Nom Nom Nom

I have fallen in love with the food here! After my first trip to the shuck, am first, in a giant food coma, and second... obsessed with all the heavenly noshes that filled my stomach throughout the day. Between the gooey, rich rugalach from Marzapan and the spicy falafel my palate has quite the adventure today. If this is going to be my diet for the next few months, I'm going to need to break out the running shoes. Also, for the first time, I truly felt like I was in Israel. Pushing through the crowded alleyways of the Shuk, I felt like I was living the life of a true Israeli. Where else am I going to find an avocado the size of my face, or have to push my way through the mob of people brutishly scavenging for their fresh chocolate pastries. Today was the day when it hit me that this is my home for four months and this is what I will be doing for the rest of my semester. I love everything about this place, the food, the people, the culture. Israel is turning into my new favorite place, and honestly... I'm ok with it.

Falafel

I always heard that the falafel in the US is gross compared to what you get in Israel. So naturally the first time we went out to a place that served falafel, I jumped on the opportunity. Unfortunately, I think my order got lost in translation. So instead of getting a fried chickpea stuffed pita, I got a pita filled with vegi mush. It was tasty, but it was definitely not falafel.

Is This For Real?

I always knew that one day in the future, I would go to the Kotel and see the ever-so-hyped Western Wall. I never thought I would say that that day was today. I know it's cliché, but there's something about being at that holy wall that truly connects you to your past and ancestors. Touching the stone for the first time brought me assurance. Assurance that the texts I study and the prayers I say actually mean something, and actually just might go somewhere divine. I constantly struggle with my ideas of a God or a
divine being, but standing at this wall for the ten minutes I did brought me a weird feeling of clarity and almost blind faith. I am in no way solid in my beliefs after this experience, but I think it's incredible that an inanimate object can bring forth such emotion.