a stage and sound equipment were being set up by a full crew outside, and a slew of policemen and women were out setting up barriers for that night’s celebration of what’s called Lilah Lavan, or White Night. After being named the “White City” by UNSCEO in July of 2003, the city of Tel Aviv hosts an annual all night bonanza including live music, food, art and fashion exhibits, and more. All throughout the day the sound systems were being tested and retested. It was quite noisy, but very cool to watch right outside the window.

At about 19:30 the circle transformed into “the place to be”, with great music, discount alcohol, and a warm summer breeze. CityTree threw its doors open and welcomed in visitors of all shapes and sizes. After doing mostly office work all day, my Hebrew was a little rusty, but I somehow managed to explain to the confused visitors about the tree that they had just climbed into. Tami returned at about 21:30 and immediately became the ultimate hostess; Banana shakes flew out of the blender, and everyone got a chance to taste an arak-infused-date-concoction, and those date-beet-carrot-orange delicious balls that we had made last week. Organic wheat beer was also a big hit (I highly recommend it). The house was packed!

Within what felt like two minutes, it was 23:00. When's the last bus to Ra’anana again? Hmm. I said quick goodbyes to a very busy Tami and an intrigued crowed and power-walked my way through the rocking concert outside. I made it to the bus, a tad out of breath from my impromptu sprint down the street, and promptly fell asleep for the duration of the ride back.