Hungry? I was.

I had a really special visit with my family in Erie. Mom and I spent time with her sister and my cousins at their summer cottage on Lake Erie, watched the sunset after grilling burgers and reminisced about the long long ago. I spent mornings (and afternoons) chatting with my father over coffee about life and love and finances and politics. I visited with a few childhood friends and caught up on the changes that life has brought us- boyfriends, babies, and a penchant for alliteration (apparently).

It was truly refreshing. And fattening. Honestly, I think I've gained like 10 lbs since landing on US soil. If you'll remember, this doesn't come as huge surprise- food is my favorite part of being American (well, its my favorite part of living, I guess). My entire trip has been oriented around how to procure my favorite meals. Erie was the most artery-clogging, soul-rejuvenating menu of all. Steak and fresh sweet corn, deviled eggs, hamburger stroganoff, John's Pizza, eggs goldenrod, standing rib roast and mashed potatoes (Christmas on Labor Day!), ribs (the day before Labor Day), donuts, burgers...ugh, theres more but instead of telling you I'll just show you. 

Dad puts on his game face for Christmas dinner 

Aebleskiver (swedish pancakes, a Christmas morning tradition)

Eggs goldenrod (aka hard boiled egg heaven)

Jill's Maine-themed experimental brunch- popovers, jam, and millions of other treats

Yum. To all of it.

 It's a good thing that I'll begin sweating this all off as soon as I step off the plane and smack into the wall of Tel Aviv humidity that awaits me next week.

Home is wherever I'm with you.

A few days ago I rented a car (Budget rental = balagan)

 and made the nine-hour drive to my parents' house in Pennsylvania.

It was nothing but me, blue skies, and the open road...

...oh, and the radio playing Taylor Swift's new song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" 

three times an hour- you do the math.

Being home with my parents is like coming up for air. I'm used to being away from home, but there's something imperceptibly harder about being on a different continent from them. I can't fully express the feeling of peace I get from being with them. Lunches with Mom, mornings with Dad, steaks on the grill...

life is good.

Dad asked me the other day what I missed most about America. 

"Besides you? Target."

Truth.

Besides fawning over my parents and shopping at my favorite discount stores,

I've been enjoying catching up with old friends. 

Holly is one of my best friends from high school, and when I left for Israel she was VERY pregnant. 

Now she's a mom, and my mind is officially blown.

Her son, Kieran, is incredible, and we (of course) loved each other immediately.

I know, he does't look thrilled about me, but just trust me on this one. We had some laughs.

Lately I catch myself referring to many places as 'home'...Erie, Boston, Tel Aviv. Is this self-delusion? A lie? Or is it, rather, an acknowledgement that a place becomes home because there are people in that place who you love and who love you right back. It's hard for me (someone who feels things very deeply) to say goodbyes. It always has been. But moving around the world has made me realize just how blessed I am to have so many different people counted among those I call family. And my family is always growing. 

Okay, I'll leave you with a little gem from my parent's living room. 

A reward for reading to the end of the post. 

Don't adjust your screen. 

This is real.

Shazam!

....when you're having fun.

Time really has flown by the last couple of months...I've been so busy living life that I've neglected writing about it for a little while.
I feel like an apology is in order, although it seems a little self-involved to assume that anyone has been really bothered by my recent blogging hiatus. However, I know there are a handful of you out there who have noticed (and not just the ten Norwegians who the stats tool in blogger tells me have been reading this month),
so- Mom, Dad, Ellen and Holly...you have my apologies.

That being said...what's happening in Tel Aviv? A lot. So much, in fact, that I'm not quite sure where to begin. I also haven't been using my camera quite as much lately (the zoom is broken) and I've felt bad assaulting you guys with prose void of any photographic/aesthetic component. I'll try to keep this post as succinct as possible.

