Weekend with the Family Part Three

On Sunday Rachel, Jeffrey and I hopped in the car and headed off to Jerusalem, Noa had school Sunday (in Israel the weekends are Friday and Saturday) so we said our goodbyes on Saturday night, while Daphne had a lot of work to do so she stayed behind.

Our first stop was Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus which overlooks all of Jerusalem. Here is the view from Jeff's window...

After Jeff and I said our goodbyes, Rachel took me on a tour of the univeristy. She used to be a student and employee at the school so she knew quite a bit about...everything!
Here are some shots of the campus...



Students in the sleeping lounge in the library...I know!

The Hebrew University Hillel...um duh.
After we toured the campus Rachel and I had some coffee and flat bagels before we boarded a bus to the old city. I haven't been there since Birthright and even then we weren't allowed to go many places, so I was riproaring and ready to go!

Here are some highlights of the morning...



A monestary looking over...a mall.


Da Old citay

Weekend with the Family Part Dos

Ya'la Kadima!

When I last posted I had just arrived at the Israeli Macy's. They were so welcoming and warm, they treated me like family! So Jeffrey is the one I've been in contact with the most, he is the son of Neil Macy (Neil is my grandpa's first cousin)and a professor of Political science at Hebrew University (I got to visit the campus on Sunday). His wife Rachel (pronounced Rah-kchel with a chh) was born in Israeli and is so knowledgeable about the country; we went to Jerusalem together and I learned more in one morning than my whole birthright taglit trip. Daphne is their eldest daughter and the same age as me. I don't think I could write enough about the similiarities and strange coincidences that we have between us. (Both double majoring in Communications and Theater/Film)She is by far my favorite long lost 21 year old cousin from Israel and I hope we will meet up again soon! Noa is the youngest in the Israeli Macy clan and so talented. She's only 15 and already an origami/pottery master! Much like Robyn, she enjoys art and collecting things, also she's an active member of the Israeli Youth Movement (which is sort of a mix between the scouts and group training)

On Sunday morning Rachel,Jeffrey, Daphne and I went to Mini Israel. I won't explain, I will just post pictures and let you figure it out!












After mini Israel, we came back to the house and Noa introduced me to the second best card game I've ever played...TAKI!

This game is like Uno but with more rules and so much fun! The Israeli Macy's actually ended up buying me my own pack of TAKI to bring around the world and back to the US.



Daphne and I also played a game of Up Words and both managed to f***" up words! While it's acceptable for Daphne to make an error (English isn't her first language) I made the first mistake and ruined the game!

After a four o'clock Lunner (lunch/dinner), the whole family went to the mall (once it opened) for a little shopping and paroosing. Rachel picked out a pair of beautiful earrings by Israeli designer Michal Negrin for me and I absolutley can't thank her enough for them!

Once we left the mall, Daphne and I went out with a bunch of her friends to a restaurant and I for the first time I felt like an Israeli. All of her friends were so kind and welcoming, they asked me about America and I asked them to teach me words in Hebrew.

HaMishbucha Sheli!

Yesterday I hopped on a bus to Tel Aviv and finally met up with my distant third cousins from Israel whom I've never met! My bus was a little early so when I received a phone call from my Israeli cousin Daphne, I was surprised not only to find that I had gotten myself lost, but that her voice revealed no hint of an accent! With her sister Noa in tow, the three of us finally navigated our way through the bus station to each other then to the car waiting outside.

Cousin Jeffrey and his wife Rachel were waiting to take us out to dinner at Israel's first Chinese restaurant called the Red Chinese Restaurant. Dinner was surprisingly delicious, almost as surprising as seeing our Chinese waitress speak fluent Hebrew! The Macy's were also surprised at my ability to name foods in Hebrew! The conversation flowed effortlessly as the entire mishbucha is fluent in English (they spent two separate occasions living in America for a year).

After dinner we attempted to take a walk to the port across from the restaurant where the Mediterranean sea meets Tel Aviv. Unfortunately the rain and wind caused the sea to create giant waves (something the Israeli Macy's had never seen), so we watched for a bit before the rain started to pour!

