The last few days

I'm now in Tel Aviv, where I will probably be based for most of the rest of my time in Israel. I'm staying with Renan, whom I met through a mutual friend in London quite recently. I hardly knew him when I pitched up on his doorstep. He's a charming guy, keen to show of Tel Aviv and very happy for me to stay as long as I want. We're also talking about an expedition into the desert or one of Israel's many nature reserves, but his car was bust up recently (not by him) so that's going to be a little tricky to arrange now.

Today I had a fabulous day walking around the city. It's such a relief to be able to go about at my own pace after the Birthright tour, when practically every minute was accounted for. On Birthright we were always either doing something, preparing to do something or recovering from doing something. Now I'm enjoy the opportunity to just be for a while. I had a long sleep in this morning (resting is essential as I am trying to shake of bronchitis - I'm on antibiotics now and feeling much better than I was). A walk through town with Renan lead to breakfast on the beach. How cool is that! Then on to the Helena Rubenstein Modern Art Pavillion and the Tel Aviv Museum, where I caught up with my friend Amihai, who took me to an Asian restaurant for lunch (only the second meal I've had since arriving in Israel that did not involve hummus). Now resting at Renan's and very glad to have internet access (his roommate bought a new computer today). In a few minutes we're heading out to Evita, apparently Tel Aviv's classiest gay joint. Both Renan and his Hagai (the roommate) are raging queers, so that's fun!

The nest few days are shaping up well. Tomorrow I'm visiting a couple of mathematics education professors at Tel Aviv University and hopefully meeting up with Liat, one of the Israeli students who joined us on the Birthright tour. On Thursday I'm heading to the Israel Guide Dog Centre for the Blind, a charity which my family supports. Very much looking forward to playing with all the cute puppies. In a few days I'm planning to head north for a few days to visit Haifa, Akko and Tsfat. Other items on the agenda for my trip are another shabbat in Jerusalem with Binyamin and Avi (they're serving sushi and that's as much persuasion as I need to head back to Jerusalem), meeting with some other mathematics education professors at the Weitzmann Institute, and a couple of concert in which Amihai is playing. So, busy as usual.