birthright

Birthright was amazing.  It’s impossible to sum it all up in a paragraph or a few pictures, but it is definitely a trip that I will remember forever.  We had a wonderful group of people from all over the united states and a great group of Israelis that joined us for a few days.  We hiked, ate more falafel than you can imagine, slept out in the freezing cold Negev, rode camels, floated in the dead sea, spent hours on a bus…..etc .  It was a great mix of touristy and non touristy things and although this was my 4^th time to Israel, I got to experience it in a whole new way with new people.

on the top of Masada with my roommates from the first night

the sunrise on Masada

hiking in ein gedi

mud at the dead sea before floating and then taking freezing cold showers

riding a camel with adam

ibexes ( apparently their poop tastes like chocolate)

the bus that took us all around Israel

a beautiful 5 hour hike through the Negev after sleeping out in the middle of the desert

ice cream near the shuk in Jerusalem ( I had passion fruit and masala!)

the kotel (western wall)

the note in honor of my oma - she will be missed

Emily and I outside of yad vashem

beautiful waterfall at banias

fresh squeezed pomegranate juice in tzfat

the beach in Tel Aviv

celebrating my 25th birthday with a great group of friends in tel aviv

The other city

When I say “the city”, I’m talking about San Francisco.  That doesn’t seem to work here in New York.  It has been great traveling around New York (thanks to Christina who has been a wonderful host!). We have seen so many things, both touristy and not, and eaten lots of great food.  I see how people love this city, but the cold weather has left me still liking the bay area more.  Luckily it has warmed quite a bit since my first day here ( from -6 to the mid 30s!). I definitely have a new appreciation for “warm” weather above freezing.

an amazing artist at the met

beautiful view from the ferry

lady liberty

sunset and the statue of liberty

largest candy ive ever seen

walking across the brooklyn bridge

cannoli at julianas pizza in dumbo

frozen water fountain! 

ice skating at bryant park

obligatory tourist photo at times square

delicious artichoke pizza

pura vida!

My time in Costa Rica has flown by and there is just one day left.  The kids have been great and a joy to work with – I’m definitely going to miss them!  We have seen many animals around the house which has been amazing – howler monkeys, spider monkeys, sloths, iguanas, so many birds (I can’t keep track), lizards and more.  Yesterday during my time off I took the bus into a town called Quepos.  I was a bit nervous at first (knowing my terrible sense of direction and a limited amount of time) but I made it there and back without a problem!  It was nice walking around the town and down to the beach. The best part was taking the bus – seeing how the colones were laid out at the front of the bus, seeing the unmarked streets there and back, noticing the locals, attempting to understand Spanish from conversations around me, talking to a woman from Canada on my way, and talking to a local man on my way back with my completely broken Spanish.  This short trip into the little town of Quepos made me even more excited for what lies ahead!!

Best Spanish mistake of the week: I wanted soy milk so I asked for “soy leche”. This attempt at mixing English and Spanish turned into me saying “I am milk”. I got confused looks for a moment until someone figured out that I wanted “soya leche”. It all worked out in the end.