Day 15: My Baby Is An Israeli Citizen! My Day In Herzliya

First off, just to clarify, when I say "my baby is an israeli citizen" I do not mean that I am having a baby, nor is it referring to a man. Today in Herzliya I found an amazing, very random, cell phone place, where they ulocked my Iphone thus allowing me to put my Israeli SIM card in it. And so, my Iphone (a.k.a my baby) is now a fully functioning Israeli phone. I've never been more happy :-) and it didn't hurt that the guy who unlocked my phone was a breed of gorgeous Israeli (dark hair, baby blue eyes, half Iraqi)!!! Soul Mate? haha just kidding... but really

Ok now onto my day. Today, since I had no school due to the Jewish holiday Tisha Ba'av, I decided to travel to Herzliya to visit a very dear childhood friend. As you can see from the picture above, we have known one another since we were little kids (please note my sister passed out on the couch!!! priceless). Anyways her name is Talya, her father and his family are Israeli, she moved to Israel a few years ago to live with her dad, made Aliya (became a citizen), has served in the army, and now is studying at the university in Herzliya. I'm so glad she is so close to me, and it will be really nice having someone from home so near by. After fuddling around with the busses in Tel Aviv, I finally got on the one that I needed to take me to where she was. Thinking the bus ride would take longer than it did, I overshot the stop by a few streets and had to backtrack on foot. If it wasn't so damn humid I wouldn't have minded so much, but I did get to see a good deal of Herzliya, which is a beautiful city (lots of young people).

When I finally reached her apartment I had the pleasure of meeting her boyfriend and one of his friends, and we spent a good amount of time just catching up with one another. After the introductions and catch up sessions, we decided it would be a good idea to have some breakfast so Talya cooked a lovely meal for the both of us. After some more time at the apartment we decided to explore Herzliya and do a little shopping. It was a fantastic idea! I ended up getting everything I needed but couldn't find in Tel Aviv. It was very helpful to have a local guide with me :-). I turned my cell phone into an Israeli phone (which is amazing because now I can use all of my Arabic ringtones, and the first time I heard that Iphone text message sound I was pretty much in heaven), found a summer dress that I desperately needed, bought a water filter so that I don't have to buy water bottles, and didn't do too much damage to my bank account! After some more time walking around we looked at the clock and couldn't believe that the whole day got away from us. We headed back to her place for some dinner (a delicious tuna salad, baked potatoes, and corn), and then said our goodbyes so that I could get back to Ramat Aviv on time to do all of my homework.

It was such an amazing day being with an old friend, and I couldn't believe how easy it was go get to her once I found my way (I got a little lost getting to the right bus stop in Ramat Aviv but that was no big deal). I am really starting to learn the transportation system here and am very comfortable traveling on my own. I can walk 20 minutes here and there to various bus stations, walked home tonight in the dark with no problem, and, surprisingly, am really learning my way around and starting to feel like this is home (figuratively speaking).

Tomorrow I am having lunch with my friend Dana and then traveling to Jaffa to go to the big flea market out there! Then on Thursday it is back to Jaffa for the street fair :-) Stay tuned!

Lilah Tov :-D,
Jordana Simone