Weekend!

So Thursday the 2nd we awoke bright and early (too early) for a field trip to the Knesset - the Israeli Parliament. I had been there before, but it seemed appropriate to go again considering my program is through a law school. Unfortunately, being a Thursday, nothing was going on. Nobody was there. So we looked at an empty building, empty rooms, and met nobody (except our tour guide, of course). Still it was fairly educational, we learned about some of the art in the building and a little bit of the history of the building, and a little bit about how the party system here works (don't ask me to explain it, I think you need a doctorate degree just to get the gist of how it works...I think even the Prime Minister doesn't fully understand how the system works here, lol!). Also, in the news recently was this article about a new piece of art recently hung in the Knesset

Apparently, some people find this is inappropriate for the Knesset. I think it's the perfect thing for the Knesset; to me, this is a reminder that while Israel is the homeland for the Jews (and must remain as such) other people do in fact live here as well. Just because it's not part of Jewish history, doesn't mean it's not part of the history of the land.

After the Knesset, we went to Har Hertzl, which is kind of like the national cemetery. Many leaders of the State of Israel are buried there, as are soldiers. I don't think I need to go into any more detail about that.

An afternoon of classes, and then we went wandering in search of dinner. I do mean wandering. The guys I went with (who know their way around Jerusalem) couldn't decide where to eat, so I think we just started walking until we felt like something. On the way I couldn't help but notice that the city actually smells pretty awful...it's a real shame that such a beautiful city is also so dirty. Also, they are testing a new light rail system. Notice I say they are just now testing it. They were starting to build it eight years ago! And you think construction is slow in the States...

We ended up at the Central Bus Station. It's actually more similar to a mall that happens to be a bus depot. I think they improved it a bit since the last time I was here, maybe added more floors. But there are some good restaurants there too.

So remember how Israel is such a small world? Friday morning I had to run a few quick errands before starting my weekend. I stopped into the post office and as I did, I saw my program guide, Ofra, from when I was here for my year long program. How random! It really is such a small country.

Friday afternoon I set out for Bat Yam to visit my friend Mike. Bat Yam is like a suburb of Tel Aviv...well, a suburb of Jaffa, which is like a suburb to Tel Aviv (even though Jaffa came first). It's actually kind of an immigrant town, and the current wave of immigrants are Russians, so there's lots of Russian influence - Russian restaurants, bars, signs (dentists). Unfortunately, because it's an immigrant town, it's also kind of a poor town. Most of the apartment buildings are older and dilapidated. However, it's still on the beach. So there are huge new high rise condos springing up all over the place. It's kind of like those high rise condos behind the Vegas Strip - nice expensive buildings right in the heart of a bad neighborhood.

The first thing we did (because I had already been in Israel a week without doing it) was go to the beach! The beach in Bat Yam is more low key than Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is young, fun, hip, always moving, Bat Yam is more relaxing. There are even grassy parks behind the beach for bar-be-cueing.

That night we went out to the clubs and bars of Tel Aviv. Mike and his friend (even though they've only lived here a few months) know bar owners and bouncers all over town. This helps, because the clubs have different policies than clubs in the States. Here, there are no lines, just people standing around the entrances. If you know a promoter, the promoter might put your name on a list. Every now and then, the doormen call names from the list. If you happen to be standing there when your name is called, you can come in. If not, well...

But these guys don't have to worry about that, they show up and get the VIP treatment. We went to an area called HaNamal - The Port. It's in the Tel Aviv marina but it's a nightlife district. Pretty cool, but to me clubs all seem the same, so I couldn't really even tell you if it was a good place. Still, had fun. Left around three, but after getting out of the cab, Mike realized he left his iphone in the cab. We tried calling it and tracking it via gps, but the driver just yanked our chain for a couple of hours before disappearing. Apparently, this is very common - so keep track of your phone!

Next day (afternoon by the time we woke up) we went back to the beach. It wasn't quite hot enough to go in the water, but it was nice enough to just sit out with a couple of beers and ice cream. Then back on the bus back to Jerusalem (although we took some strange route, so it took almost 2 hours!)

Sunday we have our classes in the afternoon, so not much to go on about that, except for dinner. A whole group of us decided to try the Chinese restaurant down the street. I can't remember ever having Chinese food in Israel, but it was delicious (also, the fortune cookies are in fact in Hebrew). And it's right across from a delicious ice cream shop too, so that made my night.