Thanksgiving is definitely not the same in Israel as it is in America--I'm sure that is shocking to hear! First of all, it is hard to find a whole turkey because most people don't buy them since they don't generally fit in Israeli ovens. It is also hard to find cornmeal, an essential ingredient for corn bread, which is apparently an essential ingredient for stuffing, at least the stuffing that Sarah makes that David insisted that I make too. After buying cornflour at the supermarket and then realizing that it is not the right texture or color, I had David ask at that fancy cooking store near his office and they said to go to a health food store. I found some there, and while I was checking out, the woman in line behind me asked what one makes with cornmeal. I said cornbread, for Thanksgiving. She and the check-out girl both looked at me surprised and the check-out girl said "wait, you aren't Jewish?" Apparently Israelis think it's really weird that Americans celebrate such a goyish holiday as Thanksgiving. I should have told her that right after Thanksgiving I'm going to go get my Christmas Tree!
Judah, Karen and Ayelet came for Thanksgiving dinner. We ended up having the guy at Kababa (a restaurant with an American owner who David has befriended) make us turkey legs that David picked up right before we ate. I made Sarah's stuffing (that came out excellent if I do say so myself), cranberry sauce that was really gooseberry sauce but tasted pretty much the same and Karen made sweet potatoes and apple pie. The food was great and we had fun. Abby, Jonny and Jake stopped by and David was happy because Jonny showed him how to get the live football games on the computer so Thanksgiving day was complete.
The Levines slept over and unfortunately Ayelet didn't get her wish of having a bath with Simon and Eli. She had to settle for just Eli because for some reason Simon refused to go in with her. They did have fun together anyway, especially jumping on the air mattress in the morning.
In the morning, Judah and David went for a bike ride and came back way later than they were supposed to (Karen--do you like how I got that in there?) and then we started the drive up to the Golan. We went to Gan Garoo which is an amazing kangaroo park where you can touch and feed the kangaroos. Eli was afraid of them and refused to be put down or touch the kangaroos. He was happy to eat the carrots that we brought to feed the kangaroos. Ayelet and Simon fed the kangaroos and chased them around. We saw some other animals too--koalas and a cassouary and some swans.
From there, we went to Sachne which is a really beautiful park that has hot springs that you can swim in all year round. We hadn't brought bathing suits so we didn't swim, but we walked around for a few minutes (making sure not to appreciate the view because we go out of paying the 60 shekel admission fee by saying we were just going to the restaurant so we were told that we weren't allowed to enjoy the rest of the park). We went to a great restaurant and had yummy food for lunch. Then Simon threw a HUGE fit when David went to get the car without him.
We then had about an hour drive from there up to Natur, where Mic and Ayla live. It is beautiful there and we had a great time. The two caravans on either side of them were both empty, so we all had enough space. I think the theme of the weekend might have been throw-up because last night Ayelet choked on something and threw up all over Judah right after she finished dinner. Then, today, we went to see the cows and Simon was running ahead with Shalem and then suddenly he stopped as he got closer to the cows. I asked him what was wrong and he said "I can't go..I just can't" and he stood very still with his hand to his mouth. I asked him if he didn't like the smell and he sort of nodded and then threw up the chocolate cake and salami that he had just eaten. He was fine after that and was running around and playing with Shalem. The 2 of them seem to have a love-hate relationship where they get along amazingly and play really well and then one of them will do something mean to the other and suddenly one will yell at the other "you are not my friend anymore." At one point Simon said to Shalem "I don't want to be your friend and I'm going to go home now" and Shalem said "good, go!" But then 2 seconds later they were friends again. Before we left, Simon fell down and was crying and Shalem said to him "get out all of the crying and then stop and then come play nicely with me." He also wanted to come home with us and Simon thought that was a great idea and he said "he really wants to come with us. You HAVE to let him."
It only took us about 2 hours to get home--it's a prettier drive during the day than at night and it was cool to see the signs that say Jordan, 30 km! I didn't get a picture of that one, but I got some others that were good too. I'm too tired to post all the pictures now, but the 3 that are here are of Simon and Ayelet not looking at the view in Sachne, Simon and Shalem staying warm outside with Simon's blanket and one of the Jordanian border. If you click on the picture to make it bigger you can see the fence that is the border. The watchtower in the distance is on the Jordanian side. I'll post the rest of the pictures tomorrow.
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