Tu Bishvat in Jerusalem

Hey there. So yesterday was a free day, got to explore the city some more. A few of us went down to the Shook (which is the open air market). Basically a ton of stands/stalls of people selling fruit, veggies, breads, clothes, toys, spices...basically anything you could ever need. It was quite the experience, and a lot of great looking fruit. It will be nice to be able to move into our new apartment next week so I can finally start stocking up on food and be able to (hopefully) cook. Today was Tu Bishvat, so all of the Oranim programs (about 5 buses filled with kids in internship, volunteering, and masters programs) travelled to Jerusalem. There, we each planted a tree on a hillside facing the Old City. It was not complicated at all...probably something kindergarteners could do. I definitely didn't feel like Johnny Appleseed. And mom, I asked my friend Rachel who is fluent in Hebrew what the picture says, and she said that the hebrew above mommo and poppo's name is just a translation. The first word is David, the second word is Beatrice, then Roth, then Columbus. So it didn't tell where their trees were, not that they were anywhere near ours. Our hillside was just a hill of dirt, with premade holes that JNF dug. All we had to do was pick up a tiny tree (about 2 feet high) and plop it in the hole and cover it up with dirt. After that, we traveled to the City of David, which is right below the Old City. There, we walked through the 3000 year old tunnels below the city. We had an option to either go in the wet tunnel or dry tunnel. Most of the people were scared of the cold water, but I was so excited since I brought a pair of shorts and my crocs. It was such a cool experience! The tunnels were TINY. Most of the time I had to bend over to avoid hitting my head, and they were just wide enough for me to walk through without having to turn sideways. When we first got in, the water went up to just above my knees, but after a bit it was only above my ankles. Now here is where it gets tricky. There are no lights in the tunnel...so it was PITCH BLACK. You could not see a thing. And we were in the tunnel for about 30 to 45 minutes...quite the experience. I would walk with one hand in front of me and one hand above me, so I wouldnt knock my head and fall unconscious...which would have been bad since I was the last one in the group. I kept turning around thinking that people were following me...definitely freaky. I would pull out my camera every 5 minutes or so just to give me some light to make sure I could still see. That experience makes me want to go to a blackout restaurant, which they have one in Tel Aviv (where you eat in pitch black and can't see anything, so you have to feel around for your food). After the tunnels, we went through the Old City to the Western Wall. Don't worry, I said a prayer for everyone (how Jewish of me). Not gonna lie...it was definitely the most jewish Tu Bishvat I've ever had. To top it off, we went out for the best schwarma ever. They cooked it on a hibachi style grill and made the pita right in front of us. Delish! Ok time to go celebrate the "holiday"...

Welcome to my blog

Hey everybody. For those of you who don't know, I just moved to Tel Aviv for a 5 month internship program. I am living in a longterm hotel right on the beach. Although the rooms are tiny, its filled with program participants, so its basically like living in a the dorms. My roommate is a kid from Boston named Aaron, and its going real well. Unfortunately, they didn't have all the rooms ready (some participants are leaving this week from a prior program) so about 7 rooms in our group are in temporary rooms until Sunday. So that sucks, since we can't unpack yet. So far the past two days have been just orientation-type meetings. But that hasn't stopped us from going out exploring. Last night we reached out to our international roots by going to an English pup (to the delight of one of the girls who is from Leeds, England). So far the hardest adjustment (besides Hebrew) has been the currency. First, the bills don't fit in my Jcrew "magic" wallet (damn you Jenna!). And second, I hate carrying around soo many coins. Its just so annoying, especially since they have so many different coins with different values. But other than that, things are good. I adjusted perfectly to the time change, and have even bought turkey, cheese, bread, and mayo from the grocery store for lunches. And on that note, I am hungry, so if you could, Mom, can you make me a sandwich?