Tonight I've escaped for a bit to an internet cafe. The past couple of days have been extremely interesting and so busy, but I'm feeling a bit worn out tonight. Let It Be started playing while I was sitting here typing away, and it made me a little teary. That song always has that effect on me, but to a different degree every time.

I really, truly love it here! The city is cool with a mellow vibe. It's very resort beachy, and it almost reminds me of Hawaii in some ways. Although I'm not loving the hostel situation, at the moment, of sharing a pretty small room with three early 20-somethings. They're all really nice, but I'm oldish and definitely have an introvert side that makes me crave time alone...not to mention my own bathroom. Time alone is not really the thing on this trip.

The students are great, though, all very nice and friendly. They seem to want to include me in their free time activities, which is sweet. For some reason, this one guy keeps calling me "Brenda" and now it's catching on with the other students, because they hear him calling me that, so I guess they think my name is Brenda. I'm all, Brenda? Who's Brenda? Whatever, man. Also, one girl told me I'm like "the good mom" of the group, since I seem to have the supplies people need in my backpack at all times. I guess. Heh. And, I've already listened to and counseled one girl with her boy problems. We had a heart-to-heart about men and how they think and signs of who is and isn't good to date. I feel I had some wisdom to impart on this topic, so I did. I think she took it under advisement. But, really, who knows?

Last night the group met up to officially start the program. I spent a few hours of the first day at the beach and then walked all over the city with one of the students. The Mediterranean is so very beautiful and warm. I'm making a point to spend time there every day. The sand is very fine and soft, and I love walking in it, especially in the evenings. We had dinner on the beach last night, and it was cool to walk back along the water, looking at the moon, and all the people hanging out. This is truly the city that never sleeps (the orthodox call it "Sin City"). There are people out and about until all hours, and things stay open until way late. Many of the bars and clubs don't even get going until after midnight. Not that I'm really clubbing it at this point. Nope. Instead I'm hanging out at internet cafes, at least today.

Today, we toured Tel-Aviv and Jaffa. We started at 8:30am and got back to the hostel around 7pm. I learned lots of interesting things that I'm excited to write about, but I'm afraid my time is limited. Plus, my brain is pretty tired, so I doubt I'd make much sense. I'll try uploading a couple pics, though.

Tomorrow we'll spend at Tel-Aviv University, attending lectures mostly. Friday we'll be meeting with Reut, an NGO that deals with peaceful relations between Jews and Arabs. Then we'll be going to the artists market, Nahalat Binyamin. Saturday is a free day, and Sunday is a technology day where we visit different technological institutes/companies. We'll also meet with another NGO that addresses issues of foreign workers in Israel and explore the other side of Tel-Aviv night life (looking at darker social issues such as prostitution, trafficking of women, etc.). On Monday, we'll head north to Haifa and Galilee. In Haifa I may meet up with one of my former students who is there for the summer. He seems really excited about showing me around the town, and I think that could be fun. I think.

I'm learning the lay of the land quickly. I know places to go to shop for basic necessities at a good price. I negotiated a bit at a flea market in Jaffa today. It's interesting to see how they price things in shekels. The food is delicious. I love falafel, although I may find that I never want to see another falafel again after a couple of weeks of eating it daily. :)

I think I'm going to stop with the deets now, as I really should head back soon to get good sleep for tomorrow. I miss everyone!