Tel Aviv-Jaffa

Tel Aviv was essentially our home base for the trip - we spent most of our time here. This is a good post for me to talk about why I was in Israel in the first place. Penn and Wharton, through the Penn Abroad department, run multiple classes each semester that have a travel component attached to the class. The only Wharton class that is a part of this is OIDD 380: Supply Chain Management and Operations. I decided to take this class as an elective.

We spent 10 days in Israel touring companies to learn about their supply chain and multinational operations. Along the way, we did a LOT of sightseeing and eating. Wharton also partnered with IDC Herzliya, an Israeli university. We made a lot of friends during the trip with these students and learned a lot about their lives (which are very different from Americans). They are all older, as they serve in the military before university. Here is a picture of us with them on the last day!

Tel Aviv is very similar to American cities. We started our time in Israel through a tour of Jaffa (aka Yafo), the Old City of Tel Aviv.

We also ate at restaurants such as Kanta, Miznon, Night Kitchen, and Romano. Some pictures are below. I am obsessed with creme fraiche (very similar to sour cream)!

A big part of our experience was being in Israel during Shabbat, which happens every Friday and Saturday. We were fortunate enough to attend a Shabbat dinner, where we witnessed the typical rules surrounding Shabbat and took part in the prayers.

Lastly, I want to thank our amazing tour guide, Yanay Cohen. They say the tour guide makes or breaks the trip, and he certainly did the best job making the trip fun and exciting. We all loved learning more about his background and picking up Hebrew words such as shalom, todah, boker tov, and more.

Thank you for an amazing 10 days, Israel!