hi bloggy friends. i promise there will be a new entry by sunday. I PROMISE!!! i have literally not had a day off in ten days, but i have the next three days to myself, so things are coming.

stay tuned.

happy thanksgivikuh.

i love you.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

bonjour mes amis!

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't written during the past week! The main reason is that there hasn't been too much new news. I was a little more tired, so I mostly took it easy. The main focus was on ulpan, my content writing and spending time with my friends. My friend Nicole and I have claimed a restaurant as "our place," it is an adorable little cafe with the most amazing greek salads that have huge blocks of feta cheese, and all of the chairs are facing the sidewalk so we sit and eat salads and drink wine and talk about everything that is going on in our lives. It's become a lovely little tradition already! My friend Lisa has invited me to go to Amsterdam and Berlin during our one week break with two of her friends from home (a couple), being in Berlin for New Years Eve, and I have happily accepted! I wanted to do something fun for the break and this sounds like the perfect thing.

Finally yesterday my roommate arrived! Her name is Yohanna and she is an adorable French girl who never stops smiling. She arrived early yesterday morning, and immediately asked what I was doing for Shabbat. I told her that I didn't have any plans, and she insisted that I join her at her uncles that evening... of course I wanted to go! Her cousin picked us up, and it turns out I had met her the week before at a panel as she works for one of the employers that some people on Masa intern with... small world! Her aunt and uncle live in an adorable little flat in a nice neighborbood, and for a family of people who spoke primarily French and Hebrew, they welcomed me with open arms. I will admit it was a bit unsettling to finally get the hang of Hebrew and then all of a sudden be in a room of beautiful people yelling at each other in French, but I still had a great time and was so happy that she invited me.

After a lovely and gigantic meal, we went back to our apartment (or our flat as she calls it, and I may start doing that too!) and got ready to meet up with everyone and go out. Unfortunately for me people in Israel don't like to go out until SO LATE and we literally left FOR the bar at 12:15am and I was ready to be in bed at like, 10pm. But alas, it was Yohannas first night so I went anyway and we had a really nice time.

Sorry I don't have more news, I just wanted to check in before we go to the Negev tomorrow for three days of hiking and sleeping in the desert...yay! I'm pretty sure I'll get to ride a camel again, #score. We get back Tuesday night, and on Wednesday I will begin my internship. Woohoo! I will be out of touch for the next few days, but will definitely post about the Negev and my internship once those things begin.

xo
Jordyn

How to Stop Eating McDonalds

...move to Tel Aviv.

Ha... I kid. But really.

Last night we had our "Welcome Party," which was an event at a bar for my group, the group before us (who arrived in August) and all of the staff. The bar ran a special deal for us which was that for every drink you buy you can get a shot for 10 shekels ($2.50).

Yeah... I don't know WHO thought that was a good idea, but so it goes. This morning I walked over to Dizengoff Center (the most massive chaotic gorgeous mall ever which happens to be two blocks from my apartment) to run an errand. It is CRAZY there, you could spend hours just walking around, moving with the crowds and never make a single decision about where to go or what to do. I was feeling pretty exhausted after last night and completely starving, and as it's Friday the selection of places open to eat was way smaller than usual, and then I saw the glowing lights of McDonalds!

There was literally a trail of large "M's" leading up to the top floor of the mall where the Mcdonalds was located. After fighting with myself for all of 10 seconds, I decided that yes I was going to just do it... instant hangover cure, right?!

Well, this particular McDonald's was quite busy, with a constant stream of people going up to several different registers in a pattern I could not figure out. The entire menu was in Hebrew with NO English, and there were not pictures. Normally I might just try to order, but I remembered that Israel uses a different measurement system than the US and a quarter pounder wouldn't even be a thing. I sat there and stared for about ten minutes and was so overhwhelmed with the prospect of ordering that I gave up and left.

So, no McDonald's!

Otherwise, things are going well over here! Hebrew lessons are difficult yet fun and tapping into a weird part of my brain. One activity we do is learn different questions (what is your name, where are you from, where is your house, etc.) and ask them to different people across the room, but we do one at a time and everyone listens. The other day, and I have no idea how this happened, I accidentally started speaking Spanish which is bizarre because I haven't taken a Spanish class since the 8th grade. Everyone laughed and thought I was joking, but I totally wasn't! Though it is crazy how much the Spanish sneaks up on me, I know it a lot better than I thought I did.

While I don't know too many Hebrew words, the reading and writing of the letters is very easy for me which is good. I feel really bad for the kids who came in not knowing the letters at all because this is 100x more difficult for them. I just have to learn the words/grammatical structure but I don't have to worry about memorizing a weird variety of letters in both print and cursive that looks strangely like hieroglyphics.

