Click here to read Part One
Day 8: After a busy few days, my cousin and I chilled SUPER hard on Tuesday. We both slept in, did some random shit around the apartment (I blogged and she cleaned), then finally went out to get lunch around 2:30. We were both HANGRY, so we just walked to a spot near her house. It was super cute and the food was good, but I definitely wasn’t blown away by it. We took another way back to her place, wandering through some pretty side streets and taking a few photos. The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning her apartment so we could FINALLY sleep her in room again (see my last post for explanation), then chilling for a couple hours in her nice clean space.
One of her friends that I met my first day was leaving Israel the next day, so we went over to her place to chill for a bit and say goodbye. Afterward, we met up with another one of my cousin’s friends and got dinner at this falafel/shawarma spot. I had been eating mostly falafel so I decided to switch it up and get shawarma this time. Big mistake – the meat was crusty and really did not go down well. Yikes! At least the rimonada (pomegranate lemonade) was on point.
Day 9: I woke up earlyish to pack and take a bus to Jerusalem to see my other cousin who lives there. I managed to somehow figure out how to get a city bus to the bus station and then take a bus to Jerusalem, despite my cousin’s semi-confusing instructions. My other cousin (we’ll call her cuz #2) met me right at the exit of the bus station in Jerusalem, and took my back to her apartment to drop my stuff off. After having some tea and a forced snack (she’s really honing in on the pushy Jewish mom bit already 😂), we took a train into the center of town to pick up some stuff at the market. She had to cook for a volunteer thing that night, so we got a BUNCH of food that we had to carry for several blocks and drop off at the house where she volunteer. After dropping the bags, she took me a couple blocks away to this super cute vegan cafe she used to work at. She treated me to lunch, dessert, AND coffee!!
Once we finished eating, we walked to the Old City to visit the Wailing Wall and wander through the cobblestone streets. As cuz #2 sat to pray at the Wall, I sat down to meditate (I don’t really pray) and just immediately started crying. Aside from the emotional weight of just being in one of the holiest places in the world, I had found out the night before that I would not be advancing to the next round of interviews for a job I had been counting on getting. The disappointment and frustration of receiving that news hit me all at once, and just came out in a flood of tears. I was (and still am) sad at the prospect of losing an opportunity to get my DREAM job, and overwhelmed by the implication of having to start my job search all over again upon returning home. Nevertheless, I was grateful to be having such an enjoyable and meaningful experience in Israel.
As the sun was going down, we walked back to the volunteer house to cook dinner for the group of girls that participate in a learning/recovery program at the center. I got to talk to the girls in Hebrew while helping cuz #2 cook, and I had so much fun getting to know them and challenging my brain to converse in a language that I have not formally studied for over 13 years. Apparently they were all impressed by my Hebrew, because none of them believed that it had been so long since I studied it! After several hours of chatting and cooking, I was exhausted and so ready to go back to cuz #2’s apartment and PTFO.
Day 10: After waking up too early (cuz #2 apparently doesn’t sleep much!), I got up and got ready to go to Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial) with her for Yom HaShoa (Holocaust Memorial Day). She tricked me into going on an hour long hike through the forest to get there (it will be a nice walk! she said 😂), and I almost passed out when we got there. I immediately went to get some water and sit down when we got there, but I made the huge mistake of not getting a snack before entering the memorial. The entire hour that we were walking through it, I was so faint that I thought I was going to fall over. I kept trying to convince myself that my hunger and weakness were nothing compared to the torture and horrors that these people faced, but I was not all that convincing to my body and to be honest the hunger was a big distraction from the experience of walking through the memorial.
Once we finally made it through to the end, I practically ran back to the cafe to get a small snack before taking the train back to cuz #2’s apartment. She felt really bad that I was so hungry the whole time, but honestly it was my fault for not eating when we got there! Luckily, she made me lunch when we got back to her place so it was all good in the end. After eating, I gathered up my stuff to head back to Tel Aviv before traffic got too bad. She took the train with me and walked me to the bus stop and waited in line with me (so cute!), then we said our goodbyes. It was a short visit with her, but we sure as hell did a LOT in a day and a half!
