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Trevi & Top Chef: Study Abroad Students

Tuesday September 6:

So today I had class from 10:30-3:30. First Intro to Entrepreneurship. It was nice. The class seems really interesting. A lot of really smart people in that class. Then was Cognitive Psych. Let's just say I was being put to sleep and the class has now been dropped. I then had an hour break, which Camile and I took advantage of and got some gelato. Unfortunately, I was hoping for the same caramel creme gelato we had before, but due to some mixed up gelato signs, we got the wrong kind. FAIL. Whatevs. Next time. Last class was International Business...which will probably be switched out for digital photography. Haha

After class, I came back home, had a snack, and rested. Then I hung out with Camile, Jules, and Chelsea and we planned out our fantastic dinner that we'd cook for the boys (the boys being Andrew, Joe, Claudio, and Vince who live pretty much across the street from us.) After watching YouTube videos (including cat daddy, some Berkley soccer boys, and a few others), we decided to get ready and set out for an adventure.

Vince was the lucky man of the night and got to accompany us 4 girls. We set our minds on the prize: the Trevi Fountain. About and hour after we left the apartment, we heard the wonderful sounds of water flowing, and low and behold, there was the amazing Trevi Fountain.

Isn't it pretty?

Of course, everyone needs a throwing the penny in the fountain picture.

After throwing some pennies in, making wishes, and taking plenty of photos, we made a trip to a cute little gelato store. I had a lovely nutella crepe (you could never go wrong with nutella) and everyone else got gelato. It was a fantastic choice. Then we headed back and called it a night.

Wednesday September 7

So today was filled with excitement over the dinner we had. We had thought long and hard about what to make these boys. We now have an ongoing competition to see who can out cook the other apartment. Well I had class at 10:30 and then (after a 2 hour break) at 12:45 (yup! switched my 8:30 am class. Woot.) The 2 hour break was spent dropping my cognitive psych class and running into Claudio and chatting about jelly fish and plane rides (among other things). Class was good. Nothing too exciting.

After class, I headed back and Camile and I started slaving away in the kitchen. Not so much slaving but just chopping up tomatoes and slicing bread. Jules and Chelsea came home soon after and we all cooked up a storm.

On the menu for the night:

- Bruschetta

- Caprese Salad

- Breaded Chicken

- Alfredo Pasta

Drinks:

- Sangria (homemade!)

- White wine (which Vince was brave enough to drink)

- Orange soda

It was quite the feast. The boys were very impressed when they came over, as were we with their fancy attire of dress shirts and pants. Overall, dinner was quite the success with awesome company. Next week: the boys cook. We'll see how they do. We'll have to one-up whatever they cook.

Pictures from dinner to come soon!

Emanuel Bullets:

Tuesday:

- Class

- Rest

- Trevi Fountain

- Nutella Crepe

Wednesday:

- Class

- Cook dinner

- Amazing dinner with fun friends

Walking Tour!

Sunday September 4:

So today I woke up a bit early around 10 (relative to my 3 am bedtime). After some time, Camile woke up and we decided to wake up Chelsea and Jules to go to the flea market. We all got ready and headed over to this amazing flea market. There were so many cute, antique-y things there. Since I lost 2 pairs of sandals yesterday, I figured I should buy some. I found 2 pairs of sandals that were decently cute for 5 euro and 3 euro. I left there a happy camper. After, Camile went to school to see where her classes are and Chelsea, Jules and I went back to the apartment to get ready for the walking tour. After a struggle with the door knob, we finally got in, rested and headed towards JCU for the walking tour.

The walking tour was long, but I got a chance to talk with some orientation guys that went to JCU and were pretty nice. We went throughout Rome and ended up at this amazing, beautiful basilica where a wedding was going on. We got there right as the bride was going to start walking down the aisle. She looked beautiful. The church was amazing too. When going to the Colosseum we decided to drop out because we had already seen it (they weren't going inside of it, otherwise we would've stayed.) On our way back, we decided to get some energy and had some gelato. Pretty good chocolate chip gelato. Definitely within the top 3. We finally made it back to our apartment area and decided to stop at the market, however it was closed... as was just about all the other restaurants/markets/shops. Note to self: places are closed Sunday. We headed back to the apartment, got ready and went out to dinner with Chelsea, Jules, and Camile.

We went to this amazing pizza place that they had been to on the first night here. Apparently it's also in Rick Steves' book. I got a mushroom and sausage pizza. It was so good. We're definitely going back again. We went to get gelato, and it started to rain, but of course that didn't stop us. I decided not to get gelato, I was stuffed from the pizza. But some raindrops, gelato, and a few miles later we were finally back at home. I showered and skyped with The O's (my cousins Orlee, Odie, and Orel) and then went to sleep.

Monday Sept 5:

This morning I woke up at about 6:40 with first day of school jitters. I got ready and headed out around 7:37. Apparently we've sped up our walking time because by 8:01 I was at school... 30 minutes early. Thank goodness for my ipod, Mumford and Sons, and fruit ninja. Haha. Finally my first class, Italian 1, started. It was fun. Learned how to say "I am...", so we'd introduce ourselves like, "Yo sono Jasmine. Sono Americano. Sono di Los Angeles." Then we just went over some vocabulary words. After, I had Human Rights. The class seems really interesting. She just went over the syllabus and then dismissed us. Overall school was good.