I went to visit the Newshound office the other day and I can't wait to work there! It's about a 25 minute walk from here which is perfect for me, and right at the cusp of being walkable. While the busses here are great, I hate depending on busses, and by walking to/from work I'll be able to get some exercise in every day whether or not I have time to hit the gym. I find busses undependable and the bus ride takes about 15 minutes, but when you add in the time spend waiting for it it's not too different! So I will be able to walk to work, at least temporarily. They are moving offices in two months and I may not be able to walk then, but the move is good news because it means they are expanding, and expansion is good because it means there might be a job for me later. Just sayin'.

My boss is very nice and very cool, and I think working at Newshound will be a lot of fun. Additionally, both my direct superior and the CEO do not speak Hebrew, so I will be in good company! I am still going to focus on learning it, but it's nice to know I won't be out of place in the office without it.

Other highlights of my first two weeks include dogs and cats everywhere, gorgeous sunny weather, delicious coffee every morning, crying into my wallet at how expensive everything is and considering hummus and pita an actual food group.

Shabbat Shalom everyone!

Pink Pangea Writing Workshop

At the risk of sounding cliché, I’ll come right out and re-quote the phrase we’ve all heard: “life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” Those that know me know that I often live this way, whether I like it or not – it just seems to be in my nature. Whether that means moving straight across the country to go to college, kayaking through the Alaskan wilderness or signing up to raise $2,500 in order to run a half-marathon in three months when I have no experience running OR fundraising, I am continuously pushing myself to do new, different and challenging things in order to grow as a person. 

In this case, the initial challenge was leaving behind everything I knew to move to Tel Aviv, Israel for five months. However, moving and traveling are old news to me, and while still incredibly challenging (for anyone), the act in itself of relocating to Israel does not count as “pushing” myself. That is why, since I’ve been here, I have tried to emulate that terrible movie “Yes Man” which I only watched half of before I got bored so I actually have no idea how it turns out, but that is to say I have been trying to say “yes” to everything I feasibly can, even if it seems hard or boring or I’m tired or any other number of emotions that can masquerade as reasons to turn something down.

So far, this has done me well: I have gone out even when I was tired and had an amazing time, I have met friends of friends and gone on adventures with them, I have played an international volleyball game with people from all over the world even when I felt like a whale on the beach and I have spent time with and become friends with people who at one point I would have been intimidated by.

The first real challenge, however, came tonight. I am part of a facebook group called “Secret Tel Aviv” which is basically a forum for Americans living in Tel Aviv to communicate with each other about any and everything. There are over 20,000 people in the group and people post about events, apartment listings, classes, questions about medical care or even just for suggestions on where to eat dinner.

A few days ago there was a post advertising a Writing Workshop for female travelers by Rachel Sales, the founder of Pink Pangea, an online community and blog for female travelers.  Registration was 40 shekels and it took place just two days later at a coffee shop/bar/book store called the Little Prince Café.  I was apprehensive about going for a few reasons: 1. It was my first week in Tel Aviv and I barely new my way around my street let alone the entire city, 2. I have never been to a writing workshop and I did not know what it would entail or what I would have to do, 3. I would have to venture there and back alone, 4. I would miss out on what everyone else was doing while I attended and 5. Writing is scary and sharing your writing is scary and also it’s work and drinking and talking and watching Netflix is easier. In the end, it was a no-brainer: I had to go. I reached out to Rachel to confirm the workshop was in English and signed up on the spot.

The meeting took place tonight and it was led by Rachel herself. It sold out with 15 attendees and the age rage was probably from 20 to 50 if I had to take my best guess. I had made it to the workshop and that was a challenge enough so I told myself that I didn’t have to do anything I didn’t want to. I didn’t have to make any comments, I didn’t have to read anything I wrote, I was just there to listen and gain from it what I could.

First we all went in a circle and talked about where we were from and our most significant travel experience. The thing that stuck out to me immediately was how inexperienced I felt compared to everyone else. I’m used to being one of the most well-traveled people in any group, so to be the least-traveled who had not yet spent significant time in any other country made me feel insecure. Still, I reminded myself that I was only 23 and I had just arrived in Israel and I had plenty of time to travel in the coming years, and these were all people like me who I could learn from. 

After talking a bit we read two essays, one from Vanity Fair and one from the Pink Pangea website and critiqued them: what worked, what didn’t, what we liked and how it was effective travel writing. I didn’t plan on speaking but ended up making one comment on the second essay and I felt good that I had contributed.

