Gone Visiting!

Well, the holiday of Sukkot is here, and that means several things:
1. (some) neighbors build their sukkahs right after Yom Kippur, arguing and pounding until way too late, since they are tired and cranky from fasting. That would be our neighbors right outside our window...
2. People decorate their sukkahs like crazy. I am hoping to take photos of all the different sukkah I see in Israel and post them in a week or so.
3. Israelis travel, since kids have the whole week off of school, and many people have shortened or no work days.

So, being Israeli and all, we travelled! We rented a car and drove a little over an hour north to the town of Ra'anana to visit my college friend Weiner and her husband Seth. (She's called Ilene here, by the way, but college habits are hard to break...) We spent two nights at their house with their five children, and I have to say that we and the kids loved it! The house was completely childproof, with just about every interesting toy and book known to humankind, plus we were so well fed I gained an entire kilogram over two days I think.

Their youngest daughter Ellior (4 & 1/2 yrs) took in Silvie and Miriam, who followed her around the house day and night. (One morning, the girls got up, wandered downstairs and I found them in Ellior's room dressed as a ballerina and a princess, with Ellior looking for additional garb!)

After that, we traveled another hour and a half south to visit my first cousin Barbie and her husband Yossi and their three kids Karen, Oren and Limor. They have a comfy, wonderful house and welcomed us completely. Yossi is a tremendously talented cook, and we hung around chatting, taking walks, and relaxing. We had dinner in Yossi's mother's sukkah the first evening with about a bazillion of Yossi's cousins (he is one of ten) and the kids also had a blast.

On Saturday, we drove to a Nabotean town, Mamshit, near Dimona, to visit the archaeological ruins. There was also a small shuk, a market (bedouin), that was held especially during Sukkot, but was not of a very high quality.

The town of Mamshit was built in the first century CE, and it is one of six towns on the Petra-Gaza spice route. It was essentially abandoned in the sixth century CE, and remained preserved in the Negev Desert until it was rediscovered by Westerners. It was really cool to see the baths, the "mansion" that they think was an archival building, the mosaic floor of a church, and others. And the views from there into the canyon alongside it were breathtaking. Here are some photos:






That's my cousin Barbie in the "solo" picture -- she's been extremely helpful with all my "Israel questions" and generally welcoming me here. I have to say, it IS NICE TO HAVE FAMILY! AND OLD FRIENDS!

Here are the last two photos:

At Mamshit, sitting in the "church"



Cousins Karen (left) and Limor (right) with Silvie and Miriam. Oren, sadly, missed the photo shoot. Another time...



We left Sunday morning to return to Jerusalem. We really enjoyed our stay with friends and family. I returned relaxed, refreshed, and happy. I think the rest of the family enjoyed our trip as well!

This was written by Debra, and posted by Aaron.