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Published: August 5th 2006
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Hi all, I'm writing from my friend's apartment in Ramat Gan (another neighborhood of Tel Aviv). It is closer to the main city of Tel Aviv than where my cousins house was, but still not in the city. But ramat gan is a city of its own. I moved in thursday night. The apartment is really nice and is in a great location. There is food and shopping and restaurants and coffee shops all within walking distance. I also have a nice balcony from his 6th floor apartment where i can see most of the city, and I like to sit out on the balcony at night and enjoy the cool evening air (and borrow wireless interent from one of his neighbors, hehe).
So yesterday I walked all around the neighborhood to get a feel for it, see what is around etc. Its got pretty much everything i could need, so that is great. Then, I did some quick emergency grocery shopping for shabbat. Just as I was getting ready to go back out, one of my cousins called me, my grandma's cousin to be exact, so they are like my substitute grandparents here. And so they asked me in
tel aviv at dusk
tel aviv at dusk. the view from my cousins apartment. their very difficult to understand hebrew for me to come over. and they don't take no for an answer, haha. so i went over to their house, and they fed me, and i had shabbat dinner there, which was nice. then one of their friends drove me home. they wanted me to stay overnight, but i didn't want to and they wouldn't let me walk home even though it was only a 15 minute walk.
so today, i took another 2-3 hour walk. this time i walked towards tel aviv. i had wanted to walk all the way to the beach (it would have been about an hour without stopping,but i like to stop and sit on benches). but i took too long to get dressed and out the door, so i made it to tel aviv, but not all the way to the beach. tomorrow i can take the bus, but shabbat = no buses. i love walking here, even tho its hot as hell. at home i would never think of walking anywhere. here i walk all over. So then I had dinner at my other cousins apartment in Tel aviv. it was a lot of fun, and very good food. yay. and when i got back to my apartment, i was surprised by my friend Oded (whose apartment i'm staying in) standing right outside the apartment. He had told me he might be around tonight, but wasn't sure, so i was surprised to see him. But it was great to see him, if only for 5 minutes. i haven't seen him in over a year, so it was so great. im staying in his apartment while he is away working at a camp an hour outside tel aviv.
so, my dear friend N-Dogg left a comment on here a few days ago, saying that I needed to go out and do more while I'm here in Israel. And he is absolutely right. Last summer while I was here, I did so much and met a lot of people. But my cousins were around more to hang out with, and there wasn't a war, so i got to do alot of traveling, and i was also on a planned program where i had to meet people. it was great. this summer, so far i haven't gotten to do as much. the war has partially contributed to that in that i can't travel to the north, which is all my favorite places to go. also, i guess i was being a little bit cautious about what i was doing. also, my cousins aren't around as much this summer to hang out with. i'm hoping that now that i'm on my own in my friend's apartment, i will be forced to do more. and hopefully i'll meet some people along the way. in september, my internship program will start and I will again be meeting a lot of people. i am looking forward to that, but i'm also looking forward to this next month and what i can build on my own. im looking forward to the challenge. and even though i haven't done much yet, i hope to start doing a lot more. just walking for hours is better than what i was doing. but dont get me wrong, i still plan to go to the beach plenty, haha.
anyway, so N-Dogg, and everybody else, I hope to start using my time more wisely and really making my time here worth every minute. Big words I know. But I am still loving being here, still feeling safe, and still happy. So don't be too worried for me folks. Love you all.
LEAH 😊
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cousin Linda
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thanks for the pix. You look great (and happy)! The area sounds terrific.. You're tempting me to come visit! love, Linda