The highlight of the workshop, however, was the final activity, the actual writing. Our prompt was simply to write about a travel experience we had had while thinking about everything we had just discussed in terms of what worked/didn’t work.  All of a sudden, it was like an essay that had been waiting to get out of me for years was at my fingertips, one about my Ghanaian trip on Semester at Sea.  Of all the things I talk about when it comes to Semester at Sea I probably have talked about Ghana the least; it’s something I have kept for myself. Evidence of this is the fact that I said something about it to my mom a month ago and she was shocked that in the previous two years I had never mentioned it. However, as I began to write this essay, I realized I was finally ready to share with the world what I experienced there.

Without getting into too much detail, the introductory pages that I completed today were self-deprecating, introspective, ironic and funny.  And the best part… those aren’t my words. They are the feedback I received from everyone else. With only 25 minutes to write, most people did not want to share what they had written, and after two people had shared the circle was silent. I wasn’t planning on sharing but took this as my queue; my opportunity to accept a challenge and say “yes.” I was so nervous when I started reading, I rarely share something of that nature that has not been edited several times over, but as soon as I got to the first punch-line and everyone laughed at my joke I felt better.  When I finished reading, everyone was on the edge of their seats and two girls excitedly exclaimed that they wished I had written more so they could hear the rest, followed by asking Rachel if she would forward the final essays to everyone. I got great and thorough feedback and this made me feel awesome.  Additionally, instead of just Rachel offering a few words, several people told me things they liked, thought worked, thought were cool, thought were funny etc and also said that they respected the subject matter and my honest portrayal of the experience, even though it did not paint me in a positive light. They said it was  very relatable which is my ultimate goal as a writer; to write something that other people can connect with and relate to.

So, I’m a little bit on top of the world right now. Going into the workshop I thought there was no way I would share anything, and to not only write something I like and am excited to finish AND get good feedback on it I am just really thrilled. I have been wanting to start writing non-fiction essays on my travel experiences and I haven’t known how to do it and I feel like in this workshop I received the tools I needed to get started. I also now am connected to 14 other female writers living in Tel Aviv and those are 14 more people I can add to the community I am trying to build for myself here.

It was a great first week and things are only getting better.

Shabbat Shalom!

Hello everyone!  It’s Friday afternoon before Shabbat and the city is really bustling. I spent about an hour pushing through hoards of crowds on the street thinking “don’t any of you people have jobs?!” until I realized it was the weekend here. Really though, even on non-weekend days I’m amazed at how many people are out and about at all times. Almost every bar and restaurant has outdoor seating and no matter the time of day there are always groups of people sitting outside eating, drinking, smoking and having loud, boisterous conversations.

I’ve been here 4 nights so far, and gone out 3 of them, barely getting to sleep before sunrise. People here party late! Even my “early” night had me asleep around 2am. Granted this is the first week of the program and the end of summer so everyone is quite excited, but things generally run much later here. On Tuesday we went out to dinner at 9pm and the restaurant was packed with a 25 minutes wait.

This week primarily consisted of introductory things. We took walking tours of the city, had seminars on the Israeli workplace and panels with different employers and previous interns. People who haven’t yet cemented their internships are going out on interviews and we are doing many group activities.

My group consists of 24 people, and I like everyone very much. The majority of the participants are from the USA, although there is also people from Chile, Denmark, Canada and Mexico.

One cool thing about Tel Aviv is that everyone here is very social. All of my Seattle friends are very familiar with the “Seattle Chill,” that is you typically go out and socialize with your friends but it can be difficult to expand your friend group or meet new people in a sincere way while out. Tel Aviv is the opposite. Everywhere you go people want to talk, hang out, exchange numbers, etc. Several of my friends here have Tel Aviv connections from Birthright, family, or traveling and this has helped us already begin to build a community around us.  On Tuesday night, for example, I was walking outside to find food and came across my friend Mike. He had just met up with a friend he met on Birthright who lives in the area. They hadn’t eaten so we all went to dinner.  I added his friend on facebook and the next night we went out for wine and gelato. Another guy on my trip had a friend who he met through a friend while in the US who lives in Tel Aviv as well.  This friend was a promoter for a club and got us all in to an exclusive Halloween party last night. 

So in this way I am already meeting many people! As I previously mentioned almost every restaurant has outdoor seating on the sidewalk so even just walking through the streets you are likely to see someone you know to sit and talk with. Even if you don’t, people are very inviting and would not find it strange if you asked to sit with them.

Tonight we are having a group Shabbat dinner and then I am going to lay low. Thursday is the big party night here and after last night I am quite tired.  Tomorrow since most things will be closed I plan to finally make it down to the beach and on Sunday I will hopefully have time to do some much needed shopping for things for my apartment.

