Apartment Upgrade

Life post-mold is quite the upgrade. I moved in with the band director/music teacher at our school-- another new teacher that arrived in August with me-- who had an extra bedroom because of an unfortunate tragedy that befell his intended roommate. My roomie, Sanford, is amaaazing. He is incredibly chill, has worked in restaurants since he was about 10 years old, and spent six years on tour with a Broadway show. We live in Nof Yam-- "view of the sea" in Hebrew-- and as the name suggests, our apartment is across the street from the cliffs and beach lining the Mediterranean.

I'm being spoiled. It is a beautiful place that I won't possibly be able to afford within the next decade, situated essentially across the street from the beach, and my roommate stuffs me with delicious gourmet-style meals. (Illustrating examples: I woke up on Saturday morning to freshly made french toast topped with bananas; I enjoyed a roasted chicken with garlic-butter sauteed mushrooms, roasted potatoes, and green apples at our dinner party Thursday night; and I came home from a run today to sauteed artichokes.) It is unlikely I will ever find myself in this living situation again-- especially with this culinary genius of a roommate who allows me to earn my meals by washing all the dishes. I'll just enjoy this while it lasts and hope I glean a bit of culinary skill in the next seven months.

Front entrance of the apartment.
My room is off to the left, my bathroom off to the right.
(My room is not yet fit to be photographed.)

My bathroom.
Exciting, I know.

Front entrance and dining room.

Dining room.

Breakfast nook.

Family room.
We like to sprawl out on the sofas gorging ourselves on TV.
(Sanford has the master bedroom and bath, off to the left.)

Living room.

Kitchen.

Sanford proudly displaying the roast chicken and sides he threw together in 80 minutes.

Look at those beautiful place settings.
That's my work right there.

Our street: Ha'erez.

View down Ha'erez.

One of the many little green birds that like to perch on our windowsills and power lines.

The mosque across the street.

Path to the beach.

Entrance to Nof Yam beach.

The beach, looking north.
The national park, Apollonia-- formerly a Phoenician settlement and the site of a major Crusader battle-- is on these cliffs.

The beach, looking south.
The US Ambassador lives in a beautiful estate on these cliffs, about 300m down.

And that's my new home!