Happy birthday Blog!!!

I'm such a bad blogger, I didn't even realize that on September 2nd was the anniversary of my blog. It's been a year that I've been writing it. Sometimes I feel inspired and I write things that later I like reading again. Sometimes I feel like I'm writing just to write. Sometimes I write just to update you guys on my life, which sometimes comes out nice and sometimes I feel like words are better left unsaid. Anyway just wanted to mention this day (even though I'm late by almost a month). I wish for my blog to be more interesting, and exciting, more deep and insightful, funnier and more sensitive. May I always have the muse to write in you - my blog.

Pictures

Here are some pictures from our month in Israel. A little bit of everything:

Caesarea - the city of Herod



This used to be a private pool
of a rich Roman...

The Negev desert, on the way to Eilat


Sunrise from our window, Sinai

A stray camel coming for a visit



A colorful store in Tarabin, Sinai



A hazy morning next to the Kineret




The El Aktza mosque in Jerusalem

My new computer

This is my first post from this computer! Mine was very sick as you already know from all my stories about it from China, and now I have a new laptop- and I'm getting used to it. I like it that's for sure.
Since we came back from Sinai, we went traveling in the north part of Israel, slept on the beach of the Kineret lake for two nights, and traveled especially in the Galilee. It was very nice, and again I promise to put pictures soon. After that we went to Jerusalem, to spend Yom Kippur there- that's the day the Jewish ppl fast for 24 hours to ask for forgiveness for their sins. We spent it with my friend Yifat, who just moved to Jerusalem to do her 5th and 6th year of med school there. This day almost nobody drives in Israel, and the streets are filled with ppl and kids riding bicycles and other wheeled things. The most religious ppl don't do that of course. Jerusalem as usual is amazing, the feeling you get when you're there is so special, it's really hard to explain. Rob & I fell in love with it again. On Sunday, right after the holiday, we went to a museum- that shows all of the city's history- it's called Migdal David (the tower of David) and it's very recommended.
Adi, my best friend from school gave birth to a pre-mature baby, on the 6th month of her pregnancy - now the baby is gonna stay in the hospital until it's strong enough to leave... I cross my fingers the baby will be strong and healthy!
Rob left to Germany 2 days ago, and I'm going back there in less than a week- it feels weird to leave again for so long... My mom is going today for a week which means I won't see her again b4 I leave... It's a very weird feeling.
I've been trying to learn German alone here, yesterday I was good- sat for more than 3 hours. Today I'll do it after mom leaves, until the evening- it's another holiday today- and I'm going to my aunts place for dinner.
I really need to start doing sports again, especially Yoga. I feel so bad about not doing anything, a real icky feeling. I hope I'll find a good Yoga teacher in Germany, coz even though I have a really good Yoga book - I have no self discipline and I need a class to actually go to. I fear the fact that I'm not going to understand the teachers again- which really makes all the difference for me. I'll try to find out where there's a teacher that teaches in the method I like, and I'll see how much it costs. But even if it's gonna be paying money that I don't have- I'm going back to doing Yoga... Until I find a good Yoga teacher- I'll try to go to the gym at least...
I'm stressed about not having a job in Germany yet, I keep using the money I don't have (my savings...) and I really don't like this feeling. I haven't worked in a year, and it feels so useless... I really need to know that I'm making money, and not just spending it.
I'll write more in the next few days, I'm going to have lunch with my mom now (who bought so much food for me for the time she's gone- it's amazing).

