If Only It Could Be Like This Every Weekend

The last couple of weekends have been some of the best I have ever had in my life. I went to new places, learned new things, and had great company. It doesn't get too much better.

The weekend before this last weekend (Feb 6-8) was one to go down in history. It all started with an idea of a males only weekend. It sounds horribly sexist, but we men need to be manly sometimes. We gave in the name "Weekman". It is supposed to sound like "Weekend", but in reality makes us all look like panzies. Anyways, the normal crew of guys I hang out with currently live in Bat Yam/Holon. It made more sense for me to meet them there instead of our final destination which you will hear about in a minute. I showed up to BY on Thursday night and was invited to dinner at Tal's apartment with my friends. Tal is the fixer upper of the apartments owned by YC in Bat Yam and Holon. He is originally from New York. A super nice guy. As a way of improving our hebrew, we all tried to talk as much as possible in Hebrew. A really good tool for impoving conversational skills. Afterwards we watched the movie "The Impossible Spy". It's an old movie, but I highly recommended it.





Friday moring we headed out to our destination: Tiberius. A town located on the eastern side of the Kinneret. Our plan went off without hitch. Well, that's because, the plan was pretty fluid.

We got to Tiberus, it was a beutiful day. We were all hungry and decided to find some place to eat. Things were starting to close because of Shabbat, but we found the place. The perfect place. It was your usual hummus joint run by an old lady. We were the only customers, 8 hungry boys...sorry....men. It was like hiring a mom for two hours. She actually went down the street and picked up fresh groceries because she was out of ingredients. We couldn't have been more satisfied walking out of there.

Afterwards we were looking for a place to make some coffee with my newly purchased equipment (stove, pot, good coffee, and perfect little glasses). We start walking to what looks like some strange metal structure. Upon arrival we realize its non other than Rambam's Tomb. A very cool find.

At this point our friend Dan arrives at the central bus station just a few blocks away. We meet him and then initiate the second part of the plan: find a place to camp. I was "unoffically" told by some people that it is totally feasible to just walk along the beach until we find a place to camp. It worked out perfectly. Our manly group paraded out of Tiberus about half an hour worth of walking and found a little place on the beach to camp. Set up camp, built a nice fire, and ate some dinner. Later we were joined by a group of Israels. Some high school kids. The cops came to check things out. They didn't even talk to us. They didn't even care that we were there. That would never fly in the states.

We woke up the next morning for the most epic day. We hiked back into Tiberus and dropped off our stuff and rented our bikes. The mission: to circumnavigate the Kinnert, a 60 kilometer trip. Mission Sucessful! It was hard, but a lot of fun.

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I hadn't done a ride that hard in a long time. Matter of fact, I haven't been doing much riding at all in Israel for the simple fact of not owning a bike. I really miss it. None the less, the ride was refreshing, sencnic and challenging.

The bus ride back from the Tiberus to Jerusalem was surprisgly short. I got on the bus and immediatly feel a sleep. Woke up two hours later while pulling into Jerusalem. I was back in my apartment by around 11 pm.

The next weekend was not nearly as manly, but very relaxing....and religious.
My friend Tehilla from camp invited Sali, Aaron, and me over for Shabbat. We all worked at camp togther, have seen each other on seperate occasions while in Israel, but have never had the chance to spend quality time together.

I met Sali in the central bus station in Jerusalem and from there we headed to Rehovot. In short, we spent the weekend hanging out, playing board games, and enjoying each other's company. Tehilla and her family are a lot more religous than I am. Being a guest in their house I observed the laws for shabbat with them and went to synagoge as well. I don't normally keep the shabbat, but every now in then I find it very comforting and relaxing, espically with good friends. The food was also a great plus. I love homecooked meals, and Tehilla's Mom is a great cook. I look forward to going back at least once before I leave in June.

Sali and I got back to Jerusalem fairly early. She always mets her friends at the Western Wall after every Shabbat. I walked with her there since I really didn't have any thing to do. It was a nice half hour walk. We had a really good conversation. I'm happy she is coming back to Midwest this summer. Maybe the same Aidah again Sali?