April and May have been beautiful. It's already summer in my book (the weather lately has been about as hot as it ever really gets in PA or Boston) and it's only going to get worse. I'm actually a little anxious about summer in the Middle East- soon it will be almost impossible to be outside for very long during the day unless you're at the beach, nay... in the water.

The thing is, I'd rather suffer intense summer than this type of winter...

Can you blame me?

I spent a lot of time in at the end of April and beginning of May on schoolwork- I had two really big papers for school due, so a lot of my time was spent in seclusion writing (academic writing, less fun than blogging...for sure.) Being a student isn't my favorite thing, I'll be honest, I haven't been thrilled with my program, but I appreciate the opportunity to learn and meet new and interesting people...essentially, I am so happy to be in Israel that I am willing to put up with the frustrations of school.

When I'm not trying to keep up with my studies, I'm just trying to figure out what will happen when school is over, and to enjoy myself (I do live in paradise, after all). I've discovered recently Sunday mornings on the beach. The weather has been so beautiful that the beaches are now packed all weekend long. Its really quite amazing to see, but I'm also naturally averse to crowds. I've mentioned before that Sunday is the Israeli Monday, but I don't have classes on Sundays this semester, so I have the incredible opportunity to spend my Sunday mornings on almost empty Mediterranean beaches.

.
You'll hear no complaints from me.

I've also been spending a lot of time with my boyfriend (it still feels strange saying that, when does that go away?), Itzik. I am still trying to figure out how much I want to share about it here on the interwebs- its no secret or anything, but this week I had views from Brazil, Norway, Germany, Ireland, Russia, Costa Rica, and Hong Kong...so, you know. Its hard to know where to draw the line. I will tell you that I was beginning to think if I got any better at being single there wouldn't be any room for a real partner in my life. At least not at this point. But we don't get to choose where and when these things happen sometimes, do we? To move abraod I had to make a choice that I would live every day here like I was staying forever, so that I wouldn't miss out on what real life here is like. Cause that's the point right? Live your life the best way you can today, cause who knows what will happen tomorrow. And in doing that, I was given the gift of someone who makes it easy for me to be the version of myself I like the most- and who loves me even when I'm at my worst. 

And he makes me laugh. What more could a girl ask for?

One of the best parts is getting to see Israel from an Israeli's perspective. He and his friends are really cool people, I'm seeing new areas of the country (we camp on the beaches north of Tel Aviv sometimes, and I've gotten to visit his hometown a few times), and I'm getting a lot of exposure to Hebrew. Itzik's English is stellar, so we don't have trouble communicating, but I'm working hard on absorbing as much of the language as possible...slowly slowly. It will come.

Nothing is perfect however. It's strange getting into a relationship in a world that is not my own, not having my people around to share it with. I have friends here, even one or two who have known me longer than 9 months, but it's still hard sometimes. After our last camping weekend I was thinking about how much I wished I could just hang out (in English) with someone from home. Itzik's friends are great, but when I'm with a group of people who are communicating only in Hebrew for a whole weekend, eventually I just kind of tune out and retreat to that quiet place in my own thoughts- often those thoughts are of my friends and family back home. So after camping we came home and I was missing my friends and all of a sudden....Ilya was here.

I know, right? What? How? The long and short of it is that he came for a few days unexpectedly to visit an ill family member, and I got to hang out with him for a few hours on his way in and out of the country. Literally, one second I was missing my friends back home, and the next I was sitting at a bar with one. It was fantastic! A little surreal, but still so comforting to be with someone from my world, you know?

Yeah, this happened.
A little DP reunion was just what the doctor ordered! We had dinner with Libbie and got all caught up!

So, that's a little bit of an update, dear readers. Again, my apologies for the recent truancy. I'll make more of an effort to keep you guys updated more efficiently. Thanks for hanging in with me.

