(NOTE: While this is being posted later, this part was written on Friday, April 15, by Jeremy.)
We got on the bus right outside our apartment, on Keren Hayesod (I think my dad once dated a girl with the same name). The bus took us right to the central bus station. We went through a quick security line and hopped right onto a bus to Tel Aviv.
This was my first time on an Israeli bus. I had my concerns, just as nearly every American does, about the safety of the bus and the central bus station. After all, a bomb exploded on a telephone pole close to the central bus station just a few weeks ago. But here was my reality: nothing happened. If you have ever taken a city bus to Grand Central or Penn Station in Manhattan and connected to a Port Authority bus, you have experienced
the same thing that we did this morning. The only exception was that when we walked into the central bus station, our bags were scanned and we walked through a metal detector. That's it.
The people here are incredibly friendly. After my previous experiences, and from what I had heard from everyone, I was expecting a people with thick skins and a disdain for foreigners. My experience has been completely the opposite: kind people and a welcoming tone towards non-Israelis. Here's a perfect example: Sarah and I were walking from the bus towards the Tel Aviv train station. Along the way, a man in a red jump suit was passing out newspapers. He handed one to Sarah, but she declined. He then said to her, "Well, nevertheless, Shabbat shalom." That's today's Israel.
We arrived in the train station, got our tickets and grabbed some lunch. We ate at a falafel restaurant and I had my first shawarma (think chicken gyros). Of course, it was delicious. Since we were running ahead of schedule, we were able to get on an earlier train to go north. The ticket system is like BART where you get a ticket with a certain value on it, you put it through one machine when you enter the station, and put the ticket through again when you arrive at your destination. On board, it was a similar train experience to the states: quiet, gorgeous scenery, some people playing games, some people reading the newspaper, some people on their cell phones, and tons of soldiers with uzies. Oh wait, that's just in Israel.
(NOTE: This rest of this is written by Sarah, who will write periodically as a guest blogger.)
After a little more than an hour and a half, we arrived at the train station in Nahariya where we were welcomed by my great uncle Benia (and his driver Guy). Even though it was around 2 in t
he afternoon by the time we arrived, he took us down the street to the restaurant "Penguin" for some lunch. Jeremy and I had eaten just a few hours before in the Tel Aviv train station, so we shared a light salad and tasted the side dishes that came with Benia's chicken liver. After lunch we drove to Kibbutz Lochamei Hagetaot, which for me, feels like going home. We were greeted by my aunt Pnina and did a little unpacking in our wing of their home. Just in the last few years, Benia and Pnina added an addition to their house, which is a shelter in case of rocket attacks. The shelter happens to double as a lovely space for guests, with our own room and bathroom.
We sat in the living room and chatted with Benia and Pnina. The conversation was a little slower since most things had to be repeated in English (since Benia speaks only Hebrew and Jeremy speaks mostly English). After a short time chatting, it was time for the traditional afternoon nap. Since this was Jeremy's first time at the kibbutz and we're not much for napping during daylight hours, we decided to take a little walk around the kibbutz. We walked past the old houses that have been there for 50+ years, the newer additions for the young families, the grapefruit tree groves, the cows, the amphitheater, the Holocaust museum, "Beit Lochamei Hagetaot" (the Ghetto Fighter's House), the children's Holocaust museum, "Yad l'Yeled" (Hand to Children), and my favorite part of the kibbutz, the Tivol factory. Now, for those of you in the states who are unfamiliar with Tivol, its like MorningStar Farms products, but about a bagillion times better. Everything that Tivol makes is vegetarian, and they have over 120 different products, made from everything from soy chicken to soy beef to corn, broccoli, lentils, cauliflower, zucchini, and edamame.
After our quick tour of the kibbutz we were picked up by my mom's cousin Soni and her husband Nitzan, and were taken to their house in Tal El for Shabbat dinner. I always enjoy spending time with the Levinson family, and especially with their three girls, Tomi, Danna, and Addie. I think being at their house was especially nice for Jeremy, since they just returned to Israel from 9 years living in Australia, so their English is perfect. After a whole day of trying to follow conversations in Hebrew, that was a welcome change. After dinner we went back to Benia and Pnina's, and had a great night sleep until far too late Saturday morning (our alarm didn't go off).
Shabbat morning we went to breakfast at the "bayit va'kayit," which is the bed and breakfast on the kibbutz. For me, this is the best breakfast in the whole world.
Homemade bread, a myriad different cheeses, tons of different vegetables prepared in different ways, and my absolute favorite, garlic roasted with honey. I have no idea how they make it, but spread it on some homemade bread with a little homemade goat cheese and its pure heaven.
