Yesterday, I went to Netanya, about 20 miles north of Tel Aviv. The bus ride took about 90 minutes. I left early but the rush hour in Jerusalem was so awful- we ran into a gigantic gridlock that took forever to get through.
Anyway, Netanya felt like a beach town. There’s one main street that runs from the central bus station to the beach- Herzl Street. It meets Kikar Ha’atzma’ut (Independence Square) where there’s a huge water fountain (with no water?) and lots of benches around it. Cafes and restaurants line along the sides with outdoor seating. There’s quite bit of French in here- seemed unusual. I found the tourist office and got a map and a guidebook. As I sat down to figure out what to do, I called the Diamond Factory and the Ranch for a diamond factory tour and a riding time. The Diamond Factory was closed. Then the ranch told me to swing by around 2. I had 2 hours to kill. Then I tried calling the Bee and Honey place- a bee farm. The person wasn’t too helpful and said something about not doing tours for day. Then I decided to try checking out the Iris Garden and the Winter Pond and ducked in a small hotel for some help. He told me to take a shreut for 5 NIS since walking would talk 90 minutes. So, then I walked to look for a shreut. It was a madhouse near the bus station where I was supposed to catch this specific one- buses waiting, honking, blocking my view, cars and shreuts driving through. I got honked at because I blocked a car while looking for my shreut- people seriously drive on the sidewalks! After waiting around for 15ish minutes, I gave up. I needed to eat some lunch before going out to the ranch. So I wandered back to Ha’atzma’ut Square to look for this terrific vegetarian restaurant called Yotvata. I ordered grilled eggplant sandwich and very freshly squeezed apple juice. The portions were very generous but they were delicious!
I had to take a cab to the ranch, not the bus as originally planned since my guidebook said you could do it. The tourist office told me it’d be a 45 minute bus ride. For a beautiful day, I’m better off riding for 5 minutes in a cab. So I got there a little after 2ish. The ranch people told me that I could chill in the lounge behind them and put my stuff in the ranch house. I asked about when to pay, they said never mind now (very Israeli way to put business off). So I chilled around since they wanted to wait to see if other people showed up (pleeeasssseeee, it’s not exactly in the heart of the town nor Israel is in a high season). Mork, who would be my guide, fed the horses first. I just wandered around, observing the horses’ body language and petting them. The horses looked to be in healthy condition and the place was tidy. It was just wild to see horses right by the sea as the ranch sits atop a cliff to the sea! I felt a bit like a barn rat- born again
Finally after what seemed like forever, Mork and I got on our horses. I ripped my favorite pair of Levis mounting my horse (just in the inner thigh area, not the classic butt rip). I figured that it was time for me to admit that these jeans really needed to be thrown away as they’re very worn in with some holes…. You know? Anyway, we set off to ride down to the beach.
It was a great hour. I had just realized that, since I had him all to myself, I could talk and ask questions about his life and Israel. He’s around 24 years old and came from a horse loving family up in the North. He served in the combat in the Army for three years, then studied computers, and then worked for HP before coming to work as a ranch hand. He gave up the luxury job because he missed horses and open space in the country. As I listened to him describe his background and views about his life, I felt more and more connected to where he was coming from. Looking out at the water and the strip of sand ahead of us, I then realized that I really like this scene. It’s not just the beach; it’s just the lack of commotion and people. I would do this kind of life if I can. I like to sit around and to forge friendships rather than making superficial connections just because a city has a big network. I appreciate the beauty of vast land and love running/riding around it. Mother Nature gives me a chance to live as naturally as possible rather than trying to destroy it with cement and steel. She offers natural entertainment like mountains for me to ski and thousands of acres of land for me to ride and long, flat roads for me to run. All I need is a pair of sneakers or skis or a horse with a bridle. I feel so peaceful when I am in this kind of setting- it is one of the major reasons why I love Colgate (despite Dad’s lamentations of how there’s nothing to do in the town when we visited in March 2005). I enjoy living a simple life. I don’t listen to my ipod on the commute. I prefer to walk over to take a bus. I do fine just reading books as I don’t need television. I don’t mind owning one wardrobe (as I do now in Israel) if I don’t need to own more clothes to get dressed up for. Heck, I always look forward to my next kibbutz visit after I leave Linda and Shlomi.
