I think he ate all of the sunflower seeds in Israel....

SPOTTED!!

Papa Tank arriving at Ben Gurion Airport.

He came. He saw. And he ate a lot of sunflower seeds: Papa Tank's journey in Israel.

On Wednesday May 18, a little after 6pm, my dad successfully passed customs and immigration and stepped back onto Isreali soil after a 38 year absence. After a few tears and some big hugs, we caught a cab and headed into Tel Aviv to check into the hotel. I must say, my dad picked a good hotel right on the water and not too far from where I live. Once in his hotel room, my dad got right down to business unloading the "booty" he brought for me from the states. My eyes were wide with excitement as I stared down at the bags of chex mix, pretzels, turkey jerkey, and mac & cheese. I know what you are thinking. That is a lot of food, but sometimes its necessary and he also brought me a new adapter for my computer. A dad really knows how to spoil his daughter. The first night I took my dad to HaTachana- the old train station of Tel Aviv-Jaffa that has been renovated into a quaint shopping and eating area. We said cheers over our first beers together and enjoyed the fresh breeze coming off of the sea. It was clear that my dad was happy to be back in Israel, but I don't think he understood how much change can happen in 30+ years. 

Day 2- A tour of Tel Aviv....by foot. 

I guess I never realized how far I actually walk on a daily basis, but my dad was quick to point this out. I'm not used to the luxury of taking cabs from point A to point B and I figured I should let dad experience Tel Aviv the way I do. I know for next time that cabs are essential. I must say, that the little man kept up didn't complain too much about the walk. We walked through the Shuk HaCarmel where dad marveled at all of the candy stalls. If I hadn't been there, he probably would have bought the whole store so he could have had his pick at all of the candy. We then walked over to the Dizengoff area and headed north to the "classier" neighborhoods of the city. After making it to the train station (which I have to admit, was a lot farther than I suspected), we took the train farther north to check out Tel Aviv University. We walked around campus a bit and checked out the social work school (a place I may become very familiar with in the near future). Cabbing it back to the hotel, we took a few minutes rest and then headed to the central bus station area so dad could sit in on one of my classes. My students were so excited to meet my dad and told me that I had to bring him to class. You could say he was kinda like my show and tell for the night, fitting since the lesson revolved around the song "We are Family". From class, I took dad the 15 minutes to my apartment and showed him just how I live in Israel. I think the words that came out of his mouth were something along the lines of "It could be worse" or "Yea... this is better than I expected." Not everyone can live in a seaside hotel! Well it had been a little over 24 hours since he entered the country so it was about time for our first little fight. What would a father/daughter relationship be without a little clash here and there and of course ours was centered around food. At least we argue about something meaningful. We still managed to eat a good dinner and realized that there was no more time for fighting. Next stop....Jerusalem!

heading to Jaffa gate

Meeting at 8am the next morning at the central bus station, we, along with a few of my friends, boarded a sheirut headed to Jerusalem. Arriving on Jaffa St., we walked along the newly formed tram line in the direction of the Old City. I don't think my dad could have imagined a tram system running the streets of Jerusalem. Entering the Old City through Jaffa gate, my dad was happy to see the familiar street cart selling the circular rolls which, no offense dad, I think are nasty. Maybe they were better back in the 70s.  Once in the Old City, we followed my friends to the Jewish quarter and into the Hadaya store. Hadaya is a jewelry company that engraves Hebrew onto pieces of jewelry and has become quite popular. Aka, you are nobody unless you have a Hadaya. That's a little extreme, but they are beautiful and thanks to my father I will soon have an engraved ring. It's really cool because you can put anything you want on it. It's not a shock that mine has a quote about a tree on it. After the Hadaya store, we said goodbye to my friends as they headed off to visit a museum while we continued our walk through the Old City. We successfully made it to the Western Wall, despite the constant heckling to buy "harah" (shit) that lines the paths of the Old City. My dad had his moment at the wall and we were back on the paths of the Old City, exiting at Jaffa gate headed to the central market of Jerusalem. I had only one destination in mind: Marzipan, aka. the best bakery ever. You really can't fool around in there. After grabbing two challahs for that nights Shabbat dinner, I B-lined it to the rugelach and awaited a fresh tray to be put down so I could get first pick on the delicious treat. My dad actually managed to get a picture of me filling the plastic container with the drug-like dessert. After spending some serious shekels at the bakery, we hopped on a sheirut and found ourselves back in Tel Aviv where my dad and I split at the central bus station, he in the direction of his beachside hotel as I walked deeper into the neighborhoods of South Tel Aviv. I must give props to my dad for fearlessly getting on a sheirut into the city. For those who need a reminder, a sheirut is a cab-like car that fits about 10 people and follows the routes of the major bus lines. Aka a much cheaper option to travel the city.

