Israel!

I'm in Israel! I take back all my airport fears...they are super easy to navigate. After two flights, one ocean, and about 14 hours I safely made it to Tel Aviv where my dad's cousin, Avi, picked me up to drive me to his home in Herzliya. He and his wife are incredibly nice, as are their children. They have a daughter, Ronit, who is 20 and a son, Eyal, who is 27. They have an older son too but he doesn't live at home. They also have a very fluffy dog named Snowy who looks like she'd be a bit better suited for Maine's climate. Between jet lag and homesickness I didn't do much after arriving. I went to bed at 7 and slept until 10 this morning so I'm successfully on Israel time.

Most of today was spent alongside the Mediterranean in gorgeous weather. It's so bright and warm here! In the morning Miri (Avi's wife) took me to the marina on the other side of town. Sooo many boats. We also explored the mall for a little while before heading home. Ronit's friend came over and we all ate lunch together. Then I went out with Ronit and her friend to a different part of the coastline. Here we were on cliffs overlooking the sea. It was so incredibly beautiful. I wish I got to live so close to such lovely places.

Tomorrow Avi has taken the day off work and we are going exploring in either Jereusalem or up north (my choice). I will probably spend the rest of the week here in Herzliya before going to volunteer at my first farm in Tivon, which is just outside of Haifa and I've been told a beautiful place. I got in touch with them today and am expecting a call back later this afternoon to finalize what day I should come. That's all I can write for now because I'm on Avi's iPad and don't want to kill it, but there's sure to be more to come!