the weekend...well this was bound to be fun

Love this past weekend. Love it. Thursday night Molly, Marla, Chana, Alyssa, Aran and I decided to break away from the monotony of the Student Village and do the typical Americans studying abroad thing. We headed downtown. The Ben Yehudah district of Jerusalem is busy at nearly every hour. During daylight its full of shops and tourist attractions, but the street only really comes alive after dark. Its somewhat out of place in this city, what so many consider the center of the world and full of so much holiness, but Ben Yehuda is one of two extremely popular districts. Full of nightclubs, restaurants and pubs, whatever you like you can find it. Well, we wanted to dance and the discotheques in Israel are a phenomenon unto themselves. We started off at one club but after waiting in line (we DON'T like lines) we headed over to Zazua, a highly recommended and very popular bar/club. For this place we were willing to wait in line.
Marla got in by tagging onto a guy, ha, but Molly and I waited outside (the rest of our entourage having decided to stay at the first club). When it finally came our turn to enter the bar, we were turned away. Apparently some bars in Israel have a 24+ rule. Not expecting this we decided to call it a night. It was already 1.30am and we come to the conclusion that Jerusalem will have to be out quiet night out place, and if we want something more we will head to Tel-Aviv.
The next morning I headed to Tachana HaMarkazit (the central bus station) for my weekend in the Sunday. I was on my way to visit my Uncle Michel in Ashdod! As I entered the bus terminal I saw Eliezer, my cousin and Michels son, but he was heading somewhere else. I wanted to buy flowers to bring to my uncle and Netta, his wife and my new (relatively speaking...that was a pun as well...corny) aunt, but didn't find any being sold on the bus terminal. Somewhat sad about that I treated myself to an icecream cone. Not the best trade on their half but it did momentarily cheer me up...until the guilt kicked in. But still, ice cream is delicious and I hadn't had any since I arrived.
Following the hour+ bus ride to the port city of Ashdod, my uncle and I went into the marina to have a stroll and look at some of the boats. Beautiful city, view etc, and I hadn't even seen their apartment yet! Next we headed over to the apartment where I met my one of my new cousins, Geva (not sure if that would be the English spelling). The apartment, thought, is a thing of beauty all in its own. With large spacious rooms, a large balcony and a beautiful view, it was so relaxing. It felt so Mediterranean. Anyway, Shabbos was only a bit away so we got dressed and headed over to prayers. The shul was also very nice and there was a former American sitting behind us. When we got home I discovered just how amazing of a cook Netta is. I had a slice of cake she had made a few weeks ago, as well as a peice of chicken that afternoon when I arrived but my goodness...she can cook! Soups, salads, chicken, it was all amazing! And, an extra bonus that continued throughout the entire Shabbos was the fact that Netta teaches Hebrew so it was like having my own personal touter there to correct my linguistic mistakes. felt bad because she wasn't felling as well as she would have liked, but I'll go back another time when she's feeling well. Shabbos day was also very relaxed. Tea, cake and cereal to start the morning off and then prayers. When we arrived back at the apartment two of my other cousins had arrived home. Hadar is studying information science at Bear Sheva and I'm embarrased to admit that I forget the older brothers name, but he's working selling tractors, but hes traveled the world and is very nice! Actually, the all are. After a relaxing afternoon on the balcony and then sleeping I had a light snack with Netta as we discussed little things about life and then just chillaxed in the living room. Following Sabbaths conclusion I changed and watched a bit of a video with my uncle and then headed to the bus station.
The bus ride home was fun too. I met a bochur from Highland Park whos at...hmm, I don't remember the Yeshiva name and we failed at Jewish Geography, but a nice guy none the less. Getting backt o the kfar I just hung out. Ulpan today was good. I got my test back and got in the 80's. Usually that would be terribly for me but as I've been struggeling with the course I was happy. We also went on a trip around our campus's bontanical gardens. Beautiful! This afternoon I did some grocery shopping and then went to a TuBshvat Seder to celebrate the New Year of Trees. All fun. Its amazing how much I love this country, how relaxed I feel and how even when I'm struggeling with the language or aspects of the culture I still feel at home.