The birthday tour

My birthday seemed to drag on for days - not that it's a bad thing. It started on Friday (my actual birthday) by heading off to Tel Aviv and the beach, of course. Later in the evening on the way to dinner I found 20 shekels on the ground (appx. $5)! Who ever finds that much money on the street?? Obviously my lucky day, and yes it was real money. At dinner I went out with a number of friends, some of whom I have not seen in over half a year.

Saturday was spent again at the beach. The waves were particularly strong today and I was able to ride the waves on my stomach (anywhere from 10-15 meters), which was wicked cool. Later in the day it was off to Jerusalem to party once again with my friends who were in Jerusalem.

Sunday was spent hanging around Jerusalem before I was picked up to go to another party with family in Ramat Gan - outside of Tel Aviv. This party was a combined giyus (army enlistment) party for my cousin Ido and I, as well as birthday party for about 5 or 6 of us that had upcoming birthdays.

The cake reads: Ido and Alex - to a good army service

Monday was spent visiting different relatives before there was a Bar Mitzvah party for a different cousin.

After that I needed a rest from all the festivities. It was a great extended birthday.

I haven't been blogging much, because I haven't really done much more than the usual - which has become visiting relatives, going to Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem.
The weather here is awesome. It is best described by this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QLSRMoKKS0
Quickly a few things that I have done:
- See the Church of the Holy Seplecher in the Old City. I was with some friends who bumped into their friends in the Old City. They were going sightseeing, we were doing nothing so we decided to go exploring.
- Wine festival in Jerusalem: over 300 wineries present for the event. Given my previous experiences of tasting wine, I decided to try my hand at winemaking.