Israel - Part 1 of 2

We arrived safely in Israel, and landed in a rain storm. Our grandmother (Omi), Aunt Ariana, and cousin Noa came to pick us up with beautiful pink roses. It was so wonderful to be greeted by some friendly faces after the cold Slavic countries. We then drove to the territories of Israel (above the green line) to our grandparent's house. After relaxing for a couple of days and catching up with our grandparents, we headed over to our uncle Asher's house for Shabbat. This starts on Friday at sundown, and ends on Saturday at sundown. There are many rules that must be followed during this time. You can't turn on/off lights, rip paper, watch tv or drive. Basically, any carrying, burning, extinguishing, finishing, writing, erasing or any other form of work. Since our Uncle and his family are orthodox Jews, the dinner is very traditional. You start out by saying some prayers, drinking the Kiddish wine, (or grape juice if you prefer) and eating a slice of challah bread sprinkled in salt. Then the first and second course comes out, followed by the dessert. Israeli's eat very well, which is one of the reasons we love coming, and which has led our "European diets" to go out the window.

After dinner we take a stroll around the neighborhood, as many people do in this area. The weather is very pleasant now, and is quite comfortable to walk around at night. We find it funny when they talk about it being cold at 15 degrees in the winter! Gorgeous compared to the snow we left in Krakow!! Uncle David and Aunt Liat came over post Shabbat to visit, bringing along their two adorable blond, curly haired children. It was great to see them both again and to meet their children (Nina had met Netta once before).

Our first excursion to the mall was a pleasant one. A routine check of our car by armed security is standard upon entering the parking lot. Our bags are then checked before walking into the mall. All of this is normal for all malls you go to in Israel as well as museums, grocery stores, etc. The mall is half closed, half open, as the rain here is so scarce. We pick up a couple of silver chains for our new amber pendants from Poland/Czech Republic. The prices are quite reasonable here, as our dollar is fairly strong. We go to the food court where you can find falafel, schwarma and even sushi! Stray cats are abundant here, so there are many of them meandering around looking for food. At home cats are in general loved and are seen as good pets, but here because there are so many strays, many people think of them as dirty and annoying. This to us was very upsetting.

On Tuesday, Elana, Omi and I left early for the Dead Sea (a 2 1/2 hour drive from where they live). We stopped for gas along the way, and apparently the gas attendant (an Arab teenager) thought short skirt with long legs were pretty exciting, and tried to get a couple peeks in. We assume this is because the Arab women keep very covered up, including their heads. To us it was very strange. The drive to the Dead Sea was very pleasant. It is the lowest place on earth and at the beach we reached minus 450 meters below sea level. Super cool!! We passed Arab stores with painted pots for sale, and tall camels out front almost like guards of the stores. We also saw hundreds of palm trees being harvested for fruit. It is great being in the desert at this time, since it is nice and warm but not too hot.

We got to the spa and headed straight for the mud pits. Here we dug in and lathered the Dead Sea mud all over our bodies. We let it dry until it was all gray and crinkly, then washed it off in the sulfur water. We then took the little tram to the shore. Unfortunately it was a very windy day, so we could not exactly float in the water, as the waves were crashing in (it is very important not to get any of the water in your eyes, as it will be burning for hours afterwards). Elana and I dipped in regardless, and covered ourselves with the salty water. Your skin feels incredible; so smooth and soft. After enjoying the beach for a little while, we went back to the spa and relaxed in one of the sulfur baths with the naked women. Not sure what people's deal is with showing off their nakedness since the sign CLEARLY READS: bathing suits must be worn, but that's life.