It's located in the heart of Tel Aviv where 3 main streets converge (above left photo) and you walk down a long wide aisle (above right photo is the entrance to the shuk) where on both sides there are vendors setup carrying everything you can think of; t-shirts, plates, skin products, fresh bread, fruit, vegetables, spices, meats and fish but most of all there are tons of people. If you're afraid of crowds, this is not the place for you, but for me this is heaven on the streets! I just love the chaos. The most exciting part about being in the shuk is the vendor owners screaming out the low prices of peppers and avocados, buy this, buy that, an old lady yelling 2 for 1 bread, and then there's always some vendor who's just screaming random shit that makes no sense, I don't even think it's in Hebrew. And of course, there's the fruit stand man that tells me the same joke every time I walk by "Excuse me, do you always walk around with one earring?" He got me the first time, but not the second time around, no sirry bob! I was on to him. I love it, what a thrill! Today I bought 360 sheqels' worth of spices and grains (approx $120), yup that's a lot of spices, but I'm gonna cook some mean meals, you can be sure of that!!
I spent a lot of this week in and around my apartment and neighbourhood. I scored big time with this place. It's just amazing! Clean, renovated, fully furnished, with a comfortable bed and good setup.
This is my landlord signing the lease...
I have a small kitchen but totally manageable with enough working space, no real stove, but I have 2 hot plates and a toaster oven which is great. I've got a nice and clean bathroom and lots of closet space.
And the biggest perk is my big balcony which looks out to some nice trees and it has a huge bean bag that one could sleep on. I like working and entertaining on the balcony.
My neighbourhood is near Rothschild and Sheinkin (the closest intersection), which is a really beautiful and trendy area with boutiques, cafes, restaurants and parks everywhere. I'm close to everything, yet it's a pretty quiet apartment as it's tucked away on a small side street. Of course, there's a falafel place just around the corner and pretty much anything else that I might need. The shuk is a 10 min walk from my place. The beach, 20 minutes. Well done Gili! Well done!
This week, I started settling into a routine with work, you know the whole wake up in the morning and go to work thing that most people are in to these days. I discovered that being 7 hours ahead of Toronto was actually quite useful for me and my coworkers back home. You see, they send me work by 5pm Toronto time and I get it done by 9am Toronto time, it's just fantastic. Clarity doesn't even offer that kind of service to their clients. And the best part is that while I work during the day, the rest of you are sleeping, so no body bothers me with phone calls and emails. It's just brilliant! I'm finding that I'm actually a lot more productive here... hmmm, I think I'm on to something...
Skype is another amazing discovery I made in Israel. Ok, this is the best thing that ever happened to long distance communication! For those of you who haven't yet jumped on the skype bandwagon, here's a link. JUMP ON! It's fucken fantastic, as my good friend Rick would say. I've had several work meetings on skype, we can talk, we can see each other, it's like I'm there, but not really. I talk to my family and friends more than I did at home, gosh maybe it's better for everyone if I just stay here ;-)
I discovered a Samba group that rehearses weekly. On Tuesday Dec. 2, I went to my first samba rehearsal. Not bad at all, actually. The group is called Samba Guarana and has been playing together for three years. There are approx. 10-15 players. I'd say, for three short years, they sound very good - the tams can ride pretty well which was impressive and the caixas are solid - they use the same pattern as Samba Squad's regular 2 bar caixa pattern (I think #1). They have some similar breaks too with slightly different interpretations. I was playing surdo, since they had an extra one. Each player has to bring their own drums, they don't provide any drums for the players. We are so pampered in Samba Squad ;-) I had a great time playing and I'm just so glad that I found a samba outlet here too. Oh and I also found my very own "Tel Aviv Samba pimp", Tomer, who will be keeping me up-to-date on all Brasilian related events in the city. Excellent!
On Thursday Dec 4, my friends from Toronto (who are in Tel Aviv), Laura and Micha threw a big birthday bash at Laura's house. I designed their facebook evite picture.
Some of you have heard about Micha's legendary house parties, for those of you who haven't, Micha takes the house party idea to "the next level" as he would put it.
We had a crew of people for setup, cleanup, decor, music, food and drinks.
There were as many people in that house as you would see in a club. The booze were flowing freely, the music was pumping and the energy was high.
It was great! Fun was had by all.
You've done it again Micha. Great success!
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