Rosh Hashana

I have been quite distracted with all of the high holidays to update consistently.  I will try and write about each one...

Rosh Hashana

Most of the house left for the holiday.  Alan and I went to pick up one of my youth group kids who is studying in Hod Hasharon.  We took the bus to Tel Aviv and then the train to Hod Hasharon.  It was really exciting to finally see Shana.  We have spoke so many times about spending time in Israel together.  One of my cousins was kind enough to pick us up from Shana's school and drive us to his place for a coffee.  It was a lot of fun to see them, since it was my first time since I've been in Israel.  It's amazing to think how busy I have been, how long I have been here, and still have family I haven't been able to see yet.

Two of their grandchildren were at their house.  Gali is a very energetic and charismatic 6 year old.  Alan, Shana, and I played a board game with Gali.  I explained that Alan and Shana do not know Hebrew, yet.  Gali had a quick response, that she will speak and I need to translate.  It was a lot of fun.  After the game her older brother Itai (a 4th grader) came to hang out with us as well.  Right away I started asking him about his English classes in school.  Up until this point we had listened to so many lectures about teaching English as a foreign language, and I finally had a live student to work with!  I started writing words for him to read in English and then he would write words for me in Hebrew.  It was a lot of fun.  A lot of the things we had discussed in our seminars were finally real.

A couple of hours later my uncle and aunt from Jerusalem picked us up and we headed off to Tel Aviv.  We went to my aunt's, ex-husband's, sister's house.  Alan, Shana, and I just went with the flow.  It was interesting to be in a new house for the chag.  It was the first time I had a Rosh Hashana seder.  A nice evening with a lot of Hebrew.

The next day we drove down to Be'ersheva to see my cousins.  The cutest baby in the world! :)  It was really nice to see family.  My baby cousin is growing so much! It's amazing to see the differences in only two weeks.  She was playing with my necklace, and actually ripped it off my neck.  A strong little cookie.  After spending the day together we headed back to Jerusalem for the night.  We stopped at a small Arab/Israeli settlement, Neve Shalom, for some tasty coffee and treats.  The beauty of Israel, right away Shana realized she has been to Neve Shalom several times.

The following day my uncle and aunt drove us back home to Rehovot.  Friday night was spent at home together.  We have Friday night dinner together almost every week.  It's a really nice time together.  After dinner May and her sisters came to visit and see Shana.  It was fun to show off our newly acquired living room.

Overall, Rosh Hashana, was a nice relaxing beginning to the 3 weekish period of holidays and vacation here in Israel.