The re-Avivification

 I've arrived! Or, as they say in Hebrew.... Just kidding, I still don't know a word.

But, that's all about to change: I've now been in TLV for two full days and tomorrow I start my language course. I'm going to have to set an alarm! I'm going to meet the people I'll be spending the next month with! I'm really, REALLY pleased to be having something proper to do. Wandering around this city is absolutely captivating, it really is. But there's nothing like really having something to do to put a fire in the heart and a skip in the step.

That being said, it's actually been a quite eventful two days already. I've met up with two "generosity friends" as I like to call them. One friend of a person in my choir in London, who took me out for a beer and a fantastic middle-Eastern desert which was kind of like a Snickers creme caramel. Excellent. And a friend of an artist friend from Bristol days, who showed me his six foot cannabis plant and took me for some exceptionally wonderful hummous.

The plant

The hummous

 

As well as these nice things, and what must be about 10 kilometres of strolling, I've lain on the beach and swum briefly in a ridiculously warm sea (briefly because I had no sun-cream with me, that's how hot it still is here) and visited an extremely exotic-feeling market on a Friday afternoon.

In the interests of balance, I should note that it's really shockingly expensive here. I asked one of my sympathy friends whether this was because of exchange-rate weirdnesses, everything's-imported-economic-isolation or boring old cost of living crisis. All three, was the rueful reply. I'm definitely going to have to do some work while I'm here if I'm to do anything other than live off pumpkin seeds.

Oh one last fun thing: I've signed myself up to do two hours a week of volunteering to teach English to underprivileged Jaffa kids. First session is a week tomorrow. Nice.