When Saturday afternoon rolled around, Soni, Nitzan, Tomi, and Addie picked us up from the kibbutz, and we drove the hour or so to Zichron Ya'akov for my third cousin's Bar Mitzvah (his grandfather and my grandmother were first cousins). The Bar Mitzvah was really lovely, and in true Israeli style, very casual. While in the states Bar Mitzvah's tend to be filled with photobooths and crafts and games run by the DJ, here there was a ropes course set up in my cousin's back yard with a zip-line from the roof down to where the tables were. Very casual, delicious food, and a true celebration of Uriah, the Bar Mitzvah boy. For me, it was really nice to see my grandma's cousin Rena, her children Merav (the mother of the Bar Mitzvah boy), Tsafnat, and Ohad, their spouses, and some of their kids.
After the Bar Mitzvah we went home with my cousin Eitan (really my mom's second cousin) to Yodfat. His daughter Shiri was super nice and stayed at Eitan and Gila's house so we could stay at her house for the few days we were there. Shiri's house is beautiful, with a 270 degree view of the mountains surrounding Yodfat. Sunday morning we walked up to Eitan and Gila's house for breakfast, then Eitan took us on a tour of Yodfat and the surrounding area. It was really interesting to walk around with someone who not only has lived there for over 60 years but really built the community with his hands from the ground up. We saw the synagogue, the little market for the community, Eitan's music studio where he has his lessons, the horses, and the part I was really looking forward to seeing - the Monkey Forest. The Monkey Forest is like a small zoo, but the animals are mostly free to walk around wherever they want. We saw some beautiful peacocks, including an albino peacock, pelicans, llamas, sheep, goats, emus, ostriches, and my favorite, the monkeys.
Sunday afternoon rolled around, and my mom's friend Tamar picked us up and took us to her house in Yuvalim (another small neighborhood in the same region as Yodfat). We enjoyed a lovely dinner with Tamar and her family, and Jeremy even made Israeli salad for all of us (He's getting really good!). We spent the evening chatting and sitting on the patio, with delicious food and tea made from fresh herbs from their garden.
Monday was Erev Pesach (the first night of passover), and we spent the day hanging out in Shiri's house and doing absolutely nothing. In the evening, we headed over to Eitan's son Amram's home, where we had the seder. There were about 25 people at the seder, including all four of Eitan and Gila's children and grandchildren, Eitan's brother Iki, and many other family and friends. We broke matzah, read the Pesach story (which the kids also acted out), asked questions, sang answers, and, of course, ate. Now, this was my first time not being at home for Pesach, and I was a little weary about being somewhere else for seder. However, Eitan's seder was strikingly similar to the seder my parents lead at home, just in Hebrew. I guess it's something that goes way back in the Bekin genes. After dinner, Shiri took a moment and said that she wanted to remember my grandma, Esther. I'm not even sure that she knew that the first seder was my grandma's birthday, but she spoke about how much my grandmother meant to her and how much she is missed this year. I know that this sentiment was felt at a lot of seders all across the world this year. Pesach will truly never be the same without her.
The next day we were picked up by Soni and Nitzan and returned to the kibbutz for lunch with the whole Anolik clan. Everyone had been at different places for seder the night before, so it was really nice to spend some time all together. My cousins Moshele and Raya came with three of their four children from the Golan, and Asnat and Ilan came with their two kids from Shlomi, near the Lebanon border. We had the most delicious lunch all together, and chatted and sang pesach songs. After lunch we went with my cousin's to Pnina's sister's house for tea and dessert, then up to Asnat's and Ilan's house in Shlomi for more tea and more dessert. By the time we got back to the kibbutz, we were stuffed and ready to crash.
Our original plan was to go to the Holocaust museums on the kibbutz Wednesday morning before heading back to Jerusalem, but Asnat and Ilan volunteered to take us on a tour of the north, which we happily accepted. Our morning started with a drive up the coast to Rosh Hanikrah, which is the northern-most point on the west coast of Israel. While there, we visited the caverns that have been carved into the hillside by the crashing waves, and even had a tour of the caverns by Moses himself (…or at least someone dressed as Moses). From Rosh Hanikrah we drove east, went through Kabri, Ma'alot Tarshiha, and Sasa to the ancient city of Tsfat.
Tsfat (or Safed, if you're looking at an English map) is best known as the center of Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. We walked through the artist's colony, visited the Ari synagogue and just took in the feeling of being in such a mystical place. Since most of the city was closed for pesach, we went to a nearby Arab village for lunch. The restaurant is one of Asnat and Ilan's favorites in the region, and we enjoyed delicious food while overlooking the town. From there we went back to the train station in Nahariya, back to Tel Aviv via the train, then back to Jerusalem via the bus. Because there are so many people who come to Jerusalem during Pesach and the city buses were extremely crowded, we decided to just walk home from the central bus station.
Even though we had a great trip and got to spend quality time with a lot of family (Jeremy met over 35 different family members on this trip), it was good to get home after 5 days away. We would have told you all about the trip sooner, but as you can see in the previous post, we returned to no internet…
(NOTE: A video of our trip is below & pictures can be found on Sarah's Facebook page.)
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