Shalom!
The past few weeks I have been putting the "study" in study abroad. I was pretty sure those two words translated into "unending fun" and "vacation." I feel misled.
However, among the indefinite Hebrew lectures and eternity-long periods of Biblical Theology and Rabbinic Literature, I found relief. The first of these couple adventures is my trip to Tel Aviv.
I got to ride on a train for the first time EVER and it was glorious. The rattling rails and slightly-too-small isles had me reminiscing about , dare I say, Hogwarts?
I'm still waiting for that letter.
Tel Aviv and Haifa are polar opposites. I once heard the saying:
"Haifa Works, Jerusalem Prays & Tel Aviv Plays."
It's an accurate depiction.
Within the first hour my roommate lost her wallet.
We cheered to hope and optimism at a nearby wine bar. (I finally found a wine I like! It's a Reisling)
The wallet has yet to be found, but the wine was just what three stressed out ladies needed.
The next morning was a glimpse of Heaven. Two Words: Max.Brenner.
It's basically a restaurant catered to women of the world, you guessed it. chocolate. I'm talking chocolate everything. I had a dark chocolate latte to drink with a waffle sundae (two waffles, two scoops of dark chocolate ice cream, carmelized bananas, chocolate syrup, a BEAKER full of hot fudge, whipped cream, and nuts). If you know me at all, you know I finished every last bite of that beast of a breakfast. When I had successfully put myself into a food coma (see above definition), it was time to beach it. The beach was nice, but I think Haifa's is better. We watched as windsurfers hovered in mid-air and took a well-needed time of reflection. Next to us was a guy carving an intricate sand-castle (and by sand castle I mean more like a nail looking statue). He was legit. He used a special utensil to carve it while his friend sprayed water over it to keep it moist. I wish I could've seen the end product.
As we are walking off the beach I hear the sweet oh so angelic sound of nothing other than: the voice of a frat boy.
"Are they Americans? Dude! They haaavvee to be Americans!"
Was it that obvious?
Anyway, we stopped to humor these two lively characters and found out that they were Americans too, surprise! Funny enough Ari Sagbag (yes his name was Sagbag) was from the same town as one of my friends. It's one small world.
Later that evening we took a nice trip to the police station. First police station experience ever, and it was in Israel. Pretty awesome. Don't worry, it was to try and get information on my roomate's wallet. Lame story, yeah I know. After the police station we went to a nearby pub and had one of the best dinners since I've been here. The bar was really chill and everything was perfect. They served us pasta as an appetizer (FO FREE) and the food was great. If my future plans fall through (haha what future plans?) me , Chandler and Haley have some pretty legit ideas about a cool bar we could start up. Thanks Tel Aviv!
The food part of this story (let's be honest, the best part of this story) met it's awesome end with some good ole fro-yo AKA my addiction. The place was super cute and we got to swing on swings...inside a buiding...while eating fro-yo.
I know you are jealous.
Later in the evening we and a group of awesome girls from the international school went to a club at the Tel Aviv port. What's interesting about this is that all the clubs are in old warehouses, so as you are walking around the port everything just looks like an industrial area. Don't be fooled, it's not. After an insane amount of unnecessary pushing and shoving (nothing about this country is organized, except maybe their army) we got in and had a blast dancing to a great mix of American and Israeli remixes.
The next morning breakfast was served on the beach. Me and Chandler shared a massive breakfast of bread, toppings, and an omelet. sooo gooood. After this we made our way to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. It was pretty interesting seeing the old and modern forms of art expressed in Israel. It was like getting the all-around experience. There was everything from Israeli artists to Picasso to contemporary art. They had these awesome programs where you would stand in front of it and it would paint you with either sketch or oils. It was the bomb dot com. After visiting the main museum we made our way to an off-campus site where the museum was featuring street art of Israel. This exhibit was probably my favorite. Everything had so much passion and emotion. You could feel the pain and triumph of this country by looking at how the locals express themselves. I was sincerely moved and impressed. It was nothing like the negative conotation graffiti gets in the U.S. The experience was truly unique.
After a quick lunch/dinner/linner? at an artsy sandwich shop we made it back...to none other than...Max Brenner.
It's sad and pathetic but you don't understand till you have been there. Judge all you want, I'm not ashamed.
I ordered a dessert called chocolate pizza and it was decadent. (dough with chocolate sauce, and melted chocolate pieces).
I will never forget you, Max Brenner.
After once again returning to a food coma we made our way to the train station. After a relaxing ride on the train we made it back to Haifa and eventually back to the University. My first taste of Tel Aviv was stressful but exciting. I cannot wait to go back and explore more!
-Stefani
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