A Day in the Life...

Last night was certainly a full moon night. I don't have time to go into it now, but suffice it to say, I did not get to bed as early as I had hoped. Having slept in a little this morning and had brunch, I set off on my mission: find the library on the other side of town for its free internet. Adi, the coordinator for my track, had told me about it and that it was near the art museum. Easy enough, right?

The walk was beautiful. I was hot walking in just a long sleeve tshirt. The weather here even with yesterday's rain is still amazing for the end of January. Lots of sunshine and perfect for city exploration. I stopped a few times to take pictures of various graffitti which continues to amuse me. There will be lots of photos to come. There are many political statements in Hebrew as well as stencilled pictures and inspirational words in English such as "Know Hope" and "Follow Your Art." I just love it! "Am Israel Chai" is also another favorite of mine.

Having ventured from the parts of the city I'm most familiar with, walked through Rabin Square, and finally gotten to a busy street with cafes, KFC, and a mall looking entrance I asked the security guard in my lovely heavily accented Hebrew if he knew where the library was. At first he didn't seem to hear me at all. On the third try he finally fully turned to me and without pause asked in Russian where I was actually trying to get. So apparently my accent in Hebrew is not only English but Russian as well. Frankly, I was very surprised that he did not suspect for a second that I would not understand Russian. When I (still surprised but also relieved at not having to explain myself further in Hebrew) told him I needed the library he surprised me again by asking, "Why? There's the internet!" Again caught slightly off guard, I replied, "Yes! I want to use the internet!" Now it was his turn to be surprised that I did not in fact have internet at home. Having completed this whole slightly silly exchange, he informed me that there was a book store inside the mall but no library and that he worked in this area and knew of no libraries.

Frustrated, I wandered away and decided to explore the area on my own. At worst, it was a new part of town with some interesting architecture. I had come too far to pay for coffee just to use the internet! (Just about all cafes here have free wi-fi.) Soon I spotted a building which looked like a theater and decided to check it out. Having found my way to kind of courtyard behind it, I stopped to rest. A laptop gets heavy after long enough! I kept thinking, "So this is what all of those hikes were training us for!" Some more poking around and I found myself in fact in the back of a building which called itself in plain English lettering: Library. Success!

I walked around the building until I found the entrance, happily sat down in their computer room, turned on my computer... and spent fifteen minutes trying to figure out why although my computer said the internet connection was good I could not actually access any pages. Giving in, I asked one of the people at the help desk. Now on the whole I find Israel to be an ingenious country where deserts bloom and the impossible is brought into being. However, charging 5 shekels per half an hour of internet use at a public library may be some of the worst logic I have seen put into effect here!

So after all that, I packed up my things and like a true budget conscious student went BACK to the cafe where I can buy a cup of coffee for 10 shekels and sit for hours. I mean come on! There's even coffee in the deal! And we all know how I feel about coffee! But before I could sit down to blog, I ran into my new friend the security guard who was apparently done with his shift and somehow not surprised when I told him I had in fact found the library. We chatted for a bit. Turns out he moved here recently from the States as well. I tried to explain I was here with a program, but he still went on to ask if I was here with my family or alone. I said again I was here with a group. And again he asked, so not with a husband or children? At this I laughed and made a face. When he started telling me I should get married while here, I said no no, it's not time! and all but ran away. The end.