Living in the present: Sunburned and sick.

So first of all... I'm an aunt!! Mazal tov to Chris and Rebecca on the birth of beautiful Lily Rose Butera. I can't wait to met the litte thing. She looks adorable.

In other news, its STILL Passover. This holiday is never ending. At least here in Israel I think its easier to find things to eat as restaurants are open and they make their kitchens kosher. They either substitute bread for matzah or they create their own kosher for P rolls. I'm of the Sephardic Jews and therefore eat rice on Passover which I think makes this holiday so much more appealing. Anyway, my diet this week has pretty much been rice cakes and cottage cheese. Two things that in America I would never eat. Oh, although I did have a lovely meal at Yotveta with the Gordon-Smoler Family on Monday. That was super yum!

Seder was nice. In Israel there is only ONE. I was a little intimidated this year by the thought of reading the Hagaddah aloud amongst native Israeli speakers so I used my pass card. Other than that, I REALLY missed my family. There is nothing like holidays to make you think about those you love and wish you were near to them.

Passover in Israel is very much a family holiday. People are on vacation and the country is full of its own traveling together. On Sunday, I joined Sima's family and we did a hike on Derech Burma (Burma Road). It was a beautiful day and a great hike. Sima and I elongated the hike, the families with the young children kept it shorter. In the end, everyone picnicked. A great concept. Large families getting together to enjoy nature and eat passover food together. You see it everywhere this week.

Not much else to share. I took a really long walk yesterday in Jaffa and then back through Florentine (a super cool neighborhood of Tel Aviv) and got super burned and am now sick. :( Cold season I guess...