They are relatively close together distance wise, but that's about all. It took us about 10$ to get to the hostel from my dorm room- bus from campus to the central bus station: 6NIS (divide by 4 and thats US dollars), bus from central bus station to Tel Aviv central bus station: 20NIS, bus from Tel Aviv central bus station to the hostel: 6NIS. It was interesting trying to navigate a huge bus station in Hebrew, but it turned out ok, and we only had to go in and out of security twice before we realized where we (me, Jenny and a new friend Ariel) wanted to go. The bus ride was about 45 minutes, and was really nice. They played a radio station- a weird combination of Israeli techno and terrible nineties music from the states- the whole way. The hostel was awesome. You could go up on the roof and they gave us free breakfast and were really nice. We were right in the middle of the main street and a two minute walk from the beach. It was so beautiful. We got settled in and walked down the beach. There was graffiti everywhere and joggers and people were lounging and relaxing. It was so different- I didn't see one M16 the entire time I was there. I physically felt myself relax. I didn't realize how tense I was in Jerusalem until I could smile at people and walk around and not be stared down everywhere I went because of my cloths or clueless expression. It was so nice. We walked to Yaffo which is an old port, I think. It was really pretty and a fun little area. There were lots of fancy restaurants and people going to parities and stuff. It was just so Mediterranean. Anyway, we were wandering around and we accidentally stumbled on this little outdoor cafe in some random back alley and decided to eat there. It was SO good. It was the first time I had eaten out here (besides falafel). The waitress was this oldish lady who looked like she used to be a gypsy and then decided she wanted to be a soccer mom. She took us back to the kitchen to meet her son, the chef, who was going to the US and sat down at our table and explained the menu and hugged me a lot. She was great. When we were ordering, Jenny said what she wanted, and she just flat out said... "You don't want that." So we ordered something else. I guess it had something to do with intestines. We had fresh squeezed lemonade and it was so warm out and there was candles. It was a little surreal. After dinner we walked back to town and wandered around. Everyone in Tel Aviv is beautiful. Super stylish and hip and confident and gorgeous. Its fun just to watch people. Anyway, we walked around a bit and ended up just going back to our hostel and hanging out on the roof. It was such a beautiful night, and you can actually see the stars.
The next day we got up early and went back to Yaffo where there is a flea market. It was so awesome! The stalls are just packed with anything you can imagine. There one was the was just full of jeans. You couldn't walk into it because there were so many piles of jeans- higher than my head, and just thrown around- pile is too orderly of a word. There were stalls just filled with metal pots/cups/who knows what. Nothing was really on display, you just had to go wading. And the shop keepers were so funny. If you were looking at a scarf they would take it off the wall and put it around your shoulders and tell you how beautiful you were. They are good at what they do. The coolest thing I found was this box of old letters and photographs. It was postcards from people who had been to Israel and were writing home.. years and years ago. They were so so cool. It was amazing reading these peoples letters- talking about the same sort of things I'm talking about, just fifty, sixty years ago. The guy who was selling them was so fun too. He was super super old and kinda reminded me of Mr. Miagi from the Karate Kid? He first asked me if I was Israeli (maybe the best compliment I have ever gotten) and then when I told him I was from the US, he immediately says, "Obama?" And I said, yea yea. And he goes, "But you probably didn't vote for him." And I said of course I did. And then he says, "Well then let me shake your hand." Its so cool to actually be respected for being an American- at least for voting for Obama. After that we went to the market (food) and then stumbled upon this really cool craft fair. It was like a giant street festival with magicians and street performers and painters and all sorts of stuff. It was pretty magical. Everywhere you looked there was something that just blew your mind. One of those instances that make you wish you had unlimited time to explore. So we walked back from there and went out for cheap pizza- they sell it by weight. You tell them how big of a piece you want and then they weigh it and charge you. it was delicious. Tel Aviv is so cool. We came to the consensus that it would be hard to live there though. Too much neon. But it was a nice change of pace. (I did miss Jerusalem by the end of it though- its just a little more mature?). This morning we woke up early and walked down to the beach- it was foggy and really pretty. We watched people surf and kite surf and waded a little. A surfer (maybe model in his spare time?) asked me, in Hebrew, to watch his surfboard for a minute and I managed to say yes (ken) and you're welcome (bavakasha) in Hebrew. I'm really moving up in the world. This afternoon we walked to the Tel Aviv bus station (maybe a mile) because taxies are too expensive and no buses run on shabat. Then we took a shroot (like a minivan/taxi thing) back to Jerusalem. And then I took a four hour nap. It was such an amazing trip. There were so many things that I wish I could describe better or show you or at least take better pictures of- like walking through the crowded market and buying a little pastry for a shekel to munch on while you shop for fresh fruit. This really is an unbelievable country. We met some people who were just talking about how Israelis are so good at everything they do, and it really seems true. They are just a super intense group of people-Like when we were leaving the beach we saw this guy doing the butterfly in the super choppy/freezing ocean.
It's nice to be back home though, I get to sign up for classes tomorrow so hopefully all goes well. Love.
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