Family Galore

Saturday August 3rd

I woke up Saturday morning to Michal asking if I wanted to go to the zoo with the kids and their cousins. Being me, the answer was no. But to be fair it wasn't all because I am not an animal person. I really just wanted to lounge around and do nothing. So that is what I did. I took my time getting up and then sat in the kitchen/family room with Shai and Michal watching Israeli tv, writing, and learning how to make focaccia bread. It was just what I needed, especially since the rest of the day would be spent attending family functions. 

At about 12:30 we left to go get the kids from the zoo and head over to Shai's fathers for lunch. I had been to his apartment once before for Hanukkah when I was on EIE and he and his wife were just as warm and welcoming as I remembered. Again I felt out of place because there was really no one for me to talk to other than Shai, Michal, and Shai's stepmother. But it was still a pretty nice time. Michal had warned me before we got there to take as much of the focaccia as I wanted before we got there and she was 100% correct, the minute we got into the house all the kids ran to the bread and it was gone within minutes. We left at about 3:30 from this family function to get to Tzuba to hang out with Michal's family. We got there about an hour before the rest of her family arrived but I instantly felt more comfortable there than I had at any of the other family events over the weekend. I think that's because I just feel comfortable on Tzuba but Michal's stepmom also allowed me to help set-up and treated me like I was a member of the family. Her father showed me (well gave me and then Michal explained) their photo book of their trip to visit where he was born. I learned that Michal's father survived the holocaust because his father told his mother to take the children and keep them safe. The boys were sent to a boarding school for boys and the mom and sister went somewhere else but they all were kept alive. A few years ago the dad took his children back to tour where he had grown up, the last place he saw his father, and where he had been saved. I know its weird but I love hearing stories like this and oddly (and don't judge me for this) have always felt like a part of me is missing because I don't know of a direct contact to the genocide. Yet, for as long as I can remember I have been extremely interested and have loved studying the Holocaust and reading stories of survivors. 

When Michal's siblings and their children arrived I felt out of place. Most of the grandchildren on this side are closer to my age but only one seemed to be okay talking to me. She actually is looking into going to Carnegie for grad school in computer science. She looked there for undergrad but decided to stay in Israel for school. She know works for google but really wants to go back to school so I said I would be happy to answer any questions about CMU. Other than that I just sat outside with everyone while they ate ice cream. Despite not really understanding a thing I still found it to be fun because it was the perfect temperature outside and being on Tzuba just really relaxed me. At about 6:30 Shai took Maya and I back to the house so she could shower and I could pack. We then dropped Maya off at her friends and Shai took me to the bus station. I got back to Beersheba around 10:15, bought some groceries and then proceeded to pass out following my family backed but relaxing weekend.