Tour the apartment

Ok, so it's a bit dorky, but if you want to see what my apartment is like...take the video tour! (Sorry for the poor video quality)

Twice in the past week I had a the very cool experience of having a whole conversation in Hebrew with an Israeli. I have little mini conversations in order to get things accomplished like at the grocery store, or with the taxi/bus drivers, etc. But these were real conversations, for the sole purpose of talking. The first one was on the bus with the person next to me on the way back from Eilat. She was very talkative. The second was with a person that pulled over to give me a ride in the rain (I didn't take it of course, but it was cool to talk in Hebrew anyway!)

The only word I can think of to describe this past weekend is an experience. Ben was recently in touch with an organization that helps new immigrants make connections with people in Israel. He got phone calls from 5 different people inviting us for Shabbat dinner. Four of them were Rabbis (all orthodox). We accepted the first invitation from Rabbi Schwartz (from Seattle). We went to services on Friday evening before dinner at the Rabbi's house. Wow...it was orthodox so the men and women were separated. However I was the only woman there and the place for the woman was really just the kitchen/closet! I sat in a chair by myself facing a dirty wall like I was on time out! So weird...I couldn't even really hear the sermon and didn't know when to stand up, when to sit..or what the heck I should be doing. Rather an odd/uncomfortable experience. The dinner at the Rabbi's was actually alright. He has 5 kids from a few months to 15 years old, so that was entertaining. I'm not really a huge fan of this Rabbi though as I think he likes to hear himself talk a bit too much for my taste. I prefer Rabbi Feldman from Bend.

The next day we went to the house next door to the Rabbi's for lunch with another family that recently immigrated from Atlanta, Georgia. They were very friendly (also Orthodox). Lunch was pleasant enough. The couple is actually in an Ulpan class above mine in the same building 4 days a week...I saw the woman (Rebecca) there today, she came to visit me during break. The family has two 9 year olds and a 11 year old. I can't imagine what it must be like to jump right into school all in Hebrew. I know Serge and Irina did that and I worked with kids at home who had recently come to the country and couldn't speak/understand English yet, but it really understand it more now that I am trying to learn Hebrew...yikes!

I was proud that I remembered not to try to shake hands with the men, especially the Rabbi. It always kind of feels a bit rude of me (and of them) not to shake hands, but it's just because that's what I am used to. However, I made two mistakes that I didn't really realize were mistakes until later on Saturday night when we were back home. At the Rabbi's house my alarm went off on my phone even though the phone was turned off! (Don't ask me how it did that). I don't think the Rabbi really noticed since so much was going on in the house at the time....but oops. The second mistake was the next day after lunch. We were walking down the street with another Orthodox couple who was also at lunch at Rebecca's. They wanted Ben's number for future advice about buying a car and I offered to write it down....mistake. I guess (and I actually didn't know this) that writing is considered work and isn't allowed on Shabbat. Of course, for me it would not have mattered, but the guy told me not to write. How do people not do work for a whole day each week!? Imagine that in college...or as a teacher!? Wowwie! What if someone relaxes by writing poetry...is it still considered work? Just curious.

Ben's back at base again, but now he has started Ulpan....army Ulpan that is. I'm not sure what class is like for him, but I think they study for almost 8 hours a day! I bet he will come home having learned a lot...exciting! Maybe we can start teaching each other what we learn in Ulpan, because I'm sure they are very different classes.

See you later! Lehitraot!

My new life

At least that's what it feels like, a new life in Karmiel. I am really enjoying my hebrew class and have met a few people there. Diana is a new friend of mine. She is from Ecuador and is 28 years old. She married her husband 3 weeks ago in Cypress. Cypress, not Israel, because she also is not Jewish. She lives on a Kibbutz about 45 minutes north of here and commutes every day for Ulpan. I also met another student who is new to the class. Her name is Tatiana, she is from Germany and is also 28. She has a 5 year old child. She also moved here with her husband and is not Jewish....do you see the trend? Just wait, there is another girl (24) from Ukraine who moved here with her husband as well. What crazy women we are.