After school I decided to stop by the market and pick up a few things so I could take lunches to school. Then, I came home and found 2 maintenance workers fixing our fan and installing our shower head, so I hung out in my room to stay out of their way, and after they had finished fixing everything, I made the best panini ever. So it had pesto, garlic, a bit of olive oil, mozzarella, salami, prosciutto, tomato, and basil in it. It was really good. Definitely will be making it again. After that delicious meal, I went over to the boys' apartment and hung out with Joe and Andrew. We played Egyptian Ratscrew. Andrew and I got owned by Joe. He's a maniac at it. Haha. Eventually Claudio and Vince came home and I went on a trip with them to the market. After the market I headed home. I was able to switch my Italian class to a 1:45 class so I don't have to wake up ridiculously early. Yay. Anyway, we hung out and later, Chelsea, Jules, Camile, and I went out for gelato with the boys. I got the tiramisu gelato (my aunt's recommendation), and it was pretty freakin' good. It was a fun and relaxing day/night.

Tomorrow I have a few hours of class then hopefully I'm going to get my books to unfortunately start on some reading/homework. Lame.

Emanuel Bullets:

Sunday Sept 4:

- Flea market

- Walking tour

- Supermarket fail (closed)

- Great pizza place

- Skype with O's

Monday Sept 5:

- School 8:30-11:45

- Market

- Amazing panini

- Friend's apartment

- Egyptian Ratscrew

- Gelato

Vatican.

So today was a relatively relaxing day. Camile and I got up around 11:00 and grabbed lunch at a small cafe. After we went and got some gelato. I got nutella gelato but wasn't too impressed with it. There were too many chunks of chocolate in it. And yes, I realize many of you are thinking that there's no such thing as "too many chunks of chocolate."

So after, we were walking to the tabacchi store, I tripped (didn't fall), and managed to rip my sandals. Luckily we were across from the apartment, so we went back and picked up some new ones. Then we walked around for a bit and came back to the apartment to sleep. After a nice nap, we went and made dinner. We made a caprese salad and garlic/olive oil pasta. It was pretty good. After some skyping and showering, we got ready to head out for the night. Jules and Chelsea stayed in to look up trips, so it was just Camile and I that went out. We went to our friends' apartment across the street, hung out there for a bit then started on our trek.

Camile, Vince, Joe, Andrew, Claudio and I started our 1 hour trek to the Vatican. Let me tell you - it was completely worth it. Even from hundreds of feet away, it was the most beautiful place ever. The plaza, St. Peter's Square, is circular, with an obelisk (yes. I googled the name of it) in the center, which was originally taken from Egypt. The main building is between two long sections of columns that contain statues of saints on them. On top of the main basilica are the 12 apostles, with Jesus in the middle. Needles to say, this was one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. I will definitely be visiting again many times.

The beautiful basilica. If you look hard, you can see the statues that are lined on top of the columns.

The main basilica. The statue in the center is Christ holding a cross. On the sides of him are the 12 apostles.

The group of us (L to R) Vince, Camile, me, Claudio, Andrew, and Joe.

After we left the Vatican, we were hungry, so we headed over the bridge in search of a decent restaurant. We finally settles on a small pizzeria. Camile and I split a procuitto that was pretty good. After gathering up some energy again, we started our walk back. After about 5 minutes, we found ourselves in Campo de Fiori once again. We ran into a group of our friends that were heading back to the apartments as well, so they joined us in our walk back. After about 5 minutes, my sandal got stepped on, and once again, it was ripped. Haha. Unfortunately, I wasn't as lucky as I was last time, and instead had an hour walk back to my apartment, and I wasn't going to walk barefoot. As lovely as Rome is, the streets are dirty and have broken glass and dog ..... on it. So I sucked it up and hobbled with a broken sandal for about 15 minutes until it just wasn't happening anymore. One of our friends Andrew offered to give me a piggy back ride. It was really nice of him. After 15 minutes of being on the train and falling onto some girls lap, we finally made it to our stop... except then we forgot to get off and got off at the next stop. So, once again, Andrew offered to give me a piggy back ride. What a gentleman. We finally made it back to our apartment around 1:40 am. After skyping with my family and a great night, I finally went to bed around 2.

Emanuel Bullets

- Bum around

- Caprese & olive oil/garlic pasta

- Vatican

- Pizza

- Ripped sandal

- Train

True Life: I'm a Geek for Ruins.

So the last 48 hours have been absolutely amazing.

Day 3:

Yesterday we went to Ostia Antica. In the morning, a group of us went to grab a quick breakfast (nutella croissant with ice tea) and went on our way to meet the school for our outing. Ostia Antica is about 45 minutes via bus away from Trastevere. It's a town that was a naval town off the coast of the Ostia Harbor. It's a whole town that's so well preserved.

Some of the us before the tour!

Their Necropolis where the wealthy people in their town were buried. They each have their own tomb. Some sarcophagi lined the road where we walked... the road that was the same one they walked on.

Next we came across their amphitheater which was amazing and beautiful.

Roommate picture in the ampitheater! (Claire was in another group :/)

After Ostia Antica, we went to Borgo di Traghata. This is an organic farm that is completely amazing. We had a 4 course meal there that was made using ingredients grown directly on the farm.

All the roommates!

Our adorable table.

First course: White and Tomato Pizza; Red Chicory, Ham and Mozzarella Tart; Cous-Cous with Vegetables

Second Course: Spaghetti Pasta Amatriciana Style

Third Course: Chicken with Peppers served with Roasted Potatoes

Fourth Course: Apple Cake with Raisins

All in all, the meal was amazing. Definitely recommend looking them up and going there. They even have rooms you can stay in and a pool area for lounging.

