Getting of out Jerusalem for a day

It is easy to forget amidst all the ideological reasons I'm in Israel that I also live in the Mediterranean and just 45 minutes from the beach. Yesterday Lisa and I went on a little field trip. One of our objectives was to do tashlich by the water, but also we just really, really, really needed to get out of Jerusalem. The bus ride to Tel Aviv goes along some long winding roads and can be really nausiating, so it's tempting to just close my eyes and pass out for the trip. Somehow I can never do that. I've been on that trip so many times by now but always find new things to look at. And it's really exciting seeing a beautifully new paved highway or completed train track where just a year ago there was a pile of rubble and some construction workers sitting around all day eating and smoking. This country is beautiful! I can't believe how quickly even entire new neighborhoods go out. I have to see everything.


When we got to Tel Aviv we did our best to avoid looking at the people who made poor choices when buying bathing suits suited to their body types and finally found a place for tashlich. The water was nice and warm and the waves looked great. Wish I had a boogie board. After that we wandered around, and I got some amazing Italian gelato ice cream... mmm. We also saw this tree and were quite amused. We always wanted to rent a tree.
Lisa and I parted ways so she could go see our friends at Bar Ilan and I could get back to Jerusalem to meet with the family that just hired me... that's right-- I have a job!!!! More about that later. The bus ride back was just as incredible. How could I close my eyes even for a second? The sun was a huge pink ball settling over the horizon and lighting up the sky. At the same time the almost full moon was getting brighter. When I got closer to Jerusalem I saw a small car shlepping a giant pile of schach on its roof. The sign at the city entrance wished me a shana tova and chag sameach. That's right up there with the TV stations having messages on Friday afternoon that their broadcast would continue after Yom Kippur, and that we should all have a gmar chatima tova.

I went straight from the Jerusalem bus station to Arnona to visit my new employers-- Sammy, Odelia, and Liam. I got to read them bedtime stories! I'm going to love this job.