Being Dead is such a turnoff

Friday morning the whole program woke up, some more enthusiastically than others, in the wee hours of the morning in order to be on our bus ready to go at 6am to Qumran, a site just west of the Dead Sea where, as coincidence would have it was where the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls were made. These scrolls, as old as the 1st century b.c. if I remember correctly, are comprised of the Torah, the apocrypha, and information on the Judean sect that kept these records. The views were amazing, and I would love to go back and hike through the site, which is a national park. Our tour guide was THE expert on the subject, and so it was fascinating to hear about the scrolls from one of the primary scholars in the field.


After the tour, and a quick drive beside the Dead Sea, we went to The Israel Museum located in the Museum Mile of Jerusalem, next to many official buildings. This is where some of the scrolls are held,and again we were guided by the same professor. Because we left so early, we were still able to stop at (THE BEST I'VE EVER HAD) falafel restaurant and make it back to our dorm by 2.
Most people went to sleep, but I, reluctant to take naps, decided to go for a run through my favorite park. Feeling curious and surprisingly energized, I decided to push myself and not stop at the workout equipment, as I usually do, but to keep running for 'one more song,' and it was one of the best decisions I had made. After about a minute of extra running, I crossed a bridge and turned a corner to find a large open area, just like entering the Great Lawn from the southwest side of Central Park. There were large hills, and soccer fields at their base, an forested area thickened by an assortment of both bushy and palm-like tress, an amphitheater, and paved courtyard and a lake perfect for rowboats. I ended up taking a long break sitting on top of one of the grassy hills and watching two Israeli teams play their soccer game, before I ran back to the dorm just before sunset. The weather was beautiful, around 65, perfectly warm to run in. I came back exhausted but refreshed.

Yesterday a friend and I decided we were toing to walk to the Shuk, marketplace, to buy some fresh fruit, candy, breads; challah, pita, and "bege'les" and maybe even some fun nick-knacks. Anything that can be sold, is sold in the Shuk. Makeup, Clothes, underwear with the Star of David, Baklava, fudge by the kilo, and Indian food sold by Arabic speaking women. It's all here, and it's all at a price that should be haggled down. Now, for the people who know me, know that I love to go to China town not for the purses, jewelry, watches, or perfume, but for the fun of haggling. While it's a lot harder without an instant recognition of the numbers, especially the ones above 10, I've still managed to get good prices on some sweets and bread. Someone just try to beat 2 pieces of Baklava for 5shekels. I dare you.

After about half an hour of walking, passing numerous stores that had closed shop for Shabbat, we get to the shuk only to realize that it is also 'closed.' The fact that buses don't run, and about 98% of stores on Ibn Gvirol (pronounced more like Ivn viroh, as I hear it) street were closed was not a blatant enough hint to suggest that the shuk would be closed. Slightly defeated, and slightly rained on, we took a scenic route back home and were able to find an ice cream stand that was open at Dizengoff Center.

With clouds looming over Tel Aviv all day, it wasn't the beach day that I had hoped for, but instead of sitting on the beach in the afternoon, our program decided to play a few games of beach volleyball around 11pm. So, with hookahs, a few beach blankets and a bottle of Goldstar to quench our thirst we walked the half hour or so to the lighted beach volleyball courts where the athletes (about 8 of us) split off with the moon bathers and we all had our fun. Four games and many dives later we were all covered with, and had our pants full of sand.

one of the few pictures of me in Tel Aviv, although I do find most of my pictures from google, I am in fact here.

So, though not very reflective, and more matter of fact, this has been my 3rd weekend in Israel. I'm loving the low key variety I'm finding in this city.