Since freshman year when I met my boyfriend I had always known that Israel held a lot of importance in his life, he was born there and his dad's family live there, but I never fully understood what it was that made him feel so strongly connected to a country thousands of miles away that he'd lived in during his earliest years. I never imagined I would actually go there and see first hand why he loved it, but after going there it's easy to understand what's so special about Israel. I have never been anywhere quite like it, and of everywhere I went over spring break it easily won me over with its ancient and modern charm. I arrived in Tel Aviv in the early evening. After having to dump out my water before going through Istanbul airport security, and then realizing that there are absolutely no water fountains in the Istanbul airport, I was pretty excited to see a very clean water fountain as soon as I got off my flight. I know, it's ridiculous to think that a water fountain is a sign. But if you've ever spent a day with me, you know that I don't go anywhere (I mean anywhere at all) without my reusable water bottle in hand. Not a party, not the grocery store, not the park. So having access to water that wasn't going to make me sick as soon as I left the plane seemed like a promising indicator of how I would feel about Israel.

I had to make it first through some intense customs lines, but once that was done it was easy to make my way through the airport to baggage claim where Mati was not waiting for me. Nope. No one was there. Ummmm is there more than one airport in Israel? I don't even have his number! I don't even speak Hebrew! What if I'm stranded in the Ben-Gurion airport?? 

Of course I was not stranded. And most people in Israel speak English - so I probably would have been fine. And there was free internet so I could facebook message Mati. Duh MacKenzie, the modern world doesn't allow you to disconnect from all communication while in an international airport, not even if you want to.

So after about fifteen minutes of my standing looking slightly distressed Mati showed up, apologizing because the bus from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv had been caught in traffic. But of course, I didn't care. I was in Tel Aviv with my boyfriend about to finally see Israel! Fifteen minutes was nothing compared to the next five days.

We went to put my things in his uncles car and I met his first Israeli relative, Modi (I hope I'm spelling this right). Even though I spoke no Hebrew and Modi spoke only a little English, I immediately felt welcomed. For our first two night he was letting Mati and I stay with him so we could see Tel Aviv. This turned out to be perfect because Tel Aviv happened to be experiencing something I hadn't seen in months: perfect weather. With no clouds. With long stretches of beach. And did I forget to mention sunshine? 

For our first night we had a picnic in the park by Modi's house where there's randomly a zoo full of goats and deer and other random animals. No idea why. 

So we sat by the river on the grass and I got to try an Arab bagel, which American girls in LA would love if they were drunk and complain about if they were sober because unlike a normal bagel which is already thick and calorie laden, these bagels are enormous (like 1.5 times the circumference of my head) and actually irresistibly delicious. They are covered in sesame seeds and have a slightly sweet taste which you mix with the salty and unique flavor of Israel's favorite spice (or my favorite Israeli spice?) za'atar.

After our picnic we took the 5, which is a mini-bus that runs an unmarked route and that in theory arrives every five minutes (thus the name). Modi showed us where to catch it and said to just flag it down. So we went to the street where it was supposed to come and stood on the curb waiting. One minute, two minutes, three...and then as if by magic a miniature white bus came towards us. Mati waved it down and what do you know, it worked. I shouldn't have been so surprised in a country with water fountains.

We took the 5 out to dinner and shared some pretty amazing vegetarian dishes before going down to the Mediterranean to dip our feet in and walk home from there.

The next day was a full day of exploring Tel Aviv. We got an early start and found instructions from Mati's aunt Daphne on two options for the day. We chose option B and decided to walk down to the park and rent some bikes for the day. This turned out to be the best decision because we literally  used those bikes almost the full twenty-four hours we had them available to us. One great thing about France and Israel, they both have bikes you can rent for twenty-four hours for just 5 dollars from any station you see on the side of the street. These stations are everywhere and as long as you only take the bike for thirty minutes before returning it to a station and taking out a new one,  you  never get charged any more than the original flat fee. So first came the bike ride through the park which stretched all the way to the beaches. We made our first stop at a little place that probably gets crowded in the summer, but for us was completely empty. It was an outdoor bar with chairs to lie out on and the woman working there told us we could sit and not even order a drink. So we started our big day by just laying out in the sun, which of course led to a few more freckles on my face, but was completely worth it.

Next came the area of Tel Aviv famous for its history, Jaffa (pronounced yah-fo in Hebrew). Jaffa is the oldest part of Tel Aviv which means that it dates back to year zero...it's hard to believe that what you're seeing and where you're walking was walked on and seen and lived in by people two thousand years ago - and we're still walking there, living there, and witnessing it. We grabbed some bikes to get to the flea market where Daphne had told us we could find some random things if that was "the sort of thing we liked" - random and things and flea market all mean cool and vintage to me so yes it's the sort of thing I like. Except, the market at Jaffa actually was random things like nuts and bolts, mismatched silverware, old dirty chairs, and other lawn sale items that weren't quite the cheap jewelry I expected. But that didn't matter because our next stop was at a falafel place where I made the mistake of letting Mati order for me which meant that he, being a twenty year old guy with a bottomless appetite, ordered me the largest burrito style falafel I could never have eaten in normal circumstances (normal circumstances being falafel in LA that isn't fresh and delicious). So I took a look at it, doubted that it would actually fit in my stomach (I actually didn't think it was possible...), then took the next half hour trying to figure out how to get as much as possible while making it last because it was sooooooooooo good. 

