Who would have ever thought there was truth behind the statement "shop until you drop". Whoever made that saying famous must have been from Tel Aviv :-). Today started out as normal as usual, however, I didn't have my usual 5 hour Ulpan. Apparently Israelis love to take random days off in the middle of the week every now and then, so we were given the day off from class. In the morning I had my first experience with a doctors appointment in Israel. I cut my leg pretty badly and needed a refill on some prescriptions, so I could put off the appointment no longer. I was scheduled to be seen at 8:30am, arrived at 8:30 on the dot, and was told to that there were 2 people in front of me who had not been seen yet because the doctor overslept and came in late...SO ISRAEL! So, I had to wait a bit, but the appointment itself went easily enough. I didn't have to get a tetanus shot which was VERY good!
After my appointment I met my friend Dana for lunch and some shopping in the city. We decided to try out a new place for both of us, and we had a really great time exploring the area. We ventured to Rechov (street) Menachem Sheinkin (pictured above), which was a very quaint and lovely little area filled with cafes, shops, beautiful scenery, and pretty typical, older style, Israeli apartments. It reminded me of a very nice area I once visited in San Francisco (I unfortunately can't remember the name of the neighborhood), and felt very homey. We ate a very nice cafe located near the beginning of the neighborhood, and enjoyed a very leisurely lunch. Thank goodness we had a little relaxation in the beginning, because post lunch the shopping began... and let me tell you, shopping on the streets in Tel Aviv, when it is a million degrees and humid outside, is no joke, and of course, being the brilliant person that I am, I found myself doing so without any water... One day I will learn... We were walking around for hours going into every shop that looked even remotely appealing, and luckily we found some really great deals. I finally feel like I have all the clothing that I have been telling myself I needed for the past two months. One thing to note, which is actually quite sad, is the fact that I practically bought a new wardrobe today for almost the same price that I spent on two containers of sliced turkey, 2 chocolate bars, bread, cheese, and garbage bags at the supermarket... And people wonder why there are protests... At least I know that if it comes to the point where I am destitute here, I will still be able to afford clothing... I'll won't be able to afford food, but I'll be dressed really cute :-)
Dana and I were out on the streets from about 2:30-5:30, and 3 hours walking in that heat could kill anyone. We were in such a frenzy by the end of our outing that it took us an addition 20 or so minutes just to find our correct bus stop. When the bus finally did arrive I plopped down and never wanted to get up. I then understood what it meant to shop until you drop.
After I got home I had maybe 45 minutes to unload my purchases, get freshened up, and then head out to meet my friend Ariel and his roommate Russ, who is my wonderful fake husband, for dinner. Why fake husband you ask? Well, a few nights ago when he and I were walking at the Namal (port), a group of men approached us and were asking all kinds of questions. It was clear that their intentions were not so kosher, so Russ explained to them that we were recently married, and they left us alone right away. And so, he is now my fake husband (which is a very convenient thing to have :-D). Anyways, we walked to a very nice little area in Ramat Aviv, Kikar Shuster, where they have restaurants, shops, and cafes, had a lovely sushi dinner, and then headed back home. The boys just started Med School so their work load is already piling up which meant we couldn't prolong dinner too late. Luckily tomorrow starts the weekend for all of us so I'm sure we will find a good way to ring it in.
Stay tuned! Lilah Tov Chaverim <3,
Jordana Simone
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