Hit the Target!

I just returned to Israel after spending a week in the United States. For a long time before the trip, I had wanted to go back to visit. I had never really missed the places, but it was the little things. For those of you who have lived here in Israel, you know that we often think about how things are different in America.

After spending a week that was full of American comforts and familiarities such as Mountain Dew, Target, and courteous drivers, I can honestly say that it was good to come home to Israel. Don't get me wrong, as I had a great trip. I spent the first part of the week in Norfolk, Virginia, where I trained the staff of the TV station at Old Dominion University. They were excited to learn and eager to use the new system which made the training very easy. It was also nice seeing my sister and brother in law Rachel and Roey who happened to be on vacation in Virginia Beach. Of course my nephew Benjy slept through our entire dinner, but when you're tired you're tired.

After my 3 days in Norfolk, I drove up 95 to Baltimore. It is amazing how different the driving is in the United States. After driving here in Israel for 2 years, I have picked up some Israeli habits. You know, the speeding and failure to signal that makes the roads in Israel so much fun. It took me a while to remember that people in the USA were actually polite. At one point, I didn't realize that the exit I needed was on the left side of the road. In Israel, I would have surely missed the exit, but in Virginia, all I had to do was signal and everyone let me over. When I got up to Baltimore, the first thing I noticed was that despite being away for 2 years, nothing had changed. They were still doing the same Beltway construction as when I left. It was nice to be back in the old home town however and I had a great time seeing the family and a few friends. I think however that the biggest benefactor of my visit was Target. After not being there for 2 years, I had a lot of time to make up. Somehow, it all made its way back to Israel. I also visited several other malls and thanks to my Mom, made my way through every show store in the greater Baltimore area.

Shabbat was quiet, and was a good chance to catch up on some needed sleep. When you only go for a week, there is no time to deal with jet lag. So, Friday night was an early night for me, but most of the day on Shabbat was spent talking to family friends who stopped by to say hello. Saturday night, I got to hang out with my friend Jeremy who was also visiting from Modi'in. We tried to go to Kosher Bite for old times sake, but they were closed. We thought it was sad that there was no place in the entire city to get a burger on a Saturday night. At least we tried. On Sunday, after a quick lunch at Max's in Silver Spring it was back on the plane to come home.

Speaking of the flights, I am happy to say that they were all uneventful. With connections, I always worry, as if one flight is delayed it can ruin the entire travel experience. Everything however ran on time. The one thing I can not figure out are the airline meals. In a world where we can have anything we want by pressing a button, you would think that someone could figure out how to do a decent kosher meal. On the first flight, I had the same meal for dinner and for lunch. It was nasty both times, but was even worse the second time as they served it cold. Thank goodness I brought my own food. If anyone can figure out how to do these right, there's money to be made.

In any case, when I did arrive back in Modi'in, Avi immediately gave me a big hug and Avi immediately asked where his gift was. At least some things never change.

It was a busy but productive week in the USA and it was nice to visit. I have no doubt however that we made the right decision by moving to Israel. Baltimore while a nice place to visit, is definitely not my home. Target is nice, but I'll take Shufersal any day.