Day to day life in Tel Aviv-Yafo

Into my third week living here in Israel and I am starting to realize how truly amazing this place really is. It is the little things like the hello from the guy who recognizes you in the market. The freshly made falafel when you order it, they make it from scratch. Seeing a guy on a motorcycle use the sidewalk as if it were the road. Seeing a bunch of guys trying to catch a live chicken from underneath a car that got away from the butcher shop. Making the beach a mandatory Shabbat activity. Being able to go to the shouk and buy everything you would ever need. Listening to the mix of music on the street. The aroma wafting from a local restaurant. Getting amazingly fresh and cheap food on the street. The amazing graffiti on the street. These are things that make living in Tel Aviv-Yafo worth everything in the world. Once you stop and look around and realize what the people are doing you finally begin to understand the place that you are living.  If you head to Abu Hassan in Yafo you will have some very good hummus and for relatively cheap. Its walking up to the shwarma shop and waiting for your meal instead of getting it right away. It is seeing something brand new every day and being thankful to be in this wonderful place. Having a group activity on the roof of the hostel we have ulpan at in Yafo and being able to see Hapoel Tel Aviv play Atletico Madrid at the Blumfield Stadium.To see Filipino migrant workers speaking in Hebrew might sound strange but here in Tel Aviv it is all good and normal. Here the unexpected is expected. Anything can and will happen. Last Saturday for instance, my friend Jeremy and I went to one of the only shwarma places open during the day and had one the best food experiences in the world. Once the cook has the time to make his craft, he takes it. He makes sure that everything is perfect and delicious. He makes sure to advertise his lemonade with mint which is ubiquitous in this country. He makes sure to grill the meat fresh, fry fresh potatoes for French Fries, and makes sure to offer as many fillings as possible. He then made sure that we were enjoying our shwarma in baguette. Even though it looked like every other shwarma stand, it was that delicious because of how we came across it. It is any other place to eat in Yafo, but it was still amazing.

I guess when you live here, you being to realize why people from all over the world would kill to be in this land. To see why people would fight for it. It is a beautiful place and I am glad I made the right decision to come to Tel Aviv. I can do anything here. Tel Aviv is my oyster. Definitely more to come from my experience here in Tel Aviv. Lehitraot!!