Driving home with my new found family was delightful as they acted as part tour guides part interviewers. I answered their questions about our extended family, my immediate family, my home life and school life etc...while they were more than happy to share information about themselves and the country I've begun to call home-Israel.



Once we got to their beautiful Mediterranean style home, Jeff showed me the family e-tree. Apparently my birthday was missing. As I filled in information about myself, corrected the spelling of "Robin's" name and edited Josh's birthday, I began to actually understand how I was related to the Israeli Macy's. I can't really explain it, but if you click this sentence you can see our family tree! (I think, if it doesn't work just ask me how we're related).




Because of the time change (Israel began "summer-time" yesterday) I was a bit pooped (I had work that morning at 6 AM, i.e 5 AM )so when Daphne put a movie on, I fell asleep...




The next morning (this morning) we took a tour of the garden where there are pomegranates, kumquats, olives,almonds,apples,lemons,nectarines and a variety of plants...their yard is so beautiful and alas, they use no pesticides!



I'm in the middle of doing 100 things, so I will update this blog with WAAAYYY more details tonite...in the meantime sarah enjoy the pictures! Just click the little picture at the top!

Day Trip(s)

BLUMCO!

(That means Cauliflower in Dutch!)

day Trip(s)

Shalom! And my apologies for the lack of posts these past few days. Sometimes kibbutz life gets the best of you-and sometimes kibbutz life makes you lazy!

Alls well here at Kibbutz Geva, the volunteers are volunteering and the kibbutzniks are kibbutzniking(?). Everything is wonderful and I'm so sad I've only 8 more days here.

Today's post is entitled Day Trip(s) because this week is the week of day trips!

Friday night 14/22 volunteers hiked up Gilboa to go camping! The hike up wasn't too bad, lots of out of breath European smokers, but the weather was gorgeous and we were on top of the world (well on top of Israel at least).

I didn't take many pictures because everyone else had camera but here are a few shots from the hike...




When we got back from the hike a new volunteer was waiting for us, Hannah (pronounced Cha-nah with a Chghaa from the throat)she's from Holland and really cool. I don't know if I ever mentioned in the blog, but when Ben and I returned from Egypt there was a new roommate/volunteer waiting, her name is Kia Kim and she's from Korea. (and she sells Kaleidoscopes!)

On Monday, Susan (Rachel Eagan's Mom's friend from Ein Harod -the kibbutz next door) picked me up and we went to the Sachna, or the natural pools down the road. It was a lovely afternoon and I got out of work early. Here are three pictures of the pools and me standing in front of them!



The water was so blue and clear and warm! Naturally heated in fact! There were caves that you could swim in and stand up in and army guys swimming around practicing their "techniques." It was a really cool place and I hope to go back with some volunteers before I leave.

Once I got back to Geva, I was taken aback to learn about an impromptu hebrew school field trip to Afula! Afula is a little town near Geva. It's got history and it's got falafel. Well, I dropped my bag and swim suit off in my room, grabbed a jacket and got on the bus!

Here are some photos of the hebrew class and I at the market in Afula. Our teacher, Ruti, went around sayig "Ma Zeh?" which means what is it? and we were called on to answer in Hebrew.

Ruti: Ma Zeh Andrea?
Andrea: Um... Candy-ot?
Ruti: Lo,lo,lo Andrea! (Puts hand on forehead)





Mr. Broom?

After the market we ate falafel and then returned home to eat our candy-ot and relax...the next night (last night) we went to the Geva museum! We learned about the Gevatron- and how life was for the settlers who came to Israel 80 years ago...

Tomorrow is ANOTHER day trip to Ein Gev, another kibbutz in the north, where the volunteers are having a convention of sorts with workshops...I'll take pictures and post if it's interesting.

Well that's all for now, shalom yeladim!

Purim (the lost post)

PURIM!

Just a few pictures from Purim, I never uploaded or blogged about these because I had just gotten back from Egypt. Here they are...Sorry about the quality, I was drunk...therefore my camera was drunk too?

Anyway, here they are, the theme was tropical, I dressed as the lost cast member from "Lost"

HAIFA DAY TRIP

Hey! The dining hall was closed yesterday for cleaning so all the volunteers in the dining hall had the day off! DAY TRIP TO HAIFA!

