Hi again,

So, no amazing pictures of Israeli landscapes yet (soon, I hope), but I felt the need to make a comprehensive blog post now that I've been here a month and really started doing stuff. So, this is longish, but hopefully not boring.  : )

Thursday night I finally had time and energy to go downtown just to explore a bit, mostly around Ben Yehudah Street. It is very pretty there at night, and Thursday night is a big night for street musicians (kind of like a Friday night in the US, I think), so that was very cool to see and hear.

I got some good food and also picked up a slightly overpriced, but cute, olive-wood travel chess set.

I know many Israelis are into American "culture," but this was almost too much for me to take:

Really?  ; )

I found a cheap bass (about a third of what it would have cost to bring one on the plane with me) on yad2 ("second hand," the Israeli version of Craigslist). So, on Friday I managed to navigate the buses - which aren't so bad when you are not overtired and sick like I was on my first bus attempt - to go take a look and ultimately buy the bass. It was really neat to be able to wish the strangers from whom I bought this, who turned out to be a nice orthodox family, a Shabat Shalom and Chag Same'ach. It's also good to have an instrument in my room.

Friday night I had Shabat dinner with a few other students, and we stayed until 1:00am discussing religion and asking each other questions about our beliefs. I was so tired at Shabat service, but it was worth it.

Saturday afternoon I hung out with some of those students (and others) for a while outside. Though I have been staying away from the cats as we have been told to do, this little guy seemed healthy and is very friendly. He just comes up to people and crawls into their laps, so I let him climb up and I pet him (but did wash my hands afterwards). He took the longest nap on me:

Speaking of animals, coming home the other night, I saw a hedgehog just sitting on the walking path. He was super cute, but unfortunately this was the best picture I was able to get by the time I got to taking it:

Other somewhat random things:

 - Israeli humus is the best and I love it. I have been routinely putting it on grilled cheese sandwiches.

 - I love falafel when made properly.  ; )

 - RavKav cards are really easy to use after you figure out that they really are that easy.

 - The "Green Doritos" are so good - why don't we have these great flavors in the US?!

 - I'm going to get to see the Israel Philharmonic do Beethoven 9, and Matisyahu and Idan Raichel, and maybe Project RnL and פנחס ובניו (Pinchas and His Sons) who you should look up if you don't know them.

I went to the Shuk yesterday to get some grocery items and also Lulav & Etrog, of course. (Pictures of those and hopefully lots of Israeli sukot to come soon.) I also happened across some very cool "Shuk pizza."