Hello Hello!!!!
All I can say is how amazing life is these days!!!
Last time I posted I was about to go to the opening night of one of the hottest nightspots in Tel Aviv...Clara. It was amazing...so much fun...it was designed beautifully...basically think about a awesome lounge in NYC except all open to the outdoors and overlooking the ocean! Yea I know insane :)
Then Thursday went to work as usual...then came back to Tel Aviv to meet up with my mom's friend from NYC who was here visiting Young Judea and us wujies. We surprised her with a rooftop party on the roof of our apartment building. All of Hadassah was dedicating the redecoration of our roof to her...it is now called "Shelley's Roof Garden". She was super surprised...I also felt pretty special that I knew her and I was on the dedication movie too...it pays to have a mom super involved with Hadassah :) That night I finished packing and went to bed late only to wake up early the next morning to leave for my 7am flight from Tel Aviv to Greece!!!!
Woke up at 4am on Friday morning...got in a cab and was off to Ben Gurion Airport for a trip I had been waiting to take for a long time! We flew from Tel Aviv to Athens...so excited to have my passport stamped...my new goal in life...get my passport stamped like crazy..lol! Then we arrived in Athens and had to catch our connecting flight to Santorini immediately! So we didnt check any luggage because of that...so we ran to the gate to catch our flight and of course i got stopped at bag check because had a few items that werent allowed in ur carryon...meaning liquids that were too big...I got away with it leaving Israel but no such luck in Athens :( So I literally lost a brand new bottle of mousse, gel, suntan lotion and my only small bottle of USA brand contact solution...but cest la vie...just bought it all again in Santorini.
We arrived at the Santorini airport...had a transfer to the hotel waiting for us. We arrived at the tourist center and had to leave our bags until our room was ready so we went for lunch. I had an amazing greek salad and a spread of greek dips and grape leaves..soo good!!! Then we got walked to our hotel...lets just say walking down the side of mountains in flip flops on slippery rock not that kool...lol! The hotel was beautiful...all the rooms were cave apartments. Our view when on our balcony was of the Caldera and the whole side of the island. Santorini was literally what you think of when you think of Greece! We accomplished soo much in the time that we were there. Unfortunately we only had two days and two nights in each location. Therefore the minute we dropped our stuff off in the hotel we had to hit the ground running. We were staying in Oia..which is very quiet and amazing for the scenery but not much happening there..so we took a bus to Fira (Thira) where it was more active. We then took a bus to the red beach...amazing!!! and then back to the city center where we walked around...ate amazing baklava... and rode donkeys...never feared for my life so much...only made it down a few sets of steps and then I made them let me off and we walked the rest of the 600 Caldera steps by foot. We then took the tram back up and waited for a bus back to Oia so we could watch the sunset and grab some dinner.
The next day we booked a trip where we hiked volcano island...swam in sulfur water (the hot springs) and visited Thirassia (used to be attached to Santorini before one of the volcano eruptions) and then got taken back to Oia or Fira. We got off at Fira...visited the black beach...really not that kool...full of black rocks...hurts the feet! Then we went to a restaurant in the town to watch the sunset. There is definitely a reason why Santorini is famous for its sunsets. They were beautiful.
The next day we were off to the port to catch a fast ferry to Mykonos. Two and a half hours later...we got picked up at the Mykonos port and brought to our hotel. Another amazing and beautiful hotel! We hung out at the hotel until our room was ready and then we were off to Mykonos Town. We had a late lunch and walked around the town. It is soo cute. I finally found a bakery and ate my favorie greek dessert...galaktoboureko...doubt i spelt that correctly...lol...and a frappe...yum! We watched the sunset and then headed back to our hotel. The rest of our stay in Mykonos was more of a relaxing vaca...woke up the next morning to an amazing breakfast...my favorite breakfasts were at this hotel....then we sat by the pool for half the day and then went to one of the beaches for the rest of the day. This is where my crazy dark tan came from...lol! We had dinner at a gorgeous restaurant overlooking the water and then headed back to the hotel for a relaxing evening.
