Living in the present: Final week in the homeland.

I'm not really sure that I can wrap up my experience in Israel as one post, nor do I really think that I've even begun to process a smidgen of that journey, but I will try and at least capture the last week with my family...

I was really excited to take the train to Ben Gurion airport the day they arrived and waited really impatiently at the arrival area. All around me were screaming Israelis who were equally excited to see their loved ones. Finally the doors opened and I saw three zombies walking towards me. I felt the tears in my eyes as I ran around to the entranceway and threw my arms around my brother, mother, and finally father. Its been years since we've been apart for such a long period of time. The reunion was really nice.

The week provided us with many opportunities to see family. It started with a beautifully emotional reunion with my dad's uncle Joe who is 88 years old and lives in Brazil. It just so happened that Uncle Joe was visiting Israel at the exact same time. The last time my father saw him was in Egypt in 1959 right before the Matalon family escaped and went in all different directions. Joe was extremely excited and waited for us outside. He was so happy to hug my father and throughout the visit hugged him and patted him so many times. It was really nice to see. When we took a family picture he started to cry. Its crazy to think how the family became so divided. Another example of a moment in Jewish history where families were "exiled" and split up. The 4 brothers (my grandpa being one of them) divided: 1 to Israel, 2 to the US, and 1 to Brazil. A strong family spread out in a way that doesn't allow for the grandchildren to really know each other very well.

Here are a few photos with Joe:

This was on the street where he was waiting. Look how chic he looks!

The other woman is his girlfriend Sima. How cute is that? 88 and still on the scene.

Other highlights of the week included a final trip up north to the Hula Valley. We did a nice little hike there and saw a whole bunch of wildlife. The bird migration season had just ended but there were still other interesting animals to see. They had a 3-D movie there where you sit in moving chairs and they spray you with water and air and all kinds of other things. I actually screamed out loud at one point, was super fun. Dinner was at "Dag al Ha Dan" which is an amazing fish restaurant that sits right at the points where the Dan river meets another river (I'm blanking on the name at the moment). I went there in March with Jenni and Basti and it was fun to revisit and say goodbye to.

It was quite sad leaving Israel. I didn't sleep the night before I flew and I had many waves of anxiety throughout the week about my decision to go home. I think its fair to say that perhaps at a different point in life I would've stayed longer and seen where the journey would've taken me. My final moments in Israel included the man behind me in line running me over painfully TWICE with his cart. I think the real Israeli in me came out as I turned around and yelled at him in Hebrew, "once wasn't enough to hit me with your cart!?!?!" :)

Landing in America was super emotional (and extremely rocky. I think my pilot was a first time flyer) but I'll leave my homecoming stories for another day...

Some final pictures from Israel: