One Last Day in LA!

I LEAVE FOR ISRAEL TOMORROW. I can't believe it's finally here. I feel like I am somehow going to miss my plane, oversleep, or somehow forget that my flight is tomorrow. 

(On a related note, thank chickens I didn't go to Hume this past weekend. I would be stuck there tonight! First time I can ever recall a group actually getting stuck up there. It would have been a dream come true as a kid! And a...dream come inconvenienced nowadays. And ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE this year.)

But today was a lovely day. I had breakfast in bed for the first time, and then drove off to get a mani/pedi. 

First ever breakfast in bed! Grapefruit, eggs, turkey bacon, and a cinnamon roll.

Fun car we saw on the way to the nail salon

Pretty nails

Tonight there was more Settlers (I lost again, grumpy grumble) and we got to sous-vide the lamb we purchased yesterday. I've never heard of sous-vide-ing before, but essentially you vacuum-wrap an item (in this case, a piece of meat) and put it in a saucepan of water with the sous-vide. The sous-vide makes the water a certain temperature, which slowly cooks the meat and makes it very tender and juicy.



Before

 

After

You sear the meet at the very end, for texture.

Lots of cheese while we are sous-vide-ing!

Mmm, burrata!

I made mint sauce for the lamb

I made mint sauce, and there was also roasted carrots (dead-easy),and hasselbacked potatoes which are a little bit like an inside-out potato and a bloomin' onion had a baby. This was perhaps one of the best meals I've ever had, certainly one of the best I've had cooked in student housing. And it was pretty easy, too! Maybe I should invest in a sous-vide, too.

So tasty!



Fin.

And now we are sitting around, watching BBC America and, once again, relaxing. It is almost hard to remember that this is not normal, which I suppose is the ideal sort of vacation: when you completely forget about reality.

 

But this time tomorrow, I will be on my flight to Tel-Aviv from Newark, and then I'll be in a new country, on a new continent. I can't quite believe it is here. Maybe that is because I normally plan big trips like this for well over six months, whereas this time feels a little bit faster (only four months). But it is like those old Honda commercials imply: when opportunity comes knocking, then you come running. And I want to see Israel.

 

So off I go! Farewell, US. Next time I post will probably be on the other side of the country, and then: Israel!

~Relaxing~

Ahh. No chores; no pressure. I didn't even do anything super fancy today, but the mere fact of not being at home and not having my own tasks and to-do list to do is lovely. Ahhhhhh. 

Today was pretty fun, too. I'm staying with two friends, and a third friend joined us. The Pocky team is back! After sleeping in this morning, we grabbed hoagies and then went grocery shopping to make lamb tomorrow (and I got burrata!!! Mmm). We just sat around and chatted for a while, then went to get soup dumplings. 

Ah, soup dumplings. They are dumplings filled with soup and ever so tasty. They are steamed, so it isn't like a crispy potsticker or Gyoza, and you bite into one and explodes into soupy tastiness. Think of it like inside out Wonton Soup. Super tasty, or maybe I should say souper. Once that was consumed, we went over to 85 Degrees. 

I am searching for a chocolatey roll that I got last time, but today's was not the one. Alas!

This evening we played Settlers of Catan. (I lost. Argh. Stupid robber.) Overall, a very good day! Hopefully tomorrow will be relaxing too. 

Travel Day to LA

...Well, technically to Burbank. Greetings from SFO! Thus far, my flight is already delayed ("Awaiting Aircraft") and I've already lost something (the cap for my Up), so it is promising to be a good holiday. 

Fun fact: SFO is decked out in NFL paraphernalia. 

I'm not a huge football fan, so I'm not really fussed that I'm missing the Super Bowl. Yes, it would be interesting, but also crowded and touristy and traffic-y. The Olympics? I'd be super excited. The Super Bowl? Meh. I'll probably see it again anyway. 

But I'm on holiday instead, and I can't tell you how happy and relaxed I feel. I haven't had this much time off since Winter Break, senior year of college. This is great. No IDSs or IPRs or QPIDS stress for me for several weeks! Ahhh. 

And now I'm waiting for a massage, and I have priority boarding and baggage due to my shiny new United credit card, and I can just be myself. YAY to vacationing!!!

T-Minus Six Hours - My Itinerary!

Here is what I will be doing on holiday. I leave today! YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!

Friday, January 29--Arrive in SoCal and meet up with my lovely friends from my LA Adventure. Will we find the Pocky People again? I hope so.

