Maccabi! Maccabi! Maccabi!

Sooo, Saturday night, after a long lazy day of doing nothing, we decided to go on a spontaneous field trip to the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer game against Ramat Gan.  I was hesitant to go, not sure i would enjoy it, but the roomies convinced me.  I decided if I was doing it, i was doing it right, so I decked out in team colors.  In yellow shorts over my leggings and a blue shirt, we ventured on the bus to the stadium. We got in line to buy tickets, but found out we were on the Ramat Gan side.  You couldn't even by tickets for Tel Aviv, so we walked around the stadium and waited in the much longer, much bluer and yellower line.  Tickets were 80 shekels, although we found out later that girls can get in for the kids price, 40 shekels.  There were less than 20 women in the entire stadium so that makes sense.  Too bad we didn't know to ask for them.  Oh well, next time.  We got our tickets, got Maccabi scarves to fit in with the crowd and have a nice souvenir, and waited in line to get in.  Security, as in most of Israel, was airport tight, and we got frisked, patted down, and every bag in my purse was opened and dug through.  Guess I feel much safer knowing they do that though.

The stadium was loud, and only the Maccabi side was full.  Lots of yellow and blue, very little red, just a small section on the side.  The Maccabi stands on the other hand, had an entire section devoted to screaming, jumping, shirtless men.  Unlike in the States, they weren't selling alcohol, so these guys were running on pure fan mayhem.  They did not stop jumping and leading the crowd the entire game.  Ramat Gan scored early on a penalty kick, and although they weren't playing that well, Tel Aviv picked up in the second half and won the game 3-1.  Even though I hesitated, I'm glad I went.  It was an awesome experience, people watching, etc, and I would definitely do it again.

Also that night, some of our WUJS friends were participating in the Nike Night Run - Human Race 10K.  It was a global event that weekend, and we hoped to catch the end of the race and cheer them on.  Unfortunately it was a bit late, and we didn't know where they end was.  So, we decided to go to the start, Rabin Square.  We pretended to run our own races, in flip flops and our crazy team spirit, and found a nice man to ask how far the finish line was.  He said 10 kilometers.  Haha, very funny.  Direct walk, he said it was around 2K, so we started the trek.  Still wearing our scarves, we literally got stopped by runners on every block asking what we soon found out meant "did we win" and "what was the score".  We taught ourselves to say "3 - 1 to Tel Aviv"  and made a lot of friends on the way.  Lots of sweaty, fit, attractive, runner man friends.  I have never had so much fun walking down the street dressed like a maniac. 

When we got to Yarkon Park and the finish line, most people were done running and on their way out, but we got to see a few stragglers cross.  We also, by incredible chance, ran into Harold, Sarah, Jamie, and Vivian, the 4 WUJS runners. None of them had cell phone so we weren't sure we would.  They were rosy cheeked matching their fancy red t-shirts and drinking giant water bottles.  Looking good.  We walked around a bit, then headed back to where we came from to catch a bus home.  I was tired, and all I did was walk about 5K, but it was almost midnight.  What a jam packed fun adventure.

To continue the crazy weekend, Sunday I went to work, came home and took a nap, then met the group to take the bus to Jerusalem (take 3) for the Idan Raichel concert.  It was a MASA event for all the MASA sponsored groups (high school in Israel, year course, post college programs like ours).  They definitely had ulterior motives though, as they began the night with several speakers talking about making Aliyah and being ambassadors and advocates for Israel upon returning home, if we returned home.  Don't worry, I will.  But anyways, after that an Israeli dance troupe performed a mutli cultural dance number, a show choir type group performed Halleluyah, and they showed videos of 3 MASA program participants before and during their Israeli experiences.  Finally, the Idan Raichel Project took the stage.  Idan Raichel is an Israeli musician/singer/pianist, with amazing dreadlocks, and the group is made up of singers and musicians from several countries.  They sing in several languages, including Hebrew, Spanish, and English.  Definition of world music.  I only knew a few songs that I had looked up in anticipation of the night, but I really really enjoyed it.  First thing I did when I got home was buy a CD on iTunes.  Really glad I went, opened my eyes to the genre for sure. If you get a chance, check out "Boee" or "Chalamot Shel Acharim" on youtube.

Guess I gotta go, its Chelsea's bday tomorrow and we are going up on the roof tonight to celebrate for a bit since we have a late day tomorrow.  Birthday shout out if you're reading this!!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELS!  YOM HULEDET SAMEACH!  Love from the holy land, and talk to you soon!