Confessions of an Avid Tel Aviv Bike Rider

I finally caved this week and bought a bike; something that I've been talking about for months now.  I originally planned on going for the KHS Urban Soul, but the shop where I went, One Bike Studio, was out of KHS, so I went one step up and bought a Charge.  Sure it was a little more money, but this bike is everything that I wanted and more, plus it's white which wasn't originally a deal breaker, but it's what I secretly wanted. Here's a pic below:

This bike ride's extremely smooth, and weighs next to nothing.  I'm pretty sure that my lock might weigh the same as my entire bike, and I love it because it allows me to fly home, that is in most cases.  Today, flying down the bike path wasn't a great idea due to all of the rain we've gotten from last night into this afternoon.  Riding down Ben Gurion I thought to myself, "Wow, people say you should ride/drive slower on wet roads, but I can still fly." Within a minute I hydroplaned, fishtailed, and nearly fell, but luckily my newly found balance saved me and I stayed upright.  Believe me that I kept it at modest speeds for the ride home.

As much as I love my bike and riding everywhere, the people of Tel Aviv, can make it difficult, annoying, and even at times dangerous.  Let us begin with pedestrians.  Oh pedestrians, the large majority of you walk around absolutely clueless due to the fact that you're glued to your smartphone, and as a result have no idea where you're walking or what's around you.  From this group I far prefer the people actually talking on their phones because they may see you coming, whereas the texters and candy crushers wouldn't know if a volcano erupted in front of them.  Both however do what I like to call the zig zig walk (Menachem, if you're reading you know that our Shuk discussion greatly inspired this post).  You'll be riding behind these people, who will usually be in the bike lane (oh yes I'll get to that in a second), and instead of walking in a straihgt line the go from right to left.  Passing these people can be extremely challenging as you'll be riding by them when all of a sudden the nearly walk into you as they continue their zig zag.  A bell usually prevents this, but if the zig zaggers are listening to music beware because they may as well be blind and deaf, and as a rider you have to treat them as such.

Oh yes, I almost forgot about the bike lane.  I usually ride on streets with a bike lane for safety reasons, and these bike lanes are clearly marked as such, but that doesn't seem to stop pedestrians from using them.  Now usually I'd say that its a big city with lots of people and their isn't enough room on the sidewalk, but believe me there always is enough room being that the sidewalk is normally three times the size of the bike lane.  It's basically the equivalent of that asshole flying up the shoulder when traffic is stopped because he doesn't feel like waiting for it to start moving again.  Well, maybe that's an over exaggeration, but in any case it's frustrating.

You may think that bike riders have some kind of common respect for one another and that we're like one big fraternity with respect and all that jazz, but let me tell you, most bike riders ride like absolute assholes.  First of all, I don't know how many people here come from the commonwealths of Great Britain, but here in Israel, people drive on the right hand side of the road.  In addition, it makes sense that when walking and biking you should stay to right, but the citizens of Tel Aviv have no yet grasped this concept.  I stay to the right and people are constantly riding right towards me, and they don't move, like they're where they should be.  So frustrating.  And then you have the people on electric bikes and scooters, which I have to admit are pretty cool, but they act like they own the sidewalk because they can fly by you.  I've had and seen more than one close call with those guys and let me tell you that the electric cyclers have no remorse and think their the shit.

The last group, and believe it or not, the least of my problems is the automobile group.  For safety reasons and due to the crazy Israeli drivers I usually keep it to the sidewalks, and honestly when I'm crossing the street on a green and cars are turning right most of them yield with no problem.  The scary part is how people slow down and give you the signal to go but they always stop too close for comfort, and there's always a small part of my brain thinking that they're messing with me and that they're not going to stop.  And that my friends is why I wear a helmet.  I'd say the majority of riders go helmetless, which is a personal choice, but I worry about the idiots who I see everyday texting and driving, or the idiots who turn left on a red putting people like me in danger.  Have no fear friends, I'm protected.  I highly recommend biking to anybody living in Tel Aviv, as it's msotly bike friendly, but just beware of the above-mentioned dangers.  Oh and here's my helmet, don't judge the diamond, it's the design, not my own personal artwork:

It's the Little Things and the New Experiences that Bring True Joy

It's funny how with all the sacrifices of material possessions that go along with a lower standard of living and income in Israel one starts to appreciate the little things in life.  For example, until last week I did not have a mailbox.  For some reason my landlord just never put one in, so I finally took the initiative and had one put in myself because I couldn't stand it anymore.  I can't begin to explain the joy that I felt when I first saw my solo mailbox standing alone next to the other nine mailboxes that are lumped together in a 3 x 3 cube.  You all need a visual, oh how I love that every phone these days has a camera. Well I do and I don't because privacy has become a thing of the past, but let's not get too off-topic just yet.  But seriously, it's a little sad, but also really funny how excited I became over a mailbox, something that I always had until I moved to this apartment.  You never know how much you truly take those little things in life like a mailbox for granted until you don't have one.

Not only do I now get excited over what would seem small insignificant things, but I'm also amazed at how many every day experiences are things that I had never encountered in the states.  For example, sprinting for the bus because you see it stopped at a red light and you happen to be about 50 meters from the stop.  Yes, that was me today.  Not that I'm complaining because I haven't been exercising at all lately, but I'm sure I'm not the only new oleh who has experiences in Israel that they never had in their home country. 

*Not me, but this is probably what I looked like to the bus driver seconds before I made it in the door.

I've recently been thinking back to nearly two years ago now, in February of 2012 when I was going back and forth on trading in my car for a different car instead of paying a significant amount of money on repairs for my then older car.  I've been comparing that conundrum to my current situation only instead of buying a newish car, I'm weighing the purchase of a bicycle.  And no people, not one of those new trendy electric bikes that can go up to 20-30 km/h with a battery that will take you 20km on its own, I'm talking a simple, single-speed bike.  It's just shocking to look at the turns that my life has taken in such little time.  Don't get me wrong, I'm completely happy with where I am in life, just amazed at how different my life is here compared to my life in the states.

The exact bike that I may buy in the next few days.

And have I mentioned all of the new experiences that go along with moving to a new country?  I think I did earlier, but at the ripe old age of 27 my short term memory has really taken a hit.  Yesterday I did something that I haven't done since I was a kid, and I'm pretty sure that I only did it once before: ice skating (which is a shocker because there is the "Skatium" right in the middle of my hometown).  I must admit, at first I was only doing it for my lady, and I assumed that I would spend the entire time on my ass, but besides one very ungraceful fall I did ok and actually enjoyed myself.  Here's a pic below of our first ice skating adventure.  The place is called Iskate and it's right next to the Luna Park by the Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv for those of you interested in giving it a shot. 

Stop and Think About what you were Doing one year ago

Life moves so fast now it's sometimes difficult to stop and think where I was one year ago, and how much has changed since then.  I've gone from substitute teaching in Delaware county Pennsylvania, living at my mother's house to living with my girlfriend in an apartment in Tel Aviv.  It all seems natural, as I've adjusted to Israel, but when I have a chance to stop for a second and think about how different my life was a year ago I'm astounded. 

Sometimes when I think about the first 26 years of my life and then look at the last year it's almost like I've been stuck in a dream for ten months.  A small part of me is slightly paranoid that I am really dreaming and that sometime soon I'm going to wake up on the border of Havertown and Upper Darby, Pennsylvania to put on my shirt and tie on my way to babysit 25-30 kids for the day (the equivalent of substitute teaching). It's like I'm in a different world here; I mean sure I have connections to my past with talking to friends, watching sports, and keeping up with the news in the U.S, but my life now is so completely different from my life one year ago.

What's most shocking for me is how well I've handled so many transitions, one after the other.  I went from moving to Jerusalem, to Ulpan, left Ulpan and moved into my Aunt and Uncle's house, moved on to my cousin's house in Tel Aviv, and now I have my own place.  I almost wonder if I'm truly handling the transitions well, or if they're happening so fast that I don't have time to process the changes.  In any case, I'm just happy and thankful to roll with the changes, and to not get hung up on the bumps in the road. 