We woke up the next morning..checked out of the hotel and were off to the Mykonos Airport for our flight to Athens. This time I checked my luggage so no hair products would be thrown away :) However we had a delay in our flight but didnt matter anyway because it was only a 20 minute flight...so nice! We arrived in the Athens airport and took the train to our hotel which was right by Monastiraki Square. My first impression of Athens...not soo good. It was very dirty...graffiti everywhere and just not a comfortable place to be...I was a little scared to walk around because we got told to watch out for pickpocketing! And to make matters worse I wound up booking us a hotel in the ghetto of Athens...not cool! I figured this beautiful boutique hotel had to be located in an amazing neighborhood...but no! Mom and dad..probably wont want to hear this and I forgot if I told you but I actually saw a hooker getting picked up on the street of my hotel while i was in the business center...yea bad neighborhood!) So we were just very careful and always kepts our eyes open.
We had a great authentic greek lunch and then were off to see the sites! We took a tram around Athens because I felt safer in a vehicle than being on foot. After the tram though we wound up getting out and walking around anyway...but I def felt much safer. We also happened to have walked into the square by the Parliament where the daily afternoon demonstration was happening...basically because of all the economy problems there is a lot of unrest from the people of Athens and they have a demonstration everyday in the afternoon. We didn't understand why there were so many police officers out in the streets and they were looking at us like something was wrong with us that we were just walking around...then we got to the square and realized what we had walked into...lol! Btw all the Greek police officers are gorgeous!!! That evening as well as the next one we hung out on our hotel rooftop where there is a pool/restaurant/bar. We saw the acropolis lit up at night and the rest of Athens...what a sight!!!
The next morning we woke up super early to go to the Acropolis. It was sooo amazing to see this piece of Greek history and architectural history. I learned all about that in school and it was unreal seeing it in person! We then went to the New Acropolis Museum and back to our hotel to rest. Then we got picked up by the tour that we had booked. We went to Cape Sounian to see the Temple of Poseidon. It was also really beautiful but thats def an area where you see the sunset and it was too early to see it...but it was nice to get out of the city. Came back to the hotel for our last evening in Greece. We watched the sunset from our hotel bar...out of this world! and ate our final greek meal. Oh also that same day I had finally tried all my traditional greek desserts...including baklava...honey greek cookies and these powder sugared greek cookies...yummmm!!!
The next morning we woke up had breakfast...and took a taxi to the airport. We arrived back in Tel Aviv in the early afternoon. I was sooo excited to get back to Tel Aviv...first of all it wasn't like coming back from vacation where you have to go back to work...lets be real i was coming back to tel aviv for another 2 months of vacation..lol! Plus I was really excited to see my other roommates and friends in the program! Its been really nice...I've def gotten closer with ppl over these past few weeks and its soo nice to have that friendship! Had an easy rest of the day...just relaxed...went out for dinner and started packing for my shabbat by my cousin.
I woke up the next morning and finished getting ready to go to my cousin's house in Petach Tikva. I took the train there and she picked me up from the train station. So I haven't seen my cousin in 22 years. I was a flower girl at her wedding (along with my older sister) and then she made aliyah and we never saw eachother after that. All I can say is that time doesn't matter...we literally sat talking for hours about anything and everything. It was amazing to see her and her family. She has a wonderful husband and 6 amazing children (I only met 4 of them). It was so nice to be with family! It felt like home being in her house with them for Shabbat. We spoke about our grandparents...mothers...families back in brooklyn. We looked at her wedding pix...I saw little me at 6 years old...i was soo cute...lol! We went to shul on friday night and had a beautiful shabbat dinner. We went to shul the next morning where there was a bar mitzvah....stayed after for the kiddush and then went back to her home for lunch where she hosted another family and a few friends. We all hung out some more...took naps and then had shalah shulus together saturday evening. After shabbat was over she drove me to the sherut and we made plans to be in touch for when my parents and sister come and visit. I just want to say thank you thank you for having me over....it was amazing and i look forward to another shabbat with you and your family before I leave in August!
I came home saturday night and organized myself for the coming week where I would be returning to work after all this vacation! Sunday and Monday were pretty typical days...went to work for the day and then gym at night. After the gym I've been trying to upload pix for all of you...so please bear with me...they will be coming soon! Then Monday night I literally sat with one of my friends on the program and hung out for the entire night...it was awesome...it felt like we were in summer camp...lol!
Tuesday was group meeting and trip day! I was really excited to go on our trip this week. We were going to Sderot...a town in Israel that gets hits with kazams very often. However I was disappointed in the trip...we got a security briefing first and then literally got on and off our bus a bunch of times to see different areas of the town and how there are bomb shelters all over the place in case there is a warning which happens often...or sometimes not for a while..you never know! We also saw gaza at one point on our tour...pretty crazy!!! Our tour guide I think was the problem he didn't do a very good job!