The feeling of relief to be back in Tel Aviv was palpable. It surprised me a bit how familiar and comfortable I felt to be back in a city I had only spent a week in, but I truly feel at home there. I was equally happy to be back at my cousin’s place, put my stuff down and relax. I loved chatting with cuz #2’s roommates in Hebrew, but I get overwhelmed easily by having so many people around, and was eager to return to the calm atmosphere of my cousins’s apartment in TLV. We had planned on going to a hip hop event that night, but our plans fell through and we ended up staying in. I honestly was too exhausted to go out anyway, so I am glad we had a chill night!
Day 11: On Friday, we went to the market in the morning to do a little food shopping for the first time, dropped stuff off at the apartment and headed to the beach to meet a few other girls. We ended up spending most of the day there, which was a welcome change of pace from the previous few days! After the beach, I went home to shower and chill while my cousin stopped by her friend’s place to say hi. She came back a little while later with another friend I hadn’t met yet, and the three of us walked to the beach to see the sunset. We totally fucked up and missed it, but the sky and beach were still really pretty!
Cousin’s friend parted ways and we walked down the beach to the Shabbat Drum Circle. We also fucked up and missed that, because it was pretty much over when we got there. Fail! We walked to a pizza place nearby so she could get a slice to hold her over until dinner, then walked to a restaurant nearby to meet her roommate and another friend. The restaurant was super hipster, with great food & cocktails & music. The whole atmosphere was very chill – totally my vibe!
After dinner we went home to relax before going out to another hip hop night (at a different place than the one the night before). We ALMOST bailed on going out again, but ended up rallying last minute to get our asses up to get ready. Her roommate’s friend came over to pregame, and the four of us took a cab to the bar. It was the same place she had taken me to the week before, but WAY less packed and actually enjoyable! In it’s “normal” uncrowded state, it was actually a DOPE place, with multiple bars and restaurants surrounding an open courtyard. Very TLV if you ask me!
The music and vibes were on point at the bar we went to, but we definitely stayed too long because I was basically sleeping upright by the time we left. We decided to stop at one more bar on the way home, because there was a shirt I wanted to get there that I had seen somewhere else. They didn’t end up having the shirt I wanted, but the bar was SO COOL!! I got a second wind and really wanted to stay, but my cousin decided it was time to go home so we all left. As soon as I saw they were planning to walk home, I basically threw a fit and demanded we take a cab home. Ok, it wasn’t that dramatic, and we all ended up being happy with the decision! So you’re welcome.
Day 12: After sleeping in, a family friend of ours came in from Jerusalem with her boyfriend to visit us. My cousin was coordinating with her “behind my back”, and even though she told me she was coming, I didn’t know who she was talking about and was pleasantly surprised when she showed up to the apartment! We all went to the beach for a couple hours, but it was super crowded and we ended up laying down next to a bunch of annoying kids, so none of us wanted to stay any longer. My cousin left to go shower and nap, so I walked with my family friend and her boyfriend to go get froyo on the way back. I normally don’t like froyo nor eat dairy at home, but I had been eating some dairy in Israel and wasn’t bothered by it at all (SHOCKER – everything in the States is fake and processed AF!), so I decided to say fuck it and have some froyo! It ended up being amazing, and was a nice refreshing treat after being at the beach all afternoon.
After walking back to the apartment, my family friend and her boyfriend headed out, and I showered and chilled until my cousin woke up from her nap. We had planned to go to this hotel rooftop bar for sunset, but she didn’t wake up until 6 so we ended up having to rush over there. When we arrived, we saw that there was a party of loud French people taking up the whole bar, which was annoying and apparently never happens (my cousin said it’s almost always empty). As soon as we ordered wine and sat down, we immediately regretted even staying, since neither of us were feeling the vibe. We sipped our wine and watched what we could of the sunset before leaving to walk home and chill the rest of the night.
