The beginning of the end...or end of the beginning???

Ugh! I have so much to tell you!

So, this week has been a short break for me from school, to be exact we had ten days between the end of our second semester and the beginning of the third and final semester. I can taste that MA, I'm so close. This change in seasons as begged the questions- what will I do after school? How will I make money to support myself? Where will I live?

Not small quandaries.

 Well, this may not be a surprise to some of you, but I've decided to stay in Israel for awhile longer. When I began planning for studying abroad I applied to a two-year program, and planned on being here for at least that long. When plans changed and I ended up in a one-year MA track (financially, this was better news anyway) I decided to just do the year and see where I came out on the other end. Well, where I've come out is as follows: 

1. My Hebrew is not anywhere near where I want it to be.


2. I have not traveled outside of Tel Aviv as much as I wanted to.

3. I'm in love with someone who lives in Israel.

4. I have friends here who are (or have become) like family to me, and I want more time with them.

5. There's no winter here!

There are, of course, a thousand reasons for wanting to stay here, and wanting to go home. I've realized that no matter where I live, my heart from here on out will be split between two very different and very distant worlds. This reality was sealed the first day I got here- I am in love with Israel. The food, the climate (even though I complain about the summer heat), the weird recycling cages, the people, the politics (this one is more of a love/hate situation), the parties, the graffiti, the tension. Life is intense here, and often difficult. There have been some really scary moments this year, but somehow the lows and the highs are amplified. Everything tastes a little sweeter.

In any case, I'm not so sure I have really been living in the 'real world' here- I've been a student, and not working. So I want to spend time being an adult here. It's going to get harder, I think, before it gets easier. But its time to try making my way, supporting myself, and continuing to build the life I've begun. I have started babysitting for a few families, trying to earn as much cash as possible before school ends and I can start working full-time. 

Last week threw me a curve ball, however- I discovered I have to use my return flight (I purchased a round trip ticket when I moved in September) in August. So....to all my friends and family back home:

I'm coming back August 12th!

I'm planning to spend a few weeks in Boston trying to babysit as much as possible for some quick cash, catch up with loved ones, and spend as much time as possible at my old yoga studio that I miss so much. I'll get to visit my family and friends in Erie, and then I'll be coming back to Israel. I can't wait to see everyone! To buy sunscreen in BULK! To not sweat just from walking to the bus! It's gonna be a good month.

Things are changing. Some things are ending. Others are only beginning. All of it is emotional, and tricky. But, what Israel has really taught me is that once I know what I need to truly make me happy, I have to fight to keep it safe.

And that's just what I intend to do.

Happy birthdays!

This has been my weekend to celebrate other people's birthdays.

Friday began with a lovely brunch for Jen- one of my favorite people.

Jen talked me off the ledge once or twice when I first moved here and had the

inevitable and occasional "oh shit" moments. Just look at this natural beauty.

Yom huledet, Jen!!!

The birthday brunch was followed by some birthday day-drinking at a bar called Hemingway's with Stacy .

We got our drink on around 3pm, and justified it by saying we were celebrating a birthday (for someone I literally have met once) and the fact that we turned in our Political Econ final.

Afterwards I immediately went home and fell asleep. At 6pm. Shabbat shalom!

Saturday was Stacy's birthday. She is a vegetarian. So she decided to have her

birthday party in a bar/club that is literally in the back room of a deli.

The bar is called....you guessed it:

Deli.

So we drank, then ate (at the deli, obviously) and made merry the whole time.

Happy birthday, Stacy!

Also- look what I found.

Someday maybe I'll catch him in the act...

Walk on...

This evening I met Jen and her dog, Eden, for a walk in the park. This week has been a lonely one, and it's been difficult. But, tonight spending time with Jen reminded me what I love about being here. Jen (another DP co-worker) moved to Israel from Boston a couple of years ago (how long ago was it, Jen?) and has been a real blessing these last few weeks. She understands what it's like to prefer skipping meals over the balagan (vocab lesson!) of finding food in a foreign language. She laughs with me about the strange taxi drivers I've encountered, the abundance of gross bugs, and the lack of customer service. She patiently listens to me kvetch about the growing pains that come with moving to a foreign country and leaving friends and family behind. Jen has lived through the "oh shit, what have I done?" days, and come through them on the other side with a stronger love for Israel than she arrived with, and reassures me that I will too.

Praise Adonai, Jen also happens to live walking distance from me. So, this evening after (she got out of) work we walked along a little nearby river lined with walking/biking/running paths, basketball courts, a dog park, and even an outdoor climbing wall (which I made her promise we could go patronize soon).

Something that I really love about the culture here is how late things come alive. I'm not really a morning person, and I have the (terrible) tendency to be a little tardy to everything- despite my best efforts otherwise. In America, those things are problems. In Israel? Not really. Israelis tend to be tardier than I am for events, which means even when my internal American clock makes me rush out the door in a panic, I usually get there before anyone else. Evening plans here tend to start a little later than I am used to (meeting at a bar 'early' to avoid crowds means meeting around 10pm), and tonight when we got to the park at 7:45pm, people were just starting to venture outside to enjoy the cool of the evening. There were tons of people playing basketball on the courts, out running and biking, and we even saw an (always-funny) Segway tour.  At 9:45pm when we were making our way back towards home on the esplanade we saw a wedding ceremony beginning. Next to the outdoor gym equipment and climbing wall. Incredible.

The lesson here is that even on lonely, homesick days like today (of which I'm sure there will be a few more), I'm still constantly finding things about being here that suit me just fine. And, like Boston and Erie, I'm finding that what will really make Tel Aviv feel like home is the family of friends I find here.
So, tomorrow I will walk on...cause when you get right down to it,

I love Israel