Today I went snorkeling with a guy named Santre whom I met at the hostel the night before. We snorkeled at a coral reef nature reserve where coral could be easily seen without swimming very far from the shore and the water was clear enough to see to the bottom from the surface.  Scuba divers had the advantage of getting closer to the coral however even with the cheap snorkeling gear we rented, the coral felt like it was within arms reach.

Later that evening while hanging out at the hostel trying to figure out what to do that evening, we met to other hostelers also from Jerusalem, one who was born in Israel and the other was studying at a seminary. The four of us decided to have dinner together which turned into quite an adventure since both of them are Orthodox Jews. Turns out a number of restaurants which are not kosher actually have signs that say “We Are Not Kosher”. After walking up and down the boardwalk for a kosher restaurant they recalled a Burger Bar located at the beginning of the boardwalk which was kosher.

I’m now in Eilat enjoying the sun and the beach.  Tomorrow I’ll be heading to the beach and maybe go snorkeling near the coral reef. 

where I’m staying for $17/night

where I would have liked to stay but costs $300/night

Visiting a  place where Shmurah Matzah is made.       

the timer counts down 18 minutes which is the amount of time it would take to turn into chametz

Yes they do celebrate St Patrick’s Day in Israel but a bit more low key than back in the States.  Probably if it weren’t for the elections the turnout at most of the bars might have not been as large.  Or perhaps I arrived at the bar too early (bars in Israel don’t get busy until 11pm).  Regardless, I had a Guinness, a shot of Jamesn just to call my St Patrick’s Day complete.  And I even wore green!



Tonight I attended an election debate held at the Great Synagogue  which included 6 party representatives.  Topics debated were food and housing prices, ways to encourage new Immigrants, and of course handling issues with Palestine. Although I’m not able to vote it’s still exciting to be apart of the elections and to get a better understanding on the political system here.  

member from Liqud Party speaking

Tel Aviv Street Party + evening parties.

The evening festivities were all in a bar or club so I wasn’t able to get pictures there but I was able to get some at the street party held at Kikar Hamedina. It was all tech music music so and since most people were dressed up here as well I had a chance to see some Tel Aviv style costumes.  

Dizengoff Fountain costume



Tonight’s festivities began with the reading of the Megillah which of course included making noise when Haman’s name was mentioned and eating hamamtaschens.

While leaving the student village to go to Jaffa St (which is where I heard would be crowded with people) I ran into some other students that I knew who were also going to Jaffa so I joined them.  Jaffa was filled with people in costume singing, dancing, and drinking! It really felt like Halloween back home.  

We then made our way to a party which to be honest was fun but didn’t have the same “funness” as Jaffa St did.  I stayed until around 2 then left so I could wake up at a “reasonable” hour for day 3 of Purim in Tel Aviv.  

my costume

reading the megillah

Jaffa St

Tonight I joined a Purim party at the Abraham Hostel which was similar to the New Years Eve part they held except the only difference was thar most people were in costume.  It’s hard to tell from the picture but my costume idea was to dress up as a bag of במבה, a popular Israeli snack that tastes like peanut butter flavored Cheetos.  I taped the front of the bag on the front of my shirt and the back of the bag on the back of my shirt and carried a bag of the snack to hand out.  I’ll be going to another Purim party tomorrow and plan on doing some modifications to my costume so stay tuned.