It’s been a long time since I’ve posted, part has been laziness and part has been me being busy, but not so much traveling around Israel. So what’s been new with me, we’ll the biggest thing has been the decision if I wanted to stay in Israel after my 5 month program is up. I’m not sure why I did but I applied and surprisingly got a job with a large accounting firm in the Tel Aviv office. I had to make a decision if I wanted to stay here longer or come back. I needed to look at what is most important to me and for me its family and friends. If I knew that I would have only been here for 2 more years at the most and would have had no problem coming home, then I probably would have stayed. But once I actually got the job, I started to really think that if I took the job there is always the possibility that I might not have came home. I really don’t know what would have happened and it’s not unreasonable to think that I might have stayed in Israel. For people who have never been here or for only a couple weeks than Israel can feel very different. After living here for a few months, I feel very comfortable and really enjoy being in Israel, especially near Tel Aviv but that doesn’t mean that I want to spend the rest of my life here. I’m happy that I was offered the job because it made me think about what’s really important to me and made me decide if I really wanted to be in Israel. The decision was easy, I’ve spent my whole life building great friends and family and that’s what is most important to me and where I belong. Even though Israel will always be very special to me and I’m sure this won’t be my last visit here.
So with that out of the way, this weekend me and two friends from my program rented a car and drove to the Dead Sea, Ein Gedi and Masada. I was the only one who could drive and I must say that I was a little nervous to drive since Israeli drivers are crazy. Everybody is in such a rush to get everywhere, it’s not uncommon for Israelis to hunk before the light turns green so the person in front of them won’t waste a second to go once the light turns. On Sunday we drove to the Ein Bokek, a tourist resort on the Dead Sea and floated in the water for about an hour. Even though I’ve been there a few times before it’s still so cool to go and float in the water. Your body feels so healthy and smooth afterwards and it puts you right to sleep. After that we drove to kibbutz Ein Gedi and walked around the kibbutz. We called it an early night because we had to wake up at 3:30 in the morning so we could get to Masada before it became light out. The highlight of the evening was definitely while sitting outside having a drink and smoking the hookah we saw and IDF fighter jet fly almost eye level with us because we were in the mountain and only about a mile in front of us. After that about 12 more jets came following the first one in about a 15 minute span, the jets were so loud and so close, pretty exciting. The next morning we arrived at Masada at about 4:30 while it was still dark out and began to hike up the snake path. I’ve walked down the snake path but never up before, the beginning of the hike was very tough because we couldn’t see anything but slowly it became lighter and lighter and after about 45 minutes we made it the top of the hill. We watched the sunrise and then walked around Masada. After a schwarma lunch we drove to the Ein Gedi oasis and hiked for about 3 hours through the waterfalls, up the mountain until we arrived at a cave 3 quarters up the mountain. After we hiked back down and a well deserved stop at McDonalds I drove home completely exhausted but still managed to stay awake when I got home to watch the Ravens game that I missed on Sunday…nice win.
So what else have I been doing in the long time since the last post? When I first arrived in Israel, there was the initial excitement of wanting to do everything, followed by the holidays and time to backpack around the country and then some organized trips such as a few days in Eilat. We’ll since then I’ve still been very busy but I’ve also settled in and even though I’m here for only 5 months I now feel like my apartment is home. The weekends have been pretty busy mostly between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. I really enjoy going to Jerusalem and the Muslim quarter in the old city and bargaining with Muslims over stuff that I don’t need. Jews start their prices at a more reasonable price so if you bargain with them you will save a few dollars but the price won’t come down that much. Arabs start off their prices at such a ridiculously high price so they will come down quicker and a lot more than Jews but if you work at it you can get them for a lower price than the Jewish price. I’ve had quite a few Muslims upset with me because my prices were so low and I wouldn’t go to their price but I also got a lot of stuff for really cheap. Jerusalem has a really fun nightlife on Thursday’s which I enjoy hanging out in as well as a humus place (Ben Sira if anybody is visiting soon) that I’m obsessed with and can’t get enough of. Last Thursday I was in Jerusalem and slept on a hostels rooftop deck in the old city. It’s a lot cheaper that staying in a hotel but the Muslim morning call to prayer at 5 AM is really loud and annoying so I think that might have been a one time thing.
I’m only 25 minutes from Tel Aviv and I seem to go all the time. There’s so much to do there, so many different cool areas that there is no way I will be able to see everything before I leave, even though I’m trying my best. There are a lot of great restaurants so if I ever want a normal meal (non middle eastern) Tel Aviv is where I have to go. I got lasagna last night that would have been decent in the U.S. but not having normal Italian food in a while, the lasagna was extra delicious. I’ve been very busy the past month but instead of doing a lot of tourist stuff it’s been a normal life of living in Israel, going to restaurants, bars, pubs, hanging out by the beach and wondering to see the different areas of Tel Aviv. I’m at the midway point now before I come home so I’m going to take full advantage of my time left. I’m really looking forward to Aubrey coming in December and some other friends in January. I’m hoping to volunteer in the IDF for a week during Hanukah break in a program called Sar-El which could be an amazing experience. We’ll I’m off to Jerusalem for dinner, going to meet one of mom’s old friends who I haven’t see in years. Yesterday we toured an army base that was on a hill over looking the west bank in the north where they showed us what they do and how they stop terrorist from coming over the fence from Palestine into Israel. Most importantly they let us play with the guns, bullet proof vest and other IDF toys. I posted some pictures of last weekends trips and other random pictures of facebook if you want to take a look. The pics are of Emi, Dan and I starting our hike up Masada at 5 in the morning and me playing with a huge gun.
