FRIDAY:

We all woke up around 9ish from Katie's alarm and we talked to our roommates for some more. Leah, Michal, and Leah's friend called at 9:45ish to let us know they just got off the train (they were coming to stay with us, but didnt come with us on thursday night because leah wasnt feeling well). Until they came, Britty and I snoozed, while Katie was down in the lobby waiting for them/helping them check in. When they finally arrive we eat some breakfast: a rugula, crackers, and peanut butter. I forgot to mention that during all of this it is raining hard. It wont stop! It was legit raining, not jerusalem raining. Even though it was raining, we decided we had to go buy groceries. Only leah brought her rain jacket and michal and i were so upset we didnt bring our rain boots! Im so mad i didnt pack the rain jacket...it is so lightweight..ah im sounding like my mom and dad. shiiit :)

At the grocery store we bought lots of good things (note to self: katie's ear itching). We asked someone who worked there if this weather was normal. We all thought that it was crazy that it was raining that much, but they said it was normal, but this was the first rain since the spring time, so everyone was pretty excited. The problem is the drains are not good, so the water just floods the roads. On the way to the grocery store we saw this cute bakery that had cute doggies (made out of sugar and egg yokes..i forget what it's called). So, after we bought groceries we went into there to buy dessert for our shabbat dinner. We got apple strudel and katie bought the doggie that we all had (after we took many pictures with it!) It was okay, it left a bad taste in my mouth from all of the sugar. We then dropped off our groceries at the hostel (there is a group fridge that we put our stuff in that needed to be refrigerated). We then walked uphill for awhile looking for a museum, but we couldnt find it. We then wanted to go to the tayellit that is above the b'hai gardens. It was quiet steep and luckily i wore my gym shoes. At one point, we decided we had to take a bus, so we did. The bus had trouble getting up some of the hill, so we were all happy to pay 6 sheks for the busride. While taking pictures, a guard told us that a tour of the b'hai gardens was going to leave soon...it was for free and so we were psyched!

There were about 700 steps we walked down and it was beautiful! I learned about the mosque (idk if they still call it that) is at the center of the gardens to be the diamond of the garden. The garden has 9 platforms above and 9 below. The 18 represents the number of prophets. This religion is only 130 something years old and their religion has the idea of everyone living peacefully and coexisting. Every 5 years there is a huge meeting where people vote for other people to be in charge (the justices). There are 3 structures: the justice court, scriptures room, and advisory counsel--im sure if you google any of this, ill have some of the information wrong...

The garden was beautiful and it was clear outside so we could see the border to jordan. It's weird because when i looked on my map, jordan seemed pretty far away from where we were, but jordan really isnt that far away--i can see it! After the tour we had a movie and it was so weird because i went on a tour without a big group, only 6 people! We chose to be there and the video was interesting, but we all were exhausted and it was dark in the room, so we all doZed. Katie's head kept on moving back and forth so britty and i were cracking up. After walking back, we wanted to go to a falafel place that cost 10 sheks for a falafel and a drink! I was so excited for it. We got there at 3:30, but it closed at 3 for shabbat. ugh! We found a different place where we sat down and ordered stuff. We got falafel but not chips and it just wasnt as good as a regular falafel would have been. Plus, it was double the price. When we got back to the hostel, I felt really gross so i showered and everyone else. After my shower i didnt put mousse in my hair (didnt bring) so i went straight to bed. We all woke up at 9-10ish pm! We then made dinner, but leah stayed in bed because she didnt feel good, once again. After dinner and dessert and talking to our roommates, we got one of their numbers and told them we would call them when we went out. After napping while Katie showered, only some of us still wanted to go out to explore the night life. We got dressed (nothing fancy), but then it started to POUR and there was a lot of thunder and lightening. We were NOT going to go out anymore. We just took pictures from our balcony of the flooded streets and then went to sleep. Surprisingly, we were all exhausted and fell asleep quickly!

SATURDAY:

We had to check out by 11am, so we got up at 10:15ish and slowly packed and got dressed. The guys asked why we never called and we told them we never went out. They came back at 2am to see if we were in our room and up, but we were passed out so they went back out and didnt get back until 5am! I dont know how they functioned. We then had breakfast (yogurt) and im not exagerating when i say that we sat in the same spot in the lounge for the entire day. We talked to some people (one guy from poland who was nice and interesting), slept, and ate. We would only get up if we really, really had to go pee. I dont know why were were all so exhausted! but it was a relaxing shabbat. It was funny because we said bye to jeremy and adam (the brit) in the morning because they went out for the day and were taking a train back later that night. When they got back to the hostel (they left their stuff there) they were surprised us to see that it looked like we havent moved all day. We confessed admitting we didnt move at all! haha. After talking with them, around 6:15ish, we thought the train station would be open, so we left. We had to wait outside, because it was still closed. Eventually the Pole, adam, and jeremy came and we ended up being on the same train.

Katie and i sat next to a boy and a girl soldier. She sat next to the boy, i sat next to the girl. We started talking to them and he was 19 and she was 18! They were brother and sister and we got along with them really well and just talked and laughed with them. They were so nice and surprisingly impressed with my hebrew skills..what a joke! A commander was sitting by us (along with britty and everyone else) and the commander was laughing at us and he wasnt as friendly as the brother and sister. Probably because he was older. idk. After the train ride and saying "leheetraot!" to them, we went to the bus station. While we were still in the train station, katie, britty and i bought candy for halloween, we had a bag, but kept on "trying" different candies, so we had another bag from just trying things. haha.

On the bus a hot soldier sat next to us, so katie started talking to him after we laughed at his absurdly loud ringtone. He is from russia but moved here when he was 7 and is 20. It is crazy how he is noah's age and looks so much older. He wasnt as friendly/into "stupid" american girls. fair enough. After the bus ride, i bumped into yoni and then britty, katie, and i ended up walking to ben yehuda to meet up with britty's friend (we were supposed to meet her at a soccer game, but then the game was over). On the walk there we ate all of our halloween candy. After talking to some boys (one of them went to school with sarah freedman until high school) we talked with britty's friend for a little and then headed back to our apartment. We ate some healthy food when we got back and showered. People from young judaea were dressing up for a halloween party, but we were all too tired to go out, plus it was already 11:30! I worked on my blog for a little and organized pictures (which ill continue to do right now) and didnt get to bed until 2.