Anyway, going off tangent. Mork and I talked about how his father’s family made aliyah from Belgium (I think) and he met his mother here in Israel (How typical is this romantic story?!?!), compared American and Israeli lives in our young adulthood, and horseback riding in Israel. He said that riding took off in about 2003-4 and is becoming very popular with the kids. He found me so fascinating and said that my life is so interesting when I told him what I like to do for sports (skiing, riding, and running) and about my family’s sport hobbies. Golf, hockey, skiing, and lacrosse are still novelty or unheard of in Israel. We also exchanged some horse knowledge and he learned about my riding history. I told him that there are horses all over the United States. I was really happy to meet a very friendly and eager Israeli in my age since I hadn’t met anyone like him since coming to Israel a month ago. We did some trotting and cantering on the beach but mostly walked on the cliffs since our conversation was going deep.
After riding, I took a cab back in town. Since Netanya is really a beach town and I’d have to take cabs to other places anyway, I went down to the beach to take a walk on Herzl Beach. After walking for some time, I took off my sneakers as the water looked really good and felt warm. If I had known that 70 degree weather and the water’s temperature, I would totally have brought my bathing suit and towel! It’s actually still a little cold for the Israelis but coming from hardy weather like Rochester, this was nothing to sneeze at. I rolled up my jeans and just splashed and walked through the water, letting it and the sand go through my toes. I saw a couple of beach runners going by without running shoes. I would love to try it as it’s supposed to be very good for your feet since the sand gives in to the shape of your feet.
The sun was going down. I looked both sides of me to see how far I could see the pomegranate. As the waves gentled rolled in to the shore, the peaceful atmosphere gave me a hint of why Allie still misses her Haifa’s beaches. I imagined that she had come down almost everyday after her classes and perhaps did some walking on them with her Israeli boyfriend. As I said, the beach is one of Mother Nature’s gifts. We ruined her by building sidewalks to talk long walks on. I’m making a vow to do more visits to a beach once the weather starts getting nice (after all the family visits).
After browsing a couple of stores on the way back to see if I could find a new pair of jeans, I took the bus back. By the way, Netanya’s shopping is soooooo much better than Jerusalem! Less tacky trendy clothing, more stylish trendy stuff. Also, Mork told me that Netanya is largely a Russian community (which I figured by its name) but many of the immigrants are not Jews, which sort of explained why my map didn’t show many synagogues. I thought about attending Becca’s birthday dinner but I was too tired and wasn’t hungry so I headed straight home. I texted her to tell her that I’d be too late anyway and wished her a happy birthday.
Today, I was supposed to go food shopping with Tobi as I still don’t know my way around a market in terms of packaged stuff. She gave me a call at 7:30ish to see if I realy wanted to do it (I had already woken up, thinking I’d go) and I decided that it’d be better for me to go another time since I was leaving for Prague for the long weekend. So I slept in- very much needed.
After doing my weekly long pool running (I keep it to 90 minutes, equivalent of 10 miles because it does get that boring), I showered and walked up to the campus to meet Professor Bankier for lunch. He showed me what he wanted me to do- proofreading an English translation of a book on Romanian Jewry that Yad Vashem wants to publish and doing some research with oral testimonies relating to various Soviet Union states. They looked interesting and I felt the history buff instead me screaming to take the projects. This is definitely important work that I’d be proud to throw on my resume, especially that the book is almost 400 pages long. I took the job.
Afterwards, I went to downtown. I almost doze off because I missed my stop and had gone all the way to the central bus station. Fortunately, the walk back to where I needed to be was only 10 minutes. I shopped around the shuk to find stuff for Dane in Prague. She told me that there’s no good cheese or spices (no spices!!??!). I thought I’d just buy bottles of spices at Mister Zol’s and buy cheese at the shuk as there’s a guy there who I like. I randomly walked down an aisle and found a stall with large barrels of stuff in bags. I thought they contained tea but they didn’t smell like tea. I asked the seller if those were tea or spices- he said spices. Then I asked with a smile, “Any chili powder?” (#1 item on Dane’s wish list) and he nodded his head. I said I wanted some. After pouring some in a bag, I asked if he had any sage. He had some. Basically, I reeled off every spice on Dane’s list and they had everything that I needed. I was really excited as I wasn’t sure if they’d actually sell chili powder. The spices smelled so good! My mouth watered as I thought about bringing Mom here and she could buy them in large bulk. Mom would be in heaven in this shuk- the very place that she didn’t really want me to go into when she gave me lists of no-no’s in Israel. Seriously, about a 1/2 gallon of spices (filling up a plastic milk jug) only cost me 27 sheklim- $7. A lot cheaper than the bottled ones in the stores. Afterwards, I went over to Marizpan to buy chocolate rugalech for her and her roommates. I admit it. I’ve become a shuk addict. I can see most of my money going to this place.
