Day One: Yom Alef
Though the last time I was in Israel was three years ago, everything is so familiar, it hardly seems like a different country. The heat will take some getting used to though. I’m trying hard to work on my Hebrew, a personal goal of mine, and I signed up for “ulpan” – an intensive Hebrew course, in two weeks. They sent me some practice tapes and I started listening to them on the plane. “Repeat these affirmations. Hebrew is easy and fun. I understand and speak Hebrew fluently. I progress rapidly in Hebrew”. Ok, I guess I can start with that. Even though I’m jet lagged, I’ve been trying extra hard to understand the rapid and loud conversations constantly going on in the background.
For now, we are staying at Don’s aunt Tami’s house. We have already been overfed with amazing dishes of cous cous, meatballs, home made pickles, schnitzel, and Israeli salad. Every trip to Israel I’ve been on so far has been a marathon of eating, where every family member competes to feed me the most. Last time, my grandmother even showed up at the airport with five bags of groceries for us, just in case we got hungry on the drive to the hotel.
After lunch, I fell asleep on the futon while Shalom, Don’s uncle, did wedding planning on the phone. I tried to listen – “sloshah anashim be shulchan sloshim veh chamesh…” It was like an advanced version of counting sheep and I fell asleep in minutes.
Day Two: Yom Bet
I woke up at 4am because of jet lag, and the neighborhood rooster cawing. I helped myself to a breakfast of croissant with nutella, and did some sun salutations of a makeshift yoga mat in the spare room. Don woke up, and we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood before the heat of the day set in. Tel Mond is essentially a suburb of Tel Aviv, located in Gush Dan. The houses here are big have nice patios. I can sense Don is very nostalgic for life here. He lingered at the soccer field, imagining his pleasant childhood in Israel.
Once everyone else woke up, we had another round of breakfast, and decided to go to the beach. We drove into Netanya to do some errands first, and I was reminded of the intense security measures that are part of daily life here. We stopped into Cellcom to buy SIM cards for our phones, and an armed guard checked bags at the door. I casually walked past him, oblivious to the protocol, and Don had to remind me that that’s a no-no. Thankfully, he didn’t chase after me because I wasn’t too suspicious looking. I just need to be more aware next time. We got some free purple slurpee drinks from Cellcom, and then headed out to the beach. It was fairly empty, and the weather was perfect. After such a harsh winter in Chicago, this was the first time my pale skin was exposed to sun. I barely went in the water though for fear of jellyfish. Last time I was in Israel, I was stung by one on my stomach, and I did not wish to repeat that experience. A dead one washed up on the beach, looking like a plastic bag, just reaffirmed my fears.
Several hours later, I returned home with a bright red circular sunburn on my chest, from the one spot I forgot to apply sun screen. After a five hour “nap”, the family all gathered at Dror’s house for Shabbat dinner. All of Don’s little cousins frolicked in the yard and threw pillows at each other. They did not remember me from my last visit, three years ago, and Noam even asked Don, “Where did you get this girl from?” I guess he was confused why I spoke so little Hebrew, but tickles and pillow fights seem to be pretty universal.
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