No More Summer Vacations

I remember going from elementary school to middle school and finding out that there was no more recess. The period of the day that every child looks forward to has now been stricken from my calendar. Going from middle to high school meant that I woke up an hour earlier and stayed an hour later to play field hockey, which left me with fewer free hours in my day. In college I had the ultimate amount of free time; so much that I didn’t know what to do with it. And now, in the “real world” I truly miss my summer vacations.

Walking down the streets of Tel Aviv over the past few weeks, you know that it is summer vacation, you can feel it. Kids of all ages are out at all hours of the night, tourists are walking with their cameras and water bottles and the cafes and bars are packed, not to mention the extreme difficulty of finding parking. I will admit that living in a city with a beach gives me the chance to sunbath every weekend and see the ocean anytime I want; however, it is not the same as a true vacation. I have been lucky to have some visitors over the past few weeks to help me appreciate Tel Aviv in the summer. My cousin Margeaux (pictured above) was here on Birthright and then spent an extra few days in Tel Aviv with me. I always get excited when people come to visit. I get to catch up with them, show them around “my city” and know that I get to stay here after they leave. I’ve been in Israel for more than one year and I still get excited about the fact that I live here.

Next Friday I leave for a family trip to Istanbul, Turkey. Not only am I excited to see my family and take a break from work, but this will be my first time out of the country since I’ve been here. And this time when I come back, I will enter immigration on the Israeli side.