I know I'm not alone, as my recent revelation applies to most if not all new olim.  I hope and pray that everyone is dealing with the constant changes as well as I have, and that we'll all soon find a bit of stability.  Still, it's amazing to look back on how much one can accomplish in a year, if there's a will, and a strong desire to move forward and succeed. 

Always Important to Have Some 'Me' Time

Lately I've been slightly frustrated with my lack of "me" time.  Whether that's time for gymming, reading, writing, or some other personal leisure activity that time just hasn't been there.  Sure I've been working a lot, and whenever I haven't been working I've been trying to move forward with other aspects of my life such as gearing up to go back to school and apartment upkeep, but lately I've been trying hard to find time for fun things that I enjoy doing.

At the same time, at this point in my aliyah I have to take my most common piece of advice which is to focus on what I do have and not on what I don't.  I currently have a cozy apartment in the old north in Tel Aviv, five minutes from the beach with my girlfriend, who I couldn't be happier with.  In this apartment I have everything that I need and more.  I just finished watching the Philadelphia Eagles on my TV, in Israel.  How awesome is that? It's just amazing for me how if you work hard and try to find creative solutions to your problems, you can have nearly everything you desire.  I'm just so thankful for everything that I have, a great girl, a fully loaded apartment in the best part of Tel Aviv, enough income where I'm not sweating every month, and I'm in a place where I have a large and loving family who's always supporting me.  And most recently my mom moved to Israel, making my transition to living here even easier. 

It continues to be a great ride, and I'm sure that if I stay positive and focus on what I have as opposed to what I don't, I'll see that the "me" time for reading, writing, and exercise, will come.  Plus, I enjoy so many little things here, like my daily commutes on the Tel-o-fun bikes (Green bikes part of a bike share program in Tel Aviv for my non-Israeli readers).  I live on the beach, where I can wear shorts and flip-flops in November, in a city where I haven't yet felt cold.  I'd say I'm doing pretty well, and even that's putting it lightly.

My current main mode of transportation.  I love it because it's healthy and good for the environment! Probably buying my own bike soon, but still so thankful for the Tel-o-Fun service!

Doesn't get much better than a Tel Aviv sunset. 

My lady and I at a very fun birthday celebration.

So Many Changes!

Lot's of new developments in my life since my last post.  Ulpan ended, sadly, and I finished with an excellent grade: Level  Daled ד (the highest level measured by the test) 93.  The last couple of months of Ulpan were a bit different from the beginning.  A lot of people started to work and focus on the next chapters of their lives.  I started to see less of my friends, and we all felt the next transition coming as the end of Ulpan grew closer.  I also spent a lot of time outside of Ulpan during my last month because I met a lady, and things have been going excellent with her ever since.

It's difficult for me to reflect back on the my entire time at Ulpan Etzion as a whole.  I probable should have written this post as soon as I moved out, but for whatever reason I've abandoned my blog for the last few months.  Anyway, as a start to an Aliyah I couldn't imagine a better transition for living in a new country.  I had the opportunity to meet people from all of the world, make new friends, and improve my language skills; all of which allowed for a smoother transition for living in Israel.  Certainly had some ups and downs, but overall I don't think I would have done anything differently.  I made some friends who I feel will always be part of my life, and I also developed a special fondness for Jerusalem.  It's such a beautiful and special city, that will always hold a special place in my life, as I lived there for the first six months of my time in Israel.

Two weeks ago I moved from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.  After Ulpan ended I was unsure if and when I wanted to move out of Jerusalem, so I began to apply for jobs in both cities and went to interviews, mostly in Tel Aviv.  As things moved slowly in the terms of employment and with school, I realized that the time had come to make the move to Tel Aviv.  Traveling back and forth for job interviews and meetings with schools just didn't make sense, and I reached a point (through numerous discussions with my family members) where I knew that I had to make the move to Tel Aviv.

