Hello!!! Sorry its been soo long...I was planning on writing a blog everyday but I think I've come to realize that every week will be more like it :) Today I had such an amazing and productive day...woke up early had my first training session at the gym...went food shopping and then spent the day in the apartment...cleaning up...organizing myself and just getting things done!!! Mom...would be soo proud ive definitely become quite domesticated...its amazing what Israel can do to you...lol! I was also very proud...I actually cooked fresh veggies for the first time for dinner...I sauteed eggplant and onions to eat with my prepared chicken for dinner...I was sooo happy and super proud!!!
I think I'm finally starting to feel at home...besides the whole no personal space thing and the rude sherut and bus drivers...I thought NYC was bad but I think TA tops the list of rude individuals! Besides that though I'm really loving my life right now. I left work yesterday with a huge smile on my face so happy to be in Tel Aviv and working in the most amazing office...surrounded by amazing coworkers who have literally invited me into their homes like I am one of the family...I have been blessed with their support and kindness.
To recap last week...I started my first week of work and ulpan. Work is amazing...I'm sitting in meetings all spoken in hebrew and I have to say I can understand a lot of what is going on and the little I dont my boss is there to explain it to me. Ulpan is good but I'm hoping the slowly but surely my hebrew speaking with come back..otherwise its good for right now...not sure if i will keep it up after the first month but we will see. I signed up for a gym and started going to classes and weight training.
Last Tuesday we had a seminar about Israeli politics and where the country stands today...it was pretty interesting and pretty disturbing at the same time to hear about how things are in Israel. Then we had a walk through Neve Tzedek...one of the most beautiful old neighborhoods....I definitely can't wait to go there for a day and sit in a coffee shop or walk around and take pictures of the buildings...they are beautiful.
Last Thursday we had another seminar with my old birthright leader...it was great to see him...he talked about traveling around Israel and what to do and see while we are here.
Then on Friday I got invited by my coworker to Shabbat Dinner at her brother's house. It was soo nice to get out of the apartment and what we all call Real World: Tel Aviv...lol and be with Israelis and her family. They were soo welcoming and again helped me practice my hebrew...although i definitely have to be more proactive in my practicing ;)
Saturday was a relaxing day...slept in...went to the gym and then at night we got tickets to the Israeli soccer game against Latvia. It was pretty cool sitting in a stadium and listening to the Hatikvah being sung before the game started...def an amazing experience! Then it was time to get back to the apartment to get ready for my new work week which begins on Sunday.
All in all I am having an amazing time here...I'm soo happy I decided to do this program....this week so far has been one of my better ones but I can't wait for more amazingness (yess im making up words...lol!) More ulpan tomorrow and dinner with Lee on Thursday..yay!!! Then we'll see what happens this weekend!
Miss u and love u all!!!!
Laila Tov!
<3 D
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
purim....
Friday started off with a street party in Tel Aviv...what an amazing experience...there was a DJ in the middle of it all right infront of the Tel Aviv Art Museum. The costumes were great and just overall it was a sight to be seen. That night we had shabbat dinner..all 26 of us gathered in our apartment for an amazing meal that was prepared by all wujies (I actually got to say the kiddush and the motze). The party then continued the rest of the night with more bonding and drinking ;)
Saturday was a chill day...we woke up went to the beach....had lunch on the beach and then layed out and had a great relaxing time. Then we all went home to get ready for our WUJS purim party. I decided to dress up as a person going to the gym...I know inventive but wasn't really in the mood to figure out a costume and was super excited to be comfy for a night out of dancing. The party was great...we got there super early so we could all get in for free and literally danced the night away. Then we left for a street party in our area which turned out to be quite the experience...lets just say i had to use some of my kickboxing skills (Im totally fine but was definitely a weird experience and another reason why im not a fan of the israeli mentality of no personal space!!!!) Def missing the meaning of personal space here! Stayed up late and just hung out all together in our apartments.
