Farewell, Rabi Meir Street

I moved out of the apartment on Thursday, which was a much sadder occasion than I expected. Lots of good memories there, and it of course signifies that change is soon to come. This will be my last week interning in Tel Aviv, which is ridiculous...time! Where did you go? 7 weeks in Tel Aviv, and I have become attached...the other night I took a very touristy tour of Tel Aviv's famous architecture and homes of historical leaders. I always loved the style of Tel Aviv apartments, but now I'm really addicted to looking up when I walk down streets, to catch the neat designs and elements of the buildings. I also had my very last yoga class on Wednesday and said proper goodbyes to both the teacher and a graduate student who was my personal translator/yoga companion. The teacher gave the class in English for the first time, I think as a special parting gift to me. I'm glad the goodbyes are happening slowly--the ones at the hostel and Kav La'Oved will be harder next week.

The empty apartment...how depressing!

The upshot of all this is that I've picked an organic farm to work on for a month, through WorldWideOpportunities(on)OrganicFarms'ing (wwoof.org). Yes, you can use it in a sentence like, "Neat! Are you going to WWOOF as well?" I'll start next Sunday, and I can't wait. The farm I picked (and that accepted me) looks incredible!! It's a goat farm. And you must watch their little video on the website (goatswiththewind.com) and read their introduction. It will make you smile. I don't know anything about goats, except I like their cheese and they're pretty fuzzy, cute creatures. Reason enough.

On the topic of my Hebrew, a few days ago I had coffee with a friend I met through the volunteering with Chinese migrants. She's Israeli, but studied Chinese and lived in China for a year, and now is back working at Amnesty International. Needless to say, she is incredibly awesome. We went to a small coffeeshop filled with vintage furniture and cool art, and spoke English AND Chinese AND Hebrew over apple cake. It was a blast...I really was inspired by Emma, who did this with a Spanish friend of hers in Sevilla. I had no idea how it would go--if it would lag and be awkward or boring or filled with anxiety...but it was absolutely fantastic. Plus, I got to take a tour of her new apartment in Yafo (Jaffa), one of the oldest port cities in the world, with its beautiful teal wooden shutters and antique tiling in the bathroom.

So, I've said goodbye to one apartment with a fond farewell. But I've already started dreaming of the next one...

The street we lived on, good ole Rabi Meir.