Gone Hikin'

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to be included in a shabbaton with some of my classmates at our teacher's house. We went on a hike beforehand, which was b-e-a-utiful.

I also got to use my new camera lens! My first eBay purchase (they were practically giving it away!). Nothing too impressive yet, but I hope to improve as time goes on. As I always say, you can never have too many hobbies. Right?

Roadside hoodlums.

Roomies pre-hike 

 I think this captures our relationship pretty well.

Israeli wilderness

A beautiful day...

Rabbi Meir: Torah scholar on weekdays; Tour guide and water enthusiast on weekends. 

The group after the hike

We Are!

Penn State friends in Israel!!!

That is all.

Sukkot 2.0

I have decided that Sukkot is my favorite holiday to celebrate in Israel. 

Appreciating the simplicity of life. Showing gratitude for our blessings. Being in the great outdoors. Quality time with friends. An offensive amount of food. A reason for my family to say, "a week off from school? come home and get a job!"

What's not to love? :)

(Here's my post from last year's Sukkot)

Sukkot in apartments...

Sukkot at restaurants...

Our humble, cozy sukkah :) We even slept in it one night!

Putting up the sukkah. Sorry, Laura.

Making decorations! This is a paper chain made out of newspaper. Whatever, we're on a budget.

In other news, I look 12.

Roomies!

Pop quiz: Which self-portrait of my roommates did I make?

Friends from California invited us over for dinner in the sukkah!

Some of my favorite BCI little ones! I guess Aaron had too much Sukkot-fun. 

Tait and Sarah... their first sukkot in Israel!

Is that YouTube sensation Andrew Lustig?

Yes, yes it is. He came to visit. As usual, he is making friends from all walks of life.

(PS- he's actually a YouTube sensation)

Our Talmud teacher, Leah (on the right), had our whole class over for a meal in her amazing sukkah. 

She said that when her family bought the apartment, part of the appeal was the potential for building an awesome sukkah. I'd say, mission accomplished!

Family in Israel! My cousin Dan, on the left, and my Uncle Steve and Aunt Anita. 

Dan is studying for the year, and his parents visited for their first time in Israel.

Picture Rewind

I was going through my camera, and realized that I never posted pictures from Kelly & Peter's visit to Israel in April!  Silly me. Please excuse the fact that these are 6 months late.

Kelly is a dear friend from growing up, and Peter is her husband. Kelly accepted me as a friend back in the day, when I wore metallic white lip stick and thought that my Old Navy tech vest was my #1 stunner. It was great to reconnect with her in the Holy Land. We visited all over!

This is also a shame-less ploy to encourage other people in my life to visit Israel. You, too, can ride a camel and smear mud on your face! :)

Playing at the Dead Sea

Floatin'

Dead Sea giggling. After all these years, we still find simple things amusing :)

Kelly & Peter in the Golan Heights

Kelly on a camel! Look at that smile!

Sea of Galilee. Kelly & Peter loved the north!

Hostel in Tiberias. This was Kelly's first hostel experience :)
It was kind of like sleepovers when we were little, except with 4 additional strangers.

You can call me navigator.  Or just Lauren is fine.

Kelly & Laura try to navigate the map.

Laura's feet, flying' free

Roomie and I in the Golan Heights. Please note the appetizing matzah on our plates.

Ba'hai Gardens in Haifa

Me and Laura in Caesarea, showing some Israel love

Happy Bellies :)

With a week off from classes, and many meals and parties to go to, Na'omi 9 has been cooking up a storm! Here is a sampling of some of the dishes we made. 

It was a real gift to have the time to prepare new foods and dishes, and even more of a gift to have the time to enjoy them with friends, both old and new.

No, I do not have a future in food photography.

Sesame-crusted tofu and mushrooms. Even the meat-eaters liked this one.

My roommate Emily is an amazing baker! This is a cheesecake with peaches on top.

Droooool. 

Lentil-barley salad with feta.

This was the first Moosewood recipe that I tried. It was a hit! 

Challah french toast casserole.  

Leftovers never tasted so good.

Swiss-chard, mushroom, and feta crustless quiche. Yum!

 Home-made granola. (Insert dirty hippy joke here).

My roommate Laura has been perfecting a challah recipe for the past few months. She graciously shared the recipe with me, and this was the batch we made together.

If this doesn't land me a nice Jewish boy, I don't know what will.