Ella’s Israel

We landed in Israel at night and were met by Oved, Meital, Matan, Noa, and Moti. Then, at the much-made request given by Aba and Troy, we went out, at almost midnight by then, to eat Sabich and Moti and Ronit’s local sabich stand. First of all, it was delicious. Second of all, Aba and Troy are insane! We went to Savta’s house after that and met Savta, Ronit, and the sausage (Tuco).

As usual, they were all very excited to see us (except for Tuco), but we went to sleep soon after. Savta’s operation was the next day. She had stones in her gallbladder that had been causing her immense pain for a while, leading up to the surgery. The surgery itself was very simple, but the anesthesia was why we were all a bit worried. However, she did better than fine! After staying overnight, she was released from the hospital that morning instead of in the evening as planned.

In fact, that very same day we even ate out at Hendal’e! The same day!

She is still doing terrifically with her recovery. Later, we went to see Toy Story 4 with Noam and his mom, Susan, though she didn’t stay for the movie. Noam had already seen it, but had fun anyway. After lunch, we saw the movie, and I have to say my first impression was good. I liked it a lot while watching, which I think is a big plus, but in retrospect, I think the original three were much better. The scores on Rotten Tomatoes from 1-4 go like this, so not bad!; 100%, 100%, 98%, and 98%.

The next day we saw another much-dreaded/hoped-for movie; the live-action remake of The Lion King.

After the disaster that was Aladdin, our hopes weren’t high, but even they were grieved. I’m not going to go into it, because if I did, this post would become a VEHEMENT RAVE OF ANGER AND OUTCRY AGAINST EVERY ONE OF THE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE. Grrrrrrr. Let that be enough… Okay, no. They shortened Be Prepared and changed the lyrics! I know, I have them memorized!! They ruined it! Not to mention the fact of the lions’ eye colors! They changed in every scene!; blue-green-brown-yellow. They’re supposed to be gold! Gold! How hard can that be??!!!!!! We saw this atrocity with Oved, his kids, their great-aunt Bobby, and Savta. Now, onto a good example of film: Chernobyl. We finished it fairly quickly, so I’m happy to say that I liked it a lot and highly recommend it. Later, we went to Aba’s friends Michal and Uri’s house. There I talked and played with their four kids, Ella, ____, ____, and Omri. Omri was very sweet and showed us the bats in their yard while we petted and talked about their dog, Vanilla. Either he was extremely lovable or I just really needed my dose of ‘little kid’… Speaking of sweet, aside from the bread, ____ made that evening’s dessert; crème brûlée! She’s only 11½, but she obviously feels at home in the kitchen. She, Omri, and I engaged in a tickle war after dinner (which I, of course, won) among other things, but this was when my voice broke. After a day of singing opera with Tamar, squealing with Omri, and allergies, my voice became very deep, gravelly, and sore. Thankfully, it reclaimed its normal pitch in the morning. Speaking of my opera, it had become my routine to stop at the juicing store on the way back to Savta’s house. To the girl who worked there I am now a regular, and she calls me “Chamudah”, or Cutie. Later, we had to do math homework. Why, Aba, why?! It wasn’t just 15 minutes like you said! Hours! I was relieved by Leor and his kind heart. After hearing me talk about my desire to learn to read and write in Hebrew, he’s bought me some books to help me learn. I really am planning on using them, so thank you, Leor! He even gave me a mini run-down lesson! That night, we went to Ronit’s house to celebrate three birthdays; Moti’s, Oved’s, and Oran’s. That’s right, Oran and Ria came!! Yay! Bobby, Shula, and even Arieli’s boyfriend Jonathan came! That was fun because we sort of got to interrogate him while embarrassing Arieli at the same time. Score! Sadly, though, Imri couldn’t come. First Meital, Asher and I and then Meital, Asher, Noa, Ria, and I went downstairs, the old playroom-turned-bedroom, which evoked a heavy flood of reminisces about the room, our old house, Savta’s old house, and Saba. It was really nice…

Our next big get-together was Matan’s going-to-the-army party. It was at Oved and Michele’s house and we ate and played as usual. Michele, though, made us each write Matan a letter with our wishes and/or regards, etc. It was fun. We also finally took Troy up to Meital’s room/One Direction/Harry Shrine, so that was interesting. Throughout the party, Chloe was obsessed with being around me, seemingly because I am the only person who would let her lick their face. Therefore, Chloe loves me! My face was so caked with saliva, though.

Later, we went to an escape room with Oved and the kids. Though we still had a lot of fun, I think it was my least favorite room ever. It was difficult in a not-fun way and there was no relish or relief to winning. You just won. Regardless, though, we still really enjoyed ourselves.

Yesterday, Ronit and I went to a private lesson with Shiri at her store, Made By Hand. I haven’t written about her this year, but I’ve done crafty classes with Shiri quite a few times in the past. Ronit came with me this time, and we had a lot of fun. We each made a backpack, sewing, cutting, pulling, and everything involved, even hammering! In addition to getting a bag that we will probably each use, we had a lot of fun talking and I got to help Ronit learn how to use a sewing machine. After we finished, Aba called us and said we HAD to come to the mall to see an amazing dress. All through the drive there, he was constantly calling and texting us to rave about the dress. When we parked and got inside the mall, I saw a beautiful dress and thought I would tell Aba about it, since we were shopping anyway. After meeting Aba with, coincidentally, Oved and Michele eating a colonoscopy-victory lunch, Ronit said she had to head back. We passed one store and she didn’t. She ended up coming with us on our shopping spree, where we bought many shirts, pants, and Aba’s dress. Whad’ya know?! The dress that had caught my eye ended up being the very same one that had caught his. We got it in blue instead of the pink in the window. Actually, we bought so much that Savta practically demanded a Fashion Show, and I obliged. Today was our last day in Israel and on our trip. In the afternoon, I had my opera lesson with Tamar. We sang Lascia Chio Pianga, Tzipor Shnya, and O Mio Babbino Caro, talked, and laughed. Tamar is truly an amazing teacher, but she is now also my good friend. Before I left, she gave me a miniature copy of a painting of hers that I told her I liked, for she is also an artist <3. Arieli came afterward and we all took Savta to Hendal’e. After eating, Asher and I petted a cat while Ariel looked on, disgusted and horrified!

We got back and went shopping, for Ariel and I had decided to make dessert together! When everyone else came; Oved, Michelle, Matan, Meital, Noa, Ronit, and even Imri (!), we played and talked and had a great time. I was very glad to see Imri, as we had not seen him at all this trip.

Even though we’ll come back in December/January, I’m still sad to leave the family. I had a wonderful time and just want to thank everyone for everything.

P.S
I forgot to write about a fun breakfast we had alone with Oran,