Sherman Party in Israel!

all photos in this post by Jonathan David Sherman

Two hundred and sixty five days away from the Shermans is not easy. Since October in Madrid I had not seen my parents and I hadn't Leora and Paul since September. Their visit to Israel was wonderful! The timing worked out perfectly--Leora and Paul were on spring break from high school, and I was on Pesach break from TAU. They arrived the day before Pesach started, so we had time to eat some rugallah and other hametz before it was not allowed. We spent the first few days of the trip in Tel Aviv, taking long walks down the tayelet, exploring the shuk, showing my parents around the university, taking Leora out for a drink, and watching our cousin Eilam's handball game. The Pesach seder was awesome. Every year we say, "next year in Jerusalem," and we were finally here in Israel all together! We had the seder at Bela and Eser's house in Rishon LeTzion with most of our cousins that live in Israel. I've always wanted to have Pesach here, and it definitely lived up to what I imagined. Bela made delicious food, the kids sang the four questions extremely cute-ly, and I even learned about a ransom tradition Israelis have in order to get the afikomen prize.

showing Tiny some love

After the few days in Tel Aviv, the five of us flew down to Eilat. This was so much easier and than the crowded five hour bus I took last time, and it was a beautiful flight over what looked like a map of Israel. We had a relaxing first day on the beach. Leora, Mom and I went kayaking and Dad and Paul went jet skiing! The next day we were picked up very early by a jeep man to take us to the Israeli-Jordanian border to begin our trip to Petra. After the organized Israeli side, we crossed into a balagan-we didn't know exactly who to give our passports to on the other side, and once we trusted a random Jordanian man with our entire group's passports, he walked away with them and didn't return for what felt like hours. He told us to go into the store and buy things while we wait. Well, he eventually returned and after waiting for the wandering members of our group to return to our spot we got onto a bus with a Jordanian tour guide. I thought I went deaf on the drive to Petra because the tour guide was screaming into the microphone about hotels the entire time, but we made it. Although my parents bought five 60 dollar tickets to Petra for our family, the tour guide wouldn't give Paul a ticket, as he said he didn't need one to get in. (They did not get their money back for Paul's ticket.) There was a large map of the middle east next to the entrance to Petra. Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and many cities within their countries were proudly written in bold letters. I was confused when I was unable to find the country in which I live now on the map, and I thought maybe it might be in smaller letters. I squinted and walked closer to the map. No, Israel was not written anywhere on this map. I was shuffled along and forced to put this uncomfortable situation behind me...we had exploring to do. It was a cool walk into the forgotten city, and the tour guide had some nice facts to tell us about the rocks. We saw amazing heiroglyphics, big old buildings, and lots of Bedouins. Paul went on a camel ride in a small circle. Later, Paul and I rode donkeys--his was named Michael Jackson. I fell off my donkey near the end of the ride. It was an interesting trip to see such a drastically different city from Eilat although they are distance-wise so close to each other, and it was fun to be there with the Shermans.

The following day we flew back to Tel Aviv and while Dad, Leora and Paul went straight to Jerusalem in a cab, Mom and I stopped in my apartment to put down the Eilat clothes and grab some things for Jerusalem. She and I took the student route to J-ru: a bus from my apartment to the bus station, and the 480 bus to Jerusalem! It was crowded and smelly, like usual. We had some nice people watching and eavesdropping time in the short 45-minute drive up to J town. We met the rest of the fam at our hotel, and enjoyed our time walking around the old city, visiting the kotel, exploring the shuk, sitting by the pool in our hotel, and visiting with old friends. Great planning by Fran--it was a whirlwind of a trip, but we spent enough time in so many places around Israel. It was so nice to be with all my family, and I hope we can return to Israel together soon.


Side note: Mazal tov to Leora Sarah for her acceptance to Washington University in St Louis!!