Israel

I made it to Israel safe and sound!

I flew from Denver to Toronto (which is the fanciest airport I have ever been in)...

I nearly missed my flight to Tel Aviv...I was imbibing one last time on North American soil...

but I made it....

My sister's kids didn't know that I was coming...Benji was less impressed than Sally, and Simon was so excited he took a nap! Simon got huge, and looks nothing like he did the last time I saw him...I picked Sally up from school, and it was quite possibly the best thing I have ever experienced in my life...that was most certainly the most excited 7 year old I have ever seen!

The first day here was very uneventful...but I woke up early the next day and took in a beautiful run along the Mediterranean. I am staying in Jaffa, which is south of Tel Aviv a few miles, and there is a paved path along the sea all the way from Jaffa through Tel Aviv, and it is absolutely beautiful...however, it was 77*F, with about 88% humidity...STICKY!!

Last night I had my first authentic Israeli cuisine...and I gotta say, I think I could get used to this food!The reasutaruant we went to is right next to our condo, and they served what they call "salads" and it is bascially a bunch of different mixes of hummus, fresh veggies, and other deliciousness, served with pita bread...it was a smorgusboard, and then I was told we were supposed to order a "main course"...I was already stuffed, but we ordered some delicious grilled chicken and fish...all of it was delicious!! However, thus far, the Israeli beer has a bit of work to do to impress me, but I am willing to keep trying!

I am still not quite used to the time change, so I was up early this morning, but a view like this makes it totally worth being up at a ridiculous hour:

Thus far, I have found that I have a lot of learning to do about the culture and religions here--I feel completely ignorant. My sister's apartment is in an Arab Christian community, but there is a whole melting pot of cultures and religions here. Several times a day there is a loud speaker with some kind of Arab (or so I've been told) prayer...I have heard it as early as 4:00am, and then about 5 minutes after sundaown, and a few times in between. Also, the work week is Sunday-Thursday, as Friday is the Muslim holy day (I believe) and Saturday is the Jewish holy day.

Tonight my cousin Haley gets here, so I am sure that we will be doing a lot of exploring next week...I will try to update regularly...