Israel's 65th Independence Day

In celebration of Israel's 65th birthday, I ate tons and tons of food.   On the eve of Israel's Independence day, I went to a BBQ with my husband and our group of friends in Netanya.   We had originally wanted to pitch tents on the beach and spend the night in them, yet the weather had other plans for us, so we merely had a BBQ.    I ate so much steaks, pargiyot, chicken wings, and salads that it was not even funny.   My husbands grilled eggplant with tehina and spicy grilled pepper salad was out of this world.  It was also really nice that my husbands friends all brought along their girlfriends and wives, so that I would have other women to talk to.

The day after, we had another BBQ.   This time, however, it was at the home of my brother-in-law Golan and his wife Tami.   There, I had kebabs, steaks, pargiyot, chicken wings, lots of salad, and homemade pita bread with grilled eggplants and homemade matboucha which was really tasty.   Now, unfortunately, we are back to the regular routine of working.   Unfortunately, Lag B'Omer won't be so fun this year, because I need to cover a special event for Lag B'Omer for my job and my thesis.   This means that there won't be so many vacations until Shavuot.   I simply cannot wait until I submit this damn thesis, so that I can take a day off to visit the camel ranch south of Be'ersheva.  

Passover Vacation 2013

My Passover holiday was amazing.   It started out with an Iraqi style Seder in Netanya with my husbands family.   There was tons of excellent food.   Then, it was followed by a Mizrahi BBQ the following day.   Immediately after the first holiday of Passover, I was forced unfortunately to visit my thesis adviser in Be'ersheva, where I unfortunately learned that I will need an extra semester to finish my MA thesis because he wants me to make many revisions.   I am taking this in stride, even though it is frustrating.   After I met with my thesis adviser, I went to Tel Aviv, where I met my friend Anna for coffee and a walk by the Mediterranean Sea.   It was still too cold for swimming, yet it was fun to gaze at the sea.   We also did some shopping at Dizengoff Center.

The day after however was the highlight of my Passover Vacation.  I went to Jerusalem, where I went on an English speaking tour with my friend Ben at the Tower of David Museum, which documents the history of Jerusalem.    After seeing how layer after layer of history was built in Jerusalem, with Ottoman structures being built on top of Roman buildings and bricks dating back to the times of the Prophets of Israel, we then proceeded to the Israel Museum, where we saw the King Herod exhibit which is only going to be in Israel through the following October.   For all who haven't seen it, I highly recommend the experience.   In the evening, we went back to the Tower of David Museum to see their wonderful light show.

Immediately after the trip to Jerusalem, I went to Nahariyya for the rest of the holiday.   It was nice in Nahariyya.   I met with my husbands family and we went out to restaurants.   I bought some new Jewish head coverings with my husband, which were very pretty.    Yet, it wasn't as exciting as my Jerusalem trip with Ben.   We went to celebrate Mimouna, the Moroccan pastry holiday, however with Shachar's great aunt on some moshav that I never heard of.   That was my holiday.   It was a great vacation, yet not long enough.   I am counting the days till the next holiday and would vote to extend Passover by another week, so that I can have a longer vacation.    Only my Ashkenazi religious friends object, since they can't even eat rice on Pesach.  

My husband's mothers side of the family