When we planned our trip we didn't realize that it coincided with the holiday of Purim. This is a festive holiday that celebrates the deliverance of the jews from their enemies in the book of Esther. The most important custom during this holiday is reading the Purim story from the Scroll of Esther, ( AKA the Megillah) in the synagogue. Whenever Haman (the villain) is mentioned people boo, hiss and shake noisemakers to show their dislike of him. Unlike more serious holidays people often attend the Megillah reading in costume to act out Esther's role in the story in which she disguised herself to trick the king thereby saving her people. Originally people dressed as characters from the biblical story but now all manner of costumes can be seen and many towns have Purim festivals and parades. The largest of these parades is in Holon where we have been staying and the route went along the street paralleling our block. You all know how much I love costumes so it was fun to see a street full of princesses, superheros, smurfs and wizards running around with balloons and cotton candy waving in their hands. We didn't go to hear the Megillah reading but did attend the parade which was fun at first but started to drag after the second hour of little dancing kids. In addition to the endless sea of dance squads there were also some interesting floats, the most remarkable of which was the naked Peter Pan who looked like he was humping an ice cream cone. No one I asked had any idea why this odd character appeared in the parade. The entire family came by for the day (both cousins and their husbands, their children and spouses and the two grandchildren) We drove out to the beach in Tel Aviv in the late afternoon and had a surprisingly healthy lunch at an outdoor beachside snack restaurant where we watched the kite-surfers being lofted over the Mediterranean by the brisk winds. I was struck by the closeness and connection of the family which is something I haven't experienced for myself and that I find myself both longing for and resisting. It is unusual for me to be around people all the time. I relish my solitude and it has been a stretch to be surrounded by Paul's family from morning to night.