Today started out with a nice breakfast with the guys across the way and wound up being a catch up day...cleaning the apartment...organizing everything and then I went to find a gym. Going to look at one more gym and make my decision by Tuesday.
Everything is slowly coming together...slowly learning this amazing city (not gonna lie kinda miss nyc sometimes)...still have my ups and downs but I definitely feel like things are slowly falling into place but all in all I would have to say that this first week has been great and I'm looking forward to whats to come!
Tomorrow is my first day of work and ulpan so very excited!
Talk to you soon and love u all!!!
<3 D
Saturday was a chill day...we woke up went to the beach....had lunch on the beach and then layed out and had a great relaxing time. Then we all went home to get ready for our WUJS purim party. I decided to dress up as a person going to the gym...I know inventive but wasn't really in the mood to figure out a costume and was super excited to be comfy for a night out of dancing. The party was great...we got there super early so we could all get in for free and literally danced the night away. Then we left for a street party in our area which turned out to be quite the experience...lets just say i had to use some of my kickboxing skills (Im totally fine but was definitely a weird experience and another reason why im not a fan of the israeli mentality of no personal space!!!!) Def missing the meaning of personal space here! Stayed up late and just hung out all together in our apartments.
Today started out with a nice breakfast with the guys across the way and wound up being a catch up day...cleaning the apartment...organizing everything and then I went to find a gym. Going to look at one more gym and make my decision by Tuesday.
Everything is slowly coming together...slowly learning this amazing city (not gonna lie kinda miss nyc sometimes)...still have my ups and downs but I definitely feel like things are slowly falling into place but all in all I would have to say that this first week has been great and I'm looking forward to whats to come!
Tomorrow is my first day of work and ulpan so very excited!
Talk to you soon and love u all!!!
<3 D
Thursday, March 17, 2011
my first week
where do I begin...it has been quite the whirlwind this past week! After touching down in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening its been nonstop...hence 4 days since I wrote last :) Second flight from zurich to tel aviv went really well...my amazing friend Lee picked me up from the airport all 3 suitecases in tow...then back to her apartment....dropped my stuff off and went food shopping...def an interesting experience walking into a supermarket where everything is hebrew. Definitely looking forward to ulpan so I can start brushing up on those random words that I forgot..lol!
Got a great nights sleep and was refreshed and ready to start my new life as a wuji (the program I am doing is WUJS and they like to call us their WUJIES...i know soo inventive..lol!).
As we're driving to my apartment monday morning we drive through a refugee populated area and Lee mentions to stay away from here because it isn't that safe and sure enough where is my apartment located on one of the streets that leads to this area...oh great...it became the running joke in my program that you only turn right out of the apartment and not left or else you'll enter this refugee populated area! So far so good though only been turning right...lol!
Once we got to my apartment we had help lugging my bags up to the third floor where my roommates were already starting to unpack! All I can say is that my roommates are amazing!!! The program defintely got it right and put together the best apartment there could be! We unpacked...a little...then went out onto the main street (allenby) to start exploring the neighborhood and get some food since we were all starving...and what do we get but falafel and hummus...nothing better! The rest of the day consisted of a series of meetings and more unpacking.
Tuesday consisted of food shopping at a cheaper supermarket, coming back to apartment and eat lunch, meet the head of WUJS...go back to the apartments and settle in some more...then a walking tour of tel aviv and where are good places to eat and go out...then back to the apartment for food and hanging out the rest of the night...because wednesday morning we had to be up bright and early for a hike up in the north.
Wednesday's hike was great...it was nice to get out of tel aviv and the apartment and into nature and Israel's amazing landscape...which is another thing I wanted to take advantage of while living here....but we wound up spending more time on the bus than actually hiking...i also proceeded to get my sneakers covered in mudd...although my white long tank top proceeded to stay clean the entire day (yay me!!!) but of course the minute I got home and ate dinner (salad with balsamic vinegar) who gets their shirt dirtly...mee!!! I went a whole day in the mudd and didnt get dirty but leave it to me to get myself dirty at dinner...ohh somethings never change...but mom would be soo proud blotted out the stain just needs a good wash now...lol! I was super exhausted by the time we got home that i wound up hanging out in the apartment drinking wine and getting to know my fellow wujis!!!
