Same street corner in Afula 30 years later...

Here it is in 1977, on a postcard.

And then again in 2008.

Same painting in the background...

Here's a picture of Efrat and me in her/our home in the summer of 1977. A friend, Aviveet, is on the right.

Then look at the picture of us taken last month. (Sorry, Efrat, I'm pulling up this one of you, first.) Look in the far left background and you will see the same picture on the wall, even though it's in a different house.

Ok, now here's the better shot of us both.

Eyal and Amir's careers

I haven't been very fast on blogging about this, but let me do so now. My 2 Israeli brothers, Eyal and Amir, both have jobs that are affecting our American lives. They are both doing high tech stuff, and both are industruial engineers. Let me try to explain.

Eyal runs a small factory that makes the hardware side of the computer technology for international companies such as Intel (did I get it right, Eyal, or am I making this one up?). He describes the technology that they are commissioned to create as the security systems seen in the movie Oceans Twelve.

Amir is on the software side of the technology. He is commissioned to produce the technology that allows cell phone companies to create your monthly bill matching the special plans they offer consumers (Favorite Five for T-Mobile, etc.)

Both guys are experts in their field and will soon run the country, I'm sure.

So do you understand what they do? I hope! I had to ask lots of questions to understand it myself.

Small world that their work affects our lives.

Just another day in paradise...

Still on vacation! This time in my own backyard. The beach was a party today. Lots of people out tanning, playing, walking, jogging. I did my favorite hour jog again, from Holmes Beach pier to Sandbar restaurant and back. People were playful: one harmless old man walking with his wife pretended I was jogging into his arms, another pretended to slip me the football, everybody smiling and filling up on Vitamin D. Here's some pictures of the day.

Lauren on the ground with a friend, Sarah Geraldson, next to b/f Patrick Healy and far end is Nathan Klingenberg visiting from Calvin College on spring break.

In this picture you see we only brought David's head to the beach.

Sarah diving for the ball. Ray watching. David leaping. Lauren's butt. Patrick on the other side in the white. Nathan w/o the shirt before HIS burn.

Can't believe this view is free.

Wait a minute! Something's wrong with this picture. (ha ha! Steph will figure it out... Real pix of me were esp. ugly today.)

Back to real life

Omg, this is the hard part. I've been in overdrive for more than 2 weeks now and I'm exhausted. Took my college math test last night and think I'll get an A, but not sure how high. Today was my first day I had a planning period, so guess what I did...put my head down and took a nap! The muscles in my body have been tight for so long, my body aches.

I keep thinking tomorrow should be Friday...

Good news from Israel. My exchange sister Efrat and her 17 y/o son Guy are making plans to come visit me (and the U.S.) this July. We've started our own exchange program!

Ima's flower song...

Ima is full of songs, this one about a flower we saw.

Orna's girls at gymnastics (Tal and Yael)

Videos from atop Bet Shean overlooking Jordan Valley, Jordan within sight

Atl least I'm doing laundry while uploading these videos...

Here's two videos taken at Aba and Ima's during Friday Shabbat. The first is Moysh saying the blessing over the wine. The second is his blessing over the bread. (Yes, now I think you were trying to tell me about the manna from heaven, right Moysh?? English is hard for me sometimes!)

I should be packing for the weekend...

Here's some videos I took. Couldn't upload them earlier. These are from the wedding. First one is of Amir and Liat's grand entrance into the wedding. Second is during the wedding. Third is at the very end when Amir crushes the glass under his foot (hang on!)...

Leaving Israeli culture

I'm awake a bit too early this morning, so I'll post a couple of thoughts I've had in mind.

Here's the first. The night before I left Israel, my mind was in competition with my sleeping pill. I went to bed at Orna's house near Tel Aviv (great meal, Orna, and good to see your home and girls at gymnastics). It was 9:30 and we were getting up at 3 to catch the 5:30 am flight. But my brain just wouldn't shut off. It kept hearing Hebrew conversations and I couldn't stop attempting to make sense out of them. I probably wasn't really hearing all Hebrew, of course, but just familiar language patterns and voice intonations. But my brain amazed even me in its attempt to capture the language. I had been in an intense "Hebrew language listening mode" for so long, I just couldn't let go of it. Finally by around 10:30 the drugs won.

