A few words about the wedding... The whole reason we are here in Israel is for the wedding of Paul's cousin's daughter, Nili. She is a delightful, bubbly and beautiful young woman who works both as a nurse and as a waitress in restaurant. (Interestingly in Israel, nursing is not a well paid profession and she actually makes way more in her restaurant job.) She did all the wedding planning and the event was really fun. It was held in a big facility specifical...

I think I am finally acclimating to my new time zone. It is early morning and I am awake before anyone else with an hour to sip my coffee and study a little Hebrew, write in my journals and pore through the Lonely Planet. I wish I would have applied myself better before the trip to learn some more Hebrew! Most of the younger generation has learned enough English in school so there is no communication problem with them but Masha, our gracious hostess speaks very h...

Sunday 3/4 we drove up to Jerusalem for the day. It was very cold, rainy and windy so we decided to visit the Israel Museum which houses archeological, artistic and cultural treasures in a sprawling modern complex. After several hours of wandering around inside looking at the art we braved the weather outside to see the huge scale model of Jerusalem during the time of the second temple which was impressive. You really get a sense of the enormity of the temple by...

Another busy day is coming to a close. The aromas of roasting eggplant and garlic are wafting through the apartment which is set up for a big party that will start when Nili, the bride to be and her friends return from the mikvah. (The mikvah is a Jewish ritual bath for women only which is done monthly by orthodox women following menstruation so they can be purified.)In Nili's case, even though she is by no means orthodox, she is required by Israeli law to p...

I am so wound up from my busy day that I am having trouble getting to sleep. Today after being picked up at the airport we went to Paul's cousin's apartment for a short rest then out with the adult children for a trip to the open air market in Tel Aviv. Oded, Haddas Etai and Nilli are all delightful, warm and kind. They speak great English which is a big plus because my Hebrew is non-existent. The market was bustling with pre-Shabbat shoppers all bundled against ...