Quick Recap on Israel

Kate and I in the Old City market of Jerusalem

Every time I've visited Israel in the last couple years, the experience has been different.

I've gone back for Passover with Greg in March; a family wedding in September; and this time meeting with Kate, one of my best friends growing up, to show her my second home and introduce her to my family. Kate and I have known each other 15 years and she hadn't met the majority of my family until this trip.

Check out what she wrote about her experiences in Israel: Tel Aviv and Be'er Tuvia, Israeli art and design, the start of our trip, and of course, Jerusalem.

We ate hummus, falafel and pita in Jerusalem's Old City with my Safta ("grandma" in Hebrew) Rachel; dipped our feet into the Mediterranean; chilled out in the hammock with my aunt Dari and Safta Tzipi; and in general, met family and got lost along the way (my fault entirely). I actually think I saw more red heads on this trip to Israel than ever before - must be Kate's influence!

Family dinner on Friday night

Bahai Temple up close

My cousins Noa and Romi

Sculpture at Israel Museum

My pregnant cousin Dana on the beach in Tel Aviv


Check out the rest of my photos!

The Oasis Tour of Israel

Apparently, I just exhausted the fourth and final natural swimming spot of Israel. Well, we didn't exactly swim this time; we did that in the Red Sea last time. And it wasn't salty enough to make us float; that was the Dead Sea two-and-a-half years ago. It wasn't so cold that we only tiptoed in, that was the Mediterranean in March. I guess you might say that we "anchored" in the bath-warm summer water of the Kinnerat (Sea of Galilee). Its the blue dot under the "A" to the right.

Photo by Eldad Drori

Ayelet, her parents, and I made the cross-country trek in Israel during our recent visit. We drove all the way from the west coast to the east coast and back in a day! Actually, it's not too uncommon since our drive from Tel Aviv was only about 2 and 1/2 hours. And since we packed our swimsuits when leaving chilly Germany, we were going to swim...no matter what.

Photo by Eldad Drori

Photo by Eldad Drori

It was a quick dip in the Kinnerat, just before sunset. As far as I could see, we had the entire lake to ourselves. There was little speculation from Israelis we had talked to about it being too empty, but maybe it was because of the demand to go to a nearby crocodile farm (sorry, inside joke).

Cousin's Wedding in Israel

We were in Israel two weeks ago for my cousin, Dana and her now-husband Roee's wedding. The last Israeli wedding I had been to was my uncle Shai's wedding and I hardly remember much of it because I was young. This time I had known the couple for a long time (they had been dating more than 10 years) and of course, I was old enough to remember it. Plus, it was Greg's first Israeli wedding! And his chance to join us for a family reunion of sorts.

L to R, youngest to oldest: Na'ama, Tali, Rakefet (Duti), Smadar (Dari), Rina and my grandma/safta Tzipi

My family's not super big, but my mom has four sisters and this was the first time they had all been together for years. At last count, I have 16 cousins and two second cousins (kids of my cousin Gal) on that side of the family. It was a lot of fun to see everyone, but it was hard remembering names of the extended family who I probably hadn't seen in years.

Generations: Na'ama, Safta Tzipi, the bride Dana and I chilling in the lounge, pre-party

It was a huge wedding (600 people total) in my grandmother's yard, but Greg and I were surprised that it didn't feel crowded. They had made a perimeter of haystacks, a massive dancefloor, a chill lounge, beautiful chuppah and packed the yard with tables, food buffets, coffee and dessert bar and regular bars.

The bride Dana with cousins Shai-li and Amit

The ceremony itself was fairly quick and non-understandable to most of us because it was a religious service and most Israelis aren't religious. However, the marriage has to be done by a rabbi because of law. After they proclaimed Dana and Roee married, everyone rushed the chuppah, shouting mazel tov and trying to reach the bride and groom with their kisses and hugs.

Dana and Roee laughing under the chuppah

After that, the singing and dancing began. Dana even sang a song to Roee to celebrate. It was very sweet. Around midnight, Roee's family had a henna because they're Moroccan Jews. As far as I could tell, it involved cellophane-wrapped trays of goodies being passed around, lifting the bride and groom on their shoulders, henna paste and Moroccan dress.

Greg and I chilling out in the lounge before the party started

Dana and Roee ended the night cutting their cake and hanging out with the friends who remained. It was a beautiful night and we were thoroughly exhausted by the end of it. You can see all the photos from the night here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2978975&id=13928020&l=6d3adf1071

Israel Pesach Recap

This trip to Israel (Greg's second!) was much more family-focused than before. Although that didn't mean that we remembered all the young cousins' names right away by looking at them... oops, what a bad cousin I am! It gets hard when you have 15 cousins on one side.

Highlights of our trip:

• Great food and desserts forced upon us by family.
• Knowing there wasn't much more I wanted to do on the Eilat shore than read my book, take a quick beach nap and have a lemon popsicle.
• Checking out the ancient copper mines and sandstone arch at Timna.
• Walking outside our door to pick fresh lemons, oranges, pomelas and shesekim (the last two were my favorites).
• Catching up on American movies we'd missed with my aunt and uncle, Dari and Arie.
• Running into two brothers from my high school/college days by coincidence in Jerusalem of all places!
• Meeting the mini-cheerleaders of the Kibbutz Elipaz as they cheered on their dads and family in a soccer game against the German youths we were traveling with. They were about 8 years old - the best part was when Greg grabbed one of their pom poms and showed them what was what!
• Figuring out the map of Tel Aviv and getting to Sheinkin street on our own for a little indie shopping (even though my favorite store had closed :-(.
• Walking around in my flip flops every second I could!
• Chilling out at a bar called Rosa Parks with my cousins Dana and Noa... the bar even spelled Rosa Parks in Hebrew! Check out our photos for a look at the bar napkin, if you don't believe me.
• Being taken to one of the best falafel and hummus places in Jerusalem by my grandma - just in the Damascus gate in the Old City. Then, tasting za'atar straight from the bin!
• Discovering the fabric street of Tel Aviv - I've got to start planning my fabric buys for next time.
• Greg's personal favorite was probably Jesus smoking and sitting in front of a sign saying "I've arrived" in Tel Aviv.
• Lastly, who can forget the Pesach (Passover for the Americans) with 37 people attending?! We got through it in about 30 minutes and with champagne steadily supplied to me by Dana.

Enjoy our photos:

Israel

In case you missed them (or if you didn't know us then ;-), here are pics from our last trip to Israel, December 2007:

Israel 07-08