I am doing well in Karmiel. I have mixed emotions during the week because I am basically living alone right now (except for Friday and Saturday), but I am happy with Ulpan and am meeting friends (girls, which is amazing for me). This week I also made what felt like a major step in the visa process. Monday morning I left Ulpan an hour early to begin a 9 hour trek down to Kibbutz/Eilat. I stayed the night at Ronit's house, however, I didn't really sleep. I woke up at 3:00 in the morning so that I could watch the game!!! Go ducks! Even though we lost, I have to say it was a game well worth getting up to watch. Thanks to Brenda, Chuck, Colleen, and mom for letting me join in on their game watching, I enjoyed it (oh the wonders of Skype).

That same morning I went into Eilat with my letter from the lawyer and had my appointment at the Ministry of Interior (Misrad Hapnim). That woman is still the b**ch that she has always been but at least she finally decided to send my files to Jerusalem. Now it is in someone else's hands! After my 10 minute appointment (10 minutes for 9 hours of travel time!), I made a few more errands and then ate Hummous where I used to work with Dan and Sandra. Then I boarded the bus again and made the 9 hour trip back up to Karmiel. Unfortunately my tourist visa is going to expire before I get the work visa (could take a month to a month and a half, which is odd since the first time she told me it would take one week!), so I have to make the trip down again on the 30th to get it extended. This time for some unknown reason Ben also has to come, which means taking a day off from Army, not an easy thing to do. I think he can do it, but what a hassle. I swear that woman just sits there thinking of ways to make our lives more difficult. However, I feel this was a positive step as now at least my papers are not just sitting idle in an office in Eilat...they are on the move!!!

Yesterday when I got home from Ulpan all I wanted to do was go to sleep, I was SOOO tired from getting up early and traveling and Ulpan was slow and I had been imagining my bed for the last 3 hours. I got to my door and turned the key, but it stopped, I tried to get it out..no luck..turn it more..no luck. So much for going right to bed. My landlord came in and I asked him why it wasn't working. Twenty minutes later we succumbed and bashed in the lock and broke into the apartment! He installed a new lock (doesn't fit right, so he is getting a new one soon) and I was able to sleep for three hours before getting up to eat, do homework, and go back to bed:)

Benny is coming home tomorrow morning and I am very excited. We thought he was going to have to stay on base this weekend but it turns out he doesn't have to stay until some weekend in February (good because I wasn't ready for two weeks without him yet, not that I ever really will be).

I don't have any new pictures yet because I am lazy and haven't taken any. I do still plan to make a video tour of the apartment and with Stacy's clever suggestions, I will give you a small tour of my neighborhood too! Thanks to everyone for all of the birthday wishes and gifts, they are all very appreciated. Ben framed some of his pictures for me and put one on a large canvas for the apartment...so beautiful...what a wonderful guy that boy is:)

These are the pics he framed:

This picture is in a frame on its own, it is from Grandma and Grandpa's garden! I love it.

These two he put in a double frame together. Sylvain, you took the one on bottom! I like this one, I need to have a picture of Benny during the week...so cute (have I said that before?)

This is the Oregon coast, taken with Ben's old camera. This one he put on the canvas...wonderful reminder of home! And Grandma Jo!

Ulpan....again

Well, well, well...once again I went to my first day of Ulpan (Hebrew class), but this time it was quite different. I have class from 8:00am to 12:30am Sunday-Thursday now and am very excited and ready to really learn some Hebrew. The teacher is much nicer at this Ulpan and speaks much slower. She lets each person try speaking and she waits for them to finish saying something before correcting. We also do a lot of repetition and practice of the same questions, which I think helps me to learn the words. In the other Ulpan there didn't seem to be any kind of plan or organization, but this time the topics that we cover seem to make sense! It was interesting though as I felt I actually knew the most hebrew in the class! This one is starting much, much slower...but since it is every day that is probably a good thing. Plus, it was nice to understand a bit.

There are 16 of us in the class. We are from the U.S. (2), Georgia (6), Ukraine (1), and Russia (7). Everybody in the class speaks Russian and only the two of us from the U.S. and one person from Russia speak English. It's very weird because I can't understand anything people are saying except when they speak Hebrew! I think it might be easier when we learn a bit more Hebrew so I can communicate with the other students. The other weird thing is that when the teacher says a new word she often translates it into Russian, sometimes I don't even know what language she is speaking! (She does translate to English at times, but so far I haven't needed it...cool).

Overall I think this is going to be a much more rewarding experience, the only disappointment is not having an easy place to meet some people (many of the students are much older and/or don't speak English!), maybe over time, we'll see. Oh, and I am actually the only person who didn't recently make Aliyah (in other words I am the only tourist).