After we got to walk around the farm for a bit and were given a tour by Dominic (pronounced dominque.) He was a nice French man that spoke broken English and worked at the farm. We learned that the farm does weddings there. That day they had 2 weddings, and the next, 5. It was an absolutely beautiful place.

Dominic and I.

We eventually got back onto the bus and headed back towards campus, where once there we had a 40 minute trek back to our apartment. After a quick freshen up, Jules, Chelsea and I went back to JCU for a welcome dinner. It was nothing exciting. After, we went across the street to the Tiber and watched the sunset. It was beautiful. We crossed over the bridge and walked around Rome and ran into some random ancient ruins and a piano recital in the middle of them. It was pretty awesome. Eventually we went back to the apartment and called it a night.

Day 4:

We had apartment inspections in the morning and then were off to do whatever we wanted. Camille, Claire and I went to the market to buy a few things. I made some amazing gnocchi with this pepper pasta sauce and a caprese salad. After, we me, Jules, Chelsea, and Camille went with a big group of others to the Colosseum. On our way we stopped at this gelato place and got caramel something gelato. The best I've had here so far (been to 4 places.) So after gelato, we went across the bridge and took a bus (even though we didn't need it at all) to the Colosseum. I was in awe. It's amazing. We didn't go inside yet, but I definitely will (at least once.) We walked around there for a bit. Saw a bride and groom taking pictures (how cute), and then started to head back. We walked around aimlessly and eventually found our way and got back to the apartment. We freshened up and got ready to go for a walking tour of Rome with Andy Steeves (the travel book, Rick Steeves, writer's son.)

We went through Rome, through different places (not many) including Campo de Fiori (Square of Flowers) where they used to have a dump, but then the government made it illegal to dump waste, punishable by death, so after it was cleaned up it was made into a flower mart. Apparently every morning they have a nice flower mart. Definitely will need to check it out. We also went to the Pantheon. We only saw it from the outside, but it was amazing. After, we went to dinner at this place that was right behind the Pantheon. The restaurant had a special for the entire group (of about 50) where it was 15 euro for a lot of courses and wine. The meal was so good. After, we went to Giolitti (the oldest gelato parlor). I tried caramel and banana. Nothing special. After, me, Jules, Chelsea, Camille, Matt and James went out. First we went to the Drunken Ship. Typical American college bar. Then we walked around for a bit and met a bunch of really cool people. We went to some club, but left after 15 minutes cause it was lame. After we went to a club called Boom. It's in this sketch little alley, where you cant hear any noise. They have to open one door and you stand in an area until they close the door, then they open the other door into a club. It was a lot of fun. I'll leave it at that. We eventually left at 3:30 and got back to the apartment around 4. Needless to say, it was a really fun night.

Emanuel Bullets:

Day 3:

- Ostia Antica

- Amazing lunch at organic farm

- Tiber river

- Random ruins

Day 4:

- Catch up on sleep

- Colosseum

- Andy Steeves tour

- Amazing dinner

- Gelato

- Clubs

Ciao Roma!

So, I'm finally here! I've spent my first official 24 hours in Rome and it's been amazing!

So I landed here around 5:40 yesterday afternoon. The flight was alright. Slept, was served a meal that was completely inedible minus the packaged crackers and cheese. I don't even know what meal it was or what I was served. Some sort of meat that looked disgusting. They didn't play any movies so of course I resorted to my favorite movie (which happens to be in my itunes library) - Up! A little over half way through, I saw a bunch of people turn around and look towards the back of the plane, so I automatically pulled out my headphones and tried to see what was going on. I couldn't see anything cause there was a huddle of people, but there was a flight attendant walking down the aisle asking if there was a doctor on the plane. My heart sank as I thought "Someone is having a heart attack or dying and we need to land and I'm never going to get to Rome." The crowd cleared as a dad picked up his daughter and I saw a little blood from her mouth. Phew. Dodged that bullet. Anyway, after landing, I went through customs really quickly - like 30 seconds and headed to pick up my bags. I wanted to get a cart which costs 2 euro, so I needed to break a 50 euro, put my 50 euro in the change machine and got 6 euro out. Problem? I think so. So I took my receipt and went on a hunt throughout baggage claims to see who can give me the rest of my 44 euro, but found out I needed my bags because I had to leave baggage claims to get the refund. Got my bags. Finally got my refund. Found the SAI rep and headed to the Hilton to check in. Checked in. 8:30ish got dropped off at my apt building. Lugged 3 suitcases up 2 flights of stairs. Fun times.

When I got there, only 1 roommate was home and she was sleeping. I didn't even know she was home till the other 3 got back and told me she was at the apt, sleeping. I unpacked my stuff and took a shower, and the other 3 roommates came home a bit later around 10:30 or so. So my roommate is Camille, who goes to St. Mary's College in Monterey (like about...45/80 of the students do.) She's really nice and we get along really well. In the other room are Jules and Chelsea, friends from NY who both go to Pace. Then Claire lives in the single room, she also goes to St. Mary's. We went to bed relatively early at 11:30 (at least for my 2:30 am nights I've had for the past week.) My apartment is in a cute neighborhood in Rome called Trastevere, which is just across the Tiber.

The little corridor when you get in. My room is the first on the right. Bathroom at the end of the hall. Kitchen (out of picture) is directly to my right.

My room (my side of it). There's a balcony on the right side of the picture that overlooks a little street. It's cute.

The kitchen with a little fridge and a tiny clothing washer.

