Sweet weekend

My confidence is back up to its usual position of "near-cocky" after having a full day off from the Ulpan. I am also fully rested thanks to not having to get up before sunrise (for Jerusalem) or right after (Naomi decided that Skyping at 7 am was a good idea for some reason...). All things are possible now.

Naomi and I have gotten very bold with our abilities to navigate Tel Aviv and have been going on excursions "map free". I realized a couple of days into our trip that I have been carrying around a small travel bag laden with a camera/sunblock/map/keys/signal mirror/compass/sextant and various other tools while Naomi has been carrying around a hair tie. In essence, Nomes tricked me into carrying a purse. Because it's so damn hot during the day, I can never get rid of the purse, either; even when I set it down I am left with a giant purse-shaped sweatmark on my shirt. Naturally, not taking a map around allows me to regain some of my masculinity by never having to ask anything but the sun where we are. I'm so tough!

We wandered Yafo again on Friday. Our map doesn't even show Yafo. Despite our rather commando departure to the old city we managed to stumble upon the well-established Flea Market. The market is a very emotional experience, at least for me. They have all sorts of little knick-knacks that I would never ever want. But they also have stuff that I never knew I needed until I saw it, and all of it would never make it back to America. They had a PILE of swords that looked like Green Destiny and they were all authentic Chinese swords from at least 100 years ago. They also had a full-out canon that would have tipped my bag over the 50 lbs. limit by enough to make the plane function like a car. They also had a store filled with giant fiberglass animals and statues. All awesome. If only Rina had been there to bargain for me.

I have an emaculate tan...in a tshirt. I have done such a fantastic job preserving my shimmering whiteness that I have absolutely no swimsuit tan line. My beach time here has more than doubled my beach time over the course of my life. This is partly because people we know here like to go to the beach, partly because Naomi likes the beach, and partly because I can read my giant Neal Stephenson book there - under sunscreen, shade from an umbrella, and the watchful eye of Naomi. When I remove my shirt in Tel Aviv its like I'm making a statement: In twenty years my body will still be a beautiful green grape compared to the raisin bodies of you beach-dwellers. Naomi and our friend Elinor have taken to keeping me untouched. Today I was reading on a blanket on my stomach and they made me apply new sunscreen and get an umbrella because they were sure they were watching me turn pink. When we got home this afternoon and I had a slight burn on my shoulders Naomi looked like she had somehow failed as my solar guardian.