Wrapping Up the Adventure

            I’m staring at the calendar trying to figure out if it’s true.  Have I really been home for nearly four weeks?  It’s passing me by in a blur.  I’m way past jet lag, and was I really gone long enough to experience culture shock?  But simultaneously, last time I was in a grocery store and someone was in my way, my instinct was to say, “Sliha” instead of “Excuse me” and when the cashier asked if I wanted the receipt, I spent longer processing which language I needed to respond in than considering the question itself. 

            This coming from someone whose Hebrew vocabulary might be twenty words (plus the numbers).  Emphasis on the might be. 

            Every now and then, something reminds me that I was just in Israel, and even as I catch up with my friends and enjoy easy access to English speakers, my mind reaches back to the experience often.  It’s been snowing from time to time and raining often lately.  Flashbacks to January in Tel Aviv. 

            Despite my promise to never run again after the marathon (just kidding), I ran a half marathon with my friend Katie, in Gloucester last weekend… In a snow storm no less… (About forty degrees Fahrenheit colder than the marathon.  Still fun, but made me rethink all that griping I did about the heat).

            Project Presentation Day is coming up in 2 weeks.  At that point, I’ll be presenting the work I did over there, and as I prepare my little speech about my project, as well as get ready for a mini reunion with Isa (yes, she’s due stateside for a week or so!), the nostalgia threatens to come back in full force, as it also seems to do every time someone posts in the Secret Tel Aviv Facebook group.  Also, I baked Challah last night.  So good. 

            So, as I’ve been promising myself to do since I got home, I’m wrapping up this blog.  Maybe I’ll rekindle it someday—for another adventure to Israel, or elsewhere.  

            I also realize I didn’t really write much about the grad school trip.  It was a great trip, an awesome opportunity, which was jam packed with visits to startups and tourist sites around Israel.  I got to spend some time in Tel Aviv (when it was actually sunny and warm), take a formal tour of Jaffa and hear an Arab man speak about how he grew up with hatred targeted towards Jewish people, but gradually changed his point of view, ultimately marrying one, float in the Dead Sea again (you can never do this too many times), visit the Ayalon Institute (awesome factory to check outà bullets were secretly manufactured here under the noses of the British, hidden by a kibbutz, leading up to the War of Independence in 1948; visit or ask me to find out exactly how), actually see Be’er Sheva, visit a kibbutz (finally) and a factory where they make drip irrigation hoses, visit a wastewater treatment plant, stick a note in the Western Wall and visit Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem) and more. 

           So finally, to cap off the experience, here is a top 17 list of my experiences in Israel (I attempted to put them in order from absolute favorite to general favorites, but it’s a little bit like comparing apples and oranges).  There was more cool stuff but I figured it wouldn’t really be a list of my favorite bits if I included everything.  If you have any questions, feel free to comment or ask questions.  

            I disqualified two things from the list (food and spending time with locals), because those are both givens.  Restaurants like the Brasserie in Tel Aviv or the Quicheria in Givatayim, bakeries with pastries like croissants and rugelach, Ice coffees from Aroma, and quinoa salads from anywhere (that doesn’t use tahini), bagels and dried fruit (especially the pineapple) from the Shuk, meant endless opportunities for deliciousness.  Furthermore, having the opportunity to train for the marathon with a local, go to the Marathon Expo with my supervisor from work, and hang out with Isa and her family, as well as my landlords and coworkers, was a great way to get to understand the intricacies of the culture and the country in general. 

            Here we go, and thank you for your readership over these last several months.  I really appreciate it. 

1. The Tel Aviv Marathon (and the 26 km Mezkemmet in HaYarkon Park) plus all other running done in the area, alone and with locals

2. Dead Sea

3. Yad Vashem

4. Ayalon Institute

5. Ramon Crater

6. Hiking/trail running near Beit Shemesh and Move Betar

7. Kibbutz Hatzerim and Netafim (plant for drip irrigation hoses)

8. Bike tour of Jerusalem

9. The Western Wall

10. Snorkeling in Eilat

11. Mt. Tzfachot Circular Trail

12. Shuk HaCarmel (and Machane Yehuda)

13. The Great Synagogue

14. Mt. Herzl

15. Bahai Gardens and Shrine

16. Rosh Hanikra

17. Jewish-Arab Coexistence Tour of Jaffa

That's all I've got for now.  Thanks for reading!