I always forget how much I love my quiet Kibbutz until I am confronted with the hustle and bustle of the city life.
After getting off of the train in the center of Tel Aviv, David and I journeyed to find the bus line that would take us to the stop his mother told us to meet her at. Unfortunately, once we arrived at the street corner, she was no where to be seen. We were a bit early so we decided to walk around and look for the “ככר” or square. Both David and I had forgotten the name of it, not that it mattered since his mother gave us the old name anyway, and ended up hopelessly lost in Ramat Gan with no way of contacting anyone.
Needless to say it was incredibly frustrating. My patience was tested and my mood short. I was livid that his mother hadn’t given us a real address. Instead, when we asked for one, she said not to worry, that she would find us. I became incredibly impatient and David began getting agitated as well, both of us feeling helpless. We finally got in touch with his aunt, after David wisely asked a store owner to borrow a phone. She also had no idea where we were supposed to meet and advised us to wait outside the mall. We sat down in front of the steps and cooled off a bit before heading into a grocery store to buy some water. Almost immediately afterwards David spotted his mother and ran down the street calling her name, quite a site.
Happily reunited we walked around the area. I got my Israel phone set up. (55 NES for 50 minutes of calling. Texting is 40 Agorot each and incoming calls and texts are free). I felt less lost and better about the day as we walked down the busy street, stopping for Israeli frozen yogurt, where a small is a medium and a medium is gigantic, and seeing the beautiful square we were supposed to have met at, Rambam Square.
After taking some time to walk around we headed towards Leah’s cousin’s house, by foot, which ended up being quite a ways away down narrow and winding streets. David’s mother had grown up in Ramat Gan after moving to Israel at the age of ten. She remembers it fondly and comments frequently on it’s many present day faults, though some of the apartment buildings have recently undergone beautiful transformations.
By the time we reached the right apartment building I was so exhausted by a day of walking that the majority of my nervousness had ebbed away. Once inside the apartment I met Mina and Avner, and was immediately assaulted by the delicious smell of a home cooked meal. They were incredibly pleased to meet me, and I think surprised that I spoke English and was “so cute” in their words. Mina soon insisted that we sit down and took out delicious food for our dinner. She is a caterer and part-time babysitter and after a full day of walking and not eating since noon, it was a welcome site.
We sat around, drank some tea and talked as the TV played in the background. It was a relaxing afternoon, made even better when one of Mina’s clients dropped off an adorable baby girl, Yael, who was spending the night with them. We left for the Kibbutz after a few hours in their home and headed back by train, I was one sheklel short on the train tickets and had to break my bills into change! We got home at around 10, exhausted after a long, but interesting, day.
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