Kinda Short

Well today i woke up ate breakfast got to my train and said goodbye to the family. The train ride was like 2 hours and then i had to take a cab to the kibbutz which was no problem. I got into the office and it was kinda busy so it took a while to get my room and other things sorted. I am rooming with a French guy who speaks pretty good English and a Russian who speaks basically none. Its a small room and I will take pictures of my room and the kibbutz but in time. This place is massive I feel like I could easily get lost but I’m sure I will figure that out in time. They are people from all over. Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, Brazil, France, Russia, Sweden, Australia, England, Switzerland, there are so many languages flying around at the moment its insane. Its late and i have to get up do something at like 9 in the morning but thats it so I might have a bit more time to get a grasp of this place, my next post should be a lot longer don't worry there is just a lot i don't know yet but will find out

a little late

So I woke up and Alma (the mother) told me that the train is running again so sunday I will probably take the train from Lehavim to Binyamina then a taxi to Maagan Michael. So thats good because I don’t want to take a bus. The grandma had to go to the optometrist so I went with and while she was there me and Maayan (the sister) walked around. I saw the courthouse which was pretty new and looked super cool (sorry no pictures). Then we walked in a mall and got these chocolate caramel vanilla coffee drinks. They were super rich and sweet almost too much for such a hot day which is every day I guess. At night its like the perfect temperature but otherwise that desert heat will get ya. Right now I moved my stuff to a different room because the uncle is staying with us for a bit. He is handicapped and the room I was in is easier for him to get in to. Now I think they are preparing dinner. I don’t think they are that religious when it comes to shabbat dinner but we will see...

We just had schnitzel and rice nothing special but it was pretty good none the less. Now its just chill time and we might do something tonight. I haven’t took any pictures and I know my mom wants pictures of the family so I hope to maybe take those tonight if everyone is around.

Well a whole bunch of family came over and they all sat at the table and just talked for a while I was there until the hebrew and me being tired required a nap. we are about to have dinner now so I don’t know what I was thinking saying we were having dinner earlier that was a mistake.

Well after dinner me Michal Maayan and Shay went to the bar restaurant call Coca. We met up with like 4 of Shay’s friends. I wish I brought my camera with me last night because the bar was super cool. Everyone sat on these cool chairs around a table and there was a tree that was in the middle of the place that went through the roof. We had a few drinks and talked then we went to one of Shay’s friend’s house which was really close. And we went to his roof porch type thing and it had an amazing view. I was on a beanbag and they had some couches out there too. We just chilled and talked it was a nice relaxing way to end the night. Tomorrow (today when I’m writing this) is my last day in Lehavim with the family before I take the train over to my kibbutz how exciting!

Tired/long night

I will post tomorrow about today because I just got home and I am super super tired!

So I woke up and had some more of that really good cereal after that I took a shower and just chilled. Shay had to drop something off at the post office so we drove to the post office in Beer Sheva. It was crazy busy in there and we decided to not do that at the moment and go to the market instead. Shay said the market smells and is full of bedouin but we have to go there to get steak and ribs from the butcher so we did. In case I haven’t said it before but driving in Israel is crazy at the best of times and is something I never want to do. After that we went to this restaurant called “Street Food” for lunch. I don’t know why its called that but it served mostly Asian cuisine and was located inside a grocery store that was apparently opened by Russians. I had a little sushi and then this wide rice noodle pork and vegetable thing that was pretty good. I don’t usually get dessert but we all shared this fried banana with ice cream thing that was quite delicious. Now I’m back at the house just relaxing and writing this. I don’t know if anything is happening tonight we might go to a movie from the sounds of it...

After waking up from my nap we discussed what movie to see and we went and saw Horrible Bosses. It was quite funny and just had hebrew subtitles so it was easy to follow for me. We were gonna go to a pub but that didn’t pan out which is cool cuz we were all tired and now we are just chilling at the house watching The Chappelles Show. Thats probably it for today, tomorrow I don’t know what we are gonna do but on another note the grandma is from Argentina which is sweet...

Tired

I haven’t decided what things are too monotonous too include but I want to say I had some really good cereal today. It was like Cocoa Puffs with a chocolate filling and is highly recommended. I think in a bit we are going to the main section of Beer Sheva. its the seventh largest city in Israel for those keeping score at home. Its known as the city of the fathers because of its relation to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. While at breakfast I went through the paper with Noam (my friends brother) and asked questions and looked through. Who knew they had Ace hardware out here? Well I got to go....

Just got back from driving around Beer Sheva. I saw Ben Gurion University of the Negev and all sorts of other buildings. We went walking around this outdoor mall situation which was cool. Then we went grocery shopping. I tried some olives and other stuff you could just taste which was cool. They also have these awesome sesame cake treats which i took pictures of. The grandmother who lives in this house speaks hebrew but mostly spanish and communicates with the mother in only spanish which is kinda awesome. So the mom speaks hebrew spanish and decent english. Apparently we are gonna eat some lunch then go to the house of Noam’s teachers for dinner then pick up Shay later.

Ok its like 10:30 and I am so tired so this all might not be coherent. We went and had dinner in Arad at a friends house that had an awesome view I wish I brought my camera after that we drove to get Shay. We had to pick him up from the army base which took us up and around what was basically a mountain and almost an hour. Then we had to get his stuff at another base and then go all the way back home. Lots of driving today and I’m tired. 

Travel Days

7/25/2011

My first of what I hope will be many entries. I had to switch my first flight from JFK to Newark. After getting settled on the plan next to two other standby passengers and some small talk the overhead tells us we have a one and a half hour delay. So everyone got off the plane and now I’m sitting outside the gate trying to pass time. A bumpy start so far but nothing too bad. My bag was 51 pounds but i didn't have to pay a fee or anything so thats good. I think after the delay, flight, then shuttle to JFK I should be there by like 3 for my 7:25 flight so no worries really now I just wait...

7/26/2011

Well after the delay, my flight, then the shuttle I was there by like 6:20pm about 15 mins later and I would not have made my flight. I was kinda freaking out and my shuttle to JFK was awful. It was like a nine person van it was raining and rush hour in New York all combined to create a subpar experience. And then I had to wait for everyone else to board the plane before I could even get my seat assignment. Once I got my seat assignment and went through security again I realized that I was in Business Elite first class (after walking to the back of the plane and back to the front again). First class is very very nice. I took some pictures of the food and the whole space in general. the flight seemed to go by quick. I ate dinner then fell asleep watching the movie “Paul” which I thought was ok for what I saw of it. After landing and getting grilled by a lady before I even got to passport control I waited for my luggage. I wasn’t 100% sure that it was gonna be there but it was and that was a lot stress off my shoulders. Then I exchanged a little money. There was a 50 dollar bill I think the lady thought was fake and couldn’t exchange. Then i charged my computer and waited to be picked up by my friend Shay’s family. They don’t live super close to the airport so it was awesome of them to come get me. I’m at their place which is in Be’er Sheva. I inquired about what day I am allowed to arrive at the kibbutz so we will see how long I stay here before I go there.