Israel Days

When I booked my trip to Istanbul, I decided that, since I was so close it would be great to go out to Israel and see family since it had been nearly two years since I had been there last. It was only a two hour flight and I found a ticket for less than $200. On New Year's Day, I headed out to the airport servicing the Asian side of Istanbul. I got to see the city at night and was really excited to cross the Bosphorus Bridge except a huge bus drove next to us the entire length of the bridge and completey blocked my view. Really? I found a little corner at the airport and was actually pretty comrotable if it hadn't been for the BLARING music coming from somewhere (in the end, I believe the culprit was McDonalds. #typical). I had my jacket on and my hood up and my hat pulled down over my eyes so I'm sure I seemed a sight but every time I looked at my watch, another hour had passed so I'm assuming I slept a bit. The flight was super easy and after I landed and went through security and passport control,  I met up with Rotem! Hooray for a friendly face. I had breakfast with her and Karen and then headed off to Jerusalem in the car with Amir and Karen for Uzi's memorial service. 

It was super lucky that this was happening when it did because I got to see so many family members at one time. Plus, there was a great lunch reception at Ruti's house afterwards and that was a perfect time to catch up with so many family members at one time. I also got to meet Doron, Carmeli's sweet little boy, and talk with cousins and second cousins I hadn't seen in awhile. I even got a little time to catch up with Ester, which is one of my favorite people in the whole world.

We dropped Omer off at the army base on our way back to the kibbutz and then picked Dalia and Ofek up and headed to Beer Sheva for dinner. That night, the kibbutz was holding a belated New Years Eve party and when we arrived at 10 pm (yeesh! way past my bedtime, especially after a restless night at the airport!), things were awkward. Like, there was a troupe of entertainers and all I remember was they started singing show0tunes, but in a weird way. Like, one guy sang Memory (yes, guy), and then there was a Hebrew version of Cabaret.... it was really strange. And they kept trying to get people to dance. And at that point, people had NOT had enough to drink. Then, when they finally took off with dancing, the type of music they were playing was just bizarre as well. Once they started playing "Barbie Girl", I was OUT like a trout. I went back to Aharon's and collapsed into bed.

I slept until 11 the next day. I don't think I've done that since I was 17 (or when I was in college and coming home after finals week). It was kind of luxurious. Saturday was super relaxing- it was pretty good weather so in the afternoon, I went on a spin around the kibbutz, went up to the cemetary to visit Great Grandpa and Grandma Chaim and Tzipporah, and Savta Ada (and NO, I did not take a selfie across the grave), and wandered past the places of my childhood. I got together with Nitzan and Diego before dinner and then after eating with Amir and Dalia, met up with Shoshan. I love being able to meet up with sweet friends that I've had for so many years. Sunday was also pretty chill- I spent some time with Amir and Dalia, some time with Aharon, went to the aspaca and picked up some yummy Israeli junk food, and packed everything to make sure i was ready to head out the next day.     

Monday was one of the greatest days, Amir was a dear and dropped me off in Shoham where Hadasi lives and I got to spend the whole morning with her and got to meet Miss Maayan. Such a sweet little girl and so cuddly! It was fantastic to spend the morning with them and catch up- it's crazy to think that Hadasi and I have been friends for 24 years. That's mental! I love how we can just pick up exactly where we left off with no trouble at all.

In the early afternoon, I took the bus into Tel Aviv, walked to Netta's office and picked up the key to Ori's apartment. Luckily, Tel Aviv is full of free wi-fi so I was able to be in touch with everyone as I wandered. I dropped my backpack off at Ori's apartment and then headed out to get some lunch, since I hadn't had much to eat that day. After a bit of wandering down Ben Yehuda Street, I found a falafel place (thank you lord!) and went straight down to the beach. I was able to sit on the beach and eat my falaetl and relax for a bit before just wandering. It was a beautiful day- much warmer than any day in Istanbul- and there were a ton of people kite-surfing. When I got down to about the Opera Hotel, I turned inland and wandered my way through the Carmel Shuk, wishing I could just pick up everything I saw and make something yummy. Around that time, Dan texted me and we ended up meeting back at the beach where I was watching the sun go down and when we met up, we walked down to Neve Tzedek, an old British train station now renovated to be a cute little hipster place with boutiques and fancy restaurants. We wandered, picked up some delicious ice cream, caught up- it was just great. After a quick stop at Dan and Netta's apartment, we met up with Ori, Netta, and eventually Amos at a place by Kikar Rabin. We got drinks and apps and caught up and laughed and it was just perfect!

The next morning was much colder and windier than the previous day so after a shower and some breakfast, I walked down to the Ben Gurion house. I had visited Sde Boker before but this was his house when he was in Tel Aviv and it was full of really cold artifacts and reminded me so much of Aharon's house with the pictures, interesting documents and a massive second floor full of shelves. It also reminded me a bit of the Cabinet War Rooms. I headed back to the apartment, picked up my bag and took the bus up to the University. After a bit of aimless wandering since I had no idea where I was, I found the sociology building, dropped my bag off with Rotem, and then hit up the Diaspora Museum (with a quick stop at the cafeteria for schnitzel in a pita). The Diaspora Museum has a lot of potential (and it appears that they are in the process of revamping their exhibitions) but I enjoyed what I saw and passed a good two hours there before meeting back up with Rotem. She took me back to Carmei Yosef and we picked up the munchkins from school. Rotem took Ivri and his friend to a school thing and Amit and I got the afternoon to play, bang around on the piano, learn how to sing Jingle Bells in Hebrew, make fortune tellers, and read books. We all had dinner together, Amos and Karen came by for a little while, I read the little ones two bedtime stories- although actually, I read one and Ivri recited the other one to us, which was unbelievable. I already miss these little munchkins!

Roee took me to the airport the next morning and I sat for a few hours delayed, while the torrential rain came down all around us. I'm so glad that i was able to spend a few days in Israel but it was too short! I already can't wait to go back!