Rapist-at-large: Update

After over a week, the convicted rapist-- Benny Sela-- is still on the loose. Large posters with a mugshot of Sela are plastered all over the public ad spaces in the Tel Aviv area. Sela was supposedly spotted in Herzliya-- my neighboring city to the south, closer to Tel Aviv-- although Ha'aretz reports, "A week after Sela's escape, the police have no clue as to his whereabouts." Not the most comforting news. My friends and other teachers at the school have been making sure I don't walk home alone in the dark (~5:00pm), which is a strange change from feeling completely safe out alone in the early hours of the morning. It's costing the Israeli police force ~100,000NIS a day to search for Sela, which, to date, equals about a quarter million dollars. Anyways, I hope they find him soon.

In other news, I ran my first 5K today! We had our annual 5K Fun Run at AIS this morning. While I was really nervous about the race beforehand because I'm so out of shape, I picked up a medal and won a sweatsuit in a raffle. A group of us went out for brunch in the Tel Aviv port-- a big boardwalk area on the Sea teeming with restaurants and bars-- after the race, and I've been napping and reading on and off since getting home. It's good to have a lazy Saturday.

I can't believe it's already December. I've been in Israel for just over four months now, which means I am scheduled to leave in only SEVEN MONTHS. Unbelievable. I missed Israel after being in Turkey for less than 24 hours, for which I earned the full combined disgust of Sanford and Hellen (mouths were gaping, brows were furrowed-- it was not pretty); we'll see what actually transpires at the end of June.