How the Grinch Stole Christmas (and Thanksgiving) in Tel Aviv

This is going to be the first year that I'm not in the States for the holidays. I go back and forth on how I feel about it. I know all of my friends here, the majority of which are American, are going to do something fun for Thanksgiving and for Christmas, so it will be an experience to celebrate the holidays in Tel Aviv. But on the other hand, I am going to miss celebrating with my family.

Especially Christmas.

There are no Christmas trees, Christmas music, Christmas lights, Santa figurines or anything like that here (obviously), and I keep forgetting that it's the most wonderful time of the year! It's like in Home Alone 2 when the family leaves for Christmas and goes to Florida (Kevin, of course, goes to New York instead). Sure, it's warm and they are surrounded by palm trees, but that stuff isn't Christmasy. One scene in this movie particularly sticks out to me: all of the kids laying on the bed of some dingy Florida hotel room watching It's A Wonderful Life in Spanish. I think it's pouring rain outside too.

The good thing is, Hanukkah overlaps with Christmas, so there will still be a holiday spirit in the air. And I hear really good things about these jelly donuts (sufganiyot) that are everywhere during Hanukkah.

And I have the advantage of being able to go to Bethlehem on Christmas, which I suppose is one of the most Christmasy things that can be done this time of year.

In other news, school is keeping us pretty busy here. We don't do much during the week except for homework, and then on the weekends we get out and explore. This past weekend was filled with that. A group of us went to Mezcal, a Mexcian restaurant, on Thursday night and it was delicious! Chimichangas with chicken :) I have been craving Mexican food since I've been here but they don't have a ton of options. So when I heard about this place I had to go. It's in an "up and coming" neighborhood called Florentine, which is where all the hipsters hang out. When I was walking down the street I felt like I was in the States. I thought to myself,  "Savannah Ellis would love it here!"

Then after church yesterday I was craving pizza, so we went to a place called Tony Vespa's, which was also delicious. They have huge square pans of pizza and you tell them how big of a slice you want. Then you pay based on weight. I got a slice with tomatoes and feta cheese and then another one with mushrooms and onions. It was so yummy. It's still warm here so we went outside and ate in the park. It was a lovely afternoon!

Classes, Gas Masks, and So Much More

So my first day of school was last week and it was all pretty typical...if you live in Israel. First, I was sitting on a bench with my friends (one of whom is in the Israeli Army) and a guy walked by with 4 boxes that had leather straps on them, and they were hanging on his neck. The boxes were a little bigger than a typical shoe box. Anyways, my friend who is in the army bet us that we wouldn't be able to guess what was in these boxes. I guessed that there were religious Jewish icons in there that some campus group was passing out. Someone else guessed that maybe it was food. Nope. You know what was in there? Gas masks.

The guy with the boxes told us that they were handing them out for free to all of the Israeli students. So he took one for him and three more for his family.

A couple of days later, we get a text from the school that says this: "Hi guys, Tomorrow at 10am sirens will be heard at the area of Ramat Aviv as part of a military exercise. Do not panic =)"

We were then told that if the sirens lasted 180 seconds it was an actual emergency and we would need to go to the nearest bomb shelter. Luckily, I live right by one of the biggest in Tel Aviv. There is a theater by me that sits on a public square. Under that square is a massive bomb shelter that can hold over 1,000 people. Seriously. Check it out: http://www.haaretz.com/news/tel-aviv-opens-massive-new-bomb-shelter-under-national-theater-1.844.

Then today I woke up to an email from my Mom telling me that the American news is reporting that Israel is talking about launching an attack against Iran. I don't know what scares me more...the thought of being here for the inevitable counter attack or the thought of having to be in an underground bomb shelter for an extended period of time. Yea, I'm that claustrophobic.

On a lighter note, I am really enjoying my classes and we are still having so much fun getting to know Tel Aviv! We've been going to a ton of school events and meeting all of the new people who are a part of the overseas school. It will be a good and eventful year!