Israeli Adventure: Part 6

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - Tel Aviv!

Wow - I've been dragging this out for so long, that I'm almost forgetting what I did on my trip! Let's see...

So when I last wrote about my Israel trip, I left you at dusk in Jerusalem. Following the emotionally draining trip to the Holocaust Museum, Jo & I went back to her apartment to shower and pack for Tel Aviv!

From Joanne's apartment, we headed out to catch a sherut to Tel Aviv. The same way I'd gotten from the airport to Jo's apartment, sheruts are 10-passenger vans/shuttles that run between popular destinations. I don't really think there's a schedule; they seem to run all the time and leave as soon as they're full (but no sooner!). It's a convenient, affordable way to get around.

The ride from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv is quick, so in about an hour we had arrived. Since we were again on the coast of the Mediterranean, I wanted seafood! We found a fun little place for a late dinner, and I enjoyed a stir fry dish filled with all sorts of yummy seafood. We had a great time, just chatting and enjoying the atmosphere, and making friends with the semi-sketch bartender, who gave us free drinks.

After dinner, Jo and I took a gorgeous moonlit walk along the beach and grabbed another drink at a bar right on the water before calling it a night.

Tuesday morning, we headed out to the Nachalat Binyamin Artist Market. Twice a week, local vendors bring their work -- pottery, paintings, leather, jewelry, you name it.

There were all sorts of beautiful and interesting things. It made for a nice morning stroll. I bought a handmade leather journal and a hilarious little magnet that looks like a falafel pita (yum!).

Looks like a bake sale... but really they're clay magnets!

Joanne, who was preparing for a class trip to Poland, found the most perfect journal. It was specifically designed for heritage/Holocaust tours for Poland, and it was like it had been made especially for Jo!

From the artist market, we wandered through the back side of the shuk on our way back to the sea and spent most of the afternoon walking along the coast of the Mediterranean on the boardwalk from Tel Aviv to Jaffa. It was a beautiful, sunny day - perfect for a walk on the water!
 

 
Tel Aviv is a far more modern city than others in Israel. Founded in 1909, Tel Aviv is the country's financial capital and a major performing arts and business center. Known as "the city that never sleeps," Tel Aviv is an internationally popular tourist destination, renowned for its culture, shopping, restaurants/bars and overall cosmopolitan lifestyle.

The beautiful, newly-constructed boardwalk connecting Tel Aviv and Jaffa.  Tel Aviv skyline in the background.

Jaffa, on the other hand, is an ancient port city. In fact, Jaffa (or Yafo, Japho or Joppa) is believed to be one of the oldest cities in the world. Now technically incorporated with neighboring Tel Aviv, the official city name is Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.

Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of Jonah, who was sailing from Jaffa when he was swallowed by the whale!

Approaching Jaffa

Just before reaching Jaffa, we stopped for lunch at an adorable seaside cafe, where our outdoor seats allowed for a beautiful view of the water. I noshed on a plate of hummus topped with seafood and enjoyed soaking up the sun and taking in the view.

view from the seaside cafe

By the time we finally reached Jaffa, we were both pretty tired and running short on time. We admired the view of the port, grabbed some delish frozen yogurt and hopped in a taxi back to Tel Aviv to catch a sherut back to Jerusalem.

In Jaffa, with Tel Aviv in the background

Back in Jerusalem, we walked to Joanne's school - Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies - where I met some of her friends and instructors. She stuck around for a meeting, and I walked back home with her roommates to catch up on travel journaling and relax.

That evening, Jo & I stayed in and enjoyed a dinner of fresh veggies and watched FRIENDS - just like our old college days :)

UP NEXT:  Last 2 days in Israel - and they were big ones! - Dead Sea, Masada, more Jerusalem, Bethlehem

New Places, New Faces

Once again I must apologize for the delay between posts. I'm going to take a quick break from my far-too-drawn-out blogging about Israel to give you a quick update on my current life.

In the past five weeks, between returning from Israel and now, I have left my first "big girl" job, celebrated my 25th birthday, moved back out on my own in St. Louis, and started a new job.  I traveled to Minnesota for orientation, went to see "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour by Cirque du Soleil" (incredible), caught up on seeing Academy Award-nominated movies, and read all three books in the Hunger Games series (the books are what took up every moment of free time in the past week of my life and are the primary cause of my blogging delay) . Lots of big changes in not a lot of time!

Change is exciting. But I am bad at it. Because change is usually not comfortable. And i hate feeling uncomfortable. So I don't always cope with it well.

Big changes I'm facing right now:

New City, New Home - Technically I'm not in a new city at all. I know St. Louis fairly well, and have long referred to it as "the city I love." And that's true. But the last time I lived in St. Louis, I was an undergrad living in the bubble of SLU's campus. Of course I knew when I moved back things would be entirely different, but I'm beginning to realize just how different.

I'm living in a different part of the city, so I have to learn my way around again. Being downtown, I'm finding things are either within walking distance or they're about 20 minutes away, and parking is a royal pain. My apartment is surrounded by restaurants and bars, and my block is the place to be on the weekends. College Laura might have loved that, but I think I'm sort of past my party phase.  (As I type this from my couch on a Saturday night...)

New Job - Not only have I started a brand new job, which is incredibly overwhelming, I have also started working from home. So really this category holds TWO very big changes.

There are parts about working from home that I am already loving. I'm finding on average I wear mascara less than 3 times per week, and my wardrobe consists largely of pajamas, workout attire and slippers. If I want to start working at 8, I can set my alarm for 7:45 and not be late. I can go to the gym during my lunch hour and not have to worry about being presentable afterward. I can fold laundry while I'm on a conference call.

Then there is that glaringly obvious part that I don't love: Being alone in my apartment all day. I have conference calls and webinars all the time, so I still interact with people throughout the day. But it's different. Once I get into things more, I will be doing some regional travel and visiting sites throughout St. Louis and southern Illinois, so I'm looking forward to that.

New People - There are a lot of people in my life right now that aren't new, per se, but the fact that they are now my support system and social network is new in a way. I still have many friends here from my SLU days, but we've not been a super-active part in each other's lives for the past 2.5 years, so it's interesting figuring out how we all fit together now.

And then there are the actual new people. My roommate, whom I'd met just twice before moving in. My coworkers, scattered throughout the midwest. My new friends who also work out at the downtown YMCA during their lunch hours. My (noisy) neighbors that I sometimes run into in the hallway.

New Me - Then there's ME. Throughout all these changes, I'm changing too, and I'm trying to figure me out. Who I am. Where I want to be. What I want to be doing. Who I want to be doing it with. It's a time to almost redefine who I am. Again -- exciting, but uncomfortable and kinda scary.

I'm trying to learn to embrace the discomfort and find the joy in every step of the journey. Because, really, I'm not in control here. I know God has a plan for me, and I can't wait to see what His plan holds. I know it's going to be more than I could ever imagine, so I'll just hang on and enjoy the ride!