In the morning we all woke up and got ready for orientation. After walking to campus, I've come to a few conclusions: 1. Italy is cute and every little street is a picture. 2. I now know why Italians are slim. Without over exaggerating it, it's safe to say that the campuses (there's 2 about 10 mins distance between each other), are easily 35-40 min walk each way.. so 2 miles each way. We had orientation with SAI, then housing orientation, then went to get our student IDs taken. Apparently they feel like it's necessary to zoom REALLY close to your face. Yeah. Worst ID picture ever. Haha. Then we went to lunch at a cute little place called Margherita, and of course I got a margherita pizza. It was good. The sauce was sweeter. The Coke I had was a lot sweeter too. After, we had to walk back to our apartment to get some paperwork we forgot. On the way back, we needed a little dessert so we got some gelato. I picked the Creme flavor. It was eh. I think it's just because I was expecting vanilla and Creme is not vanilla.

Roommate lunch: (L to R) Camille, Jules, Chelsea, and Claire

Anyway, we got back to pt. 2 of orientation a bit late...20 mins late enough for the guy to stop talking and say hi as we walked into a room of 100+ students. Whoops. So people talked. Boring stuff. Cool stuff: Rick Steeves' (for all you people who know about his travel stuff) son, Andy Steeves spoke a bit. I think friday we're going on a walking tour of Rome with him. AWESOME, right?! So, registered for my permit to stay. Cell phone: check.

Went on a mission to buy essential bath stuff and some groceries. Found the best little mini-Walmart-minus-food-run-by-Asian-Italians hole in the wall store. They have everything I needed for cheap too! It was great trying to communicate if they sell bath sponges with them. Hahah. Went grocery shopping. Bought essentials: gnocchi (fresh!), fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and a 1.5 euro, 1.5 L bottle of red wine. Each of the 4 of us (Claire went off with her other friends) bought a bottle of a different kind of wine. Haha. We also bought groceries to cook dinner together. We made pesto pasta with some cheese in it and a caprese salad and a glass of wine. It was yummy and so fun to make dinner all together. Dessert: lady fingers and Nutella. Mmm. Took a shower and now just relaxing.

Our home-made Italian feast and fancy bottle of wine.

Anyway, I miss everyone! XOXO

Oh. So Emanuel (my brother) complained about how the posts are too long for him, so I'll have "Emanuel Bullets" on every post with the main points. Haha.

Emanuel Bullets

Day 1:

- Unpack

- Meet 3/4 of roommates

- Sleep

Day 2:

- 40 min walk to campus

- Cute Italian streets

- Orientation

- Lunch

- Gelato

- Orientation

- Meet Rick Steeves' son (Andy Steeves)

- Asian Italian mini Walmart

- 1.50 euro for 1.5L of wine

- Pesto pasta + caprese

This is it.

So they have free wifi at the airport and I figured I'd take advantage and update while I'm just sitting here.

The past week in Israel has been a whirlwind and went by so fast. I've had an amazing time here (given the circumstances) and am so thankful for all my family (including More and Sima who are great friends) for taking time out of their days to take me out and make sure I enjoyed my time in Israel.

This morning I went to my grandparent's house and said bye to my dad and Saba. It was really hard, but I'm happy that I've had the past week to spend with them. While we were there, we went through old pictures of my grandpa, grandma, and the rest of my family. I'll post pictures when I can (yes. I realize I've said this a million times already.)

After we left, we went to visit my uncle who passed away at the young age of 60 a few months ago. He is laid in the same cemetery as a few of this other family members who have passed, including his father. The stone that is placed for him is a double stone of marble (for my aunt, who will be alive for another 100000 years before she's placed there.) Between the two stones is a section where my cousin planted these beautiful flowers. The family name is behind the stone, and an area where candles can be placed are at the bottom of the stone. After we paid our respects, we went to the airport, which is where I am now.

Let me tell you... If you've never visited Israel, I highly recommend that you do. It's a beautiful place filled with so much history, and everyone is so friendly.

As I type this, I can see my plane pulling up to the gate. I have butterflies in my stomach. I know this trip is going to be the biggest trip of my life, and am pretty excited to see what will happen.

Anyway, next time I really will be writing to you in Rome. Ciao!

Israel: The Holy Land

So I slept at another aunt's house last night which is why I wasn't able to update.

Sunday was the end of the Shiva (the week of mourning). It technically ended Friday, but since it fell on Shabbot, we had to end it after. We went to the cemetery in the morning to end it officially. The men of the family read passages from the Old Testament. It was really hard to be there. After they had finished reading, most of us couldn't hold it together anymore and just broke down...including me. This week I've been able to put up a front, but it's been hard for me knowing that if I would've been here just a few days earlier, I would've been able to see my Savta one last time. Right now, where she is buried is covered only with rocks, but when it's been 30 days since her passing, they will clear the rocks and place a proper stone in memorial of her.

After this, we went to my grandparent's house and got ready to head over to Jerusalem. Me, my dad, my uncle Eli, aunt Lida, and cousin Michal all went to Jerusalem. After we arrived in the Old City, we went through the Arab quarter to the church where Jesus' tomb is (obviously they built around it.) It's a beautiful Orthodox church with nuns and priests walking around it. Inside, there was the stone where Jesus' body was laid. A lot of people were kneeling down and praying or kissing the stone. I touched it, but I'm pretty sure I'd be kissing a lot more people's saliva before I got to actually kiss the stone. Haha. Then inside another room of the temple was a sort of covered shrine built around the tomb where his body laid. The line was a good hour long to get in, so I just peeked in from the door. Overall, the church was beautiful, with amazing mosaics and paintings covering the walls and ceiling of it.