I so wish I could have had enough time to become fluent, but I'm still stuck at a very slow pace of conversation. (Thanks for your patience, Elyashar family!) Words were still popping up in my brain up until the end, but all this must go back into the recesses of my mind for now. Perhaps the next visit...

Here's the second thought. Because I was trying to get some sleep on my Tel Aviv-Amsterdam flight, I didn't realize until it was too late that I was leaving Israeli culture and people completely behind. But the last couple of exposures were memorable. Since we were beginning a new day on the plane, some religious Jews wanted to pray. (I didn't see many religious Jews this trip since the snow kept alot of people home in Jerusalem the day I was there.) The guy sitting on the aisle 2 seats away from me had a friend standing next to him helping him wrap his arms and head with the Tephilim for his prayers (if you are unfamiliar, google tephilim). I would have loved a photo, but I thought I would have been rude so I didn't. All the supplies were laid out on the tray table in front of us as they worked to wrap him up. Interesting. Yes, it did occur minutes before landing and the Israeli guy sitting right next to me and I exchanged glances and smiles as the stewardess tried to get the helper friend to sit down for landing. The last Hebrew conversation I would hold came when we deplaned and I said shalom to my neighbor. The last Hebrew conversation I would hear was in an Amsterdam airport restroom when I heard a little girl and her mother talking. And then all the exposure to Hebrew and Israeli culture came to an end. I only realized what was happening after deplaning, so the echo of one last tender little voice was a nice note to end on.

Soon after, I was on another flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, seated next to a sweet, innocent teenage girl returning home from a 2 week missions trip to Tanzania with her Christian high school . This was my first reexposure to an American accent in 10 days. Too familiar. I avoided a conversation with her, because I didn't want to dilute the memory of what I had just left behind.

Now that I'm home again, here's some thoughts:

First off, Israel and Florida have similarities-- the palm trees, the snow birds, the terrazzo or tile floors/no carpeting. Probably others.

Florida has some great humidity, though--your hair doesn't get static in it nor does your skin need lotion.

Life went on without me nicely, while Ray scrambled from one responsibility to the other. I was fortunate to miss 2 throw up cleanups and numerous bedtime routines. Though life is forcing me otherwise, I hesitate to throw myself mindlessly into the endless details of life that Franchesca (Meryl Streep's movie character) and I used to drown in. There seems a neverending list of things to do to keep us on the run. Perhaps I was completely spoiled this past couple weeks, living like a teenager again, so carefree.

I am deeply appreciative that I have a husband willing to send me off like he did. He is a good guy. He even seemed genuinely appreciative of all the souvenirs I brought home...ha! (you can ask him what)

I am extremely fortunate to have the Israeli family that I do, ready with open arms to take me in any time.

David loves his dad alot. I don't think he missed me that much. Jonathan has made lots of new gains on his favorite video game. Natalie works or goes to school constantly and I had to email her the note I was out of town. LAUREN missed me!

This weekend the beat doesn't slow down. Ray and I are headed off tomorrow, Friday, with our student council students to a state convention in Gainsville. We're staying in hotels, so I'm very hopeful to get to bed early and catch up on sleep!

One more posting yet to come with comments on the professions the brothers have chosen and a few last pictures to upload...

Later.

Home sweet home!

I made it home by 6:30 pm with no delayed flights. I even made it over to my 7:30 precalc algebra/trig class, thanks to Ray's willingness to check out the campus while I was in class. Glad I was there. Now that I've been up 27 hours, I better head to bed! School tomorrow morning at 7:30 am!

Thanks for reading my blog, if you are reading this now. I'll try to explain a bit more later. Lot's to catch up on this week.

