So I guess I have a little catching up to do, but will do it as quickly as possible.
After Havdallah on Saturday, the Canadian group went to do some shopping on Ben Yehuida Street in Jerusalem. A great, touristy place to go. Lots of young kids on different trips running around; Birthright, March of the Living, and others. I walked around with Haley Davis and tried to do some shopping, but wasnt really interested in getting much. Afterwards we all went back to the hotel and hung out together until 3 am. The next morning we woke up, had breakfast for the last time as a group, and headed to the airport. The people who stayed in Jerusalem stayed behind, and since I was heading to Tel Aviv I went on the bus to catch a train from the airport. While it was incredibly sad to see everyone in line to board their flight, I was incredibly happy to have another two weeks here to travel. Another sad good bye ensued, but not as bad since we all live in relative proximity compared to the Israeli friends we had just left behind. (The flight ended up not being very much fun. A stop in Cyprus, another stop in Halifax to change flight attendants, a regularly scheduled stop in Toronto, and then on from there)
From there I took a train and a bus to get to Sally Bogoch's Tel Aviv residence. A-mazing. What a beautiful view. Her place looks over the beach on the corner of Ha Yarkon and Nordau in north Tel Aviv. On Sunday night was Yom Hazikaron, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Hazikaron, which is the day to remember all of Israels fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. Rabin Square was packed with people (I forgot to bring my camera), and on stage there were solemn singers and people telling stories about the loved ones they had lost. Like Yom Ha'shoah, I didn't understand a word, but it was not really necessary. You could feel the emotion coming from the people onstage and the singers.
At 7 pm that night and the next morning at 11 am there was sirens heard all across Israel. For two minutes people stopped doing what they were doing and stood. People in cars stopped and got out of their cars, buses pulled over, and people on the beach stood up. It was something to see! After that, Sally, her friend Becca and I went to Shook HaCarmel, and shopped. We walked home along the beach and came home. Later on that evening Sally had some of her medical school friends over to celebrate Yo Ha'atzmaut, the 63rd anniversary of Israel's independence. It was a fun party. From Sally's we went back to Rabin Square to celebrate. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/yomhaatzmaut.html What a great fun time party. In the same place that last night was the most solemn evening in the year (perhaps second after Yom Kippur), tonight was the greatest celebration of the year. Kids with silly string, adults dancing and celebrating, and teenagers dressing like they shouldn't be. There were singers of a different sort, more upbeat tunes that night. And again we had a great time. After Rabin Square we went to some other places, but by then I was in full celebration mode, so am basing my recollections on what others are telling me happened. Good times.
The next day, Tuesday, was a beach and barbecue day for the entire country. Sallyand I walked along the beach towards the Tel Aviv Port and watched some planes fly by for an air show. Three helicoptors which were super cool, some jets, one jet being refuelled mid air, and a pair of drones which was also awesome to see. After that we came back and went for shwarma. We went to visit some of her friends who were having a barbecue by the water, and there were maybe a thousand people bbq-ing there as well.
Last night we went to see the med school band, the Wavey Davez, play, and they were really great. They played some covers, but changed up the tunes, including the Bed Intruder song, I just had Sex from SNL, and Cee-Lo Greens Fuck You. It was fun.
Now I am heading to the bus station to go to Eilat. See you next time.
Sincerely,
Elliot S. Weinstein
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