Classes have ended

Classes have ended and I leave in 2 days. My finals went pretty well, I hope. I spent Wednesday afternoon in Tel Aviv with my mom and grandmother at Dizengoff center because they needed to do something to get away from their tour guide. It was fun. I bought monopoly in Hebrew.

Afterwards, we went to the airport. My mom exchanged some loud words with the tour guide at the rental car place because the bill cost more than what he told her it would or something like that. She then, literally, threw some money at him. He sat there counting it after being yelled at, resembling the worst of Jewish stereotypes: the greedy, kippah wearing, scraggly bearded, short, bald, money loving Jew. He was a disgusting person. If you ever come to Israel and decide to hire a private guide, DO NOT use Tuvia Grossman.

Anyways, after I said goodbye to them at the airport, I rode the train back to Haifa. On the train to Tel Aviv I studied for my Hebrew exam the next day and the Israelis next to me corrected the spelling mistakes on my flashcards and it was very productive. The ride back was completely different. I ended up sitting next to this senile old guy who kept rambling on and on about his life adventures. Apparently he came to Palestine in the 1890's as a kid (he'd be over 100 now) and helped do something or other with oranges (it was all in Hebrew). He said he fought with Moshe Dayan in WWII (which would have made him about 50 years old) and then he trailed off into these bizarre stories about how he has children all over the world and how he visited all over America. There was a girl sitting accross from us, and so when an ultra-Orthodox guy walked on the train he told him to sit next to her (he wouldn't because he can't for religious reasons). The old guy burst out laughing when the guy gave him a dirty look. He then went on a rant about how he hated the Orthodox and how they were ruining his country. After dealing with the horrible tour guide, I'm inclined to agree. However, I've met a lot of religious, non-fanatical, and optimistic people in Israel. So I'm back to being neutral. Anyways, the guy talked and talked and talked. I think it was the only thing that was keeping him alive.

Starting last weekend, I started having stomach pains. I think it was from the sushi I ate. Anyways, the pains culminated Thursday night. I thought they were originally from exam stress or something like that, but apparently not because I spent all day Friday being friends with the toilet. I went to the doctor at 12:30, but he left at 12 for Shabbat. I finally was able to get some medicine last night. Apparently in Israel you can't buy Immodium or Pepto Bismal from a store rack. You have to ask for it from the pharmacy. It was fun trying to ask for it in Hebrew. I didn't know if either of those existed here, so I just told the guy that I had "shilshul norah" and he understood. If you don't know what I said, look it up or ask an Israeli.

After the trip to the pharmacy, my friends and I went to go get some really good falafel in downtown Haifa. It was fun. One of my friend's roommate left and so she was pretty bummed and needed cheering up. After falafel, we went for coffee. I spoon-fed the tea leaves to my friend while making airplane sounds. And she ate them. It was funny. While I was sitting and drinking my tea, the medicine I got started putting me to sleep. When we got back to the university, I could barely keep my eyes open and went to sleep.