I have not peeked at this blog since early November. I haven't thought about it, gone to write in it, or opened it in just under four months. As most of you know, there were just other things in Israel to keep me occupied...
I returned to the States on January 7, 2011, and was thrown right smack-dab into the season where it snows every week at least once, and people frown at their broken mail boxes and the bungi-cords that hold them together. Though it was painful, I quickly adapted to having a shovel in the back seat of my car at all times, and re-learned to hesitate in locking my car doors for fear they might freeze shut overnight. It was cold. That is the only word to describe it. Cold.
The sun is starting to come out in Massachusetts now. The snow, at least on this side of the street, is mostly melted and a sad excuse for grass is peeking it's way through. Still, the ground is hard and the wind is murderous. My feet, clad in their Uggs and Israeli flats are inching to get out into some flips flops, but still, as my friends in Israel are already at Palmahim, it's not time. I would kill for the sea right now.
It's strange to say, but I miss Ramla. Living across the street from a bakery, shawarma shop, and a vegetable man had it's perks. Knowing that I will not be able to walk everywhere even when the weather turns for good here, makes me sad, and really gives me an insight about how true the size difference is between where I lived in Israel and where I live now (and of course, between Israel and the United States itself). What's stranger, I miss public transportation (never thought I would say that!). I made a good friend in the man who drove me to and from Ramla late at night on Saturdays.
I started my Israel experience in 2006, and I think I have almost come full circle now. Anytime I arrived back in the States, my first stop was at the computer to research cheap, fast ways to get back to Israel. I'm past that now... Now, it's not about a program. It's just about buying the ticket.
If you haven't done Birthright aleady, do it. It's free, and it's just the beginning.
