Israel - Masada, Dead Sea & Eilat

After spending a few days in Jerusalem, we headed South! We stopped for lunch on our way to the hotel and I had another amazing falafel. Check out this action shot:

I'm very tempted to create my own falafel. Now I'm craving it!

After a few hours ride we arrived at the hotel for our last dinner and session with our Israeli travel companions. We talked about what we experienced throughout the trip and touched on our now changing views of Israeli and American stereotypes. Here's a look into the mind of an Israeli:

#truth

We were off to bed on the early side because we had a 4 AM (yep) wake up call for our sunrise hike. I was actually looking forward to this all trip so it wasn't too difficult to get up and out of bed when the alarm went off. We hiked up to Masada, an ancient fortification on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. It was built by Herod the Great between 37 an 31 BC! It has a pretty interesting story -- supposedly the siege of Masada by Roman troops ended with a mass suicide of the over 950 people living there. Eek.

Masada is one of Israel's biggest tourist attractions, but we were the only souls there that morning. The very steep hike was totally worth it for the sunset and panoramic views:

Long way down!

These bird were so crazy and friendly!

We took a short break during the sunset to do some yoga and stretch out our already sore hiking muscles!

We spent a few hours atop Masada learning about the history and touring the grounds.

Hayley dressed as a rabbi...LOL

Extremely old mosaic floor

We walked around to see the other side of Masada and did some yelling into the mountains. I've never heard such a legit echo before!! I love this picture I took of Ben (below). I wish I had the balls to climb up there because I think this is a sick shot. As you can see in the next photo I was even nervous to get close to the edge. I'm gripping that railing!

After a few hours we hiked back down what felt like 10 million steps. My calves were tight for the rest of the trip!

We grabbed breakfast, then hopped back in the bus for a quick trip to the Dead Sea! This was one of my favorite activities by far. I don't know what I was expecting, but I just didn't believe people actually float in the sea. Not only do you ACTUALLY float, but once you're up it's pretty difficult to get your feet back on the ground. So freakin' crazy!

We got ourselves mudded up, took some obligatory warrior-style photos, then waded into the salty water. Nothing (except minuscule amounts of bacteria) lives in the Dead Sea (hence the name), and the floor is covered in salt rocks. It's pretty necessary to wear shoes so you don't cut your feet.

Floating!

I think my skin was the softest it's EVER been after I washed the mud off. I was literally rubbing my arms and legs for the rest of the day. Ha.

We showered off, ate some lunch, and then re-boarded the bus for a drive to Eilat, the "Las Vegas of Israel." Despite such an early wake up call, we were more than ready for a night out on the town. Hayley and I stayed in our own room in Eilat (most of the rooms were for 3 people) and we lucked out with the honeymoon suite! Not actually, but we did have our own balcony with a gorgeous view!

I've never been to Vegas, but I don't really think Eilat can compare. That being said, we had a ton of fun drinking and dancing the night away. And ending it with some pizza!

As was per usual on Birth Right, we had a curfew and another early wake up call. Next up was the last stop of our trip: camping in the Negev Desert!

Israel - Jerusalem

The few days we spent in Jerusalem were probably the most memorable of the trip. After arriving and settling in the hotel, we spent the first day wandering through the Old City. It's hard to put into words how it felt to be in a city with so much history. And trust me, I tried. I started this blog post 5 days ago. So I'm going to just leave the emotions I felt in my brain and leave this blog with some very nice photos:

The entrance to the Old City -- all those markings are bullet holes.

Columns in the former marketplace

What the marketplace used to look like

The Wailing Wall

Thousands of notes are tucked in the Wailing Wall

After walking through the Old City we went to Mahane Yehuda, or "the Shuk" for treats and lunch! It was amazing.

My new favorite food: rugelach

It's hard for me to remember what happened each day in Jerusalem -- they have all kind of blended into one. At some point, I celebrated my very first Shabbat. We went through the prayers, had a big dinner, and exchanged "secret Santa" gifts (ha!).

