Today's trip to the beach in Tel Aviv was filled with many new experiences! I will start from the beginning with the craziest bus ride ever. 6 of us met at school to take the bus to the central bus station in Jerusalem. The #18 bus (good luck maybe?) was PACKED and we were all crammed in there standing face to face like sardines. Did I mention that it was a sweltering day in the Jerusalem/Tel Aviv sun and that means people on the bus are smelly and sweaty? About 15 minutes into this ride, a woman sitting next to us started screaming at someone in Russian, and several people proceeded to scream in Russian and Hebrew at the top of their lungs for quite some time. Although I'm convinced that is a normal level of speaking for Israelis, to Americans it is quite loud.
We arrived at the central bus station in Jerusalem which is kind of a hectic place (or at least I thought it was, until I saw the central bus station in Tel Aviv). We got o
n a nicely air conditioned bus with comfortable seats for the hour ride to Tel Aviv. We arrived in the Tel Aviv central bus station which is balagan (chaotic and crazy!) and somehow got spat outside away from the bus we were supposed to get on, so we ended up taking a sheirut (10 seater taxi) to the Dizengoff center (a big shopping center in Tel Aviv). From there we walked to the beach, and behold- the perfectly warm and blue Mediterranean! Baruch Hashem, we finally made it!
n a nicely air conditioned bus with comfortable seats for the hour ride to Tel Aviv. We arrived in the Tel Aviv central bus station which is balagan (chaotic and crazy!) and somehow got spat outside away from the bus we were supposed to get on, so we ended up taking a sheirut (10 seater taxi) to the Dizengoff center (a big shopping center in Tel Aviv). From there we walked to the beach, and behold- the perfectly warm and blue Mediterranean! Baruch Hashem, we finally made it! We spent
several hours lounging on the beach, playing in the water, and just relaxing. It was truly wonderful. There is something about the sound of the tide that washes every bit of stress away. After the beach, we ate at a delicious Ethiopian Restaurant in Tel Aviv. For those of you who do not know, there is a large Ethiopian population in Israel since "Operation Moses" and "Operation Solomon" which brought them from Ethiopia to Israel. If you haven't had Ethiopian food, DO IT. It was very very tasty! They serve the food family style in baskets with a layer of injera (kind of like bread, a really large lafa- super tasty) and meat and/or vegetables with sauce on top.
several hours lounging on the beach, playing in the water, and just relaxing. It was truly wonderful. There is something about the sound of the tide that washes every bit of stress away. After the beach, we ate at a delicious Ethiopian Restaurant in Tel Aviv. For those of you who do not know, there is a large Ethiopian population in Israel since "Operation Moses" and "Operation Solomon" which brought them from Ethiopia to Israel. If you haven't had Ethiopian food, DO IT. It was very very tasty! They serve the food family style in baskets with a layer of injera (kind of like bread, a really large lafa- super tasty) and meat and/or vegetables with sauce on top. Our bus ride back was also quite interesting- aided by the fact that we were all full of yummy Ethiopian food and covered head to toe in the fine Mediterranean sand. We split up to take sheiruts back to the bus station, which took some time and was a little frustrating. We finally made it to the central bus station in Tel Aviv (aka balagan) and got on the bus to Jerusalem. B'seder (Ok)? No. Once we are all on, a man comes on the bus and says the ticket machine is broken so we need to get off the bus, pay at the next bus over, and then come back on the bus. The organization of the bus system in Israel amazes me (sarcasm). We did as they said, and had a lovely trip back to Jerusalem, with hot air blowing through the vents. From there we decided to treat ourselves to a taxi ride, as we were all finished dealing with buses for the day and walking 45 minutes home was definitely not going to happen.
All in all it was a fabulous day at the beach. I learned a lot about the bus system and how to get from place to place in Israel. The trick is to know exactly which line you ne
ed to take BEFORE you get to the station. Because the signs do not help at all, and there is nobody there to answer any questions. Also, exciting Hebrew update for the day, I can now officially do an entire cab ride transaction in Hebrew. The driver asked me which road to take..and all I could think was- aren't you supposed to know that? But I succcessfully told him my preferred route, and I was very proud of myself! It was one of those situations where we could have easily spoken English, but I have found it is very important to speak Hebrew at every opportunity- it was especially important at dinner tonight when our waitress did not speak a word of English!
ed to take BEFORE you get to the station. Because the signs do not help at all, and there is nobody there to answer any questions. Also, exciting Hebrew update for the day, I can now officially do an entire cab ride transaction in Hebrew. The driver asked me which road to take..and all I could think was- aren't you supposed to know that? But I succcessfully told him my preferred route, and I was very proud of myself! It was one of those situations where we could have easily spoken English, but I have found it is very important to speak Hebrew at every opportunity- it was especially important at dinner tonight when our waitress did not speak a word of English!I think I have written more than enough for tonight- for those of you who stuck with this post to the end, Mazal Tov!
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