Overdue

It has been about 10 days since I last posted, and I don't think I've been that bad all year! At least I warned you...and I have a good excuse ready.

But I'm behind on pretty much everything, especially sleep, so this will be short and sweet, with hopefully more details coming, and certainly pictures coming when I have time to post them, and when I can borrow the parents' cameras to upload their pictures.

They arrived last Thursday, and I was at Ben Gurion to greet them and laugh at my mom (but only a little) for crying: she finally made it to Israel AND got to see me after a lot of months away! They were troopers and woke up early for my crack-of-dawn Friday morning shuk run. Shuk was loved by all. Friday evening services at Shira Chadasha: they loved them. It is a more religious service, but there is so much music, it is impossible not to like it. It's beautiful. Great dinner at Lauren/Aaron's. My parents like my friends. Hooray!

Sunday morning, picked up the rental car and headed north. Sunday we visited Old Yaffo outside of Tel Aviv, what is now an artists' colony, but was previously a big city before Tel Aviv was founded as an escape from Yaffo. Then we went to Caesaria, ruins of a very Roman-Jewish town, and then drove up to Haifa for the night. Monday morning we visited the Bahai Gardens, an amazing terraced garden, although the tour was in Hebrew. It was beautiful nonetheless, although I think I prefer not-quite-so-perfect plants. Then we drove to Acco, an ancient city but also a thriving Arab town, and looked around for a few minutes, and moved on. The ruins were less impressive after Caesaria and we were ready for the rest of the day's itinerary. We found our way to Rosh Pina, a little town outside of Tsfat. In one of the guidebooks, Mom found the description of a great-sounding restaurant there. We found it eventually, and it was worth it! With a name like "Chocolatte," how bad can it be?! To be posted: before and after pictures of dessert. Then we drove over to Tsfat and walked around looking at some old, beautiful synagogues and some of the artists. It was late in the afternoon already though, so lots of things were closed. It went onto the schedule for the next day. Dinner was at a delicious meat restaurant in Tiberias that HUC had taken us to. Yum. Tuesday we headed back to Tsfat to walk around some more, and I got a beautiful microcalligraphy picture. It is an image of Shabbat, but the whole design is filled in with teeny tiny writing of the Shabbat prayers and songs. It's hard to describe, but it's amazing. You may have to come visit my Cincinnati apartment to see it hanging next year! Then we went back to Rosh Pina, because some of the galleries there had been closed the day before, and we wanted to see them. Lunch at the same restaurant! Then we drove through the Golan some, but it was rainy, so we didn't bother going to a lookout point; we wouldn't have seen much. After adventures in directions and Hebrew-speaking, we found our way to Kibbutz Naot Mordechai, which is where they make (and have a factory store for) Naots. Some pairs of shoes later, we got back into the car and made our way back to Jerusalem, driving all the way around the Kinneret/Sea of Galilee (two names, same lake), and getting back for a late (late!)

Mom and Dad went down to the Dead Sea on Wednesday and Thursday and had an amazing time at Ein Gedi park, Masada, and the Dead Sea. I went to school. I also got some really pretty flowers on Wednesday:)

We made Shabbat dinner last night and had a few friends over. Another one of those nights where we all of a sudden realized it was midnight...and we were going to services in the morning. Services today at HUC, where we met up with the group from Beth El in Great Neck, NY, where my mom grew up. Had lunch with Rabbi Davidson (who married my parents) and their younger rabbi, Darcy Crystal, and her husband and son. She and her husband are Princeton '97, and so of course knew Becky and we had a great time with them. And they have a really cute baby. Had an afternoon wine-and-cheese party at the apartment of a couple of rabbis who are on sabbatical in Jerusalem right now and want to get to know our class. It was really nice, and felt good that they're really trying to spend time with us. Then lots of homework and catch-up work...

Now bed. Pictures...soonish.