One Month In Israel~

We got off the plane and we drove through Israel to Tel Aviv. We had a GREAT flight, and the cast members were all really awesome people to meet. 10 hours in the air makes for great time to bond and at this point in our journey we were realizing that we would end up knowing each other with an extreme amount of intimacy that most families never even get to know. Also we were quite loopy because of the hour, and we were just having a ton of fun together. :-)

It was 4 in the morning, and as we could smell the sea as the van approached the city limits. Already culture shock was setting in for some. It looked a lot like suburban Minnesota, but with palm trees and signs all in Hebrew... But as we came closer to Tel Aviv we could see that this was a much older country. There were buildings with holes in them, abandoned homes that looked like they had been shelled. Beautiful graffiti... and really bad graffiti. A bus station with a very very mixed fleet. A mosque. A giant abandoned building covered in street art. We would later learn that this building was once the Tel Aviv dolphinarium, which was closed after a suicide bomber attacked it 10 years ago.

"Wouldn't it be funny if we we living here??" Someone said remarking at what appeared to be a wooden shanty just a block from the giant abandoned Dolphinarium. We all laughed. Suddenly the van stopped- and so did the laughter. "Oh...no..."

The door opened up, and we all looked around sort of confused and in a daze. We had no idea where we were. It was like a cross between some Caribbean island town, and the quick excerpts you see on the news of places most Americans don't go unless they are in uniform.

Here is a photo of the Shanty house from our Roof. :-)

The confusion quickly passed though as we walked 10 feet from in front of the house that resembled either an AWESOME tree fort, or a really terrifying post apocalyptic residence- to a beautiful white washed modern vacation house. Little did we know, that we were just feet from some of the most expensive real estate in Tel Aviv, minutes away from the best bars and clubs, and mere footsteps from the beautiful, BEAUTIFUL beach.

Inside was room enough for 12 and we were only 10! Roommates decided, I put my things in the first floor room.

After such a long trip, I unpacked, and let my manager, Kermit, out of his..ahem... carry on..

More to come.. :-)