First Weekend In TLV

Before I get to the weekend, I will tell you a little story about Thursday. Since I don't have to work until Monday, I decided I wanted to attempt to take the bus and find my office a few days in advance. So on Thursday Emily offered to help me do this. We were each given the bus routes we should take to our respective jobs by Netta, our internship coordinator. As for me, I have to transfer buses according to the directions Netta gave me. Emily and I were pretty confident as we set out on our journey. We took our first bus to the correct stop, and were pleasantly surprised to see that my second bus stopped at the same spot. Just to be sure we were on the correct side of the street, we asked a woman who was sitting at the stop too. "Slicha (Excuse me), English?" became the most common phrase of the day. We told her which stop we were supposed to get off at and she told us we needed to cross the street, so we did and were told by a man there that we were indeed in the right place. We boarded the bus, but as we started driving, I realized we were going back past things that we had just passed on the first bus. We asked an IDF soldier who was sitting nearby and she assured us that we were on the right bus...until...she asked where I was working. I told her Batsheva Dance Company at the Suzanne Dellal Center. As soon as I said this several other people on the bus began to tell us that we in fact were NOT on the correct bus, and that we were actually on the complete opposite side of the city. They told us to take the same bus the opposite way, so we quickly exited the bus and crossed the street. There we asked another woman who told us we should take a different bus completely. After trying to explain where to go for a minute, she said, "Here, let me take you." She then proceeded to walk us down the street and around the corner to another bus stop, rode the bus with us to our stop, got off the bus with us, walked us a little further, and then gave us directions for the rest of the way. Every Israeli who I have asked for help has been very pleasant and helpful, but this woman went way out of her way to take us where we were trying to go. I am very thankful, and still shocked that she did that for us. We ended up getting lost again and had to ask several more people for help, but we finally made it. Although we spent a lot of our day being lost and walking around a brand new city, it was fantastic. We saw so many different parts of the city, and just got to explore. I am still not sure exactly how to get to work on Monday, but I know I will be fine.

We were all very excited for our first weekend in Israel. When the weekend comes in Israel it is very different than in America. First of all, the weekend is on Friday and Saturday, since Shabbat begins Friday at sundown. At around 4:00 pm on Friday the buses stop and most supermarkets and restaurants shut down for Shabbat. In Tel Aviv a lot of the stores and restaurants in the downtown area stay open, especially on the beach. As the afternoon ends, things get quiet as people are preparing for the Sabbath.

On this specific Friday, Tel Aviv was holding the Tel Aviv Pride Parade. A good amount of us woke up early and went to join in the festivities. There were so many people there and all over the city. It was an awesome experience. Since it was Pride, there were drag shows and rainbows everywhere, and some people in risque clothing, but as I walked through and observed everything I realized something. Everyone there was having a great time together and we were all celebrating the same thing, Life and Love. It was beautiful to see how many people came out and supported. It was cool to see the diverse group of people who attended as well. There were soldiers, children, elderly people, and boys and men wearing kippahs, among the crowd. After the celebration which was held in a park, we all marched through the streets of Tel Aviv and to the beach. There was music, laughing, dancing, drinking, and tons of fun. As we walked through, there were supporters squirting water guns and throwing water down on us, which was gladly welcomed since it was so hot. It was a fantastic experience and one I won't forget.