I headed home to help my roommates cook for that nights shabbat dinner and at around 7 oclock, I opened the door to find my dad carrying a hefty backpack full of four bottles of wine. That man does not fool around. Shabbat dinner was fantastic, as always, and there was a great spread of food pairing fantastically with the wine. My dad even gave a little speech to start off the night. I think I heard him choke back tears as he commended all of us for our great work in the past months. I must say that my dad kinda stole my spotlight and told some pretty fantastic stories. I see more and more how alike we are.    My dad said goodbye to my lovely roommates and caught a cab back to his hotel. The next day, after spending the morning doing a mass clean of the apartment, I met my dad at his hotel for a lazy Saturday. We walked up the beach to the port and enjoyed a delicious lunch while looking out at the beautiful Mediterranean. There is nothing like spending a day walking along the beach. I love this city. We were too full for dinner, so I said goodbye but on the way home I ran into my friend and her boyfriend who were headed to the beach to watch the sunset. So we walked back down the street and found my dad relaxing on his porch eating his sunflower seeds. He joined us on the boardwalk where we sat enjoying a  refreshing beer and a beautiful sunset. Such a perfect end to the day.

Caesrea

the secret to gardening. 

At 7am Sunday morning, my friend Morgan and I showed up at the hotel ready for the trip of the day: a tour of Caesarea, Haifa, Rosh HaNikra, and Akko. Despite our quite frantic tour the guide, it was a great day. Caesarea is a town that was basically conquered in every different period through history and now stands as a beautiful port city, with details of it's ancient past shining through. We left Caesarea to travel up the coast to Haifa, specifically to the Bahai Gardens. This was my first time to see the gardens and honestly, they are beautiful. Imagine gardens that tier down from a mountain that are completely up-kept. My dad even said that since his last visit to Israel in the 70s, the only thing that has stayed exactly the same were the Bahai Gardens. You need to book a special tour to actually go into the gardens, but the view we saw was still amazing. We even got to watch as two men mowed a slanted patch of the garden, making use of a lawn mower and a rope. Pretty entertaining to watch. After the gardens, we drove to the most eastern part of the north of Israel to the geological formation, Rosh HaNikra. Due to it's placement on the cliff and thousands of years of sea water, Rosh HaNikra is now home to a hidden gem of breathtaking grottos. Despite my dad's "fear" of rides, we piled into the cable car to go down to get a closer look. Walking through the caves it is unbelievable the sound of the water crashing onto the rocks and then you come to a lookout where you see the unbelievable grotto. The grotto at the Playboy mansion has nothing on these. After taking pictures at the Israeli/Lebanese border, we once again boarded the bus and after resting my eyes, I woke up to the city of Akko. I had been to Akko recently on a tour with my program, but this tour was definitely a little different. First of all, we were all so hungry and our tour guide so smartly guided us to a specific restaurant that charged way more than normal, a detail that we didn't find out until after we ate. Just to spite the restaurant owners, a took all of the olives to go in a plastic cup. I can't pass up a chance to stick it to the man. So after we ate, we toured the old city of Akko, with our tour guide insisting that the group stay together because he kept losing people. Hm, I'm pretty sure the first responsibility of a tour guide is to keep the group together, but I could be mistaken. Dad took it upon himself to take the position of caboose to make sure the group was somewhat together. He got a little distracted from his self-appointed position by his constant craving for a cold beer. He couldn't believe that he hadn't consumed at least one beer prior to the point on the tour. He remedied the situation by stopping at the first bar-like establishment where he bought a Goldstar on tap in a take-away cup. Classiness at its finest. All in all the day was a success and the tour really embodied Israeli culture; from ballagan (craziness) of separating into buses, losing some of the tour, a sparse amount of bathroom breaks, and a high priced lunch. I mean, what more could you ask for? Even though we had an early morning wake up, dad and I enjoyed a lovely seafood dinner at a restaurant on the beach.