I met Kobe, a friend of one of my high school classmates (via creepy yet incredible Facebook). He really wanted to meet me and offered to take me out for coffee. We actually had lunch at Café Hillel. We just sat there for almost three hours, just talking away. He loved learning about America and I asked questions about his views of Israel and his Army life (in combat!!!). Basically, it was a cultural exchange. He taught me some slangs and I taught him some. One of them was JAP- Jewish American Prince(ss). I told him to be careful using it in the States as it’s a racial slur for the Japanese. He knew it but didn’t know that I didn’t know that it’s an inside slang in the Jewish world. He’s originally from Moldavia and made aliyah with his family when he was 9. So he spoke fluent Hebrew and Russian and very good English (great American accent). Slowly, I’m learning Hebrew from him that I don’t think about learning for the sake of getting around. When we said good bye, he offered a Shabbat invitation for next Friday. I told him that I’d have to take it as a rain check as I already promised to meet with some of Zev’s friends. Nevertheless, he wanted to visit me more as he’d likely be studying at Hebrew University in the fall and wished to learn his way around Jerusalem. I know that this internet encounter was totally random and risky but I checked with my high school classmate to see if he was good or bad news- she said he was fine. But this is one Israeli who’s dying to learn more about my beloved country (or so will be when Hillary Clinton takes the White House in 2008) and is attracted by personality and Natalie Portman look-alike (I can’t say how many times I’ve met Israelis who say so!), I figured why not. Plus Allie told me to chase down Israeli men anyway.
Anyway, Netanya felt like a beach town. There’s one main street that runs from the central bus station to the beach- Herzl Street. It meets Kikar Ha’atzma’ut (Independence Square) where there’s a huge water fountain (with no water?) and lots of benches around it. Cafes and restaurants line along the sides with outdoor seating. There’s quite bit of French in here- seemed unusual. I found the tourist office and got a map and a guidebook. As I sat down to figure out what to do, I called the Diamond Factory and the Ranch for a diamond factory tour and a riding time. The Diamond Factory was closed. Then the ranch told me to swing by around 2. I had 2 hours to kill. Then I tried calling the Bee and Honey place- a bee farm. The person wasn’t too helpful and said something about not doing tours for day. Then I decided to try checking out the Iris Garden and the Winter Pond and ducked in a small hotel for some help. He told me to take a shreut for 5 NIS since walking would talk 90 minutes. So, then I walked to look for a shreut. It was a madhouse near the bus station where I was supposed to catch this specific one- buses waiting, honking, blocking my view, cars and shreuts driving through. I got honked at because I blocked a car while looking for my shreut- people seriously drive on the sidewalks! After waiting around for 15ish minutes, I gave up. I needed to eat some lunch before going out to the ranch. So I wandered back to Ha’atzma’ut Square to look for this terrific vegetarian restaurant called Yotvata. I ordered grilled eggplant sandwich and very freshly squeezed apple juice. The portions were very generous but they were delicious!