This weekend I am nursing a cold and looking forward to Shabbat dinner with Itzik's family. His cousins from the US are in town for a few weeks and tonight I get to hang out with their adorable kids...including a 3 month old little girl named Libby! I met her older brother, Gur (which means "puppy"), earlier this week. He's five, and we are pretty into each other. I mean, both of us have sisters named Libby- that's a bond that can't be broken. I can't wait to hold the baby, squeeze her chunky little thighs and eat her face (can you tell I miss nannying a little bit??). I'll try and get some photos to share, if I can put the baby down long enough to pick up a camera.

Highs and lows. Shana tova!

Before I begin my (admittedly late) Rosh Hashanah post, I must send my congratulations from afar to one of my oldest and dearest friends, Holly. It seems like just yesterday we were silly schoolgirls playing pranks and goofing off. But today you became a mother, and my heart is bursting. I am sad I cannot be by your side as you begin this next chapter, but my joy for you far outweighs that. Mazal tov, to you and Mike. I can't wait to meet your beautiful little boy.

--------------------------------------------

Last week I celebrated the Jewish New Year in Jerusalem with my Israeli friends. We learned about the holiday traditions, ate a delicious meal together (thanks Na'ama and Ari!), and then spent time sharing the highs and lows of the past year as well as our hopes for the year ahead.

For me, the highs and lows seem to have come side by side. Change is always difficult for me, and this last year has been rife with change and uncertainty. Living and studying in Israel has been a dream of mine since I first visited this country in 2005, even though I knew it would be scary and difficult to leave my friends and family. After spending some time working and living in Boston after school, this year seemed like the right time to pursue a higher degree (if I wanted a chance at employment other than nannying or admin work, grad school was an imperative). The road that led me to Tel Aviv University was long and winding, and after four years of living on my own I found myself hauling all of my worldly possessions back to my parents' house in Erie for an indefinite period of waiting to find out if I could attend school overseas or if I would have to start from square one- literally. 

Living with your parents again is not any young adult's ideal- I had no income, no car, and was living in a town that hadn't been my permanent residence since I graduated high school. But lo and behold! The Lord blessed me with the opportunity to rebuild relationships with childhood friends, and the gift of spending five whole weeks of quality time with my mom and dad before I would spend a whole year further away from them than I'd ever been. This unexpected time at home was a real high point in my year- and a gift I will always be grateful for. It was during these weeks that I learned my dreams of moving to Israel would come true- WIN! This was definitely another high point in my year...hell, in my life. However, the same news meant I would have to begin saying my goodbyes. Bidding farewell to my friends and especially my family was probably the most difficult thing I have done in a long time. Low, big low. 

Since moving (you may have noticed) I've been on a bit of a roller coaster- I am so happy to be here in Israel, and loving it more every day...but I also am missing home a great deal, and it's definitely been lonely. School won't begin for another few weeks, and until then my social options are limited. While I've enjoyed exploring Tel Aviv, hanging out on the beach, and studying the language... there is only so much that one can do alone before the loneliness and boredom become overwhelming (highs and lows...) Today was a microcosm of this roller coaster- this morning I cried for awhile cause the loneliness caught up with me, and tonight I spent time with Jen, we laughed and talked and I walked home feeling exponentially better about life. 

So, what are my hopes for the year to come? I'm pretty sure that the emotional roller coaster isn't about to slow down. Being a poor student in a foreign country is challenging. However, I am fortunate enough to have friends and parents who, during those emotional valleys, provide support and encourage me to press on. Their pride in me reminds me to be proud of myself.  My hope for this year is that I will drink in every moment of this dream-come-true while I have the chance. I hope I will continue to take the difficult and necessary steps on the road ahead, to become the woman I want to be- someone who faces her fears and learns how to overcome them, a person who refuses to accept a life that is less than what she wants, and who insists on leaving this world a better place than the way she found it. 

So, to my friends and family near and far- may the coming year be for all of us a sweet and happy one, filled with joy and blessings beyond the hopes we may hold for ourselves. Shana tova!!

And what about you, dear reader? What were the highs and lows of your year? What goals will you set for yourself in the year to come? I'd love to hear from you.