What I learnt during my time in Israel

I like to think of myself as an observant person, often gazing off into the distance and wondering why X is like Y, and what made it get to the way it is now. So after nearly 5 months of living in Tel Aviv I wanted to share my knowledge regarding the good, the bad and the ugly of this strangely wonderful, bizarre, confusing and politically charged country.

I tried to make it an even thirty, but I couldn’t.

Tel Aviv central bus station graffiti art

1. Israel makes the best falafels in the world
2. The postal service is terrible. Don’t expect your package before two months of ordering it
3. The weekend is on Friday and Saturday, but people go out every night in Tel Aviv
4. No one is overly phased by the prospect of another war
5. Israeli/Arab men are not afraid to hug unlike men from the western world
6. Jews have a lot of holidays
7. The central bus station is the most terrifying and entertaining place in Tel Aviv
8. There are hundreds of stray cats running around the city
9. Most shops and all public transport stop from a few hours before Friday sundown to Saturday sundown for Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, making it more unlikely that you’ll do anything with your weekends other than go to the beach and party
10. Chaco sandals are the ugliest shoes ever made
11. Israeli’s are direct. Don’t take it personally
12. Nothing is ever organised
13. Israeli’s know how to make wine
14. Israeli’s don’t know how to drive and they honk when there is absolutely no where for the car in front to go anywhere
15. Tel Aviv is a bubble
16. Jerusalem feels like another country
17. The buses hardly ever come on time, and often they just don’t show up
18. The city stands still when the siren goes off on Yom Hazikaron, and the world feels different for that minute of silence
19. Kibbutz are a wonderful practice of community and harmony
20. People dress up every day for a week to celebrate the one day of Purim
21. A lot of people ride automatic scooters
22. If you want a religious experience, Tel Aviv is not the place
23. The Dead Sea is something you must experience at least once, and once you’ve experienced it you probably won’t want to again
24. Everyone is dressed as casual as possible, even at work
25. You’ll find religious Jews in suits and long dresses on a 30+ degree day
26. Wages are terrible, but people still manage to eat out all the time
27. Arak is the counties most popular drink, yet it makes you want to throw up just from the smell of it
28. People want peace
29. The importance of a Jewish State

Haifa, Somewhere up north

 

The Essential Guide to Tel Aviv

Everything you need to know about Jerusalem

Highlights:

• Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world and holy to the three major Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam
• Walk the Old City, one of the most beautiful attractions in Jerusalem, separated into the Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Armenian quarters
• Visit the Temple Mount: one of the most contentious areas in the city
• Touch the Kotel: the most significant site in the world for Jews

The city of Jewish Mysticism; visiting Tzfat

Visiting the North of Israel

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