Quiet comes from inside

Thursday morning, we're all set and ready to leave to Sinai with the car. My mom is just getting the last things from home, and Rob and I are already downstairs waiting. I put my sun glasses on my head- to be able to see in the hallway- and they break. hmmm... can't drive without sun glasses all the way to Eilat! not in Israel! My mom says she'll drive to Tel-Aviv until we get to my sisters who's joining us 2 days later, but forgot her passport at my moms place- so we had to go through TLV. I find a good sun glasses store where my sister lives, a chain store in Israel, they have sales for the end of the summer, I find there a nice pair of glasses for only 104 NIS, I'm happy, we go on our way to Eilat. We get to the border with Sinai at about 17:00, cross it, someone we know is waiting for us to pick us up to our usual beach (where we know the owners and we always go to). The place is beautiful and charming as usual. The days go by, The heat isn't so terrible, there are just some really strong and hot winds at night, but we go through it. There's no electricity, so we live according to nature, wake up with the sun (and the flies all over us buzzing and driving us crazy) and go to sleep early, after watching the billion starts and the milky way in the sky. I saw so many shooting starts (always wished for the same thing- not gonna tell you - so it comes true), and was almost relaxed- couldn't stop thinking about my little and annoying country that decided it wants to bomb something in Syria (stupid stupid stupid). A vacation with your mother could sometimes be too much, and I must say that I wouldn't have minded if we went there for a little bit less time. 5 days were a bit too much. We did go see a Bedouin village, and then walked around those amazing red mountains a bit, and one day the sheikh of the tribe there took us with his jeep to the mountains to see some nice colored sand (red, yellow, white, purple, orange...). There was one dog fight at the beach we were staying in, and while I was deciding that I shouldn't be next to it, the dogs pushed me (while fighting each other) I ran and tripped, and got lots of bruises all over. At the same time my glasses, who were laying on the floor (coz the beads jewellery lady was there showing us her stuff on the floor) got stepped on by someone (could be anyone there- there was a big mess) and there went a new pair of glasses to the garbage... I was very annoyed... The rest of the time we just tried to pass the time in the shade, swim in the sea (Rob went snorkeling a lot- I tried once and was too much of a chicken- afraid of all those fish!) caught a tan, ate good food and read a lot.
There's one main thing I got to realize there, even thought it's such a cliche: Being relaxed and quiet comes from inside of you. No nice beaches, no good food, no silence outside will make you happy and peaceful. It must come from you. It can help bring it out, but it'll never happen if you're not really interested in it. And one more thing: Those beaches there can be very deceiving: it's all so beautiful, and almost virgin, and so mesmerizing, but the Bedouin culture, once you're not just a tourist there, and you are exposed to all they're ways, is very complicated and very very chauvinistic. I think I couldn't live in such a culture, coming from where I do.
Tuesday morning we drove back to Israel, I bought the same glasses (but different color) in Eilat (might wanna go change the color here, if they'll have it), and we drove to TLV to drop my sister off. Got home really tired, but still went to meet Yifat who came to Haifa today (needed to have a nice night out in civilization!).
Tonight is the Jewish new years eve- that we celebrate having a big dinner with our family (how can we celebrate something without food??? we're Jewish), and we're spending it at my aunts house.
Everybody: have a SHANA TOVA! (which means- a good year in Hebrew)

Vacation?

I've been asked if it's the heat that stopped me from writing here lately (thanks M :-)), so I decided to write one just before we're going to Sinai on Thursday. Rob's here and I guess that's the main reason for me not writing here, and even though we haven't been doing much- we still went to some nice places. One place that is definitely worth mentioning is Ein Hod- an artists village a bit southern than Haifa. We just went there to see the nice galleries (and we did) but we found something much nicer: BEER!!! There's a small pub there - called Art Bar- where the owner makes his own beer - and it was the best beer that I ever tasted in Israel! He brews 7 different kinds of beer, and he gave us a few to taste. It was even quite cheap... We had a really nice afternoon there in his small yard, that had some chairs (you couldn't find the same chair twice) and some tables (not the same as well), some rugs, a fan, a big speaker for the music, a cat and a dog. I would like to go back there one more time before we go back to Germany.
Tomorrow we're going to Ceasaria (Keysaria in Hebrew) to look at the ruins of the Roman Empire, and on Thursday we're going to Sinai with my mom. Will put pictures when I'm back!

Back to the heat

GOD it's hot in here. And so humid... Back in Israel if you didn't really understand where is "in here". Got here 2 days ago, my sister picked me up from the airport after a really terrible flight. The one to Istanbul was almost ok but the one from there to Israel was a nightmare: screaming kids and babies, ppl who smoke in the gate (the gate to Israel is always a closed gate for security reasons- just imagine being in a glass room with ppl who smoke, usually it doesn't bother me but that was just rude), ppl touching you, pushing you, ppl who don't know how to form a line, ppl who sit in other ppl's seats on the airplane (yes, in my seat too), ppl who get up from their seat as soon as the seat belt sign is off- and walk around on the plane- bothering the poor stewards, yelling at the stewards and so on... It was the longest 1 hour and 45 minutes of my life (especially coz the flight took off later than scheduled - and we waited on the plane the whole half hour delay). Anyway, my sis picked me up, and we went to her new apartment in Tel-Aviv- very cute apartment! It was the first time after a long time that we slept in the same room, and the same bed, which ended up in us talking half of the night, laughing and telling stories. That was a lot of fun! The next morning my dad came to take us to breakfast, and then my sis and I went shopping for me (have a wedding in 2 weeks and no dress)- I found a dress (very special one), we changed my sisters bedroom a bit (needed some final touches and rearranging) and then we went to Haifa. Dad surprised me again with a rented car- so I can be independent here and go and do whatever I want, so I went to pick it up, and only then I went to my moms.
Luckily someone called me last night about a translation job (saw the adds I put at the uni 2 months ago) so I worked today to get some cash...
Other than that- it's really hot here (a heat wave started yesterday especially for me) and that's about it.

