Time flies when you're having fun!

I have now been in Israel for a month and cannot believe it has been that long already! It does not seem like that much time has passed but then I start thinking about everything I've accomplished during this time. I have finally moved in to my apartment! I started furnishing and decorating it to make it look more like a home. I have an amazing Israeli roommate who is the nicest guy in the world. I hope my Hebrew will improve and I can help him with English. My new apartment is close to all transportation and the beach. I also took my placement exam for ulpan (intensive Hebrew class) and will begin taking classes on the 23rd. I crammed the night before and did a little grammar refresh. I had to change sentences into different tenses, answer reading comprehension questions and write a short essay about one of three topics. When the teacher went over the exam with me, she placed me in the advanced class and I hope my conversation skills improve quickly. I am so excited to begin my new Israeli life here!

We are now celebrating the Jewish holiday, Pesach  (Passover). My cousin from Atlanta who is here volunteering for a few months came down to Tel Aviv for a few days to celebrate with me. We went to my friend's family's house in Herzliya for the seder. It is always fun celebrating holidays in Israel because it feels so special.

The one thing I wasn't expecting while celebrating a holiday here, was that it would actually be hard to keep Passover (no bread or legumes). So many restaurants are still serving their delicious-looking bread baskets and you see people happily eating their falafel in pita. I walked for an hour the other night looking for a restaurant that would not serve hametz and I only found two pizza places. It is a little discouraging moving to a Jewish country and have to try so hard to observe a holiday. I know there are parts of the country where it is much easier than it is in Tel Aviv, but I still would not expect it to be this hard. There are only a few days left and I enjoy cooking for Passover. This has been an amazing month so far and I know there is so much more to look forward to.