Sunday around Afula

Here's some pictures from today, Sunday, around Afula. No time to explain.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=cj4qbcu6.649qshx2&x=0&y=w24pq2

Shabbat pictures from Friday eve and Saturday

Today is my last day in Israel. We will go to get the famous sunflower seeds in Afula's shops and head to Eyal to see the factory he runs. Then the plan may be to travel to Orna's house north of Tel Aviv if her husband is not sick. This part we'll wait and see.

My flight leaves tonight, really tomorrow, Monday, at 5 am. So tonight will be a very short sleeping night if at all. I slept 9 hours last night so I'm ready.

This visit has been wonderful. Sad to see it coming to an end, but really it's just THIS trip that is coming to an end. I really love both my Israeli family and this special land. I'll see both again some time, I am sure.

Here's the pictures of Shabbat, beginning Friday evening and all day Saturday.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=cj4qbcu6.4urzf7bq&x=0&y=fmd3sy

Ok, American family. Get ready for me! Don't forget to pick up the house tonight. And since I hear all three boys have been sleeping in my bed, clean sheets may be nice...! Just thinking about you now makes me miss you. Can't wait to see everyone again.

Love you!

Friday's travels to Rosh HaNikra

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=cj4qbcu6.8vt0jtli&x=0&y=zhnoyt

Here's today's travels. No time to write.

Wednesday and Thursday...

Ok, so the blogging part of this is a bit harder for me to do than I thought. So much to say and so little time to say it. I have pictures I'm waiting to upload--it can take a couple of hours sometimes! But they will show you a bit more of Efrat's life in Kibbutz Gevaram. I don't know if the Israeli army blimp picture will be clear or not, but it's in the sky over the Gaza border, just a few miles from their house. Very interesting stories of rockets falling on her children's school, so they switched to one a bit further away. There's lots of bomb shelter shots if you can make them out. The day we were in Jerusalem, 4 missles were shot from Gaza to nowhere. Happens every day. Since Kibbutz Gevaram is in the middle of no cosmopolitan area and the missles are not very accurate, they are not really a target, but just in missle range. Now, Mom, I'm no longer staying there, so you don't have to worry.

Yesterday, we headed to the wedding near Nataniya. The place was one of the most beautiful I've ever been. The wedding itself was simply lovely. The pictures will tell alot of the story. Liat is tall and gorgeous, isn't she? And Amir is a great match to her. I would love to describe every picture but the Kodak website is just for pix. (Someone else needs to show me how to quickly insert pix and text into a website. This one is too slow and limits the # of pix.) I have video of some of the wedding, such as when he crushed the glass. The Ctoova (the wedding contract) is an outstanding shot, if I must say so myself. I had a front row view.

Btw, an interesting cultural note: The wedding invitations said 7 pm, but guests know it's safe to come up to an hour later or so. The chuppa/ceremony part didn't start until 8:15.

After the wedding, around midnight, I switched my luggage to Aba and Ima's car and headed to Afula with them. I said goodbye for now to Efrat and her family (until Friday evening for Shabbat). She deserves a reward for surviving my visit and travels. She was my "wheels" in so many ways. A true friend.

So now I am staying with Aba and Ima in the Jezreel Valley. I remember all the locations of things and today we went out traveling. First we had to visit the prior 2 homes I stayed in with them. Then off to where Ima was a kindergarten teacher when I first met her (in the same place where Aba worked as head of a part of the Kipat Cholim--health insurance I think we'd say). Then we revisited the center of Afula and I did indeed get a picture that matches my postcard. Email me if you figure it out and I'll send you a free ticket to Israel.

From there we headed in the car up to the Kinneret area. The mountains along the way were so green from the rains, they looked like they were glowing. You'll see the photos. And we tried to take a picture of me in the grass with the red flowers. Ray has an enlarged picture of me (in your room at school now, right Ray) where I was sitting in flowers like these years ago, so I wanted to recreate it for him. But the sun was blinding both Ima and Aba as they tried to take my picture, so I had alot of fun laughing with them about their photography skills. Thus, I left every photo attempt to be uploaded. (For the record, some of the other pictures reflect their fine photography skills...)

