Israel Trip, August 2007

Israel in the summer is hot. Very, very hot. Years ago I'd said that I never wanted to visit at that time of year, but what could I do? Eliyahu was to have his Bar Mitzvah celebration, and I had to go for that. So August 1, right in the middle of the summer, found me boarding a plane at Newark, and August 2, early in the morning, found me at Ben Gurion airport, waiting for Howie to pick me up.

I had planned to camp in with my granddaughter Nechama, but when I got to the house, I discovered that a neighbor in the building was going away and kindly offered the use of her home for a few days. The big boys lugged up my bags, and after I unpacked it was off to Givat Shaul, the local shopping area, to buy shoes for some of my grandsons. (Buying shoes for grandkids is a tradition started by my father which I happily continue.) I no sooner got back and had lunch then it was back on the bus, this time with Nachama, to find her a skirt for the party.
Howie's parents, Sol and Rae, had flown over the day before, so dinner was chat-and-catch-up time, and then, tired from staying awake as I always do on planes, I went back to my own apartment for some badly needed sleep.

Friday was another catch-up day, grabbing a word with each of the children and with Sharon and preparing for the Sabbath dinner. Sharon's friend and college roommate Dina, my friend now as well, joined us for dinner and slept over in "my" apartment, and we caught up on each other's lives as well.

It's a long, hot walk up the hill to the shul, but I wouldn't have missed hearing Eliyahu for the world! The rest of Saturday, as is the custom, was spent eating and talking.

Sunday morning I was back on the bus to Givat Shaul again, this time to meet Shoshana and choose and print out pictures from her wedding for albums for me, Sharon and Howie, and Sol and Rae. There were a few problems with the machines at the photo store, and it took far longer than we expected. By the time we'd finished we learned of bus problems further on, so instead of heading off for the distant restaurant we'd planned to lunch at, we ended up picking up felafel and salads and taking it to her house, where Dovy joined us for lunch, and a lovely long lunch it was in their little doll house of an apartment.

Monday I headed into the center of town to meet with Sarah, an internet friend I'd tried to meet before. This time our schedules matched, and she suggested "The Coffee Bean," a lovely little place right near my bus stop. I wore my new piffler shirt, but we knew each other right away, and chatted away for two hours, talking books, politics, and a host of other topics. The place served a nice lunch and really good coffee; only Sarah's job schedule and my need to get back to my room to get ready for Eliyahu's party called a halt to the chatter. On the way back to the bus I popped in at my usual English-language second-hand book store to switch already-read books for a new supply.

Each time I'm at a celebration in Israel I'm amazed at how many people I do know there; I spent the entire evening chatting with one woman or another I'd gotten to know over the years – and ended the evening chatting with Nachama, into whose room I'd moved that afternoon.
Next morning Howie and I went into town to pick up the other van – there was simply no way we'd all fit into one. Sharon and Howie, Shoshana and Dovy, Shmuel, Moshe, Nechama, Eliyahu, Yehuda, Avraham Yeshaya, Binyomin Dovid, and all their impedimenta made quite a load, and Yosef was to join us in a few days, too.

We packed up the vans and headed north to the Golan to our first stop, Nachal Tzalman, where we were to hike through water. Alas, a dry year made most of the water disappear, and the heat made me turn back half way – but I wasn't alone. The two vans went down to the end of the walk, where there was a bit of water to wade in. Howie pulled out his guitar, and we were joined by one and then another family, everyone singing together as the sun went down.

By then it was time to move on to Or Haganuz and the bed & breakfast & dinner establishment run by the family Dan. A small place (three double rooms, two two-roomed suites which seemed to expand to take any number of children) with lovely grounds in a moshav, the Dans made us feel very welcome, with lots of delicious food and snacks, too.

Wednesday we split up, the older boys going on a long, hard hike while the girls (Sharon and I, too) and the smaller boys booked a jeep ride around the surrounding hills. Among all the gorgeous scenery were areas where Katushas from Lebanon had landed, scorching the ground and destroying whatever they hit. Somewhere in the roller coaster ride Avraham Yeshaya lost his hat; one of the other jeep drivers found it, and returned it later that day.

After the ride, we picked up picnic supplies at the moshav's grocery and headed for Dovshia, eating while sitting in the cool water and then walking upstream. Again, I decided halfway up that sitting in a lovely shaded pool I'd seen a few feet off to one side was more my style that walking in all that heat on slippery rocks, so I bid the others farewell and plopped my lower half in the cool water. Heaven!

Others found the pool as well, and I had a great half hour or so of people watching until one by one the Tavins returned and joined me. We got back in time for yet another delicious dinner.
Thursday the non-serious hikers headed for the Monkey Forest, dropping the serious hikers off en route. This is not quite a zoo; most of the animals are in very large fenced-in areas and the human visitors enter many of the areas and can interact with the animals. Most of the animals kept a respectful distance, except for one very pushy llama, who followed us extremely closely in the clear hope that somehow we'd allow him through the gate with us. We didn't, but it was a close thing. I had no idea that llamas were quite that clever.

When we were finished at the Forest, we picked up the hikers, whose trail ended along our route, and headed for Carmiel. Sharon's friends' family and the Tavins were to have their third annual barbecue. Not surprisingly, there was lots of singing before and after lots of eating, interspersed with play (the younger group) and talking (the older group). We got back home just in time for another late but delicious dinner.

Friday morning we set off into the mountains towards the Yarden, as the Israelis call the Jordan. Some of the dirt roads were barely as wide as the car, decorated nicely with potholes the size of bathtubs, but eventually we went up the mountain and down the mountain, crossed over a narrow concrete bridge, and found ourselves in a lovely area where there was easy and shaded access to the river in some spots, steep inaccessible banks in others, complete with signs that said not to enter the water!

Others were swimming in various places, so of course in we went, too. The water was cool, with a strong current, but with care it was possible to move around. I found a nice one-person size pool where I sat in water up to my chin, nicely braced against surrounding rocks, and watched my grandkids cavorting as I enjoyed a hydrotherapy treatment from the strong current. A great time was had by all – until just as we decided to leave the water for lunch. About half of us were out of the water when suddenly the current became far, far stronger. We never knew why, but we assumed that they'd held back water and then released it for the kayakers who were out on the water at that time. One of the younger boys lost his footing and swept into Sharon, who got knocked off balance. She flung Yehuda at Howie as she toppled over and got carried downsteam, fetching up on a rock further down. The next stop would have beena hard slam into the concrete spillway we'd driven across. The bigger boys ran across the spillway to the other side of the river which had flatter, but unshaded, access, formed a human chain, and pulled Sharon out. She had a bang on her knee and had lost a shoe, but we were all very grateful that no more harm than that had been done. It was nice to breathe normally again when she got back to where we'd parked the vans.

We all took a deep breath before setting out our picnic lunch! After that, it was time to work our way back through the teeny roads and head back to the Dans to prepare for the Sabbath and a relaxing day just enjoying the breeze and the chance to do little. Although the rooms had air conditioning, we were up so high that the cross-ventilation made it unnecessary for our entire stay. Even I slept under a light blanket!

Sunday morning early we started packing the vans so we could have one or two more little excursions on our way home. We started out at a dried fruit and nut wholesaler, and then went looking for two pools which had been built some years ago for Syrian officers. The road to them was unmarked and extremely narrow. We'd been assured that no one ever went there, but when we finally found them they were jammed, so we moved on. Our next stop was Eden Springs for a picnic and a dip in the springs themselves. Next we moved on to a farm for fruit picking, stopped at a moshav to buy water and discovered a whole mess of baby goats who wanted nothing more than to play with our kids for an hour. We finally ended up at yet another moshav, where we met Dovy's family for a joint picnic.

The road home was a roller coaster affair that followed the track down the Syrian border. At last, quite late, we arrived home and fell into bed. Nechama had to be up early; she had a 5 a.m. call for a bus for a two-day trip with her school.

The last few days flew by with a visit to the Wall, a few more local excursions with this grandchild and that and, finally, packing. And so I found myself Wednesday night back at Ben Gurion, heading home.

Pictures from the Bar Mitzvah and the trip can be found at http://picasaweb.com/sandy.kozinn under Israel August 2007.