So on sunday i thought id have a lazy day but then a group of girls decided to go to the shuk at jaffa..and by a group i mean 15! o my. israelis on bus 25 that day dont need movies like mean girls and clueless to let them know whats up with american girls today...they got the whole picture from us. oy! but finally we made it to jaffa and explored the shuk that had some gorgeous jewls, scarves, rugs, etc. I didnt buy anything but i must challah (i forgot bout those) to all my friends who used their bargaining skills with the shuk men. Turns out its shuk 101 to get prices to go from 200 to 100 before "walking away" and ending up with 30 sheckels as a final price. tov.
After the shuk, emma and i took the bus to rabin square to meet Amit for dinner. Amit is a junior at tufts also studying in tel aviv for the semester but he is originally from israel and therefore is enrolled directly at tau not in our program for "special overseas people". Amit took us for koobe! I had never heard of it before but turns out its an israeli staple so we were really glad to try it. Koobe is meatballs in dough served in soup with a side of rice..and by side i mean whole plate for each person! It was very different from anything id had before but SOOO delicious!
Monday: day trip to jerusalem with the program! SLASH birthright.
We boarded buses early in the morning and "went" to jerusalem..i use the term loosely because this 45 minute ride took us basically two and a half hours between random stops at gas stations, traffic, and an unclear bus switch. Finally we made it to our first viewpoint in yemin moshe..where i had been with arielle just 48 hours ago..i felt so local! Then we went to a "time elevator" where we watched a movie and our chairs moved "through time" and we "experienced" israeli history from jesus to the 6 days war. it rained on us..so essentially it was a disney ride for history.
Then we went to ben yehuda street for free time and lunch! I took the girls to this falafel place i had been to on birthright that was delicious! again, i felt local. then we walked around and look at lots of judaica, jewls, tshirts, etc and got froyo. After that, we got to the old city! we took a tour of the ruins of the second temple and then went to the western wall for some freetime there. we then went through the jewish quarter and ended at the tower of david with the "light spectacular". maybe it was the freezing cold or extreme exhaustion but we didnt really get it..i wouldnt put it on your list of to dos. We boarded are bus again and headed for "dinner at a kibbutz"...turns out it was the most amazing kibbutz ever and we had the best feast i've had since i got here! delicious israeli salads, hummus, brisket, chicken, rice, soup, dessert! yumyumyum!!
lots of more excitement on the way! highlights include a visit from HARRY TRAUB aka my daddy this friday! plus the most exciting day of my year/life- my 21st birthday next wednesday! and then a little scamper over to turkey next thursday! and then finally starting classes!
Pictures below:
1. GORGEOUS sunset at jaffa
2. koobe dinner with amit
3. view of jerusalem from viewpoint- gold thing the middle is dome of the rock
4. falafel on ben yehuda
5. me, emma, leah, dana, yael, and halley at the kotel
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