TLV tourism (6/28/23)

You probably know that I really like the shuk. And last year I found the Levinski shuk, which is spread out more than the Carmel shuk. Today we went to the Sorona shuk, which is unlike the other two. It is a big food court that is quite nice and have very nice food.

We weren't hungry so we skipped the food experience there. But there was a cool sculpture:

Pat did get a felafel sandwich at The Wizard, not far from our apartment.

Visiting friends (6/27/23)

Pat and I traveled to Petach Tikvah to see Anne and Nathan Landa, who were married in KC/OPKS. Nathan is Peruvian and Anne is from Raymore. They made aliyah to Israel a few years ago. They have seven wonderful children. Nathan recently got his medical license in Israel and is currently working as psychiatrist. We had a fun supper then the five little kids and us four adults went to the park. The micromayhem was delightful. Pat took this photo (there is an extra kid in the photo)

My Friend Pat has arrived

My friend Pat from Boston flew in yesterday (Monday). I met her at the airport and had an uneventful trip back to the apartment. After supper, we went for a walk and got a gelato (strawberry for her and pistachio for me). Luckily they were little servings.

Success at Lev HaOlam

The hopeful plan of going to Kfar Etzion through Jerusalem was a success. I got to Jerusalem by normal means, and took 362 bus to Kfar Etzion . It turned out to be the last stop, which is always handy. Lev Haolam was just around the corner but the office didn't have a sign. Avi, the managing director spent about an hour with me, and answered all my questions. I got to see the shipping warehouse and the stock for the online store.

We talked about the businesses that Lev Haolam has helped to get on their feet. Maybe I'll visit some of them another time . But he needed to get to work , so I caught the 371, which took me to the Jerusalem 15 bus, and I took the new Jerusalem train back. I had seen them building the bridges for the train during my sabbatical, but I didn't see them building all the tunnels (duh). But it is pretty easy and immune to traffic.

Shabbat

I attended the Friday evening service with Leah, Kehilot HaLev. It was quite nice and I'm glad I went. I spent a quiet Saturday in my apartment and met my Hebrew teacher at 1845 who helped me get on the right bus to the Bubizemer event on the grounds of Tel Aviv University. "Zemer" means singer, and Bubi might be someone's name. Anyway this group hosts singalongs around Israel and I finally was able to go. There's a before and after photo. I did have to buy a ticket for this. Anyway they project the lyrics and there was a small band that accompanied us. I only knew the last song that I stayed for (had to catch a bus home), but I kept up and got by. It was great.

Friday stuff

I went Jerusalem to meet some friends and buy some cool things in MahaneYehuda (the shuk in downtown Jerusalem): stuffed grape leaves, a carrot salad, beet salad, walnuts and peanuts (Israelis roast peanuts perfectly). On my way to the bus home, I bought a small bouquet . In getting ready for Shabbat, I was headed downstairs with my trash, and .et one of my neighbors who lives here. Anyway , she invited me to join her for Friday night services at her synagogue. Of course, I said yes to Leah. I will report later . Shabbat shalom.

Transportation Problem

I had an appointment for a tour of the Lev Haolam facility at 12:00. I decided to take the train to Bet Shemesh and catch a bus to Kfar Etzion, but this was rife with problems . The bus I needed to take was not an hourly bus, and I would be late for my tour. I called Lev Haolam, in fact, they didn't have me on their schedule, but they were happy to have me come by. So I waited 2 hours (in the shade) for the bus, but it turns out it was canceled so everyone made alternate plans. I called Lev Haolam back, because the plan was blown-I couldn't get there before they went home. So I have a new plan to visit them on Sunday. I took the train back to Tel Aviv , picked up some challah for tomorrow and a limonana for right now.

If you look closely at the flowers, you will see that they're made out of pop bottles. These were at the Bet Shemesh train station. They're painted so well that I didn't notice at first.

Shopping day

I'm still a little tired, but not exhausted. It took two trips to the shuk, but it's really close. Trip 1: wine for my friend Pat, eggs, mint, parsley, red onion, scallions, and olives, and ziplock bags and napkins. I wanted to get the breakable stuff back safe, so trip 2: oranges, tomatoes, cucumbers, lemons and fresh apricots. Fresh apricots are always a high point of my visits because they're not really available in the States. And I added more money to my transit card. I prepped tabooli from scratch, as well as an Israeli salad with olives. Theyre both marinating in the refrigerator. My tablet isn't editing the blog well, so this is off my phone.

Back to Israel

I returned to Israel on an earlier flight than I had done in some time , but everything went perfectly. I just needed to keep moving. We landed in Tel Aviv at 11:00 so I got to find my apartment in daylight. However, the streets in Tel Aviv are a mess and my bus from the train station didn't drop me where I expected , although I wasn't lost. I do have to rethink most of my travel routes. After I waited (!) to access the apartment, I decided that I may as well walk down to the kosher grocery store for some key items. Then the fatigue of staying up most of the night on the flight caught up with me. I packed coffee so that I would have that the first morning, could rest. rest.