***

[5 days earlier]

On Saturday we went to Berlin. We got there in the afternoon and went to Rob's friend's place- as I said before I really like this guy- and it was a nice feeling to have somewhere nice to crash. We met Rob's cousin for drinks, and then for food, I managed to lose my cell phone (again) and find it (again), we went out to a Poker party (apparently it's big in Germany now- and apparently it's big in Tel-Aviv too), got back really late at night, slept till noon, went to the park, went out for food, and then went up to a really nice bar on top of a roof on the east side of Berlin- right next to Alexander Platz. The weekend was really really nice, and I can't wait to get to Berlin again.

Alex - as seen from the bar on the rooftop

Stadt Fest

Today we went to the Stadt Fest (=City Festival) in Dresden. Ten minutes walk from home and we were in the Theatre Platz- where it all started. It is a mid-evil festival, and that means that there are a lot of stands with nice things to buy, or just nice food to eat. I had a beer that's made with honey (honey-beer) and I loved it! It tastes a bit sweeter than normal beer, and it has a bit different texture (less sparkly). We also had some nice potatoes and some good mid-evil bread- a big chunk of heavy fresh bread with yogurt and herbs on it. For desert I had a waffle with cherries. Yum!!! There were ppl dressed in mid-evil clothes, and some stages all around with live shows and music. It was great!!! Seeing the old town filled with ppl like that - it made the whole place look as if it's again the center of town, and not just a touristic place that reminds us there were once kings and lords who lived there. We got there at around 18:00 and left at 23:00, and I enjoid every moment. One of my German class mates, from Norway, joined us too- was fun seeing her before I leave (not sure if she's gonna be here when I'm back).
Here are some pictures:

The Elbe- Stands of food everywhere

A typical beer stand

I just love hot air balloons!
When the weather is nice
you can see so many of them in the sky

The ferris wheel isn't always there


Look how many ppl!!!


Anywhere in Dresden where there are tourists
you can see these little cute things:
It's a little tourist cab,
That is driven usually by young ppl-
and it's a tricycle-
so it's good for the environment too!


Anybody cares for some potatoes with yogurt and garlic?

Some fun for the kids:
this man is walking in the wheel
to make the "Marry go round" turn

***

Tomorrow we're going to Berlin, and on Monday I have my flight to Israel.
Have a good weekend!!!

Last day of German course

Today was my last day of my German course. I'm sad it's over- especially coz I had a great teacher, who was not just a good teacher, but also a really nice and fun person. We went all out this week together, all of the class mates and boy and girlfriends, and the teacher (and her boyfriend) to a beer garden, and it was a really nice evening. I hope to stay in touch with her.
This weekend there's gonna be a Stadt Fest here - that's a city festival, and it's suppose to be all about the middle ages. We're gonna go tomorrow, and on Saturday we're goin to Berlin to spend the weekend there with one of Rob's best friends. I really like him (met him once 2 years ago) and I guess it's gonna be a really nice weekend... On Monday I have my flight back to Israel in the afternoon, Rob's leaving Berlin in the morning (the only good ride he could find) so I'll have a few hours to decide what to do (still haven't decided if it's gonna be worth it to wonder around when I should be at the airport at about 14:00).
I bought myself another book to learn German from, coz I'm planning on taking the A2 level when I'm back here, and what I did now was only half of the A1 level (coz that's what they offer as summer courses). I'll have to do the other half alone and I hope it works out fine. Rob got me a German grammar book- in English- and it's a nice coherent book- so I hope that will come in handy.
Still didn't find a job here, had an interview- but even though the woman was very excited by my CV she never called back, and I sure hope I'll have somehow to make money when I come back here.
Still don't have a flight ticket back to here. Will just have to take care of that in Israel.
Hope I get to write again before I'm back in Israel, if not- expect a long one next time.

