I have a home! Allie and I moved into our FABULOUSLY AMAZING apartment this weekend and I could not be happier. We are living on Ibn Gvirol, a main street in Tel Aviv near EVERYTHING! Bus stops, shops, and FOOD (as you all know, this was of course my number one priority). Our apartment is three bedrooms and we are living with an Israeli guy named Amos who is SUPER nice. Him and I watched “Kochal Nolad” (the Israeli version of American Idol) the other night and had some serious bonding time. The poor guy had to translate for me like every five seconds but we had a lot of fun talking and making of fun of the dress of the girl who won (seriously the girl is going to look back and be like “What was I THINKING??)
We also have a lovely cast of characters living in the building with us. Across the hall we have a guy who apparently does not actually OWN a shirt. He does exercises on the roof, tells Allie and I not to fight over him, and jumps out of our balcony onto his when he (fairly often) locks himself out of his apartment. He is sooo “THAT GUY”. Totally harmless though and will probably be providing be with an endless slew of stories. Downstairs there is the cutest couple, Lily and Robert. I think they are in their 80’s and they always sit in their apartment playing cards with the door open. They are so nice and friendly. I went over to introduce myself though and Robert goes “your name is Richard? Like the boy?”. I tried to explain my name many times in multiple languages but was unsuccessful. Oh well, what is one more nickname?
The apartment has taken up most of my time in the past week or so and so has learning how to get around on the buses. On one excursion to the bank I got on a bus and found myself getting so excited that I recognized buildings and landmarks as I passed them. Unfortunately this was about the time that I realized if I was recognizing things I was DEFINITELY going the wrong way, so I hopped off the bus and got on another one going the opposite direction. I got off at the right stop but then it took me about 15 minutes to figure out where the bank was, only to find that it was closed. Oh well, I got a nice little tour of Tel Aviv and I can now describe every stop on the 25 bus line.
Getting to know the bus routes has been rough but getting to know the people has been a breeze. Our program is filled with amazing people with wonderful stories. I am already known as the one randomly breaks into dance and is always curious about the “food situation”, but hey worse things. We recently had a picnic for program participants and alumni, which combined two of my favorite things; eating and meeting new people. It was great to spend time with the participants I already knew and meet those in the cohort ahead of ours. While at the picnic I saw an alumnus who looked familiar but I could not put my finger on it. Turns out he was a counselor at Capital Camps in my last year! Oh Jewish Geography….
Tomorrow I have my first day at the school I am teaching at and my first day at Ulpan, so I am very excited and nervous . I am working at a high school that has an incredible reputation, so I have a lot to live up to. On the other hand, because of how good the education is, the students have a very good English background which will mean I hopefully will not make as much of an ass out of myself . I will save that for Ulpan. Needless to say, tomorrow will be a long day, which is why despite the fact that I am waking up at 6 am I plan on going out tomorrow night with some people from the program, and I am sure it will shape up to be a VERY entertaining evening….