I hope everyone at home had a lovely Halloween and I will talk to you soon!

arrival

Hi there friends! I was literally on my way to the beach when it started raining, not quite Cleveland rain but harder than Seattle rain, and definitely too much rain for the beach so I immediately retreated back to my apartment. It is still warm outside which is lovely and I’m one of the lucky few who have a balcony so I am sitting outside as I write this, watching people up and down the street run for cover and hide in doorways as they wait for the rain to pass. After the gorgeous 80 degree weather of the past few days I don’t think anyone was expecting this but with how dry the land is it is a blessing.

So far I have been here just over 48 hours, and it already feels like a lifetime. Since I woke up in Cleveland at 7am EST on Sunday I think I have slept a total of nine hours; it’s been that much of a whirlwind here. I struggled to sleep on the plane ride from nerves or excitement or all of the coffee I accidentally drank, but the flight was good. I watched Game of Thrones and Night at the Roxbury and Louis C.K. and played with the adorable baby sitting across the aisle. After arrival in Tel Aviv at 8:30am TV time (2:30amEST) all I wanted was to go to sleep immediately but in the interest of fighting jet lag and starting off strong I decided to push through and stay awake through the evening.

 While waiting for my bag I immediately met someone from my trip, a guy from California named Jason. We had both signed up for “Smile” Service, which was someone picking us up at the airport and taking us to our final destination. Because of this, neither of us knew or had paid attention to where we had to go – we assumed it was dealt with. We DID find a gentlemen who had a sign with our names on it, and we met him at the door after we got our bags. He walked us out to the cab line, put us in a cab and told us good-bye. The cab drives about 30 feet and asks us where we’re going. Uh…Tel Aviv???? Yeah, we’re useless, sorry. After a little back-and-forth, and a few phone calls we determined where we needed to go and also that Smile service was completely useless and it should be called “we’ll walk you outside if you want.”

 We got to our apartments and were assigned our rooms. They are SMALL. Imagine the smallest hotel room you have ever been in. Now cut that in half. That’s the size of my room, but maybe a little smaller. It has a tiny desk, two single beds, one wardrobe and a counter with a minifridge, some cupboards and a hot plate. There is also a small bathroom. No floor space. Definitely the tightest living quarters I have ever had, but I’m not too concerned about it. Some people have bigger rooms, but I have a balcony!!! It’s nice to sit outside and have the fresh hair and the view is right over Dizengoff street.

 Though the apartments are small, it is not without reason. We are dead set in the center of Tel Aviv; there is not a better place we could live. Leaving our building within a five minutes walk I can be at a huge mall, at a number of different bars and restaurants, in a supermarket, in a hair salon, in a boutique, at the gym or on the beach. It.is.amazing.

 Once we settled in Jason and I decided to spend the rest of the day exploring as neither of our roommates had arrived yet. We walked about a mile in ever direction, first to the mall to get him a phone (it is huge…the mall, not the phone), then down the beach, then to find food. We returned in the early evening and though I intended to sleep immediately it still did not happen…many more people had arrived and it was time to get to know them! Turns out my roommate does not arrive until November 14th, so I have a single until then. Her name is Yohanna and she is from Denmark and I can’t wait to meet her, we have been emailing and she seems very sweet.

 I’m going to post this in the attempt to stay on top of things, but I will write more later! I think it’s time for a nap. ☺

12 hours to go...

Hey everyone! In 12 short hours I will be boarding a plane to NY where I will then board another plane straight to Ben Gurion Airport, so as per usual I'm screwing around on my computer when I should be doing important productive things like making sure I've packed all of my different boots and glitter eye liners and taking the small ton of cups and plates that have accumulated in my room over the past two months down to the kitchen. Yeah, right.
I've been in Cleveland for about seven weeks now. It was absolutely lovely, I now know all of the intricacies and nuances of The Voice and I've seen my mom pass out on the couch in at least five different pairs of high heels but I think it's time to go. I've been planning this trip since May and while I didn't do half of the things I meant to in the past six months (like lose 20 pounds and read at least two books on modern Israeli politics) I think I'll be all right. I am totally up to date on all of Miley's most recent antics. Apparently she is making out with everyone.
But I digress! I am totally rambling here (but srsly, get used to it).
The point is, I leave for Israel tomorrow morning! And I've made a commitment to my father to blog at least twice as often as I did while on Semester at Sea (which was not very often because I was literally in the middle of the ocean for days at a time) so I figured I would begin this adventure now (but you can read about that adventure here).
Stay tuned over the next five months as I explore the holy land, learn all about being a badass international journalist, attempt to learn Hebrew, bathe in iced coffee, swim in the Mediterranean and chase cute Israeli boys. It's going to be good.
xoxo Jordyn