Then we went to a kibbutz that is housing a bunch of families who lived in Gaza and were kicked out of their homes in 2005. They are from Gush Katif. It was definitely interesting hearing the story of one of the families...I felt really bad about the fact that she got kicked out of her home and was forced by the israeli government and the IDF to leave where she had lived for 30 years! Her story truely touched me! However I then heard a different side of the story. One of our Israelis (who lives in the apartment building with us) came along and sat right next to me during this speech. Afterwards he explained to me and some of my other friends how he was a soldier in Gaza and in that area where these people lived and he said it was not an easy task to be stationed there and a bunch of other things. It just showed made me realize that there are many different sides to a story and the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle!
We then went to Yesodot to see where they are building their new community. We finally made it back to Tel Aviv only a hour later than expected! We to kickboxing that night...had an amazing class...and finally uploaded pix of Petra to Facebook!
Today was a typical day at work and then more gym and picture uploading tonight!
I'm super excited for the weekend...we are celebrating mine and another girl's birthday on friday night...then beach on saturday...and a family birthday party on saturday night! Then next week I am going to the President's Conference in Jerusalem next Wednesday and Thursday and going to see Matisyahu on Thursday night...sooo excited...shout out to all my birthright jew crew...Jerusalem...if I forget you!!!! Love u and miss you all!!!
Then in exactly 10 days my parents and younger sister are coming to visit! I seriously can not wait to see them!!! I can't believe I have been here for exactly 3 months and that there are only 8 weeks left to my program! It is insane. The more I think about it I am super upset...I have gotten closer with people on my program and have started to get used to coming home to them every night. I will miss that dearly! I am excited to travel after my program and see my older sister in the middle of those travels...love u and miss you tons!!!
But Israel definitely has a special place in my heart that I never thought would be there...I am truely blessed to be here...I thank g-d everyday that I decided to come here and do this program...it has made me a better person and appreciate the little things in life that I definitely wouldnt have realized in NYC! I know when I get back home the transition is going to be difficult...life is a lot simpler out here but I hope to find a good balance and not completely loose everything I've learned while I am here!
Love you and miss you all!!!!
<3 D
All I can say is how amazing life is these days!!!
Last time I posted I was about to go to the opening night of one of the hottest nightspots in Tel Aviv...Clara. It was amazing...so much fun...it was designed beautifully...basically think about a awesome lounge in NYC except all open to the outdoors and overlooking the ocean! Yea I know insane :)
Then Thursday went to work as usual...then came back to Tel Aviv to meet up with my mom's friend from NYC who was here visiting Young Judea and us wujies. We surprised her with a rooftop party on the roof of our apartment building. All of Hadassah was dedicating the redecoration of our roof to her...it is now called "Shelley's Roof Garden". She was super surprised...I also felt pretty special that I knew her and I was on the dedication movie too...it pays to have a mom super involved with Hadassah :) That night I finished packing and went to bed late only to wake up early the next morning to leave for my 7am flight from Tel Aviv to Greece!!!!
Woke up at 4am on Friday morning...got in a cab and was off to Ben Gurion Airport for a trip I had been waiting to take for a long time! We flew from Tel Aviv to Athens...so excited to have my passport stamped...my new goal in life...get my passport stamped like crazy..lol! Then we arrived in Athens and had to catch our connecting flight to Santorini immediately! So we didnt check any luggage because of that...so we ran to the gate to catch our flight and of course i got stopped at bag check because had a few items that werent allowed in ur carryon...meaning liquids that were too big...I got away with it leaving Israel but no such luck in Athens :( So I literally lost a brand new bottle of mousse, gel, suntan lotion and my only small bottle of USA brand contact solution...but cest la vie...just bought it all again in Santorini.
We arrived at the Santorini airport...had a transfer to the hotel waiting for us. We arrived at the tourist center and had to leave our bags until our room was ready so we went for lunch. I had an amazing greek salad and a spread of greek dips and grape leaves..soo good!!! Then we got walked to our hotel...lets just say walking down the side of mountains in flip flops on slippery rock not that kool...lol! The hotel was beautiful...all the rooms were cave apartments. Our view when on our balcony was of the Caldera and the whole side of the island. Santorini was literally what you think of when you think of Greece! We accomplished soo much in the time that we were there. Unfortunately we only had two days and two nights in each location. Therefore the minute we dropped our stuff off in the hotel we had to hit the ground running. We were staying in Oia..which is very quiet and amazing for the scenery but not much happening there..so we took a bus to Fira (Thira) where it was more active. We then took a bus to the red beach...amazing!!! and then back to the city center where we walked around...ate amazing baklava... and rode donkeys...never feared for my life so much...only made it down a few sets of steps and then I made them let me off and we walked the rest of the 600 Caldera steps by foot. We then took the tram back up and waited for a bus back to Oia so we could watch the sunset and grab some dinner.