At some point we had a very candid political conversation, moderated by Neil Lazarus, an educator who immigrated to Israel in 1988. I definitely feel like I have a better understanding of the situation and history in Israel, and even the entire Middle East. There is just so much to learn.

That night we went to Ben Yehuda street for dinner. It was a lot of fun and I had, by far, my best falafel on the trip!

On our last day in Jerusalem, we woke up early and went to Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial and museum. We had a long wait before our guided tour, so we took some photos.

Following the museum we went to the Mount Herzl National Cemetery. The museum and cemetery were obviously very emotional -- the Isarelis we were traveling with had many young friends who have died recently and nearly everyone on our trip had some strong connection to the Holocaust. It was a very eye opening experience for me. If I had lived in Europe in the 1940s I could have been murdered, despite being raised Catholic. 11 million people died in the Holocaust. Is that even a number our brains can compute? That's about the population of New York City and Los Angeles combined, I kept my camera in my purse for the rest of this day.

After Jerusalem, the trip took a different turn and was much less serious. Get ready for some fun, coming up!

Social Life vs Weight Loss

Years ago I came to the realization that I could not be both a social butterfly and a weight loser. Those calories man...they just add up and up and up...

I've gained a little weight since July. Nothing TOO terrible, but I'm not happy with it. It's affecting my clothes, I can see it in my face and body, and I can feel it when I work out. To help jump start my efforts to get back on track, I joined another DietBet! This is just one month long, with a goal of losing 4% of your weigh in the 4 weeks. I felt so ready for this when I signed up, and here I am one week in....and its struggle city.

My biggest struggle is coming from the fact that I have a lot of plans (gah...have I already lost my Israel perspective?? This is not a real problem). Aaaanyway, I started the bet last Tuesday -- that week I had plans to go out 3 nights during the week, then had a friend visit on the weekend. I actually managed to control my eating choices the best I could, but the drinking slipped a bit.

Same issue this week. Not only did I spend Monday and Tuesday locked in my apartment walking between the couch and the kitchen, but I have plans 5/7 nights of this week that involve food or drinks.

I don't want to give anything up. Going out makes me happy. Feeling good about my body and health makes me happy. I don't know how people do both.

But I'm trying. I've been food shopping and cooking and exercising. One big success in the kitchen last week was the improvised jalapeno poppers:

Baked "Inside Out" Jalapeno Poppers

Ingredients:
- 4 jalapenos

- 2/3 cup of fat free cream cheese

- 1/4 cup of shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend)

- pinch of garlic salt and pepper

- 2 pinches of paprika

- pinch of cayenne pepper

- bread crumbs for sprinkling

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Wash and slice jalapenos in half. Using a knife/spoon, remove seeds from the peppers. **If you have rubber gloves, USE THEM. I didn't. Trust me on this one**
3. Combine cream cheese, shredded cheese and spices in a bowl and mix.

4. Lay jalapenos out on a baking sheet and fill with mixture. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top and bake for ~20 minutes. Finish with a quick broil on high (about 2 minutes).

I had them for a Meatless Monday dinner. Caution: these babies are hot, even without the seeds!

Rejection Therapy

I have cabin fever. I feel like I've spent a lot of time alone the past few days. But when I think about it, that's not actually true...

On Friday, Hayley surprised me by being a spontaneous little devil and buying a bus ticket to Boston. That being said, I spent most of Friday night alone watching TV before she got here. On Saturday she went out for the day while I went to the gym, grabbed myself a juice from the brand new juice bar near my apartment and watched more TV.

We braved the snow and went out to a local bar on Saturday night. On Sunday I went to the new American Fresh Brewhouse in Assembly Square, then saw American Sniper.

Salami pizza

Delicious beer

Found Professor McGonagall at the Lego store

I'm on my way to seeing all of the Oscar nominated movies!

American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

I spent the rest of Sunday napping (twice...what the heck) and watching more TV...alone. I skipped the Grammys and watched a documentary: Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory. It was so good. Equally sad and uplifting.

