שלג! / Sheleg! / Snow!

People had been warning me for days that it was going to snow in Jerusalem, but I was all "whatever" and "I'll believe it when I see it" and "as an authentic New Yorker, I fart in Jerusalem snow's general direction" and so on and so forth. That being said, I got scared into submission to the snow, and stayed and waited in Jerusalem on Tuesday, waiting for the snow to fall. The first disgusting, slushy flakes fell when I was eating Yemenite food with Rafi. Wintry mix. Ick.

Over the course of the evening, I went to hang out with Rafi and his roommate and went to bed at a reasonable hour (it happens!). It snowed a little. When I woke up, early (By early, of course, I mean 10 or 11. I'm on break!) in the morning, I walked outside to some serious, stuck snow. Or what was once stuck, and had promptly become slush.

Snow on a mini-frog (They call the big, green garbage dumpsters "frogs" in Hebrew, so I've decided that this one is a mini-frog.)

Snow-covered car, Israeli plates.

The stairs to my apartment. Real, authentic snow. In Jerusalem. Amazing.

I spent most of the day inside, working on my thesis (yes!), and then, after she braved the nasty, slush/sleet/snowish, hanging out with Shiran. I love Shiran, and I'm happy for her that she's going to India -- but I'm REALLY going to miss her.

Shiran and I take time to pretend we're having fun at Gan HaTzfira (the park on my street, HaTzfira). As you can see, I learned a valuable lesson this year: I can wear my North Face Brand Snobby Fleece with a hoodie and be warm enough for snow temps.

Check out the snowflake that fell in front of the camera, blocking a bit of my hoodie. Cool, huh? By the way, rain boots in snow = dry, FROZEN feet. I had to blow dry my toes for a good 15 minutes after hanging outsite with Shiran and later, Ita.

Let's make a list of things that won't happen to Shiran in India...

Shiran and I warm up in Coffeeshop.

Gan HaTzfira, snowcapped.

After Shiran left, I ran into Ita. Ita plays in the park, looking all Israeli, with plastic bags in her rain boots!

Shiran and I eventually went outside to brave the cold (Yes, I will admit it. It was cold.) to see if any restaurants were open. We ended up in Coffeeshop, which I think has terrible service, but I also think that they have the BEST breakfast (deal) EVER, and they serve it all day long. We hung out for a while, and then stood at the bus stop, freezing, until Shiran was able to make her way to the central bus station.

Wednesday night, I watched a movie with my roommates and then looked outside to see something astounding -- more SNOW, sticking on the neighbors' roof. I went to bed, worrying about what the morning would hold. Stay tuned to hear about my adventures in getting to TLV - Ben Gurion International Airport and from there, to Turkey!

The versatility of Israeli bulldozers. Usually, I'm a-bulldozin' Palestinian homes. Today, I plow Emek Refayim.

7AM on Emek Refayim. I'm waiting for the Nesher to Turkey, and catch this bulldozer on film. Yay!

Translation: Sara Beth Loves Snow!