I finished my last day of work at 4 on Thursday August 5th. That night I went to the Jerusalem Wine Festival. All I can say is members of this community need events like this more often. I think the tipsiness did a lot of us a lot of good. I got home after midnight, and felt so nice and lightheaded as I stayed up for my 3am sheirut ride to the airport. Thanks to a sobered up Jay and friend for helping me load my bags when the sheirut came (they just happened to be walking down the street... at 3am). After a McDonalds chicken sandwich breakfast (it was as gross as it sounds) my flight took off at 6am. I got to Boston around 4pm and waiting around until Chava's flight from DC arrived. We got home in time to get ready for shabbat, and then Sunday night I was packing again- this time for the long awaited sibling bonding trip to Maine.
On Sunday morning I was up bright and early to catch an 8:50am train to Portland, ME. Who said anything about relaxing on Sunday in America? When we got to Portland we watched the Portland Seadogs get their tails smacked around by the Richmond Flying Squirrels. It wasn't pretty. The little kid next to us was quite vocal about his frustration. It was kinda adorable. Chava and I wearing matching Portland Seadogs hats was also probably kinda adorable.
After the game we went down to Casco Bay and took a sunset ride on a schooner. It was really neat and we got to help hoist the sail!
The next day we were up bright and early to drive the three or so hours to Bar Harbor, ME. I survived my first real experience with highway driving. Go me. Chava and I spent two days hiking in Acadia National Park. The mountains were high and the views were stunning. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
The best part is, Chava and I had a great time and didn't kill each other. Go sister bonding! On Wednesday morning we drove south along the coastal route which had even more stunning views. We drove down Main Street in at least five different small towns on the way and stopped (on Main Street) in Belfast for a late breakfast. We got back to Portland in time to eat lunch at the Green Elephant, a really yummy vegan place, and then I caught a train back to Boston.
On Thursday my mom took the day off so we could spend some quality time together. We had lunch at Milk Street Cafe and went on the swan boats together. What a perfect day in beautiful Boston.
On Friday I went to Target. Nuff said. Saturday night I had the very special treat of going to JP Licks with Mimmer and Isaac who was in from Brooklyn. While many members of our old gang were missing, this might have been the highlight of my trip. There is nothing like hanging out with childhood friends. It was just like old times.
On Sunday I was up bright and early again- this time even earlier than the Sunday before. I caught an 8am bus to NYC, met up with Janice in the bus station for a luggage hand-off, then hopped on a bus to Teaneck to see my wonderful and adorable and brilliant little cousins Aharon (11), Adina (9), Eitan (7), Tani (10), Shimmy (7 1/2), Lila (5) and Akiva (3) (those kids are from two families, FYI). Since they all adore me, it was a really fun twenty four hours with them. It's fun when Aharon comes up with ploys to keep me in the country. He's a smart kid.
On Monday morning I played with Lila and Akiva a bit more, had lunch with my friend Heather, and then took the train to Metuchen to see my aunt and uncle and one of my cousins and his new wife. I hadn't seen them since before I made aliyah. I haven't seen my other two first cousins in I don't even know how long. Maybe I can fit them into my next trip. Three hours later I took the train back in the direction I came from to NYC. Penn Station at rush hour was horribly frightening, but I somehow made it onto the subway going in the right direction to Queens for my friend Dan's wedding. And wow, what a wedding. Bucharians are CRAZY and certainly know how to party. I take back anything I said about chuppahs already being boring. Can you say chuppah-dance party extravaganza? It was so great seeing friends from Maryland and getting to celebrate Dan and Dina's special day. And thank you Dan for the meaningful brachah. I'm so glad I could work this momentous Jewbox simcha into my busy travel schedule.
(picture credits: Shira Stern)
I spent Monday night in Kew Garden Hills. Thank you Rebecca #3 for the wonderful hospitality. In the morning I road a bus full of Jews to the subway, then took a subway full of Jews into the city to hang out with the one and only Ezra Butler. We were soon joined by my friend Brian. I'm glad Ezra's blindness went away before our time together was through. Maybe I'm a healer? Who knows? Thank you Brian for carrying my bag around NYC. Ezra- you are a wimp, but I love you anyway, and will miss you terribly. Brian made me miss my bus to Philadelphia but made up for it by buying me ice cream. Fair enough. I wound up taking the NJ Transit for the third time in 36 hours to get to Philadelphia.
I overjoyed to see my Grandma Elka in Philadelphia. This was nothing short of a miracle. Just a couple months ago she dehydrated, became completely incoherent, and I was told she wouldn't make it until the end of the week. The weeks after that were extremely difficult. We held our breaths as she improved and hoped she would make it to meet her greatgranddaughter who arrived from Israel a few weeks later. ברוך ה' יום יום She met her great granddaughter and it was love at first site. Hodaya's pictures are all over my grandmother's room and she is constantly the topic of conversation. I am convinced that the picture of her hanging above Grandma Elka's bed is what gets her through the day. While my grandma is in poor health, she has finally accepted almost around the clock care and in my opinion is in better shape than ever. I am grateful to the nurses and health aides who put up with her and take care of her and was blessed with another visit full of scandalous family tales. I look forward to the next one. I also had a surprise run-in with my friend Tzippy who called me from down the street. I only got to see her for ten minutes but hey, that's about as much as anyone else got of my time.
I arrived back in Boston on Thursday evening. On Friday I had another highlight of my trip- the much anticipated JP Licks- Taam China doubleheader with Gila and Rafi. Lisa joined us for part of it (I mean, why shouldn't I hang out in Boston with friends who also live in Israel?). The ice cream and Chinese food was all delicious and my stomach amazingly didn't get terribly angry at me.
On Sunday I was stuck at home because of the rain. On Monday, despite the rain, I went to Brookline to play with more little cousins. Aharon, Adina, and Eitan were visiting their grandparents and were joined by Devorah and Yonatan. They are all so cute and so funny!
Monday afternoon meant the end of my trip. I got in a cab and we went through the cold and rain to the airport. I had a seven hour layover in Paris so Spotty and I did some exploring. We're going to cover Paris one layover at a time, or maybe one time I will actually go on a real trip there. This time we went to the Jardin de Luxembourg and then crossed the Seine to see the Notre Dame Cathedral. Fun stuff.
I got back to Israel Tuesday night. My bags got back Wednesday night. I survived my first shabbat back in Katamon and now my first day back at work. Real life resumes. Maybe I'll even start working on my thesis. I can't believe I have lived in Israel for three years and that this was my sixth trip back to the US since I made aliyah. Every trip back is a different kind of experience, as is every time I return home to Israel. There's a reason I can't stay still. I still have a life in the US to keep up- friends and family to see and new places to explore. I am happy to see any friend who will make time for me and grateful to the ones who do. I'm glad Chava and I finally got to take a trip together even if it wasn't to Iceland or a roadtrip through the Pacific Northwest (maybe next time). It was great riding the swan boats with my mom even though I've been on them a zillion times before. Now that I'm back I'm extremely anxious about getting schoolwork done in a reasonable amount of time but I"m also exciting about starting shana bet of gan with the little ones when they return on Wednesday.
Life in Israel Year 4: here we go. Who knows what adventures await me.
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