On Monday my Dad took me down to his home town Sderot where his brother and his family still live. Sderot is one of the closest towns to Gaza city so is constantly under attack from Qassam rockets. There are little settlements even closer to Gaza but too close for rocket fire so poor Sderot cops the heat most of the time. There is a military spotter blimp high up in the air that watches for rockets and sounds an alarm when this happens. Nothing happened when I was there. We ate a nice lunch and I played ping pong with my cousin.

When we got back to Tel Aviv I had a little snooze then I met up with Einav again and we went for a drink at an Irish Pub in Ramat Hahayim. It was so good to talk with someone my age in Israel and ask any questions I have. Also funny an Irish pub is exactly the same anywhere in the world!

Tuesday we had lunch in Rishon with Herb and Chuck and Safta came and gave us a ride up to Kaddarim – after we did some tractor moving we ate and slept.

Wednesday was just chilling on Kaddarim.

Thursday we got up at 4.30am :/ to go the temple for Itimar and Yotum’s bar mitzvah. All the men get to go in and the woman have to sit out in the back (I know) and we all had to have the prayer shawl and Tefillin put on at least for a bit. The boys went up to the Torah and each read the aliyah then read a small verse from their portion then that was it! – After some more sleeping we went for a mission for food and newspapers and books and other such things.

Today we went to Carmiel again to buy Itimar a bike – then Herb and his kids came up for lunch – everyones starting to gather for a bit of a party tomorrow.

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Yesterday I just hung out with my uncle chuck as he checked out a new car he was going to buy – turned out to be a lemon – but in the process we went to Tiberias and to Ami’ad which is the kibbutz my grandma was on when it was set up! And she remembers being there when one of the wars were on and Arab people were up on the hill next to the kibbutz shooting down on them all day! We got a fellafel in Tiberias – seriously it’s hard to explain without seeing it yourself but coming from little ol NZ every eating occasion in a dingy fellafel shop is an experience.. so much fun I love it.

Today I got up early and drove to Nahalal to pick up mum and we embarked on our journey to Eilat. Its almost the entire country – but still doesnt take that long – except if your us and you stop a million times. We first drove through a town called Bet She’an which has some old ampitheatre ruins. Coming from a young country like NZ it’s hard to fathom ancient ruins but when you see them you really do feel the history and the age. After we left bet she’an we drove into the very eastern side of the west bank and drove all the way down towards Jericho down the border of Israel and Jordan. It’s an experience driving this part of Israel – shows you the reality of a militarized country – lots of army trucks with machine guns on and UN vehicles not to mention the fence of the border. However despite all this all along the way Arab Israeli’s live and farm and work and do their thing. Kids are running around and life is life. It’s their reality.

We drove around Jericho (the road kinda avoids it) because its a bit of a dodgy city. A few checkpoints later and we joined the road from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea. We passed Kalya which is the kibbutz mum lived on and did the army while she was there. The last checkpoint my second cousin was working on so we stopped and chatted to him for awhile. Its all abit weird but I guess in terms of checkpoints this was a nice one – the sun beaming down – a beautiful view of the Dead Sea and a radio blaring a radio station they pick up from Jordan. After a little detour up the huge cliffs to take a photo and lunch in En Geidi we continued down past the salt pools and factories on the way through the Negev desert to Eilat. A few hours later and some confused lostness in Eilat we finally found our hotel and checked in grabbed some hummous and ful for dinner and then crashed!

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So this morning we picked up the car from Avis which was a bit stressful enough as it is! Every once in awhile (not very often usually) you encounter people who don’t speak English well at all. Avis guy was one – mum had to act as translator and he was getting a bit agitated. Anyway we got it and we set out… weird changing gears with your right hand let alone driving on the wrong side of the road, let alone with Israeli drivers on the road!

It’s nice to have a Rental it gives mum and I an air of independence and a chance to not get pre-occupied with family stuff and to just enjoy traveling the country.

On the way up north we stopped on top of Mt Tabor and had a look down the Israel Valley (rich in agriculture) We arrived at Kaddarim and its so good to see my Uncle Chuck and his kids Yotum & Itamar. They’re the ones making Bar Mitzvah in a weeks time.

Now we’re just hanging out with Toolie (Chucks Cat) and about to eat dinner then we’re gonna watch The Third Man. Cool.

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