"It's a dangerous business... going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." -J.R.R. Tolkien
I am finally getting around to writing some longer posts about my trip to Israel, which I promised a while ago. To be honest, I spend most of my day at work on the computer (I now have a little over a month until my thesis is due), so coming home at night at doing more typing has been extremely unattractive. But, this past weekend I had a little more time, so I thought I'd force myself to get caught up.
On my first few days in Israel, we were mostly in and around Tel Aviv. One of the first days, we walked along the sea to Jaffa. The weather was really nice, and I love the sea!
Me with Tel Aviv in the background.
In Jaffa.
The old city of Jaffa was cute and fun to walk around.
Streets of Jaffa.
The port of Jaffa.
View of Jaffa at sunset.
We also had a Israeli-style brunch one weekend morning, which was pretty fantastic. Fresh juice, fresh-baked breads, salads, coffee, eggs, etc. Coming from Switzerland, where eating out is expensive enough that I just don't (for the most part), it was really fun to eat out and try new things for affordable costs.
There was one really funny interaction where I ordered a falafel, and I thought the man said that it would be 60 shekels (about 15 CHF). I didn't bat an eye, but started handing him the money. He freaked out and started saying, "...16! 16!..." Apparently I had misunderstood the price, and it was only 16 shekels (4 CHF). Given that the falafel place near my work in Zurich charges 10 CHF for a smaller falafel, I was totally not phased when I thought he was asking me for 60 sheckels! He just had a good laugh at me, I guess.
Another day, we walked along the sea to Namal, which is the port of Tel Aviv (and is the opposite direction from Jaffa). As we were walking, we ran in to people dancing. Apparently every weekend this hotel plays music, and people of all types come to dance. They're not the same every week, and everyone looks like they're having a great time!
I really do love the sea! It was great to be staying so close (Jessi and Brian live maybe a 5-minute walk away), because I was able to walk down by the sea almost every day I was in Tel Aviv. It wasn't quite warm enough to swim, but I did enjoy wading.
Yesterday I got to FaceTime with my parents and puppy, and I managed to grab a couple screen shots.
I think FaceTime (and Skype and GoogleVideo) are some of the best inventions ever. It is so nice to be able to see people when you are talking with them!
Although, sometimes technology is rather a beast. Yesterday we had to FaceTime to see each other, but the sound kept on cutting out, so I called their home phone using GoogleVoice to actually talk. It's so funny to use two different programs simultaneously to talk with someone! Thank goodness for technology!
Since it's tax time in the US, I've been pondering the wonderful nature of having to pay taxes in two countries. Filing taxes on foreign-earned income is no joke, that's for sure. As such, I really appreciated this article. Not that I am thinking of changing my citizenship, but I definitely know people that are!
I just got an Easter package from my parents, and it had my (finally) finished quilt in it. My mom and I took a quilting class together maybe 4 years ago, but we didn't finish our quilts. Then grad school happened, and the quilt sat unfinished in a bag in my closet for years. For Christmas, my parents gave me the present of having someone finish the quilt, since it just needed the backing put on and the actual quilting of the layer together to be done. And now I finally have it in my hot little hands! I'm pretty sure that I had no idea when I started this project that it would end in Switzerland! And, I still love the pattern that I picked all those years ago- I am really happy with it! Thanks, Mom and Dad!
As I mentioned, I went on a vacation to visit my dear friends, the Pattons, in Tel Aviv. While I'll write some longer posts on my trip, I thought a summary was in order.
Wednesday, 28 March: Fly to Tel Aviv
Thursday, 29 March: Walk around Tel Aviv and visit Brian's office at Google
Friday, 30 March: Walk along the sea to Jaffa
Saturday, 31 March: Walk along the sea to Namal
Sunday, 1 April: Visit the Souk (market)
Monday, 2 April: Day trip to Jerusalem
Tuesday, 3 April: Float in the Dead Sea
Wednesday, 4 April: Visit Masada
Thursday, 5 April: Visit Jaffa for the best hummus ever
Friday, 6 April: Visit Caesarea and celebrate Passover with Brian's boss
Saturday, 7 April: Visit Rosh HaNikra and Haifa
Sunday, 8 April: Go to the beach and celebrate Easter
Monday, 9 April: Fly back to Zurich
It was a really nice trip- definitely more relaxed than our last trip together! And I loved hanging out with Jessi Jr. and snuggling with her!