Crazy weather

It's hot. It's cold. It's sunny. It's rainy. It's sweaty. It's windy. It's nuts!
I have a theory: (it's not a new one- but I'm starting to think I was right all along)
Where the weather is stable - the ppl are crazy. Where the weather is crazy - the ppl are a bit less crazy (I don't know a place with non-crazy ppl- even a bit). You can see it in Israel- where you have exactly 4 seasons, or if you want - exactly 2 seasons and something in between them - there's the short and harmless winter, and then some spring- when the weather changes a lot- but the whole thing doesn't take longer than 2 months, then there's the long and excruciating summer, that starts nice and warm, time for the beach and some color on your skin, and ends with 100% humidity and jelly-fish in the sea, and 38°c that make you wish you were dead in the good case or frozen in the bad case. In both of the real 2 seasons Israel has- you don't really have to pay attention to the weather report (and maybe that's why it's not the most popular part of the news) coz you can totally guess how tomorrow's gonna be like at almost any day. Let's say for example that it's August 9th now, and you wanna plan something for next week, something outdoorsy, you can easily guess that in the north on the mountains it's gonna be warm but not too warm and not too humid in the evenings, and in the mornings you better take your sunglasses. In the Vally, and also in the south of Israel - you know it's gonna be 200% humidity (in the Vally) and 40°c easy, and in the desert in the south - it's gonna be about 45°c and much dryer- just that you feel as if someone is standing close to you with a huge fan and drying you dead. My point is (even though I totally drifted away) that in Israel in most cases you'll be able to guess what the weather is gonna be like in a week or a month or in half a year from now. That means the weather is kinda stable. But the ppl? ohhhh We are crazy!!! I say we coz obv I'm still an Israeli- and you can take the girl out of Israel but as much as I hate to admit it- you really can't take the Israel out of the girl.
Now take Germany for another example. You might be able to guess that in January it's gonna snow here and there, but not just that you can't be sure of that- that's about the only thing you've got. Take the last few weeks: it was so hot sometimes that I was complaining about not having AC's here- even though in Israel I hate those things for ruining the environment and freezing as if I was in the north poll. The next day- after having about 36°c - we again had rain and thunder storms, wind and coooold... My theory says that as long as the weather is crazy like that - the ppl create a mechanism that helps them stay less insane- and they become much more boring (of course not all ppl- just in general).
Now, my theory has lots of holes in it- I know- coz the German ppl I know - are far from boring. But on the other hand- they really don't look as crazy as the Israeli ppl look to me when I'm in Israel (and again- that includes me in a way). By crazy I obviously mean- a lot more spontaneous, a lot reckless, a lot more chance taking, and risk taking, and a lot more open and smiley, to anyone, even ppl they don't know, a lot more interfering- in the 'butting in' kinda way- telling you what they think even if you just met them 2 seconds ago and so on.
I know my thoughts here are very confused, I actually thought I wont be able to write a thing- I had this kinda block - I think I blame learning German for that- coz I really spend a lot of brain-band-width (it's a new term I just came up with) on studying- more than I ever did in my life (I really like these German lessons, it's fun).

***

Yesterday we went with a few classmates of mine and even my teacher and her boyfriend to a movie. It's kinda rare to see a movie here for me- coz they dub everything on TV and in cinema to German (how stupid is that???). So there's a few cinemas that show the movies in their original language- and we went to see Ocean's 13. I had a really good time! I liked the movie, I think it was better than Ocean's 12 and just as good as Ocean's 11, and I enjoyed the company so much too! After the movie we all went to have a beer- and it was great!
Tonight Rob's out with a friend, and it's the first time he goes out alone (without me) since I came here - and I think it's really good he did. People need some time alone, and time with their friends without a non-German-speaking girlfriend to tag along... :-)

***

Tomorrow Rob's parents are coming here for a day- on their way to an event in Berlin. They're gonna arrive when I'm still at school, and I'll meet them all right after. We're prob gonna be touring Dresden a bit, even though it's really not their first time here.

***

That's all for now kids!

In the middle

Today was the middle of my German course- and I wanna apologize for not writing since the first day there! I still have a lot of fun there, it reminded me again that I love studying and especially learning languages... I found myself doing the homework every day and telling my teacher it's not enough for me- since I don't have much to do in the afternoons (especially when Rob's studying for exams) and asking her for extra exercises... My teacher is SO nice, funny and cool, I found myself talking to her about just anything- on the way to and from school coz we take the same Tram. I also got really friendly with Ceci the Mexican girl, who I really like. We got 3 more ppl in the class, a Korean young woman, an Australian guy (who's here coz his girlfriend it from here) and a Romanian girl- who no one knows a lot about coz she hardly speaks anything else but Romanian- and she's not really catching up on the German like the rest of us.
I went to the bakery alone for the first time since I'm here- to buy me something for breakfast, and that's one result of me learning German... Here you can't go to the bakery if you don't know what to say- and since bread is one of the most important ingredients in the German diet- it's pretty important to be able to buy it! I always send Rob to buy bread- but maybe from now on I will feel ok to go there myself...
It feels really good having something to do in the mornings every day, not being bored for a second anymore, it gives such a sense of capability, of efficiency.
Today it was the middle of our 4 week course, and our teacher and the teacher of the other group took us to this really nice beer garden on the Elbe, next to the Blue Bridge (I'll look up it's story and let you guys know all about it) and it was really nice. The purpose was to celebrate being in the middle and also trying to order something on your own- in German... It was a really nice gesture of them.
Other than that not much is new- Rob still has one more exam to go- and in the next weekend his parents are coming for a visit- which is really nice coz I haven't seen them since I got here.
I'll finish up saying that I have a really good time here now, and that I hope that next year will look the same... I'm never sick of being a student...