As far as other news, I found the library. It's right next door to the class. I'm pretty excited about that and already checked out a book. Ben left for Army again today, which is always sad for me. But....he left me a friend. Meet Zimmy!

Ok, I know...he's no Maybe, and I was a little concerned at first that it was a bad idea (last time Ben gave me a fish, Aspen ate it). But I have to say, as pathetic as it may be, it's kind of nice to have another living thing in the apartment with me when Ben is gone. He's a bit shy and hides behind the fake plants, but every now and then I see him venture out for an exploration. I'm a little worried that his bowl is too small (he 's a big boy!) so I may need to upgrade soon so he can really go for a swim. I named him zimmy because zim means gill in Hebrew (hehe, maybe that's kind of like naming your dog paws or something, but I like it...and I think he does too).

Happy New Year!

Livin' on the wild side

Well...so much has happened since I last wrote that I don't even know where to start! Last time I wrote I was in Eilat, waiting to move up to Karmiel to the wonderful apartment that we found. Well, things got a little complicated after that. It all started when Ben got a phone message from the landlord in broken English, the only part of which Ben could understand was something about the apartment being closed....closed?! But we were moving in three days! Well..since Ben was on base, and as we well know does not have any free time, I had to call the landlord to figure things out. However, phone Hebrish (a mix of broken Hebrew and broken English) isn't the best way to figure out something like that....so I called a friend. Adi (the daughter of Ben's kibbutz family who is living in Irina's apartment in Beer Sheva) made many phone calls to the landlord (Haim) and found out that he was anxious about having to wait for us to come move and was showing it to another person! Many phone calls later, both from Adi and Ronit (Kibbutz family again) he agreed that if we came very soon and paid all the money for three months upfront, then he would rent it to us. This was Wednesday morning....and was when the real excitement began....

In order to get up there as quickly as possible to reserve the apartment it was going to be very difficult to wait for Ben to come all the way back down to Eilat to drive back up...and he wasn't even going to get off base until Thursday afternoon...plus, the car we reserved wasn't necessarily going to even be available when we needed it. So...instead of waiting, I decided to do something crazy, rent a car and drive all the stuff up to Karmiel myself. In order to save money and avoid having to wait for a large car I bought a bike rack and rented a small car. However, renting the car may very well have been the most complicated part of the whole ordeal...

...The first place I called didn't have any cars at all. The second place did but after figuring out all the details told me they wouldn't rent it to me because I didn't have a credit card. The third (and last) option had the same rule about credit cards but had worked around it for me last time we needed a car. After running out of minutes on my cellphone in the middle of the conversation with the car place, I ran to get more just to call back and find out that they weren't going to help me this time. NO renting to me without a credit card. Hmmmm. This is where Ronit saves the day, actually more than the day, really she saved the whole move to Karmiel! She drove all the way from Kibbutz (about a 40 min drive) to give the car rental place her credit card for the deposit! Wow...what an amazingly generous gesture! She was awesome, and so helpful through all of this.

So, I got the car, took two hours longer than I expected to pack all of our stuff into it (which miraculously fit), assemble the bike rack (which I needed help with so I drove to the bike store again) clean the apartment, return the keys, get air in the tires, and head out of town. It was after 6pm by the time I left Eilat, well after dark. I actually hate night driving and could have left in the morning instead but weighed my options and decided on the lesser of two evils....the dark was preferable to sharing the road with Israeli traffic. Only two wrong turns and six hours later I pulled into the hostel in Akko (the same one I stayed at the previous weekend), breathed a huge sigh of relief and went to bed. Wow...I never ever ever thought I would drive myself across Israel...alone, in the dark.

Anyway...this story has a wonderfully happy ending as we are now comfortably living in our new apartment, cooking with our four burner stove, sitting on our sofa, and sleeping in a different room than the kitchen! Well actually I should say I am doing all of those things as Ben is back on base most of the time. We did have Christmas together, although both of us were sick and we spent most of it just hanging around/sleeping (accept for a nice walk through the big park by our house...it's wonderful!). Oh...and we discovered a family park on the other side of the house that has free mini golf (on green cement), lawn bowling, and ping pong! We plan to test that out soon too.