After getting a great overview of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), we circled around the south, then east side of the sea. Some pictures are from there, but you'll have to guess which ones, sorry! When we were driving below the Golan Heights, a family of 3 deer were cavorting on the mountainside. Really cute, but we passed by too fast to photo.

Then to Vered HaGalil, where Efrat worked for awhile and I came to visit a few times. It's a "western" horse ranch. Fun to see. Back when I was a student, I loved their hamburgers there.

I must digress at this point and say that everything an American would want commercially is now findable in Israel. I was amazed to see all sorts of familiar brands and stores and malls and technology. An American could set up a pretty similar environment for themselves here. But when I mentioned this to Efrat, she said an American would still have culture shock. That would come when an American got in their auto and had another car almost shove them over when they wanted to change lanes. And it's crazy how a few people honk the horn when a yellow light goes on before the green to warn drivers to prepare to go.

But hey, someone point out something Americans do that's crazy, too, ok?

Back to the traveling. We continued north in the Galilee area until we came to Hula Basin. There's a preserve there with more birds than any place on earth, I believe. Over 500,000,000 (yes, zeros are correct) birds pass through Israel every year, coming from Europe and some headed to Africa. Snowbirds, just like in Florida! Truly fascinating. The birds in the photos are mostly cranes.

It's late (1 am and I'm going to be tired tomorrow!) but I must say this trip's theme has been things of beauty: the wedding, the bride, the grass, the flowers, the snow, the birds, and the friends (who are truly family). And this trip is unique because there are many things I could have only seen in the winter: the grass, the flowers, the birds, and the snow (which some of you know I haven't seen in over 14 years and David our youngest has never seen).

I am very blessed. And tired.

I see some of the upload failed, so I'll try again tomorrow evening before the gang arrives here at Aba and Ima's for Shabbat dinner. There will be 18 of us! My how we have grown from the days there were just 6 of us...!

Off we'll go to see the very northern extent of Israel tomorrow, Rosh ha Nikra?? (Ray knows). It's a beautiful spot north of Acco, next to the Mediterranean and Lebanon.

Bye!

P.S. I finally got all the pix to upload, but the ones at the end may be out of sequence. Here's the link for Wednesday and Thursday's pix: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=cj4qbcu6.cicvrrrq&x=0&y=-7qfi5u

Ok, here's the link to my pictures

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=cj4qbcu6.9kohm4xq&x=0&y=-pljft2

Click on this and it should take you to a website with all my pictures. The first set are Ray and I's leadership class here in the States, but after that the rest are from Israel....

What I forgot to photograph...

Dang it! I forgot to photograph Ben Yehuda Street in the center of the New City (actually perhaps my camera battery wouldn't let me). Efrat and I had a nice lunch there and did some shopping. Then a bit more car touring, then home to the kibbutz south of Tel Aviv. Evening was spent talking with the boys, looking at more photos of the family on the computer. Tomorrow afternoon we'll go see Nir's school, when we pick them up early to head to the wedding north of Tel Aviv. We must be there by 6:30 and the wedding starts at 7. What a big day for Amir and Liat. So glad to share it with them.

Inside the Old City...

As a Florida girl, I had no appropriate shoes for the snow (feet were soaked). So I had to buy boots in the Old City. My haggling over the price so impressed my Israeli sister Efrat, that she laughed with amazement as she retold the story to Moysh, her husband when we got home tonight. The shouk seller started at 180 shekels, and after our haggling, I paid 65 (about $17). Now they are a "gift" for Noam, since I have no use for them in FL.

The meat in the City always amuses me. My camera battery was dying or else I'd also have a pix of some animal's intestine for sale. Notice the brown furry tail on the meat on the left.

At the Kotel (Western Wall)

It is customary to put prayer notes in the Wall.