Today has been my favorite day in Israel thus far. I slept in until about 11:00am before heading to the shuk (basically an outdoor market). Marisa, Craig, Eli, and I all walked over without really knowing what to expect. Let me tell you, shopping in the shuk was so exciting for me! I absolutely love talking to the Israelis (or trying to) and buying all the fresh food. Seriously, I intend to go at least twice a week because they have everything you could need for a really great price! I bought a bunch of produce (apples, pears, plums, peppers, etc.), a huge tub of hummus, pita bread, and more. I will post pictures in the albums section. FYI: Kama ze ole means how much is this? I love asking it but it's really unfortunate because I cannot understand the answer. I don't know numbers yet but will soon enough understand their answer in hebrew.

After the shuk, we went back to our apartments to unload and eat. Pita bread and hummus for lunch was perfect. I also tried one of the pears to see if they were like U.S. pears or more like Australian pears (which I love). I can't really explain the difference but the pears tasted JUST like the Australian pears that I lived off of in Tassie. Honestly, that made my day and I will now buy pears in bulk because they are incredible! We decided the rest of the day should be spent at the beach. What better way to spend your day than grocery shopping for local, fresh food and then relaxing on the beach?

After the 5-minute walk from my apartment, we arrived at the beach. It had bigger waves than last night when we went night swimming. I decided to venture out and swim past the waves with Mike but got tumbled by the waves. They are a lot bigger than I thought but it was still fun. I just realized I could never be a real surfer because I don't do well diving under the waves and then coming up only to dive back under another wave. It was quite amusing, to say the least. After the perfect afternoon, I decided to head back to shower and cook dinner. Since we finally have some groceries, we planned on cooking dinner tonight.

I always forget to plan ahead and turn the water heater on before heading to the beach so that I can just jump in the shower as soon as I'm back. So, basically, I came home and flipped the switch to heat up the water, but had to wait about 20 minutes. In that time, the power went off twice. I decided to take the chance and shower when it came back on the second time, but of course it went off in the middle of my shower. Don't worry though - I learned to master showing in pitch-black darkness quickly. If this ever happens again, I will be prepared!

I think some people are going to Eric and Josh's apartment tonight, or as they like to call it, Granny's house (long story). It should be a fun night.

So far, I am LOVING life here in Netanya and am so lucky to be able to live here for 10 months!