
Finally, someone asks the man sitting on the bench a couple of feet away if it is his.
It is. Then everyone yells at him for scaring them.
Only in Israel :)
I am sitting in a coffee shop with 2 of my friends at the moment. It's this great little Bohemian place on Sheinken St., which is one of the most popluar streets in Tel Aviv because of the shops and restaurants.
Anyways, we are sitting on the patio outside with 15 other people and someone spots a backpack under one of the empty tables. A man starts asking whose backpack it is. It's pretty quiet at first, but then once everyone realizes that it doesn't belong to anyone in the shop, panic breaks out. But it's in a comical way.
One woman runs into the coffee shop to find the owner. I just see her left hand, the one with the cigarette in it, flailing about. When she comes out everyone starts yelling, in Hebrew of course.
Finally, someone asks the man sitting on the bench a couple of feet away if it is his.
It is. Then everyone yells at him for scaring them.
Only in Israel :)
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Catching Up Is Hard to Do
What have I been doing since I last wrote?
First, I went to the demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday night. People here are protesting because of the insanely high rent prices.
Check out this link: http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/some-450-000-israelis-march-at-massive-march-of-the-million-rallies-across-country-1.382366
I was on the phone with my Mom when I was walking to the protest with Anna. Of course, when I told her I was going to the protest she thought what most people probably think: protest in the Middle East = molotov cocktails + bloody riots + tear gas. But this one was so different. Parents were out with their kids and there was even some entertainment. We basically just walked down the street until we came to a large park where someone was speaking. It was low key but hopefully effective.
Cost of living here is so expensive. I honestly don't know how people do it. Even small things are unaffordable. For example, I wanted to buy some nail polish the other day. I went to the pharmacy down the street and the nail polish was 45 shekels, which is over $10. There is some nail polish in the States that costs this much for sure, but there are a ton of cheaper options. Like Wet 'n Wild! Sure, it's a little watery. But it does the trick. Here, there are no cheap options. For anything.
Neutrogena facewash, which I'm pretty sure you can get in Walmart for $5, is around $30 here. Most American products here are way overpriced. But food is also ridiculously expensive. I was telling my Mom that I barely eat meat anymore. It's around $15 for chicken breasts!
Ah, the life of a student.
After rambling on about how expensive it is here...
A bunch of us took Tony out for his 30th birthday a couple nights ago, and it was actually a super affordable place! My pasta dish, which came with a ton of pasta and vegetables, was only 30 shekels, which is under $10. (Can you imagine a pasta dish at a nice restaurant costing less than a tiny bottle of nail polish? Crazy, right?) So we got pasta, a nice bottle of Golan wine, which comes from the Golan Heights Winery here in Israel, and chocolate cake. It was so delicious!
Mom and Dad, when are you coming to visit? I need a nice piece of steak soon. :)
First, I went to the demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday night. People here are protesting because of the insanely high rent prices.
Check out this link: http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/some-450-000-israelis-march-at-massive-march-of-the-million-rallies-across-country-1.382366
I was on the phone with my Mom when I was walking to the protest with Anna. Of course, when I told her I was going to the protest she thought what most people probably think: protest in the Middle East = molotov cocktails + bloody riots + tear gas. But this one was so different. Parents were out with their kids and there was even some entertainment. We basically just walked down the street until we came to a large park where someone was speaking. It was low key but hopefully effective.
Cost of living here is so expensive. I honestly don't know how people do it. Even small things are unaffordable. For example, I wanted to buy some nail polish the other day. I went to the pharmacy down the street and the nail polish was 45 shekels, which is over $10. There is some nail polish in the States that costs this much for sure, but there are a ton of cheaper options. Like Wet 'n Wild! Sure, it's a little watery. But it does the trick. Here, there are no cheap options. For anything.
Neutrogena facewash, which I'm pretty sure you can get in Walmart for $5, is around $30 here. Most American products here are way overpriced. But food is also ridiculously expensive. I was telling my Mom that I barely eat meat anymore. It's around $15 for chicken breasts!
Ah, the life of a student.
After rambling on about how expensive it is here...
A bunch of us took Tony out for his 30th birthday a couple nights ago, and it was actually a super affordable place! My pasta dish, which came with a ton of pasta and vegetables, was only 30 shekels, which is under $10. (Can you imagine a pasta dish at a nice restaurant costing less than a tiny bottle of nail polish? Crazy, right?) So we got pasta, a nice bottle of Golan wine, which comes from the Golan Heights Winery here in Israel, and chocolate cake. It was so delicious!
Mom and Dad, when are you coming to visit? I need a nice piece of steak soon. :)
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