Next, we went through the Christian quarter to the Western Wall. The Western Wall is the last remaining wall of the original temple. It's divided into two sections: men (about 75%) and women (who are allowed to have a small section of about 25% of the wall). People believe it is closest to the Holy of Holies. In cemeteries, all the bodies are oriented towards the direction of Jerusalem. People write down their prayers and fold them into every crack, crevice, and spot there is on the wall within their reaching range. They'll stand there and pray. Pray for anything - family, friends, life, ones who have passed... After they pray, they'll leave, however they walk backwards because they do not believe they should turn their back to the wall.

After the wall it was starting to get a bit late, so we went back to the car, but passed through the Armenian quarter and the Jewish quarter. We drove to have a late lunch (it was about 5 pm by the time we had lunch), and on the way, we passed a demonstration in front of the Prime Minister's house for the kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held in the Gaza Strip for 5 years now. When we last came to Israel in 2006, he had just been kidnapped. It was his birthday yesterday (Aug 28) and they held the annual demonstration, hoping that the Prime Minister would send troops to get Gilad back from the strip. He's been there for 5 years, and has only been seen once on TV on the Israeli Independence Day and 3 letters. It's really sad. Hopefully he'll be reunited with his family soon. After driving past this, we went to lunch and then headed back to Tel Aviv so I could grab some clothes and go sleep at my aunt and uncle's house in Afula, where they live in their house on a huge plot of land.

In the morning, we went to the north. First we went to Nazareth to the Basilica of Annunciation, where Mary was told that she would have a child to be named Jesus. Outside the church, the walls are lined with mosaic pieces of art sent to the church by other countries. There were so many. Inside the church, there was a service going on. There were about 20-25 people sitting around in a square singing a hymn while a priest walked around and gave them their communion.

After this, we went to the Sea of Galilee. We stopped at the church where Jesus performed the miracle of turning a few loaves of bread and a few first into food for 5,000 people. We also went to Capernum, where Jesus lived. I'm honestly pretty burnt out, so I don't really remember much else. I'll let you know after I look through the pictures.

At night, we came back to Tel Aviv and we went out to dinner with a good 85% of the family. It was nice to have one last meal with everyone (almost) until next time. Tomorrow my flight leaves around 2:50 TLV time, and arrives in Rome at 5:45 (Italy time.)

Sorry for my mind barf: I'm pretty nervous about going. I think I'm just afraid that it'll be hard to make friends cause most people already know each other from before. My roommates all seem really nice, so hopefully I'll be able to become good friends with them. Ahh... I don't know. It's just so weird that I'm going to be living in a foreign country for 4 months (including this past 1.5 weeks in Israel). I'm going to try to push these fears aside and just see what happens. In less than 24 hours I'll be in Rome, so I think I can do that till then.

Anyway, it's like pretty much 1 am and I still have to take a shower, finish packing, and do laundry. Fun right?

So.. next time I write I'll be in Rome. Wish me luck!

Chocolate Ganache & Ceramics.

So yesterday, we woke up and headed to my grandparent's house. After having breakfast, a nap, and lunch, Adi and I took Noga and Saar to the mall. Within 10 minutes of leaving the house we had 2 crying/screaming girls and had to pull over to solve all the issues. After being pulled over for about 10 minutes, we began to journey again. We got lost for a bit then eventually found the Shivat Hakokhavim Canyon (translation: Seven Stars Mall). Unfortunately we got off at the wrong floor from the elevator because the toy shop was right there, so of course the girls ran straight for it. After being in there for about 20 minutes or so, we finally got them out and were able to walk around a few shops before they started closing (it was Friday, so they close around 3:30/4 pm for Shabbot.) So after we went back to my grandparent's house and had a huge Shabbot dinner and were there for the rest of the night with family. At night I went home with Cohavit and Avi and spent the night at their house.

In the morning, Avi and I went to the market to buy some ingredients for cheesecake and some things for breakfast. Let me tell you about the markets here: 1. It costs 5 ₪ (shekels) to use a grocery cart and 2. You have to bag your own groceries. So to put it in other words, we're spoiled in America with our free carts and grocery baggers. So after we went back and had breakfast, Cohavit and I started to make a cheesecake. So I'm sure everyone knows that the USA has it's own system of measurement (the Imperial system according to Wikipedia) and everyone else uses the Metric System (or SI "system international"), so converting Paula Deen's NY Cheesecake recipe to SI was a bit time consuming but we finally got it. But then we started messing up the recipe...7 teaspoons instead of 7 tablespoons and then just eyeing it based on the texture, dark chocolate instead of milk, 1/4 cup melted butter instead of solid, etc. So, when we took out the cheesecake from the oven, let it cool a bit and pour the ganache on it and put it in the fridge, we weren't sure about how it would taste but we figured "eh, why not see how it goes?" So after making the cheesecake, I got to work in Coco's (our family nickname for Cohavit) ceramic studio which is in the upstairs flat of their condo. First she made a bowl just to show me the technique, then she let me go at it. It was a lot of fun and ultimately I made a small bowl. After it dried for a bit, I got to paint a small design and left it there. She has to put it in the kiln, glaze it, and put it back in the kiln. My dad is going back to Israel in a few weeks for the 30 day anniversary of my grandmother's passing, so he'll take it back home for me. So after lunch and a quick nap, we headed over to my grandparent's house. At my grandparent's house, we hung out for a bit before dinner, the kids playing, me and Noga (Cohavit and Avi's youngest daughter) played on the ipad for a bit and the adults talked. In Israel, a lot of parents put their kids in English classes since it's an important language to learn, so I got a video of Noga repeating the numbers from 1-20 after me. It was cute. Definitely will post it later. So after dinner, I was a bit bored/tired so I went and laid down and before I knew it my dad was waking me up to tell me that I was leaving. So Dana and Eli drove Giti and I home (Adi had work from 2am-10am during the day, so she was at home sleeping) and then they came up and we hung out and had a late night snack of sushi. It was good, definitely different than what we have back at home.