Next up thursday...introduction to internship day! I seriously have the best internship in the world but first I must start off with my ride from Tel Aviv to Herzilya Pituach...one of my fellow wujis and I took a sherut from the new central bus station to herzilya...however the sherut decided to pull over to the side of the highway open the door and say ok you're here...literally got out in the middle of the highway...stepped over the guard rail and walked to the sidewalk. Definitely not in nyc anymore..lol! If a taxi ever did that to me they wouldnt know what hit them!!
After that experience I walked to my office and waited to meet with my boss...he is absolutely amazing and what they have planned for me to work on is exactly what I was looking to do while I am here and in general now that I have finished school. It is exactly what I want to do "when I grow up"...soo happy to see that it does exist and all my hard work in school will pay off soon! One perk of the job...driving around his mercedes suv (that isnt being used) so that I can do market research for multi-million dollar apartments...nice!!!! So if you couldn't tell I'm super excited to share more amazing work stories!!
Took a sherut back to the apartment and met up with friends the rest of the day and had a chill night catching up on stuff like this blog ;)
All in all this past week has been amazing!! I've met amazing people and cant wait to get to know them even more...I've also had my first day (today) of overwhelming moments of being on my own and figuring out my own meals and what food to buy etc...ahh how I miss living at home...meals prepared for me...no food shopping...laundry washed...wow i was super spoiled...i guess no time like the present to grow up..only took abt 28 years...lol!
I'm looking forward to more challenges and amazing times in the months to come!
Purim celebrating starts tomorrow with a street party at 12 in the afternoon and a shabbat dinner with my whole WUJS family and then the WUJS purim party on Saturday. Can't wait to go to the beach and finally find a gym so I can start working out!! oh yea i forgot to mention that I signed up for the 10k in tel aviv on April 8...so major training is a must and will hopefully begin soon :)
I think that about sums up these past bunch of days....will try and keep you as updated as possible!!!
off to a great start!!!
Love u all!!!
PS...sorry if there are some mistakes kinda half asleep ;)
Got a great nights sleep and was refreshed and ready to start my new life as a wuji (the program I am doing is WUJS and they like to call us their WUJIES...i know soo inventive..lol!).
As we're driving to my apartment monday morning we drive through a refugee populated area and Lee mentions to stay away from here because it isn't that safe and sure enough where is my apartment located on one of the streets that leads to this area...oh great...it became the running joke in my program that you only turn right out of the apartment and not left or else you'll enter this refugee populated area! So far so good though only been turning right...lol!
Once we got to my apartment we had help lugging my bags up to the third floor where my roommates were already starting to unpack! All I can say is that my roommates are amazing!!! The program defintely got it right and put together the best apartment there could be! We unpacked...a little...then went out onto the main street (allenby) to start exploring the neighborhood and get some food since we were all starving...and what do we get but falafel and hummus...nothing better! The rest of the day consisted of a series of meetings and more unpacking.
Tuesday consisted of food shopping at a cheaper supermarket, coming back to apartment and eat lunch, meet the head of WUJS...go back to the apartments and settle in some more...then a walking tour of tel aviv and where are good places to eat and go out...then back to the apartment for food and hanging out the rest of the night...because wednesday morning we had to be up bright and early for a hike up in the north.
Wednesday's hike was great...it was nice to get out of tel aviv and the apartment and into nature and Israel's amazing landscape...which is another thing I wanted to take advantage of while living here....but we wound up spending more time on the bus than actually hiking...i also proceeded to get my sneakers covered in mudd...although my white long tank top proceeded to stay clean the entire day (yay me!!!) but of course the minute I got home and ate dinner (salad with balsamic vinegar) who gets their shirt dirtly...mee!!! I went a whole day in the mudd and didnt get dirty but leave it to me to get myself dirty at dinner...ohh somethings never change...but mom would be soo proud blotted out the stain just needs a good wash now...lol! I was super exhausted by the time we got home that i wound up hanging out in the apartment drinking wine and getting to know my fellow wujis!!!