 

So now I'm in Tel Aviv, or TA as I like to call it, living in my cousin's house until I establish myself financially and rent my own apartment.  Things have been difficult at times, and I've been frustrated with all of the employment and education issues that have come about, but I know that in time things will work out.  I recently started waiting tables at a restaurant; not ideal for someone with two degrees, but at the same time it gets me out of the house, puts cash money in my pocket, and allows me to practice my Hebrew on a daily basis.  I never imagined having to work in a language other than English, and now I do.  At times it can be tough, mostly when the other servers speak very fast, and I have trouble understanding.   I know that soon I'll zero in on a professional direction and work towards that goal, by going back to school and immersing myself in the appropriate industry.  I'm willing to work hard for something that I really want, but the problem is finding that something in the terms of a career.  Definitely my biggest challenge thus far in life, but like all other challenges that have come about, I know that I will overcome it and emerge stronger than before. 

Off-Roading and Camping in the Negev!

Last week we had a significant break from Ulpan for the holiday of Shavuot.  I believe this holiday celebrates the time when God gave to Torah to the nation of Israel on Mount Sinai, but don't quote me on that because my knowledge of religious significance is mostly based on Wikipedia.  Anyway, from Monday night we were on vacation, and when I told my cousins that I would have a significant break for the holiday they invited me to join them on an off-roading trip in the Negev desert in southern Israel.  My cousin's husband is from the Mizpe Ramon, which sits right on a giant crater that's 40 km wide, and was carved out by water and tectonic plate movement (whereas other craters are sits of bomb blasts or fרםצm meteors that collided with Earth). It,s absolutely beautiful. Here's a pic from above the "Machtesh" as the crater is called in Hebrew.

On Tuesday afternoon we set out for Mizpe Ramon, stopping at Be'er Sheva on the way.  I had driven through the Negev before on my way to Arad and Eilat, but I had never spent a significant amount of time in the desert. There's something beautiful about the vast emptiness and quiet that comes with the desert.  As my cousin's husband said, out here it's just you and god, and he wasn't kidding.  No cell reception, running water, or electricity, just good old-fashioned family time.  

This trip marked the first time that I had been off-roading for more than a couple of hours.  I couldn't believe some of the roads and passages that we drove through because they were so riddled with rocks and dips that if taken at high speeds will destroy your car.  Some of the descents and hills looked impassable to me, and I was shocked when we would drive down paths that consisted solely of giants rocks.  One such path was even challenging to climb on foot, and Yaniv (my cousin's husband) climbed it with his Trooper.  See the video below to check out the climb.  

Overall the trip was really amazing.  I saw a part of the country that I had never seen before, and spent more quality time with my family.   My favorite part has to be that I drove during the trip on Wednesday and Thursday.  Going off-roading and camping out in the desert is something that I can definitely see myself doing in the future, and I can't wait to go back.  Here are a few more pics of the few, and a video that my cousin put together.   Enjoy :-).

Couldn't get a direct feed from Youtube, but here's the link for the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu9fX0e7SHs

And That's a Buzzkill

Yesterday I was very excited to learn that I got a part-time opportunity at a High-Tech start up in Tel Aviv, and today they called to rescind their offer because they need someone who can start right away.  Well that's just shitty, but hey, I guess it's not meant to be.  I'm not too down about it because I know there will be other opportunities that may actually be full-time positions, but it would have been nice to already know that I have at least one promising position waiting for me when I leave Ulpan. Oh well back to the drawing board, speaking of which, job fair yesterday! My first Israeli job fair took place yesterday, and it was a far different experience from the job fairs that I attended in the states.  This job fair had a far more relaxed environment; I shower up in jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops, and that was perfectly acceptable.  Yesterday's fair brought some useful information and contacts, but a majority of the representatives came from job placement agencies, so it's tough to say if those will lead to any actual positions.  Either way, I'm staying positive and hoping that some other promising employment opportunities come my way.

