Shabbat in Jerusalem

Before I write about my trip this past Friday to (SPOILER ALERT) Akko and the rest of the weekend, I'll tell you about my trip to Jerusalem the weekend before...

I started out by going into Tel Aviv, where I met Ben, a friend from Tufts, who has been in Israel for a few weeks this summer. Ben has recently become a vegan so, naturally, I met him at a vegan restaurant in Tel Aviv where he was casually interviewing one of the Hebrew Israelites who own the restaurant. At first glance, it was a little hard to tell it was him because 90% of his trademark blond locks were covered up with an enormous white knit kippa. It was striking because you usually expect to see a fedora or ironic baseball cap with cargo shorts and a plaid, slim-fitting, button-down shirt.

The kippa that Ben was wearing made me think he
might have been dancing with these guys too much

We caught up on the walk over to the bus station and during the bus ride. I was afraid we were talking too loudly, but I guess that is expected because no one shushed us. After we got off the bus we headed our separate ways: he back to his program and me to my cousin's house.

The drive from Jerusalem's Central Station was a little bit nerve-wracking. Some of it was due to the nature of my cousin, Divsha's, driving. Most of it was due to the ridiculously confusing streets and my aunt's constant reminders to her: "don't drive so close to the right...slow down in this area, people might be pulling out!" Above all, it made me appreciate that I never had to learn how to drive with my mom in the car. The few times that she was there with me, I could sense her clenching the door and the armrest out of anxiety. I don't think it was completely a reflection on my driving skills because she still does it a little bit when she is in my brother's passenger seat.

Of course I had a lot of time to spend with my my aunt, my uncle, and all of the cousins who didn't spend the whole of shabbat in their rooms. We had a great time, but the more notable things happened with the people who I didn't expect to see.

At Saturday morning services, a bunch of high school students on Ramah Seminar visited the synagogue for their last shabbat in Israel. I distinctly recognized two of them but could not figure out exactly who they were. During the luncheon I went up to them and introduced myself. The two didn't even give me their own names rather, they just referred to themselves as 'Slapin's younger brother' and 'Ari's younger sister.'

Don't be fooled by its high ceilings and festive
atmosphere, Tel Aviv's New Central Station is
one of Israel's most confusing destinations, and
considering Jerusalem's roads, that is saying a lot. 

The second incident occurred after my bus had arrived in Tel Aviv after shabbat. I wasted a half an hour trying to navigate to the right gate in Tel Aviv's notoriously baffling New Central Station. After I found out that the last bus back to the University had already left I resigned to take a cab. It was even more difficult to find the exit than it was to find the right bus terminal, but I mazed my way through the station and stepped out into the not-so-fresh aired sidewalk lined with taxis.

I was about to approach a taxi when I hear someone call "SAM!" I turn around and hear it again.  A third time I hear it is a girl's voice, but this time she says "SAM MELLITS! Are you going to the University?" I found it curious that the first name belonged to me, but the last name belonged to a good friend of mine from home. Close enough, I thought and I waved off the taxi I had approached to find this mysterious hollerer. As I approached, I recognized her and could place her as someone from elementary school, but I couldn't quite recall her name. We split a cab and caught up during the ride. A few minutes into the drive back to the University I remembered her first name but it wasn't until I was brushing my teeth in my apartment that her last name came to me. Despite my frustration and weariness from the journey from Jerusalem, I checked on Facebook to confirm that I was right about her name before I went to sleep.

From left to right: Sam Mellits, Sam Sittenfield (aka: me)

Roommates... and a new roommate?

I've been here for a week now, and I realized that I haven't really told you anything about my roommates, so here is a little info to get to know them:

Roommate #1

Ari doesn't like to take photographs,
so I decided to put up this picture
for the sake of aesthetics, enjoy!

Ari is a tall Jewish boychik who has lived in various places around the US. He has settled in Buffalo, NY and is currently a Junior at University of Buffalo. He is majoring in history and aspires to become a professor. He sometimes describes himself as 'brooding' but is much more cheerful than that word implies. He enjoys reading, long walks on the Tel Aviv beach, and when he is not socializing, a bit of alone time.

This is Stephen, he doesn't usually
look so surprised

Roommate #2
My roommate, Stephen, is a Senior at Franklin and Marshall College in PA. He is originally from Westchester, NY and is majoring in government. Some of his favorite pastimes include playing ultimate frisbee, trying to fix skype on his dad's computer (from 6,000 miles away), and snoring for the first 5 minutes he is asleep.

All silliness aside, they are really nice guys and I'm am lucky to have them as my roommates. It has been great to have each other during the first few days as we explored the neighborhood of Ramat Aviv without feeling alone.

On Friday Stephen and I went to Shuk HaCarmel, an outdoor market with everything from fresh produce to a wide array of Ran-Bin's (knock-off Ray-Ban sunglasses). We afterwards we went to the beach to meet up with Ari and a few other guys from the program. I left with some of the guys a little early and before Ari and Stephen left to come back to the dorm. After I took a shower I was getting dressed in my room and I hear the front door open. "Hey guys, how was the rest of the time at the beach?"

...no response...

I finished getting dressed and opened my room's door to find a stranger in the kitchen. "Hello..."

"Hello, my name is Nick!" said the stranger in a European accent. "I am your roommate." You can imagine my confusion. We had already spent three nights in the our apartment and the university didn't mention anyone else who was going to join us. It turns out that Nick is great too. He is full of stories from his many travels and has a thirst for learning about us too!

Roommate #3
Nick is German but has traveled a lot around Europe and around the world. He is a europhile who is not Jewish and has no prior knowledge of Hebrew. He is excited to learn Hebrew and many new things about Israeli and Jewish culture. His dream is to be able to go to the local supermarket and come back to find that all the groceries were the things he thought they were.

***Some parts of the roommate profiles were exaggerated for comedic purposes.  If you did not find them funny, please disregard the last sentence.****