Hazmanah LeChatunah

Last week was my cousin Ben's wedding to his new wife, Dana. It was a huge wedding--over 450 people!--in a gorgeous wedding garden on a kibbutz. I love Israeli weddings. They're much more informal than American weddings, and people show up dressed in all kinds of things: jeans, sandals, outfits of pure white. Ben wore all white, and Dana had on a beautiful white dress. It was really special to be there, because five years ago, the last time I was in Israel, my mom and I went to his brother Shai's wedding. Shai now has two kids, and the oldest brother, Nir, also has two kids. The ceremony was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the dancing was awesome (even though I mostly danced with my dad...)

From Even Yehuda where my cousins live, my dad and I traveled to Jerusalem on an EXTREMELY slow bus that took almost three hours. We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel, a haven for black-hat religious Jews. The place was teeming with men with long, curly payis (sidecurls), women pushing strollers and dragging along six or seven (or more!) kids besides. My aunt Harriet was there as well, and my cousin Barry (who is VERY religious) and his family joined us for shabbat.

My dad and I walked around Ben Yehuda Street, a popular and trendy street in Jerusalem, and also made our way to the German Colony, which is where my friend Scott from the Ulpan is now living. He has a tiny studio apartment that's in a great location.

On shabbat, my dad and I walked from our hotel to the Kotel, and around the old city a bit. It was really far--we probably walked about 8 miles!

He flew home Saturday night, and now I'm back at the University preparing for my Hebrew midterm and spending lots of hours at the Battered Women's Shelter where I'm doing my internship. It's lonely now that he's gone, but I'm looking forward to my whole family coming for Passover, and I'm slowly getting adjusted to being on my own again.

Pictures to come...