After the job fair and a nice run I went downtown with a few friends.  We went to the old city and then hung out in the city center for a little while.  Overall it was a chill time; a bunch of people were exhausted so we packed it in early, but I was glad to spend the night in downtown Jerusalem on the eve of Jerusalem day.  Here are some pics from last night; hindsight tells me I probably should have used the flash on my fancy iPhone camera, next time for sure. 

Sami and David, my bros,  at the Kotel.

Here's a candid of most of the group that went to the Kotel.

Natalie attempting to hammer Nate.

First Israeli Job Interview

There are a ton of firsts for new Olim, and today I had my first Israeli job interview. It went well for the most part; well besides the fact that I was 30 minutes late, but I called to let them know, and it didn't appear to be a huge problem. In my defense I would have been on time had the Egged driver not taken an unnecessary detour through Ramat Gan, aka he had no idea where he was going. Still, I arrived and had my interview. For the most part it went well, everyone was very pleasant. Definitely one of the least stressful job interviews I've had in my time which surprised me. I figured a job interview in my second language would prove challenging, and I expected lots of personal questions, but everything went well. I know that's a little bland, but I don't want to write anything too spicy in case I'm hired and start working for this company ;-).

On my way to the interview I read the Jerusalem Post, an Israeli newspaper geared towards people whose Hebrew isn't great. It felt great reading the paper because I can already notice an increase in my reading speed. I'm noticing that as my decoding improves, a new issue that I'll need to tackle is my reading comprehension. It seems that I'm working so hard at reading the words that I forget what I'm reading. Baby steps right, but I must say as an educator and someone who taught decoding and reading comprehension last summer, it's fascinating to see the difficulties of learning to read and write. It's like I'm a little kid in a 6'1 (sorry 1.85 m) medium-build body. I wonder if my fellow Olim feel the same way. Either way, it's a great feeling to see you're own personal progress with the language, and I hope that in the coming months I'll continue to see improvements in all aspects of my Hebrew. To my fellow Olim, make sure you take a break from the frustration, and take a minute to evaluate your own personal strides with Hebrew. It feels great to see how far we've come in nearly four months :-)

I'm Starting to Miss Having a Car

Yesterday there was a fire at Ulpan! No joke.  A careless pedestrian apparently flicked a cigarette into some of the dried brush right outside the Ulpan, and a decent sized blaze sprouted up.  Now if we were in the States there would have been alarms, and at least four fire trucks within minutes, but to my surprise I heard no such alarms, and I didn't see any Israeli firefighters.  So what happened? Did the Ulpan burn down? Not at all, thanks to some quick thinking from our building's maintenance manager and some help from the cooks and some fellow students.  Itzhik, the maintenance manager, quickly hooked up some fire hoses, and with the help of some of the cooks and students put out the fire before the fire department arrived.  Only in Israel.  I just love how people acted fast and didn't wait for the firefighters to arrive.  It's interesting how people here are ready to handle things themselves and jump to action far quicker than in the States; probably due to the fact that services here can really suck forcing people to be more self sufficient.  I mean seriously 25 minutes for the fire dept to arrive? No bueno.  Here are some pics taken by a fellow student showing some of the students helping to put out the fire.

Today marked the first day where I went to Tel Aviv (Ramat Gan) to look at apartments with my future roommates.  We saw some good places, but the trip absolutely drained me.  We left Ulpan at 4 pm, and returned at 12 am.  That's right, eight hours to see two apartments in a city that's a 40-45 minute drive from here, crazy right?  I'm finally missing having a car because taking public transportation has made me realize how long it takes to accomplish everyday tasks without a car.  If we had a car we probably would have seen everything and been back on the road by 8-8:30 tops.  I can't wait until I have enough money to save up and buy a POS car that will get me from A to B without any major mechanical or safety issues.  That or maybe I'll land a good job that will give me a work car, fingers crossed.  I have my first interview tomorrow in TA, wish me luck! And here's a pic of my future POS car.  Not really, but it probably won't be too different.

