9/28 | The Beach and the Beginning of Rosh HaShanah

On Wednesday morning, I woke up with absolutely no plans for the day.  After eating breakfast, I went back to my room and saw that I had a missed call from Esther.  When I called her back, it turned out that she, too, had nothing to do.  We decided that the day would be perfectly spent at the beach--HaChohf--sitting next to the Mediterranean Sea, or Yahm HaTeekohn in Hebrew.  Since we were only about 45 minutes from the shore, we met at the Givatayim mall and hopped on a bus that took us straight there.  Here are a few pictures from our beach adventure:

Our first view of the Mediterranean Sea

Tel Aviv = paradise.

The Tel Aviv marina with hundreds of boats.

Esther and I at the beach.

A strange building on HaYarkon Street, the main road that runs parallel to the sea.

The embassies of Switzerland--Shveitz--and Turkey--Tourkiyeh--on HaYarkon Street.  Jerusalem is capital of Israel, but because the city is so contentious the international community has chosen to put its embassies in Tel Aviv.  Once a final status agreement is reached, it is hoped that all these embassies will be moved to their rightful place in Jerusalem (the eternal, undivided capital of Israel and the Jewish people, as Prime Minister Netanyahu likes to say).

When we were done at the beach, Esther and I decided to take a bus back to Givatayim/Ramat Gan.  This did not work so well; only one bus came and it blew right past us without stopping.  So, instead of taking a bus for 6.40 shekalim, we took a 50 shekalim cab to avoid getting stuck in the city after the city shut down for Rosh HaShanah.  When we finally got back to the mall, we split ways and heading home for dinner.

The pedestrian path right outside of my family's house.

When I got back to the house, Zahava was busy making all types of food.  Everything smelled delicious!  I took a quick shower and then joined Israel and Zahava in video chatting Mira, Yaeli, and Yuval in the Netherlands.  After a brief conversation with them, it was time for dinner.  Dinner consisted of several courses with every type of food imaginable: apples and honey, challah, liver, tuna, chicken noodle soup, kreplach, chicken and potatoes, beef, honey cake, and a sweet soup-type dessert with chunks of fruit.  I know I am forgetting something, but it goes to show you how much food we had!

The dinner table.

In addition to Chanah, Israel, Zahava, and I, we were joined by Israel's mother Rachel and her helper.  Out of a table of six people, only three of us spoke English so my Hebrew skills were out in full force.  Even stranger was that Rachel's helper spoke Russian (in addition to some basic Hebrew), so anything she said had to be said to Rachel.  Rachel would translate to a Hebrew that I usually could not understand, so Israel would have to explain it to me.  Interesting, right?  It just goes to show you how even in a state made up mostly of Jews, there is still so much diversity.