Yom Huledet Sameach to me!

I'm 26! This is the first birthday I really remember celebrating away from home, away from my family and friends. After last year, I didn’t really have the high expectations for my birthday anymore. Its about damn time too…most people give up after 21, I held on until 25. I still went to class, because I actually really enjoy Hebrew ulpan, but luckily didn’t have to volunteer. Most of my roommates didn’t really register my birthday till the afternoon, but Sharon gave me a very sweet card and a chocolate bar! Katie, Lindsay and I went to the beach, where the Mediterranean Sea gave me my birthday present – my very first jelly fish sting!

It was on my ass, and it really wasn’t that bad, and basically stopped hurting a couple of hours later. After the beach, Katie and I went to the shuk, where I decided to go on a little birthday shopping spree and bought some skirts, shirts, Egyptian saggy pants, and headscarves. Everything was really cheap, under $15, but I still managed to come home significantly poorer. My mother would not be proud. When I got home from the shuk I had an awesome card from Lindsay waiting for me on my bed, which she then proceeded to read to me (I wish I could remember not to turn the camera):

After that I got ready for my birthday dinner at a pub/restaurant called Gambrinus. It had been recommended to me by family friends as a “beer bar specializing in sea food”. Online, I read that it was actually an Irish pub with a  full menu. Either way, sounded strange.  The address I found online was completely wrong but, speaking to the cab driver in French, we were able to have him call the restaurant and, in hebrew, figure out how to get there. Once we did get there, we discovered that it was in fact owned by Russians, with menus only in Hebrew and Russian. I tried to translate individually for everyone, which, needless to say, didn’t work out so well. The food and beer were both delicious, with my personal favorite being the shrimp in garlic butter!

After dinner, most of our group, true to "lame weirdo house" form, went home, and Katie, Lindsay, Claire and I thought we wanted to go down to the beach for more drinks. But by the time we got down there, the beer buzz had worn off and the excitement had toned down. I did get my birthday dessert though:

The next day we had our field trip to Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea. I'm not a huge fan of the Dead Sea, but Ein Gedi was really cool, a nice hike in the dessert with springs to cool off in. After the field trip, I headed up to Tel Aviv to actually go out for my birthday. I stayed once again with Chanita's friend Daniel, and he gathered up a couple of his friends to help me celebrate, and I called Polina (who apparently calls herself Paula) to join us. We went to a bar right on the water, and, despite it being night time and right on the water, the humidity and sticky heat were incredible.

We finished off the night with Israeli breakfast at 3am. All in all, a good birthday that exceeded expectations!