Today we had another snow day so I've been sitting in my apartment all day trying to do work, but mostly watching TV. My gym closed early so I did what I could of this barre workout in my kitchen. I was dying for some fresh air so I strapped on my snow boots and walked over to the grocery store. There is so much snow. Where is it all going to go!?

Deadly icicle hanging from my window

Neighbors shoveling snow off their roof

I've been listening to NPR's new podcast Invisibilia like it's my job. I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest or affinity in human tendencies/science, or just likes to learn in general. One of the episodes focuses on fear. The first part describes a woman who has no fear (it's a pretty striking case study, and her voice continues to haunt me in my sleep). The second part involves the host's attempt to overcome her phobia of snakes, and explores how a man decided to conquer his fear of rejection. In a gist, the host did not conquer her fear, but the man did. He created a game where he set out to get rejected every single day, on purpose. He even trademarked the game and sells cards on his website. The commands are simple:

Before purchasing something, ask for a discount.

Ask a friend to do your laundry.

Request lunch with a Facebook friend you've never met in person before.

Ask to cut in front of a queue. 

By making rejection something he actively seeks, he feels good, not bad when he gets it. He also learned that it was harder to get rejected than he thought; there aren't as many "nos" out there as expected. "Fear comes from the stories we tell ourselves and those stories become our reality. We don't need those stories."

The episode ends with the secret formula to overcome all fear:

Fear = thinking + time. Take either one of those things away, you cannot get fear.

Just some food for thought as I get ready for another night of TV watching. I miss school.

Israel - Tzfat & Tel Aviv

I'm having a hard time remembering what we did when in Israel. I can't believe how much we packed into each day. I guess that's what happens when you wake up early, eh?

On Wednesday morning we loaded up the bus and drove about an hour north to the beautiful city, of Tzfat (also known as "Safed" or "Tzfas"). Tzfat is one of Israel's four holy cities, is the highest city in Israel, and is the center of Jewish mysticism, more popularly known as kaballah.

"Madonna is bullshit" - direct quote from a Rabbi

Our first stop was "The Ascent," where we met with a Rabbi, learned about mysticism, debated over Israeli politics, and had our first encounter with strange Israeli sense of humors (hello 9/11 joke).

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the beautiful cobblestone streets and learning about the history of the city. I absolutely loved Tzfat. It was one of my favorite stops on the trip.

This pomegranate juice is up there in my top 10 favorite things.

After lunch we re-boarded the bus for a nearly 3 hour drive to Tel Aviv. We made it in time to check into our hotel, eat dinner, and then get ready for a night out on the town. We went to "Friends," a bar that mistakenly OR ironically (unknown) had the tagline "where everybody knows your name"  over the door. It was a really fun night out and the first time the group was really able to let loose together!

Pregaming with lollipops

The next day we were up early again for a full day in Tel Aviv. The highlight of the day was meeting the eight Israelis who would be traveling with us for the next few days. The Israelis ranged from ages 21-29 and were all soldiers, students or professionals. We spent some time getting to know them in Rabin Square before going to see Yitzhak Rabin's memorial. The story of Rabin's death is a very sad one: Rabin, the prime minister at the time, was attending a peace rally and gave a very moving speech. The last lines of his speech:

"This rally must send a message to the Israeli people, to the Jewish people around the world, to the many people in the Arab world, and indeed to the entire world, that the Israeli people want peace, support peace. For this, I thank you."

Shortly after Rabin was assassinated by a fellow Jewish Israeli.

Our last stop in Tel Aviv was Independence Hall, the site of the signing of Israel's Declaration of Independence.

Afterwards we boarded the bus again for the hour long trip to Jerusalem. Before settling at our hotel for the night we stopped at an overlook point and saw the whole city of Jerusalem. It was quite breathtaking. We opened a bottle of "wine" (grape juice), and cheersed to the next few days in the Holy city.

PS: this bus stabbing occurred the day we arrive in Tel Aviv. It was very eyeopening to see how a city that deals with terrorism on a daily basis responds to an attack like this. In Boston, the whole city would have been shut down.