First Post From Israel

I've been in Israel for a few days now, but this is the first chance I've had to blog.

I spent my first two nights in a hostel in Tel Aviv. Actually, I spent my first night partying in Tel Aviv, and I spent the next day in the hostel recovering. So, I have seen what Tel Aviv has to offer at night. Soon I hope to see what it has to offer during the day.

Today I checked out of the hostel and took a shared taxi to Jerusalem. On the way to the bus station, I had to ask for directions a couple of times in Hebrew, both times I was answered in Hebrew, and both times I got the gist of what they were saying. Yay! When I reached the bus station, I went to where the shared taxis were parked and stood there looking quizzical. Immediately, a driver pointed at me and said "Yerushalayim?" I nodded and hopped in. I guess he had already recruited 9 passengers, I made the tenth so we all got in and were on our way in no time. Paying was another thing. The ride cost 25 shekels, I tried to pay with a 100 shekel bill. The driver was stopped at a light at this point, he open his change drawer and said, in English, "Here, take change." I reached in to take my change and he swatted my hand a way. "Don't be primitive!" he said in Hebrew. Then he handed me my change.

When I try to speak Hebrew to people, I am usually successful. If the conversation continues past the opening stages, it generally switches to English. Still, though, I get a kick out of the fact that I am understood at all in Hebrew.