What's up? Not our ceiling...

Yup, you read that title correctly, parts of my ceiling are no longer what's up. This means of course that they have fallen. Luckily we weren't in the room when it happened, and luckily it looks like it isn't going to happen again. For now we are sleeping in a new room while everything gets fixed up for us, but because of Shabbat we won't be able to move back until Sunday. While I was upset about it for a bit, I know it's all part of the adventure and one day I will be telling funny stories to my children about that time in Israel when my ceiling fell down.

Other than that, I have been doing more exploring. Today we went to the shuk and I got some delicious plums, pita, and avocados. I also spent about half an hour in the grocery store trying to locate turkey (everything that looked like turkey was labeled as Mexican Pastrami for some reason), and so we ended up making friends with the English speaking deli guy who insisted on feeding us goose. It tasted pretty good, but I'm thinking it is going to be a one time only thing.

Speaking of making friends, this is the other main thing I have been doing here. I have already made friends with the pizza guy across the street (who once lived in America for a little bit and says the thing he misses most is the Cheesecake Factory), the felafel guy down the street (who told someone in my group they could just pay him the next day since she didn't have any shekels yet), the lady who cashiers at the grocery store, and the 29 other wonderful people who will be teaching with me here in Netanya. My friends here are all very funny and I have cried from laughter multiple times today.

I am very jet lagged and have been waiting not so patiently for my circadian rhythm to adjust. Right now it is 3AM (an improvement over last night's bed time), so I am going to go to sleep. Goodnight from Israel!

Melanie

Fallen ceiling.

Whole in ceiling before it got worse.

Netanya shuk!

At the shuk :)

Ani Po! (I'm here!)

I made it here without too much of a hassle, thanks to a lucky penny Mom found at the grocery store that morning. Unfortunately the TSA body scanner also found the penny in my back pocket and I had to have my butt patted down to make sure I wasn't carrying anything suspicious. The flight was pretty good, the UCSD birthright trip actually ended up being on my flight to Israel, so I was in good company and was able to spend some time with them in the airport. After arriving in Netanya I found out that my apartment isn't ready yet, so I am temporarily living in another apartment for the next week or two. My least favorite part of the trip so far is that I will be living out of my suitcases for a while, which is difficult because I don't remember where everything was packed. Luckily I am still having a great time and enjoying the company of my temporary roommates.

So far, I have mainly been exploring Netanya, and getting to know the other teaching fellows. Our madricha took us on a tour of the area and showed us where the important things are. Within a few blocks from my apartment there is a shuk (outdoor market), shopping mall, drug store/pharmacy, supermarket (right next door to my building), a sushi restaurant, and too many felafel/shwarma places to even count. Not to mention the beach is less than a 10 minute walk away. Looks like it is time for me to become more of a beach person, you know, as if I haven't lived close to a beach my whole life or anything.

I will start my pedagogical training in Holon on Sunday, and at the end of next week we have our first weekend seminar. We will be going to the Sea of Galilee, and I am excited to start seeing more of Israel. Anyway, that's all for now, I will try to update this blog as often as I can, but no promises on when the next post will be. Hope all is well with everyone at home!

Melanie

View from my building.

Beautiful beach in Netanya.