Coming back to TLV felt so easy. Once the plane touched ground, I started feeling it again. This absolute feeling of happiness. Incredible. If just being in this place could make you this happy, imagine just what a whole life could do to you.
This time everything went very smoothly. No extra checks, no weird questions. And while walking through the airport building, I had this strong feeling that I did not come here to work, but to serve. To do something that will be compatible with my ideology of helping and supporting people.
Heading for Jaffa, my friend left me a message that she had an emergency and won’t be there to welcome me. Uff! This was not what I was expecting, having not slept the whole night, I was just dreaming of getting a hot shower and get into bed. And since there is always a way, she told me to go to her apartment and to climb the fence to get in. Wow! I mean I saw pictures of her doing it on facebook, but me? Really?
As you can imagine I climbed that damn fence to get what I was longing for. And there I was, alone in this amazing place I have had the craziest time last september. Though it did not feel right to be there alone. I was safe and had a place to stay, but I kept on worrying and couldn’t wait my friend to be back. I mean this was my first night having left everything, in a foreign country, all by my own so far from home.
Once my friend got back I realized that the party actually never ended. And that I was in the completely wrong time zone! There was this long party weekend I could not participate in and there was a great lack of sleep for me. Oh dear! In Germany we say that “you walk on your gums”. This is exactly what I did! And although I loved having her around and staying at this amazing studio in Jaffa, I realized I had to find something of my own ASAP if no one should be harmed. Plus I was desperately yearning for a washing machine!!
At this point I need to tell you something about laundry. There are actually only two kinds of people, those who like to be in control and do their laundry on their own, and those who just give it away. Period. And I remember being here last september and watching my bae doing his laundry actually everytime I was there. He was really taking his time doing it and I enjoyed watching him. Not having a clue how crucial this will become at some point.
Searching for an apartment in Tel-Aviv is already an adventure as such. The first place was in a great location and I liked the guys, but the apartment as such was a nightmare. No way! The second place was much nicer, I liked the house, the flat, and also the roommate immediately. He even had a washing machine!! This time the place was not agreeable. I was in the ghetto of TLV and I really didn’t feel comfortable getting there. This sucked because I immediately felt at home there.
So I continued my search, the third place being in my beloved Floretine and here I got really shook by my potential roommate telling me about his weed license, smoking sessions, and a sexually harassing roommate I was to replace. WTF!? And beside all this weird stuff, he was trying to convince me that he is a really chill person, while telling me that I will always have to clean everything right after use. OMFG! If you want to get rid of me, apply pressure! And although I saw the washing machine being so close, I couldn’t picture myself with such a complex* character. Bye…
The fourth place on my list was the biggest disappointment. It was suppossed to be a very nice place in Jaffa, and apart from the fact that it was 2km away from old Jaffa, the apartment was not as shown in the pictures. This is cheating!! I simply didn’t like it, plus there was a washing machine not working. Can you imagine this? Like watching her but not being able to use her!? Nope.
At this point I had already moved to the hostel, because my body was screaming for sleep and because I loved my friend too much to kill her. After two nights at the hostel my reservation was about to end, plus I was missing my cat and refused to give my dirty laundry to a washing salon. So after having seen four apartments, I realized that I was kind of homeless. I mean there are many Israelis offering their couch to you, but as my professor used to say “but there is a big but(t)” and it’s not going to me mine!
So finally it was February, the full moon just passed, and I had two more apartments to see. When I got to the Rothschild Boulevard, standing in front of this amazing historic building I knew that this was it. Home! Even before getting in and seeing one of the rooms. This was exactly where I wanted to be… and there was a washing machine too.
my beatitude 
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