Surfing in Israel

Initially, we were a bit nervous to come to Israel as there were a number of reports on the problems between the various nationalities.  We weren’t sure if we should bring the kids to an area with so many problems that involve violence.  But given what has been happening around the world, we thought it can happen anywhere, so we might as well visit.

We wanted to make sure that we stayed in the “right part of town”, so once again we gave a call out to Couchsurfers who would be willing to host us.

We were so lucky as again, we met some of the most wonderful people!

In Rosh H’Ayin we stayed with a wonderful family of four: Olga, Alex, Ronen (8 1/2), and Neta (4 1/2).  We enjoyed talking with them and learning more about life in Israel.  What is also interesting is that Olga and Alex were married in Canada, so they have a soft spot for us Canucks:)  They helped us to organize our trip to Petra and gave us some great suggestions on visiting Tel Aviv and Ben Givron Parks.  The kids all got along really well despite not being able to communicate in a common language.  Hannukah lighting and games are a great way to bridge the language gap!

Learning about Hannukah

Posing with the fish!

Really neat Russian game!

Our next family lived in Ramat Gan which again was about 30 minutes from Tel Aviv.  Eitana, Eli and their 3 girls: Eden (11), Alin (6), and Chen (2) are a fun and energetic family who were open and welcoming.  They brought us to a neat national park with Stalactites for the kids to explore.  Afterwards we went hiking with another family and enjoyed a great afternoon together.  In the evening, we shared in a Shabbat meal which was both delicious and fascinating. This family was very helpful with getting us organized to see some amazing sights in Jerusalem as well as special events like Hannukah tours (Eitana translated from Hebrew to English for us) and the history of the Jewish people.

Etiana, Eli and family.

Learning about Israeli history.

Participating in the lighting of the candles

Lighting the Hannukiah

Table set for Shabbat

In central Jerusalem, we stayed with Avigayil and her new puppy Luna!  Her mom Rebecca is on the CS sight, but was in Angola when we were there.  It was so kind of Avigayil to take the 4 of us in. We went on some nice walks around central Jerusalem and visited the market with her.  She introduced us to some great places to eat and also helped us pay our parking ticket and see the latest movies!

Wandering the neighbourhoods in Jerusalem and looking at the lights

Cool Falafel and shwarma place

We feel so lucky to have met such wonderful people who made our stay in Israel very special.  It just goes to show that it doesn’t matter which religion and/or nationality people are…it’s what’s inside that counts.  All of these people were warm, welcoming and willing to open up their homes and lives to strangers from another country.  But now, I feel proud to say, we leave Israel with new friends!  We hope all of them will come and visit us in Canada so we can show them our country and hospitality – although I’ve warned them in advance – we don’t have as much history as they do and they should only come during the summer!

More of our adventures in Israel will be released in the new year!  Stay tuned!