So what the hell does that mean? Lucky you asked because I just found out that meat and milk can’t be mixed so no cheeseburgers anytime soon. The phrase to me sounds like a really bad extrapolation but whatevs.
So yesterday was a long day….
Fun/ Not Fun
Not Fun: Moving, though I will admit it was a hundred times easier with a car.
Not Fun: All the walking here is sure to get me skinny cuz its ridic! Everything is so hilly
Fun: My roommates! They seem like the chill type and exceedingly friendly they are from UC Berkley and a NY school that I cant remember right now.
Not Fun: Grocery shopping. I just spent 230 shekels (which amounts to roughly $57 dollars )!! I blame my overspending on a lack of ability to read signs.
Fun: After our Orientation we went to get some food at the city center. I had some very tasty Shwarma pita which is basically lamb + Israeli salad + spices + pickles + humus = Dinner!
Fun: Bonding with some of the people in the group. We met some really friendly Australians and quite randomly their Program leader was Gal’s cousin. I now believe that there truly is six degrees of separation between people; it is such a friggin small world.
Fun: Trying to copy our Australian friend’s accents. Hilarity ensues. We ended up having a British accent somehow...
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Today we took the train into Tel Aviv and shopped around in the Mall.
General impressions.
Price wise I am still waiting for prices to get cheap or at least cheaper I guess I am a Jew at heart?? (j/k)
Shoes should not be bought in Israel unless they are somehow severely cheap.
I am allergic to something here.... I don't know what maybe its all of Israel.... booooo!
Sometimes this place reminds me of Mexico just a bit more developed version. Israel also reminds me of Italy at times too. Sadly I have never been there but its the feel of the place and the views except with no water.
Fun/ Not Fun:
Not Fun: Israeli coins are hard to figure out and for some reason I think I am going to have alot of them left over...
Not Fun: Getting on the wrong train back. It all worked out but we ended up in what seemed like a sketchtastic neighborhood.
Not Fun: Home dudes here carry their guns around everywhere!!
Not Fun: People tend to push past you in the Mall without even saying Sliha (excuse me or sorry) I swear to you that if I didnt have the chance of being deported I was gonna smack somebody!
Fun: Had the Baa- Burger with Tahini sauce at the this burger place which was made of Lamb ( haha get it Baa burger.)
Fun: Met up with Viva who is another girl in the program along with her friend who recommended an awesomely cheap cruise to Cypress and Greece. Sylvia we might come visit you!!
Fun: Walking around just looking at people.
That is all and tomorrow Move in Day!!!! Ahh so not excited!! Work booo! Though I still need to do my friggin Css Profile.
General impressions.
Price wise I am still waiting for prices to get cheap or at least cheaper I guess I am a Jew at heart?? (j/k)
Shoes should not be bought in Israel unless they are somehow severely cheap.
I am allergic to something here.... I don't know what maybe its all of Israel.... booooo!
Sometimes this place reminds me of Mexico just a bit more developed version. Israel also reminds me of Italy at times too. Sadly I have never been there but its the feel of the place and the views except with no water.
Fun/ Not Fun:
Not Fun: Israeli coins are hard to figure out and for some reason I think I am going to have alot of them left over...
Not Fun: Getting on the wrong train back. It all worked out but we ended up in what seemed like a sketchtastic neighborhood.
Not Fun: Home dudes here carry their guns around everywhere!!
Not Fun: People tend to push past you in the Mall without even saying Sliha (excuse me or sorry) I swear to you that if I didnt have the chance of being deported I was gonna smack somebody!
Fun: Had the Baa- Burger with Tahini sauce at the this burger place which was made of Lamb ( haha get it Baa burger.)
Fun: Met up with Viva who is another girl in the program along with her friend who recommended an awesomely cheap cruise to Cypress and Greece. Sylvia we might come visit you!!
Fun: Walking around just looking at people.
That is all and tomorrow Move in Day!!!! Ahh so not excited!! Work booo! Though I still need to do my friggin Css Profile.
The Flight Part III
Short Summary: Left Turkey and entered Jerusalem.
Fun/ Not Fun:
Fun: So as I entered into the pre-screening (yes there is a pre-screening in Turkey to get to Jerusalem) line I was behind Gal and Gal of course was asked 2 questions since he is an Israeli citizen. The screener without looking up asks me if I have Israeli passport looks up and and say's never mind. I then ask him why I couldn't look Israeli and he saids its because I look more like J-Lo.
Not Fun: So we get to Jerusalem and I am in the line to get my stamp to enter the country. The mean screener lady (maybe they are supposed to be mean?) takes my passport and then after two questions none of which are "when are you leaving?" then demands to know why I don't have a visa. I of course fearing the inability to enter the country tell her that I thought I didn't need one she then says that I have to get one. After getting the stamp my relief turns into horror as I see that instead of the typical 3 months stamp she manually has the three crossed out and put a 1. I of course freak out and given the run around from three people. Finally the last person I talk to saids I need one too. So folks I might get deported. I'm kidding but I am in deep trouble if I don't get that fixed soon.
