My First Week in Israel

Well, I made it to Israel in one piece, without any trouble from passport control. My backpack made it to Tel Aviv in one piece as well. Barak was waiting for me right outside the baggage claim and we just made it on the train into the city to get into bed at around 4:30 am. The following day, Wednesday the 11th, we had lunch with his mom Varda, aunt Shula (who lives in NY), sister Inbal and her boyfriend Avner. It was an amazing meal and the company wasn't too bad either. Being nervous and only having 4 hours of any sort of quality sleep made me a little bit more on edge than I thought I would have been. But they all made an incredible effort to speak in English and help make me feel comfortable. That night after a nice long afternoon nap, Barak took me for my first walk through the city. The streets are really alive with young people meeting up and socializing where ever they see fit. I got a general orientation of the area before we headed back to his place. The following day, we made the trek to Netanya, Barak's hometown, where his parents still live. It was wonderful to be in his family's home. Again, the Mendelsohn crew made me feel so warm and welcome. After a big snack and smaller but still quite tasty supper, Barak showed me the night life of Netanya. We ended up at a bar that he frequented in his youth for the night. The scene wasn't much different than the US, there just a guy with a metal detector wand standing at the front door. We spent Friday during the day walking around Netanya's shopping district, running small errands and observing Netanyans enjoying their weekend. After another quick meal at his parents' we drove to see one of Barak's best friends since childhood, Asi, his wife Tzafi and their two boys (Yoav,3 and Yonatin, now 3 weeks). It was great to see Barak interact with someone he has known his entire life who is outside of the family. Asi and Tzafi are two of the most genuine people I have met in a long time. It was really nice to get the chance to meet and chat with them even though we were only there for a little over an hour. Then back to Barak's parents for dinner and then off to Tel Aviv to meet up with one of his former roommates who is stuck in her apartment with a broken leg. It was an intense first couple of days, but as the week started on Sunday, Barak went back to a normal work schedule at the university, and I got some time to explore Tel Aviv on my own. Spent most of it just wondering the streets and at the beach which is amazing. The water is so much warmer than either the Pacific or Atlantic oceans and it is so clear that you can see schools of fish swimming nearly to the shore. The sand is packed with Israelis and tourists alike baking in the Indian Summer sun. After just a couple of days, I had to pack some stuff up to catch a flight back to Athens for a technical RTW ticket issue. If I skipped my leg from Athens to Tel Aviv on the "One-World" alliance airline partner, the rest of my ticket would be cancelled. More about Athens next time.

Pictures of Barak's Apartment - 87 Allenby - Tel Aviv