I had to take a cab to the ranch, not the bus as originally planned since my guidebook said you could do it. The tourist office told me it’d be a 45 minute bus ride. For a beautiful day, I’m better off riding for 5 minutes in a cab. So I got there a little after 2ish. The ranch people told me that I could chill in the lounge behind them and put my stuff in the ranch house. I asked about when to pay, they said never mind now (very Israeli way to put business off). So I chilled around since they wanted to wait to see if other people showed up (pleeeasssseeee, it’s not exactly in the heart of the town nor Israel is in a high season). Mork, who would be my guide, fed the horses first. I just wandered around, observing the horses’ body language and petting them. The horses looked to be in healthy condition and the place was tidy. It was just wild to see horses right by the sea as the ranch sits atop a cliff to the sea! I felt a bit like a barn rat- born again
Finally after what seemed like forever, Mork and I got on our horses. I ripped my favorite pair of Levis mounting my horse (just in the inner thigh area, not the classic butt rip). I figured that it was time for me to admit that these jeans really needed to be thrown away as they’re very worn in with some holes…. You know? Anyway, we set off to ride down to the beach.
It was a great hour. I had just realized that, since I had him all to myself, I could talk and ask questions about his life and Israel. He’s around 24 years old and came from a horse loving family up in the North. He served in the combat in the Army for three years, then studied computers, and then worked for HP before coming to work as a ranch hand. He gave up the luxury job because he missed horses and open space in the country. As I listened to him describe his background and views about his life, I felt more and more connected to where he was coming from. Looking out at the water and the strip of sand ahead of us, I then realized that I really like this scene. It’s not just the beach; it’s just the lack of commotion and people. I would do this kind of life if I can. I like to sit around and to forge friendships rather than making superficial connections just because a city has a big network. I appreciate the beauty of vast land and love running/riding around it. Mother Nature gives me a chance to live as naturally as possible rather than trying to destroy it with cement and steel. She offers natural entertainment like mountains for me to ski and thousands of acres of land for me to ride and long, flat roads for me to run. All I need is a pair of sneakers or skis or a horse with a bridle. I feel so peaceful when I am in this kind of setting- it is one of the major reasons why I love Colgate (despite Dad’s lamentations of how there’s nothing to do in the town when we visited in March 2005). I enjoy living a simple life. I don’t listen to my ipod on the commute. I prefer to walk over to take a bus. I do fine just reading books as I don’t need television. I don’t mind owning one wardrobe (as I do now in Israel) if I don’t need to own more clothes to get dressed up for. Heck, I always look forward to my next kibbutz visit after I leave Linda and Shlomi.
Anyway, going off tangent. Mork and I talked about how his father’s family made aliyah from Belgium (I think) and he met his mother here in Israel (How typical is this romantic story?!?!), compared American and Israeli lives in our young adulthood, and horseback riding in Israel. He said that riding took off in about 2003-4 and is becoming very popular with the kids. He found me so fascinating and said that my life is so interesting when I told him what I like to do for sports (skiing, riding, and running) and about my family’s sport hobbies. Golf, hockey, skiing, and lacrosse are still novelty or unheard of in Israel. We also exchanged some horse knowledge and he learned about my riding history. I told him that there are horses all over the United States. I was really happy to meet a very friendly and eager Israeli in my age since I hadn’t met anyone like him since coming to Israel a month ago. We did some trotting and cantering on the beach but mostly walked on the cliffs since our conversation was going deep.
After riding, I took a cab back in town. Since Netanya is really a beach town and I’d have to take cabs to other places anyway, I went down to the beach to take a walk on Herzl Beach. After walking for some time, I took off my sneakers as the water looked really good and felt warm. If I had known that 70 degree weather and the water’s temperature, I would totally have brought my bathing suit and towel! It’s actually still a little cold for the Israelis but coming from hardy weather like Rochester, this was nothing to sneeze at. I rolled up my jeans and just splashed and walked through the water, letting it and the sand go through my toes. I saw a couple of beach runners going by without running shoes. I would love to try it as it’s supposed to be very good for your feet since the sand gives in to the shape of your feet.
The sun was going down. I looked both sides of me to see how far I could see the pomegranate. As the waves gentled rolled in to the shore, the peaceful atmosphere gave me a hint of why Allie still misses her Haifa’s beaches. I imagined that she had come down almost everyday after her classes and perhaps did some walking on them with her Israeli boyfriend. As I said, the beach is one of Mother Nature’s gifts. We ruined her by building sidewalks to talk long walks on. I’m making a vow to do more visits to a beach once the weather starts getting nice (after all the family visits).
