I won a bicycle!!
So now, a bit about the weekend. I promise I’ll get to the title in a second.
I arrived at my new foster parents' home on Friday in the morning. There are three kids in the family, the oldest is a girl named Yarden that is 18, the middle child is a boy named Tomer who is 13, and the youngest is a 7 year old girl named Sivon.
When I got home only their dad and Yarden were home. I spoke with them for a bit and later the mom and two other kids came home. Their youngest daughter was so cute! The first thing she did was ask her mom to have me ask her what her name was because that was all the English she knew. It was really adorable; I can’t wait until I learn a little more Hebrew so I can talk to her. Continued...
Dinner is really late in the country so around 8pm we sat down for a BBQ. They invited some of their family friends from the Moshav and we ate the most delicious meal. Seriously all I’ve been eating is hummus and pita and the occasional falafel (but they haven’t been the kindest to my digestion track) so having a spread of tons of shish kabobs, salads, pasta dishes, and other Middle Eastern bread toppings. Sooo good. Afterwards two of their family friends who were my age took me out. We left their house at 11ish and went bowling. At the beginning we filled out raffle tickets for a bike, but I really didn’t think anything of it. After bowling the worst game in the history of bowling and then two more just as bad, we were about to leave the alley, when one of the workers suggested we stay for the raffle. Really not a bad idea.. because I won!! They pulled my card out of the box and were like – Gess? Gehss? I respond – Jess? Because no one seems to be able to pronounce my name in this country. Can you imagine a land with out the J sound?
It was amazing! They brought out my new bike and it was really sweet. It had these big old shocks and looked pretty expensive. Then they got out a camera and took a picture of me for the paper!! The whole thing was incredible and now I have a bike to get around Be’er Sheva with! … I still can’t believe I won a bike ☺
Okay well on with the night (because apparently nights don’t end here like they do in the States, the bars don’t close at 2 or ever I think and the people stay out til like 4 or 5 in the morning!!). After bowling and my fabulous exit – I rode my new bike around the mall and out the door. We got coffee and desserts at this nice restaurant. Israel is famous for this hot chocolate cake, which is chocolate cake with hot cocoa over it and scoops of ice cream. Pretty much the most delicious thing on the planet. After much conversing and tasty eating I really had to call it a night – I don’t think I’ll ever be a rock star night owl like these Israelis.
At home, one of the girls named Kineret took me on a night tour of the Moshav, by bike of course! It was really amazing how safe it felt to bike around there at night. I remember biking home from work around 11 back in Eugene and my heart would be racing the whole time from fear of someone knocking me off my bike or something. This fear is non-existent here. That is my favorate part about this place.
On Saturday I spent most of the day with my new friends and had a late lunch with them before returning to my host family’s home. I watched some famous Israeli television programs, I’m sure you all have heard of it – The Bachelor, The Biggest Loser, The Great Race, and The OC. Then had dinner with my host family and took off back for Be’er Sheva. The whole weekend was wonderful and it was amazing to feel so welcome in someone else’s home.
I arrived at my new foster parents' home on Friday in the morning. There are three kids in the family, the oldest is a girl named Yarden that is 18, the middle child is a boy named Tomer who is 13, and the youngest is a 7 year old girl named Sivon.
When I got home only their dad and Yarden were home. I spoke with them for a bit and later the mom and two other kids came home. Their youngest daughter was so cute! The first thing she did was ask her mom to have me ask her what her name was because that was all the English she knew. It was really adorable; I can’t wait until I learn a little more Hebrew so I can talk to her. Continued...
Dinner is really late in the country so around 8pm we sat down for a BBQ. They invited some of their family friends from the Moshav and we ate the most delicious meal. Seriously all I’ve been eating is hummus and pita and the occasional falafel (but they haven’t been the kindest to my digestion track) so having a spread of tons of shish kabobs, salads, pasta dishes, and other Middle Eastern bread toppings. Sooo good. Afterwards two of their family friends who were my age took me out. We left their house at 11ish and went bowling. At the beginning we filled out raffle tickets for a bike, but I really didn’t think anything of it. After bowling the worst game in the history of bowling and then two more just as bad, we were about to leave the alley, when one of the workers suggested we stay for the raffle. Really not a bad idea.. because I won!! They pulled my card out of the box and were like – Gess? Gehss? I respond – Jess? Because no one seems to be able to pronounce my name in this country. Can you imagine a land with out the J sound?
It was amazing! They brought out my new bike and it was really sweet. It had these big old shocks and looked pretty expensive. Then they got out a camera and took a picture of me for the paper!! The whole thing was incredible and now I have a bike to get around Be’er Sheva with! … I still can’t believe I won a bike ☺
Okay well on with the night (because apparently nights don’t end here like they do in the States, the bars don’t close at 2 or ever I think and the people stay out til like 4 or 5 in the morning!!). After bowling and my fabulous exit – I rode my new bike around the mall and out the door. We got coffee and desserts at this nice restaurant. Israel is famous for this hot chocolate cake, which is chocolate cake with hot cocoa over it and scoops of ice cream. Pretty much the most delicious thing on the planet. After much conversing and tasty eating I really had to call it a night – I don’t think I’ll ever be a rock star night owl like these Israelis.
At home, one of the girls named Kineret took me on a night tour of the Moshav, by bike of course! It was really amazing how safe it felt to bike around there at night. I remember biking home from work around 11 back in Eugene and my heart would be racing the whole time from fear of someone knocking me off my bike or something. This fear is non-existent here. That is my favorate part about this place.
On Saturday I spent most of the day with my new friends and had a late lunch with them before returning to my host family’s home. I watched some famous Israeli television programs, I’m sure you all have heard of it – The Bachelor, The Biggest Loser, The Great Race, and The OC. Then had dinner with my host family and took off back for Be’er Sheva. The whole weekend was wonderful and it was amazing to feel so welcome in someone else’s home.
posted by JessMauer at 12:00 AM
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