intermission

so i've been back home now for about a week. enjoying having a french exchange student (victorine) to gallivant around with.
the last part of my israel/ new york adventure was the best, i spent it in tivoli (northern town in new york) with my estranged friend kesslie who i've known since kindergarden. it was so great not only hanging out with someone my own age but someone who i really enjoy and missed. plus i looooooooove cute little towns! unfortunately (or fotunatley depending on how you look at it) we had a little too much fun the first night which resulted in a wicked hangover which lasted the entire next day.
i fell asleep watching twilight and woke up on a loveseat with my feet and neck propped up on the giant arm rests. i was so uncomfortable but too sick to move. later i did end up throwing up while kesslie discovered that the dog, she was watching for her friend, has pooped all over the floor and tracked it up onto the couches. it was a very unfortunate morning indeed.
but the trip was great and i was so happy i got to spend that time with kesslie.

so now i will take a breif intermission for the summer. i have about a month until i leave for prague to study for fall term. i still can't believe i'm doing this but it's happening!

for now i'm going to laze around, adventure downtown, go to caty's cabin, try not to get anymore sunburn, and attend my childhood friend leanna's wedding. i'll worry about finding a job later i guess.

New York

hey look at me, blogging in new york just like carry or the younger julia, or ugly betty (although i think that i was the only one watching that show there towards the end).

anywho, so yea, new york. i'm staying here with my 1st cousin once removed, david. yesturday i went to visit my grandpa joe's long term girlfriend, pearl. she's 92 and really sweet and a cinical way. when a large man appears behind her in line or in the bread isle she looks up and says "wanna fight?"
she stares unabashedly at children and babies in strollers explaining that shes "just watching the show"
when i point out that she's trying to park in a space marked 'for poilce vehicles only' she says "oh so you think you're literate huh?"
she's decided that she's going to help me get a boyfriend, some of her advice includes joining a club or cause, and paying lots of compliments.

today, after taking the train to the city from pearl's house in merrick, david and i went to the high line and then to the chelsea market and then to some squares and then on a twilight cruise on a sailboat around the hudson, it was pretty sweet. tomorrow i think im going to go shopping around on broadway. i'm so sick of wear my crappy "i don't care what happens to them" clothes.

camping...

right now meytal and i are watching "you dont mess with the zohan", kinda topical.

two days ago we spent the day at the beach and drank Israeli beer and ate happy hippos (the best little chocolate things, i would bring some home but they would get smashed). we finally did go in the water, but i was being a weenus (meytal's words) about the jellyfish and waves. it was really nice though. i used strategic sunscreen placement to try and remedy my horrible tan line, but to no avail.

yesterday we went "camping" with meytal's sister aviv and her boyfriend tal. aviv is in medical school so i assumed i could trust her judgment but it turns out even though they are older than us, aviv and her boyfriend are not very good at decision making. we drove 2 hours north to camp by the jordan river but when we got to the location there were signs saying "no fire making, no tent setting" etc. We couldn't go anyplace else because it was already 8 and the sun was setting so we stayed there and hoped for the best.
20 minutes later we see a flashlight pointed towards us so we shut up and sit there swearing under our breath. inexplicably the flashlight person walks all around us and then leaves without approaching us.
we drank arak and ate the best barbecue ever (hummus has never tasted so right) all the while we were being manged to death by mosquitoes.

i've given up on learning hebrew and have reverted back to practicing my french. the bus drivers aren't gonna understand me anyways, at least this way i feel somewhat accomplished.

tonight going out with meytal's friend orel, tomorrow going to haifa?

back in meytal's loving embrace

ha ha!! it worked!
all that strife finally panned out and i am here in meytal's parent's palatial apartment.
Her family is really cool. When her parents walked in yesterday I was watching the biggest loser and meytal was passed out on the comfy chair. her mom asked "how are you?" and then a couple minutes later hands me a slice of chocolate cake.
the woman knows the way to my heart.
they live in Rishon Letzyion which is like a 5 minute walk from the sea, which i WILL go into eventually, jellyfish be damned!!!!

anywho, i'm really excited to be here and on the last leg of my israeli adventure.

as predicted i had some massive public transportation issues the other day trying to get to and from the city of david. i wont bore you with the details but the highlights were, no one speaking english on the way there and me having to call my cousin and force the phone on a stranger to translate. on the way back, being misinformed by the bus drive as to whether or not i missed my stop, getting off the bus with another misinformed fellow and having to hitchhike and sit in a car seat.

today i think we're heading into tel aviv...

shabbos

i have survived a berkowitz family shabbos.

its so weird to hear people with the last name 'berkowitz' since i'm hardley ever around my mom's side of the family.

my cousins live a a "settlement" which is basically like a suburban neighborhood which is gated off, where everyone is basically the same level of religiousness. its called Allon Sheveut and it's on the otherside of the greenline so whenever we drive to or from Jerusalem we have to go through a security check.

so from sundown on friday to sundown on saturday there is no touching of electricity and no driving. some of the lights stay on and somethings are on a "shabbos timer" so that they automatically turn on and off. it was really no problem except that i did trip going up the stairs to bed one time.

yesturday around 6 i took a walk around the neighborhood. i'm the only one wearing jeans and a tee-shirt every other female is wearing a skirt to her knees and a shirt covering her elbows (this isnt just a shabbos thing btw, it's an all the time thing, at least in this neighborhood). the sunset was soooo pretty! i walked to the edge of the gate and then started walking back, then i turned around and it was even prettier so i uncontrollably started speedwalking back towards it until i got even closer to the edge. i think my fixation with sunsets is getting a little out of hand.

today im going on a tour of the city of david. the tour starts at the dung gate and goes through water tunnels and what not. i'm pretty excited i just hope i can get there on time because the public transportation out here is a little unreliable. everybody here hitchhikes i just dont think i should seeing as i dont speak hebrew at all.

sand in my lungs

so here's an adventure for you caty:

went back to tel aviv yesturday for layla lavan (white night, some nightime event with free concerts and the like). it took forever to get there what with the bus never showing up and then missing the train by a couple minutes. im getting pretty good at navigating the central bus malls, trains i still have some problems with.

but the point is that layla lavan was super fun. i went back to jaffa to meet up with the girls, it felt like coming home, that place is the best. then we went to an arab rock concert which some of us really weren't feeling so we caught a cab and met up some of the kids and soldiers from birthright. that was a more fun concert, it was in the middle of the street and things were being projected onto the adjacent buildings. then we walked for a while to another concert on the beach.
we may or may not have ended up sleeping on the beach.
ok we did, but didn't actually sleep as much as i did at the bus stop and at the hostel and then on the bus back to jerusalem.

in the morning the streets were littered with litter and roudy, sleep deprived, probably still drunk young adults. it was quite the sight.

on another note, i'm starting to get more and more oregon sick. i cant wait to come home and am sort of bemoaning the fact that i'm staying in new york for a week after this. my clothes are gonna be sooooo dirty

YAYAYAY!

I got my ticket changeddddd!
so i'm staying in israel until july 13th and i get to see meytal and do meytalilamma things : )

thats all