Our next stop was Neve Tzedek - a little neighborhood that reminded both of us of Paris - maybe because every person who passed was speaking French. Fun fact, France has the third largest Jewish population in the world with Israel as number one and America as number two. We wandered into a pottery shop where Mati spoke with the woman about the interesting glazing techniques used by the artists there (he took a course on wheel throwing and love learning about different methods of making pots). She showed us how if you use a certain glaze it can resist much hotter flames but will crack and turn black from the smoke along the lines to create an aesthetically unique look. Pots like this have at least one black surface where the artist held the pot during its glazing and thus that part wasn't protected (usually this is the bottom of the pot, so if you pick it up you'll see the smoked black surface).

Next we got more food. Duh. This time we went into a gelato shop and after sampling every flavor they had (which included dairy free dark chocolate! #veganheaven) we finally decided on Cookieman and Soy Carmel. I have no idea what was in them but it was an experience comparable to that of the gelato in Italy...I know that this is blasphemy to say so, but Cookieman blew my Italian chocolate gelato out of the Mediterranean Sea (bad joke). 

After gelato we rode bikes to Rothschild, a central street in Tel Aviv where we could gaze in awe at the giant buildings so many stories high. We finally made it back down this street to the beach where we dropped off our bikes and I managed to accidentally lock it when the wire wasn't in place, so Mati spent ten minutes on the phone working out how to unlock and relock it. After that little mishap we stopped into a store, bought two beers, and went to the rooftop of a hotel on the beach where Mati stayed the week before. We watched an amazing sunset over the Mediterranean and I felt like I was in LA again, watching the sun go down on the Pacific. 

We made it back around 9pm and sat down to chat with Daphne who happens to have one of the coolest jobs I can imagine as an IR/Econ/Political Sciences students. She works for a think tank in Israel that identifies issues the country faces and narrows them to a more specific question or problem so that the government or other NGOs can address them more efficiently. Well then. You're super smart and cool and can I please ask you how to get internships in the international relations field because it's hard and intimidating?? Not to mention she's fluent in Hebrew and English.

After talking with Daphne for awhile we got ready and went out to dinner at a restaurant she recommended for its vegetarian food and decent bar scene. Something absolutely unique to Israel is that every single citizen, man or woman, must go into the army after high school and before college. Because of this a lot of bars have a 21+ or 25+ rule because those who have already been in the army find 18 and 19 year olds who are still in it immature. I don't know if this bar was 25+ and we got in because we went to the restaurant first, but after some fancy and delicious vegetarian mushroom dumplings, we found ourselves in a bar surrounded by a much older crowd doing the YMCA (which was definitely older than their generation, but much older than ours). So that was our night out in Israel's biggest party city- hanging out with people the age of our parents youngest friends who were dancing to bad eighties music to our amusement. So so funny. 

The next morning we waited until after the Tel Aviv Marathon finished and then took a bus to Jerusalem. The entire ride I felt the excitement of finally seeing Jerusalem jolting through me. The terrain as we drove changed from urban to desert with long stretches of green agriculture land. Finally we rounded a corner and there it was, the Holy City. For thousands of years Jerusalem has existed as a center for three religions and seeing it under the bright Israeli sun felt surreal. 

Because it was Friday and at sunset Shabbat would begin (meaning the buses and public transport would no longer be running until Saturday night), we headed immediately to the Shuk. The Shuk is the main market in Jerusalem where you go to get great bargains, with a little bit of persuasion, on the freshest produce around. The Shuk bustled with everyone finishing their shopping before Shabbat dinner and a peaceful Saturday in which most things are closed (it's like Sunday in the States). 

After the Shuk we went to Mati's dorms. If there is one thing I envy about his situation in abroad, it's the fact that he gets to live in dorms. Sciences Po, my school in Paris, doesn't have any centrality at all. The buildings are situated within the city, sometimes ten minute walks apart, and no one lives near one another. If I want to meet up with my friends it means I have to take one, two, sometimes three metros to get there and I have to leave before 1am unless I want to take a cab on my own (as opposed to taking a cab to the dorms and splitting it because EVERYONE is going to the same place!). The dorms also make it easy to have dinner together, something I never fully appreciated now that I live alone and eat alone. Though I love cooking, cooking for one makes it a little less fun - I can just talk to myself about how good the food is and how great French ingredients are. Not so social..

