Finally, Some Wifi

The past few days have been a little nuts (and when I say a little, I mean A LOT). I'm exhausted and really want to go to bed, but I'll give you the highlights.

-My apartment in Tel Aviv is BEAUTIFUL. I took some pictures and I'll post them when I can, but basically, I share a huge apartment with four other girls on the top floor of a brand new building. We have a balcony, a roof deck, and a view of the entire city. It's awesome.

-Except it's not actually awesome (yet), because not only do we not have Wifi, we have no air conditioning, which wouldn't be the end of the world except that we have NO ELECTRICITY. And it's OVER 100º. We're hanging in there, but repairs are running on Israeli time (which means that if they say it'll be done tomorrow, it might be done a week from tomorrow), and patience is generally running a little short.

-Some of you may remember my dad's post about the prevalence of chickpeas in this country, and since he inquired about my chickpea intake, I will tell you all that being a vegetarian in Israel means that you literally eat humus and/or falafel for every meal. I think I've had humus and pita for my last five meals, including breakfast. It's delicious, but I wonder when my stomach will go on strike.

-I'm currently in a hotel in Jerusalem that has a) electricity, b) air conditioning, and, as an added plus, Wifi. We're here just for Shabbat, which is really nice. We needed a break from our sweltering apartments, and Jerusalem is beautiful. Plus, what better place is there to spend our first Shabbat together? We met our staff rabbis, who are both very cool young guys with great things to say (they've got nothing on Rabbis Stern and Eiduson, but they're pretty good), and then went to the Kotel for Kabbalat Shabbat. A surprising number of people on the program have never been to Israel before, so it was fun watching everyone have their first "Kotel moments". Then we had this ENORMOUS Sephardic style Shabbat dinner in the Old City, and walked back to our hotel.

-After we get back to Tel Aviv tomorrow night, we'll have just one day before we head off again for a hiking trip in the Galil, so I probably won't be able to write again until just before Rosh Hashana when I go on break. Don't be alarmed; I haven't died of heat exhaustion, I'm just hiking. :)

Shabbat Shalom!