Shoe-less and A New Toy

For those of you that know me well, you will know that I don't like shoes, especially shoes that require socks too. This is a bit strange considering I grew up somewhere that it is freezing for 3 - 6 months out of the year, but maybe that has something to do with it. This is one of my favorite parts of being in Jerusalem so far. I have not worn "shoes" since last Monday. It is fantastic! Even to services last night and to services this morning, I was able to pull off wearing Teva sandals and I haven't put real shoes on my feel. I am getting a fantastic tan-line, and that little triangle where the straps come together has already started to form. Not too bad for the first week in Israel. I've started to wonder if I will be able to pull this off through the winter. I know it may get cold enough for there to be snow, but I'm holding out hope.

The other story I wanted to share today comes from the Shuk, which I visited on Thursday. I am not good at haggling with people. It's part of my Minnesota Nice attitude, someone put a fair price on the object and I'm willing to pay it. On the way out of the shuk, I saw a lemon juicer, something I had just commented on to Ari that I could use so I wouldn't need to buy lemon juice from a store. I stopped and checked out the little plastic lemon that was sitting at one of the stands. After asking,"Cama zeh oleh?" (How much does this cost?) The salesperson told me, 15 shekles. Although this is something like $4.00, I thought to myself, nah I don't need this. I put it down and started to walk away. This was the salesman's cue to cut the price to 12 NIS (New Israeli Shekel). When I told him, "No, not today." Miraculously, the price dropped more down to 10 NIS.

At this point I thought to myself, "meh, that's good enough." So I bought it. Success! Then I got home and used this juicer. I had no idea that a lemon had this much juice inside it! Enough for the massive salad that I made last night. This little thing is one of the coolest purchases that I've made so far this year and even better that I managed to successfully drop the price. I know I really did nothing to get the price down, but it was a lot more successful than the last time I was in Israel and failed miserably each time I tried. What is even more amusing is that now that I think about it, I really saved myself something in the order of $1.50. Again, not a big deal, but don't harsh my mellow!

You Really Shuk Me

I just got back from the Shuk. That is an interesting experience. First of all, it is a pretty long walk from school, which is 25 minutes from the apartment. You see, with the hills of Jerusalem, everything takes a lot longer than anticipated. Since I had yet to actually go grocery shopping, I went to the Shuk, market, so I can get vegetables for the salad that I'm making tomorrow.


If you have never been there, it is complete organized chaos. Little stands lining both sides of a covered street. Fans blowing, people pushing and shop keepers screaming at the top of their lungs about what they are selling. It is so crowded that at least twice my toes got rolled over by someone's shuk cart. For all of the people waddling and pushing their way through the street, it is well worth a visit. The prices are fantastic. 6 sheckels for 100g of spices, 10 pitot for 5 sheckels. The food is incredibly cheap and incredibly fresh. I have no idea how much I spent, but I got a lot of food, herbs and olive oil for pretty cheap.

The downside was walking back. Since I hadn't planned on going to the shuk today, I didn't bring our shuk cart. Mistake. Walking back to our apartment at 2:30 in the afternoon with a backpack full of food and water was a little tough. But this was totally worth it.