The Flight Part II
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So we landed in Istanbul and with five ours to kill we thankfully decided to venture out into the city for at least a quick meal.
Fun/ Not Fun things that happened:
Fun: We were able to get a visa for just 20 bucks!!! Hell yeah I am paying to get a stamp on my passport. I want my passport to get some life into those pages.
Not so Fun: The line took us forever!! Which by forever I mean around 30- 45 minutes. Milan was sadly on a later flight than us so we were also trying to figure out a way to get her onto the early flight. Alas this could not be done. :(
Fun: We were able to find a cab company that took us to the restaurant and back to the airport which was very cool. We were picked up secret agent style by a man in business casual where we were driven to the restaurant. He was such a crazy driver though expertly skilled. He was driving at what was probably 100 miles an hour with some what I thought were close calls that were avoided. One traffic element that should be picked up by the U.S. is that in Istanbul all the red lights count down to green which was so cool. We ended up eating at this place right by the sea with a great view. My general thoughts were that it was nice and they end up after you are done eating brushing off the table with a mini brush and scoop thing.
We ordered
Chicken Kabobs
Beyti Rolls
Pork Ribs
1 salad
3 turkish coffess
3 turkish tea's
1 banana honey cream thing
and last but not least 1 chocolate souffle. All delish!!
Sadly we had to return but Istanbul left such a great impression on me that I have to return!! I love it!!
A note from our sponsors: More original pictures soon but in case you didn't notice I am posting these all in one day since I have still not gotten use to writing stuff down.
The Flight
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Labels:
plane
So specs about the flight. Milan, Gal and I flew with Turkish Air. The total trip was 22 hours that broke down into one 9 hour flight that landed in Istanbul with a 6 or 5? hour layover which then landed at Ben Guiron Airport in Israel.
Things that I learned about long plane rides. THEY ARE BAD-ASS!! They had dozens of new movies to watch, they feed you, and FREE wine!!! (lol) I really enjoyed that last part sampling from both Turkish and Chilean white wines. Yummy! I felt like an adult at that moment too. :)
Fun/Not Fun stuff that happened:
I got hit on at the airport by some dude. Sadly he was not a looker. BUT he had the most gorgeous green eyes ever and a very cute Irish accent. He invited me to a U2 or Muse concert because I gave him his passport which he left on the bench I was sitting on like an idiot. Needless to say the guy was overly thankful. But it was nice.
The lady sitting next to me was Turkish and she didn't really speak English but we somehow managed to have a mini chit chat. She asked me if I was Turkish <3 ( I love being mistaken for other ethnicities :) ) Then she asked me where I was from and it turns out we were both from Texas!! She was from Corpus but yay!! I love Texas folk we are just the nicest most rootin tootin people out there.
Pre Trip impressions
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While we have had these meetings a long time ago here are some first impressions.
1. Overall the people in the program seem o.k. but I know half of them... (sadness I really like meeting new people but I guess my trade off is less awkward introductions)
2. The professors seem mildly interesting but I can't really say that generally because the second sequence professor seems to talk and look a little like Robin Williams but the monotone version so he struck me as a bit boring and I didn't go the day we were supposed to meet the last professor. (We shall soon see.)
3. Not my impression but this story is fun. So I go to a party and see one of the girls in our program. I didn't walk up to her but later when she saw me she gave me huge hug and thanked me because she didn't think anyone looked like the party type and so she was afraid to be alone.
4. The general look of the people are Uchicago types so whatever that means. ;)
1. Overall the people in the program seem o.k. but I know half of them... (sadness I really like meeting new people but I guess my trade off is less awkward introductions)
2. The professors seem mildly interesting but I can't really say that generally because the second sequence professor seems to talk and look a little like Robin Williams but the monotone version so he struck me as a bit boring and I didn't go the day we were supposed to meet the last professor. (We shall soon see.)
3. Not my impression but this story is fun. So I go to a party and see one of the girls in our program. I didn't walk up to her but later when she saw me she gave me huge hug and thanked me because she didn't think anyone looked like the party type and so she was afraid to be alone.
4. The general look of the people are Uchicago types so whatever that means. ;)
Warning With LUV!
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****** WARNING:I will begin this blog with a disclaimer******
The views expressed from here on forth are the work of the writer. That said while I will try to make the following errors minimally such as spelling, grammar,and political correctness among other things they will probably happen. (Kind of like they did two seconds ago after looking back and editing this post. :))
About me:
My name is Jessica and I am a third year Philosophy student at the University of Chicago. I love my friends and this blog, besides being an online scrapbook is so that they can know what I am up to over sea's.
With all my love.
XOXO - Jess
With that said Shalom to my blog.
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