The next day we booked a trip where we hiked volcano island...swam in sulfur water (the hot springs) and visited Thirassia (used to be attached to Santorini before one of the volcano eruptions) and then got taken back to Oia or Fira. We got off at Fira...visited the black beach...really not that kool...full of black rocks...hurts the feet! Then we went to a restaurant in the town to watch the sunset. There is definitely a reason why Santorini is famous for its sunsets. They were beautiful.
The next day we were off to the port to catch a fast ferry to Mykonos. Two and a half hours later...we got picked up at the Mykonos port and brought to our hotel. Another amazing and beautiful hotel! We hung out at the hotel until our room was ready and then we were off to Mykonos Town. We had a late lunch and walked around the town. It is soo cute. I finally found a bakery and ate my favorie greek dessert...galaktoboureko...doubt i spelt that correctly...lol...and a frappe...yum! We watched the sunset and then headed back to our hotel. The rest of our stay in Mykonos was more of a relaxing vaca...woke up the next morning to an amazing breakfast...my favorite breakfasts were at this hotel....then we sat by the pool for half the day and then went to one of the beaches for the rest of the day. This is where my crazy dark tan came from...lol! We had dinner at a gorgeous restaurant overlooking the water and then headed back to the hotel for a relaxing evening.
We woke up the next morning..checked out of the hotel and were off to the Mykonos Airport for our flight to Athens. This time I checked my luggage so no hair products would be thrown away :) However we had a delay in our flight but didnt matter anyway because it was only a 20 minute flight...so nice! We arrived in the Athens airport and took the train to our hotel which was right by Monastiraki Square. My first impression of Athens...not soo good. It was very dirty...graffiti everywhere and just not a comfortable place to be...I was a little scared to walk around because we got told to watch out for pickpocketing! And to make matters worse I wound up booking us a hotel in the ghetto of Athens...not cool! I figured this beautiful boutique hotel had to be located in an amazing neighborhood...but no! Mom and dad..probably wont want to hear this and I forgot if I told you but I actually saw a hooker getting picked up on the street of my hotel while i was in the business center...yea bad neighborhood!) So we were just very careful and always kepts our eyes open.
We had a great authentic greek lunch and then were off to see the sites! We took a tram around Athens because I felt safer in a vehicle than being on foot. After the tram though we wound up getting out and walking around anyway...but I def felt much safer. We also happened to have walked into the square by the Parliament where the daily afternoon demonstration was happening...basically because of all the economy problems there is a lot of unrest from the people of Athens and they have a demonstration everyday in the afternoon. We didn't understand why there were so many police officers out in the streets and they were looking at us like something was wrong with us that we were just walking around...then we got to the square and realized what we had walked into...lol! Btw all the Greek police officers are gorgeous!!! That evening as well as the next one we hung out on our hotel rooftop where there is a pool/restaurant/bar. We saw the acropolis lit up at night and the rest of Athens...what a sight!!!
The next morning we woke up super early to go to the Acropolis. It was sooo amazing to see this piece of Greek history and architectural history. I learned all about that in school and it was unreal seeing it in person! We then went to the New Acropolis Museum and back to our hotel to rest. Then we got picked up by the tour that we had booked. We went to Cape Sounian to see the Temple of Poseidon. It was also really beautiful but thats def an area where you see the sunset and it was too early to see it...but it was nice to get out of the city. Came back to the hotel for our last evening in Greece. We watched the sunset from our hotel bar...out of this world! and ate our final greek meal. Oh also that same day I had finally tried all my traditional greek desserts...including baklava...honey greek cookies and these powder sugared greek cookies...yummmm!!!
