On Saturday, we hung out at home, resting and getting ready for the family party that began at 11:30 a.m. Altogether we had 40 family members here for a lunch jam packed with delicious food. We had one dog, Jessica - how's that for an Israeli name? - two babies, one toddler and one six year old. Then one thirteen year old and one fifteen year old. So there were lots of new family members whom Ben had never met. We had two families represented; most were from Ben's dad's side of he family, but then Ben's Mom's brother, his wife, their two children, spouses and children were all there. So some of the two families got to meet each other for the first time. All in all, Ben's arrival created lots of mixing and matching of families. The languages were Hebrew, English, Spanish, and French. Ben made a very nice speech which his second cousin translated into Hebrew as well.
We ate very well, had wonderful, interesting conversations and had a great time. Everyone left by about 4:00, and we rested before going out on the town a bit with Avi, Ben's second cousin who is Kristin's age group. We saw a different side of Tel Aviv that was quite pleasant.
Sunday morning we were up bright and early to take Kristin to her flight. Sunday is the first day of the work week here, and so we had to face quite a bit of traffic. We made decent time and got to the airport at 8:10 only to find that her flight had been delayed until 1:00 p.m. So we hung out a bit before saying good bye to Kristin.
Then Ben and I drove back into north Tel Aviv where we went to Tel Aviv University - very nice and big - and the Diaspora Museum. It was pretty interesting, except that the history of the diaspora that I was seeking was on the third floor!
Then we walked to the Ramat Aviv Shopping Mall for lunch and visiting. Finally I have found a very, very nice shopping mall in Israel. We then drove back to Raquel's home for rest and packing, only to find that our flight has been changed and our return home delayed.
The trip has been wonderful and it will soon be over. We hope that you all enjoyed the experience with us.
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