3/11/12: Purim a.k.a The Jewish Haloween

Only in Israel :-) 

It's hard to believe that yet another weekend has come and gone; a weekend that succeeded in topping the last which is a feat I didn't think possible. The reason for my lack of blogging in the last six days was due to the wonderful Jewish holiday of Purim. First of all it is important to note that most countries celebrate Purim for its duration; 1 day... In Israel, however, Purim is a 4 day event that includes dressing up in costume, parties at clubs, parties in the streets, delicious desert foods, and almost no sleep. How I survived I still don't know but it was just another experience that made me fall even more in love with this crazy, amazing country. Please bare with me as I go through each of the days in as much detail as I can remember (it was really a long weekend :-p)

Wednesday: Though Purim officially started Wednesday at sundown Tel Aviv was full of school age children all dressed in costume readying themselves for the official holiday. On the busses, in the streets, waiting outside of schools, you could see almost everyone dressed up in various costumes. When I emerged from my apartment Wednesday afternoon to go to class I was lucky enough to witness a middle school Purim parade procession come right past my apartment.  Everyone was dressed up, there were parade floats, music and dancing, and it was such a wonderful way to start my day! After a very full day of class it was back home to get ready for a party to ring in the holiday. I decided to spend Purim with my boys (which might not have been the best decision health wise), so naturally I had to be sure to put together some costumes that could keep up with their creativity. The first night I decided to play to my strengths and go as something very near and dear to my heart... An obnoxious, but highly adorable, American football fan (CAL football fan to be specific). It was so cold but I made it work :-). 

Now put on a face tattoo and a cropped CAL top and you have my basic costume

My roommate Michael and I left the apartment together to meet the rest of the boys at a Tel Aviv University Purim party where we danced the night away. Despite the fact that I was, yet again, the only girl in the group, and the fact that the boys love to just do their own things at clubs (meaning I lost them all within 5 minutes) I had a great time.

Thursday: After sleeping in as long as possible it was time to regather the little strength that I had, finish up my costume for the night, and get ready to continue the Purim celebrations. The plan for this night was to pre party at the apartment and then venture to an IDC (an Israeli university in Herzliya) party near my university. Two days before the holiday I bought a perfect police woman costume, doctored it up a bit, and made it just risky enough to be deemed Purim appropriate :-) After the obligatory pre game party at our apartment we were off and, unfortunately for me, I did not have the most creative costume. I mean it when I say that these boys love to dress up! 

Steph and David ready to go! 

After another late night it was home by 4 and asleep until around 10. 

Friday: If it wasn't for the huge Tel Aviv street party held on this day it would have been a pleasure to sleep past 10am, however, I didn't want to miss too much of the block party that started at noon. I can honestly say I have never seen anything like this street party, but I can only assume it is very similar to a Mardi Gras-esque type event. Thousands and thousands of people flock to a designated street in Tel Aviv dressed up in the most amazing, outrageous costumes, and party for up to 5 hours. There is music, drinking, dancing, vendors, food, and anything and everything else you can imagine. After a weekend of not feeling well my good friend Susanna decided to partake in this Purim activity so we picked a spot near the party and met up. I was also lucky enough to meet with a good Israeli friend that I met 4 years ago on Taglit birthright. The three of us had an amazing time, I ran into an Israeli friend I met at Camp Alonim almost 8 years ago (the odds of this happening were 1 in almost 10,000 so I consider myself very fortunate that I saw her), and even bumped into the boys along the way. 

It was easy to find Steph with those wings!  

Me, Suze, and Bat-El 

Sarah and me :-) 

During the dance party 

Welcome to Shaul Ha'melech and Mesibat Rechov Shel Purim! 

All of this took place right in the middle of the city! It was such a Balagan

The show stopper! 

After the street party it was back home to rest before Friday night activities, however, rest didn't happen so much. I arrived home around 6, the boys came home around 7, and then from 8-1am or so we were all up and partying in our living room. As time drew nearer for the boys to go out I decided to stay home and get some sleep. It had been a busy weekend and I didn't want to get too sick (though I felt a horrific cold coming on).

Saturday and today were spent resting and trying to recover from the Purim activities. I was sick, Ben was recovering from his illness, Stephane was getting sick, and Michael had to get ready to go back to work early Sunday morning, so I was very happy that everyone wanted to stay in, relax, and watch movies. We did emerge once Saturday night to get a delicious sushi dinner but then it was back to the couch to lay in front of the TV. We are a lazy bunch from time to time. 

Now that the weekend is over it is unfortunately time to get back to real life. I am starting back up with my Ulpan (everyday at 8:30am which will be especially brutal), have a research paper to finish, another research paper to start, and health to get back on track, but I am ready to tackle the week in anticipation for another fun filled weekend :-) 

Stay tuned! Blogs will now be more frequent :-)

Lilah Tov Chaverim <3,

Jordana Simone