Israel. July 19, 2021. Day 2. Lovely Day.

What a lovely day.

I slept through and woke up around 7:12. Even in a different time zone my body wakes me up early. I stayed in bed for a while, watched some of The OC (I should say I re-watched it for the 5th time) and then facetimed with Tzvi as he was going to sleep. I got my clearance from the Ministry of Health around 9:30, which is very good. I guess when you (read: JNF) pays $250 for your serology test, you get results back fast. I headed downstairs and got excited for my first Israeli breakfast of the trip. The breakfast was really nice. There were pastries, jam, cheeses and yogurts (which I didn’t touch), vegetables (which I also didn’t touch), breads, crackers, eggs, shakshuka, waffles, and other things I forgot. The letdown was the coffee, as it always is when you only drink decaf in Israel. I made a nice table for myself and sat down. I saw a few people that looked like educators, so I tried to avoid them. It was not a time for socialization. Only when I was totally done with my spread did I finally get up and introduce myself.

After breakfast I went back upstairs and did a little work. Everyone has to fill out a final form where they upload their releases from the Ministry. It’s actually going pretty smoothly. I finally left the room and decided to walk on the Port (really a boardwalk). There were shops and restaurants to see and I probably walked ¾ of the way. On the way back I made sure to find an Aroma and get an Iced Aroma. The one in NY just can’t compare (if it even exists anymore). It was so hot, so I walked back to the room to cool off and do some more work.

I was pretty full so I didn’t need lunch and decided to go to the beach! Our hotel is a block from the beach and provides guests with towels, a bag, and a voucher for a chair and an umbrella (otherwise you pay when you get there). It’s a great system, you just go to the beach, give in your ticket and a guy sets you up. The water was so warm and you could go really far out.

At one point the guy who sets up the beach chairs came up to me and asked me to hold his stuff while he went to take a shower. I think it was his phone, a cigarette and his wallet, so you know, nothing major. I love this country.

After a few hours at the beach I went back, showered, did some more work, and then facetimed when the girls got up. After that I went downstairs to inquire about getting to the closest Breads Bakery (Lehamim). The man told me it was about a 20 minute walk, but then said I shouldn’t walk because its too hot, but rather I should take a hotel bike. So, that’s what I did, and somehow I didn’t get completely lost. I was distracted at the time because we found out a participant didn’t get his tests (and was basically in Israel illegally because they weren’t in quarantine), but I found my way. I also stopped at a Supersol for some water and hair gel. When I returned to the hotel I saw a group of educators congregating downstairs for the hotel Happy Hour. It was very cute. They had some wine and snacks.

I went upstairs and came right back to get a cab to take me to Café Levinsky, which is this place that makes drinks with fermented fruit and syrups. It was basically like a delicious mocktail. Unfortunately there was nothing else around there so I looked for a cab back, except my Uber app wasn’t finding anything and I couldn’t get the Gett app. I wandered around until I found a bank to get cash and then I spent 10 minutes finding a cab that would take me. Fortunately, I found one. Was all the effort worth it for the drink? Maybe. It was very pretty and Adeena Sussman reposted my Instagram story, so you decide.

After that adventure, I walked back to the Port and stopped at CafeCafe to get a salad. I ate it at the hotel and it was delicious. Zohar, my colleague from Florida who is leading the mission, stopped by to say hi. That’s pretty much it for now.

Tomorrow I have to get up at 6:15, so this should be fun.