Our First Tiyul to Tel Aviv

It was actually about 2 weeks ago, but I never had a chance to write about it because I was sick. There are a few things about the day that I found interesting. First, it really is a European city -- it has very little in common with Jerusalem except for the fact that it is in Israel and that Jews are the predominant inhabitants of both cities. However, Jerusalem is a very religious city and Tel Aviv is very secular, and the folks who live in each city reflect that difference. There are tons of restaurants, bars, clubs, cafes, etc. all over the place, many open late or all night. On Fridays there is an amazing artist market where we know we can go for unique gifts in the future. We ate dinner at a Thai restaurant, and pork and shellfish were on the menu! The owner was recommending dishes to me and I kept telling him I have to have pork! Transportation runs 24/7 between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and within Tel Aviv. We did a round trip, including a sherut to Tel Aviv, a sherut to the beach and reverse for 2 people for 150 shekel total. This makes it possible for us to go to Tel Aviv every 4-6 weeks which we think we need to do so as not to suffocate in Jerusalem. Since we arrived in Jerusalem, I have been looking for all of the Ethiopian Jewish immigrants that you hear and read about, but I felt like I wasn't seeing the whole picture. Well, they are all in Tel Aviv, or at least it seems that way. It was SO nice to see people of color. Jerusalem is very white. Coming from Washington, DC, where I worked in a predominantly black neighborhood and lived in what was quickly becoming a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, it was very refreshing to see diversity. And pretty much everyone was very Eurochic/metrosexual, again a refreshing change from the frum folks in Jerusalem. We went to the beach for a few hours. It was packed and was really quite nice. Lots of paddleball and volleyball and babies running around naked. I didn't get in the ocean, although Rachel did, but I did get my feet wet and collect some shells for old times sake. We laid around and read and hung out to see the sunset over the ocean. A little French-Jewish dog, who I named Louche, befriended us -- she made herself at home on our blanket and explored my backpack and of course agreed to the petting and scratching (check out pics on DropShot). It was a nice, although short, day. I started getting sick the night before this day trip and in hindsight probably shouldn't have gone, but I had no idea how sick I really was. So we left a lot later than we had planned and came back earlier, but we got a sense of Tel Aviv and know that we want to spend more time there. You can look forward to future posts about our adventures in Tel Aviv.