Yom Rishon in Israel
In Israel, Sunday is Yom Rishon - the first day of the week. Today, I unintentionally woke up with Hillary and her 3 roommates at 7:15am. They were up getting ready for orientation, and I couldn't go back to sleep (primarily because I was worried about where I was going today). So I went downstairs and Hillary was writing out directions for me, as well as names of places for me. She left me her key so that I could wander around and get back with no problem (as well as a map, just in case, but I didn't need it in the end).
I bade them goodbye, wished them a good day at school, and was bored. So I spent the next hour cleaning up their kitchen/living area. Read a little and showered. Quite the leisurely life. I then decided to shower so I could start my day. Felt sorta like a den mother since I'm the oldest of the bunch by far, but whatever. :)
My first stop was the Arena Mall (near the Marina) so that I could get a phone SIM chip. Hil had told me it was a 30-min walk, but it wasn't. I wasn't going slowly and it took me 45 minutes to get there. It must've been about 3 miles. I FINALLY got there, found the Orange store/booth and guess what? They were switching technologies and didn't have any cards for me til Thursday night. Well, THAT wasn't going to work, and I walked 3 miles for nuthin. And I still didn't have a sim chip to show for it. I stopped at this place in the mall and got a shwarma pita and ate half before I was full. I looked back at the restaurant and guess what its name was? Mana Mana! So of course the Muppet song got in my head. hahaha. doo doo do do doo, MANA MANA!
I was already near the beach so I made a detour there (Hof Acadia), and since I was tired from walking (had only 3 hours of sleep last night because I watched the Tigers game on the Internet - THE TIGERS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES, BABY!). Oh - on my way to the beach, I was stopped and asked for directions by two ladies. I actually was able to give them the directions, and in Hebrew! I felt so good about it... I've been speaking 90% hebrew today only, and it's all coming back. I love it. Anyway, at the beach I read for an hour relaxing. Took a muscle relaxant because my upper back is still hurting, and Marco was working (a nice older Israeli fella) so I got lemonada and water.
When it started drizzling, I decided it was time to go. So I headed back and stopped at the Arcaffe and got another cappuchino. Yummmm. Read a little more there, got ahold of some people in Israel that I wanted to see (like Elana B, Elana S, Gabi, and Big Avi), and headed back.
On my way back (so freakin' tired), Hillary called and we met at the Shivat Kochavim Mall for a bit. I gave up on Orange and went with Cellcom. I finally have a sim chip! BUT - they don't sell phone cards at the mall. SIGH. They only sell those at post offices here.
When we finally got home, I passed out on the couch. I woke up and no one was around but Alex (roomie #4), so he and I walked back to the SK Mall to meet the three girls there (Hillary, Hila, and Lauren). Apparently malls here close at 10p. We wandered around, bought some groceries, and went back home. I got to eat Israeli white yogurt (mmmmm), Israeli olives (mmmmm), and shoko (chocolate milk-mmmmm). I'm in heaven right now.
I am currently soo tired. It's been raining on and off all day, and my bruise on my arm (from where I fell down the stairs yesterday) is kinda hurtin'. I've tried all day and yesterday to get ahold of my cousin Ilana, and haven't heard back from her. I'm getting a little nervous because we have a Henna dinner tomorrow night at 8pm and I don't know which restaurant it's at. :/
Anyway, that was my day today. My right calf still kinda hurts (since the plane) but I'm massaging it as much as I can. Hopefully it helps. I'm going to go now, but will write more tomorrow.
Post-script: I got ahold of Ilana and now I know what's going on tomorrow night and when! YAY! Apparently, there is wedding and family stuff all week! Tomorrow night: Henna party; Wednesday night: Family dinner; Thursday night: Wedding at the Sharon Hotel; Friday night: Dinner; Saturday: Shabbat katan and lunch. WOW. :) I also took a LOT of pics today - look forward to those!