Tel Aviv

Where to begin is what I ask myself every time I open up a fresh page in Blogger with the intention of sharing my Israel experiences. I never seem to become any more enlightened on how to tackle describing traveling. I'll begin with not feeling like a tourist. Though I'm only here for a little over a month, I have already made the notoriously "dangerous" and "dirty" Bat Yam my home. It's where I sleep, eat, work, catch the bus, and walk through daily. To be a tourist means to have no home base, and I have one. I even like Bat Yam, it doesn't have that dense piss smell that Florentine has and the old man breath-shit smell that flows down Jabotinsky in Ramat Gan. No one seems to think I'm American when I go places alone which I prefer. I don't like the bad name most American 18 year olds give us mature and smart Americans. I don't want to be a part of the whole "omg, I just want to party and get drunk," and when I do, I don't advertise. When I walk around with people like that...blurggh.

Most my weeks have consisted of volunteering, riding the bus to the various far reaches of Tel Aviv suburbs (to get to know the whole city--not just my corner of the city). I have stayed away from Jerusalem not because I don't like it, but because it's what every tourist always sees first. Jerusalem only provides so much excitement, and it's mostly because it's so fucking holy (lol). Not to mention it's teaming with Americans (I didn't come here to hang out with Americans). Here's what I have done so far.


-I hiked along the Banyas (an off shoot of the Jordan River) and rode along the base of Mt Hermon.
-Had shabbat in Jerusalem with cousins I haven't seen in 10 years or more.
-Attended Laila Lavan (White Night); a night of free shows, lots of booze, and walking. To be honest, it was a total disappointment.
-Auditioned for The Voice, which was a two-three hours ordeal. I won't hear a decision back from them for at least a few weeks. I definitely sold my personality (I play dirty). If I get so lucky as to be on this show, I will certainly be the under dog which will help me cause, I hope.
-Skinny dipped in the Mediterranean. Absolutely necessary.
-Had a bonfire on the beach.
-Got thoroughly lost on every bus I have taken. Only now am I beginning to recognize the routes (just in time for the buses to change July 1st. Great timing, right?).
-Learned the names of most vegetables and fruit (in hebrew obviously)
-Got drunk on the street, which is apparently acceptable here, after a long and unexciting lecture by an "actor" pretending she was a Haredi, a secular Jew, and a muslim.


That's certainly not all I have done. Next week I'll visit Hebron and then after that I'd like to travel somewhere on a thursday; Eilat? West Bank? Jordan? So many places....want want want to see it allllll.

I love this country because everything is so much closer than in America. If I want cooler weather, I can drive one hour to Jerusalem where it is at least 10 degrees colder. The mountain(s), ocean, desert are all so near me--Israel is like if someone had crushed America into the size of a sugar cube. All this greatness in one convenient little square. Ok, this post has taken a weird turn....bye now!