After getting situated and checking out the view of the sun setting on Jerusalem from the roof (beautiful beautiful beautiful) we walked just across the street to Mati's grandparents house for Shabbat dinner. That's right, just, across, the street. It was sooo nice to be able to walk two minutes and be in a real home with Mati's relatives who again welcomed me and as it turned out had cooked a feast for our first night in Jerusalem. Mati's grandparents, Saba (grandpa) and Safta (grandma), also called Jacob and Jacqueline were two of the most interesting people I've ever met. Jacqueline was originally from Egypt, but her mother's original language was French, so she spoke French, Arabic, Hebrew, and English. She told me all about her travels through the world (she had stories of the Great Wall of China and Europe and America) and it seemed there was nowhere she hadn't been. I can only hope to be so well travelled one day! Jacob was originally from Iraq but had been forced to immigrate in the 50s (I think that was the time frame) and had started living in temporary constructions in Tel Aviv when he first arrived, but eventually he overcame this situation of having nothing and managed to successfully find a job and raise four children. Now he likes to paint and experiment with cooking, two things that I can definitely appreciate. 

Mati had told his grandparents I was vegetarian, so dinner included mostly vegetarian dishes plus a chicken one and a salmon one. I have to admit, I tried all of them. Jacqueline and Jacob had both made different versions of dinner, and I had a feeling that if I ate something belonging to Jacqueline's dinner I should probably eat so of Jacob's as well - so as not to choose a side. This cute competition was hilarious and definitely didn't bother me, since it just meant I got to try little bits of everything from split pea soup to salmon balls to parmesan dusted seitan patties (a vegetarian version of a steak). There was even two desserts - the best cheesecake I've ever had (it did not taste like an American cheesecake whatsoever) and a fresh fruit salad. Again, no problem trying (and loving) it all. 

Something really cool about dinner besides the food and the good conversation was that at the beginning Mati helped me bless the challah, which is the bread you eat on Shabbat. He had me repeat what he said in Hebrew and I felt pretty proud of myself for repeating it pretty close to correctly (as Modi said, Hebrew sort of sounds like "bak bak bak", so the Hebrew blessing was a challenge).

For our second day in Jerusalem we took a drive outside of the city with Mati's aunt and uncle and his three younger cousins. We went to see the beautiful lupin flowers blooming and have a picnic in the hills. This was yet again unforgettable since the indigo lupin flowers, called thumas (sorry if I'm spelling it wrong! it's pronounced too-mas), blooms only once a year for a short time. My trip was right at the time that they were in full blossom, turning the hill into a rolling impressionist painting of green and indigo.

Afterwards we drove a few miles to a less crowded spot and had a picnic on the hillside. Again, great vegetarian food! I won't go into another detailed list, but I have to just say that Israel is the only place where I really like olives. In the US I think they take like couch leather...In Israel they are salty, delicious little nuggets. 

We got back to Jerusalem in the early evening and went to Mati's grandparents house where we were immediately given some of Jacob's latest pizza creation and leftover cake (do you see the food trend emerging)? We planned on going out to dinner, but after all of that we weren't too hungry so instead we took the lightrail to the Old City to see the Western Wall. The Western Wall is one of the most sacred, if not the most sacred, sites in Judaism. It is all that's left of the Temple of David, which was twice burned down thousands of years ago. Women and men go to different sides of the wall to touch it and pay their respects, or if you're religious to pray. There were many Hasidic Jews there because it was the day before the biggest protest of Hasidic Jews in Israel since 1995 - 60,000 people were gathering to protest the removal of a law exempting Hasidic Jews from the military requirement and also giving them a salary for reading the Torah. Because of this there were many very religious men and women at the wall and the experience was that much more powerful.

The next day we took a bus to the Dead Sea where we floated in a natural pool, then in the sea itself, and then covered ourselves in mud to get the benefits of the Dead Sea minerals. It defied logic to see myself float up from the ground beneath the sea because the amount of salt in the water makes it more dense than the water in your body, and thus you naturally float when immersed. After the Dead Sea we got what is actually the best falafel I've ever had at a hole in the wall place across from the dorms, then returned to the Old City and spent the afternoon checking out the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Again, the religious intensity overwhelmed you as you saw the site where it is believed Jesus was crucified and the site where it's believe he was buried. The spot of his crucification, Golgatha, has a beautiful ornate gold alter with Jesus on the cross at the center. 

Our final stop in Jerusalem was a little restaurant whose name completely escapes me. I know that it meant "Yesterday, Yesterday before that" or else "Tomorrow, tomorrow after that" but again, I can't remember, mostly because it wasn't the name that stood out. What made it perfect was that it was hidden behind another building up a set of stairs, and wasn't just a restaurant but a tea and coffee shop and also a bookstore. We sat by a shelf of books and shared MORE delicious vegetarian food. Can I emphasize enough how good the vegetarian food was on this trip? Not that that's why you should go to Israel or anything...It was a perfect last night in a beautiful city with a great boyfriend.