Next up thursday...introduction to internship day! I seriously have the best internship in the world but first I must start off with my ride from Tel Aviv to Herzilya Pituach...one of my fellow wujis and I took a sherut from the new central bus station to herzilya...however the sherut decided to pull over to the side of the highway open the door and say ok you're here...literally got out in the middle of the highway...stepped over the guard rail and walked to the sidewalk. Definitely not in nyc anymore..lol! If a taxi ever did that to me they wouldnt know what hit them!!
After that experience I walked to my office and waited to meet with my boss...he is absolutely amazing and what they have planned for me to work on is exactly what I was looking to do while I am here and in general now that I have finished school. It is exactly what I want to do "when I grow up"...soo happy to see that it does exist and all my hard work in school will pay off soon! One perk of the job...driving around his mercedes suv (that isnt being used) so that I can do market research for multi-million dollar apartments...nice!!!! So if you couldn't tell I'm super excited to share more amazing work stories!!
Took a sherut back to the apartment and met up with friends the rest of the day and had a chill night catching up on stuff like this blog ;)
All in all this past week has been amazing!! I've met amazing people and cant wait to get to know them even more...I've also had my first day (today) of overwhelming moments of being on my own and figuring out my own meals and what food to buy etc...ahh how I miss living at home...meals prepared for me...no food shopping...laundry washed...wow i was super spoiled...i guess no time like the present to grow up..only took abt 28 years...lol!
I'm looking forward to more challenges and amazing times in the months to come!
Purim celebrating starts tomorrow with a street party at 12 in the afternoon and a shabbat dinner with my whole WUJS family and then the WUJS purim party on Saturday. Can't wait to go to the beach and finally find a gym so I can start working out!! oh yea i forgot to mention that I signed up for the 10k in tel aviv on April 8...so major training is a must and will hopefully begin soon :)
I think that about sums up these past bunch of days....will try and keep you as updated as possible!!!
off to a great start!!!
Love u all!!!
PS...sorry if there are some mistakes kinda half asleep ;)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
zurich
Hello everyone...sitting in Zurich right now after about 2.5 hours of sleep on my swiss air flight (which was amazing btw...I def recommend flying swiss air) relaxing and waiting for my flight to tel aviv which isn't for another 4 hours.
Can't believe I'm on my way to Tel Aviv....ahhhh...I've been planning this for a while now and its finally here. It was def hard and emotional saying goodbye to my family at the airport but I can't wait to start this new chapter in my life!
Just wanted to say thank you to my parents for all their help in getting me ready for this amazing adventure.....I love u sooo much and can't wait to share all my experiences with you! To both my sisters I love u guys like crazy and couldn't imagine life without you...def gonna be weird not having you by my side through this incredible journey but i know ur only a phone/skype call away ;)
Now enough with the mushy stuff...lol...can't wait to keep everyone posted on my adventures in Israel and eventually Europe and Scandinavia. This is the most amazing time in my life and I plan on LIVING IT UP!!!!
Love u all..until next time!!!
<3 D
Can't believe I'm on my way to Tel Aviv....ahhhh...I've been planning this for a while now and its finally here. It was def hard and emotional saying goodbye to my family at the airport but I can't wait to start this new chapter in my life!
Just wanted to say thank you to my parents for all their help in getting me ready for this amazing adventure.....I love u sooo much and can't wait to share all my experiences with you! To both my sisters I love u guys like crazy and couldn't imagine life without you...def gonna be weird not having you by my side through this incredible journey but i know ur only a phone/skype call away ;)
Now enough with the mushy stuff...lol...can't wait to keep everyone posted on my adventures in Israel and eventually Europe and Scandinavia. This is the most amazing time in my life and I plan on LIVING IT UP!!!!
Love u all..until next time!!!
<3 D
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