Anyway, I'm off to the lawyer tomorrow morning to see if they can help me get my work visa figured out and Ben is going to meet me in Tel Aviv for an afternoon in the BIG CITY:) I don't really care what we do on weekends, they are just special because he is around...what different lives we lead right now.

It was nice to Skype with family on Christmas. I hope everyone had a great holiday.

Pictures of the apartment soon (or perhaps another video tour).

Basic Training -by Ben

I've just completed the first half of my basic training with the IDF. If you've never gone through basic training, it's pretty much what you see on TV and in the movies, but I'm doing it in Hebrew. The first few days were almost a joke and it made me second guess what I was even doing there. I started my army experience in Beer Sheva at the Beit Chayal (soldiers' house), where I checked in to wait for the bus that would eventually take us to Tel HaShohmer, the main recruitment base near Tel Aviv. At Tel HaShohmer, we were shuffled through several stations where new recruits got haircuts, shots, uniforms, some basic hygiene items, and a goodie bag filled with treats! I was having second thoughts about army until I got that goodie bag...that let me know they really care. We stayed the whole day on base and most of the time was spent waiting in line.

I got to meet a lot of people from all over the world who all joined for different reasons. Some were as excited as me to be doing this, some totally didn't want to be there. Many immigrants that come to Israel bring their kids, and when it's time for those kids to start their mandatory service they're less than stoked. I think the reason they feel this way is because, as immigrants, they've always had a hard time integrating into society here. They've never really felt Israeli, and when it's time to serve their country they just don't have the motivation.

We went into the building that morning in civilian clothes, and came out in our new uniforms! We also got to see some of the worst jobs you can get in the army. These jobs included the person who puts a mirror in your mouth and takes pictures of your teeth, the guy who pricks your finger and rubs a blood sample on a card, and the guy who takes your fingerprints. They do these jobs ALL DAY LONG for the entirety of their army service. One funny thing that happened during lunch- I sat down randomly at the table (where they told me to sit) and the dude next to me looked oddly familiar. I didn't talk much because our meal was timed, but I heard him talking to another recruit across the table. He mentioned something about his time in Santa Barbara..and it clicked! This guy, Jonathan, was my younger brother's fraternity brother! I had even played a round of beer pong with him at my brother's graduation from UCSB! What are the chances!? I also saw another guy from my kibbutz who started his army service the same day.

The day concluded with an hour and a half bus ride to my base near Karmiel. Upon arrival we were put into our first squads (tzevets, in Hebrew), and were shown our rooms.

The next day we got to know the other people in our tzevets and got to meet our Mefakedette (Commander). All the male tzevets have female mefakedettes, and the female tzevets have male Mefakeds. It was a basic introduction day around the base. They showed us around the base and introduced us to some of the other officers. During this time we were also given formation commands and time limits. Although they weren't very strict about anything. People would move out of formation or talk when they weren't supposed to and the Mefakedettes would just tell them to stop with no form of punishment. Band camp in high school was more challenging than this. Little did I know what the week ahead would bring...

My second week started at the Karmiel bus station where my Tzevet all met to catch the bus to base. One thing we did the week prior was take a Hebrew proficiency test, when we got to base we were again split into new Tzevets based on our Hebrew level. My first Tzevet was really great and it was kind of a bummer to be split up. All of us were on the same page on the importance of treating the Mefakedette with respect and doing things on time. It really was a good group of guys, and when we were placed in our new Tzevet it was obvious everybody else felt the same way. Bad moods all around.

This new Tzevet, Tzevet 5, will be my squad for the next 3 months. There are 11 of us... three from England, two from Uzbekistan, two from Russia, three from the States and one Israeli guy who we've designated the "Gomer Pyle"of our Tzevet. In case you don't know who Gomer Pyle is... Gomer Pyle is the type of individual who truly makes you believe the army will take anybody. He's the kind of person who couldn't pour water out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel, one pork chop short of a mixed grill, a few fries short of a happy meal...

After writing this I had to look up some more idioms... here are some of my favorites-

-His manual drive is stuck in reverse

-While most people drink from the fountain of knowledge, he seems to just be gargling

-He's got a fire going, but the fluke is shut

-He couldn't find his way out of a wet paper bag

-He's knitting with only one needle

-His mouth is in gear, but his brain's in neutral

-He's all crowns and no fillings

-He goes full throttle on a dry tank

-If you gave him a penny for his thoughts, you'd get change

Anyway! It seems as if every Tzevet has a Gomer Pyle of their own and we have to wonder if they set it up this way intentionally. Our's is especially horrible because he's so lazy... makes us all look bad and do push ups.

