Inspire to be Inspired: 7/30/12: Some More Firsts And An Almost Goodbye

It has been over a week now since my sisters have arrived and it finally feels like everyone is starting to get settled in. I won't deny that it has been a bit difficult not having my own space in my home (I am very independent and very much crave and need a space that is just mine), but I think I'm handling it as well as can be expected. Since we last met Elana has ventured to Jerusalem and Ashkelon with a friend, and Ida and I had one fairly crazy night out in Tel Aviv where I did not return home (well to Frenchy's house that is) until 5:15 in the morning! It was quite a night and felt great to get back into the swing of Tel Aviv night life, but the glamor of club life has dissipated a bit now that a year of Tel Aviv residency has come and gone.

In other news, as you can see by the photo, I finally decided it was best for the good of everyone currently living in my room to buy a fan seeing as it is summer and quite warm here in Israel (not to mention humidity that could choke a horse). As my first big electrical purchase in Israel I thought the news deserved at least a spot on the blog! Plus its a cute picture so why not :-) It certainly makes sleeping a lot more comfortable even though I have probably only slept in my room twice since its purchase.

Now for those of you who have been reading the blog since its inception you know that I love to talk about new experiences no matter how big or small they may seem. I am proud to say I have yet another "first" to add to my list, and though it might not seem to be anything profound, it further asserted a life ideology I promised to adopt when I moved to Israel one year ago. When I lived in the states you couldn't exactly claim I had an open mind, especially when it came to food and my eating habits. I have a very specific diet and am utterly unbending when it comes to food I deem uneatable (i.e. tomatoes, certain fishes, cilantro, etc.) However, since moving to Israel I have been much more open about expanding my food palate and yesterday afternoon I did two things I never thought I would ever do.

I was at Stephane's house and neither of us had eaten all day. It was approaching 5 and he was still doing some work but we knew we had to think about eating eventually. Since he is a guy naturally he had very little food to work with but he told me he had a piece of salmon frozen and asked if I could prepare that while he finished his work. PROBLEM: I DON'T EAT SALMON. Well not cooked anyways. It took me 24 years to accept that salmon sushi was decent because it didn't taste fishy, but the thought of cooked salmon made me a bit nauseous. However, due to extreme hunger and a rather annoying inability to argue with Stephane when it comes to small things like food, I decided to do my best, grit my teeth, and eat some salmon. Now, it is also important to note that not only do I not eat much cooked fish, I have never actually cooked fish in my life. Luckily I had my handy-dandy iPad, I looked up a fairly easy recipe for a lemon-pepper salmon, figured that at least I could drown out the fish taste with lemon, got to work, cooked some veggies, and attempted to prepare a decent meal for the both of us. It's a true testament of how much I care for him that I did this, that is for sure!

I prepared everything as the instructions said, plus added a few spices not listed just for taste, got to grilling, and within 15 minutes I managed to utterly surprise myself and made, what looked to be, a very decent meal. It smelled very nice, and I figured I would probably think the taste was good simply because I took my own time to prepare it! After getting the nod of approval from Stephane we sat down to eat. This was my moment of truth. I kept thinking of how shocked my mother would be if she was seeing this scene transpire, so naturally I took a picture of the meal and sent it to her immediately. I took my first bite and was so surprised to find that it was actually quite good. I never would have given eating salmon a second thought in the states, nor probably would I have tried it with anyone but Steph, but the point is at least I had the experience and now I know I can eat salmon (and cook it) :-).

My Salmon steak creation

In other, less enjoyable news, in a few days I will be saying goodbye to Stephane for about 3 months as he embarks on an amazing adventure in Australia. I am so happy for him (a little jealous too, I want to travel!), and so excited that he will have this amazing experience, especially since he has been so excited and talking about it for months now, but as strong as I like to seem I can't deny that I will be terribly sad to see him go. I feel so silly seeing as he is only going for a short time in retrospect, and one of the months I will be home in California, but I have been so spoiled having him so close by that it just seems hard to imagine being in Tel Aviv for a long period of time without him here. He has been a great source of escape when I have needed to get away, a wonderful friend when I have just needed someone to talk to, every day he is becoming more and more important to me, and again, I am so so so excited that he will get this opportunity to "get lost" in a totally unfamiliar place. I will miss him immensely, I plan on enjoying as much time as I can with him the last few days he is here, and then... well thank goodness for WhatsApp and Skype! Luckily time really does fly so 3 months really is not so big of a deal when you think about it :-)