Saturday, January 30--Something. I don't know what. Maybe get a mani/pedi. (This will be a boring day.) (By boring, I mean relaxing, and thus quite needed.

Sunday, January 31--Church! And then something else.

Monday, February 1--Depart from LAX to Newark, and then off to Tel-Aviv! Will there be turbulence? Will I get an aisle seat? ONLY TIME WILL TELL.

Tuesday, February 2--We arrive and head to Galilee! Lots of exciting things happened in Galilee, and I will see so many of the places...tomorrow. Today, we get to relax and eat dinner. Hummus! Shakshouka! Hurrah!

Wednesday, February 3--Sea of Galilee! Sea of Galilee! Fish and bread for lunch! Mount of Beatitudes, where the Sermon on the Mount was preached! Where Peter and Mary Magdalene lived! The Jordan River! RIDING ON A BOAT. ON THE SEA OF GALILEE. WHERE JESUS AND PETER WALKED. This is going to be an amazing day. :D

Thursday, February 4--Less excitement. We're going north to Dan and Caesarea Philippi, which should be interesting, and see the boundary of old Israel. Probably good to have a calmer day after the excitement of Wednesday.

Friday, February 5--Back to the excitement! NAZARETH. Jesus' hometown!!!! And then Mount Carmel, where Elijah went all Mendelssohn on the Baal followers in one of the most epic take-downs of all time. I think we will also properly see the Mediterranean today, and then off to Jerusalem!

Saturday, February 6--This day is going to be amazing as well. Mount of Olives, Bethlehem, AND Gethsemane? In one day? We'll see the Dead Sea Scrolls too! It's going to be awesome. On a side note, I'm interested to see how the Sabbath is like in Israel.

Sunday, February 7--Dead Sea is the real highlight today. I remember my seventh grade history teachers telling me about swimming in the Dead Sea, and I thought it sounded fun, and was envious that I would never get to swim there. Well, now I am! We'll see some other historical sites, too, like Masada and Qumran.

Monday, February 8--We'll be really exploring Jerusalem today, and finding the ancient parts of the city. We'll also be going to Mount Zion.

Tuesday, February 9--We leave in the evening, but the day is pretty crowded. Holocaust Memorial, Western Wall, Cavalry, and the Garden Tomb. Should be a fairly somber day, methinks.

Wednesday, February 10-- I return to the US! Ironically, this is Ash Wednesday.

Thursday, February 11--SLEEP. And maybe laundry.

Wheeeeeee!!!

T-Minus Twenty One Hours and SIXTEEN MINUTES AHHHHHHHHHH

They changed my flights!! Boo. Now I leave late on the ninth, so I still get to do everything except stay in the hotel for an extra night. And now I get a twelve hour wait at LAX, since I already booked my flight from LAX to SFO. Ah, well. I might see if they can get me on an earlier flight, but of course, my luggage might not get on that earlier flight. On the bright side, my shiny United credit card gets me a trip to the fancy lounge, so that's probably where I will spend my travel day.

 

Weather! I only bothered checking LA for this weekend today, since...well, since it is LA. But I might actually get rain on Sunday! This is what I get for not checking. It should be really nice on Saturday, though, and no problems for leaving on Monday. Newark should be clear for my connection, so that is good as well. But what about Israel?

 

 

The mid-trip rain is gone, replaced with rain the day I arrive. Well, I won't be going anywhere super exciting that day, so it can rain. But it still looks good! This is all because I got a rain poncho, isn't it?

 

I'll post my itinerary tomorrow. EEEEEE!! I am very excited!!



TO-DO LIST

• Email landlord that I'll be paying rent early Email sent 1/26
• Pay rent Paid
• Laundry Done
• Put away clothes, which now seems to be a chore separate to laundry
• Go to library for plane books, and maybe a tourism guide Hopefully I have enough. We shall see.
• Pack clothes
• Pack toiletries
• Pack computer - after this blog post!
• Pack phone charger - Tomorrow!
• Pack passport
• Confirm that George can take me to airport
• Email itinerary to Mum
• Clean apartment (I'm at about a 6/10 on the tidiness scale...I can do better before I go) (Now at 7/10)
• Vacuum - Tomorrow when waiting for George; It's too late now.
• Throw food out that will go bad - Tomorrow after breakfast
• Take out rubbish and recycling (Although may need to do again.)
• Hold my post? Maaaaabye. Nah.
• Empty phone of photos I don't need, so I can take lots of pictures
• Put a different playlist on phone. I'm bored.
• Update blog with developments Technically, this is done
• Check that all bills are up-to-date (I believe they are, but no harm in checking)
• Call credit card company(ies?) Notified them online. Hopefully that works.
• Go to work four times two more times! ONE MORE TIME AHHHHHH
• Go to Junior High
• Go to YAF Skipped for packing

Test!