So far everyday this week has gone something like this-

4:30 am- wake up, and be in formation in 30 minutes

5:00 - "Sport" running, pushups, sit-ups and stretching

6:00 - Back in formation in uniform then going over our drills and commands

7:00- Breakfast, we've got 9min 50sec to shovel as much food in as we can. The food isn't bad, but it sucks having to eat that fast

7:10- 20 minute break

7:30 - weapons training

8:30- raising the flag and national anthem

9:00 - cleaning dorms and bathroom

10:00 - drills

10:30 - classroom training

11:30 -drills again

12:00- lunch and break

12:30- running and exercise (it sucks and some people can't hold their food in)

2:00- learning something new and combining it with what we've learned so far... along with drills

6:00 p.m.- Dinner and break

6:30 -drills

7:00 - more training

9:00- PUNISHMENTS!!! (Mefakedette takes notes of our mistakes throughout the day and we pay for them with sprints...pushups...and planks

10:00- 1 hour of free time to shower, shave, brush teeth, clean boots, prepare for the next day, and it's my only time to call Lauren

11:00 - outside dorms and back in formation dressed in P.J.'s

11:30- Lights out! Rinse and repeat the next morning

I'm also required to have my rifle and water bottle with me at all times. My M16 rifle weighs about 6 and a half pounds and stays around my neck ALL THE TIME. I'm required to shower with it and dress with it ON. The only time it comes off is when I go to bed and then it stays under my pillow. Failure to comply means pushups or even not being able to go home on the weekends. It may seem harsh, but I think it's a good thing to be this anal about weapon safety. Also, EVERYTHING is in Hebrew. Our Mefakedettes and other officers will not speak to us in any other language. It's tough but I'm having a good time.

My least favorite things so far is having to carry the gun everywhere, the short eating time, and sleep depravation. I'd have to say my absolute favorite thing is when something happens that makes our Mefakedette smile or laugh and she kind of turns into a real person. Then we all start laughing and the pressure melts away a bit. The rest of the time she keeps a straight face and is a total bitch. But really, she's just a 20-22 year old girl. I'm also the oldest in Tzevet 5. There's another dude, David, from L.A. who's also 26. But the average age of the new recruits is 22. There's a lot of running involved and I do what I can with my leg. They're very fair about me not running as much as the other guys as long as I put in 110%. And they're very happy to make up my running with extra pushups and sit ups. Daniel, from England, has estimated about 400 push ups total this week by his count. O.K. I've written enough for one night, I'll try to continue next week...

Life takes a turn

Well, Ben had his appointment with the Army last Sunday, where he was given his profile score and told he would start Army on Wednesday....surprise! We knew this was a possibility, but didn't really think it would happen. Needless to say, my first day of volunteering at the school in Eilat quickly turned into my last. We spent Monday and Tuesday packing up the apartment and getting Ben supplies. We headed up to Beer Sheva Tuesday night and off he went Wednesday morning! No time to even think.

Considering Ben's current base is in the far north of Israel and Eilat is the farthest south you can get, I didn't even need to think to decide that I would move closer. So when Ben took off Wednesday morning I did too. I decided to stay in Akko at a hostel so that I could look for a place to live in Nahariya or Karmiel, both of which have Ulpan classes that are affordable and begin within the next month.

It took me two buses, the train, and a taxi to get from Beer Sheva to Akko and this time my solo travel day went very smoothly! I headed right into Nahariya to look at an apartment. The first one turned out to be a dark, smoke-filled cave without furniture. However, the most wonderful think happened after I looked at the aparment. I was headed back to the center of town on foot, in search of an internet cafe so that I could look up more apartments for rent, when I came across a purse that I liked hanging outside a store front. It was cheap, cheaper than I had seen elsewhere for the same type of bag. I passed by and then turned around when I decided it was at least worth asking about. The store didn't have anyone in it and was actually more of an office filled with bags than a store. I called up the stairs, "shalom!" to see if anyone was there. A man came down (spoke English thank goodness) and told me that they make the bags in Nahariya and I was basically at the factory office, which is why the bag was so cheap. So...I got a nice, inexpensive bag, but that's just the beginning of what I got....by the end of the day, I had met three other people who worked in the window factory behind the bag store, used their internet to look up apartments, drank the tea that they made me, had the assistance of their son Sagiv to translate the websites and call apartments with me, been treated to falafel for dinner, invited for Shabbat dinner, and driven to the bus station! It was amazing, some of the kindest and most eager to help people I have ever met! I went back to the hostel feeling very pleased with my day even though I had not found anywhere to live....I had traveled the entire country on my own and met some wonderful friends. (I didn't end up going to Shabbat dinner, but it was a crazy weekend).