Eli, Emily, Me, Michelle at the Pride Parade

Pride Parade

Pride Parade

That evening we had special plans. A friend of some of the interns, Stephanie (who is also the daughter of our coordinator from the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, Karyn), left Cincinnati a few years ago and joined the IDF. She put some plans together for us to have dinner and then go out to a club in the city. Before dinner we all went around and talked about what our Shabbat moment is, when it really feels like Shabbat. Liora mentioned that her family sings Bim Bam. Our madrich, Lior, had never heard of this so we all sang it together to teach him. I think that was probably my Shabbat moment this week. Then Shira blessed us all for Shabbat and led Kiddush. After that we had a falafel dinner outside. After dinner we all finished getting ready for the club. A couple hours later two private buses came to pick us up (since the city buses were stopped) and took us to Clara, a top night club in Tel Aviv. When we arrived we had a private area and special attention. It was outside and right on the beach which is something we definitely don't have in Cincinnati. We all had a great time together, and had a lot of bonding time. All of the girls were getting a lot of attention from the Israeli men at the club, and the guys from our group were there to save us from anyone who was really creepy. I think each of the guys was one of our "boyfriends" at some point in the night. Overall, the night was a lot of fun and we got to experience clubbing in a new country!

Nikki, Sarah, Me, Michelle, Tessa, Shira, Liora before Clara

Tessa, Emily, Me, Sarah, Justin, Michelle at Clara

Today most of us spent a good portion of the day at the beach. Since it is Shabbat, and the buses weren't running, we walked a couple miles to get there. Once we reached the beach it was well worth it! It was a beautiful day and the beach was very nice. The Mediterranean is beautiful. We swam, collected seashells, laid out in the sun, and some of use buried Noah in the sand! It was a great way to spend our first Shabbat in Israel. We had a beautiful view from our balcony of the sunset closing Shabbat.

Eli, Jordan, Sarah, Me burying Noah in the sand

End of Shabbat

Now it is back to work tomorrow (for most of us).

I will leave you with a quote from our own AJ Goldhoff: "The answer to a lot of "why questions" is why not?"

L'hitraot,

Abby

We're Here!

Well technically we have been here for...three days? Who knows, I still am not sure if today is actually Wednesday. It has been a whirlwind of a week so far though! I am really not sure where to even start, so I guess I will start at the beginning.

It all began at 3:00 pm at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. We all arrived with our ridiculously heavy bags in tow. There was nervous and excited chatter between the interns and parents as each of us checked in praying our bags were under 50lbs. As the clock struck 4:00, we all said our goodbyes and made our way through security. (Not before taking a group picture of course)

The first picture of Onward Israel Cincinnati

Our parents didn't want to be left out! Thank you to all of the parents!

The first PARENTS picture of Onward Israel Cincinnati

Once we made it through security we made our way to our gate where we all sat playing cards and getting to know each other more. We finally boarded our first flight of the day to Philadelphia..and what a rough flight that was. We all eagerly rushed off of that plane as fast as we could to our next gate, which we only had about thirty minutes to get to! We all made it through the secondary security screening and before we knew it we had all boarded the plane to Tel Aviv! This flight was a whole heck of a lot better than the first one. The best part was the touchscreens on the back of each seat which we full of movies, tv shows, and games. (The only downfall of this was the flight announcements coming through your headphones ten times louder than what you were watching.) I made it through Frozen, Gypsy, and Little Shop of Horrors. Most of that eleven hour flight was spent sleeping, waking up with a stiff neck, adjusting, and sleeping some more. Soon we were all alerted by the captain's voice blaring in our ears that we were going to be landing in thirty minutes! We landed with the sound of applause from some of the passengers and we had finally made it to The Land of Milk and Honey.

After going through customs and getting our luggage we were greeted by our madrich, Lior. He welcomed us with a huge smile and a laugh that is contagious. He led us to our bus which we quickly loaded, and then we were off to Jerusalem for the night. We arrived at Bayit VeGan Youth Hostel and went straight to dinner where we got our first reminder of Israeli dining qualities. Number one, no ice. After dinner, we moved into a meeting with Lior and Netta, our internship coordinator. We got our Israeli sim cards or phones. I chose the phone route so I was given a beautiful Sony Erikson, complete with a TalknSave lanyard attached. We all called our friends and family to tell them we arrived safely and went to bed relatively early. The next morning was filled with orientation meetings which were just as much fun as you would expect and orientation to be. 

