Beach Babe

For the past two days, or really, the entire week (because I've only been here for 5 days as of today), it's been about 65-70 degrees every day. This is definitely a temperature I can deal with; as my mom says, the climate is really working for me, like in her words: "I'm glowing", so I'm gonna go with that's a good sign. I was determined to wake up before 12 PM yesterday and to my surprise I woke around 10:30, got up, got dressed in sneaks and some workout gear and walked downstairs to go for a run. I walked into a group of girls from my program, some leaving to walk to the port of Tel Aviv and one other who was also going for a run, we decided to run together around the outside of campus which loops into a circle. It was a good run, but it was hot! Anyway, after the run, my roommate and I went grocery shopping at this grocery store that is attached to the dorms we live in at TAU. We picked up some necessities and I went to the deli, where I tried to order an American quarter-pound of turkey breast until the workers there started laughing, jokes on me! Israeli's don't order in pounds because they use the metric system, so I opted for 200 kilos of turkey breast, still don't completely understand...but the turkey was yummy!

Last night was the first Shabbat in the holy land and I went to celebrate with my camp friend in Herzliya, about 25 minutes from Tel Aviv. We had a potluck dinner at her Conservative shul (synagogue) and I was familiar with all the tunes, so I felt right at home! This morning I came back to Ramat Aviv and met her grandparents - ironically enough, they made Aliyah to Israel many years ago, but before hand they lived about 15 minutes from where I live now!
Around 1 o'clock, myself and a couple other girls from my program ventured on a 2 mile walk to the beach, where we sat at a cute outdoor cafe on the beach with our toes in the sand; I had eaten some food before, so I wasn't that hungry, but I ordered a small cappuccino, it was foamy and delicious. The best accomplishment today is when I asked the waiter for the check in Hebrew, my friends clapped for me, lolz!!! We decided to walk the 2 miles back to campus as well and it was great exercise, but I'm exhausted now.

We start our first Ulpan class tomorrow, I made it into beginner-intermediate and although I'm not super excited for class, I am excited to get adjusted into a routine and schedule.