After browsing a couple of stores on the way back to see if I could find a new pair of jeans, I took the bus back. By the way, Netanya’s shopping is soooooo much better than Jerusalem! Less tacky trendy clothing, more stylish trendy stuff. Also, Mork told me that Netanya is largely a Russian community (which I figured by its name) but many of the immigrants are not Jews, which sort of explained why my map didn’t show many synagogues. I thought about attending Becca’s birthday dinner but I was too tired and wasn’t hungry so I headed straight home. I texted her to tell her that I’d be too late anyway and wished her a happy birthday.
Today, I was supposed to go food shopping with Tobi as I still don’t know my way around a market in terms of packaged stuff. She gave me a call at 7:30ish to see if I realy wanted to do it (I had already woken up, thinking I’d go) and I decided that it’d be better for me to go another time since I was leaving for Prague for the long weekend. So I slept in- very much needed.
After doing my weekly long pool running (I keep it to 90 minutes, equivalent of 10 miles because it does get that boring), I showered and walked up to the campus to meet Professor Bankier for lunch. He showed me what he wanted me to do- proofreading an English translation of a book on Romanian Jewry that Yad Vashem wants to publish and doing some research with oral testimonies relating to various Soviet Union states. They looked interesting and I felt the history buff instead me screaming to take the projects. This is definitely important work that I’d be proud to throw on my resume, especially that the book is almost 400 pages long. I took the job.
Afterwards, I went to downtown. I almost doze off because I missed my stop and had gone all the way to the central bus station. Fortunately, the walk back to where I needed to be was only 10 minutes. I shopped around the shuk to find stuff for Dane in Prague. She told me that there’s no good cheese or spices (no spices!!??!). I thought I’d just buy bottles of spices at Mister Zol’s and buy cheese at the shuk as there’s a guy there who I like. I randomly walked down an aisle and found a stall with large barrels of stuff in bags. I thought they contained tea but they didn’t smell like tea. I asked the seller if those were tea or spices- he said spices. Then I asked with a smile, “Any chili powder?” (#1 item on Dane’s wish list) and he nodded his head. I said I wanted some. After pouring some in a bag, I asked if he had any sage. He had some. Basically, I reeled off every spice on Dane’s list and they had everything that I needed. I was really excited as I wasn’t sure if they’d actually sell chili powder. The spices smelled so good! My mouth watered as I thought about bringing Mom here and she could buy them in large bulk. Mom would be in heaven in this shuk- the very place that she didn’t really want me to go into when she gave me lists of no-no’s in Israel. Seriously, about a 1/2 gallon of spices (filling up a plastic milk jug) only cost me 27 sheklim- $7. A lot cheaper than the bottled ones in the stores. Afterwards, I went over to Marizpan to buy chocolate rugalech for her and her roommates. I admit it. I’ve become a shuk addict. I can see most of my money going to this place.
I met Kobe, a friend of one of my high school classmates (via creepy yet incredible Facebook). He really wanted to meet me and offered to take me out for coffee. We actually had lunch at Café Hillel. We just sat there for almost three hours, just talking away. He loved learning about America and I asked questions about his views of Israel and his Army life (in combat!!!). Basically, it was a cultural exchange. He taught me some slangs and I taught him some. One of them was JAP- Jewish American Prince(ss). I told him to be careful using it in the States as it’s a racial slur for the Japanese. He knew it but didn’t know that I didn’t know that it’s an inside slang in the Jewish world. He’s originally from Moldavia and made aliyah with his family when he was 9. So he spoke fluent Hebrew and Russian and very good English (great American accent). Slowly, I’m learning Hebrew from him that I don’t think about learning for the sake of getting around. When we said good bye, he offered a Shabbat invitation for next Friday. I told him that I’d have to take it as a rain check as I already promised to meet with some of Zev’s friends. Nevertheless, he wanted to visit me more as he’d likely be studying at Hebrew University in the fall and wished to learn his way around Jerusalem. I know that this internet encounter was totally random and risky but I checked with my high school classmate to see if he was good or bad news- she said he was fine. But this is one Israeli who’s dying to learn more about my beloved country (or so will be when Hillary Clinton takes the White House in 2008) and is attracted by personality and Natalie Portman look-alike (I can’t say how many times I’ve met Israelis who say so!), I figured why not. Plus Allie told me to chase down Israeli men anyway.
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