Since Ben is still officially living in Eilat, which is very far from base, he got off early and joined me in Nahariya on Thurday (one night apart was enough for me anyway!). I took him to meet my new friends, where we bought him a big bag for army and he was introduced to their immense kindness! We didn't have any luck with the apartment search however.

Over the course of the weekend we did end up finding an apartment (really the last option on my list!) in Karmiel. It is wonderful! It is affordable, has two rooms, an oven/stove, and lots of light! AND...it is right across the street from a gorgeous, huge park! As soon as I have pictures of it I will post them. Karmiel is a very beautiful city in the northern mountains of Israel and it is only 20 minutes from Ben's base. I am excited to explore the city when I move up there. Currently, I am back in Eilat for the week, getting a few things finalized and waiting for Ben to come down on Thursday or Friday so that we can rent a van and move everything up to Karmiel. We do need to find a sofa and table/chairs for the livingroom/kitchen but I don't think it should be too difficult to find some used furniture.

I don't have any pictures of the apartment or Karmiel, but for those who have not yet seen, I do have some pictures of Solider Ben. And yes, maybe it is typical for a girlfriend to think this, but I can't help it...he is SO handsome in his uniform!

Work Visa Update:

No good news on this topic, never is. I called a lawyer today to see what they might suggest. Although I made an appointment to meet with them next Thursday in Tel Aviv, I am not sure what they can do for me. They even told me that it is all up to the Misrad Hapnim (Ministry of Interior). They said to try to get a new apostille that looks like what the Misrad Hapnim is asking for...I'm not even sure if that is possible, but I did email the woman who signed the documents to see what she says about it. Perhaps I will end up going to the appointment, but they better be able to help for 800 shekel! Goodness they make it hard to get things done here (especially now that coming down for an appointment takes 8 hours! Oh well, I'm still trying!

I'll post pictures of our new home next week!

This map shows the Western Galilee area up close and the star on the map below it shows where Karmiel is in relation to the rest of the country. Ben's base is about 20 km east of Karmiel.

The rest of the Haifa Trip

Sunday was the best, we got together with Hadas. If you don't know, Hadas and I were attached at the hip when we were young....as mom reminded me we were even planning to get married when we got older;) Her father lives in Israel and she came to visit so we were able to see one another. It was weird because she used to come here during the summers and I would imagine what it was like and then here we were in Israel together! It was so nice to see her and to see her dad Yossi.

Ben headed back to Beer Sheva in the afternoon and I stayed overnight with Hadas. We went into Tel Aviv the next day and even though we didn't have a lot of time it was really wonderful just being with her again. She is one of those people that no matter how long it has been since you have seen her, you still feel like old friends. One of those special friends that you can truly be yourself with. It was a great weekend.

I had my first experience traveling on my own in Israel that weekend as well. I left Hadas and got on the bus to the train station where I was to take the train to Beer Sheva and then the bus with Ben back to Eilat. However, it didn't work out that way. I got a bit confused on the bus when they didn't announce any of the stops and I didn't see the train station anywhere. Finally I asked someone where the train station was, but by that time I was in Ramat Gan (the next city over!). I got off immediately although by that time I had already missed the train that would get me to Beer Sheva for the bus on time (the next bus wouldn't be until 1 am). So instead I thought I would try something else and got on another bus to the Central Bus Station...my luck turned and I got there just in time to catch a bus all the way to Eilat. Ben took an earlier bus from Beer Sheva and all was fine. As it turned out I ended up on the same bus that I was going to take from Beer Sheva! So much for a smooth trip, but I stayed calm and it all worked out:)

Here is a picture of Hadas and I on Kibbutz Usha where her dad lives. We are in the grapefruit orchards in the picture and soon after we headed to the avocado orchards....yummy walk around the Kibbutz.