Tomorrow we're going to the cemetery to observe the end of the 1 week of mourning. After, some of us are heading to Jerusalem, so I'm pretty excited to go (even though I've been there before.)

I'm surprised I've been updating so much, but I really like remembering every detail of my trip, so this is the best way to do it plus share it with everyone. Anyway, have a good night!

Food.

So much of today's big events revolved around food. However, I should mention that apparently I was stung or something by a jellyfish. Maybe they just rubbed against my leg or something because I have a lovely rash from the beach yesterday on my ankle. [Pictures to be posted later...when I'm a little less lazy.]

So today, we went to my grandparent's house for breakfast. I mean, we (Adi, Sima, Shkori and I) were going to go to Max Brenner for breakfast to celebrate Sima's birthday, but we weren't leaving till around 11. We (Adi, Sima, my aunt Giti, and I) got there around 9, and sat down and said we weren't going to eat however we ended up eating a bit, cause really, no one can resist an Israeli breakfast in front of them. So we eventually left for Max Brenner and picked up Shkori on the way.

So let me tell you about Max Brenner. The closest ones to LA are in Vegas/NY/Philly... then there's ones that are international in the Philippines, Singapore, and Israel (random, right?) So Max Brenner (to be called Max for the sake of not typing the name a lot more) is a restaurant whose popularity revolves around their chocolate. They're like the modern-day Willy Wonka restaurant with dishes including chocolate dessert pizza, fondu (of course), waffles, crepes... you get the point. So we ordered the Israeli breakfast special. It was quite the feast. Typical Israeli breakfast: eggs, tahini, a sort of cream cheese, salad, break, etc. It was so good. They had this dip that was like nutella, but not as thick (like the consistency of fondu chocolate) and was so good. Oh! So when you order your drinks, they come in these cute glasses that have a spot specifically for the straw (yes, I know. I will post pictures because I do a poor job at describing it). It was really cute. So after we finished with our feast, we got hot chocolate (it was part of the meal thing we ordered.) I got the milk hot chocolate. Definitely one of the best hot chocolates I've ever had. It came in a HUGMUG. I won't even try to describe it, just google it until I post a picture.

So after breakfast we went to CinemaCity and walked around the mall there for a bit. I bought a cute bracelet. Then we went to Shinsky, which is a street with stores and walked around there for a bit.

After we headed back to my grandparent's house to get ready for the big dinner that was that night. We had about and hour or two before we needed to start getting ready, so I spent time with my cousin's daughters, playing games with them on iphones/ipads. It was nice. Then we started to get ready for the big night. So now comes the lesson about Jewish traditions.

So during the week of mourning, on the last night there's supposed to be a large feast where first we do the prayers (the same ones done throughout the week) and then we have a large dinner in honor of those who have passed away. So since my grandparent's apartment is so small, we had it at the betknesset (temple) next door.

Throughout the day, we set up the room and prepared everything as much as we can. Around 6:15, slowly people started coming over...around 6:25, we walked next door to the temple. I headed downstairs to help prepare the food, however the men went and sat inside the pews in the temple while most of the women went and sat in a separate area upstairs, overlooking the pews.

Downstairs we relaxed for a bit then started preparing all the food in the kitchen for the tables. The catering got there and we dished it out so every table had at least one portion of the food (if not more than one.) Everyone in the family was helping out, even my cousin's 3 year old daughter. It was nice to see how much a family comes together to help out. So we had dinner (which was great) and then everyone helped clean up again and then the family headed back to my grandparent's apt. We hung out there for a while then came home around midnight.

Anyway, it's been a long day.

Night!

Finally putting my UCLA degree to use.

So today we went to breakfast at my grandparent's house where we were once again greeted with an amazing breakfast spread. I made sure to take pictures, so I will post them later. After breakfast I took a nap and then woke up to go out on our adventure for the day.

More, Eli (my cousin Dana's husband, same one as the "meeeh meeeh") and I departed for the North around 11:30. Our first stop was Caesarea, some ancient ruins that date back to 22 BCE. It was gorgeous and the ruins were amazing. Some of the mosaic floors were still intact and the arches and everything were still awesome. There was a colosseum with stadium seating that was so well preserved. There was a beautiful view of a deep turquoise ocean as well. After exploring there for about an hour and a half, we decided to head out and go to the beach.

The beach was so nice. The water was clear (nothing like our dirty American beaches. Haha.) and the sand is covered in beautiful sea shells. We hung out in the water for a while and took quite a beating from all the waves. After about an hour we left and headed to Akko where there was supposed to be a market that was "lively and exciting," according to the internet.

So when we finally got there an hour and 45 mins later, we were quite disappointed with the 10 little booth shops that they had. We left after 20 mins and went to a street where there were supposed to be more stores. We browsed those stores for an hour or so and then decided to leave. We headed back to my grandparent's house in Ramat Hasharon and had dinner there. We (Adi, Giti, and Sima, Adi's really sweet friend) left there around 10:30 and came back here and had a small cake for Giti's (my aunt's) birthday.