On Monday, dad met me at the central bus station and I brought him to the secular yeshiva where I study. He was lucky enough to catch the end of Hebrew class and meet a few more of my friends. We then ventured back to Jerusalem to visit the sections of the Old City that we have missed on Friday. We explored the Armenian quarter where dad bought beautiful tiles donned withe Lord's prayer and the Armenian cross. I think his plumber will be very happy to receive those. I was told to get my dad to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher located in the Christian quarter, but I had to do it in a way that avoided all contact with the Arab markets. Let's just say that to my dad's surprise, we arrived at the church without making any wrong turns. As we walked toward the entrance of the church, we found ourselves among a large...very large group of Russian tourists. It's a miracle that my dad and I managed to stay together as we ventured into the church. The interior of the church, donned in shimmering gold and silver was an amazing site to see and was definitely worth the trip back to Jerusalem. Now, I was faced with my second task: finding a tobacco shop. I have been to the Old City a few times now and I know that the best place to buy hookah tobacco is in the Arab quarter and so I took my dad to a shop that literally only sold tobacco. Task two accomplished, but now I had the final task of finding my dad turkish coffee. I'm pretty sure the place I found surpassed all his expectations. In the middle of the Christian quarter, we stumbled upon a coffee shop who's windows were lined with the most inviting trays of desserts that we couldn't resist. As we walked in and after ordering our turkish coffee, the owner escorted us upstairs to the Moroccan-themed drinking room.

Pinkys up!

          

 

That night, as promised, my dad took out a small group of my friends for dinner. I picked a Georgian restaurant that I had heard good things about. How can you hate a restaurant that serves wine in clay-like bottles that you can take home!? But in actuality, the food was delicious and the company was amazing. My dad even wore his white button up shirt in true "Georgian" style. It's pretty clear that my friends are now obsessed with my father. As tradition, my dad informed my friends that when they make it big, they owe him dinner. I think at this point my dad has a pretty long list of people that owe him meals. 

On Tuesday, the last full day of his trip, my dad and I (after our respective morning workouts) visited the art fair on Nachalat Benyamin to by some gifts and other items. After the shopping, I took him to one of my favorite humus places. Seriously, once you eat humus here, you will never be able to eat it in the states. I think it's safe to say that he was pretty impressed by my choice. After lunch we flagged a cab to take us to the north of the city for our visit at the Palmach museum. You know that a museum requiring a reservation has to be pretty good....and it was. The exhibit targets all of your senses and you are transported back to forties to experience the Palmach, an elite fighting force of the Hagana, from its creation to its end at the war of Independence. We were both very impressed by the museum. Back at the hotel we rested for a little (something I had not been allowing my dad to do), ate some sunflower seeds, and decided it was time for some food. We spent out last night sitting outside at a cafe on Sheinken street, watching passersby and talking about the past week, while enjoying a light Israeli meal. The night ended with a little ice cream on the way back to the hotel. Because his flight was at the crack ass of dawn the following day, my dad and I said our goodbyes.

All in all, it was an amazing week that flew by. I had been talking about his visit for so long and I can't believe it already happened. Once my dad discovered that almost every corner store sells sunflower seeds, at an amount of your choosing, I think it was a done deal. Every time I walked to his hotel I could spot him form the street sitting on his porch eating sunflower seeds staring out at the sea. If there had been a carrot juicer up there and an endless supply of carrots I don't think he would have ever left...maybe just to get a fresh cold beer. It was amazing how fast his Hebrew came back and the two of us together could really piece together conversations. (Don't listen to what he says, I know a fair amount of Hebrew). Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the Kibbutz where he used to volunteer because it was just too far and not so easy to get to. Maybe we can fit that into another trip....

I think we look alike...

מא פתאום?ּ!? It's May Already!?!

the "chevreh"

Wow, I actually can't believe that it is the middle of May already. So let me try to catch up on the events since my visit to the Hai Bar. Well, unfortunately, the month started off with two of my good friends leaving Israel to head back to the states (poor decision on their part, I must say). As some of the participants in my program headed off to travel during the Passover break, I stayed in Tel Aviv and "lived it up" with my friends. Over the past 8 1/2 months, there has been a group of 5 of us that have really bonded and so in true Israeli fashion, we have started to refer to ourselves as a chevreh (a group of close friends). I can confidently say that this chevreh had a good last few weeks together in Israel. With beach days, dinners, parties, and of course nights out hitting the Tel Aviv bar scene, the chevreh traveled in style. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to my friends, but thanks to the advances in technology, aka skype and email, we have been able to stay in contact despite incredible annoying time differences.

