Determined to Beat Jetlag.

Oh, hello there.

It's been a busy day of napping.

As it turns out, jet lag is a very strong force to be reckoned with. I made myself stay up until 8:30 last night (impressive, right?) and was up early enough to watch the sun rise from my bedroom window.

There is something so unbelievable about having all of your windows open, feeling the cool morning breeze, drinking some tea (thank goodness the previous tenants left me something caffeinated because I should not be allowed in public until I have had at least one caffeinated beverage) and watching the sun rise over a city like Jerusalem (as if there is another city like J'lem).

The downside, however, was that I was wide awake at 5 a.m.

What's a girl to do that early in the boker (morning)? Well, if you're lucky you can talk to Brian at 6 am and then you can wander around to Ben Yehuda street (what's up great sense of direction! got us there on the first try!) before anything is open.

In the Ben Yehuda area

Luckily, this little place called Sam's Bagels (סאם בגלים was it's Hebrew name, I think) that had delicious coffee and bagels etc. I somehow didn't take any pictures of this delicious and necessary breakfast, but there is almost nothing as perfect for breakfast as an everything bagel with cream cheese and cucumbers with a cappuccino. FANCY. (sidenote: expect to hear lots about food in this blog. both this post and future posts. shout-out to my foodie father/family.)

So after a successful stroll around Ben Yehuda, we found Independence Park, which is just a couple of minutes away from my BEAUTIFUL apartment. There was some great people watching to be had, despite the early hour, and there were these weird looking scraggly long-haired greyhounds walking around with their owner. They were totally strange.

Israeli graffiti is great because it's snarky. Here you see "b'emet?" which means "really"next to President Bush's name.

Also, for those of you who haven't been to Israel, there are stray cats EVERYWHERE. Seriously everywhere. It's kind of creepy actually.

So then after a couple of hours of walking around it was 9:30 a.m. so clearly it was time for a nap. And then after a few more hours of being awake and organizing my books etc. it was time for another nap. I had a rough day with staying awake. Oops. Part of me feels like I'm wasting time, but then another part of me realizes I have s e v e r a l months left of being here and that I actually can afford to catch up on sleep.

Alright so after my naps it was time for dinner. I went over towards המושבה הגרמנית (the German colony/village) which was absolutely beautiful. I am loving getting to see the different areas of Jerusalem! Over in the German colony we found a little restaurant called Waffle Bar. It was absolutely delicious. I'm getting used to the rapid-fire Hebrew that hostesses use and was able to answer when she asked how many people and if we preferred English menus. Either I'm communicating more clearly after my naps OR the blank stare approach is working swimmingly. Either way, I will be going back to Waffle Bar. Because anywhere I can get a goat cheese/pesto/roasted red pepper crepe for dinner is a place I will be returning to.

And what's a girl to do after such a nap and food-filled day?

Watch Harry Potter and relax with some mint tea, obviously.

The pretty little flowers right outside my apartment building.

Thanks for reading!