Where the Vodka is Perfect

I'm eating crackers and baba ghanoush in bed. One of my dorm/building-mates is going to get his hookah. Another one just asked if we were hungry (soon she'll learn she need not ask me, for I am always hungry) and said she's going to bring us all a delicious treat. A little earlier in the night, a friend from Russia poured us traditional three-layer vodka shots from St. Petersburg. Seriously, I love this life.

(Surprise! The delicious treat was Israeli ice cream cake!)

So things continue to go swimmingly here on my Mediterranean adventure. Thursday night (Israel's big night out, because Friday evening is Shabbat and Israelis work on Sundays) we went to an amazing nightclub overlooking the sea filled with many attractive people. Some friends of friends of friends got a table, and I felt cooler than I've felt in a long time. The clubs here are Meatpacking district meets South Beach (that's the trendy beach for rich people in Miami, no?) meets something else hip and Middle Eastern. I met a gorgeous blond-haired, blue-eyed German tourist at the club and we danced all night--until I decided that eating a shwarma was much more important than getting his number.

Everyone here is just so beautiful. And the drinks are priced accordingly. If I can't flirt my way to free drinks, I'm on the fast train to sobriety. A shot of vodka at one of these clubs costs more than my groceries for the week. But alas, to every problem there is a solution. Pregame! We drink Perfect Vodka. It tastes a little like nail polish remover, but at 30 shekels a bottle, I don't really have a choice. That's less than $10 for a liter of vodka. Perfect.

We party like rock stars and we party like poor college students. I'm trying to figure out the balance. It's a similar balance figuring out how to eat (out vs. in). And trying to date (out vs. in). Like rock stars, we're in bars and clubs full of incredibly good-looking Israelis. Like college kids, we fall victim to hall-cest. It's a slippery slope, but I'm trying to find that Perfect balance. You know, like the vodka?