i'm tellin', i'm avivin'

about half of us went to tel aviv this weekend....and it was so fun! i was debating whether i should stay in jerusalem and study or go to tel aviv for the day....but then i remembered that i promised myself i would never say no to a fun opportunity. so we hopped in a couple buses and drove to the beach! it was so gorgeous! tel aviv is so different from jerusalem. it's like a hip, trendy party town. 

so we all brought our swimsuits and beach gear, but five of us saw a bike rental place and ended up just exploring the city on bikes the whole day instead. i died. it was so beautiful. we biked all along the coast, right on the beach, and explored the old port town of jaffa. we ran into some teenager boys breaking a horse bareback on the beach and they offered to let us ride, but i'm pretty sure my insurance here doesn't cover that....i wish. well, atleast i think they were offering to let us ride. the only thing they could say in english was "very much", so that lead to some awkward conversation and a lot of repeated "very much"s. 

overlooking the mediterranean sea. i kept singing that vengaboys song in my head that goes "oh, we're going to ibiza! oh, in the mediterranean sea!"  

it was a great day! kind of like a vacation from a vacation, and i am ok with that! except i came home late at night, opened my backpack and remembered why i almost stayed home... 

the next day, we had a field trip in the negev desert. we went to a really cool bedouin town that is the headquarters of a really awesome nonprofit organization that helps bedouin women make money without breaking their nomadic traditions. they shear sheep, dye and make wool threads, and then the women weave the most beautiful rugs and bags and pillows! all the money goes to the bedouin women and they can make rugs at home. the coolest part about it is that the director of the program is an israeli woman and she started the organization because the israeli government doesn't recognize bedouins and as she puts it "if my government is not going to help out the other people in this country, then i need to." seriously. can i be her? girl power. 

demonstrating the rug making process. you have to have tough hands for weaving!

we went to a bunch of different sites, including be'er sheva, where abraham and isaac went to build a well and commune with god. we had a way neat devotional up there. i seriously LOVE my old testament professor. 

our last stop was the wilderness of zin, which is the wilderness that moses and the children of israel wandered around for 40 years. we took a hike there, and after a couple miles, we decided it would pretty much be the worst to wander there for 40 years. but it was actually a really pretty hike, and i love hiking!  

i don't even feel like i'm in school. i mean, i have lots of homework and classes every day, but i'm living with my professors, hanging out with their kids, and going on trips with them. aka, we're going to turkey in 5 days! ever since i read about bridget going to turkey on an archeological dig in the sisterhood of the traveling pants, i've wanted to go so badly. ya, i know, not the greatest inspiration, but i love those books more than snape loves lilly potter, so let's roll with it.

in the orson hyde park right next to the garden of gethsemane.