Tomorrow we have a busy day and I will give you more insight into a big event that is happening tomorrow in regard's to my grandmother's passing and Jewish tradition during the week of mourning.

I miss everyone so much already. Night!

Meeeeeh Meeeeeeh

So today we woke up bright and early, took showers and headed over to my grandparent's house. Cohavit (my cousin who is very preggo right now) had woken up at 5:30 to prepare an Israeli breakfast feast and bring it over for all of us to eat. It was very sweet. Then we sat around and talked for a bit. Cohavit is a ceramic artist and was recently featured in a design book so she showed me her pieces that were in it. You can check out her art at her website http://cohavit.com/. She's very talented.

I rested for a bit then we headed out to Tel Aviv for the day. Me, Adi and Michal (my other cousin) drove into the city to pick up Eli (yet another cousin...I have about 13 cousins here). We got very lost, but eventually found him. While we were driving to Shenkin (a marketplace) we drove past a small hole-in-the-wall place where Eli proceeded to tell me that they have great sandwiches, and when he couldn't remember the name of the meat in English, he proceeded to make a "meeeeh meeeeeh" noise (mimicking a lamb. Haha). We all got quite the kick out of that.

Finally we got to Shenkin and met up with More and started walking through the alley. It felt like it was a good 103 degrees there. We were all melting. So in Shenkin there's booths selling everything from bras and underwear to watches and other jewelry to fish and meat. It was fun thought. I bought a few things. Then we went to another street where there's less booths and they sell hand-made things like hamsas and jewelry. After this, we made our way back to the car and stopped at a few stores on the way. Then we went and had sushi at Japanika. It was good. Same as American sushi. Haha.

After we headed back to my grandparent's house where the living room was filled with guests ready to begin prayers. I got to see some more family like my cousin's uncle and his wife (who her uncle is a carbon copy of her dad. I'll try to get pictures to compare. Haha.) I also got to see my cousin Ori and talk with him for a while so it was nice.

It's been nice starting the day and ending the day surrounded by family. Still hasn't fully hit me that I'm going to Italy for 4 months after this. I'm excited for everything that's happening.

[The photos I was going to add are taking too long to upload, so I'll upload them tomorrow.]

שלום מתל אביב

And so my journey begins.

I departed LAX Sunday at 12:55 PM for Atlanta. I spent the 4.5 hours mostly sleeping, but also watching "The Proposal" on and off. It was a good flight. Glad I slept. Got to Atlanta around 8:25 PM (their time).

My next flight was from Atlanta to Israel and left at 10:45. The 12 hour flight consisted of: Black Swan/dinner, 1/3 of Water for Elephants, a nap, Soul Surfer (yes. don't hate), 1/4 of Eat. Pray. Love., nap, and breakfast/Tangled (which was left with 20 mins to go.)

I arrived in Tel Aviv around 5:30, and by the time I got my luggage and left the airport it was 6:40. I was greeted by my cousin Adi and our friend More. Adi and More stayed with us for about 5 months when they came to CA, so they're like older sisters to me. I was ecstatic to see them. From the airport we went to my grandparent's house because the rest of the family was over there.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Jewish mourning process, when someone dies, the closest family to the person who died (so usually spouse and children) will stay at one house and mourn for a week. They begin early in the morning and pray throughout the day until the evening. During this time, others who wish to pay their respects will come and mourn as well. Men will sit in one area of a room and women will sit in another area of the room. So when I arrived at the small apartment, my aunts greeted me with tight squeezes and tears. It was good to see them. After the prayers were over, I went and said hi to all my uncles and grandpa and gave them tight squeezes.

Around 9:30 or so, other guests left and it was just our family and some of Adi's close friends. The mood lightened up with sounds of laughter over the language barriers between Farsi-Hebrew-English, most people only understanding 2 of the languages. I went over next to my grandfather and he put his arm around me and I put my head on his shoulder and just talked to him. It was really nice. We joked, I told him about what was going on in my life... it was just a really great time (given the circumstances.) I wish my grandmother had been there too, just so I could hug her one last time. I definitely felt as though I was missing something.

Adi, My Saba (Grandfather) and I

It's about 12:45 right now. Tomorrow we'll wake up and go to my grandparent's apartment for a little so I can see other family, and then we'll go shopping in Tel Aviv.

Lyla tov.

[good night].

Hi's and Good-Byes.

This week has been a whirlwind for me. It's consisted of some "hi"s and some good-byes, so it's been bittersweet.

Tuesday at 2:36 PM, my aunt Maryam and her husband Shahyad welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Ava, into the world. She is the most amazing beautiful baby. Even at just hours old, she was so alert, listening to everything that was going on around her. Her tiny little 6 lb 11 oz, 19" long body just lays there with her eyes moving in all directions, as though she understands everything you're saying. I couldn't be happier for my aunt and uncle to have this new amazing addition to the family.

Isn't she beautiful?

It's also been a week of good-byes. I finished my internship on Wednesday. It's been a great experience working there. All my colleagues were so nice and helpful with me, and just so fun to work with, so I definitely enjoyed my entire time there.

Since I'm leaving tomorrow, it's been a week of saying good-byes to friends and family. It's been hard. I put up a strong front and leave with a smile, but in my heart it's really hard knowing that I won't see them for another 4 months. Tonight we celebrated my cousin's son's 1st birthday with the family. It was great to see everyone, yet it dawned on me that it'll be another 4 months until I have a happy gathering like this with my family. I'm going to miss my friends and family very much.

