Second Day

Still no luggage! They delivered 4 pieces of luggage this morning, none of which were mine. I am in a complete panic since I packed everything I own and will need a whole new wardrobe if they don’t find it! I slept like 12 hours straight while the grandmothers took the grandchildren to the beach. The coffee here is fantastic and I attempted to watch Hero in Chinese with Hebrew subtitles. Didn’t really work, obviously! I am feeling disconnected because I can’t just pick up the phone and call people (at $2.99 a minute!) so it’s sort of like when you lose your cell phone for a day, that lost limb feeling. So, we went to visit the grandparents/great grandparents, boring but important, I'm sure they won't be around much longer. The land their house is on is worth a million dollars, as it is in the most expensive and safe neighborhood around. Did you know that you could drive across this entire country in 10 hours? There is a lot of that ‘eat more’ thing going on with people offering you food constantly. The good part is, everything I have eaten here so far is good. The vegetables and fruits themselves just taste better then than their American counterparts. Who knew cucumber (melafefone) tasted so good?

Anyway then my brother and I went to my cousin’s apartment to watch the soccer game. Her house is the bomb. I love it. 2 stories, the top story is a giant rooftop deck with grill and kitchen perfect for parties. Downstairs everything is high class and fancy, a deck overlooking the city like 20 stories high, with a glass and chrome curved wall. The weather is fantastic, way less hot then back home, which I find surprising. We ate Mediterranean style out on the deck with the breeze blowing in, toasted pita with melted cheese and tomato along with roasted eggplant spread, hummus, Mediterranean black olives, tahini, cheese with garlic and mint, fresh cherry tomatoes and cucumbers and mushrooms… delicious. Then my cousin, brother and er.. whatever my other cousin’s kid would be to me, 2nd cousin? 2nd nephew? Anyway, we went to this spot of bars right on the beach, it was nice, the sand here is silky not abrasive, and you sit in chairs right on the beach and have your drinks. I learned some slang terms in Hebrew, for example, ‘Sababa’ means cool, 'lapaneem' means like, the bomb, walla means ‘really?’ The music was all American music, bob marley, stp, etc, and the signs here are some in hebrew, some in english. Tomorrow, I have to go shopping, because I can’t spend another day here in my cousin’s sweatpants! Also I will never be allowed in the clubs this way. Casual dress here is like going-out clothes in America. No one wears just some sloppy t-shirt that says corona on it with some ratty shorts out in public. If anyone wants something special from here, they better tell me before I go shopping! Well , off to bed now, staying up until 3 am is not good for combating jet lag!