Today we parted ways with the Rental car – not without a last tiny bit of grief (I filled up the night before and only drove 5 minutes to the rental place and they claimed it wasn’t full) then an old friend of Mum’s Amos picked us up and took us to Jaffa to have lunch with his family. Amos has a two kids – Mor who is 18 – and Einav who is my age and there are photos of us together as babies!

You really need to come and eat in a hummus place in Jaffa one day to get a taste of not only REALLY FUCKING GOOD hummus but the intense culture of the area. These hummus places every morning make one gigantic batch of hummus and basically they are open until it runs out. There is no official closing time. These places are so popular that at lunch time theres a line of people going out the door and people are always waiting for a table – when you finally get one you have to eat with the pressure of at lease 30 people watching you and waiting – its like the hot seat!

Anyway we sat and ate and enjoyed and afterward we went for a walk around the Jaffa shuk. Mum got a chicken and I got a wall hanging. We went to get ice cream and after that we got a photo of Einav and I sitting on mums knee because apparently there is a photo of us as babies doing the same thing (although I don’t remember it – I’m gonna dig it up when I get home and scan it and put it with the “20 year later” version).

Later that afternoon I got a ride to Bet Oved which is the Moshav Shuki and his family live on. It was so good to see Yamm and Shefa – although they had almost forgotten me!! It didn’t take long with them at the playground for them to remember and enjoying being with me! We drove down towards Be’er Sheva to have shabbat dinner with Tali’s parents then we slept the night in Be’er Sheva at Shuki’s mums.

(Click for big photo + caption)