The next morning we woke up had breakfast...and took a taxi to the airport. We arrived back in Tel Aviv in the early afternoon. I was sooo excited to get back to Tel Aviv...first of all it wasn't like coming back from vacation where you have to go back to work...lets be real i was coming back to tel aviv for another 2 months of vacation..lol! Plus I was really excited to see my other roommates and friends in the program! Its been really nice...I've def gotten closer with ppl over these past few weeks and its soo nice to have that friendship! Had an easy rest of the day...just relaxed...went out for dinner and started packing for my shabbat by my cousin.
I woke up the next morning and finished getting ready to go to my cousin's house in Petach Tikva. I took the train there and she picked me up from the train station. So I haven't seen my cousin in 22 years. I was a flower girl at her wedding (along with my older sister) and then she made aliyah and we never saw eachother after that. All I can say is that time doesn't matter...we literally sat talking for hours about anything and everything. It was amazing to see her and her family. She has a wonderful husband and 6 amazing children (I only met 4 of them). It was so nice to be with family! It felt like home being in her house with them for Shabbat. We spoke about our grandparents...mothers...families back in brooklyn. We looked at her wedding pix...I saw little me at 6 years old...i was soo cute...lol! We went to shul on friday night and had a beautiful shabbat dinner. We went to shul the next morning where there was a bar mitzvah....stayed after for the kiddush and then went back to her home for lunch where she hosted another family and a few friends. We all hung out some more...took naps and then had shalah shulus together saturday evening. After shabbat was over she drove me to the sherut and we made plans to be in touch for when my parents and sister come and visit. I just want to say thank you thank you for having me over....it was amazing and i look forward to another shabbat with you and your family before I leave in August!
I came home saturday night and organized myself for the coming week where I would be returning to work after all this vacation! Sunday and Monday were pretty typical days...went to work for the day and then gym at night. After the gym I've been trying to upload pix for all of you...so please bear with me...they will be coming soon! Then Monday night I literally sat with one of my friends on the program and hung out for the entire night...it was awesome...it felt like we were in summer camp...lol!
Tuesday was group meeting and trip day! I was really excited to go on our trip this week. We were going to Sderot...a town in Israel that gets hits with kazams very often. However I was disappointed in the trip...we got a security briefing first and then literally got on and off our bus a bunch of times to see different areas of the town and how there are bomb shelters all over the place in case there is a warning which happens often...or sometimes not for a while..you never know! We also saw gaza at one point on our tour...pretty crazy!!! Our tour guide I think was the problem he didn't do a very good job!
Then we went to a kibbutz that is housing a bunch of families who lived in Gaza and were kicked out of their homes in 2005. They are from Gush Katif. It was definitely interesting hearing the story of one of the families...I felt really bad about the fact that she got kicked out of her home and was forced by the israeli government and the IDF to leave where she had lived for 30 years! Her story truely touched me! However I then heard a different side of the story. One of our Israelis (who lives in the apartment building with us) came along and sat right next to me during this speech. Afterwards he explained to me and some of my other friends how he was a soldier in Gaza and in that area where these people lived and he said it was not an easy task to be stationed there and a bunch of other things. It just showed made me realize that there are many different sides to a story and the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle!
We then went to Yesodot to see where they are building their new community. We finally made it back to Tel Aviv only a hour later than expected! We to kickboxing that night...had an amazing class...and finally uploaded pix of Petra to Facebook!
Today was a typical day at work and then more gym and picture uploading tonight!
I'm super excited for the weekend...we are celebrating mine and another girl's birthday on friday night...then beach on saturday...and a family birthday party on saturday night! Then next week I am going to the President's Conference in Jerusalem next Wednesday and Thursday and going to see Matisyahu on Thursday night...sooo excited...shout out to all my birthright jew crew...Jerusalem...if I forget you!!!! Love u and miss you all!!!
Then in exactly 10 days my parents and younger sister are coming to visit! I seriously can not wait to see them!!! I can't believe I have been here for exactly 3 months and that there are only 8 weeks left to my program! It is insane. The more I think about it I am super upset...I have gotten closer with people on my program and have started to get used to coming home to them every night. I will miss that dearly! I am excited to travel after my program and see my older sister in the middle of those travels...love u and miss you tons!!!
But Israel definitely has a special place in my heart that I never thought would be there...I am truely blessed to be here...I thank g-d everyday that I decided to come here and do this program...it has made me a better person and appreciate the little things in life that I definitely wouldnt have realized in NYC! I know when I get back home the transition is going to be difficult...life is a lot simpler out here but I hope to find a good balance and not completely loose everything I've learned while I am here!
Love you and miss you all!!!!
<3 D
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