I am befriending more and more Palestinians at my university. Rather than using my Hebrew language skills each day, I am using more and more Palestinian Arabic. I am still getting used to speaking in Arabic and using the new vocabulary, but many of the Palestinian students are happy to take their time sounding words out and using English when necessary.
As usual, the New Israeli Shekel is used here. There is no other currency used here in Israel.
I have tried my best to stop buying bottles of water. There is so much plastic pollution here in Israel that I make sure to bring my reusable water bottles with me everywhere I go. However, it can be very hard to find places to fill up water bottles. Usually, most cafes will fill it up for you.
The best meal I had this week was a lovely Shabbat dinner with my Israeli friend, Benaya, and his family. I choose to keep a vegan diet and Benaya's family was very accomodating. They made an array of delicious salads, rice dishes, cabbage rolls, sweet potatoes and more!