Jodi and I at the air show

May has also been a month marked by holidays. It took me a long time to learn, but now I know that Israeli holidays go from sundown to sundown. From the night of May 1st to the night of May 2nd, Israel observed Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. On the morning of May 2nd, my friends and I went outside to the busy Rothschild Boulevard to witness the minute long siren the resonates throughout the city. It was unbelievable to see people stop their cars and get out to bow their heads in respect to the memory of the Holocaust. Kinda comparable to the 24 hour play of A Christmas Story, the only television shown on this holiday were those programs related to the Holocaust (not exactly the same message as Christmas). Tel Aviv has become a thriving metropolis, but to see the effect of one minute of silence was really eye opening. It really is unbelievable to live in a city where the majority of people share a common bond. The week following Yom Hashoah was marked by Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day, which led into the festivities of Yom Hazmaout, Independence Day. It may seem quite strange to observe Memorial Day and then completely switch mindsets in a matter of hours to celebrate the independence of the state. I have talked to many people about this, and the common theme I concluded is that people need to mourn those who died in order to fully celebrate the independence of the State of Israel (to be honest, I think it is a Jewish thing). On Sunday, the start to Yom Hashoah, I headed over to Rabin Square (named after Yitzhak Rabin) to observe a memorial service. The memorial service really shed light on the realities of the army and the pain that it can cause to families. The mood was really set with a variety of musical performances focused on the occasion and a screening of videos depicting family testimonies. Although the videos were in Hebrew, I found it impossible not be touched by the stories being displayed. The somber atmosphere was apparent by all the tears and absence of clapping throughout the ceremony, despite the musical performances. On my way to the market on Monday morning, I stopped by the daycare where I volunteer and I experienced the holiday on a different level. As with Yom Hashoah, there is a minute long siren to commemorate those who passed in Israeli battles. It was so interesting to be in daycare watching the 3 year olds listen to the siren and hand their head, but not exactly sure why there were doing so. As soon as the siren stopped it was back to running around the playground and climbing all over me. On Monday night it was clear that Yom Hashoah had come to an end and the real party of Yom Hazmaout had started. Now, since I have been in Israel I have seen my fair share of street parties, but honestly, nothing compared to this. In every neighborhood that you walked into, you found yourself in a middle of a street party being fueled by the beats of at least one DJ. It was actually liked I had walked into a different city. As much as I love a good party, I thought the day time celebrations were a little bit more my speed. Yom Hazmaout is typically celebrated by a bbq....in the middle of the city. All the parks and open spaces in Tel Aviv were filled with families celebrating the 63rd birthday of this state. I started the morning with a trip to the beach to see an air show, put on the air force. I then headed back home to cook for the bbq that would soon take over my house. We might not have the best kitchen supplies, but we sure know how to make some fine bbq. It was great to spend the day with my friends here who have basically become my family (cliche, I know).

 my roommates (minus one_

The weekend in between the holidays marked the second to last group trip of the program- "A Wandering Hike." Basically, a wandering hike means that we get of a bus which happened to be  in the Galilee, give all of our overnight stuff to a logistics team and start walking hoping to find the logistics team and are stuff sometime before nightfall. With a trust guide Reut back in the front, there was no chance we could get lost. After hiking for about 6 hours, we made it to the logistics team to find our tents already set up and hot soup waiting for arrival. This pretty much seems to be the only way to hike. As tradition, we held a kabbalat shabbat and treated ourselves to a great dinner. Walking all day sure makes you hungry. Despite a little bit of rainfall, the tents were actually quite comfortable. Thankfully, my tent was one of the ones with a tarp on the top. The next day we continued our hike following marks of the Israel trail (a trail that goes the whole length of the country which I hope to see more of in the future...).

Katie, Million, David and I

A few months ago, I began tutoring a woman from Eritrea. One of my roommates works with her and helps her with childcare. Tutoring Million has become a highlight of my week. First of all, she works in an Eritrean restaurant and this is where I go to help her. We go over English for about an hour or so and then we eat lunch together. We usually have injera, a sponge like bread, topped with what she calls tahina (not at all like the Israeli tahina). I have perfected eating with only my right hand and using the bread to soak up the tahina. I think Million is getting a little sick of the tahina because it doesn't fill her meat craving, but I just can't get myself to eat red meat. So, a few weeks ago, while we were eating, Million switched the tv to wrestling. Um, hello Lisa in middle school! It must be hilarious for people to walk by and see two women watching wrestling. Surprisingly it's a great way for Million to learn English and for me to regress back to being 13. I did learn that The Rock is still involved in the wresting world. About a month ago, Million and her son David come over to our house for a home cooked meal and in return, Million said she is going to teach us how to cook Eritrean food.

This past Saturday I met up with Cheryl and Herb at their swanky hotel and had a great lunch with them. We then walked along the beach and enjoyed the beautiful Tel Aviv day. They even brought me honey wheat pretzels- they really know how to get to my heart. It was crazy for me to see family in Israel. Speaking of which, the countdown has now reached 2 days until my dad arrives. Israel better watch out...