Day 13: Since we had been to the beach the last two days in a row, we decided to spend Sunday shopping and exploring. We took the bus to the top of Dizengoff street and walked back down, popping into all the cute boutiques along the way. Neither of us bought anything, but it was fun to window shop! We were starting to get hangry, so we walked to Kerem HaTeimanim to hit up one of my cousin’s favorite spots. They are known for their hummus topped with shakshuka, so we ordered that and DEVOURED it. After lunch, we took a few pics and wandered through the market so I could pick up some desserts and gifts to take home. Before heading back, we wandered down another street next to the market to look at jewelry stores, then got iced coffee on the way home.
I was beat when we finally got back, but felt very satisfied to see and do so much that day! We chilled pretty hard for a few hours, then had some girls over for pita pizzas and wine. We obviously watched Beychella and were FREAKING out over it all night. Actually, I am STILL freaking out over it. All in all, this was one of my favorite days of my trip!
Day 14: I had planned to spend Monday at the beach while my cousin got some work done at a cafe, but my cramps had different plans. I was literally in bed until 3 with the worst cramps of my life – l mean seriously, they are NEVER that bad – before finally forcing myself to get up and go get some food. I went to a place called Eat Meat, where the options are literally salad or sandwich, and had the best meat sandwich of my life. Possibly the best meal of the whole trip! And MAN did it bring me back to life!! I managed to make it to the beach for a couple hours, before returning home to relax the rest of the night while my cousin went to a networking event.
Days 15 & 16: After my rough Monday, it felt great to spend the entire day at the beach with my cousin! All we did after the beach was watch the sunset on her rooftop and watch a couple movies. On Wednesday, my last day, I woke up early to go to the shuk (market) for some last minute gifts before going to the beach with my cousin again. When I got back from the shuk, she told me she felt like shit and had a fever, so I ended up going to the beach alone. I have NO problem spending the day at the beach alone, but I felt bad that she was sick and I wouldn’t get to spend that time hanging out with her!
After a blissful 4 hours at the beach, I finally went back to the apartment to go get food with my cousin. We went back to Eat Meat, which I was more than happy to have for my last meal! She was obsessed with it too, and I’m sure will be going back often. After eating and showering, I went to take a walk to get a few last minute food gifts and just wander around for a bit while my cousin got ready for a wedding she was going to that night. It was so warm out, and I wanted to enjoy my last few hours in TLV by walking around outside and just soaking in the city. When I got back, I helped my cousin finish getting ready, then had all of half an hour to finish packing after she left.
I got really sad on my way to the airport, not only because I was sad to leave but I was also missing out on all the celebrations for Independence Day. It wasn’t until the next day, but Jewish holidays start the night before, so the streets were packed with people partying. Let’s just say, the FOMO was not making it any easier to leave!
Reflection: Somehow these two weeks went by SUPER slow, which is a blessing on vacation. It was the perfect mix off chilling and exploring. We did a lot while I was there, but definitely didn’t overdo it. Plus I got to see TLV from a local’s perspective, which I always think is the best way to travel. Obviously, spending two weeks with my best friend in the entire universe was beyond amazing, and such a rare treat for us! After the last 8+ years of living so far apart and seeing each other briefly during holidays, spending two weeks together was a luxury.
More importantly, I felt SO at home in TLV. Aside from being an incredible city with gorgeous beaches and a very laidback but exciting culture, being in Israel truly felt like going home. There is no other place in the world where I look like a local AND speak the local language. Plus, there is just so much about being Jewish and Israeli/Moroccan that I feel I am constantly having to explain here in the States, that is just unspoken in Israel. Given my ongoing identity crisis, this was a welcome relief!
I thought I would be depressed after I got home, but I am actually very happy to be home. Since I just moved back to DC last summer, I am still in the “honeymoon” phase of living here and not eager to leave anytime soon. I always thought I would enjoy living in TLV, which I confirmed on this trip, but I don’t think I am ready to move anywhere for another few years. Whenever I am ready though, I know TLV will be waiting for me to come home. 💕