Haifa

Ben got sick, I think I gave him what I had in Egypt so he couldn't come (even though the trip was his idea) so the Swede, the Australian and the American set off to that big beautiful city in the sky!

Here are some pictures of us at the Ba'hai gardens, it's the holiest place for the world's newest religion!







After our tour of the gardens which were spectacular, we went for lunch at the German Colony. I was told the history of this place but I can't remember, I guess one can always wikipedia the history of the German Colony in Haifa if one was really interested, but as far as I'm concerned it was a nice little area with cute shops and outdoor eateries.

Ketura, Matilda and I ate at Amadeus, a little Israeli cafe where we ate brick oven pizza and drank fanta. My stomach is miraculously better as is my digestiive system as a whole. Phew. Tanks Gawd!

After lunch we boarded a bus to funville(we literally asked the bus driver to take us somewhere fun)and got off at mt. carmel, a cool place better suited for the nightlife, we shopped around and I purchased a star of david necklace for myself.

I won't go into detail with the whole bus fiasco, but long story short, we got on a bus going the wrong way and ended up in the wrong bus station. Zero point zero shekels later we were at the right stop and heading back to Afula. Twas a fun day for all!

I'm on the Brockport Website

If you check the website brockport.edu at the exact right time, you'll see my face at the top! Click "learn more" and you can read about why I chose to attend Brockport.

www.brockport.edu/profiles/amacy1.html <---this is the link to the story

Egypt (Part tree)

EGYPT!

EGYPT (Cairo,Giza,Dahab)

Where was I? Oh right, end of day two in Egypt, back at the Amarante Pyramids Hotel (as the only guests) and a bit sick. Well for the sake of the blog I'll skip the contents of Monday night (you don't want to know the bloody details, they're gross) and skip to Tuesday morning i.e. THE GREAT PYRAMIDS! I'll preface the post with a bunch of pictures then explain...ready? Go!


Our mode of transportation around the pyramids (it was cheaper than a camel)...



The graves of the slaves...i.e my ancestors hanging out in the shadow of their lifes' work!




It's really small...not!





Well this first batch of pictures needs no explanation, one of the great wonders of the world, the Great Pyramids took 30 years to build and were built by aliens. No not really, just a bunch of Jews with back problems.

So Ben and I take a cab to the pyramids after a sketchy walk down the street (we could've walked to the pyramids but I was being stared at- not having a head covering and all), a man jumps in our cab mid-ride and tells us about his camels. Not really having a choice, Ben and I end up in a random alleyway away from the tourists and guided by this man. Long story short we got the hell out of there and found our amazing guide Mosam- see picture below!

Okay, now I know what you're all thinking...what about the sphinx? Well without further adeiu (what does that even mean?) I present, the Sphinx!




Believe it or not the Sphinx is SMALL (compared to the pyramids), we were able to walk around the temple of the Sphinx and actually get pretty close. Little known fact, the Sphinx was created from one giant stone, then detailed with bricks (unlike the pyramids which were built brick by brick). According to our guide the Sphinx has the head of a woman, the face of a man and the body of a lion because it is smart,beautiful and strong.

Mosaam, our guide, took us to his friend's lotus flower factory/store and a papyrus "museum" where we learned to make papyrus paper- heres a picture!





After the pyramids we did a bit of shopping. Here are some pictures from the Arab markets we walked by...


Once shopping was completed we relaxed at the hotel before dinner (hibachi in Egypt- TOTAL TOURIST MOMENT #14). Then went to bed.

Breakfast in the morning was great, we missed our bus to the border so we hopped on the next one heading to Sharm El Sheik which wasn't the best idea but turned out great because we ended up taking another bus to DAHAB! Which means paradise in Egyptian, well maybe not. But this is where we stayed our lsat night- it's in Sinai (as in Moses took the ten commandments on Mount...)

It was absolutley breathtaking and amazing, these pictures don't do the place justice...





We ended our trip in paradise and that's all that matters. We're safe, we're fine, we're happy.. The End...until the next one!