Nights are becoming cooler but midday is still hot and humid. To us it is a continuation of a long summer and I enjoy wearing white weeks after Labor Day. (It is an American tradition to wear white shoes and clothes only during summer crowned between the Memorial and Labor Days) But October here is so warm and clean that white reflective linen, cotton and silk are still the most comfortable materials. Unlike me, some fashionable locals are already using this small drop in the temperatures (around 80 F now) to switch sandals to high ankle boots.
Mediterranean sea here is a privilege. It is so pleasantly and surprisingly warm (after Atlantic and Pacific oceans), beaches are clean, sandy and shallow. However waves are always dangerously high allowing for dipping, jumping, surfing, boogie-boarding but not swimming. We are lucky to live just 10 mins away but given that the country is narrowly stretched along the sea, you can get to the beach in 1 hour from almost any location. We still fantasize about the beach more than we go there. Routine daily life is expectantly hectic and most of the Israelis have to challenge themselves to get to the beaches more often.
Kids are finally happily go to and from school yet still think and talk about their American friends more than about their local buddies. Just today Naor mentioned that if we end up going back to the US, he would like us to live in the Boston area. Nadia attended her first class birthday party, after a lot of encouragement. She really enjoyed it and we all learned a few rules of Israeli etiquette:
Mediterranean sea here is a privilege. It is so pleasantly and surprisingly warm (after Atlantic and Pacific oceans), beaches are clean, sandy and shallow. However waves are always dangerously high allowing for dipping, jumping, surfing, boogie-boarding but not swimming. We are lucky to live just 10 mins away but given that the country is narrowly stretched along the sea, you can get to the beach in 1 hour from almost any location. We still fantasize about the beach more than we go there. Routine daily life is expectantly hectic and most of the Israelis have to challenge themselves to get to the beaches more often.
Kids are finally happily go to and from school yet still think and talk about their American friends more than about their local buddies. Just today Naor mentioned that if we end up going back to the US, he would like us to live in the Boston area. Nadia attended her first class birthday party, after a lot of encouragement. She really enjoyed it and we all learned a few rules of Israeli etiquette:
- Everyone was invited and everyone came (30 or 40 kids!) No RSVP was required.
- Party was on a school day, at 5pm, in the park. Almost everyone showered and changed from the school uniform to a fancy clothing. We didn't...
- There was a store-ordered pizza and home-made chocolate cake. You heard it: home-made! I love home-made cakes and cupcakes and we usually made them in the US for small home birthday parties but I do not recollect any large scale event for 20+ kids or adults than didn't have store-bought sheet cake with a disgusting colorful frosting. I should start practicing making chocolate cakes for my kids' birthdays in April.
- Another surprise: no goody bags.
We invited a family from Naor's class for Friday night dinner and at the end of the dinner, after a few beers, the father admitted that he realized we spend a lot of time abroad when the dinner invitation arrived via email two weeks in advance (instead of a casual phone call or instant message a day before) and the invitation was for Friday night - time customary set aside for family gatherings. Saturday lunch or dinner turns out to be more appropriate for non-family friends.
"Another surprise: no goody bags. " -- yay!! Those are ridiculous. We did away with ours starting with our daughter's 10th bday, but should have done it earlier...
ReplyDeleteAnd as far as the Friday night dinner -- yes, Friday night is def. Family Night. Learned that from my Israeli friends, also. :-)
Sounds like things are starting to get a bit easier, and everyone is feeling a bit more "in place"...
I agree with you about the goody bags. Not even sure where this tradition came from. Perhaps fashionable Hollywood parties where merchandisers are trying to push they goodies to be used by celebrities. It seems that even 2 year old is capable of understanding that he/she is celebrating someone else's bd and the birthday person should be receiving gifts and not the other way around.
ReplyDeleteApparently no goody bags is not a tradition here. One Israeli mom told me that they are being handed out on many of the bd parties.