So Creative

I was on the plane on the way to Nelson, New Zealand to visit Mum's side of the family and found these in the Air New Zealand Magazine. Kiwi's are so creative, little ginger cookies dipped in chocolate in the shape of a spoon. Yum! Don't be surprised if you see these for your next birthday present or Christmas present as I think they are darling!

Universal Language

Note the Kosher sign below it.

Kosher Hamburger with unleaven bread cause of passover. It was interesting for sure.

Yogurt land can you believe it!! I didn't go there though because I didn't want to have it taste different and ruin my love for froyo!

This is where we got the furniture, but the weirdest thing is that is was so expensive there, not the typical IKEA we are used to!

What Can I Say...

I've got a new obession! Today we travelled to Hebron because I have been seeing these amazing pieces of palestinian pottery in the Old City, but it is basically a joke to buy it there if you have access to Hebron where it is half the price. So fortunatley my uncle needed to pick up a few things for his new place and made a work trip out of it with a UN driver and all.

So we stopped at a pottery and glass shop which was just amazing to see the guys blowing and making the glass right in the front of the shop. Then we went in to where all the beautiful and colorful pieces of pottery were. I could have spent many hours just looking (and a lot of money). I had to keep reminding myself that I need to some how get all this stuff back to the states with me.

While we were shopping there was also a group of about 30 palestinian school girls on some sort of field trip. After about 5 minutes I began to feel a bit cramped and realized that these girls were literally following me around the store and were standing right next to me, no matter where I went. They tried practicing their english by asking; What your name?, "Amanda", Where you live? "California", Are you Hebrew? "no no", and at the end of the round of questions they said "Amanda we love you" and walked away.

Looks like I am moving to Hebron.

I Hate Guns!

All my life I have been told not to use the word hate because it is "not a nice word". Well I hate guns, hate hate hate them. They are not nice and they hurt people. Being here I have had to get used to seeing them every where and worn by any one. The other night after dinner we were walking to the taxi and there was a kid dressed in civialian clothes carrying this big gun, I was told he was an off duty solider but I think he was just showing off to the girl he was walking with.
Now I have gotten used to stopping in the front of parking lots so the attendants can check your car to see if you have any weapons or bombs and I have gotten used to opening my purse to show the security guy that I have no weapons when entering a store, but not to the open policy of guns!

Here it is acceptable to have a gun and wear it around town. My uncle has noticed my fear of them and now points out when he see's one. For instance we were walking out of the grocery store the other day and there was a nice looking man walking in front of us with one in the back of his jeans, just as normal as carrying his cell phone clipped to his belt.

Here is a typical day in Tel Aviv out and about shopping with some friends, and oh yeah encountering more guns. In this picture are two police officers on the sidewalk next to me, this is one thing I won't miss.

A Salad Sounds Good

My first meal in Israel was at a lovely resturant at the top of the Legacy Hotel in East Jerusalem. I decided to order lamb since I love it so much and I knew it would be good as it is a popular dish here. The waiter asked my uncle if we would like to share a salad before our main course. He ordered one and I thought that would be nice to get some greens before my meal.

Reality check, Amanda you aren't in America therefore "salads" and other foods might have the same name but can actually be completely different. This being the case here. What he in fact ordered was a "Meeza Salad". If you are unaware what this is, like myself at the time, it is actually group of dished such as; a plate of hummus, a plate of tabbouli, a plate of chopped up onion, tomato and herbs, a plate of pickled grilled cauliflower and a big plate of pita bread. Seeing as I am in a new country I told myself to try new things and went for it.

The meal was actually really lovely (though quite filling) and I decided that I should eat more middle eastern food. Though I don't think I am going to eat the pickled colliflour again I was proud of myself for trying something new. Anything with warm fresh pita bread? Sign me up! Below is an example of what a Mezza Salad is, imagine getting this before your main course!