A Lovely Long Weekend

As my title describes I had a great four day weekend thanks to Lag Ba-Omer, the Jewish holiday which celebrates the 33rd day of the Omer (According to Wikipedia, I know I'm a terrible Jew, don't judge me), and is often celebrated with a bonfire.  On a sad note I saw a pretty sizable forest fire on my way back from Netanya today :-(, probably due to some idiots having their bonfires in the forest with high winds.  I remember my uncle told me on Thursday that every year stupid people go to the forests to have their bonfires, while there are high winds, and what do you know, a forest fire.  So sad, and stupid.  Come on Israelis, there are enough empty lots and spaces that aren't filled with timber that could easily host a bonfire.

The long weekend began with a trip downtown to do some homework and errands.  While downtown, I ran into a buddy of mine from Ulpan who also happens to be a former resident of the keystone state (PA).  We had coffees, worked, and chatted a bit at Cafe Hillel on Yafo street in Jerusalem.

 

Eventually another buddy joined us for some more quality bro time.  I'm always a big fan of the bro time, especially when it's unplanned.  I just happened to come to the same cafe as Menachem, and joined him for a coffee while we each worked and caught up.  Eventually Jeremy aka J-bone joined us until we had to go our separate ways.  I took this candid of J-bone and Menachem while we hung out.  I love how Jeremy looks very excited about what he's saying while Menachem sports a serious listening face.

After bro time I had a great dinner at home with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, followed by a night out to celebrate some Ulpan birthdays.  I love how whenever someone has a birthday at Ulpan everyone gets so into it and goes out to celebrate with the birthday boy or girl.  There's such a feeling of camaraderie  here, and I simply love it. 

For the first half of this long weekend I kept it pretty chill, staying at the Ulpan with my buddies.  I usually travel to one of my family members' homes for the weekend, but this weekend I stayed to hang with my friends.  As my time here at Ulpan draws to a close (Only a month and a half left :-( ) I'm trying to get as much out of this experience as possible, and a major part of relishing this experience will be spending my time with great friends.  For instance, on Saturday I took an impromptu trip to a pool at a local Kibbutz, and we had an amazing time.  Just me and a few friends, completely unplanned, decided to go swimming on a hot day and we all had a blast.  

So far an amazing weekend right? It just kept on getting better.  Yesterday a good friend of mine invited me to Netanya for the last two days of our long weekend.  It took a while on a few different busses, but once I arrived in Netanya I instantly knew that the trip was well worth the long ride.  Prior to yesterday I had never been to Netanya, and it's a shame because the beach in Netanya is absolutely beautiful.  As soon as I arrived I went straight to the ocean, feeling that I had to at least put my feet in after the long bus ride.  Walking down to the beach I noticed that the sun was beginning to set, and I remembered that in Israel I can actually see legitimate sunsets on the beach; something that I could never have at the NJ beaches back home.  I tried to take a few pics of the sunset, but they didn't come out well.  I took one to try and contrast the different lighting/ I thought it looked cool; you all be the judge.

I always love the beach, and I'm so glad that I chose to take the trip to Netanya.  After a fun night of red wine and games with friends I woke up early this morning determined to go back for some fun in the sun.  We spent about five hours on the beach and it was amazing, minus the bug attack that forced us to move down the beach.  We had a slight breeze and the water was beautiful and calm.  There were no waves, and we spent plenty of time swimming  and sitting near the water.  Just another great day at the beach with perfect weather and great company. 

What a view, right? I'm back now and blogging way past my bedtime because I had to get my thoughts down while they're still fresh.  Today reminds me how thankful I am to have such kind and generous friends in my life with whom I can share great times. Whether it's at a cafe, in the dorms, or on the beach, nothing tops spending time with great friends.  It's just been a perfect weekend, and I couldn't ask for much more.  Wish it didn't have to end.  No worries, back to reality tomorrow, and hopefully another fun long weekend in the near future :-).