Trying to see if I can write a blog post on my phone. Hmm...

Ooh. I can do photos. Couldn't do that on my browser. Maybe I won't need my laptop in Israel after all...

T-Minus Fifty-Four Hours!

Not much to report here, but just a mild to-do list update (things are getting done!) and weather update.

Perhaps the most important weather to take into account is Newark, since I am flying through there on the way to Israel, and I don't want my flight cancelled. So imagine my concern when the first story on Weather.Com is all about another gigantic snowstorm! Thankfully, the snow is in the Midwest; Newark is going to be Partly Cloudy with a 20% change of precipitation. That should be fine for my connection.

But the important one...Israel itself!

Teensy bit of rain on the 7th, but one day out of 10? Temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s? This is February--I'll take it! YAAAAAY for good weather!

TO-DO LIST

• Email landlord that I'll be paying rent early Email sent 1/26
• Pay rent Paid
• Laundry Done
• Put away clothes, which now seems to be a chore separate to laundry
• Go to library for plane books, and maybe a tourism guide
• Pack clothes
• Pack toiletries
• Pack computer
• Pack phone charger
• Pack passport
• Confirm that George can take me to airport
• Email itinerary to Mum
• Clean apartment (I'm at about a 6/10 on the tidiness scale...I can do better before I go) (Now at 7/10)
• Vacuum
• Throw food out that will go bad
• Take out rubbish and recycling (Although may need to do again.)
• Hold my post? Maaaaabye.
• Empty phone of photos I don't need, so I can take lots of pictures
• Put a different playlist on phone. I'm bored.
• Update blog with developments Technically, this is done
• Check that all bills are up-to-date (I believe they are, but no harm in checking)
• Call credit card company(ies?) Notified them online. Hopefully that works.
• Go to work four times two more times!
• Go to Junior High
• Go to YAF

T-Minus Ninety Hours and Two Minutes

I'm going on vacation! Guess where!

Surprisingly, no.

 

Nope, that was last weekend.

 

Not even close.

 

I am going....to...ISRAEL!!!!!

 As some of you know, it has been my ambition to go to Israel for a really long time. It was number two on my List Of Places I Need To See, but after Japan went all radioactive I bumped Israel up to number one. And now I get to go!

There will be the Dead Sea! The Jordan River! Hummus! I'm going to eat a piece of bread and a fish for lunch when I go to the Sea of Galilee and it is going to be the most filling meal of my life. I'm going to walk where Jesus could have walked, and Paul, and the Disciples, and David, and the Woman at the Well, and Deborah, and Mary, and Martha, and Solomon, and Abigail...

Needless to say, I am excited. I will be blogging about my adventures over the next two weeks-ish, including my pre-vacation in LA (maybe). Fingers crossed, I will be able to update daily. If not, I'll write the entries daily and backdate them. So keep an eye on my blog!

In the meantime, I have to start packing and preparing. I leave Friday night, so now is really time to start getting ready. I'll post my to-do list here, partly so I keep track of it, partly so I feel guilted into doing everything on it, and partly so I don't do something stupid and forget my passport.

TO-DO LIST

• Email landlord that I'll be paying rent early
• Pay rent
• Laundry
• Put away clothes, which now seems to be a chore separate to laundry
• Go to library for plane books, and maybe a tourism guide
• Pack clothes
• Pack toiletries
• Pack computer
• Pack phone charger
• Pack passport
• Confirm that George can take me to airport
• Email itinerary to Mum
• Clean apartment (I'm at about a 6/10 on the tidiness scale...I can do better before I go)
• Vacuum
• Throw food out that will go bad
• Take out rubbish and recycling
• Hold my post? Maaaaabye.
• Empty phone of photos I don't need, so I can take lots of pictures
• Put a different playlist on phone. I'm bored.
• Update blog with developments
• Check that all bills are up-to-date (I believe they are, but no harm in checking)
• Call credit card company(ies?)
• Go to work four times
• Go to Junior High
• Go to YAF

Ok, those last few are more my schedule for the rest of the week, but anyway. ADVENTURE AWAITS!