The hardest part of this week happened yesterday..... we got the unfortunate news that my grandmother in Israel passed away. My "savta" (meaning "grandmother" in Hebrew) lived a great life for over 90 years. She lived to be married (still to the day of her death), have 4 children who all got married, have 12 grandchildren (some of which are married) and have 4 great grandchildren. She always had the kindest heart, asking about how everyone was doing when we skyped and spoke on the phone. My family over here has been really supportive. My dad left for Israel early this morning. I'll be going there tomorrow. It's been hard... I was supposed to see her the night I got there... now I'll never have that chance... This week in Israel will probably be the hardest week I've experienced to date, so please just keep me and my family in your prayers.

RIP Savta

I love you very much.

Student Visa!

So, as for many of you know, I've been stressing out about getting my passport/visa back in time for my flight. My appointment was 2 weeks ago, and while there the lady asked when my flight was and told me that I may not get my visa back in time, despite being told over the phone 2 weeks earlier that it would only take 14 days. So I finally called yesterday and my visa was ready! I intern out by The Grove, and the Italian Consulate is in Santa Monica on Wilshire. It was a mad dash to the consulate (they close at 12:30) on my lunch break, but I got there in time and was so excited when the gentleman handed me back my passport with a fancy new student visa sticker in it. I wanted to jump up and down, but I contained myself just long enough to let out a little shriek of excitement when I got back into my car.

All the pieces are coming together. Got my extra battery for my DSLR. Bought my suitcases. Now just left to pack it all up!

Europe - The Final Countdown.

The title of this post suits it quite well. Whether I'm referring to the song or to the fact that I'm leaving for Europe in a week.. it's for both. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of work, internship, vegas, shopping, and finally finishing unpacking from my apartment (yes, I realize I moved out a month and a half ago.) It's all coming down to next Sunday. I can't believe this is all happening. I barely remember thinking about studying abroad, then deciding to go to Italy... and now it's finally here. This next week is going to fly by. I kinda wish that it wouldn't yet I'm excited to start this new chapter of my life. I know I'm going to come back from Italy a different person. Maybe I'll finally figure out what I want to do with my life. Who knows? Anyway, this is a short and sweet post. I have too much to do right now.

4: four, quatro, arba, char.

Four.

It's a pretty important number today. Not only is it the number of months that I will be living abroad, but it is also the number of weeks until I leave to go abroad. The last few weeks have been full of preparations for my trip, including gathering all the necessary documents for my all-important student visa. I know that soon it'll be time to leave. I'm still scared yet excited. I have no idea what I'm in fore, but that's okay. It's what I live for. The unexpected never fails to amuse me. As of right now in my life, everything is unknown to me. Who will I spend the rest of my life with? Will I even find the right guy to marry? What will my career ultimately be? What is going to happen during this next four weeks? What will happen in the following four months after that? I have absolutely no clue. It's a little exciting.

Besides that big part of my life right now (aka getting ready for my trip), my life has been consumed with many other things...

1. My internship has been amazing. I've learned so much and I love everyone I work with. It's safe to say that there's never a dull day at the office. I'm always busy which is great because I absolutely dread when there's nothing to do and I'm literally just sitting there (which thankfully never happens here.) Who knows... maybe I'll ultimately end up in PR.

2. I've been spending a lot of time with my family. With my trip coming up, I know that I'm going to miss everyone so much. I started working at my aunt's office part-time just to spend more time with her and my brother. It's been fun. I'm so blessed to have the family that I have. I wouldn't change anything about them. I'm also blessed to be gaining new additions to my family - my future-sister-in-law's family. They are such a fun bunch. I love spending time with them and really appreciate having them in my life, especially the kids, all 4 of them. :]

3. My friends have been amazing. I know that I can depend on them for anything. Each of them has been a blessing in their own way in my life.

I'm not really sure what else to say, and I'm 99.9% sure that no one reads this... yet. I'll post the link one day, and then I'm sure people will read it. I fully intend on updating the blog while I'm gone. It'll be great to look back on and remember everything from those four months.

Till next time.

2011: new year, new me.

So, I realize I haven't really posted in a while... well, a long while. A few things have gone on in these past months. It's been a whirlwind.

1. I "graduated" from UCLA. I only put it in quotes because I technically have a quarter left still, which leads me onto my second big thing...

2. I am going to finish my last quarter in ROME. Yup. Rome as in Rome, Italy. Yeah. Pret-ty excited, yet scared out of my mind about not knowing Italian. I'm sure I'll manage one way or another. Hey, at least I'm sticking to my new year's resolutions.

3. Before I go to Rome, I'm going to visit my family in Israel. You have no idea how excited I am about this. I miss them so much and I am so freakin' excited to see them. Oh, by the way, in case you were wondering I leave on Aug. 21 to Israel and will be there until Aug. 30 which I will then fly to Rome. I'll be home December 23. Yup, 4 months. I know. Crazy.

4. I now have an official soon-to-be sister-in-law. They got engaged May 13, and I am so happy to have been a part of the planning and executing of it. I'm also open for engagement-consulting. Haha.

5. My aunt (aka second mom) is preggers with a baby girl who'll be named Ava. I can't wait to see her. I'll only have a few days to spend time with her before I leave for Israel.

These past few months have been amazing and I feel like this past year in general has just been a year of growth for me. Without a doubt one of the best years of my life, and I can't wait for what the next 6 months have in store for me.

Till next time. Ciao!