     *There was an interesting occurrence on one of our breaks. Outside of the hostel there was a barricade, and on the other side were people chanting and making noise, and holding flags and signs. It looked very intense and important. When we asked, we were told they were protesting a gas line that was to be placed in their area, and there was big meeting about the issue taking place in the hostel. We were relieved that it was a peaceful protest and quickly went back to our meeting. 

That afternoon we finally boarded our bus and headed home, to Tel Aviv. We were each given a key to our own brand new apartment dorm on the campus of Tel Aviv University. These buildings are so new that we are the very first people to live in them, and the surrounding buildings are still unfinished. But it wasn't time to move in and relax yet; Lior and Netta took us around the area. They showed us some restaurants, the bus stops we would need for work the next day, and the nearest supermarkets. Thankfully they pointed out the cheapest one. As the tour went on small groups broke off to go to the supermarkets, and in the end there were five of us left. Then, just like that, Lior and Netta left with a, "Good luck tomorrow! Remember, getting lost in a city is a state of mind."

Onward Israel Cincinnati's First Group Photo in Tel Aviv

The five of us (Emily, Aaron, Nikki, and Shira) made our way to dinner at the restaurant Netta had pointed out, King George. It was a good meal, complete with warm water. When our waiter brought our check we all came to the realization that in Israel they don't do separate checks. Thus began the biggest struggle of figuring out how to pay, how much to tip, and how much change we each were supposed to receive. I still am not even sure what we did, but I know that waiter was left a pretty big tip. From there we walked to the supermarket. Although we were well aware that we were in Israel, the confusion of every label being in Hebrew was still high. I settled with the basics: Cheerios, soy milk, apples, a bell pepper, pasta, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, hummus, pretzel thins, and a chocolate bar. Emily, Aaron, and I also purchased what we thought was hand soap, but now I am pretty positive it is not..it says "soapless" on the bottle. Other than that, I think the shopping trip was a success! That night almost everyone went to bed early, nervously awaiting the bus commute to their internships in the morning.

There were some of us however who did not have that same concern. I found out that afternoon that my mentor, Naomi, is sick, so I don't have to start work until Monday. (She doesn't work Sundays so I don't either.) Liora, Daniel R, and Micah are interning at Joy Records, and their boss is busy preparing for Pride this weekend, so they did not have to start. Daniel V's mentor is out of town, so he did not have to start either. 

Today, while everyone else ventured out in the city to find their internships, the five of us ventured to the beach! Lior recommended a beach, and gave us some loose directions, so we set off to find it. We got on the correct bus, and eagerly watched the screen, waiting for the Hebrew name of our stop to come up. We turned onto Ben Yehuda St. when another patron stopped the bus, and as he got up he told us he could show us where the beach was. We exchanged glances and agreed to follow him. That very nice man led us (the opposite way that he was headed) one more block to Gordon Beach. We quickly applied our sunscreen and headed out into the water. We got our first falafel (for only 15 shekels, HOLLA!) and shawarma of the summer for lunch, and headed back to the beach. We spent the ENTIRE day on that beautiful beach, and there was only a teensy little bit of sunburn involved. 

Gordon Beach

We came home in the evening to find everyone returning from work. Nobody got too lost, and everyone seemed to love their internships! A lot of people walked to another beach this evening, some went to check out a local bar, and the rest of us just hung out at home. Our first few days have been long and exhausting, but it has been a fantastic start to our time in Israel.

     *An example of how tired we were on our first night in Tel Aviv: After returning from the supermarket, Emily put her yogurt and eggs in the freezer. She had not purchased anything that needed to be put in the freezer. She opened the freezer multiple times today (for an unknown reason) and did not realize what she had done until around 11:00 pm tonight. (Emily approved this example.) 

This Friday is Pride in Tel Aviv, or as Lior translated it, "Mega Gay Parade." We are all super excited to go! We have a lot of fun things planned for this weekend, so be ready for my next post! 

L'hitraot,

Abby